Tuesday: War of the Prophets
Bad news is bad news, and often we don’t want to hear it, or we want to rationalize it away. Such was the case here in Judah with Jeremiah and the yoke that he bore, an unmistakable message of warning to the people. The amazement of the assembled council of nations knew no bounds when Jeremiah, carrying the yoke of subjection about his neck, made known to them the will of God.
-Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 444.
Read Jeremiah 28:1-9. Imagine you are a Judean standing there and watching all this going on. Whom would you believe? Whom would you want to believe? What reason would you have, if any, for believing Hananiah rather than Jeremiah?
Image © Krieg Barrie from GoodSalt.com
Jeremiah raised his voice in the name of God, and Hananiah spoke in the name of God too. But who was speaking for God? They both couldn’t be! For us today, the answer is obvious. For someone at that time, it might have been more difficult, even though Jeremiah does make a powerful point in Jeremiah 28:8-9: the prophets in the past have preached the same message that I am, that of judgment and doom.
Jeremiah, in the presence of the priests and people, earnestly entreated them to submit to the king of Babylon for the time the Lord had specified. He cited the men of Judah to the prophecies of Hosea, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and others whose messages of reproof and warning had been similar to his own. He referred them to events which had taken place in fulfillment of prophecies of retribution for unrepented sin. In the past the judgments of God had been visited upon the impenitent in exact fulfillment of His purpose as revealed through His messengers.
-Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 445.
In short, just as we today are to learn lessons from sacred history, Jeremiah was seeking to get the people in his time to do the same thing: learn from the past, so you don’t make the same errors that your forefathers did. If it had been hard for them to listen to him before, now with the ministry
of Hananiah there to counter him, Jeremiah’s task was going to be that much more difficult.
Hananiah, whose name means God has been gracious,
seemed to be presenting a message of grace, of forgiveness, of salvation. What lessons should we learn from this false preacher of grace?
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The prophet Hananiah obtained some credibility from speaking some truth. He stated some of the truth proclaimed by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 28:6), but subtly introduced a twist which would be pleasing and give comfort to the unrepentant (Jeremiah 28:1-4). It was opposition by counterfeit. This is the method of the anti-Christ and of Babylon (2 Thessalonians 2:3-10; Revelation 19:20).
Whenever and wherever truth is proclaimed someone gets wounded (Hebrews 4:12). Satan is upset by the word of God and brings others along (Revelation 12:17). Sometimes there is outright opposition. At other times error is concealed with some truth (1 Peter 5:8).
To accomplish the latter false prophets who claim to speak on behalf of God are made agents of the evil one, and they may not even recognize it at first. However by insisting on pursuing a line they fall in love with after being confronted and corrected by God’s agents they are soon completely deceived, and become efficient in the cause of the enemy.
Be wary of messengers who are smooth talking and only wish to preach peace, prosperity, grace, or even the loveliness of Jehovah’s character, but avoid emphasis on repentance and obedience. Such may be popular as was the case in Judah, but only provide a false sense of security and lead astray those who may otherwise enjoy peace, prosperity, grace and the love of God.
The divinely hand-picked forerunner of Christ, John provided the enduring example of the message with Christ at its center (Mark 1:1-4; Malachi 4:5, 6). The message which emphasizes repentance and reform pleases Jesus the most (Luke 1:13-17) and best sets up His Coming, both the First and Second. The remnant forerunners of the Lord’s advent are modern John and Elijah.
Recently a friend said to me she prefers Jesus of the NT rather than Jehovah of the OT.
We need to study both the OT & the NT to get a comprehensive picture of the character of the God Head.
In the OT Jehovah said : love me with your whole being & keep my commandments
In the NT Jesus said : love me with your whole being & keep my commandments
The message is the same. Justice and forgiveness!
The people of Judah wanted the benefits but not the responsibilities of the Everlasting Covenant with a loving God.
It is the enemy oldest trick to mingle trust with false doctrine, because it is easier to be accepted. So the false prophets the come to using man made theories along with it is written and many are deceive daily. Only a true knowledge of the word of God will protect us from the dilution of the enemy. May the lord keep us from falling. amen!
When we are confronted with two opinions we are to test the spirit by the word of God. Nothing that was said could have been any plainer then Jeremiah's words, for his words came to past. We are to study God holy bible for ourselves so that we are not deceived by the enemy.
When an argument is at hand, people tend to take sides and in most instances its about logic and presentation of ideas rather than intuition and content. Just like the people at that time, as Jeremiah went head on head with Hananiah, we still have such instances today. And in most of them, our choices on the right thing are influenced by logic and smooth talk in the presentation. It's our duty to listen to the past, get the necessary references and interpret what is being said. This appears in all spheres of life and in times when we intend to choose wrong from right
The beauty of truth is that it NEVER goes forth without the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. When this takes place, every soul is brought to a choice between obedience to God or serving self. Satan provides "incentive" through false messengers and thus influences those weak in principle, who indulge in appetites of every kind, and usually end up attacking the truth with accusations and personal insults toward the messengers. These false movements gain momentum with every acceptance of it and God often must intervene to protect His faithful Servants.
Whatever the outcome, God's purpose is accomplished in separating the wheat from the chaff before His judgments fall. This is taking place today as Michael and His messengers clash with the Serpent and his messengers which will soon bring this controversy to it's final contest. Then the End!
From where did Hananiah get his prophecy? JER 23
“As for the prophets: Both prophet and priest are polluted; even in My house I have found their wickedness.... They prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel astray.... committing of adultery and walking in falsehood... Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility(filling you with false hopes); they speak a vision of their own imagination, not from the mouth of the Lord... I did not send these prophets, but they ran. I did not speak to them, but they prophesied. But if they had stood in My council, then they would have turned them back from their evil way...
I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, “I have dreamed, I have dreamed!” How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy the deception of their own heart, who think to make my people forget My Name by their dreams that they tell one another...Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has My word speak My word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the lord. Is not My word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
“Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who steal My words from one another....who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the Lord’. Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and lead My people astray by their lies and reckless boasting, yet I did not send them or command them...you pervert the words of the Living God, the Lord of Hosts, Our God.”
Thank u for all. I and all I get to interact with have been edified.