Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - May/63

Contributor - T. Hogerwaard

Title - Hear Israel, The Lord is Our God; The Lord is Unique: Jeremiah - Part 4

Topic - Jeremiah

"BEHOLD, I WILL FEED THEM WITH WORMWOOD, AND GIVE THEM POISONED WATER TO DRINK; FOR FROM THE PROPHETS OF JERUSALEM UNGODLINESS HAS GONE FORTH INTO ALL THE LAND". Jeremiah 23 vs. 15

JEREMIAH AGAINST THE FALSE PROPHETS.

INTRODUCTION

In the year 1954 the whole of France was shocked by the following event. In a village in France, as it seemed, a contagious madness had broken out. People were shouting and roaring day and night, complained of terrible headaches and behaved as if they all had turned mad. No less than 200 persons were involved Of which 14 died.

It did not last long before the combined efforts of doctors and police brought to light what had happened. In very rainy summers it happens that on wheat, which is not completely dry when stored, an extremely poisonous fungus develops. A miller in a certain part of France had received a bag of this infected wheat ; he knew very well that flour milled from this wheat was not fit for human consumption, but he did not want to suffer the loss of the price of a bag of wheat. In order not to damage his reputation or to be found out he sent this flour to a town 150 miles from the place where he lived. He thought that he would be safe that way. Because of the greed of this man 14 persons died and about 200 more underwent terrible suffering.

Such people exist in this world; that many people die, that sorrow and grief is brought upon many others does not mean a thing to them. The only thing that interests them is money.

Bread is the most important part of our food; milled from wheat by means of which the Lord God maintains our bodily existence. People bought bread in good faith and trust, unconscious of the fact that this bread - although invisible - contained a deadly poison which endangered the life of 200 people and killed 14 of them.

We can easily understand that after this story had been published the cry arose from all corners of France that stem measures be taken in order to exclude once and for all that a thing like that could happen again. Bread is such an important part of our daily staple; it is so indispensable for our existence that the purity and safety of i must be fully safeguarded anytime.

Poisoned spiritual food.

Something similar top the crime of the French Miller takes place in the spiritual realm too. People who study the Bible regularly and attentively may have noticed that in Scripture the kind and pleasant tone which prevails in certain passages suddenly disappears; instead there is severity and vehemence, even to such a degree that one asks himself : what has happened to explain this change of tone and mood ?

This vehemence and anger is caused by something similar to that what happened in France; it is the spreading of false teaching : poisoning of the spiritual food which has caused eternal separation from God for millions in the past and present. Therefore the prime object of the devil is : the perversion of the Word of God. Intoxication, ; murder, theft and fornication promote the cause of God's adversary in the world, but these sins are small in effect compared with the falsification of the Word of God.

The most dangerous thing is here: when poisoning of food has taken place everyone can see its disastrous effects, but when the preaching of the Word of God is falsified the majority of those who are spiritually poisoned do not perceive anything ; the poison is extremely effective, but the people do not know. Therefore the vehement reaction, the sharpness of tone of the men of God against the false teaching, against the false prophets who lead people to eternal destruction more effectively than any conspicuous crime or abuse. In the 0. T. the true men of God waged a relentless battle against the false prophets who pretended to be messengers of God, but who were not.

The true prophet against the false ones.

For Jeremiah, to whom the decisions of God's Council have been revealed, it is heartbreaking to see and to experience daily how the conversion, the repentance of the people - their only chance to escape the terrible destruction is prevented by the words of the false prophets, who strengthen the people in their apostasy and sin by assuring them - in the Name of God - that nothing will happen to them, that the Lord God is on their side.

When the moment came that God's patience was exhausted, the only task left for Jeremiah is to announce the terrible destruction. God then even forbids Jeremiah to intercede in prayer for his stubborn and misguided people. Yet Jeremiah pleads for them. They are not only sinners and rebels, they are victims too, victims of this wicked deception which is carried on in the Name of God:

"Ah, Lord God, behold the prophets say to them : You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place".

But God's answer is: "The prophets are prophesying lies in My Name; I did not send them nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination and the deceit of their own minds".

The severest punishment in all eternity is reserved for these tempters, these poisoners of the Word of God, the worst enemies of the people. They are the ones who prevent the people from turning to God, the only act which could have saved them from utter destruction.

Imagine a starving man. Someone brings him two loaves of bread, saying to him: "Know what you are doing when you eat from this bread. One of the loaves is excellent bread; the other loaf is poisoned; eating even a small piece of it means instant death! What a horrible situation : to be ravenously hungry ; there is bread to satisfy the hunger, but there is a 50-50 chance that the wrong loaf is chosen and then bread means death instead of life. Here in Judah two groups are ranged against each other; each group claims that the true Word of God is with them ; one of the groups speaks the truth; the other lies and it is a matter of life and death which group you trust.

What makes the right choice even more difficult is the fact that we human beings are always inclined to believe that which sounds agreeable, which is in accordance with our wishes and desires. Jeremiah's task was to pro claim the bitter, hard and difficult truth, not the soft way but the hard one; only that was God's way and God's truth. That made it so difficult for the people to accept his word as God's message they did not like it. The false prophets knew the people, their wishes and desires. The fulfilment of those desires and wishes they announced as the Word of God.

So serious may the spiritual situation be and so decisive may be the choice you make. Only the man or woman who daily walks with the Lord, who reads His Word and wants to obey Him will be able to discern what is from God and what is not.

Historical situation.

For many years the godless king Jehoiakim had ruled over Judah, but the king of Babylonia had come and subjected him to his power, as Jeremiah had told that this would happen.

During three years king Jehoiakim did nothing, but at the end of that period, encouraged by the false prophets who promised him help from God, he rebelled against his Babylonian overlord.

At first the Babylonian king considered it beneath his dignity to come and punish the Judean king. Instead he ordered the surrounding peoples to burn and to plunder the Judean land. During that period the king died and his son Jehoiachin (Chonja) succeeded him on the throne. His godless and wicked reign did not last long ; three months later king Nebuchadnezzar himself came to Jerusalem and Chonja, seeing that resistance was senseless, surrendered himself, his mother, princes and courtiers to the Babylonian king, who deported all of them to Babylon.

Again Judah had to pay a heavy tribute, all the treasures of the Temple, the silver and golden vessels were taken and carried off to Babylon as spoil. Moreover, 10,000 prominent citizens of Jerusalem were deported as well ; only a handful of common people were left. A brother of the deceased king was nominated by the Babylonian king to sit on Judah's throne and his name was changed into Zedekiah by Babylon's king. God's judgment had partly come over Temple and city; it depended upon the behaviour of those left behind whether the rest of the punishment would be carried out as well. It was the will of God that for the time being all the peoples of the Near East remained subject to the king of Babylon. The man who remained faithful to the Babylonian King obeyed God, could reckon upon His help and protection ; the man who rebelled against the Babylonian king rebelled against God and that act would be punished by God by means of hunger, sword and plague.

In the fifth year of Zedekiah ambassadors of the surrounding countries which were also subject to the king of Babylon came to Zedekiah to suggest a combined rebellion against the Babylonian rule. But Jeremiah has God's message for those ambassadors : "Submit yourselves to the king of Babylonia, for that is God's will. Anyone who rebels will be punished by God. Do not listen to soothsayers and false prophets, for if you do, you will certainly be destroyed".

To make his message unmistakenly clear to Judah and to the other countries as well God commands Jeremiah to make a wooden yoke and to carry that all day long as a clear and simple message that submission to the Babylonian king is the will of God. The people, however, do not like to hear this message ; their hearts cry out for something else. Hananiah, one of the false prophets has arrived at the conclusion that it is high time that once and for all the defaitism of Jeremiah is stopped.

According to him, God's message to His people is totally different from Jeremiah's. He says: "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel : "I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord's House which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, took away. Moreover, Chonja, the ex-king, and all the exiles will come back to Judah. The Lord will break the yoke of the king of Babylon".

That is the language of a real he-man, that sounds like music in the ears of the men of Judah, who want to do something.

"Yes," answers Jeremiah, "that sounds nice enough ; wish that it were true, but we will see how it turns out for that is the only test whether a man spoke God's Word or his own".

Hananiah is absolutely sure. Jeremiah carries a yoke to symbolize his message ? Well then, Hananiah will perform another symbolic act. He takes the yoke from Jeremiah's shoulders, breaks it into pieces saying in the presence of all : "Thus says the Lord : Even so I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations within two years".

Jeremiah goes home without saying a word. He can only speak the moment God commands him to do so ; if there is no word from God Jeremiah has nothing to say. He has to wait for the Word of God. And the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: "Go tell Hananiah: You have broken wooden bars, but I will make in their place bars of iron. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel : I have put upon the neck of all these nations an iron yoke of servitude to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and they shall serve him, for I have given him even the beasts of the fields".

If you are not willing to bow your necks under the yoke of light punishment, then you will nave to bow under the yoke of severe punishment : you asked for it.

For Hananiah who spoke in the Name of God falsely there is a special Word of God: "Listen, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie. Therefore, thus says the Lord : Behold I will remove you from the face the Of earth. This very year you shall die because you have uttered rebellion against the Lord".

Two months later the sentence was executed; Hananiah the false prophet died.

For those who want to serve the Lord, God provides the means to discern between God's true servants and the false ones. But you will have to make your choice, you are responsible. And the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth, is willing and anxious to lead you in all truth and righteousness.

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