“And Jeremiah the prophet said to the prophet Hananiah, “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 of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have uttered rebellion against the Lord.’” In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.” (Jeremiah 28:15–17, ESV)
Growing up, I can remember my grandmother and aunt talking about people going to fortune tellers. Often the people who went to these were given good news regarding the future. Sometimes their forecasts would work out and most times they did not.
Many years later, after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, I was serving as a church planter/pastor. In this capacity, took a series of mission trips to New Orleans to help with the recovery. On one trip, after the city came back to life, I remember a square where there were tables with fortune tellers making money at their trade. A group of students from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary also set up a table with a sign, “Tell Your Future for Free.” Their dialogue went something like this.
“Let me ask you a couple questions. Tell me about your spiritual life? Do you go to church? Have you received Jesus?” If their answers did not align with faith in Jesus, they would say, “Your future is not looking good!”
The point is that the world is full of false prophets and a few true prophets. What is the difference? A true prophet proclaims the truth of God’s word. Yet a false prophet proclaims falsehood from their own vain imaginations, often telling people what they want to hear. This was the case in Jeremiah’s day and that is what we see in this verse.
There was a false prophet named Hananiah. He was prophesying that which conflicted with Jeremiah’s message to the nation. Hananiah falsely proclaimed that the Lord stated that within two years Babylon would be over thrown and the exiles returned to Israel.
Jeremiah called out Hananiah on this and brought this message to the false prophet.
“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 of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have uttered rebellion against the Lord.’”
The word that the Lord brought to Hananiah came to pass exactly as prophesied. “In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.”
There are many false prophets in the world today. Many are out to tickle the itching ears of people, speaking words that are not from the Lord. In the church we must examine every word preached to us to see if the message is in alignment with the Scriptures. We must examine everything. Look at Paul’s words to the Thessalonians.
“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:19–22, ESV)
Renewing the Heart 