For a full description of the (Y3) reading plan, see the “About” page.
- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Jer. 26
I see that the officials of Judah received Jeremiah the same as they did Jesus. They said of Jeremiah, “This man deserves the death sentence because he has prophesied against this city” (from Jer. 26:11). They were angry at him for claiming to speak for God with a message that was not favorable to them. The leaders of Jesus’ day felt and said the same about Him for the same reason. Even the resistance of the ancient Jews to God’s prophets of old was prophetic. It told of the reception that Jesus, God’s true word, would receive from the leaders of the people.
Jer. 27-28
Jeremiah and Hananiah spoke completely opposite messages. Both claimed their word was from God. How could the people know which one to believe? It’s a good question to answer because we, too, have a lot of voices speaking different messages that they all claim to be truth to us. How do we know which voice to believe? Jeremiah gives us a clue when he points out that Hananiah’s message runs contrary to that of proven prophets from the past. They prophesied war, disaster, and plague. Then Jeremiah said, “As for the prophet who prophesies peace – only when the word of the prophet comes true will the prophet be recognized as one the LORD has truly sent.” (Jer. 28:9).
I see two things in that to guide us to the voices that speak truth. The first is that we need to look to the overall message of the Bible. Though He gives it to us in complex layers, the message itself is a simple one. We are all slaves to the human condition, separated from the God we need. As such, we are all doomed to death. God is the only one who can free us from our certain fate, and He graciously made a way for that to happen; to reconcile us to Him through Jesus. So, because of His great grace, we now have a choice. We can remain in our own way and die, or we can turn to God’s provided way and live.
That’s it. Simple. So any voice that speaks a word contrary to that message is not from God and does not speak truth. We see this with Hananiah’s message because it lacked any acknowledgment of God’s right judgment. It encouraged the people to continue on their own path rather than turning them to God’s way.
The other thing, which is somewhat related to the first, is that any message that speaks what we want to hear is likely false. God’s ways are not our ways; He does not want the things we want. So if the message is easy on your ears and appeals to your pride, you can know for certain that it is a lie. Again, we can see this in Hananiah’s message. He preached the easy way out; told people what they wanted to hear. It allowed them to claim God’s promised blessing without claiming His promised curse. Any message that offers a promise of peace outside of total surrender to God through Christ is also a lie.
Jer. 29
I see an interesting thing in those who oppose God. They continually attempt to silence the voice of truth. Rebellion against God, which is pride, reveals itself in its reaction to truth. The reaction is one of fear. Thus, the false prophets and leaders of Jeremiah’s day were constantly trying to restrain or kill him. The leaders of Jesus’ day did likewise with Him. Truth does not need to fear the lie, because the lie will eventually show itself for what it is. Actually, truth will also show itself for what it is. Which is why the only option that evil has is to silence it. Ironically, the lie will ultimately silence itself, while nothing can or will ever silence truth.