True and False Prophecy

Jeremiah 28 stages a public clash between two prophets in the temple. Hananiah son of Azzur used the same formula Jeremiah used. Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. He promised that within two years the temple vessels, Jeconiah, and the exiles would return. To the crowd, both men sounded like prophets.

Jeremiah answered with grace and a test. Amen! May Yahweh do so. He shared the hope but not the claim. He noted that true prophets of old had often spoken of war, evil, and pestilence against nations. As for the prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet happens, then the prophet will be known, that Yahweh has truly sent him. This applied Deuteronomy 18, where a prophet is tested by whether his word comes true.

Hananiah responded with a dramatic act, breaking the yoke from Jeremiah's neck. Jeremiah did not argue but went his way, waiting for God's word. When it came, it was stronger. You have broken the bars of wood, but you have made in their place bars of iron. Jeremiah then told Hananiah that God had not sent him, but you make this people trust in a lie. Jeremiah announced that Hananiah would die that year for teaching rebellion against God. The chapter closes by noting that Hananiah died in the seventh month, two months later.