Jeremiah 23b. True Prophets and False.
You probably remember this line from the movie The Blues Brothers (1980); “We’re on a mission from God.” Jake and Elwood Blues make this claim to justify their aggressive behavior while they carry out their plan to save a Catholic orphanage. Oddly enough, people seem to believe them. Good comedy, bad theology. Don’t believe what people say just because they claim to have a word from God. Often they don’t.
Yet, people are quite gullible. The ‘false prophet dodge’ worked when the people of Judah followed an administration with a deceptive king and prophets who covered the king’s lies and fraud with theological double-talk. “Don’t worry, that’s all right, God is behind all this.” Really?
Jeremiah was up against these sycophants.
“...the religious leaders who provided a convenient veneer of patriotic ideology that endorsed the status quo and raised no challenge to wickedness in high places. These were the prophets and priests who claimed to speak in the name of YHWH, but had no mission, message, or mandate from God at all”
(Christopher J. H. Wright, The Message of Jeremiah, 2014, page 244).
If you look around, you will recognize that current leaders are still trying to work this unholy alliance; in the long run, it is a mission impossible. In Chapter 21 and 22, God had a lot to say about fascist despots and what he will do to stop them. Now God tells Jeremiah to expand his running critique to include the prophets who aid and abet the despots.
Jeremiah 23:9-10.
Concerning the prophets:
My heart is crushed within me;
all my bones shake;
I have become like a drunkard,
like one overcome by wine,
because of the LORD
and because of his holy words.
For the land is full of adulterers;
because of the curse the land mourns,
and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.
Their course has been evil,
and their might is not right.
What God has to say is frightening and disappointing to Jeremiah; it makes his head spin. I must admit that reading the book of Jeremiah this last year has put me on edge too. It makes me angry because I see so much of this chicanery today. It scares me to death because these were the last years of Judah’s very existence, and most people believed the false prophets who said that they had received a word from God. That false word was “Peace; we are doing this for your own good,” But there was only violence and disaster to come.
Jeremiah sees through this; the holy words that he receives from God are not “Peace” and “Prosperity.” God condemns the prophets; God calls them “adulterers.” By contrast, the godly prophet Jeremiah has suffered much for telling the truth,; while these other prophets have sold out to the enemy and are currently living the high life. They are pretending to worship YHWH but really doing things YHWH would never do. The land, the whole country suffers while kings and prophets pursue their wicked ways.
Why do I call Jeremiah the ‘godly’ or ‘true’ prophet? Because his prophetic warnings came true. Remember that there are several audiences here. Some people heard Jeremiah preach; they didn’t believe him. Some of the same people heard these same words read from the scroll of Jeremiah while they were suffering in exile in Babylon. They were ashamed; now they believed.
Jeremiah 23:11-12
Both prophet and priest are ungodly;
even in my house I have found their wickedness,
says the LORD.
Therefore their way shall be to them
like slippery paths in the darkness,
into which they shall be driven and fall,
for I will bring disaster upon them
in the year of their punishment,
says the LORD.
Why does God call the house prophets “adulterers”? Because both prophet and priest have abandoned their initial commitment to YHWH, but they still control the temple as if they were faithful. That is the wrong road to take because it is like following a narrow muddy path in the mountains; every step could mean a fall. The slip and fall won’t be an accident either. Perhaps they are fleeing the coming invasion. Instead of watching their steps on the path, God will be the one who pushes them over the edge. Clearly, everything is not all right.
Jeremiah 23:13-15.
In the prophets of Samaria
I saw a disgusting thing:
they prophesied by Baal
and led my people Israel astray.
But in the prophets of Jerusalem
I have seen a more shocking thing:
they commit adultery and walk in lies;
they strengthen the hands of evildoers,
so that no one turns from wickedness;
all of them have become like Sodom to me
and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.
Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets:
I am going to make them eat wormwood
and give them poisoned water to drink,
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness has spread throughout the land.
YHWH, the LORD, has given directions, has shown patience, and has given clear warnings. Compare the example of the false prophets of the Kingdom of Israel. They were adulterers, liars, and unfaithful to YHWH. That northern kingdom was completely destroyed by Assyria in 721 BC.
Or, look farther back. Take the example of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, cities that were full of wicked behavior. God declared his judgment. God even gave Abraham and Lot one last chance to find 10 faithful people; they could not. So, fire and brimstone consumed the cities. Disaster is right around the corner for Jerusalem, and even the prophets will drink deeply from the cup of God’s wrath.
Who is supposed to be telling the truth here? Who is supposed to expose evil, denounce evil kings and government officials, and make God’s will clear to them? The prophets, that’s who! But the ‘word of God’ that the in-house preach does not make anyone turn from their wickedness; instead “they strengthen the hands of the evildoers.” They do not lead anyone to repentance; therefore “no one turns from wickedness.” Prophets of the LORD indeed! Rather they are the prophets of BS. We have too many of these.
One must ask, in today’s society, where are the religious leaders who are condemning such behavior by those in power in government, in business, and in church? They speak, but it is not a message sent by God.