Proper 8: Old Testament, Jeremiah 28:5-9

This week’s Old Testament reading is brief. I will try to accommodate myself to that as well. Do you ever remember as a child being caught in a lie? Fudging. White lies. Bending the truth. Unfortunately that practice doesn’t find a limit when the years of childhood or adolescence run their course. Oh no. Lying is a lifelong sin.

The “prophet” Hananiah is speaking in the name of Yahweh. Boldly and publicly he makes the statement that the temple furnishings taken to Babylon about three years previously were soon to be on their way back to Judah. And the King’s son and the other exiles would be on their way back home soon as well (28:4).

This precedes our reading where the prophet Jeremiah “goes along” with the errant pretender and says in so many words, “How I wish it were so.” History tells us it was a long 70-year learning curve for most of the exiles and part of their punishment was to learn the language and culture of their captors. It wasn’t enough to simply lose their homeland and worship. Their language and culture were replaced and perhaps nearly forgotten.

Jeremiah, Yahweh’s truth-teller (sometimes it’s difficult to tell where Yahweh leaves off and Jeremiah begins), confronts the one who dares to simply give the people the message they want to hear. That’s always the way of the false teacher. God’s message is wonderful always. But not always easy. So just as boldly and just as publicly, Jeremiah makes known by way of reminder, what God’s prophets always declare. God is truth. His prophets speak the truth. ALWAYS, cf. Deuteronomy 18:20-22.

When God’s pronouncements come to pass in His name, the prophet is proven true. So what’s the lesson? When someone, anyone, pastor or teacher declares the Word, do the hard work of searching the Scriptures, cf. Acts 17:10-12a. Look in two directions. First, look back in God’s Word and make certain that what you hear any “prophet” declare measures up to what has gone before. And second, if anything is spoken in terms of the future, wait and watch. God’s Word is always worth the effort and the patience. It’s one thing to lie. It’s altogether different to lie in the name of God. Listen, search and watch. It will keep you from falling to those who lie in His name.