Jeremiah chapter twenty-three gives a vivid picture of what was happening just before Nebuchadnezzar came to bring God’s judgment on the Jewish nation. The land was filled with many prophets, but Jeremiah stands in marked contrast with those false prophets found throughout the land. There are so many lessons to be learned from reading this chapter.
First, there is the reaction of Jeremiah. “My heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake” (v. 9). He was so overwhelmed that he described himself as being like a drunken man who has been overcome by wine. He reacted in this way, “…because of the Lord, and because of His holy words.”
God’s hope for the spirituality of the Jews was entrusted to prophets and priests. Jeremiah stood alone against the prophets of Samaria in the northern kingdom and against the prophets in Jerusalem in the southern kingdom (vs. 12-13). Their messages were described as folly and as a horrible thing. These messages had “caused My people Israel to err” and “commit adultery and walk in lies” (vs. 13-14). God’s view of every one of them was they “…are like Sodom to Me, and her inhabitants like Gomorrah.”
These prophets “speak a vision of their own hearts” (v. 16), “prophecy lies” and the deceits of their own heart” (v. 26), saying “I have dreamed, I have dreamed” (v. 25)!
These prophets had been joined by the priests (v. 11). Those who had been appointed by God to reverently come before Him on behalf of the nations had profaned the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place on earth. God said, “Yes, in My house I have found their wickedness” (v. 11). Judgment lay on the horizon, which Jeremiah described as God coming as a violent whirlwind that would fall violently on the head of the wicked (v. 19). His anger would not be turned back until He had executed and performed the thoughts of His heart. Yet these false prophets repeatedly said that only peace lay ahead and condoned the worship of Baal (v. 17).
God said, “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied” (v. 21). “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; they speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the Lord” (v. 16).
This is such a remarkable section of the Bible and teaches us so much. The only true path to find our God in a land filled with so many “prophets” is to only listen to the message He has given in the Scriptures we know are from God. Jeremiah was grieved and so should we be!