How to recognise God’s voice (Jeremiah 28)
Jer 28:1-17
A month or two after I started my first job, a colleague from another department visited our office. It was the first time I met him, and he said to me that he saw a great opportunity in my future in the next year or two, including an overseas trip. I felt a secret thrill at the thought but was also puzzled. This was a secular workplace and, as far as I knew, this man was not a Christian. What did he see and how would he know what was in my future when I talked to no one about my secret hopes of living overseas, maybe in the UK? Was this message from God or should I treat it with caution? I took a wait-and-see approach, hopeful but unsure. I did go to the UK after three years and was a volunteer with a Christian mission that had an outreach to international students in the UK. This was meant to become a long-term opportunity and I couldn’t help remembering the words I was given by this colleague. However, things did not work out in the end and after a year I returned to Hungary. The ‘prophecy’, if that’s what it was, did not turn out to be true.
Prophecies of judgment and hope
The topic of true and false prophecy, which is mentioned in the previous chapter (Jer 27:14-17) is expanded on in our reading today. In the same year (594 BC; Jer 28:1), another prophet (Hananiah, whose name means ‘God is gracious’) promises Judah that within two years all the exiles will return from Babylon along with the temple vessels (Jer 28:3-4). By contrast, Jeremiah prophesies disaster and a seventy-year exile unless the people repent (Jer 27:19-22; 29:10). Who then is telling the truth? Jeremiah argues that looking at what God has been saying so far gives an indication (for Israel-Judah it was mainly judgment), so if there is no continuity, it should be a warning and hence the need for testing whether it comes true (Jer 28:8-9 cf. Deut 18:18-22).[1] Moreover, messages of wellbeing (peace) should be treated with caution, since we easily believe that God has promised us what we desire to have.
Counselling rebellion
The trouble is that by this token, the people can only know the truth in retrospect. In the present, it is one prophet’s word and symbolic action against another (Jer 28:10-11). However, there is one other thing to consider. Hananiah encouraged people by his hopeful prophecy to continue to live as they pleased and thereby to resist God’s will and Word (Jer 28:15). In effect, he ‘counselled rebellion’ (Jer 28:16), a phrase that occurs in Moses’ discussion of false prophets (v.5 in Deut 13:1-5). When advice affirms sinful living as if God approved of it, it cannot be from God. This, of course, is hard to assess because we can be blind to our sin. Given the enormous stakes, God wants His people to know who speaks the truth, so Judah receives an additional sign: Hananiah’s death within the year will prove that he was a false prophet (Jer 28:16-17; Deut 18:20).[2] Sadly, the people’s resistance to God will continue.
How to recognise God’s voice
How then can we discern God’s Word and voice from false human words? When a Bible verse jumps out at us and we feel God promised us what our heart desires, how do we know if the Lord is speaking? When we listen to counsel from friends and spiritual mentors, how can we assess whether their advice is the Lord’s voice? Unfortunately, there is no fool-proof answer. Yes, paying attention to what God requires in Scripture can help us sift through what is contrary to His will. Ultimately, however, it is our willingness to obey God that will make us more open to hear God’s Spirit convict us of sin whereas a heart inclined to rebellion will resonate with guidance that counsels resistance to God’s will, albeit given in God’s name. Thus, those who are prepared to follow God will know what is truly His Word (John 7:17). Sometimes it takes time to sort through our motivation and to know His will, but the Lord is faithful and He will not leave us without guidance.
If you are interested in this question, see my earlier posts on how to tell true prophets from false ones and how to discern true prophecy from false, written in connection with Jeremiah 23.
[1] It should be noted, however, that if people respond to a prophecy by repentance and therefore God relents of the punishment promised (e.g. Jonah 3:10), non-fulfilment in this case does not make the original prophecy false. This criterion of false prophecy only applies in cases where there is no human response that could change the situation. Further, non-fulfilment of a prophecy indicates that it is not from God, but fulfilment does not automatically point to the Lord being the source. Deuteronomy 13:1-3 argues that even if a sign or wonder comes true, but the person is encouraging the worship of other gods, it is not from God and should not be heeded.
[2] Deuteronomy does not give a timeframe for when false prophets will die; it simply indicates that God will punish them for leading people astray, so the quick retribution in Hananiah’s case is not the automatic fate of every false prophet.
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