WHO DO YOU BELIEVE?
JEREMIAH 28:5-9
5 Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to Hananiah the prophet in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord, 6 and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord make the words that you have prophesied come true, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the Lord, and all the exiles. 7 Yet hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. 8 The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. 9 As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet.”
There is an old story of a father who took his young son out and stood him on the railing of the back porch. He then went down, stood on the lawn, and encouraged the little fellow to jump into his arms. "I'll catch you," the father said confidently. After a lot of coaxing, the little boy finally made the leap. When he did, the father stepped back and let the child fall to the ground. He then picked his son up, dusted him off, and dried his tears.
"Let that be a lesson," he said sternly. "Don't ever trust anyone."
So many prophets! So many people who claim to speak for God! Who is right? Who should we listen to? In the midst of a cacophony of spokesmen, who speaks the truth? Whom do you believe?
Consider the story of Hannaniah and Jeremiah. Both were prophets, supposedly mouthpieces of God. I say supposedly because one was a false prophet, and one was a true man of God. If we listen to their messages, we can tell who was right, and who was wrong. And most importantly, for our edification and usefulness today, we can use what they said to discern truth from error, fact from fiction, and the true prophet from the false prophet.
This time in Israel’s history was one of turmoil. The Babylonians under King Nebuchednezzar had conquered Judah and took the hoi ploi, the important people, that is, the lawyers, the teachers, the craftsmen, all who would be able to give something to the culture and society of Babylon as their captives. The King of Judah, King Jeconiah, was taken captive as well. Zedekiah was placed as a replacement king, but he was really just a puppet to the Babylonian leadership. When the people who were left behind went to the Temple to worship, they had seen Jeremiah wearing a wooden yoke, symbolizing the oppression they would suffer at the hands of their captors. Jeremiah spoke of a long captivity, as a punishment for God’s people rejecting God Himself. However, when the people would hear Hananiah preach, they would hear him telling the people the good news which they wanted to hear, namely, that God has broken the yoke of Babylonia. Hannaniah’s message was one of “don’t worry, be happy.” Hannaniah preached that everyone and everything that had been taken from the city of Jerusalem, namely the exiles, with the king and the vessels of the temple, would be returned within two years. Hananiah was, essentially, telling the people what they wanted to hear, not what they needed to hear. Hananiah was playing to the people, telling them all was well, when, well, it wasn’t.
Jeremiah, on the other hand, simply told the truth. He didn’t use fancy words to sway the emotions of the people. He didn’t tickle their ears, he didn’t sugar coat the message. All that Jeremiah did was to listen to God and faithfully proclaim what God would say to His people through Him. Jeremiah said that he wished he could tell the people the good news they wanted to hear, but he couldn’t, God had other words they needed to hear. Jeremiah reminded the people that God was consistent in His message, that in the past He has spoken through the prophets and that the prophets of old had said that God would send war, famine, and pestilence upon a wicked nation.
Who to believe? Jeremiah reminded the people that whatever the prophet predicted, well, to be a true prophet, it had better come true. That is how you tell a false prophet from a true prophet, the true prophet will tell the truth, and the false prophet will prove to be a phony. If a false prophet would predict peace, yet there would be war, well, the false prophet would be exposed as the phony that he was.
To show his seriousness, Jeremiah wore that wooden yoke around his neck. He then reminded the Jews for the reason of their captivity, namely, because Israel and Judah had forsaken God, God would then punish Judah and Israel for her sins. Jeremiah was condemned as a traitor for telling this bad news, but in reality all he did was tell the truth. He told the truth, and was rejected by the people for it. Hananaiah, in a show of force, took the yoke off Jeremiah and smashed it in an attempt to show the people how wrong Jeremiah was. Even though this wooden yoke was broken, Jeremiah predicted that God would Hannaiah in an iron yoke that would not be broken, to show that God meant business. No matter how the false prophets tried to sugar coat it, they would not change God’s mind. Jeremiah spoke for God. Jeremiah said to Hananiah, "Listen, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you and you have made this people trust in a lie." For this rebellion against God, Jeremiah prophesied that Hananiah would die within a year. On the seventh month, Hananiah died. The false prophet was exposed and met his match. A false prophet is no match for a man of God.
The issue is, who do you believe today? There are so many “preachers” so many people who wiggle their way into earshot, trying to get our attention to listen to their message. There are preachers who talk about Jesus as if He is a magic genie: “All you need to do is believe in Jesus and your problems are solved.” There are preachers who talk about Jesus as if living with Jesus is akin to a master’s course level in financial management: “Trust in Jesus and he will make your life a success, trust in Jesus and you can have the best things in life now.” And there are those who proclaim in the name of Jesus that life as it exists today is a okay, that nothing is wrong with humanity. Rather than calling humanity to change, they seek to change God’s word, to modernize it or to bring it up to speed in the light of the culture that it was written in and in light of the advancements we have made as a society. Their message can be summed up in the phrase that Hannaiah made famous: “Don’t worry, be happy.”
But all is not peaches and cream. All you need is to look at the world around you. The economy is going from bad to worse. There is friction in families, government, communities, and yes, even churches. No matter how healthy the person, people still get sick, in spite of all of the medical advances that we have today, people still die. There is no human answer to death. However, the bible tells us the real reasons behind our problems. A little thing called sin.
Just as the people of Jeremiah’s day and age sinned against God, so have you. God has called people to love Him with their whole heart, and yet other things get in the way. We would rather trust in ourselves, other people, or things that we can get instead of trusting in God. We pride ourselves in being self sufficient; however, God calls us to be God reliant. Instead of relying on self, God wants us to rely on Him. Israel during Jeremiah’s time thought the same; they figured if they could just do something, things would work out for the better. They tried everything to better themselves and their lives, they worshipped other idols, they became like other nations, all to their determent. They tried everything but trusting in God.
God calls us to faith, in Him, in His Son Jesus Christ. The false prophets, the popular preachers of the day have one thing in common with Hanniah, they seek glory in the life they live, rather than trusting in Christ. Martin Luther summed up the situation in life by saying that either people will seek ways to God which will end in their own glorification, and ultimately, this way of glory will end in destruction, or that they will seek the way to God that He alone provides, namely, the way of the cross of Jesus Christ, which will truly lead to glory.
You see, the Christian life is not about accumulating stuff. It is not about getting anything or obtaining anything eternal, for in reality, we can’t. The stuff we store up for ourselves in this life is transitory in nature and will end in its destruction. If I buy a new car, it will eventually wear out. If I seek to pad my bank account, thinking that the more money I accumulate will make life better for me and my family, well, that too will be for naught. Greed, taxes, and even death will rob me of the joy I seek in capital gains. And not one of us can ascend up to God, not one of us can through our own efforts seek to become like God, to become more spiritual through our own efforts, for as sinful and weak as we are, we cannot through our own good works or efforts even approach God in His holiness. There is, however, another way, the way of the Cross, the way of Jesus.
This is the lesson that Jeremiah was teaching and preaching that salvation exists in no one else other than Jesus Christ. There will be preachers and prophets who will tell you want you want to hear, but they won’t tell you about Jesus. There will be preachers and prophets who will tell you to do this or jump through this hoop or that hoop so that God will bless you, but they won’t tell you about what Jesus has done. Even the popular opinion polls of the day suggest that most Americans believe that all roads lead to God. It just isn’t so. As a creature of clay, the truth of the matter is this, that from dust you came and from dust you will return. To live one’s life in an attempt to fill your belly may satisfy for a moment, but it will utimately end in God’s wrath and eternal death. To believe that God will accept your sincerity misses the mark. Don’t be swayed by what others say, just listen instead to Jesus.
The way to God goes through Jesus, and Jesus’ way is the way of the cross. Listen to what Jesus says: “If anyone wants to follow Me, let Him deny Himself, take up His cross, and follow Me.” This is God’s will for you, to follow Jesus. Following Jesus does not consist of living as if this is a heaven on earth. Following Jesus does not mean that you follow your desires, do your own thing, or even live for the moment. Listen to what Jesus says, if anyone wants to follow Him, then deny yourself, your ambitions, your desires, turn from your sinfulness, confess you sinfulness and trust in Christ for forgiveness. This is why Jesus came, to live, die, and shed His blood for your forgiveness, to make you His own that you will live with Him and for Him. The message God wants you to hear is one of repentance and faith, to turn from sin and believe in Christ as Savior. The message God wants you to heed is follow Christ in all you do. It won’t be easy; God never said it was going to be easy. He promises as much, saying that if you follow Christ you will have your share of hardships, of trials, of tribulations, even persecution for the sake of Christ. But through it all, don’t trust in yourself, or anyone else other than Jesus. Jesus alone is the way to God, the way to heaven, so change your life accordingly, seek to walk with the Lord always, listening to Christ in His Word and receiving strength in His body and blood.
In our society there are numerous voices which ask for our attention. Pay no attention to those who seek fame and fortune, rather listen to Christ, mediate on His Word, seek to follow His Way, believe in Christ, trust in Him, for He alone is trustworthy.
Amen