Forsaking the Prophets of Babylon
Because you have said, “The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon.”[1]
If you haven't noticed by now, God likes to pull trouble up by the roots. He is not about half measures or double sets of books or winking at sin. He can be devastatingly precise and effective when He decides to set something straight. God decided His people needed a little straightening. As Nebuchadnezzar conquers Jerusalem, Israel is sent into exile in Babylon. Enter the false prophets.
Whenever catastrophe happens, we, false prophets or not, immediately begin to create a story around it to explain its meaning. Most often the narrative does not showcase ourselves as the ones to blame. Always there are those who concoct for us false narratives—and the one or two who speak for God.
Jeremiah 29, verse 11, just a few verses before the one above, has a history of being cherry-picked and misinterpreted: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” It's written in a specific context to the nation of Israel, but it is usually taken wildly out of context. There is a tension in the promise of God for Israel here. God makes His intent to bless known, but it is within a context of repentance. It is never a waltz to the finish line; it is a plumb line with all its apostolic and prophetic consequences. Hope is coming, but after things have been straightened.
Jeremiah, as the true prophet of God, is trying to get the people to accept their captivity as from the hand of God, and it is not going well. As always, false prophets rise up and tell people what they want to hear: that the captivity will be short lived and all will be well, because “God wouldn't do this to us” and God is all about blessing us because we are “His Chosen.” Granted, Jeremiah is bringing a tough, unwelcome, startling message. As Jeremiah tries to reason with the exiles by letter, no doubt the message comes curtly back to him: “The Lord has raised up for us prophets in Babylon,” or in other words, “We are good, Jeremiah; thanks but no thanks.” But truth be told, they were far from good, and the prophets were false prophets. I mean, how could good news be wrong, and how could bad news be from God? God doesn't send captivity, Jeremiah; read the Scripture. But alas, God has sent captivity.
The prophets of Babylon have a vested interest in what they prophesy. It's not a matter of truly trying to hear God and somehow missing; rather, their hearts were somewhere else, invested in something else. No doubt they were popular; false prophets usually are. They usually tell us what we prefer to hear—that God will love us no matter what our actions are—which is both true and false, depending on what you do with it. God will technically “love” us no matter what our actions are, but He will also hold us accountable for every thought, word, and deed.
But what if you find yourself, as Jeremiah did, having to speak a hard word about the length of your people's exile, while everyone else is gravitating to a smoother message? A hell-fire-and-brimstone message is not necessarily a message from God because you could have invented a harsh God who does not forecast a future full of hope. On the other hand, sometimes the way to that good future is not going to be the easy way, the jaunt through the roses, the walk by the seaside.
Everywhere around us, people are telling us that the easy way is God's way, that He will give you rest and peace and an overall spa experience, but that is not what Jesus or any of the true prophets teach or experience for themselves. Which proves they must be wrong. Right?
Granted, His yoke is easy and His burden is light[2], but guess what? Jeremiah happened to be wearing a yoke in this account, and Hananiah, the false prophet, comes along and breaks it off Jeremiah's neck, glibly predicting that the yoke will be broken off Israel within two years. I'm sure Hananiah probably rolled his eyes and accused Jeremiah of being too serious and theatrical.
Jeremiah stands God's ground and says, “Since you have broken the wood yoke off of me, it will be replaced with an iron one on the neck of the nations, that they might serve Nebuchadnezzar (paraphrased from Jeremiah 28:14). Jeremiah stands up to Hananiah and predicts Hananiah’s death for being a false prophet. Hananiah is indeed dead by the end of the year. Jeremiah spoke the truth no matter what it cost him, and it cost him a lot: ridicule, imprisonment, and exile. Conversely, being a false prophet cost Hananiah his life in more ways than one.
Dear ones, it will cost us a lot to speak truth in these days when God is presented as One who is in it solely to make things easier for us. Of course we are rich in blessing, and have the glorious gospel full of health, healing, and hope, yet we may forget the flip side of the message—that God calls His people to holiness, repentance, and purity, and calls us to stand for the true ways of a God Who abhors sin, injustice, rebellion, and wickedness. God is God, and we are His servants.
Maybe I am only speaking to one person, but all of us need to hear the message that we are to only speak what accurately represents God and not our own ideas. If our message runs against the grain of society, it could still be what God is speaking. Status quo ideas are most likely not what God is speaking in this hour because the world is a mess, and business as usual won't fix it. What God is saying will surely run counter to the narratives of ease and easy redemption that are out there. Grace is free, but costly. To stand and speak for God is the highest calling and privilege, but we cannot compromise the message we get from His throne one jot or tittle.
Our collective witness as believers is to stand against the false narratives that the secular world and the false prophecies of the religious world try to drown us in. False patriots and false prophets come in all shapes and sizes. They can be religious or secular, overly optimistic or overly pessimistic. The point is, if they do not dwell in the secret place with God and hear His voice and His heart, they will not speak for Him. And then there you are, sitting alone with God, feeling like you are the only one in the world who is hearing a different sermon being preached from heaven. Remember there are always at least 6,999 more who have not bowed their knee to a false god and his prophets.[3]
Our prophetic call in this hour is both individual and corporate but must be, like that of the true prophets of old, steeped in the Word of God and must bring the fragrance of heaven and convey the true heart of God. It's a serious call to a devout and holy life. Take it seriously. Babylon is falling to rise no more.
Maranatha.
Rose-Marie Slosek came to know the Lord in the early seventies and has a passion for organic church and the maturing of the Body of Christ. She serves on the Emmaus Online Lead Team, leads Maranatha Northeast, and a local home fellowship. She can be reached at rmslosek@comcast.net.
[1] Jeremiah 29:15
[2] Matthew 11:30
[3] Reference to 1 Kings 19:18