Lead Others to the Lord

Explore the Bible Series

April 17, 2005

Background Passage: Jeremiah 21:1-28:17

Lesson Passage: Jeremiah 28:1-4, 7-11, 15-17

Introduction: This lengthy section of the Book of Jeremiah deals with the Lord’s complaint against the political and religious leaders of Judah. These leaders acted as a kind of barometer of the spiritual illness of the people. The people of Judah had followed the unworthy example of their rulers, and these authority figures led the nation to moral ruin. Generally, people receive the kind of leadership they deserve and desire. The moral and spiritual nature of the rulers often reflects the character of those they lead. Furthermore, the people of Judah rejected and mistreated the prophets God sent them. Much can be told about a people by their treatment and receptivity to those whom the Lord has sent to them.

Outline of Background Passage:

I. God’s Complaint against the Kings of Judah (21:1-22:30)

A. Jeremiah’s message to Zedekiah (21:1-22:10)

1. Zedekiah’s disingenuous inquiry (21:1-2)

2. Jeremiah’s prediction that Zedekiah and the people would suffer a terrible military defeat and die painfully by Babylonian swords (21:2-10)

3. God’s judgment on the injustice and oppression of the poor and helpless (21:11-22:10)

B. Jeremiah’s message to Shallum (22:11-17): Shallum (Jehoahaz) assumed the throne of Judah when Josiah died in 609. He reigned only three months, and probably struggled under Egyptian rule during his brief reign. Pharaoh Neco, in all probability, took Shallum to Egypt, and the king of Judah died disgracefully during his Egyptian incarceration.

1. Shallum did not walk in the ways of his father Josiah (22:11)

2. Jeremiah’s anticipation of Shallum’s shameful death (22:12)

3. The prophet scolded Judah for paying low wages to laborers (v. 13), living in luxurious houses (v. 14), covetousness (v. 16-17), and oppressive violence (v. 17b).

C. Jeremiah’s message concerning Jehoiakim (22:18-23): Jehoiakim (Eliakim) succeeded his brother on the throne of Judah, and he had the same unworthy character as Shallum. He sought, for a time, the protection of the Egyptians, but he abandoned this alliance when he observed the rise of Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. Oddly, he eventually rebelled against the Babylonians too, and he eventually came to ruin.

1. The people of Judah forbidden to grieve for Jehoiakim (v. 18)

2. Jehoikim’s body desecrated like he was an animal (v. 19)

3. Judah’s shameful adultery and deafness to the Lord’s warnings (vv. 20-23)

D. Jeremiah’s message concerning Coniah (22:24-30): Coniah (Jehoiachin) ruled only a few months after me succeeded his father Jehoiakim. The Babylonians spared his life, but they carried him into a lengthy captivity (See v. 25).

1. The insignificance of symbols of power and privilege (v. 24)

2. The promised captivity of Coniah and his mother (vv. 25-27)

3. A lament for the king (vv. 28-30)

II. The Danger of False Religious Leaders (23:1-40)

A. False shepherds scattered and neglected the Lord’s flock (vv. 1-2)

B. God’s pledge to raise up new shepherds (vv. 3-8)

C. Jeremiah’s brokenheartedness because of the Lord’s message against Judah (vv. 9-15)

D. Unreliable guides (vv. 16-17)

E. God’s judgment like a whirlwind (vv. 18-20)

F. Prophets not sent from God (vv. 21-22)

G. God’s perfect awareness of the false prophets (vv. 23-29)

H. The Lord’s hostility toward the false prophets (vv. 30-40)

III. The Vision of Two Baskets of Figs (24:1-10)

A. The occasion of the vision (v.1): after the Babylonian Captivity had begun

B. The Basket of Good Fruit (vv. 2-7): God foreshadowed goodness and blessing for the remnant of his people whom planned to return to Judah.

C. The Basket of Bad Fruit (vv. 2 and 8-11): The bad fruit represented the rulers of Judah and the ungodly residue of the land.

IV. God’s Judgment on the Nations (25:1-38)

A. God’s seventy-year judgment on Judah (vv. 1-14)

1. Judah’s refusal to hear the Lord’s word (vv. 1-7)

2. God will use Babylon as his instrument of judgment (vv. 8-11)

3. God planned to punish Babylon after seventy years (vv. 12-14)

B. The nations must drink the cup of God’s wrath (vv. 15-38)

1. the nations will stagger like drunken men (vv. 15-16)

2. Judah will not escape this judgment (vv. 17-18 and 29-38)

3. the nations surrounding Judah will drink the wine of the Lord’s wrath (vv. 19-28)

V. Jeremiah’s Temple Sermon and its Result (26:1-24)

A. Jeremiah’s sermon in the court of the Lord’s house (vv. 1-6)

B. The people and their leaders sought Jeremiah’s death (vv. 7-11)

C. Jeremiah’s continued plea to Judah (vv. 12-15)

D. Some of the religious leaders rose to Jeremiah’s defense (vv. 16-19)

E. Jehoiakim killed Urijah the prophet, and God spared Jeremiah (vv.20-24)

VI. Jeremiah’s Conflict with False Prophets (27:1-28:17)

A. The symbol of the yokes (27:1-15)

1. Yokes sent to the rulers of Edom, Moab, Ammon, and Tyre and Sidon (vv. 1-5)

2. The nations will bear the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar (vv. 6-15)

3. Warning not to listen to the false prophets (vv. 16-22)

B. Jeremiah’s conflict with the false prophet Hananiah

1. Hananiah’s false prophecy (vv. 1-4)

2. Jeremiah’s challenge to the false prophet (vv. 5-9)

3. The false prophet’s answer to Jeremiah’s challenge (vv. 10-11)

4. Jeremiah’s prediction of Hananiah’s impending death (vv. 12-17)

Lesson Outline:

I. Hananiah’s False Prophecy (28:1-4)

A. The occasion of this incident (v.1): This confrontation occurred while Jeremiah continued to wear the yoke God commanded him to fashion. Thompson dates the conflict between the prophets at c. 594 B.C. Hananiah hailed from Gibeon, about six miles north of Jerusalem, but he made his proclamation in the Temple in the midst of a great crowd.

B. Hananiah’s challenge to Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar (vv.2-4)

1. The false prophet proclaimed that God had already broken the Babylonian yoke (v. 2)

2. The false hope that the Temple items would be returned in two years (v. 3)

3. The people, Hananiah promised, would return from captivity with the king’s son (v. 4)

II. The Confrontation Intensified (28:7-11)

A. Jeremiah wished that Hananiah had told the truth (See v. 6), but he knew that God did not authorize the words of this false prophet (v. 7-9). It is difficult to discern if Hananiah believed his own report, or he was simply a charlatan. Whatever the case, Jeremiah felt compelled to confront the false prophet. Just as Hananiah proclaimed his false report publicly, Jeremiah confronted him in the Temple (v.7). There are times when brothers should express their differences in private; however, when critical issues are at stake, confrontation must, at times, come in a conspicuous arena.

B. Jeremiah seemed content to let their case be settled in two “courts.”

1. The prophets of the past (v. 8): Hananiah had essentially criticized Jeremiah for preaching too negatively about Judah. The people, after all, rose to the more positive message of the false man. Jeremiah reasoned that former prophets had preached in a similar manner as he had, and he stood in a long and distinguished line of prophets who had not flinched from preaching the judgment of God.

2. The events of the future (v. 9): Soon, the people would see who told the truth. Two years would pass quickly, and the people would see that Hananiah had misled them.

C. Hananiah’s counterargument (vv. 10-11)

1. He took the yoke from Jeremiah’s neck and broke it (v. 10): This powerful act of rebellion against God must have impressed those who watched this drama. God had told Jeremiah to fashion this yoke, and the false prophet took the yoke and broke it.

2. He proclaimed, again, that God would break Nebuchadnezzar’s yoke on Judah in two years (v. 11). The prophet had told the people that Judah would remain under Babylonian domination for seventy years.

Conclusion: God pronounced a judgment of death on Hananiah (v.16). He had preached an attractive message, and, no doubt, had attracted a considerable following; nevertheless. His message was false. He brought condemnation on himself and all who listened to him. The measure of a man’s message is not the magnitude of his audience but the character of his obedience to God’s word. Hananiah died seven months after this confrontation, but the damaging effects of his false prophecy lasted for a generation.