Listen to the Prophet; but Which One?

The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes true, then it will be known that the LORD has truly sent the prophet [Jeremiah 28:8-9].

During the long, liturgical season between Trinity Sunday (the Sunday after Pentecost) and “Christ the King” Sunday (the Sunday before the Season of Advent), the weekly readings appointed by the Lectionary are more loosely tied together than during other periods of the church year. That factor may allow us to dip our toes into some OT lessons that we might not otherwise encounter. Such is the case with this Sunday’s Jeremiah reading [Jeremiah 28:5-9], a portion of which I have quoted above. Some context is required.

The scene is some time after the Babylonian’s initial attack on Jerusalem in 597 BCE. At that time, many leaders within Jerusalem were carried off into exile. Some have remained in the capital city. Because of the arguments offered by various parties in the scriptural text, we know that the time is also before the total destruction of both the city and the Temple in 587 BCE.

Two prophets have emerged. One, Hananiah, is mentioned in Holy Scripture only in connection with this dispute. In the previous chapter of the book of Jeremiah, we see that Hananiah tells the people that the voice of the LORD has spoken to him. In two short years, if they resist the Babylonians, the situation will be reversed, and the kingdom will be fully restored. Their worship items will be returned, and those who have been exiled will return home triumphantly.

The other prophet, Jeremiah, has a different take on the matter. He advises that the LORD has given him a different message: that because the people have broken the covenant with the LORD, their current sense of peril is actually going to become much worse. Rather than achieving peace in two years, they face total devastation. To signify this, Jeremiah fashions a yoke and puts it around his neck, indicating to the people that the yoke of Babylon has been placed on Judah (whose capital was Jerusalem). Jeremiah tells them that the Babylonian power is the work of Yahweh, who is punishing them for their turning away. They should accept their situation and wait for the LORD to act, although that action will not come quickly. Hananiah, convinced that he is right and that Jeremiah is wrong, takes the yoke from Jeremiah, breaks it in two, and says that in the same manner, the yoke of Babylon will soon be destroyed.

We, of course, have the benefits of hindsight. We know that Jeremiah — not Hananiah — was correct. Indeed, in less than two years, Hananiah will be dead. The city will be plundered; the Temple utterly destroyed. What voice, therefore, was in Hananiah’s head? Might it have been his own?

I’ve laughed with a preacher friend that only those of us who have never tempered a sermon from what we felt actually led to say to something that was instead more soothing — and popular with the congregation — are in a position to judge Hananiah. That leaves me out.

Hananiah’s message is appealing. What he essentially says is “trust in the LORD.” His additional point, “The people of Judah, as descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, are chosen by Yahweh for greatness.” To pull a phrase from the New Testament, it is as if he is saying, “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God” [1 Peter 2:10a]. Hananiah’s argument: “Have faith in Yahweh, for He is on our side.” And, of course, Yahweh is on Judah’s side, isn’t He? Hananiah’s argument was full of power and confidence. It was what many wanted to hear.

Jeremiah’s response was just the opposite. In the next chapter, Jeremiah says he has some words for those who are already in exile: “Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce” [Jeremiah 29:5]. In other words, both the exiled and those still in Jerusalem were to accept their current situation, remain patient. Yahweh would provide for their salvation. Yahweh will act again on behalf of His people, but not now.

And so, what were the people to do? Were they to bide their time and await for the LORD to act, knowing that it would not be soon? Were they to rise up, band together, and fight the Babylonian foe who was poised against them? Unfortunately, they could not do both.

This sort of dilemma sounds familiar, does it not? Those who are protesting the fatal shooting of Rayshard Brooks outside an Atlanta fast-food restaurant, and those who marched together following the earlier killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, are echoing — although some with violence — the argument put forth by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., before his untimely death. Not only did Dr. King have a dream, but he expressed exasperation at the time it was taking for that dream to be fulfilled. His 1964 book, “Why We Can’t Wait,” was spawned from his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” King would later comment that it was easy for some to stand around him and tell him to be patient and that racial justice would happen “in due time.” He and others were tired of waiting. It takes courage to speak out in times of trouble.

And yet, it can also take immense levels of courage to build one’s house and plant one’s garden in the spot where one currently finds oneself. I hope I don’t embarrass him by saying this, but there is no limit to the love and respect that I have for my brother, Jeff, who suffered a stroke several years ago, and who, instead of feeling victimized by his partial, yet persistent paralysis, has heeded Jeremiah’s words. He’s pulled himself up, “built his house,” and “planted his garden” in the imperfect world within which he finds himself.

In our world, it seems that Hananiah isn’t always right, but he likewise isn’t always wrong. Must one always endure the status quo? Must one always feel empowered to take matters into one’s own hands and not wait on the LORD?The question becomes: Does Yahweh speak in the ears of persons like Hananiah or does He speak in the ears of those like Jeremiah?

You know the answer: “Yes.”