Destruction By False Prophets
Lam. 2:14
Jay Horsley
In the second Lamentation of Jeremiah we find him in inconsolable anguish. Jerusalem was under siege and the suffering of the people, for least to greatest, was profound.
After generations of sin the people finally turned to the forms of repentance - sitting in sackcloth in the dirt because of their suffering. But they were far too hardened in sin to effect true repentance now. Like Esau, “For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.” (Heb. 12:17) They could only mourn at the consequences of their sin.
Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, could hardly cry enough for the suffering of the people. The great city was being destroyed. Even the littlest children in the streets and at their mothers' breasts were dying for lack of food. Jeremiah cried for these helpless and innocent of victims of the great destruction. Many think their sins effect only themselves. These little children would disagree.
But how did it come to this? This was the place even those enemies had acknowledged was “the perfection of beauty, A joy to all the earth.” It was the place of the temple of the most holy God. It was where David had reigned as a man after God's own heart, and Solomon, the king of peace, had ruled with the wisdom of God. But that was a long time ago. The people had since lived long in sin. They sinned “greater than the sin of Sodom.” (Lam. 4:6) And, “[T]he LORD has caused her grief because of the multitude of her transgressions.” (Lam. 1:5)
How could such sinfulness have continued so long and have been so deeply rooted in the city of David? Didn't the prophet Nathan go right to the throne of the king and say with conviction, “Thou art the man,” (2 Sam. 12:7) when sin was committed? Yes, but that was a long time ago, and subsequent kings did not have the same attitude as David to take rebuke, nor did most latter prophets have the same courage to convict sin.
Most of the prophets of Jeremiah's time (Jeremiah himself being almost a singular exception) refused to do their job. They would not expose sin. This is the only work that would have saved the people from calamity but they refused to live up to the demands of their profession. “Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also may be fearful of sinning.” (1 Tim. 5:20) But this generation of prophets steadfastly refused to do it. Read this Lamentation again when you think (or hear one say) that preaching is of little consequence.
Decades before Jeremiah had exposed these teachers as liars who misled the people. The Lord said, “[T]he prophets...prophesy falsely in My name...Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, even these prophets of the deception of their own heart?” (Jer. 23:25,26) And again, “Behold, I am against the prophets... [who] led My people astray by their falsehoods and reckless boasting; yet I did not send them or command them, nor do they furnish this people the slightest benefit,' declares the LORD.” (Jer. 23:31,32)
These prophets were bound by duty to God (since they spoke in His name) to magnify His name and their office by speaking words of truth. But they lacked the inclination. They didn't have the courage to convict the people of sin. Sin surrounded them, but they couldn't find any to condemn (except that they condemned Jeremiah's work in upholding the truth). It would have been better for them to have remained silent, but then what's the use of being a prophet? If a teacher won't teach his reputation as a teacher suffers, so they had to say something. In order to please the people what they ended up saying was wrong. Thus they were doubly guilty - they repressed the truth and promoted error. Through their advancement of evil by lies and deceptions, and tacit approval of evil by not speaking out against sin, they had an active part in the ruin of Jerusalem.
Surely we can see the hatred of God for such treacherous and deceptive speakers. In the Lamentations we see the result – they had helped ruin His people. Thus, when God began rebuilding the exiles in Babylon into His holy nation, He needed prophets who would always speak the whole, plain truth to them. This background helps us to better appreciate a contemporaneous warning given to a new man. A man who would be a prophet among the remnant of the people in Babylon. A man who had to speak the truth lest the exiles repeat the mistakes of their fathers. A man who was given a most stern warning before he could speak one word in the name of the Lord: Ezekiel.
The absolute commitment to truth needed by those who guide others in the name of the Lord is seen on every page of the history of God's people. So James warned, “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment.” (James 3:1). And Paul admonished Timothy, “Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching...Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things; for as you do this you will insure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.” (1 Tim. 4:13,16)