Call to Commitment

The fulfillment of the prophecy of bad figs   

      15. Because you have said, "The LORD      has raised up prophets for us in Babylon" -

      16.  therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, concerning all the people who dwell in this city, and concerning your brethren who have not gone out with you into captivity— 

 17.  thus says the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten, they are so bad. 

 18.  And I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence; and I will deliver them to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth—to be a curse, an astonishment, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, 

 19.  because they have not heeded My words, says the LORD, which I sent to them by My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; neither would you heed, says the LORD. 

 20.  Therefore hear the word of the LORD, all you of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon. 

 21.  Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in My name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall slay them before your eyes. 

 22.  And because of them a curse shall be taken up by all the captivity of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, "The LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire"; 

 23.  because they have done disgraceful things in Israel, have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and have spoken lying words in My name, which I have not commanded them. Indeed I know, and am a witness, says the LORD. 

 Remember the parable of the figs in chapter 24, some very good and some so rotten that they could not be eaten? In that chapter, the word of the Lord came in form of prophecy. The good figs would be those, who submitted to the captivity of Nebuchadnezzar, yielding to the good counsel of the Lord with all their hearts (13): "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: 'Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah” (Jer.24:5). The bad figs represented those who rebelled, many of them remaining in Judah, as stated in 24:8, “so will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, his princes, the residue of Jerusalem who remain in this land.”

 The prophecy was now fulfilled in those already in Babylon and in the first 14 verses of this chapter, Jeremiah had addressed a letter to those of the captivity, giving them hope for a positive future. At this point, he turns to the rebellious, speaking to those in Babylon, concerning those in Judea, but also referring to their own condition. These were people, who depended on the false prophets, who dwelt in Babylon (15), who discouraged the captives from settling down there, insisting that the stay would be short.

 They had concluded that God had raised up these men, one of which was Shemaiah the Nehelamite, who later writes to those in Judea. The Lord reaffirms His word concerning King Zedekiah, the citizens remaining in Jerusalem, and all in general, not carried into Babylon (16). It is the same prophecy of sword, famine and pestilence, badly ruining their future existence. There would be nothing left, for which to live (17).

 The curse is reenforced in verse 18 and may even suggest a double fulfillment in a future dispersion, resulting in the Jews being alienated from their native land and distributed throughout all the earth under the Lord’s order. They are not only cursed, but disgraced among these nations, who are astonished at the judgment that their God brought upon them. They are jeered and regarded with contempt, as though forsaken by the Lord. 

 When the Bible pronounces doom upon the rebellious and disobedient, it is a word, to which we all need to pay attention. It will sharpen our own determination and resolve to obedience (20). The word of the Lord speaks to all and all need to pay attention, in order that all will renounce and resist the lies of the false prophets.

 God pronounces a curse upon two false prophets in particular, Ahab and Zedekiah. Zedekiah was the brother of Zephaniah, who was a priest (see v.25). These blasphemous men attribute their message to God, bringing judgment upon themselves. We don’t know the reason, for which Nebuchadnezzar will publicly kill them before the eyes of the people, but God will testify thereby that they have believed a lie (21). The means by which the Babylonian emperor will execute Ahab and Zedekiah will be by fire. As the Romans later used crucifixion, Nebuchadnezzar burnt those, who provoked his displeasure. We remember his threat upon anyone refusing to bow down to his image, and how Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were supernaturally delivered from an intensely heated furnace. It will be a curse, which the Jews in Babylon would customarily pronounce, recalling the fiery death of the two false prophets (22).

  They are adulterous men, who bring to mind the filthy practices of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormons (23). He was guilty of committing adultery with various wives of his followers, then later tried to justify his sin, by developing a doctrine of polygamy. Such men are not the promoters of God-given prophecy, in which holy men of God spoke: “For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 P.1:21).

Shemaiah's False Prophecy

 24.  You shall also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying, 

 25.  Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: You have sent letters in your name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, 

 26.  "The LORD has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, so that there should be officers in the house of the LORD over every man who is demented and considers himself a prophet, that you should put him in prison and in the stocks. 

 27.  Now therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who makes himself a prophet to you? 

 28.  For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, 'This captivity is long; build houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat their fruit.' " 

 29.  Now Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet. 

 30.  Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying: 

 31.  Send to all those in captivity, saying, Thus says the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I have not sent him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie— 

 32.  therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his family: he shall not have anyone to dwell among this people, nor shall he see the good that I will do for My people, says the LORD, because he has taught rebellion against the LORD. 

 Now the Lord singles out another prophet named Shemaiah (24) the Nehelamite, and Nehelamite means dreamer. Jeremiah has some things to say to us about dreamers in his book and, in fact, in verse 8, he relays the Lord’s warning to the general public of paying attention to their dreams.

 Jamieson-Faucett-Brown comments: “The Latin adage says, ‘The people wish to be deceived, so let them be deceived.’ Not mere credulity misleads men, but their own perverse ‘love of darkness rather than light.’ It was not priests who originated priestcraft, but the people’s own morbid appetite to be deceived; for example, Aaron and the golden calf (Exo_32:1-4). So the Jews caused or made the prophets to tell them encouraging dreams (Jer_23:25, Jer_23:26; Ecc_5:7; Zec_10:2; Joh_3:19-21).”

 God speaks as the Lord of hosts, denoting the forces that He has at His disposal. He is the God of Israel, revealing that His faithful instruction alone will come as unerring truth to His people.  The Lord has observed Shemaiah’s opposition to His word and the great responsibility that he took upon himself to indoctrinate the Jews with error. He did so without godly fear, exalting his own name and using it to influence the entire Jerusalem population. In particular, he addresses the priesthood and singles out Zephaniah for a special, individual message. I will repeat the fact, mentioned in verse 21, that Zephaniah and Zedekiah were brothers (25).

 Zedekiah, a false prophet, died a horrible death and now, his brother, Zephaniah, a false chief priest, will continue to act against God’s servants. Shemaiah wants to strengthen his evil hand, comparing him to the great priest, Jehoiada, who acted against the queen mother, Athaliah. This outstanding priest covenanted with God and the people that they would follow the Lord (2 R.11:15-17). Zephaniah does not have any of the moral fiber of Jehoiada, therefore Shemaiah’s words are empty.  

 He is raising up officers in the temple, who would stand against every prophet called of God. They bring to mind the priests, scribes and Pharisees, who ruled entirely for the cause of men and devils in Jesus’ day and, in the process, brought about His crucifixion. They considered themselves guardians of the temple, but used it for their own ambitious business.   

 Self-important Shemaiah saw similar officials to be legitimate and considered true prophets to be “demented” and self-appointed. Historically, we might see that men of God could be considered eccentric by an eye that is not trained in the Holy Spirit. A man from the school of the prophets went to anoint a commander of Israel’s army, Jehu, to be king over Israel. His uninformed companions asked Jehu, “Why did this madman come to you?” (2 K.9:1-11). I find this comment in the TSK Cross References: “It is probable there was something peculiar in the young prophet's manner and address, similar to the vehement actions sometimes used by the prophets when under the Divine influence, which caused the bystanders to use this contemptuous language.”

 John the Baptist wore “camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey” (Mt.3:4). His own people said of Jesus, “He is out of his mind” (Mk.3:21). Many of the Jews said, “He has a demon and is mad” (Jn.10:20). Some mocked the disciples on the Day of Pentecost, “They are full of new wine” (Ac.2:13). Our great apostle Paul knew the critical judgment of sophisticated, but ungodly people, when he stated: “If we are beside ourselves (Greek, out of wits, to astound or amaze, insane), it is for God; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you” (2 Co.5:13).

Shemaiah instructed Zephaniah to jail God’s prophets in stocks (26). He wonders why the Jerusalem religious leaders have not already rebuked Jeremiah, whom this false, but influential, prophet considers to be in the category of the self-appointed, even though already, his prophecy has seen fulfillment, while theirs has been absolutely bogus (14:13). The false prophets are backtracking on the promise that the captivity would never come, but still refuse to accept the word of the Lord. Shemaiah offers no evidence for his claim, but resorts to demeaning insults, such as we have already read in the last verse. Associating Jeremiah with insignificant Anathoth is probably something akin to the Sanhedrin continually referring to Jesus as having Galilean roots in the mean town of Nazareth (27). 

 Having been carried into Babylon, he is incensed by Jeremiah’s letter, in which he counselled the Jews to make the most of their captivity. The man of God has heard from his Lord that the captivity would expand over 70 years. As we have seen, the Lord wants them to increase and not diminish (28).

 Zephaniah, faithful to Shemaiah, reads the letter to Jeremiah. Shemaiah is captive in Babylon, while Jeremiah is yet free in Jerusalem, but |Zephaniah has a mindless bias, which negates reason and dominates him (29). He falls short, however, of imprisoning Jeremiah, perhaps showing him some respect. The prophet’s authority is uniquely from God, and needs no other source (30). Therefore, the answer is not from Jeremiah, but from heaven.

 His crime is treason, causing widespread rebellion against their Creator and God. He pronounces him guilty in the supreme courtroom and there is nowhere to go to appeal. We saw judgment fall on Hananiah in the previous chapter. He received the death sentence. Now, a three-fold sentence is delivered against Shemaiah’s crime and reaches to affect his family: 1) No one will inherit his position. 2) His family will remain in Babylon, when the Lord restores the Jews to their land. 3) He will never return to see the blessing of God upon Israel. His short-sighted vision of God’s discipline, will prohibit his participation in it, when it reaches its end and purpose (32).  

 There are times, when governmental authorities provide protection to the Lord’s flock, evil as they may be, but God expects his people to respond with allegiance and prayer, in order that they might “lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (1 T.2:2). In this way, the believer passes his temporal and imperfect time on the earth, enroute to his eternal and perfect habitation.  In so doing, he leaves earthly deliverance in God’s hand, be it soon-coming or in the distant future.