The False Prophet Hananiah
Introduction: False prophets—those who prophesy in the name of any “god” or “goddess” besides the One True and Living God—have been a problem since Old Testament days. Whether it was the serpent in Eden lying to Eve about not dying, to those who teach false doctrines these days, these people have been around and they’re going to remain for a while.
During Jeremiah’s lifetime, one of the most obvious false prophets was a man named Hananiah. We’ll take a look at Hananiah’a prophecy and what happened to him as a result.
1 The False Prophecy
Text: Jeremiah 28:1-4 , KJV: 1 And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying, 2 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the LORD'S house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon: 4 And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went into Babylon, saith the LORD: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Jeremiah was not the only prophet to live in the last several years before Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel, was carried away to Babylon. There were a few contemporaries, prophets of the LORD, God of Israel like Ezekiel and Daniel but there were also a number of false prophets. The LORD had said, “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied (Jer. 23:21, KJV)”. That chapter, by the way, has some very strong words from the LORD about false prophets and it’s still worth reading.
When the events in this chapter took place, Jeremiah had already been prophesying for a number of years. Nobody else knew, at the time, that Judah had only about a dozen years before captivity became a reality for the people. Who knows, maybe they thought that with a new king, there would be a new hope, or something. As we, and they, know, it didn’t turn out that way.
Now, at an unspecified time, here came Hananiah, a prophet and son of a prophet from Gibeon. That city was known as far back as Joshua’s time (see Joshua 9) and along with three others was one of only four cities to surrender to Israel! Their cunning and desire to live has always been something I’ve thought about for many years. Digressing for a moment, Gibeon was rewarded by becoming a city for the priests along with Anathoth, Jeremiah’s hometown (Josh. 21:17-18).
Some may be concerned with the statement in verse 1 that this event took place “in the beginning” of Zedekiah’s reign, but it was “in the fourth year and in the fifth month (around August in our calendar)” when Hananiah spoke the words of this prophecy. A few of the commentators, like Matthew Poole (https://biblehub.com/commentaries/poole/jeremiah/28.htm), have an explanation. Matthew Henry, in his complete commentary, (there is an abridged version) (https://biblehub.com/commentaries/mhcw/jeremiah/28.htm) observed that the first few years of Zedekiah’s reign were truly a “beginning” for him. John Gill also provides comments about this (https://biblehub.com/commentaries/gill/jeremiah/28.htm).
The fact remains, though, that Jeremiah had preached and warned the people about judgment to come, but there were no known results. He also provided glimpses of the future, which also seemed to be ignored. Jeremiah 29 is one such example of what was to come. Hananiah’s message, however, was completely different.
He (Hananiah) then made three prophecies as follows:
--“I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon”. As I understand the translation, Hananiah was saying, “This is a done deal” There is no way that had come true. Babylon may not have been laying siege to Jerusalem at the time, but they’d be back with a vengeance.
Jeremiah had been told to wear a wooden yoke as a symbol to Judah and several other nations that they were all going to be conquered by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (Jer. 27:1-7). I’ve not yet found a picture or drawing of one of these yokes but the basic description is something that controls either an animal or even a slave. What Jeremiah was wearing, and those he had sent to the other kings, were apparently all literal yokes made out of wood (https://biblehub.com/text/jeremiah/27-2.htm). One wonders at the reaction of those other kings when they received this “item” from Jeremiah!
--“Within two full years” the LORD would bring back to Jerusalem all of the LORD’s items which Nebuchadnezzar had carried to Babylon. As prophesied (Jer. 27:16-22), those vessels did indeed make it to Babylon as part of Nebuchadnezzar’s treasure (2 Chronicles 36 18-21). Those treasures stayed in Babylon until at least the end of the Babylonian kingdom (Daniel 5) but Cyrus, king of Persia, allowed the Jews to take them back in the first year of his reign (Ezra 1). At any rate, it was a lot longer than two years before anything came back to Jerusalem from the exile in Babylon.
--“the LORD will bring back Jeconiah and all the captives that went to Babylon (paraphrased).” Jeconiah had only reigned 100 days (three months and ten days, per 2 Chronicles 36:9) before he and several others were taken captive to Babylon (2 Kings 24:10-20). This prophecy never came true because Jeconiah stayed in Babylon for the rest of his life, apparently (Jer. 52:31-34), but a number of the captives did return. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah speak more about this..
--“I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.” Here and in verse 2, Hananiah used a different word for “yoke” (https://biblehub.com/text/jeremiah/28-4.htm). Jeremiah was wearing a literal, real, visible, wooden item, maybe over his neck and/or shoulders but Hananiah was referring to the invisible but no less real control Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon had over Judah already. John Gill (https://biblehub.com/commentaries/gill/jeremiah/28.htm) made a comment that the LORD, according to Hananiah’s (false) prophecy, “had broken” the yoke of Babylon by bringing back the people and vessels but “will break” the king of Babylon’s power at a later time. All of this did come true, but only after the seventy years of exile and not one day before.
That was the end of Hananiah’s prophecy. Whether he knew he was preaching lies to the people, or if he was sincere—yet sincerely mistaken—is something we may never know. All we do know for certain is that it was convincing enough, for Hananiah at least, to declare this message as something the LORD had given him.
Now let’s take a look at how the people reacted to this prophecy.
2 The Futile Performance
Text, Jeremiah 28:5-11, KJV: 5 Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people that stood in the house of the LORD, 6 Even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen: the LORD do so: the LORD perform thy words which thou hast prophesied, to bring again the vessels of the LORD'S house, and all that is carried away captive, from Babylon into this place. 7 Nevertheless hear thou now this word that I speak in thine ears, and in the ears of all the people; 8 The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old prophesied both against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence. 9 The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the LORD hath truly sent him. 10 Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and brake it. 11 And Hananiah spake in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.
We’re not told how any of the priests or others in the audience responded to Hananiah’s prophecy but we do have Jeremiah’s reaction. My opinion is that, first, Jeremiah was glad to hear a word of hope. Being a priest, Jeremiah may have seen or even used some of the very articles for the Temple that had been whisked off to Babylon. The hope of using God’s Vessels in the worship of the God of Israel might well have been something Jeremiah wished for.
Second, I sincerely doubt Jeremiah was happy about proclaiming judgment to come. Of course we need to be reminded of this (preachers especially need to heed the Word!) about judgment but as Paul wrote many years later, “if we judge ourselves we won’t be judged (by the Lord, 1 Corinthians 11:31-32, paraphrased).” So sad, that even after so many repeated warnings and promises, Judah continued down the pathway of sin and paid dearly for it.
But at the very least, we do know that Jeremiah believed this was a true prophecy. He agreed by saying, “Amen, the LORD do so” in hopes that judgment would be avoided. Hananiah seemed to have heard Jeremiah’s message in the last part of what’s now chapter 27 and was giving an alternate message of his own here.
And yet, Jeremiah wasn’t finished. Sure, he hoped Hananiah’s message was true but he was led by the LORD to add a word of warning: not just to Hananiah but any prophet who claimed he was bringing the LORD’s messages. Jeremiah’s message to Hananiah was very terse and succinct, simply, A, remember that the prophets before us spoke of many things (example, Isaiah’s various subjects in his messages) and, B, if anyone prophesies about peace, and that peace does come, then the people would know the LORD had truly sent that prophet. I take that as a warning to Hananiah (don’t be lying to us about peace) and a plea (make sure you are bringing a message from the LORD, not from anyone else).
We saw how Jeremiah reacted, by agreeing to the wish for Hananiah’s prophecy to be genuine, and also a word of caution from a veteran prophet. Hananiah’s reaction, though, was a lot different. Jeremiah was still wearing the wooden yoke which the LORD commanded him to wear, but Hananiah (brazenly?) broke that yoke! How he did that is something we don’t need to be concerned with, but to me, it would have made sense to leave things as they were. I mean, what did Hananiah really hope to gain by basically attacking Jeremiah?
Even worse, look at how Hananiah responded after he broke the yoke. He affirmed, “Even so, the LORD will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar . . . from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years”. I mean, there was no respect or deference to one of God’s true prophets; no prayer was mentioned, and a bit of arrogance included, as I see it.
Hananiah’s performance, breaking the yoke Jeremiah was wearing, didn’t prove anything except, maybe, Hananiah’s strength. This performance, then, was futile as absolutely nothing happened—no sign at all of any confirmation. Jeremiah said nothing after all of this and simply “went his way”. But there’s more to the story.
3 The Future Punishment
Text, Jeremiah 28:12-17, KJV: 12 Then the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the prophet, after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying, 13 Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron. 14 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him: and I have given him the beasts of the field also. 15 Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. 16 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the LORD. 17 So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.
“Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah.” This happened after Hananiah had broken the wooden yoke Jeremiah had been wearing. Jeremiah had gone his way, maybe back to his house, when the LORD sent him this word or message.
And what a message it was. The first thing the LORD instructed Jeremiah to do was to give Hananiah a true message from the True God. That message was, in so many words, “You broke the wooden yoke, but now you will make yokes of iron for them.” Then as now, iron was hard to break, at the very least much more durable and resistant than wood. As an example, take a look at railroad tracks. The steel rails might rust, but they don’t decay like the wood “sleepers” or crossties. I’ve seen some of those wooden ties that were bleached almost white from the sun, and cracks large enough to put several thicknesses of saw blades inside that cavity. Hananiah might have broken a yoke of wood, but nobody could break a yoke of iron.
The second part of that message was that just as Jeremiah had sent wooden yokes to a number of foreign, yet local, kings, now the LORD was going to place those iron yokes on the same men. This second section of the LORD’s message went on to say, “Those kings will serve the king of Babylon, and I’ve also given him the beasts of the field.”
And there was another message, directly from the LORD through Jeremiah to Hananiah. This one was up close and personal, as some might say: “Hear now, Hananiah; the LORD didn’t send you. Worse, you’ve made the people trust in a lie.” He had surely done that, by delivering a message he may have thought was genuine or for some other reason. We may never know.
Even so, there was one thing everybody knew: Jeremiah “lowered the boom” on Hananiah by telling him expressly, “Thus saith the LORD, ‘this year, you will die because you taught rebellion against the LORD’”. I’m sure Jeremiah was not happy at the prospect of delivering this message to Hananiah (the name, Hananiah, interestingly, means “The LORD is gracious” or “The LORD has favored, per https://biblehub.com/hebrew/2608.htm). But deliver that message he did, and one can only imagine the reaction from Hananiah when he heard the words of this death sentence directly from the LORD. The LORD takes things very seriously.
Hananiah lived about two months after he had given his false prophecy (compare verses 1 and 17). Did he ever repent or seek the LORD’s forgiveness? Did he ever make things right between God and himself? I hope so, as all I can say is that should such a warning ever come to me, one of the first things I would do is get right with God.
After all, none of us know for certain how long we’re going to live on this earth.
Wouldn’t it be better to stay true to the LORD, as Jeremiah did, instead of risking the LORD’s disfavor, like Hananiah? May the LORD give us all wisdom to know the true from the false, and to choose His best over anything the world might try to offer us.
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
