Scripture Text: Jeremiah 23:25-40 (KJV)
Introduction: A World of Competing Voices
Good evening, my friends.
We live in a world that is drowning in noise. We are bombarded every day by a thousand competing voices. Voices from our phones, from our televisions, from social media influencers, from motivational speakers, and yes, even from preachers in pulpits. All of them are claiming to have a message. A secret to success, a path to happiness, a word of truth.
In all of this deafening noise, how can we possibly discern the one, true, life-giving voice of Almighty God from the many convincing and attractive counterfeits?
This is not a new problem. In the days of the prophet Jeremiah, the people of God were also confused. They were listening to prophets who told them what they wanted to hear—messages of peace when there was no peace, promises of blessing while they lived in sin. And into this marketplace of popular lies, God sent Jeremiah to speak a hard and holy truth. In our text today, God Himself takes the stand to teach us how to tell the difference between His eternal Word and the empty words of men.
I. The Contrast: Wheat vs. Chaff (v. 25-28)
God begins by establishing a foundational contrast, an agricultural picture that everyone could understand.
The Source and Nature of Chaff:
God says, "I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed." The source of their message was not the throne room of heaven, but the "deceit of their own heart." Chaff is the empty, worthless husk that surrounds the kernel of grain. It looks like it's part of the harvest, but it has no substance. It is light, empty, and has no power to nourish. False teaching is just like this. It is born from human opinion and self-serving desires. It is often light, frothy, and superficial. It may tickle the ears and please the crowd, but it has no spiritual nutrition. It cannot sustain a soul through the storms of life.
The Source and Nature of Wheat:
Then God draws the line in the sand with this powerful question: "What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD." In contrast to the worthless chaff of human dreams, God's Word is wheat. Wheat is substantial. It is solid. It has weight. It is the very bread of life, packed with the nutrients necessary for growth and strength. God's true Word is not always what we want to hear, but it is always what we need. The test for any message is this: Is it feeding your soul with the solid substance of God's truth, or is it just filling your ears with the light, empty chaff of human opinion?
II. The Character: Fire and Hammer (v. 29)
God is not finished describing His Word. He moves from an agricultural metaphor to an industrial one. His Word is not passive or gentle; it is active and powerful.
God's Word is like a FIRE:
"Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD..." A fire does two powerful things. First, it exposes and purifies. A refiner's fire burns away the dross and impurities, leaving only pure gold. In the same way, the Word of God shines into the dark corners of our hearts, exposing our sin, burning away our selfish motives, and purifying our faith. A message that only ever comforts you and never convicts you is likely not the fire of God's Word. Second, fire consumes. It is an unstoppable force against that which is flammable. God's Word is a consuming fire against all falsehood, rebellion, and sin.
God's Word is like a HAMMER:
He continues, "...and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" A hammer is an instrument of immense power, designed to shatter that which is hard and resistant. This is what God's Word does to the stony, prideful, rebellious human heart. It is not a gentle tap of suggestion; it is a powerful blow meant to break our self-righteousness, demolish our idols, and shatter the strongholds of sin in our lives. A message that only ever affirms you and never breaks you is likely not the hammer of God's Word.
III. The Condemnation: The Burden of the LORD (v. 30-40)
Finally, God pronounces a solemn judgment on both the false prophets and the people who prefer their empty messages.
The Crime of the False Prophets:
God declares three times, "I am against the prophets." Why? Because they steal from each other's empty messages, they lie by claiming God's authority for their own words, and their frothy, superficial teaching causes the people to go astray and offers them no true spiritual profit.
The Mockery of the People:
The people had become so cynical that they began to mock Jeremiah and his serious warnings. They would sarcastically ask him, "What is the burden of the LORD?" The word "burden" meant both a heavy prophetic oracle and a heavy load. They were treating God's weighty truth as a joke.
The Terrible Irony of Judgment:
God takes their cynical pun and turns it into their sentence. He tells Jeremiah to say to them, "You want to know what the burden is? Ye are the burden. Your rebellion, your mockery, your love of lies—you have become a heavy weight to me, a weight that I am about to cast off and forsake." The ultimate judgment for treating God's Word lightly is to be forsaken by God Himself. It is a terrifying warning against the sin of mocking holy things.
Conclusion: What Are You Feeding On?
The contrasts God lays out for us are stark and clear. It is the life-giving wheat versus the worthless chaff. It is the purifying fire and the rock-shattering hammer versus the frothy lightness of lies.
We live in an age of spiritual chaff. It is everywhere. It is on our screens and in many books. It promises success without sacrifice, a crown without a cross, and blessing without repentance. It is light, it is easy, and it is popular. And it has no power to save a single soul.
So I ask you today, what are you feeding your soul? Are you content with the light, empty chaff of feel-good messages and motivational speeches that never challenge your sin? Or do you have a holy hunger for the solid wheat of God's Word? Are you willing to submit your life to the Word that is a fire to purify you and a hammer to break you, so that God may remake you in the image of His Son?
I urge you, become a discerning people. Test every message. Turn away from the voices that offer cheap chaff. And cultivate a deep and abiding hunger for the pure, powerful, life-giving Word of God.
