Shemaiah

Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the Lord and entreat the favor of the Lord? And did not the Lord relent of the disaster that he had pronounced against them? But we are about to bring disaster upon ourselves.

There was another man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Uriah the son of Shemaiah, from Kiriath Jehorim, He prophesied against this city and against this land in words like those of Jeremiah.

And when King Jehoiakim, with all his warriors and all the officials, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death.

But when Uriah heard of it, he was afraid and fled and escaped to Egypt.

I am the one who knows, and I am witness, declares the Lord.

Shemaiah's false prophecy.

To Shemaiah of Nehalam you shall say, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, You have sent letters in your name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maasiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, The Lord has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to have charge in the house of the Lord over every madman who prophesies, to put him in the stocks and neck irons.

now why have you not rebuked jeremiah of anathoth who is prophesying to you for he is sent to us in babylon saying your exile will be long build houses and live in them and plant gardens and eat their produce zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of jeremiah the prophet Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, Send to all the exiles, saying, Thus says the Lord concerning Shemaiah of Nehalam, Because Shemaiah had prophesied to you when I did not send him, and has made you trust in a lie, therefore thus says the Lord, Behold, I will punish Shemaiah of Nehalam and his descendants.

He shall not have anyone living among this people, and he shall not see the good that I will do to my people, declares the Lord.

for he has spoken rebellion against the Lord.

At the beginning of our reading, Jeremiah is wearing the yoke as a symbol of submission to the king of Babylon that the Lord is requiring of Judah at this time.

The false prophet, Hananiah, makes a prediction that the Lord will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, off the neck of all the nations within two years he prophesied that the stolen items from the temple will be quickly restored after their brief exile quite dramatically hananiah takes the yoke off jeremiah's neck and breaks it jeremiah replies that if a person claims to be a prophet and makes a prophecy that fails to come true he is a false prophet furthermore the lord says that contrary to hananiah's prophecy he will put an iron yoke on the nations in place of the wooden one and extend nebuchadnezzar's control over many nations even wild animals jeremiah sticks with his prophecy that the people of judah will be in captivity for seventy years and that hananiah would die before the year is out in chapter twenty nine jeremiah writes a letter to the surviving elders priests and prophets among the exiles in babylon he tells them to seek the good of the city build houses plant gardens and carry on with life in other words they are going to be in their captivity in a foreign country a long time they are to make the best of it they are to pray on behalf of its residents pray for the prosperity of the city for if the city prospers so will you jeremiah chapter twenty nine or seven in the letter jeremiah assures them that the lord's promise is to bring them back after seventy years the promise that is so glibly quoted i know the plans i have for you declares the lord plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you a hope and a future jeremiah chapter twenty nine verse eleven are written to assure them that although they will be taken captive into babylon a remnant from the next generation will see a return to the land and have their relationship with the lord restored jeremiah twenty nine verse eleven is one of the most misapplied verses in the bible certainly the words in themselves are encouraging but we must remember to whom this promise was given and the historical context this is not meant to be a blanket promise of worldly prosperity and blessing judah was about to experience the promised curse of a seventy-year captivity for the years of disobedience to god they would not be left off the hook but would be held accountable for their sins and delivered to nebuchadnezzar to live in exile in the future after seventy years a returning remnant would be blessed it is unlikely that many of the older ones would be alive to experience the promised hope of a future return to jerusalem it is better for us to take the promises that are directed towards us such as ephesians chapter one verse three blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in christ ephesians one three jeremiah predicts that the false prophets ahab son of coeliah and zedekiah son of maasiah will be delivered to nebuchadnezzar and put to death before their eyes their immorality and lies will cause their names to be remembered in a curse and jeremiah chapter twenty nine verses twenty two and twenty three because of them a curse will be used by all the exiles from judah who are in babylon saying may the lord make you like zedekiah and like ahab whom the king of babylon roasted in the fire because they have acted foolishly in israel and have committed adultery with their neighbors wives and have spoken in my name falsely which i did not command them and i am he who knows and am a witness declares the lord shemaiah the nehelamite prophesies falsely even though he has no word from the Lord.

He has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God." Some of the elders of the land stepped forward and said to the entire assembly of people, "Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah.

He told all the people of Judah, 'This is what the Lord Almighty says: Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.' Did Hezekiah king of Judah or anyone else in Judah put him to death? Did not Hezekiah fear the Lord and seek his favor? And did not the Lord relent, so that he did not bring the disaster he pronounced against them? We are about to bring a terrible disaster on ourselves!" Now Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath Jearim was another man who prophesied in the name of the Lord.

He prophesied the same things against this city and this land as Jeremiah did.

When King Jehoiakim and all his officers and officials heard his words, the king was determined to put him to death.

Now there was another man who prophesied as the Lord's representative against this city and this land just as Jeremiah did.

His name was Uriah, son of Shemaiah, from Kireth Jerarim.

When King Jehoachim and all his bodyguards and officials heard what he was prophesying, the king sought to have him executed.

But Uriah found out about it and fled to Egypt out of fear.