Jeremiah 23:16-22
Messages that promise peace without repentance do not come from God and lead people further into destruction.
16 Yahweh of Armies says, “Don’t listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They teach you vanity. They speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of Yahweh.
17 They say continually to those who despise me, ‘Yahweh has said, “You will have peace;” ’ and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart they say, ‘No evil will come on you.’
18 For who has stood in the council of Yahweh, that he should perceive and hear his word? Who has listened to my word, and heard it?
19 Behold, Yahweh’s storm, his wrath, has gone out. Yes, a whirling storm: It will burst on the head of the wicked.
20 Yahweh’s anger will not return until he has executed, and until he has performed the intents of his heart. In the latter days, you will understand it perfectly.
21 I didn’t send these prophets, yet they ran. I didn’t speak to them, yet they prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in my council, then they would have caused my people to hear my words, and would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.
Messages that promise peace without repentance do not come from God and lead people further into destruction.
To warn the people of Judah not to listen to the false prophets who proclaim peace without repentance and who speak visions from their own minds rather than from the LORD.
This section continues Jeremiah’s extended denunciation of false prophets that began in 23:9. After describing their corruption, the Lord now directly commands the people not to listen to them. The passage contrasts self-generated visions with authentic prophetic authority.
False Shepherds, the Righteous Branch, and the Fire of the LORD's Word
When kings and prophets fail the flock, the LORD promises the righteous Branch and exposes every false word by the fire of his own true word.