Jeremiah 29:20-23
False spiritual leaders who corrupt both doctrine and conduct will ultimately face God’s judgment.
20 Hear therefore Yahweh’s word, all you captives, whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.
21 Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning 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 will kill them before your eyes.
22 A curse will be taken up about them by all the captives of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, ‘Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;’
23 because they have done foolish things in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and have spoken words in my name falsely, which I didn’t command them. I am he who knows, and am witness,” says Yahweh.
False spiritual leaders who corrupt both doctrine and conduct will ultimately face God’s judgment.
To expose and condemn specific false prophets among the Babylonian exiles who were misleading the community while living in moral corruption.
Jeremiah 29:20–23 continues the prophet's letter to the Babylonian exiles. After warning about deceptive prophets (29:15–19), Jeremiah identifies two particular figures—Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah—whose false prophecy and immoral conduct expose their illegitimate authority. Their fate becomes an example among the exiles that God himself judges those who falsely claim divine authority.
Jeremiah identifies two prophets among the Babylonian exiles who falsely claim to speak for the Lord. Their message contradicts Jeremiah's prophetic word regarding the duration and purpose of the exile.
The Letter to the Exiles: Seek the City's Welfare and Wait for the LORD's Restoration
The LORD calls his exiled people to faithful settled obedience in Babylon, rejecting false shortcuts while waiting for his promised restoration after the appointed seventy years.