Musing 169

Time for a part 2 since I couldn’t finish some of my musings from yesterday (that whole sleep thing, you know).

One thing I didn’t really address yesterday is that the text in Jeremiah 28 doesn’t seem to call out Hananiah because of false teaching, but because Hananiah’s predictions don’t come true.

Perhaps because of my own cynicism, but in my reading of Jeremiah, I read him as not just struggling with depression, but a deep cynicism towards his people. Having been plotted against for preaching the coming disaster and need for repentance, Jeremiah clearly has felt the distress of being like Lot in a sinful society. And almost certainly more deeply than us, as Jeremiah additionally had the explicit burden from the Lord to preach in this context.

Because of that weight, in this scenario, I don’t hear an “is Hananiah a real prophet or not?” prosecution being made. I hear a man who knows that his opponent is wrong, is making a dreadful admission of guilt, and is making things worse for himself. All this despite the fact that as a man of Judah, Jeremiah would, from an earthly perspective, love to see Hananiah be right.

After all, Babylon was the seat of wickedness. Who wouldn’t want to see it fall? Who wouldn’t want their brothers and family members returned?

And yet - even a cursory read of Jeremiah as a whole reveals that by this point, Jeremiah knows that God is for sure bringing judgement on Judah and that punishment will last generations. Just in the previous chapter - Jeremiah prophesies that Judah will serve Nebuchadnezzar, his son, and grandson. On top of this, He tells the people that those who say otherwise are false prophets.

So we as readers are primed to see Hananiah as a false prophet from the outset. But for the people, what would they have heard? Would they have heard the cynicism I hear in Jeremiah? Or would they have heard a straightforward challenge, such as when Elijah called out the prophets of Baal?

I would submit that Jeremiah’s response tells us this was at least a mostly sarcastic response. Jeremiah, in tying Hananiah to the previous prophets, is all but explicitly stating “you’re a false prophet”. He’s essentially saying “hey, I’d love for you to be right, but how often have the peace and prosperity prophets been correct?”

Because of our separation from the time of Judah, it might be hard to come up with a modern example. Perhaps it’s the talking head who, despite his charisma and presence, always makes the wrong prognostication. Or perhaps it’s the saying about a broken clock only right twice a day. After all, Hananiah was right that God would eventually break Babylon’s rule. But he was wrong about the timetable and the fact that Judah would actually have to serve Babylon.

Jeremiah’s warning in chapter 27 then receives divine vindication. Jeremiah prophesies Hananiah’s death, and it happens.

Truth be told, as a standalone chapter, Jeremiah 28 does feel like a straightforward callout in the same vein as Elijah’s challenge of Baal’s prophets. But in the overall book, it feels more like receiving the death certificate for a loved one we saw pass away. We already know the truth, but we just receive an official notice.

There’s definitely a lot here, and perhaps I’m being stubborn in seeing something that isn’t there. After all, I don’t think there’s a single point of theology impacted whether that sense of cynicism is there or not. And even in my reading, I don’t think you can escape that God vindicates Jeremiah through his prediction. But I do think there is a lesson in seeing Jeremiah as a cynic here.

If that reading is correct, it reminds us that even when we’d rather be wrong, in the midst of as people who hate us, faithfulness to God will be vindicated.