Chapter 23:23-40 (ESV) - “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD. I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.’ Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD.
“When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?’ you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden, and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.’ And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ I will punish that man and his household. Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ But ‘the burden of the LORD’ you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’” therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’”
Question to consider: Why does the LORD point out that He fills heaven and earth?
Much like a toddler who puts his hands in front of his face and thinks he is hidden from the person in front of him, so we tend to think our sin is not evident to God when done in secret or under the cover of darkness. The LORD of Israel who made the heavens and the earth is both transcendent (above and greater than His creation) and imminent (close at hand). As King David wrote, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.” (Psalm 139:7-12)
The LORD pointed this out because there were prophets in Jerusalem who declared they had received the word of the LORD and then preached lies in His name. Did they not think the LORD would know what they were doing? I honestly have to wonder whether those who knowingly distort the word of the LORD or tell lies in His name really even believe God exists. Otherwise, they would carry the burden of knowing that they would one day have to give an account for their false teaching.
Though the prophets and priests despised Jeremiah for bringing the true word of the LORD, as the events began to come to pass that Jeremiah proclaimed, they recognized that he was a true prophet of God and would ask him, “What was the burden of the LORD? What has the LORD spoken?” Burden in this case was a reference to an oracle or weighty message given from the LORD to Jeremiah for the people of Judah.
Rather than being given a burden (oracle), Jeremiah was to point out that these priests and prophets were the burden of the LORD which He would lift up and cast from His presence along with the city of Jerusalem. He would bring upon them everlasting reproach and shame, for they had told lies in the name of the LORD and deceived the people.
Dear heavenly Father, thank You for being the eternal light that breaks through the darkness and exposes sin and every kind of evil. Please forgive us, renew us and lead us so that we may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways to the glory of Your holy name. Amen.