©Kris Gerbrandt
Chapter 29:24-32 (ESV) - To Shemaiah of Nehelam 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 Maaseiah 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 has 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 Nehelam: 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 Nehelam 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.’”
Question to consider: Why does Shemaiah refer to Jeremiah as a madman?
In yesterday’s passage, the LORD rebuked king Zedekiah and the people who remained in Jerusalem for not only disobeying God’s command to go into exile but for raising up prophets among the exiles to further the lie of Hananiah that the LORD had broken the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar and would return the captives to Jerusalem within a couple of years.
The plan that the LORD had made for the exiles was for them to settle in Babylon, multiply and prosper so they would be able to return to Jerusalem in seventy years. One such false prophet raised up in Babylon was Shemaiah of Nehelam. Although his name meant “YHWH has heard,” he was definitely not hearing from YHWH. He wrote a letter to the priests in Jerusalem to rebuke them in the name of the LORD for allowing a “madman” like Jeremiah to remain a prophet without putting him in the stocks.
The LORD instead rebuked Shemaiah and said he had sent the letter in his own name rather than in the name of the LORD. Zephaniah read this letter to Jeremiah who received word from the LORD that He would punish Shemaiah and his descendants so that they would not live long enough to experience the good plans that the LORD had declared for them.
Today, we tend to look at the world through our own eyes rather than through the eyes of future generations. Chapter 11 in the book of Hebrews provided a litany of Old Testament saints who put their hope in promises of the LORD which would not be fulfilled for many generations. Their faith was a witness to the faithfulness of the LORD who fulfilled all of these promises in Christ Jesus.
Even if Shemaiah had accepted the word given to the exiles by Jeremiah, he most likely would not have made it through seventy years in exile, but he would have seen the prosperity and generations given to him by the LORD and had faith in the LORD to deliver his grandchildren back to Jerusalem. However, because of his rebellion, Shemaiah did not experience fruitfulness, and he did not have hope in the LORD’s plans for the future.
Dear heavenly Father, You have told us not to worry about what we would eat or wear but instead to seek first Your kingdom and the righteousness given to us by Christ. Forgive our discontentment with what You have provided, and help us to seek after things that have eternal value. Amen.