Jeremiah 23:33-40

God’s burden (23:33-40)

Prophets often spoke of their message as a ‘burden’ from God. It was a responsibility they had to discharge by announcing it to the people. Sometimes people went to prophets, particularly those whom Jeremiah calls false prophets, to ask them for a message, or burden, that would give them direction or guidance. God tells Jeremiah that if they ask him for a burden, he is to tell them that they are the burden. They are a burden so heavy that God cannot carry them any longer. He will therefore get rid of them by throwing them into captivity (33).The false prophets misused the word ‘burden’, so that no matter what announcement they made, they claimed it to be a burden from God. For this reason God commands the true prophets, such as Jeremiah, not to use the word any more (34-37). When false prophets persist in using the word, they show their defiance of God and their intention to deceive his people. God’s punishment will be to treat them as a burden and throw them away. As those whom God has cast off, they will be taken captives to a distant land (38-40).