Jeremiah 23:29 - Exposition

Is not my word like as a fire ? As in Jeremiah 23:19 , Jeremiah 23:20 , so here, the prophet contrasts the message of the false prophets with that of the true. The former flatter their hearers with promises of peace; the latter speak a stern but potent word, which burns like a fire, and crushes like a hammer. Observe, the prophet does not define the activity of the fire as he does that of the hammer; for the fire has a twofold effect—protection to God's friends and destruction to his enemies. On the figure of the hammer, comp. Jeremiah 1:1-19 :23; Jeremiah 51:20 .