Jeremiah 29:20-32 - Homiletics

Shemaiah.

I. HIS ACTION .

1. He is irritated at the letter of Jeremiah. From Babylon he writes back in a rage. It is foolish to be thus angry with those who tell us unpleasant truths, but it is very common.

2. He describes Jeremiah as mad. People often depreciate the intelligence of those who differ from them. Weak men set down strong words to the excitement of the speaker because they have not the imagination or the nerve to receive them as true.

3. He urges the temple officials to arrest and punish Jeremiah. We have here another instance of the common effort to suppress those whom we are unable to answer.

II. HIS MORAL CONDUCT .

1. He usurps the name of a prophet, though he is not sent by God. His pretence to speak in the Name of God is unwarranted. A prophet is one who acts as God's messenger, as an apostle is one who acts as the messenger of Christ. No man has a right to enter the ministry of Christ unless he is called to it, nor to speak as God's ambassador unless he is convinced in his conscience that he is sent by God.

2. He deceives the Jews into "trusting in a lie." It is not only that he falsely claims to be a prophet; his prophetic message is also false. Truth is sacred; to tamper with it is a sin, but to deceive others to their hurt increases the sin.

3. He instigates revolt against God. If it is wrong to utter a falsehood to serve a good end, it must be more wrong to do so with a bad intention. But all false religious teaching tends to induce disobedience to the will of God.

III. HIS DOOM .

1. He is to be punished . The evil that he discredits shall fall upon him. This is a severe but an appropriate punishment for a deceiving prophet.

2. His children are to share his doom. There is a great mystery in the hereditary character of punishment, and it is increased in some respects by the fact that tendencies to sin are also hereditary. But the fact is as clearly visible in nature as it is revealed in Scripture.

3. He is not to see the joy of the restoration . They who refuse wholesome chastisement cannot receive the happy fruits that follow it. It is natural and reasonable that the willful rejection of Divine warnings should be followed by a severe judgment.