Hananiah the False Prophet
Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet from Gibeon spoke to Jeremiah in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and all the people. He said that the Lord told him that the yoke was broken with the king of Babylon.
He continued saying that within two years all the vessels of the Lord’s house would be brought back from Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon. Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon would also be brought back for the yoke would be broken.
Then Jeremiah spoke to Hananiah and said, “Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord make the words that you have prophesied come true.” However, all the prophets who preceded him from ancient times all spoke of war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and kingdoms.
As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet.
Then Hananiah took the yoke-bars from the neck of Jeremiah and broke them. Sometime after that the word of the Lord went to Jeremiah to tell Hananiah that he has broken wooden bars, but he himself had made bars of iron in their place.
The Lord had put upon the neck of all the nations an iron yoke to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they shall serve him, for even the beasts of the field were given to him.
Jeremiah told Hananiah, “Listen, the Lord has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie.”
Therefore the Lord would remove Hananiah from the face of the earth. That year he would die because he uttered rebellion against the Lord. In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.
Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles
Jeremiah sent a letter from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
The letter told them to build houses and live in them, and to plant gardens and eat their produce. They were to take wives and have children, and find spouses for them to have their own children. They were to multiply there and not decrease.
They were to seek welfare of the city and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare they would find their welfare.
It continued saying not to listen to their prophets and diviners who were among them and would deceive them, and not to listen to their dreams they dream for they were lies that they were prophesying in the Lord’s name. The Lord had not sent them.
When seventy years were completed in Babylon the Lord would visit them and fulfill His promise to take them back to their place. The Lord knew the plans He had for them for welfare and not for evil, to give them a future and a hope.
They would call upon the Lord and pray to Him and God would hear them.
They would seek the Lord and would find Him, when they sought Him with all their hearts. The Lord would be found by them and He would restore their fortunes and gather them from all the nations and places they were driven to, and brought back from exile.
Shemaiah’s False Prophecy
To Shemaiah of Nehelam, Jeremiah was to say that because he had prophesied when the Lord had not sent him and made the people trust a lie, he and all of his descendants would be punished.
He would not have anyone living among the people, and he would not see the good that the Lord would do for His people for he had spoken rebellion against the Lord.
Restoration for Israel and Judah
The Lord told Jeremiah to write in a book all the words that He had spoken to him. The days were coming when the Lord would restore the fortunes of His people, Israel and Judah, and bring back to the land that He had given their fathers so they could take possession of it.
So Jeremiah wrote down all the words that the Lord had commanded him.
For I am with you to save you,
declares the Lord;
-Jeremiah 30:11
And you shall be my people,
and I will be your God.
-Jeremiah 30:22
Behold the storm of the Lord!
Wrath has gone forth,
a whirling tempest;
it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back
until he has executed and accomplished
the intentions of his mind.
In the latter days you will understand this.
-Jeremiah 30:23-24