281 And it came about in that year, when Zedekiah first became king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah, the son of Azzur the prophet, who came from Gibeon, said to Jeremiah in the house of the Lord, before the priests and all the people, 2 These are the words of the Lord of armies, the God of Israel: By me the yoke of the king of Babylon has been broken. 3 In the space of two years I will send back into this place all the vessels of the Lord's house which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, took away from this place to Babylon: 4 And I will let Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, come back to this place, with all the prisoners of Judah who went to Babylon, says the Lord: for I will have the yoke of the king of Babylon broken. 5 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, before the priests and all the people who had come into the house of the Lord, 6 The prophet Jeremiah said, So be it: may the Lord do so: may the Lord give effect to the words which you have said, and let the vessels of the Lord's house, and all the people who have been taken away, come back from Babylon to this place. 7 But still, give ear to this word which I am saying to you and to all the people: 8 The prophets, who were before me and before you, from early times gave word to a number of countries and great kingdoms about war and destruction and disease. 9 The prophet whose words are of peace, when his words come true, will be seen to be a prophet whom the Lord has sent.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 28:1-9
Commentary on Jeremiah 28:1-9
(Read Jeremiah 28:1-9)
Hananiah spoke a false prophecy. Here is not a word of good counsel urging the Jews to repent and return to God. He promises temporal mercies, in God's name, but makes no mention of the spiritual mercies which God always promised with earthly blessings. This was not the first time Jeremiah had prayed for the people, though he prophesied against them. He appeals to the event, to prove Hananiah's falsehood. The prophet who spake only of peace and prosperity, without adding that they must not by wilful sin stop God's favours, will be proved a false prophet. Those who do not declare the alarming as well as the encouraging parts of God's word, and call men to repentance, and faith, and holiness, tread in the steps of the false prophets. The gospel of Christ encourages men to do works meet for repentance, but gives no encouragement to continue in sin.