Jeremiah and Hananiah

Early in Israel’s history, at the beginning of the monarchy, a group of prophets arose in Israel whose primary function was to challenge the policies of the king. The emergence of the state in Israel brought great changes to the social and religious life of the nation that greatly affected the tribal structures of Israelite society.

Within the development of the prophetic movement in Israel, there arose two types of prophets. The first type was a group of independent prophets who claimed to speak on behalf of Yahweh and who warned the people to return to the old traditions of the covenant. The second type were those prophets who were paid by the temple or the court and who proclaimed the kind of message their patrons desired to hear. The Greek Bible, the Septuagint, called them pseudo prophetes (Jeremiah 14:14 LXX), “false prophets.” These professional prophets came to be known as false prophets not because of their desire to mislead the people, but rather, because they misinterpreted Yahweh’s intentions at times when the nation was facing great dangers.

C. E. Schenk, writing in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia wrote: “In times of moral darkness the false prophets, predicting smooth things for the nation, independent of repentance, consecration and the pursuit of spiritual ideals, were honored above the true prophets who emphasized the moral greatness of Yahweh and the necessity of righteousness for the nation.”

True prophets proclaimed a message of God’s judgment against the rulers and the people because of their violation of the religious and legal traditions of the nation. On the other hand, false prophets preached a message of peace and salvation and predicted the nation’s deliverance from the hands of their enemies. In the end, true prophets were distinguished from false prophets by the outcome of their respective prophesies: “A prophet who predicts peace must carry the burden of proof. Only when his predictions come true can it be known that he is really from the Lord” (Jeremiah 28:9 NLT).

Two prophets who represent these styles of prophetic ministries were Jeremiah and Hananiah (Jeremiah 28). Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah, was a peripheral prophet who proclaimed God’s judgment against Judah and the exile in Babylon. Hananiah, on the other hand, proclaimed an optimistic message in which he declared that Jehoiachin, the exiled king of Judah, would be restored and that the vessels of the temple which were taken to Babylon, would be returned to Jerusalem within two years.

The ministries of Jeremiah and Hananiah occurred at a time of great crisis in the life of Judah. In 597 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar had come to Jerusalem, deported Jehoiachin, the royal family, political and religious leaders, and had taken many of the vessels of the temple as trophies of war to Babylon.

The confrontation between Jeremiah and Hananiah, the son of Azzur and a prophet from Gibeon, took place in the temple (Jeremiah 28:1). The confrontation was a dispute between two prophets who were guided by different understanding of what God was doing in Judah’s conflict with the Babylonians. On one side was Jeremiah, a prophet whose ministry was based on the old covenant traditions which the Lord had established with Israel at Sinai. Jeremiah was profoundly touched by what he perceived to be Judah’s lack of obedience to the demands of the covenant. Jeremiah, who had been called to preach a message of judgment (Jeremiah 1:10), urged the people to return to Yahweh and avoid the total destruction of the nation. Jeremiah saw the coming of the Babylonians and the deportation of Jehoiachin as the beginning of a long exile that would last seventy years (Jeremiah 25:11).

Jeremiah’s message to Judah was that the nation should submit to Babylonia and not oppose it, for submission to Babylon was ordained by Yahweh and that out of the humiliation of defeat and servitude, a new covenant would be established with Israel and the nation would be renewed for service in the world.

On the other side of the confrontation was Hananiah, a well-known and popular prophet in Judah. Like Jeremiah, Hananiah probably knew the history of Yahweh’s mighty acts of salvation on behalf of Israel. Hananiah was probably a firm believer in the so-called Zion theology, a view that proclaimed the inviolability of Jerusalem. On the basis of this belief, Hananiah proclaimed that God would not allow the Babylonians to destroy the people of Judah.

These conflicting theological traditions became the reason for the confrontation between the two prophets. The narrative of their encounter in the temple is the story of two men striving to hear God’s voice and interpret contemporary events in terms of divine will.

The encounter between Jeremiah and Hananiah is a classic example of a dispute between a true and a false prophet and how they interpreted God’s will for the people and for the nation. Further, the confrontation between Jeremiah and Hananiah provides a window into the problem of discerning a true prophet.

In their effort to interpret what God was doing through the coming of the Babylonians, Jeremiah used a legitimate hermeneutic in the right situation and Hananiah used a legitimate hermeneutic in the wrong context. When the people were confronted with two different understandings of what God was doing, how was the audience in the temple to recognize what God was doing in the midst of the anguish caused by the Babylonian invasion? Faced with two contradictory views of God’s work, which one should the people accept as the legitimate interpretation of God’s will? Which prophet was applying prophetic tradition properly to determine what God was doing in the current situation?

In future posts I will study the confrontation between Jeremiah and Hananiah and will introduce the historical background of the confrontation between the two prophets, the theological perspectives each brought to the confrontation, some biblical characteristics of true prophets, and the outcome of the confrontation.

To be continued.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: False Prophets, Hananiah, Jeremiah, Prophets

Is Jeremiah Wright a Modern Day Prophet?

In a letter to the editor, published in the Louisville Courier-Journal of Louisville, Kentucky, William R. Fox, a retired Diaconal Minister of the United Methodist Church said that Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama’s pastor, is a modern day prophet. He wrote:

People of all races who yearn for social justice can resonate with the deep anger and grief expressed by Rev. Wright. He is a modern day prophet, in the tradition of Elijah, Isaiah, Hosea, Amos, Jeremiah, and Micah in the Old Testament; and in the tradition of Jesus of Nazareth. Those prophets proclaimed that God intends for us all to use whatever power we possess to serve the good of our neighbor. To answer the question of God put to Cain, "Yes, you are your brother's keeper."

Jesus made this clear in Matthew 25, a chapter headed, "The Judgment of the Nations." According to Jesus, those who wish to worship God do so by feeding the hungry, providing water to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, and visiting the imprisoned.

The Old Testament prophets were much more direct and angry in their judgments on a nation that ignored the needs of the poor and oppressed.

Listen to selected verses from Isaiah Chapter 1: "Ah, sinful nation, people laden with iniquity, offspring who do evil, children who deal corruptly, who have forsaken the Lord, . . . cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow."

Many people may disagree with the political views expressed by Jeremiah Wright or how his views may or may not have influenced the life and political career of Senator Barack Obama, but one thing is certain: Jeremiah Wright’s sermons and ministry have many similarities with the words and ministry of the prophets of the Old Testament.

Many of the prophets of the Old Testament criticized the leaders of the nation because of the way the ruling classes treated the average Israelite. The preaching of Elijah, Elisha, Amos, Micah, Jeremiah, and many of the other prophets was marked by constant confrontation with the powerful men and women who were part of the dominant society. These prophets also preached that every citizen in Israel, rich or poor, had rights given to them by God, rights which the government could not abrogate.

The ministry of Elisha is a classical example of a prophetic denunciation of the political powers in the Northern Kingdom. The story of Elisha in 2 Kings 9 tells how the prophet inspired a revolt against the king. Elisha commanded his servant to anoint Jehu, the commander of the Israelite army, with the intent of deposing King Joram, the son of Ahab and Jezebel, who had adopted the evil policies of his father. The overthrow of Joram was accomplished by a peasant rebellion in which the people of the land overthrew the government in order to establish another government that would be more faithful to the ideals of the covenant and more sensitive to the needs of the poor.

Another prophet who spoke against the evil practices of his society was Micah who preached during the reigns of Jotham (742-735 B.C.), Ahaz (735-715 B.C.), and Hezekiah (715-686 B.C.), kings of Judah. Micah was a rural prophet who spoke on behalf of the common people of Judah. His preaching was focused on the suffering of his fellow citizens. Micah spoke against the plundering of the poor, the oppressing of the defenseless, against the perversion of justice through bribery and dishonest business practices, against violence and bloodshed.

Micah recognized that the leaders of the nation were responsible for providing social justice for all people. But he also recognized that the execution of justice for all would take place when the relationship between leaders and people were ordered according to God’s divine norm. Micah said: “But God has already made it plain how to live, what to do, and what he is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, and live in humble fellowship with your God” (Micah 6:8).

One does not have to agree with Jeremiah Wright’s political views, but there is no doubt that the man is exercising a prophetic ministry. Speaking from a black perspective, he speaks clearly about social issues such as poverty, injustice, the suppression of human rights, crime, and acts of violence. These are the issues that are prone to produce conflicting views and create tension among people who take different positions of these issues.

I believe more ministers today should embrace the call to prophetic ministry. Prophetic ministry is as appropriate today as it was during the days of the prophets of the Old Testament, especially considering the condition of the world in which we live. Why do we need prophets today? Because many of the social problems that existed in the days of the prophets of old are present in our society today.

God said: “In the last days I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy” (Acts 2:17-18).

The day for prophetic ministry has arrived.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Barack Obama, Jeremiah Wright, Prophetic Ministry, Prophets