In Jeremiah chapter twenty-three, verses nine through forty, Jeremiah denounces the sin of the false prophets, who had opposed his message of doom, as in chapter six, verses thirteen to fourteen, chapter fourteen to sixteen, and chapter twenty-nine, verses eight to nine, and proclaimed only peace and prosperity. Jeremiah placed the responsibility for Judah’s deplorable moral state on the shoulders of these wicked prophets.
In verse fourteen, God calls the adultery of the prophets horrible. They were supposed to be righteous representatives, but instead, they live like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. The example of these “spiritual leaders” contributed greatly to the increase of immorality and hardening of the people’s hearts against repentance. When a minister of God commits adultery, it is especially an abomination before God. Not only does such a sin reflect unfaithfulness to God, but contempt for Him and His Word; It may, therefore, permanently disqualify this leader as a minister of the Lord and His flock.
In verse seventeen, false prophets hold out to God’s people a false hope and false security. Those who maintain that the immoral and disobedient among God’s people will not be condemned for their evil and do not need to fear God’s wrath and judgment prove themselves to be false messengers. Prophets with this message existed not only in the Old Testament, but also in the New Testament. The apostle Paul warned the Ephesians not to be deceived by such teachers, as in Ephesians five, verses four to six.
Finally, in verses thirty-one to thirty-two, God’s message to Jeremiah warns us how dangerous it is to declare, “Thus saith the Lord,” if we are not sure that the word is from the Lord; the prophetic office must be undertaken only with the utmost seriousness, as in verses thirty-three to forty.