Not True!

One day in late summer of that same year—the fourth year of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah—Hananiah son of Azzur, a prophet from Gibeon, addressed me publicly in the Temple while all the priests and people listened.  He said, “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will remove the yoke of the king of Babylon from your necks.  Within two years I will bring back all the Temple treasures that King Nebuchadnezzar carried off to Babylon.  And I will bring back Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the other captives that were taken to Babylon.  I will surely break the yoke that the king of Babylon has put on your necks.  I, the Lord, have spoken!’” [Jeremiah 28.1-4]

NOT TRUE!

The attentive Bible student realizes that Judah would have liked for this false prophecy to be true, but it was not.  Jeremiah called Hananiah out on it in a subtle but sobering way - in fact, Hananiah died shortly thereafter as a result of spreading such lies.

So, what is the moral of this story?  Be careful what you listen to and believe!  Just because something is said, does not make it true.  AND, just because a so-called prophet says something does not make it true!

So, how does one know whether a prophecy is true?

Father, I am thankful You have given us Your Holy Spirit to show us the way!  Help us to rightly discern the way we should go!