Prophetic Conflict in Jeremiah 27-28 and the Question of True and False Prophecy

Abstract

The Old Testament text of Jeremiah 27-28 presents prophetic conflict between Jeremiah and Hananiah. Jeremiah proclaimed a message of God’s judgment against the rulers and the people of Judah because of their violation of the religious and the legal traditions of the nation but Hananiah opposed him preaching a message of peace and salvation and predicted the deliverance of Israelite nation from the hands of their enemies. Both claimed to have God’s authority. Jeremiah 27-28 provides a window into the problem of discerning a true prophet from a false one. Contemporary Nigerian Christians are also being challenged with such opposing prophecies by prophets who claim that their prophecies come from God. This study adopts exegetical method of interpretation and application of the message of Jeremiah 27-28 to the fact of truity and falsity in prophecy in contemporary Christianity. This study discovered that true prophetic office is a call, and not all comers’ affair. Prophecy lacks empirical proof and is sometimes manipulative and susceptible to barratry. The study further discovered that true prophets prophesy by the spirit of God while false Prophets prophesy from their own mind but also claim to do so by the spirit of God. Just like Prophet Hananiah, there are prophets who could be genuinely called but have refused to stay within their call because of loss of focus and desire for material gains. Thus the prevalent worldview of contemporary Nigerians concerning easy solution to life’s problems that leads to abuse of prophetic consultations needs to be changed.