The Bitter Medicine of Truth Text: Jeremiah 27:16-22
Introduction: The Intoxicating Poison of Lies
We live in an age that is drunk on lies. Our culture is sloshing in them. We are told that men can be women, that debt is prosperity, that freedom is slavery, and that truth is whatever you feel it to be in your gut at any given moment. And the church, which is called to be a pillar and buttress of the truth, has all too often decided to open up its own tavern to serve the same intoxicating poison, just with a little religious fizz on top. We have become connoisseurs of comforting falsehoods.
The situation in Jerusalem in Jeremiah’s day was not so different. The nation was on the brink of total collapse. The geopolitical realities were screaming one thing: Babylon is the instrument of God’s judgment. But the religious establishment, the court prophets, the popular preachers, were all singing a different tune. They were peddling a message of peace and prosperity, of imminent victory, of a quick return to the good old days. They were telling the people what they wanted to hear, and the people loved to have it so. They were prophesying lies, and the people were paying good money for the privilege of being deceived.
Into this echo chamber of self-deceit, Jeremiah comes with a message from Yahweh that is as welcome as a bucket of ice water at a slumber party. It is a hard message, a bitter message, a deeply offensive message. It is a message of submission to a pagan tyrant as the only path to life. It is a direct contradiction of the patriotic, feel-good, "God is on our side no matter what" sermons being preached in the temple courts. And in our passage today, Jeremiah takes this message directly to the priests and the people, confronting their false hopes head-on. He exposes the lie that they are clinging to and shows them the hard reality of God’s sovereign decree. This is not just ancient history; it is a perennial lesson on the mortal danger of preferring a comforting lie to a hard truth.
The Text
Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says Yahweh: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, ‘Behold, the vessels of the house of Yahweh will now shortly be returned from Babylon’; for they are prophesying a lie to you. Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city become a waste place? But if they are prophets, and if the word of Yahweh is with them, let them now intercede with Yahweh of hosts that the vessels which are left in the house of Yahweh, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon. For thus says Yahweh of hosts concerning the pillars, concerning the sea, concerning the stands, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he carried away into exile Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. Indeed, thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of Yahweh and in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem, ‘They will be brought to Babylon, and they will be there until the day I visit them,’ declares Yahweh. ‘Then I will bring them up and return them to this place.’ ”
(Jeremiah 27:16-22 LSB)
Confronting the Prophetic Malpractice (v. 16-17)
Jeremiah begins with a direct, public command that cuts the legs out from under the religious establishment.
"Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says Yahweh: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, ‘Behold, the vessels of the house of Yahweh will now shortly be returned from Babylon’; for they are prophesying a lie to you. Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city become a waste place?" (Jeremiah 27:16-17)
Notice the audience: the priests and all the people. Jeremiah is not whispering this in a corner. He is standing in the public square, as it were, and calling out the popular message for what it is: a lie. The specific lie he targets is the promise that the temple vessels, which Nebuchadnezzar had already carted off in a previous deportation, would be returned "now shortly." This was their "proof" that God's judgment was a temporary slap on the wrist and that things were about to get back to normal. It was a tangible, specific, and deeply emotional promise. These vessels were not just furniture; they were symbols of God's presence, of their national identity, of their covenant relationship with Yahweh. To promise their imminent return was to promise that the whole nasty business of judgment was basically over.
And Jeremiah says, flatly, "they are prophesying a lie to you." God's word through His true prophet is a command to engage in spiritual discernment. "Do not listen." This is a crucial function of the prophetic office: not just to declare "thus says the Lord," but also to declare "that is NOT what the Lord says." We are commanded to test the spirits. The feel-good factor is not a reliable test. Popularity is not a reliable test. What matters is whether it aligns with the revealed character and word of God. These prophets were peddling false hope, a spiritual opioid to numb the people to the severity of their sin and the reality of God's judgment.
Jeremiah then reiterates the hard, central command: "serve the king of Babylon, and live!" This was treasonous talk from a human perspective. It was unpatriotic. But it was the word of the Lord. God had appointed Nebuchadnezzar as His instrument of judgment. To resist Babylon was to resist God Himself. Submission was the only path to preservation. "Why should this city become a waste place?" he asks. The implication is clear: your stubborn refusal to accept God's discipline, fueled by these lying prophets, is what will ensure the city's total destruction. Your "hope" is actually a suicide pact.
A Test for True Prophets (v. 18)
Next, Jeremiah throws down a challenge. He proposes a test, a way to distinguish the true from the false.
"But if they are prophets, and if the word of Yahweh is with them, let them now intercede with Yahweh of hosts that the vessels which are left in the house of Yahweh, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon." (Jeremiah 27:18 LSB)
This is brilliant, Spirit-inspired rhetoric. It is a divinely sanctioned "put up or shut up." Jeremiah says, in effect, "You fellows claim to have the ear of God. You claim to be on speaking terms with Yahweh of hosts. Fine. Let's see it. Instead of making up rosy predictions about the things already gone, why don't you use your supposed spiritual power to do something practical? Get on your knees. Intercede. Plead with God that the remaining temple treasures, the stuff still here in Jerusalem, don't get hauled off to Babylon as well."
This challenge does two things. First, it exposes their fraud. True prophets are men of prayer, men who intercede for the people (think of Moses, Samuel, or Jeremiah himself). These charlatans were not intercessors; they were performers. They were not wrestling with God for the people's sake; they were tickling the people's ears for their own sake. Second, it sets up the crushing prophecy that is to follow. Jeremiah knows what their prayers, if they even offered them, would accomplish: nothing. Because God has already decreed what is going to happen next. Jeremiah is baiting the trap, and the false prophets are about to walk right into it.
The Inevitable Reality (v. 19-22)
Having set the stage, Jeremiah now delivers the devastating punchline from Yahweh Himself.
"For thus says Yahweh of hosts concerning the pillars, concerning the sea, concerning the stands, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he carried away into exile Jeconiah... ‘They will be brought to Babylon, and they will be there until the day I visit them,’ declares Yahweh. ‘Then I will bring them up and return them to this place.’" (Jeremiah 27:19-22 LSB)
God's answer to Jeremiah's challenge is a resounding no. Far from the vessels in Babylon returning, the vessels still in Jerusalem are going to join them. He gets specific: the great bronze pillars (Jachin and Boaz), the massive bronze sea, the stands, and everything else of value that Nebuchadnezzar had left behind on his first pass. The stripping of the temple will be completed. The judgment is not over; it has barely begun.
This is the bitter medicine of truth. The false prophets were selling sugar pills of "shortly." God's prescription was the hard reality of "they will be brought to Babylon." This is a direct, verifiable, short-term prophecy. When the Babylonians inevitably returned and did exactly this, Jeremiah's word would be vindicated and the lies of the court prophets would be exposed for all to see. God is putting His own credibility on the line against theirs, and He is not afraid of the outcome.
But notice, even in this hammer blow of judgment, there is a sliver of grace. It is a grace that the false prophets, with all their talk of peace, had no conception of. God says the vessels will be in Babylon "until the day I visit them." And then, "I will bring them up and return them to this place." The judgment is total, but it is not final. The exile is certain, but it is not permanent. God is the one who sends them away, and He is the one who will bring them back. His sovereignty is displayed not just in the punishment but also in the restoration. The false prophets offered a cheap, instant hope that was a lie. God offers a costly, delayed hope that is the truth. The real hope is found not in avoiding the judgment, but in passing through it under the sovereign hand of a covenant-keeping God who promises to visit and restore His people on the other side.
Conclusion: Swallowing the Bitter Pill
The message of Jeremiah is a message for us. We are surrounded by false prophets, both outside the church and, tragically, within it. They are the ones who preach a gospel without repentance, who promise blessing without obedience, who offer crown without a cross. They are the ones who tell us that God's primary job is to affirm our choices and boost our self-esteem. They are the ones who tell us that if we just have enough faith, we can avoid all suffering and hardship. They are prophesying a lie to you.
The true word of God, then and now, often comes as a bitter pill. It tells us to submit to God's difficult providences. It tells us that the path to life often leads through valleys of death. It tells us to die to ourselves, to take up our cross, to lose our life in order to find it. It tells us that God's judgment on sin, both in our culture and in our own hearts, is real and severe. It calls us to surrender, not to our enemies, but to our sovereign Lord, even when His methods are baffling and painful.
But this bitter pill is the only medicine that brings true health. The false hope of the charlatans leads only to the waste place, to the ruin of a city and a soul. The hard hope of God's word, which forces us to confront the reality of our sin and His judgment, is the only hope that contains within it the sure promise of restoration. God did visit His people in Babylon. And after seventy years, He did bring them, and the temple vessels, back to the land. And in the fullness of time, He visited His people in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. He passed through the ultimate judgment on the cross, and He was restored in the resurrection, securing an eternal restoration for all who will abandon their cheap hopes and trust in Him alone. Do not listen to the liars. Serve the King, and live.