Roasted Prophets and the God Who Sees: Text: Jeremiah 29:21-23
Introduction: The High Cost of Theological Malpractice
We live in an age that treats theology like a hobby and doctrine like a matter of personal taste. You have your truth, I have mine, and as long as we are all reasonably sincere, God is obligated to smile upon our respective spiritual journeys. But the God of the Bible is not some celestial guidance counselor, affirming our choices regardless of their content. He is the God of Israel, the Lord of Hosts, and He has a profound and holy jealousy for His name, His word, and His covenant people.
In our text today, we are pulled from the abstract realm of theological debate and dropped onto the hard pavement of history, in the midst of God's people in exile. They are confused, displaced, and desperate for a word from God. And in such a market, there are always hucksters willing to supply a counterfeit word for a profit. Jeremiah had sent a letter from God, counseling the exiles to settle down, build houses, plant gardens, and seek the welfare of Babylon, for their exile would last seventy years. This was a hard word, a long word. It required patience, faith, and submission to God's chastening hand.
But two other prophets, Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, were offering a much more palatable message. They were peddling cheap grace and a quick deliverance. They were speaking in Yahweh's name, but they were not speaking Yahweh's words. And what we are about to see is that this kind of theological malpractice is never an isolated sin. Rotten doctrine and rotten living are twin sisters. To lie in the name of God is a high crime, and it is almost always accompanied by a life of high-handed sin. God takes this with the utmost seriousness, because to misrepresent Him is to slander His character before the world. And when God's name is on the line, His judgment is never far behind.
This passage is a stark and brutal reminder that God judges His own house first. He is not indifferent to what is said and done in His name. He is a witness to it all, and His verdict is as righteous as it is terrifying.
The Text
"Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you falsely in My name, ‘Behold, I will give them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will strike them down before your eyes. And because of them a curse will be used by all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon, saying, “May Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire because they have acted with wicked foolishness in Israel and have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have spoken words in My name falsely, which I did not command them; and I am He who knows and am a witness,” declares Yahweh.’ ”
(Jeremiah 29:21-23 LSB)
The Charge and the Sentence (v. 21)
God, through Jeremiah, begins with a formal indictment. Notice the gravity and the specificity.
"Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you falsely in My name, ‘Behold, I will give them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will strike them down before your eyes.’" (Jeremiah 29:21)
God does not make vague accusations. He names the names. This is not a general warning against false prophets; it is a specific judgment against two particular men, Ahab and Zedekiah. This is accountability. God is making it clear who He is talking about. Their sin was public, and their judgment will be public.
The charge is twofold, but the root is singular. They are "prophesying to you falsely in My name." This is the central offense. To take the holy name of Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel, and attach it to your own self-generated, ear-tickling nonsense is an act of profound spiritual treason. It is a violation of the third commandment in its deepest sense. It is not merely about cursing; it is about bearing His name in an empty, false way. They were wrapping their lies in the flag of heaven.
And what is the sentence? It is a startling display of God's absolute sovereignty. "Behold, I will give them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will strike them down before your eyes." God does not send fire from heaven directly. He uses the pagan king of Babylon as His instrument of judgment. Nebuchadnezzar, the very man these false prophets were likely promising a swift deliverance from, becomes the agent of their demise. This is divine irony, and it is a pattern throughout Scripture. God uses the very things that rebellious men trust in or rebel against to bring about their ruin. He turns their own game against them.
Furthermore, this judgment will be a public spectacle. Nebuchadnezzar will "strike them down before your eyes." The exiles who had listened to their lies, who had perhaps pinned their hopes on their false promises, would be made to watch their execution. God wants His people to see the end of those who pervert His word. This is not for entertainment; it is for instruction. It is a terrifying lesson in the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom.
A Proverb of Judgment (v. 22)
The judgment on these two men will be so memorable, so shocking, that it will enter the lexicon of the exiles as a byword for utter destruction.
"And because of them a curse will be used by all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon, saying, 'May Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire'" (Jeremiah 29:22)
Their names will become a curse. Think about that. Instead of being remembered as men of God, they will be remembered as monuments of God's wrath. When an exile wanted to wish the worst possible fate upon an enemy, they would say, "May God do to you what He did to Ahab and Zedekiah." Their legacy is to be a permanent warning label.
And the method of execution is particularly gruesome: "whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire." This was a known Assyrian and Babylonian punishment, reserved for heinous crimes, particularly rebellion against the state. It is likely that these false prophets, by promising a quick end to the exile, were stirring up sedition against Nebuchadnezzar's rule. They were political agitators as well as theological liars. And so the pagan king, for his own reasons, executes God's righteous judgment. God's providence is such that He can use the sinful, political motivations of a pagan tyrant to accomplish His own holy and just purposes without becoming sinful Himself.
This is a sobering reality. When ministers of the gospel are unfaithful, their fall is not a quiet affair. It becomes a public scandal, a stench in the nostrils of the world, and a source of cursing and shame. Their infamy becomes a tool to teach the faithful the gravity of their calling.
The Bill of Particulars (v. 23)
Now God lays out the reasons for this severe judgment. He connects their public lies to their private lusts. This is a crucial connection that we must not miss.
"because they have acted with wicked foolishness in Israel and have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have spoken words in My name falsely, which I did not command them; and I am He who knows and am a witness,” declares Yahweh.’" (Jeremiah 29:23)
Their first crime is "wicked foolishness in Israel." The Hebrew word for this foolishness, nebalah, implies a gross, outrageous violation of covenantal norms. It is a flagrant contempt for God's law and His people. And what did this wicked foolishness consist of? Two things that are inextricably linked: adultery and false prophecy.
They "committed adultery with their neighbors' wives." This is not incidental. A man who will not be faithful to the covenant he made with his wife before God and witnesses will not be faithful to the covenant God has made with His people. A man who is ruled by his own lusts in the bedroom will be ruled by his own ego on the pulpit. The integrity of the home and the integrity of the church are woven from the same moral fabric. When one unravels, the other is sure to follow. They presumed upon God's grace in their teaching because they were presuming upon it in their living. They offered cheap grace to others because they were living on it themselves.
And then God repeats the central charge: they "have spoken words in My name falsely, which I did not command them." They invented their own message. They did not submit to the hard word of God given through Jeremiah; they manufactured a soft word that the people wanted to hear. This is the perennial temptation of the preacher: to become a focus group of one, to give the people what they want instead of what God says they need.
Finally, God concludes with a statement of His own authority and omniscience. "and I am He who knows and am a witness, declares Yahweh." This is the courtroom of heaven. There are no secrets here. Ahab and Zedekiah may have hidden their adultery. They may have deceived the people with their confident prophecies. But they could not deceive God. He is not a distant observer; He is the witness. He saw it all. He heard every false word spoken in His name and witnessed every illicit act committed in the dark. And because He is the witness, He is also the righteous Judge. His judgment is not based on hearsay; it is based on perfect, firsthand knowledge.
Conclusion: The Unblinking Witness
This passage is a bucket of ice water for a church that has grown comfortable and casual with the things of God. We have men who stand in pulpits who play fast and loose with the text, who substitute pop psychology and political grievances for the preaching of the Word. And we have men in the pews and in the pulpits whose private lives are a direct contradiction of the public faith they profess. This text screams at us that God sees and God judges.
The sins of Ahab and Zedekiah were twofold: they corrupted worship by speaking lies in God's name, and they corrupted the covenant community through adultery. Doctrine and life. Word and deed. These two things are always connected. A low view of God's Word will inevitably lead to a low view of God's law for our lives. If you believe you can make up what God says, you will soon believe you can make up how you are to live.
But the terror of this passage is also a comfort for the faithful. God is a witness. He sees the faithfulness of the remnant as surely as He sees the wickedness of the false prophets. He knows those who tremble at His word, who seek to live quiet and faithful lives in the midst of a crooked generation. And He is a witness on their behalf.
The ultimate judgment for false prophecy and adultery fell not on Ahab and Zedekiah in the fire, but upon the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. He is the true prophet who spoke only what the Father commanded, and He is the true and faithful husband to His bride, the Church. He took the curse that we deserved for our adulterous hearts and our lying lips. He was roasted in the fires of God's wrath so that we could be delivered.
Therefore, let us fear God. Let us handle His word with reverence and awe. Let us pursue purity in our hearts and in our homes, knowing that nothing is hidden from His sight. And let us cling to the true Prophet, the Lord Jesus, in whom all the promises of God are Yes and Amen. For He is the one who knows, He is the witness, and He is our salvation.