Loading the publication-approved passages and connections for this study.
Condemnation of False Prophets
Jeremiah’s heart breaks over prophets who speak visions from their own hearts, strengthen evildoers, and fill the people with false hope. God contrasts dream with word, straw with wheat, and finally describes His true word as fire and as a hammer that breaks rock. The issue is not whether a message sounds spiritual but whether the LORD actually sent it.
Fire in Scripture can symbolize divine word, judgment, purification, and presence. Luke’s immediate sequence ties Jesus’ fire saying to his coming passion, division, and judgment crisis. It is too narrow to identify the fire simply with Pentecost or with one Old Testament verse.
Jeremiah condemns prophets who speak false reassurance instead of exposing sin; Lamentations looks back on prophets whose empty visions failed to uncover Jerusalem’s iniquity.
Additional KJV-centered Bible study is available for this passage, including explanations behind its Scripture connections. The full study is available with Plus.