The following passage (Jeremiah 23:16–22) continues the Lord’s words against the prophets of Judah. However, in the first few verses (Jeremiah 23:16–20) the word you
is masculine plural, as the Lord speaks to the people of Judah.1 His words in this passage are both warning and judgment for both people and prophet. He exposes the prophets’ false claim to speak on his behalf while warning the people not to listen to them. But even this warning is a word of judgment against the people, because clearly, they have believed the false message these prophets have spoken.
The Lord warns the people not to listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.
Through his prophet, Jeremiah, the Lord makes it clear that there are many prophets preaching a message in Judah that does not come from him, but from their own minds. Preaching these words would have placed the spotlight on Jeremiah, since the implication would be that his own message does indeed come from the Lord.2 The words of these other prophets filled the people with vain hopes.
The word vain
comes from the Hebrew root hebel which means empty or meaningless. The same word is used by Jeremiah to describe idols. The message these prophets bring is meaningless and the people who believe them are filled with empty hope.3 The prophets are thus declared to be a bag of wind
4
The implication of the Lord’s words is that the people face a choice. Either they listen to Jeremiah, who speaks what the Lord says, or they listen to these other prophets who speak their own message.5 The sad conclusion that the reader must draw from the book is that the people rejected the Lord’s words spoken by Jeremiah (and others) and listened to false prophets.
16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.