Jehovah’s Judgment Against False Teachers
“In the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen horrible things, committing adultery and walking in falsehood . . . To me all of them have become like Sodom, and the inhabitants of her like Gomorrah.”—JEREMIAH 23:14.
1. Why does one who engages in divine teaching take on a very heavy responsibility?
ANYONE who engages in divine teaching takes on a very heavy responsibility. James 3:1 warns: “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment.” Yes, teachers of God’s Word are under more serious responsibility to render an acceptable account than are Christians in general. What will this mean for those who prove to be false teachers? Let us look at the situation in Jeremiah’s day. We will see how it foreshadowed what is happening today.
2, 3. What judgment did Jehovah render through Jeremiah with regard to Jerusalem’s false teachers?
2 In 647 B.C.E., the 13th year of the reign of King Josiah, Jeremiah was commissioned as Jehovah’s prophet. Jehovah had a complaint against Judah, so he sent Jeremiah to declare it. Jerusalem’s false prophets, or teachers, were doing “horrible things” in God’s eyes. Their badness was so great that God likened Jerusalem and Judah to Sodom and Gomorrah. Jeremiah chapter 23 tells us about this. Jer 23 Verse 14 says:
3 “In the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen horrible things, committing adultery and walking in falsehood; and they have strengthened the hands of evildoers in order that they should not return, each one from his own badness. To me all of them have become like Sodom, and the inhabitants of her like Gomorrah.”
4. How is the bad moral example of Jerusalem’s teachers paralleled in Christendom today?
4 Yes, these prophets, or teachers, set very bad moral examples themselves and, in effect, encouraged the people to do the same. Look at the conditions in Christendom today! Are they not just like those in Jeremiah’s day? Today the clergy let adulterers and homosexuals stay in their ranks and even let them officiate at church services. Is it any wonder that so many enrolled church members are also immoral?
5. Why does Christendom’s immoral condition go beyond that of Sodom and Gomorrah?
5 Jehovah likened the inhabitants of Jerusalem to those of Sodom and Gomorrah. But Christendom’s immoral condition goes beyond that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Yes, it is even more reprehensible in Jehovah’s eyes. Her teachers flout the Christian moral code. And this engenders a climate of moral degradation in which there are insidious enticements of all kinds to do what is bad. So prevalent is this moral situation that badness is today viewed as normal.
“Walking in Falsehood”
6. What did Jeremiah say about the badness of Jerusalem’s prophets?
6 Now note what Jer 23 verse 14 states about the prophets of Jerusalem. They were “walking in falsehood.” And the latter part of Jer 23 verse 15 says: “From the prophets of Jerusalem apostasy has gone forth to all the land.” Then Jer 23 verse 16 adds: “This is what Jehovah of armies has said: ‘Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you people. They are making you become vain. The vision of their own heart is what they speak—not from the mouth of Jehovah.’”
7, 8. Why are Christendom’s clergy like Jerusalem’s false prophets, and how has this affected churchgoers?
7 Like the false prophets of Jerusalem, Christendom’s clergy also walk in falsehood, spreading apostate doctrines, teachings not found in God’s Word. What are some of these false teachings? The immortality of the soul, the Trinity, purgatory, and a hellfire to torment people eternally. They also tickle the ears of their hearers by preaching what people like to hear. They chant that no calamity faces Christendom because she has God’s peace. But the clergy are speaking “the vision of their own heart.” It is false. Those who believe such lies are being poisoned spiritually. They are being misled to their destruction!
8 Consider what Jehovah says of these false teachers in Jer 23 verse 21: “I did not send the prophets, yet they themselves ran. I did not speak to them, yet they themselves prophesied.” So today, the clergy have not been sent by God, nor do they teach his truths. The result? An appalling Bible illiteracy exists among churchgoers because their ministers feed them worldly philosophies.
9, 10. (a) What kind of dreams did Jerusalem’s false teachers have? (b) How have Christendom’s clergy similarly taught “false dreams”?
9 Furthermore, the clergy today promulgate false hopes. Note Jer 23 verse 25: “I have heard what the prophets who are prophesying falsehood in my own name have said, saying, ‘I have had a dream! I have had a dream!’” What kind of dreams are they? Jer 23 Verse 32 tells us: “‘Here I am against the prophets of false dreams,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘who relate them and cause my people to wander about because of their falsehoods and because of their boasting. But I myself did not send them or command them. So they will by no means benefit this people,’ is the utterance of Jehovah.”
10 What false dreams, or hopes, have the clergy taught? Why, that man’s only hope for peace and security today is the United Nations. In recent years they have called the UN “the last hope of concord and peace,” “the supreme forum of peace and justice,” “the chief temporal hope for world peace.” What a delusion! The only hope for mankind is God’s Kingdom. But the clergy do not preach and teach the truth about that heavenly government, which was the central theme of Jesus’ preaching.
11. (a) Jerusalem’s false teachers had what bad effect on God’s own name? (b) In contrast with the Jeremiah class, what have today’s false religious teachers done with regard to the divine name?
11 Jer 23 Verse 27 tells us more. “They are thinking of making my people forget my name by means of their dreams that they keep relating each one to the other, just as their fathers forgot my name by means of Baal.” The false prophets of Jerusalem caused the people to forget God’s name. Have today’s false religious teachers not done the same? Worse, they hide God’s name, Jehovah. They teach that it is not necessary to use it, and they remove it from their Bible translations. They strongly oppose anyone who teaches the people that God’s name is Jehovah. But the Jeremiah class, the remnant of spirit-anointed Christians, along with their companions, have done just as Jesus did. They have taught millions about God’s name.—John 17:6.
Exposing Their Reprehensibility
12. (a) Why is there great bloodguilt on the part of the false religious teachers? (b) What has been the clergy’s role in two world wars?
12 The Jeremiah class has repeatedly exposed the clergy as being false teachers who are leading their flocks down the broad road of destruction. Yes, the remnant have made it clear why those dreamers deserve Jehovah’s adverse judgment. For example, Jehovah’s servants have often referred to Revelation 18:24, which says that in Babylon the Great was found the blood of “all those who have been slaughtered on the earth.” Think of all the wars that have been fought because of religious differences. How great is the bloodguilt upon the false religious teachers! Their teachings have caused division and have furthered the hatred of those of differing faiths and national groups. Concerning World War I, the book Preachers Present Arms says: “The clercs [clergymen] gave the war its passionate spiritual significance and drive. . . . The church thereby became part and parcel of the war system.” The same was true in World War II. The clergy fully supported the warring nations and blessed their troops. Two world wars began in Christendom in which fellow religionists slaughtered one another. Secular and religious factions within Christendom continue causing bloodshed down to the present time. What horrible effects their false teachings have had!
13. How does Jeremiah 23:22 prove that Christendom’s clergy have no relationship with Jehovah?
13 Please note Jeremiah chapter 23, verse 22: “If they had stood in my intimate group, then they would have made my people hear my own words, and they would have caused them to turn back from their bad way and from the badness of their dealings.” If Christendom’s religious prophets were standing in Jehovah’s intimate group, in close relationship with him as though a faithful and discreet servant, then they too would be living by God’s standards. They too would have been making the peoples of Christendom hear God’s own words. Instead, the modern-day false teachers have made their followers blinded servants of God’s Adversary, Satan the Devil.
14. What powerful exposé of Christendom’s clergy was issued in 1958?
14 Exposure of the clergy by the Jeremiah class has been powerful. For example, at the 1958 Divine Will International Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses in New York City, the vice president of the Watch Tower Society presented a statement that said in part: “Without any double talk or hesitation we declare this root cause of all the crime, delinquency, hatred, strife, prejudice, . . . and mad confusion to be wrong religion, false religion; behind which is man’s unseen enemy, Satan the Devil. The men most responsible for the world condition are the religious instructors and leaders; and the most reprehensible of these are the religious clergy of Christendom. . . . After all these years since World War I, Christendom stands in a relationship toward God like that of Israel in Jeremiah’s day. Yes, Christendom faces a destruction more frightful and devastating than that which Jeremiah saw happen to Jerusalem.”
Judgment of the False Teachers
15. What prophecies of peace have the clergy made? Will they be fulfilled?
15 Despite this warning, how have the clergy acted since then? Just as Jer 23 verse 17 reports: “They are saying again and again to those who are disrespectful of me, ‘Jehovah has spoken: “Peace is what you people will come to have.”’ And to every one walking in the stubbornness of his heart they have said, ‘No calamity will come upon you people.’” Is this true? No! Jehovah will expose the falsehood of these prophecies of the clergy. He will not fulfill what they are saying in his name. However, the clergy’s false assurance of peace with God is very deceptive!
16. (a) What is the moral climate of this world, and who share responsibility for it? (b) What is the Jeremiah class doing about the debased moral views of this world?
16 Are you thinking, ‘What, me fooled by the clergy’s false teachings? Never!’ Well, do not be so sure! Remember that the clergy’s false teachings have promoted an insidious, horrible moral climate. Their permissive teachings justify almost anything, no matter how immoral. And this degenerate moral climate pervades all fields of entertainment, movies, TV, magazines, and music. We, then, must exercise extreme caution, lest we fall under the influence of this degenerate but subtly appealing moral atmosphere. Young ones can get caught up in debasing videos and music. Remember that this anything-goes attitude of people today is a direct result of the clergy’s false teachings and their failure to uphold God’s righteous standards. The Jeremiah class is battling these immoral views and is helping Jehovah’s servants to reject the badness that is engulfing Christendom.
17. (a) According to Jeremiah, what judgment was to come upon wicked Jerusalem? (b) What will soon happen to Christendom?
17 What judgment will Christendom’s false teachers receive from Jehovah, the great Judge? Jer 23 Verses 19, 20, 39, and Jer 23:40 answer: “Look! The windstorm of Jehovah, rage itself, will certainly go forth, even a whirling tempest. Upon the head of the wicked ones it will whirl itself. The anger of Jehovah will not turn back until he will have carried out and until he will have made the ideas of his heart come true. . . . I will give you people to neglect, with finality, and I will desert you and the city that I gave to you and to your forefathers—from before me. And I will put upon you reproach to time indefinite and humiliation to time indefinite, which will not be forgotten.” All of that happened to wicked Jerusalem and its temple, and now a like calamity will soon befall wicked Christendom!
Declaring “the Burden of Jehovah”
18, 19. What “burden of Jehovah” did Jeremiah announce to Judah, with what implications?
18 So, what is the responsibility of the Jeremiah class and their companions? Jer 23 Verse 33 tells us: “When this people or the prophet or priest asks you, saying, ‘What is the burden of Jehovah?’ you must also say to them, ‘“You people are—O what a burden! And I shall certainly abandon you,” is the utterance of Jehovah.’”
19 The Hebrew word for “burden” has a double meaning. It can refer to a weighty divine pronouncement or to something that weighs one down and tires one out. Here the expression “burden of Jehovah” refers to a weighty prophecy—the pronouncement that Jerusalem was doomed to destruction. Did the people like hearing such heavy prophetic utterances that Jeremiah repeatedly gave them from Jehovah? No, the people jeered at Jeremiah: ‘What prophecy (burden) have you now? We are sure your prophecy will be another tiresome burden!’ But what did Jehovah tell them? This: “You people are—O what a burden! And I shall certainly abandon you.” Yes, these people were a burden to Jehovah, and he was going to remove them from burdening him any longer.
20. What is “the burden of Jehovah” today?
20 What is “the burden of Jehovah” today? It is the weighty prophetic message from God’s Word. It is heavy with doom, announcing Christendom’s imminent destruction. As for Jehovah’s people, we have the weighty responsibility to declare this “burden of Jehovah.” As the end draws near, we must tell all that Christendom’s wayward people are a “burden,” yes, “O what a burden!” to Jehovah God, and that he is soon going to rid himself of this “burden” by abandoning Christendom to calamity.
21. (a) Why was Jerusalem destroyed in 607 B.C.E.? (b) After Jerusalem’s destruction, what happened to the false prophets and to Jehovah’s true prophet, giving us what assurance today?
21 Jehovah’s judgment was executed in Jeremiah’s day when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E. As prophesied, that was a ‘reproach and humiliation’ for those stubborn, unfaithful Israelites. (Jeremiah 23:39, 40) It showed them that Jehovah, whom they had repeatedly dishonored, had finally deserted them to the consequences of their badness. The mouths of their presumptuous false prophets were finally silenced. Yet, Jeremiah’s mouth kept prophesying. Jehovah did not desert him. True to this pattern, Jehovah will not desert the Jeremiah class when his weighty decision leads to crushing the life out of Christendom’s clergy and those who believe their lies.
22. To what condition will Christendom be reduced by Jehovah’s judgments?
22 Yes, the desolated, uninhabited condition of Jerusalem after 607 B.C.E. is exactly what religious Christendom will look like after she is stripped of her wealth and is shamefully exposed. This is the deserved judgment that Jehovah has decreed against false teachers. That judgment will not fail. Just as all of Jeremiah’s inspired warning messages came true in the past, they will come true in their modern-day fulfillment. So may we be like Jeremiah. Let us fearlessly declare the prophetic burden of Jehovah to the peoples, so that they will know why the full weight of his righteous judgment is coming upon all false religious teachers!
Review Questions
◻ How bad was ancient Jerusalem from Jehovah’s viewpoint?
◻ In what ways has Christendom ‘walked in falsehood’?
◻ How has the reprehensibility of the modern-day clergy been exposed?
◻ What “burden of Jehovah” is now being declared?
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Jerusalem’s prophets committed “horrible things”
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“The vision of their own heart is what they speak”
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Jerusalem after her destruction illustrates the final destiny of Christendom