Jeremiah 23:20-40 - The Burden Of The Lord

Jeremiah 23:20-40, “The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD. I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour. Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD. And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD. And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house. Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken? And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God. Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken? But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD; Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence: And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.”

This can be a challenging passage of Scripture to understand. To be honest, Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) helped me to understand this passage in his sermon titled: 'The Burden Of The Lord.'

I've noticed several truths in this passage that I want to bring to your attention:

1. “in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly” (verse 20) - The Jews didn't understand why God was allowing them to be conquered by King Nebuchadnezzar (whom God called “my servant” in Jeremiah 27:6) and taken prisoner into captivity, but the LORD said that they would understand it all in hindsight in the future.
2. “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied” (verse 21) - Just like today in 2026, most preachers are fake! Most men (and ALL women) who preach the Bible today are NOT doing the Lord's work, they are false prophets who wrongly divide the Word of Truth.
3. “But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.” (verse 22) - Those false prophets were encouraging God's people to sin, instead of turning them away from their sinning. There are wicked clergy everywhere today who encourage divorce, sanction women wearing pants (men's clothing), recognize homosexual marriages, allow female pastors, and other wickedness. That is one way that you can identify a false prophet, because instead of shunning sin and preaching against it, they allow and sanction sin.
4. “Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?” (verse 23) - I love this Bible verse! God is still God in the bad times, just as He is during the good time. The LORD is still on His throne reigning over the universe.
5. “Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD.  Do not I fill heaven and earth?  saith the LORD” (verse 24) - The Jews thought God couldn't see what they were doing in secret. Dear reader, the God of the universe is also the God of your basement.

The Jews were following the false prophets, rejecting THE TRUTH spoken by God's prophet Jeremiah, who had told the Israelites to submit and surrender to Babylon that they might live. Sadly, their wicked pride caused King Zedekiah (who was worried about what his political peers thought) to disobey God. Instead of heeding God's commandments, they imprisoned Jeremiah into a miry pit of clay that almost destroyed his health and killed him. The first thing the invading Babylonians did was to recue Jeremiah and set him free.

The haughty Jews were sinfully complaining about “the burden” of the Lord. But to God it wasn't a “burden” (a bad thing), it was the right thing to do to Israel for their habitual idolatry and spiritual adultery with idols and wickedness. God had had enough! The book of Ezekiel is about Israel's sin of committing spiritual whoredom with idols. For 490 years the Jews had refused to observe the Sabbath Day, which was an important ceremonial law that symbolized salvation by resting in Jesu Christ alone. The defiant Jews were not cooperating at all.

This passage is about Israel foolishly following the false prophets instead of obeying the Word of God spoken by the prophet Jeremiah. Their bad attitudes and complaining doomed them!