.23:33-40.

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God’s burden (Jer 23:33-40)

Prophets often spoke of their message as a ‘burden’ from God. It was a responsibility they had to discharge by announcing it to the people. Sometimes people went to prophets, particularly those whom Jeremiah calls false prophets, to ask them for a message, or burden, that would give them direction or guidance. God tells Jeremiah that if they ask him for a burden, he is to tell them that they are the burden. They are a burden so heavy that God cannot carry them any longer.

He will therefore get rid of them by throwing them into captivity (Jer 23:33).

The false prophets misused the word ‘burden’, so that no matter what announcement they made, they claimed it to be a burden from God. For this reason God commands the true prophets, such as Jeremiah, not to use the word any more (Jer 23:34-37).

When false prophets persist in using the word, they show their defiance of God and their intention to deceive his people. God’s punishment will be to treat them as a burden and throw them away. As those whom God has cast off, they will be taken captives to a distant land (Jer 23:38-40).