Page:A memoir of Granville Sharp.djvu/158

154 Zedekiah) one of these wicked prophets, "Hananiah, the son of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon, (1 Chron. xxi. 29. 1 Kings iii. 5,)"—"look the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and brake it. And Hananiah spake" (in the temple) "in the presence of all the people, saying, thus saith the Lord; even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years." Jer. xxviii. 1, 10, 11. Upon which, it seems, the prophet Jeremiah was directed by God to reprove Hananiah with a severe sentence; for he not only declared that "Yokes of Iron" should be substituted instead of the "yokes of wood" (Jer. xxviii. 12, 13,) which Hananiah had broken, as I before remarked, but he also pointed out the lying prophet himself to the public observation, as a notable and undeniable token, that the prophecies of Jeremiah were of divine authority!—"Hear now, Hananiah," (said the true prophet): "the Lord" (i. e. Jehovah) "hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Therefore thus saith the Lord;—Behold, I will cast thee forth from the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord. So Hananiah the prophet died the same year, in the seventh month." Jer. xxviii. 15 — 17. That is, he died exactly two months after the prediction, which was made in the fifth month of the fourth year of Zedekiah. Such evidence, added to the former clear tokens of authenticity which this prophecy of the yokes carried with it, must render Zedekiah and his courtiers totally inexcusable for neglecting the divine warning, and relying upon false prophets. Thus the propriety of considering the former part of the 27th chapter as a revelation in the time of Jehoiakim, agreeable to the testimony of the Hebrew text, is rendered apparent by the particular advantages which such a prior revelation would afterwards give to the true prophet, when he had to oppose the pretended prophecies delivered in the fourth year of Zedekiah: and the remaining part of the 27th chapter, from the 12th verse, wherein the prophet mentions his personal address to Zedekiah, must necessarily