28:1-4
Jeremiah has given his message and we now get a message from the false prophet Hananiah. Hananiah gave his message to Jeremiah in the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people. “All the people” presumably means all the ones who were in the temple at the time. The message goes directly against the command given by God in the previous chapter. We should note several elements of this false message. First it tells the people “good news”, the sort of message they wanted to hear. Now we should note that this would not actually be good news. For the biggest problem the people had was their sinfulness, and just carrying on in the same old way were actually do them no good. Secondly it is very precise, giving time scales, and mentioning specific people. Thirdly, it is given in the name of the Lord. However, the most important aspect is that it was not a word from the Lord.
28:5-9
Jeremiah then replied to the priests and the people. Jeremiah begins by replying in a mocking tone, acting as if the message was indeed true and good news. Jeremiah is responding a little like Micaiah in 1 Kings 22:15. Jeremiah warns them that the prophet of peace is only truly a prophet of God if his prediction comes true. There is no use giving nice sounding words if they prove to be utter nonsense.
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