28:1 And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the {a} reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the {b} fourth year, [and] in the fifth month, [that] Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, who [was] of {c} Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,
(a) When Jeremiah began to bear these bonds and yokes.
(b) After the land had rested, as in Le 25:2.
(c) This was a city in Benjamin belonging to the sons of Aaron, Jos 21:17.
28:1 The fourth year - Perhaps the fourth year of the sabbatical course is here intended. Of Gibeon - it is probable from the place where he lived, which was one of the cities of the priests; that he was a priest.
28:1-9 Hananiah spoke a false prophecy. Here is not a word of good counsel urging the Jews to repent and return to God. He promises temporal mercies, in God's name, but makes no mention of the spiritual mercies which God always promised with earthly blessings. This was not the first time Jeremiah had prayed for the people, though he prophesied against them. He appeals to the event, to prove Hananiah's falsehood. The prophet who spake only of peace and prosperity, without adding that they must not by wilful sin stop God's favours, will be proved a false prophet. Those who do not declare the alarming as well as the encouraging parts of God's word, and call men to repentance, and faith, and holiness, tread in the steps of the false prophets. The gospel of Christ encourages men to do works meet for repentance, but gives no encouragement to continue in sin.
