"Am I a God who is near, declares Jehovah, / And not a God who is far off? / Can a man hide himself in secret places, / So that I will not see him? declares Jehovah. / Do I not fill the heavens and the earth? / Declares Jehovah" (vv. 23-24). This word indicates that the prophets of Judah considered Jehovah as a God who is near and not far off, not filling the heavens and the earth.
These prophets dared to prophesy falsely in Jehovah's name; they were "prophets of the deceit of their own heart" (v. 26). As they prophesied in this way, they said, "I have dreamed; I have dreamed," thinking to cause Jehovah's people to forget His name "with their dreams which they tell, each one to his neighbor, even as their fathers forgot My name because of Baal" (vv. 25, 27). They prophesied false dreams to lead Jehovah's people astray by their lies and by their boasting, not rendering any profit to His people. Concerning this, Jehovah said, "Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams, declares Jehovah, and who tell them and lead My people astray by their lies and by their recklessness, although I did not send them or command them; neither do they profit this people at all" (v. 32).
Verse 30 says, "Therefore behold, I am against the prophets, declares Jehovah, who steal My words, each one from his neighbor." When these prophets were stealing Jehovah's words, they were pretending to have received the words of Jehovah. Have you ever heard of such a stealing, a stealing not of gold or silver but of God's words? Nevertheless, such a thing happened at Jeremiah's time, and it still happens today.
Jeremiah was a genuine prophet who received words from God. Although there were other genuine prophets, most of the prophets in Judah were false. These false prophets could not have a way to receive Jehovah's word, so they listened to those who spoke for God and then stole the words of Jehovah spoken by them.
The principle is the same today. Someone receives a revelation from God through the Word and then speaks this revelation. Others then take this word and speak it as if it were their own. They do not give any credit to the one who received the revelation; instead, they pretend that they themselves have received this revelation from God and that the words they are speaking are their own. To do this is to steal the word. I know of cases where certain people used my messages on Romans and on Revelation without giving me credit. What a shame for Christians to do such a thing! Concerning this, we should be honest and have a high ethical standard. If we use the words of someone else, we should give credit to that person.
In verse 28 Jehovah says, "The prophet who has a dream, let him tell the dream; and he with whom is My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the straw to the grain? declares Jehovah." The word of God which came forth from Jeremiah was grain, but the word of the false prophets was straw, chaff. For the word to be grain means that it is food for our nourishment and that it contains the divine essence to be dispensed into our being.
The new Christian books published today contain a great deal of chaff but very little grain. Among the Christian books published after 1945, it has been hard to find even one book that is rich in nourishing grain or a book filled with the divine revelation concerning God's plan. Regarding the divine revelation, many today are in darkness and have straw instead of grain.
In verses 28 and 29 Jehovah compared His word to grain, to fire, and to a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces. On the positive side, the word of God, as a grain of wheat, dispenses God as life into us to nourish us. On the negative side, the word, as fire, burns us and many of the things in which we have confidence; and the word, as a hammer, breaks down our self, our natural life, our flesh, our lusts, and our concepts. Our heart may be like rock, but the word of God can break us in pieces so that Christ can be ministered to us as life-giving grain.