Jeremiah 23:28

My Notes

What Does Jeremiah 23:28 Mean?

Jeremiah 23:28 draws a sharp line between authentic and counterfeit prophecy: "The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD."

God doesn't say dreams are evil. He says: if you had a dream, call it a dream. Don't dress it up as divine revelation. The problem isn't dreams themselves. It's the inflation — taking a human experience and stamping God's name on it. Meanwhile, the person who actually has God's word should speak it faithfully — ne'emanah, reliably, accurately, without dilution or embellishment.

The rhetorical question — "What is the chaff to the wheat?" — is the devastating comparison. Dreams without divine commission are chaff — lightweight, insubstantial, blown away by the first wind. God's actual word is wheat — nourishing, substantial, the thing that sustains life. The two aren't in the same category. They shouldn't be given the same weight. The false prophet's dream and God's word might sound similar. But one feeds people and the other blows away.

Reflection Questions

• 1.Have you ever elevated a personal impression to 'God told me' when it was really a dream, a feeling, or a preference? What's the cost of that inflation?
• 2.How do you tell the difference between chaff and wheat — between a spiritual impression and God's actual word?
• 3.If you have God's word, are you speaking it faithfully — without dilution, embellishment, or softening? Where are you tempted to edit?
• 4.What chaff have you been consuming — messages that felt spiritual but couldn't actually sustain you?

Devotional

God isn't against dreams. He's against calling them something they're not. If you had a dream, say so. If you have God's word, speak it faithfully. Just don't confuse the two — because one is chaff and the other is wheat, and the people listening to you need to know the difference.

We live in a culture where spiritual impressions, personal feelings, and subjective experiences are routinely elevated to "God told me." A feeling becomes a prophecy. An intuition becomes a divine mandate. A dream becomes marching orders for someone else's life. And God says: label it correctly. A dream is a dream. My word is my word. They're not interchangeable.

The chaff-and-wheat image is about substance. Chaff looks like part of the harvest. It comes in with the wheat. It's present on the threshing floor. But when the wind blows, it's gone — because it has no weight. It can't nourish. It can't sustain. And that's what happens with spiritual messages that lack divine origin: they feel significant in the moment, but they can't feed anyone long-term.

"Let him speak my word faithfully" — that word ne'emanah means reliably, trustworthily. If you have God's actual word — Scripture, a genuine prophetic message — your job is fidelity, not creativity. Don't add to it. Don't soften it. Don't reshape it for your audience. Speak it faithfully. The wheat doesn't need your help being nutritious. It just needs to be delivered without being mixed with chaff.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture