They have seen vanity and lying divinations They have uttered false prophecies concerning peace and prosperity, pretending to have seen that which they did not see, and producing that as a divine truth which they knew to be a detestable lie. They have made others Who were so simple as to believe them; to hope that they would confirm the word Or rather, that the word would be confirmed. Their speaking with so much assurance made others confidently expect that the event would answer their predictions, and that the judgments which the true prophets had threatened in the name of God would never come, whereby they hardened those in sin whom they ought to have endeavoured to bring to repentance. Therefore, because ye have spoken vanity Have uttered mere fictions and lies, with a view to your own advantage. Behold, I am against you, saith the Lord God And who can be for you when I am against you? And my hand shall be upon the prophets My power striking them so, that it shall be evident they fall under my displeasure; as Pelatiah, Ezekiel 11:13, and Hananiah, Jeremiah 28:15. They shall not be in the assembly of my people Of those who shall hereafter worship me in Jerusalem; or, in the secret council of those who shall consult on public affairs. They shall not be members of my church here, nor partake of the communion of saints hereafter. The Hebrew word סוד, here rendered assembly, properly signifies a secret assembly, or privy council; such as are acquainted with the secret intents and purposes of their prince. Hence it is applied to God's chosen people, those that are acquainted with the whole counsel of God, and whom he instructs and directs by his Holy Spirit: see notes on Psalms 25:14; Jeremiah 23:18. The prophet, therefore, here tells these men who pretended to know so much of the secrets of the Almighty that they should never be of the number of those favourites of heaven to whom God would reveal himself and his counsels. Neither shall they be written, &c. The sense of this clause is nearly the same with that of the preceding; the words containing an allusion to the registers usually kept of the members of cities or corporations, to the privileges of which societies none are admitted but they whose names are entered into such registers. The false prophets, it seems, promised a speedy return to the exiles; God, therefore, tells them that they should never live to see it, nor should their names be entered into the register of those that should return home. Neither shall they enter into the land of Israel
They shall never see their own country again, nor shall they have a share in the blessings peculiar to true Israelites: see Lowth.