“Then I said, “O Sovereign Lord, the people have been deceived by what you said, for you promised peace for Jerusalem. But the sword is held at their throats!” Jeremiah 4:10
“This will happen because these evil prophets deceive my people by saying, ‘All is peaceful’ when there is no peace at all! It’s as if the people have built a flimsy wall, and these prophets are trying to reinforce it by covering it with whitewash!” (Ezekiel 13:10) What does he mean by this? The false prophets were suggesting that none of this destruction was going to happen (6:14; 8:11). After all, there were visible signs of God’s blessing. So Jeremiah concludes that God is intentionally confusing his various prophets; God is telling the false prophets one thing, a message of peace, but delivering something else, a sword. Of course this is not the case, but we cannot blame Jeremiah for feeling this way. Remember, this is his journal. He feels like even though God has called him to pluck up, break down, destroy, and overthrow (1:10), other prophets, false prophets, are promising peace. Why would God allow this confusion to go on? In other words, why would God allow the false prophets to exist? The reason may be wrapped up in the mercy of God, inasmuch as God is being gracious to the false prophets by giving them another opportunity to repent.
“When people are saying, “Everything is peaceful and secure,” then disaster will fall on them as suddenly as a pregnant woman’s labor pains begin. And there will be no escape.” (1Thessalonians 5:3)
“Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.” (Matthew 10:34)