Jeremiah 23:28

"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 straw to the wheat? saith Jehovah. Is not my word like a fire, saith Jehovah, and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Therefore, Behold, I am against the prophets, saith Jehovah, that steal my words everyone from his neighbor. Behold, I am against the prophets, saith Jehovah, that use their tongues and say, He saith. Behold, I am against them that prophesy lying dreams, saith Jehovah, and do tell them, and cause my people to err because of their lies, and by their vain boasting: yet I sent them not, nor commanded them; neither do they profit their people at all, saith Jehovah."

"Let him tell a dream ..." (Jeremiah 23:28). This means, `let him tell a dream for what it is, merely a dream, and not the Word of God.'

"What is the wheat to the straw ..." (Jeremiah 23:28). This compares the words of the false prophets to the straw or the chaff, and the Word of God to the wheat.

"Is not my word like a fire ..." (Jeremiah 23:29)? This beautiful metaphor of the Word of God reminds us of Hebrews 4:12, "The Word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart."

Henderson identified three classes of false teachers here: (1) Those who pervert the true Word of God; (2) those who are word merchants, attractive, glib talkers, whose words have a pleasing sound but actually have no solid meaning; and (3) those who specialize in dreams![27]