Jeremiah 23:33–36 ESV. “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the Lord?’ you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden, and I will cast you off, declares the Lord.’ And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ I will punish that man and his household. Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ But ‘the burden of the Lord’ you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man’s own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God.”
God tells Jeremiah about false prophets in chapter 23, and focuses on the term “burden of the Lord” that they used. Apparently, the false ones would use this term when they were prophesying words that God did not give them. In the process, they would pervert the actual words spoken by the Lord, using lying dreams. Real prophets could use the term (see Zechariah) but not people.
The words of the living God they perverted were those of the covenant made at Mount Sinai through Moses as Jeremiah recorded starting in chapter 11. We can apply these statements to anyone who claims to speak for God or who says they teach His Word yet perverts those words into meanings they don’t possess. They don’t have to say “the burden of the Lord” to speak falsely. The burden is “every man’s own word” which means the same as doing (or saying) what is right in their own eyes.
God says, “Let him who has my word speak my word faithfully” (23:28). If we don’t speak His Word with His meanings or applications then we are not speaking faithfully. To speak faithfully is to speak His Words of the covenant instead of twisting them to dismiss the real meaning. If we do not speak faithfully, we are the burden of the Lord and He will take steps to punish. We may not see a direct connection to our faithlessness but there will be a connection nonetheless.
Labeling sections of His Word as “old testament” and “new testament” (or just old and new) are the start of becoming the burden of the Lord. He didn’t label them thus, and neither should we. His Words are not split up in that way. Teaching that the crucifixion changed that which cannot be changed is another way of becoming the burden of the Lord. Creating a “new thing” called the Church which then grabs authority for itself in changing the Word continues the burden and makes it worse. Other burdens are in splitting the Word into “Jewish” and “Gentile” sections, insisting that if people disagree with the Church they are heretics and cast out of congregations.
Hosea has a lot to say about priests and prophets who destroy people for “lack of knowledge,” which is the “law of your God.” He doesn’t use the term “burden,” but it’s clear that God has the same issue of a burden as described in Jeremiah 23 (and other places).
Hosea 4:6 ESV. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.
The burden in Hosea is the same people who pervert the Word of the Lord delivered by Moses spoken of by Jeremiah. The leaders of Israel are the ones who are supposed to be living and teaching God’s Word and were failing to do either. They became the burden, and led the people of Israel to become a burden also.
It’s not just the priests and prophets of way-back-when either. Anyone at any time that teaches us to forget the Law of our God fits right into the category of burden. People are still destroyed for lack of knowledge of the Words of God, as those words are perverted into ear-tickling messages of peace when there is no peace without all of His words and His exact meaning.
Jeremiah 8:8, 11 ESV. “How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie…They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.
Jesus had much to say to the scribes (lying pens) and other hypocritical leaders of the Church. Yes, I know I’m conflating the Jews with the Church but it’s obvious they’re the same lying organizations. Jesus calls “traditions” that contradict His Words as false, which puts them in the same category as “burden.”
Matthew 15:3–6 ESV. He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God.
You can also refer to Luke 7 for a second view of these types of conversations.
Mixing false traditions with the actual Word of God is another way the lying pens of the scribes turn His Words into burdens. Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:2 and 2 Thessalonians 2:15 says something about traditions he delivered to those people, but we have to go by the rest of his words also as he shoots down traditions that only vaguely resemble God’s traditions.
Colossians 2:8, 18 ESV. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ…Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels…
Human tradition which follows the elemental spirits of the world are to be avoided, just like we avoid the false teachings of rabbis, pastors and priests. Not all of these leaders speak only lies, but mix a little of God’s Word with a whole lot of burdens never taught by our Messiah Yeshua or our Father in heaven. We are encouraged to ignore those that depart from the Truth. Shalom.