And because of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, The LORD make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;
All Commentaries on Jeremiah 29:22 Go To Jeremiah 29
The Apostolic Constitutions
AD 375
Not everyone who prophesies is holy, nor is everyone who casts out devils religious. Even Balaam the son of Beor the prophet did prophesy, though he was himself ungodly, as also did Caiaphas, the falsely named high priest. No, the devil foretells many things, and the demons, about Christ. Yet for all that, there is not a spark of piety in them. They are oppressed with ignorance, by reason of their voluntary wickedness. It is clear, therefore, that the ungodly, although they prophesy, do not by their prophesying cover their own impiety. Nor will those who cast out demons be sanctified by the demons being made subject to them. They only mock one another, as they do who play childish tricks for mirth, and destroy those who give heed to them. For neither is a wicked king any longer a king but a tyrant. Nor is a bishop oppressed with ignorance or an evil disposition a bishop, but he is called so falsely. He is not one sent out by God but by people, as Ananiah and Samoeah in Jerusalem, and Zedekiah and Achiah the false prophets in Babylon. Indeed, Balaam the prophet, when he had corrupted Israel by Baalpeor, suffered punishment. Caiaphas at last was his own murderer. The sons of Sceva, endeavoring to cast out demons, were wounded by them and fled away in an undignified way. The kings of Israel and of Judah, when they became impious, suffered all sorts of punishments. It is therefore evident how bishops and elders, also called so falsely, will not escape the judgment of God. For it will be said to them even now, “O priests that despise my name, I will deliver you up to the slaughter, as I did Zedekiah and Achiah, whom the king of Babylon fried in a frying pan,” as says Jeremiah the prophet. We say these things, not in contempt of true prophecies, for we know that they are wrought in holy people by the inspiration of God, but to put a stop to the boldness of conceited people, and add this, that from such as these God takes away his grace. “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
