ירמיהו, פרק ד׳, פסוק י׳

A cry of profound sorrow bursts from the prophet's heart as he confronts the tragic gap between an illusion of security and a bloody reality. He directs a difficult question toward God, asking how the people and Jerusalem were allowed to be seduced by false promises of peace, a deception reminiscent of the serpent in the Garden of Eden.

The primary approach among commentators is that God did not directly deceive the nation. Instead, He showed patience toward the false prophets who promised peace, choosing not to punish them immediately. This divine silence led the masses astray, as they assumed the false prophets were speaking the truth. Because God allowed this to happen, the prophet speaks as though God Himself had misled them.

Another perspective suggests a more active role, proposing that God intentionally stirred these false prophets to speak lies in order to publicly expose the wickedness they kept hidden [רד״ק]. Alternatively, the prophet's cry can be understood as a reaction to the genuine shock of the false prophets themselves as the destruction unfolds. Seeing their surprise at the enemy's arrival, the prophet concludes that they did not consciously invent their lies. Rather, God placed a spirit of falsehood within them to blind them and remove their fear of the Babylonian king [אברבנאל, מלבי״ם].

The consequence of this illusion is absolute disaster. Believing the false promises of peace, the people failed to repent. Had they grasped the true danger of their situation and chosen not to rebel, they might have escaped with merely economic losses, such as paying taxes or offering bribes to the enemy. However, because they were lulled into a false sense of security, the invading forces do not settle for taking captives or looting. Instead, the enemy's sword reaches the very soul of the nation, bringing outright slaughter and death.