Jeremiah 23:27 Meaning: When Dreams Make You Forget God
They intend to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they each tell his neighbor, as their fathers forgot my name because of Baal.
Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.
that think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers forgat my name for Baal.
Who are devising to cause My people To forget My name by their dreams, That they recount each to his neighbour, As their fathers forgot my name for Baal.
who think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour: as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.
Meaning in one sentence
Find out how false dreams cause forgetfulness of God in Jeremiah 23:27, and how to distinguish true revelation from human invention.
Context
Jeremiah preached in the final years before Babylon destroyed Jerusalem. The city had a thriving industry of prophets who told people what they wanted to hear: peace, safety, God's blessing no matter what. They often claimed to receive their messages in dreams. In chapter 23, God directly confronts these prophets. He says they are stealing words from one another, using their own tongues, and prophesying from the deceit of their own hearts. Verse 27 gets to the heart of the problem: these dreams, far from drawing people closer to God, were making them forget who He really is. The results were as devastating as the Baal worship of earlier generations.
Key Words
The Hebrew verb behind 'intend' (chashav) is loaded. It means to calculate, to plan, to count on something. These prophets were not sharing dreams in innocence; they were actively scheming to replace God's word with their own. The forgetting is no accident either. To forget God's name (shakhach plus shem) is to lose touch with His character and His claim on your life. It is the slow drift that comes when you stop paying attention to who He truly is. And the word for 'neighbor' (rea) shows how this forgetting spreads, person to person, one conversation at a time. A whole community can drift away from truth when comfortable messages pass from mouth to mouth.
How Christians Read This Verse
Christians across traditions have drawn attention to different aspects of this verse. Adam Clarke, a Methodist scholar, described how true dreams from God are well-ordered and focused on holiness, while false dreams appeal to the flesh. Calvin, writing from a Reformed perspective, noted that these prophets were not denying God outright; they mixed truth with flattery, making the people forget God as surely as Baal worship had. Baptist commentator John Gill saw a deliberate conspiracy: 'a scheme and device of theirs, in which they hoped to succeed.' The Anglican Cambridge Bible points to the larger context, noting that the prophets of Jerusalem had become as corrupt as those of Samaria. Despite these differences, all emphasize that false teaching causes spiritual amnesia, erasing God's true character from His people's hearts.
A common misunderstanding
A common mistake is to think that this verse condemns all dreams or all claims to divine revelation. In fact, God does not forbid dreams entirely. Just two verses later He says:
"The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he who has my word, let him speak my word faithfully."
— Jeremiah 23:28 (WEB)
The problem is not the dream itself, but using the dream to replace God's word with a message that lets people forget His name.
Living This Out
This week, pay attention to what you hear from people who claim to speak for God. Does their message draw you closer to Scripture and to God's actual commands? Or does it let you drift away from the uncomfortable parts of following Jesus? The false prophets promised peace while ignoring sin. If a message allows you to forget God's holiness, His justice, or His call on your life, it may be a dream that leads to forgetting. Stay rooted in the Word itself, and let that be your test.
Main takeaway: False teaching can make you forget who God really is just as surely as outright idolatry.
For Families
For ages 5, 8
Some people said God told them things, but their words made people forget about God. Always check if what people say about God matches the Bible.
For ages 9, 12
In Jeremiah's time, prophets claimed to have dreams from God, but their messages made people forget God's true character. It's like someone telling you a story about a friend that makes you doubt whether they are good. When you hear someone say 'God told me,' always compare it to what God has already said in Scripture. That's how you tell the difference between real wheat and useless straw.
Questions People Ask
What does it mean to 'forget' God's name in Jeremiah 23:27?
Forgetting God's name is not just a memory slip. In the Bible, the name of God stands for His character, His acts, and His covenant with His people. To forget His name is to stop living as if He matters. The false prophets' dreams caused this forgetfulness by drawing attention away from who God really is, just as Baal worship had done to their ancestors.
Why does God compare these dreams to the worship of Baal?
Baal was the main god of Canaan, and Israel's ancestors turned away from the Lord to serve Baal repeatedly. Through that idolatry, they forgot what God had done for them. Here, God says the false prophets are achieving the same result through their dreams. The dreams are not carved idols, but they are just as effective at erasing God from His people's hearts, because they replace His true word with a message people prefer.
Are all dreams from God according to the Bible?
The Bible shows that God does speak through dreams, such as to Joseph, Daniel, and others. In this passage, God does not forbid dreams altogether. He says in verse 28: 'The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he who has my word, let him speak my word faithfully.' The test is whether the dream matches God's already revealed word. Adam Clarke described true dreams from God as well-ordered, focused on holiness, and engaging the intellect more than the imagination.
Who were these false prophets in Jeremiah 23?
They were prophets in Jerusalem who claimed to speak for God but told the people what they wanted to hear. They promised peace and safety even though judgment was coming. Jeremiah confronted them directly, saying they prophesied from 'the deceit of their own heart' (v. 26) and that their message made the people forget God's name. They were not outsiders but religious leaders who had corrupted their calling.
How can I know if a message I hear is truly from God?
Test it against Scripture. If a message contradicts what God has already revealed in His word, it is not from Him. Also, look at the fruit. False prophets in Jeremiah's day encouraged others in sin instead of calling them back. True messages from God draw you closer to His character, His commands, and His love. The test is not whether the messenger sounds spiritual, but whether the message aligns with the Bible.
For pastors & researchers
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