By Eugene Garner

JEREMIAH - CHAPTER 27

JEHOVAH COUNSELS JUDAH'S NEIGHBORS

"SUBMIT TO NEBUCHADNEZZAR, AND PROSPER!"

    In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck, 3 And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah; 4 And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters; 5 I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. 6 And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him. 7 And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him. 8 And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. 9 Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: 10 For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish. 11 But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.

    1. There has been considerable controversy over whether this prophecy was received by Jeremiah during the reign of Jehoiakim or Zedekiah; whenever it came to him, it was clearly FOR the days of Zedekiah.
    2. Jeremiah is commanded to make yokes for use as an object lesson directed at the nations surrounding Judah.
      a. Envoys from these nations were assembling in Jerusalem in the hope of effecting an alliance against Babylon.
      b. The yoke of wooden bars laced together by thongs, and worn around the prophet's neck, symbolically depicted the hopeless folly of any attempt to throw oft the yoke of Babylon.
      c. Having arrested the attention of the ambassadors of the nations, Jeremiah was then instructed to send a message by them to their respective kings, (vs. 3-4).
    3. Jehovah, the God of Israel, has created the earth and everything upon it, (10:12; 51:15; Psa. 146:5-6).
      a. He is absolutely sovereign over His creation, (32:17; Eph. 1:11).
      b. By the power of His outstretched arm He gives the rule of it to whoever it seems right to Him, (Acts 17:25-26).
    4. It now pleases Him to give dominion into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon - who will serve His divine purpose, (vs 6-7).
      a. For an appointed time all those nations are delivered into his hand, and must serve him, (21:7; 22:25; comp. Ezek. 29:18-20).
      b. The beasts of the earth will also be placed under his dominion, (28:14).
      c. They will serve Nebuchadnezzar, his son and grandson, (comp. 44:30; 46:13).
      d. Then, when they have run their appointed course, they will become the servants of "nations and kings" - the Medes and Persians, under Darius and Cyrus, (25:12; Zech. 2:7-9; Isa. 14:4-6).
    5. In the meantime, any nation that refuses to place itself under the authority of Nebuchadnezzar will be punished with sword, famine and disease until it is destroyed, (vs. 8; 38:17-19; 42:15-16; Ezek. 17:19-21).
    6. These kings are warned against listening to their own lying prophets, diviners, dreamers, soothsayers and sorcerers who assure them that they will NEVER serve the king of Babylon, (vs. 9-10).
    7. The nation that voluntarily accepts the yoke, and serves the king of Babylon, will not be uprooted, but will be permitted to remain and cultivate its own land, (vs. 11; comp. 2:19; 38.2; 40:9-12; 42:10-11).

    12 I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live. 13 Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14 Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you. 15 For I have not sent them, saith the LORD, yet they prophesy a lie in my name; that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you.

    1. Jeremiah then speaks boldly in urging Zedekiah, king of Judah, to accept the yoke of Babylon - that both he and his people may live, (vs. 12).
    2. It really does not make sense to commit suicide by insisting on having one's own way, (vs. 13; comp. 38:23; Prov. 8:36; Ezek. 18:31).
    3. Nor is Zedekiah to listen to the lying prophets who are telling him that he will never serve the King of Babylon, (vs. 14; comp. Ezek. 13:22; 2 Cor. 11:13-15).
    4. The Lord has not sent these prophets, who claim to speak in His name: yet, because Zedekiah prefers their smooth promises to the truth, he and his prophets will perish together, (vs. 15; comp. 34:2-3).

    16 Also I spake to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the LORD'S house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you. 17 Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city be laid waste? 18 But if they be prophets, and if the word of the LORD be with them, let them now make intercession to the LORD of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon. 19 For thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city, 20 Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem; 21 Yea, thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem; 22 They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until the day that I visit them, saith the LORD; then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place.

    1. Finally, the Lord commands Jeremiah to warn the priests and the people against the lying prophets who declare that the vessels of the temple will shortly be returned from Babylon, (vs. 16-17; comp. I Kings 7:15-39; 2 Kings 24:13).
      a. These promises were designed to support the steadily-increasing class of reactionaries under Zedekiah.
      b. Jeremiah warns that priests and people must not be moved, by such false promises, to resist the inevitable triumph of Babylon, (vs. 17a).
      c. If they would spare the utter desolation of Jerusalem; yea. if they would LIVE, they MUST serve the king of Babylon, (vs. 17b).
    2. Jeremiah then issues a challenge to the professional, lying prophets in Judah: if they want to prove themselves TRUE prophets of Jehovah, let them so intercede with Him that NO MORE of the vessels left in the temple and in the king's house be taken away to Babylon, (vs. 18; comp. I Kings 18:24).
    3. Through Jeremiah the Lord declares that all the vessels not already taken, along with Jeconiah and the nobles, will surely be transported to Babylon, (vs. 19-22; comp. 52:17, 20-21).
      a. And they will remain in Babylon until the Lord visits judgment upon the Chaldeans, (vs. 22a; 29:10-14; comp. vs. 7; 25:11-12).
      b. In that day He will Himself arrange the return and restoration of Judah's sacred vessels, (Ezra 1:7-11; 5:13-15; 7:9, 19).
      c. Jeremiah is prepared to await God's own time, and the outworking of God's own plan, to vindicate the validity of his message and ministry!