DBG - August 21 - Jeremiah 26-29

In this chapter there is fierce backlash against Jeremiah and Urijah for their prophecies.

vs. 1-6 – This section is connected to Jeremiah 7 and takes place in 608 B.C.  Jeremiah here stands in the court of the Temple and proclaims the coming judgment and destruction of the Temple.  He compares this to the Tabernacle being forsaken at Shiloh and the Philistine attack against it (see I Samuel 4). 

vs. 7-11 – Jeremiah is apprehended by the Temple authorities, and they seek for his death because of his prophecy.

vs. 12-15 – Jeremiah offers his defense without backing down from his message.  He warns that if he is killed, they will be guilty of killing an innocent man.

vs. 16-19 – The princes stand up for Jeremiah and recall a similar message from the prophet Micah over 100 years before this.  The exact passage is Micah 3:12. 

vs. 20-24 – Another faithful prophet named Urijah (“light of Jehovah”) is hunted down for his prophecies against Judah.  He is martyred at the command of Jehoiakim.  Jeremiah is spared the same fate because of a powerful ally named Ahikam (“a brother who raises up”).  We met Ahikam in II Kings 22:12-14 as one member of the company that consulted the prophetess Huldah.  He is also the father of Gedaliah, who would serve as territorial governor under Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 40:5).

In this chapter bondage to Babylon is seen through the sign of the yoke.

vs. 1-11 – This section occurred in 609 B.C., shortly before the previous chapter.  Delegates from surrounding nations were gathering in Jerusalem, most likely to discuss resisting Babylon’s growing power.  Jeremiah takes yokes like oxen wore when they pulled a plow and gave them to the assembled delegates.  The picture is that all these nations would be subjugated by Babylon.

vs. 12-22 -  We jump here to 597 B.C.  Why are these two prophecies linked if they occurred so far apart?  It is because they are thematically linked.  Jeremiah again appeals to the imagery of the yoke to show that Babylon would conquer Judah.  Jeremiah appeals to the nation that they do not heed the false promises of peace from the lips of lying prophets.  He also reveals that the Temple’s treasures would be looted by the Babylonians. 

In this chapter a false prophet counters Jeremiah’s prophecy.

vs. 1-11 – A false prophet named Hananiah (“gift of God”) proclaims publicly that through Babylon will be victorious over Judah they would return within two years.  Jeremiah agrees that this will happen, but that time would tell which of them was correct on the timing.  Hananiah doubled down on his claim by breaking the yoke Jeremiah was using as a sign like in the previous chapter

vs. 12-17 – Jeremiah receives a prophecy against Hananiah.  It would not be wooden yoke that bound Judah, but one made of iron that would not so easily be broken.  As further evidence against the false prophet, it is declared that he will die within two months.  This happens as God said, fulfilling the command of Deuteronomy 18:19.

In this chapter Jeremiah sends a letter to the first captives in Babylon.

vs. 1-23 – Jeremiah sends a letter to the first captives taken to Babylon in II Kings 24:14 shortly before this time.  The message is for those Jews in Babylon to settle in and live their lives as best they could in a foreign land.  They were going to be there for 70 years before any returned to Judah.  The purpose of this judgment was to purge idolatry from the people’s hearts so they would seek the Lord.  Any prophets that claimed otherwise were lying.

vs. 24-32 – Special attention is paid to the false prophet named Shemaiah (“heard by Jehovah”).  He was in Babylon and had sent letters back to Judah telling people not to heed Jeremiah’s warnings.  God announces judgment upon the false prophet saying that his family would vanish in the captivity and not return.

Context is key to understanding the Bible.  It is very easy to take one verse, disconnect it from its surroundings, and change truth to error.  This is what often happens with Jeremiah 29:11.  It is presented as a promise that God wants to bless us all.  In context, it is promising the Jews that that there was good behind the coming judgment.  That is not exactly the same as the way it is presented on coffee mugs and shirts.  Yes, God wants to bless us, but sometimes that blessing comes in the form of a purging. 

Today’s hymn is “Child of Sin and Sorrow”, written by Thomas Hastings in 1832.  It is a call for the sinner to repent and turn to Christ. 

Child of sin and sorrow, filled with dismay,
Wait not for the morrow, yield thee today:
Heaven bids thee come, while yet there’s room,
Child of sin and sorrow, hear and obey.

Child of sin and sorrow, why wilt thou die?
Come whilst thou can borrow help from on high:
Grieve not that love which, from above,
Child of sin and sorrow, would bring thee nigh.

Child of sin and sorrow, the moments glide,
Like the flitting arrow, or the rushing tide;
E’er time is o’er, heaven’s grace implore;
Child of sin and sorrow, in Christ confide.

Child of sin and sorrow, cease now the tear;
Wait not for tomorrow, banish thy fear!
Christ now receives him who believes,
Child of sin and sorrow, be of good cheer!