Day #227

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Jeremiah 26-29 - Audio
Jeremiah 26-29 - Reading

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Daily Reading: Jeremiah 26-29

Jeremiah 26: A Sermon and a Response

• 26.1: Remember: the book of Jeremiah is not written in chronological order. Based on the king listed in this verse, this prophecy

is given around 609-608 B.C.

Jeremiah 26.2-6: Reprise...The Temple Sermon

Verses 2-6 give a summary of the sermon Jeremiah gave in 7.1-15.

• 26.2: Court most likely refers to the inner court of the temple.

• 26.3: Recall the theme of turning that runs throughout the book of Jeremiah. Throughout the book God continually

offers His people the chance to repent and turn back to him; however, it is also apparent that when the people

refuse to repent God rightly punished the people with covenantal curses. In this passage, the reason repentance

and restoration is based on the time in which it was spoken (early in Jehoiakim’s reign).

• 26.3: Listen is the Hebrew word “shema” which means to both hear and do. The word “shema” is used several times

within the next few verse to drive home the point that God has spoken but the people have not listened and

obeyed His words.

• 26.3: Evil is the robbing others of either all or a part of delight, moral good, economic good, beauty and a way of life

that makes life worthwhile.

•26.3: Evil, Disaster, Evil these three words are all the same word in Hebrew.

God says that if the people do not turn from robbing others of delight, etc. God

will take these things away from them. He will treat them as they have treated

others.

•26.4: follow my law is literally, “walk in my Torah”.

•26.6: Shiloh (where the tabernacle ark were) was destroyed by the Philistines

most during the time of the Judges. This proclamation would have been a direct

affront to the belief that Jerusalem was safe because of the Temple. Just

as Shiloh was destroyed, Jerusalem will also be destroyed; the Temple will not

protect the city.

Jeremiah 26.8-26: Response to a “Blasphemer”

• 26.8: The reason Jeremiah must die is because he has spoken against the temple and

therefore the assumption is that he has spoken against the power of God--he is a

blasphemer. In this incident we see hints of Jesus’ trial where one of the charges

against him was what he said about the temple and the final charge is that of blasphemy.

• 26.8-9: The depth of the opposition to God’s word and the sin of Judah is seen in all the groups that ally themselves against Jeremiah and call for his death.

• 26.10-11:Picture This: Jeremiah on trial in the temple. Officials, or court officials had legal responsibilities within Judah.

The prophets and the priests bring their complaints about Jeremiah to the officials and ask for him to be put

to death.

• 26.12-15: Jeremiah responds to his accusers, showing tremendous tenacity as he continues to proclaim the destruction

of Jerusalem and the temple

• 26.15: The shedding of innocent blood is one of the crimes for which God has condemned Judah on more than one

occasion.

• 26.16: The officials and the people accept Jeremiah’s words and acquit him of blasphemy.

• 26.17-19: In these verses, the elders compare Jeremiah to Micah of Moresheth who also prophesied about the destruction

of Judah to King Hezekiah (716-687 B.C.) In Hezekiah’s time, the people listened to the prophet and

Yahweh showed his favor upon the people by not bringing calamity upon them. Vs. 18 is a direct quote from Micah

3.12.

• 26.19: disaster is the word that was translated as “evil” in verse 3. The more one looks at the word disaster/evil the

more apparent it connection to covenant curses becomes.

• 26.20: In the Old Testament, names are incredibly significant because someone’s name also denotes their character.

Names tell a story that we can miss. Uriah means “toward God”. His father’s name means “listen to God”

(Shema Yah). The people kill a prophet rather than listening to him and moving towards God.

• 26.20-23: The NIV puts this story in parenthesis. This punctuation is not in the Hebrew. It may be that these words

are the argument of the priests for the killing of Jeremiah. A prophet who spoke out against the temple was put

to death by the king, now we have Jeremiah doing the same thing. Ironically, the words rather than showing the

faithfulness of the priests, shows how far they have walked from God.

• 26.24: Ahikam supported the reforms of Josiah (2 Kings 22.3,12). The entire family supported Jeremiah (29.3,

36.10, 40.9, 41.1-2).

Questions for thought and reflection

God fits the punishment and the crime in Jeremiah 26.3. Does God still do this? Will the punishment that comes to those who don’t follow Christ fit the crime or will everyone be punished the same?

What gives people the tenacity like that of Jeremiah?

Jeremiah 27: The Yoke of a Coalition

• 27.1: Picture This: The year is 593 B.C.. The place is Jerusalem. The purpose is a conference

of high ranking officials from neighboring countries to discuss a revolt against

Babylon. The revolt will take place 5 years later.

• 27.1: The immediate movement in time from 609 B.C. to 593 B.C. points out that Jeremiah’s

prophecy was right in chapter 26. This reality should give him weight as he

speaks his next warnings. However, it does not. He is ignored by Judah and all the

rest of the nations.

• 27.2: Picture This: God commands Jeremiah to carry out another symbolic action. The

yoke symbolizes that it is God’s will that Judah go into exile and be under the rule of

Babylon.

• 27.3: In what must have felt like an arrogant move to the nations Jeremiah declares that he is a prophet to them

and that Judah’s God is greater than all the gods of the nations. Remember that in the Ancient Near East, nations

basically believed that each god only controlled a small area and was limited in power. For Jeremiah to

claim that Yahweh as the all powerful God went against the theology of the day. It is worth remembering that

when Jeremiah was commissioned he was commissioned as the prophet to the nations, Jer. 1:5 “Before I

formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the

nations.”

• 27.5: Outstretched arm (irresistible might) God’s arm represents his power to do as he wills. While God’s arm is always sufficient the scriptures hold that the arm of man will always finally fail.

• 27.5: God declares that the earth is his and all those who are in it--including rulers. It is his choice who rules.

• 27.6: Again there is a brazenness to these words. Jeremiah declares that the most powerful king of the day is actually a servant of God i.e. he is in God’s service whether he knows it or not.

• 27.7: “serve” has the same root in Hebrew as servant. Nebachadnezzar will serve God and the nations will serve Nebachadnezzar.

• 27.8: Thompson writes, “The consequence of rejecting Jeremiah’s advice, which was really a rejection of Yahweh’s word, was judgement by sword, famine, and plague--all pictures of a military invasion and its aftermath,

well known and well understood since all of the small states had suffered over the years from the Assyrians.”

• 27.8: Jeremiah warns not only Judah against false prophets but also advises the nations against listening to false prophets.

• 27.9-11: In the Old Testament, diviners, dreamers, soothsayers, and sorcerers were all banned in Israel. “9 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. 13 You must be blameless before the LORD your God.” Deuteronomy 18.9-13 NIV. Jeremiah warns the nations to not listen to any of these people because they speak falsehood by promising the nations that they would not serve Babylon. Jeremiah, on the other hand, presents Babylon as Yahweh’s servant, as Assyria had been in Isaiah. To resist Babylon’s captivity would be to resist Yahweh. The promise is not one of freedom, but rather an eventual escape from exile.

• 27.12-15: Jeremiah now presents the same message to Judah as he did to the nations. What is surprising is that Jeremiah addresses the nations of the world first but gives the same message to both.

• 27.16: False prophets were telling the people that the exile would soon be over and that the articles that had

been taken from the temple (2 Kings 24) would soon come back and life would be excellent. In fact, the articles

don’t return until after the exile (see Ezra 1.7-8).

• 27.17: Jeremiah still holds out hope for the city; however, the city will fall and even more of the temple treasures will be taken to Babylon (2 Kings 25).

• 27.18: “Plead” in Hebrew refers to a very specific level of prayer, it is someone who when they pray connects

with God and can use their influence on God because of their relationship with him. Jeremiah in a mocking tone

tells these false prophets who believe they have God’s word to start using their influence with God to stop the

coming day of disaster (evil). Their prayers, however, could not help because they have no relationship with

God.

• 27.19: The two pillars of the temple were known as Boaz and Jachin. Boaz stood to the north while Jachin stood to the south (1 Kgs 7:15–21). The majority of scholars believe that they had a purely decorative and symbolic function. But W. F. Albright suggested they were giant incense stands (Archaeology and the Religion of Israel, 1949, pp. 138–48). Others hold that they symbolized God’s presence or that the pillars which, together with the laver, symbolized Yahweh’s lordship over the natural elements (land and water). R.B.Y. Scott appropriately notes that since the king “stood by the pillar” at important occasions (2 Kgs 11:14; 23:3) the inscriptions may have dynastic significance. Boaz may recall: “In the strength of Yahweh shall the king rejoice” Ps 21:1. Jachin most likely means “he establishes” i.e. Yahweh establishes.

• 27.22: God says that he is the one who will come back for the articles of the temple. When one realizes that he

will come back for the two pillars, one of which means “he establishes” (Jachin) this is yet another declaration

that God has his way with the world.

Questions for thought and reflection

Are false teachers/prophets still a problem for the Christian community? How do you discern who is a false prophet?

Why does God warn the nations of their folly in trying to defeat Babylon? Why not just let them be destroyed?

Jeremiah 28: A Confrontation

• 28.1: Hannaniah’s name means “Yah(weh) has been gracious”. His name carries a double meaning. First, in the past rather than destroying his people God has been gracious and preserved them, calling them to repentance.

Second, God’s time of grace was in the past now punishment is coming. Hannaniah, however, seems to have

interpreted his name as “Yah will be gracious” and so looks to a short exile and then the return of the people.

• 28.3: Two years would have indicated that the people had either repented or done little wrong. Jeremiah’s prediction of a 70 year exile, which was in line with the exile of an angry god in the ancient near east, was adjusted only due to repentance. Since there had been no repentance, Hananniah’s prophecy makes it look like there has been little sin.

• 28.6: Jeremiah wishes that the words of Hananniah were true. He doesn’t long for destruction either.

• 28.8-9: Jeremiah points out that the prophetic task has always been first and foremost to call God’s people to repentance. Hananniah’s easy grace flies in the face of the prophetic task.

• 28.10: By breaking the yoke, Hananniah declares that his prophecy is replacing and is superior to Jeremiah’s.

• 28.11: Jeremiah goes on his way until God tells him how He wants to refute this false prophecy.

• 28.12: God tells Jeremiah how he wants him to respond to this false prophet.

• 28.14: The yoke of wood that is easily broken is replaced by a yoke of iron that can’t be broken. The exile is coming, nothing will change God’s plan.

• 28.14: God on several occasions refers to the rule or control of the king over the animals. This giving over or bestowing on the king the animals has echoes of the words of God in creation, “Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living thing that crawls along the earth.” The idea of rule/dominion (Hebrew: redu) has an interesting flexibility to it when connected with the word “moshel” in Hebrew which means to rule or have dominion (Psalm 8 which is a verse that connects back to Genesis 1 uses “moshel” when it says, Psa. 8:6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet….). The flexibility is simply that the understanding of rule has to be gathered from the context. “This will be illustrated by examining in order the first several appearances of lAvDm in the Bible. The sun and moon are said “to rule over the day and over the night” (Gen 1:18). They are merely the most prominent luminaries over day and night. Eve, standing for all wives, was given to understand that in the home the husband “shall rule over thee” (3:16). Such leadership as is appropriate-and it varies greatly-for a man to give his family is meant. Cain was told by God that he ought to master sin in his life, “Do thou rule over him” (4:7). Management over all the material goods of a master, as his steward, and management of all the personnel of the enterprise is indicated in the case of Abraham’s “servant” (Eliezer of Damascus? 15:2): “his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had” (24:2). Direction of affairs of a large family as “firstborn-designate” is indicated by Joseph’s version of the sheaves-at least so his angry brothers interpreted the vision: “Shalt thou indeed reign over us” (37:8). Theological Word Book of the Old

Testament To rule then needs to be determined by the context. It leaves open very interesting questions about

how kings and rulers who God has given the animals of the world to rule over are to rule. Has the way of ruling

changed from the 7th century B.C. to the 21st century A.D.?

• 28.16: Hananniah’s prophecy, in light of the meetings of the nations in chapter 27, may have seemed like rebellion against Babylon, but in reality it was rebellion against the plans of God.

• 28.17: Jeremiah’s prediction of Hananniah’s death comes true 2 months later. One of the things that the number two indicates in the scripture is agreement. For instance, a person can only be condemned if two witnesses agree that the person committed the crime--this was the problem at Jesus’ trial, they couldn’t find two witnesses to agree. Hananniah’s death after two months seems to indicate God’s stamp of approval on Jeremiah’s prophecy and God’s condemnation of Hananniah’s prophecy of a return after two years.

Questions for thought and reflection

Jeremiah points out that the prophetic task is to call people to repentance. How do we do that in a day where most people, including most Christians, don’t see a need to repent?

Why do you think God points out that he has even put the animals under the rule of the king?

Covenant: When God renews his covenant with his people, he promises to give them a “heart to know [him].” This involves striking the idols from their hearts. What, according to the parts of Jeremiah we have studied were those idols?

And, what are the idols of our day/culture that, as God’s people, we must work to strike from our hearts?

Thursday Reading Jeremiah 29