24. BIBLICAL EPIC: Notes

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Jeremiah 1: The LORD said to me: I appointed you as a to the nations. Do not be afraid. I am calling the northern kingdoms against . Jeremiah, often called the "weeping prophet" because of his sorrow over the persistent message of God's judgment, prophesied to the nation of Judah from the reign of King in 627 BC until sometime after the destruction of in 586. Though his task as a prophet was to declare the coming judgment of God, we also see God's concern for repentance and righteousness in individuals as well as nations. This dual focus is seen in God's instructions to Jeremiah: he was "to pluck up and to break down" but also "to build and to plant" (1:10). Jeremiah sees a future day when God will write His law on human hearts, and "they shall all know me," and "I will remember their sin no more" (31:33-34). John Donne’s words summarize the book well: “Therefore that He may raise, the Lord throws down.” • 1:1-19. Introduction. The vast collection of oracles, sermons, and historical accounts that make up this book are drawn into a single narrative by means of the heading “The words of Jeremiah… to whom the word of the LORD came.” This all-powerful word is effectively the main character of the book, and its mission is laid out in this chapter. o Historical Setting (vv. 1-3). Jeremiah lived in difficult times, ministering from the reign of Judah’s last good king (Josiah), to sometime after the fall of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians. Despite his efforts, Jeremiah’s preaching did not stop ’s slide into exile. Though these are Jeremiah’s words, they are inspired by God. o Jeremiah’s Call (vv. 4-8). God is sovereign, knowing all things even before they happen. Thus, He knew Jeremiah even before he was formed in his mother’s womb. God’s plan for Jeremiah was that he be consecrated, or “set apart,” for preaching God’s word. Jeremiah’s ministry is to be a prophet to the nations, not just to Israel. Though young, he is God’s ambassador, and fearing God only, he will go where God sends and say what God commands. o Jeremiah’s Message (vv. 9-16). God’s touching of Jeremiah’s mouth sets it apart for God’s use (Isa. 6:4-7). That God puts His words in Jeremiah’s mouth again underscores the words’ divine source. Jeremiah’s message is threefold: (1) he must pluck up and break down, which refers to preaching against sin; (2) he must destroy and overthrow, which relates to messages concerning judgment; and (3) he must build and plant, which means he must preach about hope and renewal. The vision of the almond tree confirms that when Jeremiah speaks God’s words, they will come true. The vision of the boiling pot suggests that God’s judgment comes from the north. o God’s Promised Protection of Jeremiah (vv. 17-19). Persecution will be part of Jeremiah’s life. He will face opposition from the entire nation, but God will deliver him, thereby ensuring that his ministry will be completed. : Go and proclaim: My people have exchanged their glory for idols. You have all rebelled against me. Now I will bring you to judgement. • 2:1-37. Israel’s Spiritual Adultery. Building on a theme found in his predecessor Hosea, Jeremiah declares God’s contention that Israel has committed spiritual adultery (vv. 1-19). Israel as God’s bride is a common image in Scripture. But Israel is a faithless spouse who loves worthless idols more than the living God, and yet tries to act as if she has been faithful to Him (2:20-3:5). But they have broken their covenant vows and made themselves ripe for the covenant curses promised in Deuteronomy. God graciously brought them to the Land, but they defiled God’s land by embracing Canaanite gods, becoming as worthless as their idols. The image in vv. 12-13 shows that Israel exchanged the source of true life and peace for empty and deceptive promises, which is all that idols can give. Instead of being a “choice vine,” they had become a “wild vine” (v. 21). This probably is the background for Jesus’ words in John 15:1 being “the true vine”: He claims to embody the genuine people of God, unlike the Israelites of Jeremiah’s day. Israel claims she is innocent, which only adds to her guilt, for now she will also be judged for committing spiritual perjury. : Israel played the whore on every hill. Her false sister Judah saw it. Return, O faithless children! Surely the LORD is our salvation. • 3:1-5. Israel’s Spiritual Adultery (cont.). Accusing God’s people of “playing the whore” (v. 1), Jeremiah uses the image of Judah as God’s promiscuously unfaithful wife. This image was first used in the Pentateuch (Exod 34:15; Deut 31:16) and is widespread in the (Isa 1:21; Eze 16; 23; Hos 1-3). Sin in the moral order can have a devastating effect on the ecological order, just as the ground was cursed because of Adam’s sin (Deut 11:13-17). Israel tries to alternate between God and idols, but God rejects this arrangement. Israel acts as if God has been angry for too long and for no reason (vv. 4-5), calling out to God after being with other lovers/gods, but God will not accept her duplicity. She must sincerely repent (not with words, but actions) and commit herself exclusively to God. • 3:6-25. Faithless Israel Called to Repentance. Thus far, the prophet has addressed Israel as a single entity. However, long before Jeremiah’s time, the country had broken up into two distinct kingdoms, the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern . Because of Israel’s spiritual adultery, the LORD gave them a “decree of divorce” (v. 8) and sent them away (Deut 24: 1), referring to the northern kingdom’s destruction and the exile of its people in 722 BC by the Assyrians. The LORD’s judgment of the northern kingdom of Israel should have acted as a warning to the southern kingdom of Judah (where Jeremiah lives), but Judah did the same thing as Israel. Judah pretended to return to the LORD, but with pretense rather than all her heart. Even though they proved faithless, the LORD remains faithful (and merciful), so through Jeremiah, He implores them to repent and return. Despite her past unfaithfulness, God is willing to take His straying bride back. Judgment does not have to be the final word, for past sins can be forgiven (vv. 6-14) and the future can be bright (vv. 15-18). God will replace their rebellious leaders and give them “shepherds after [His] own heart” (v. 15) like , Israel’s greatest king (1 Sam 13:14; Ezek 34: 23-24). The ark of the covenant, the most central and precious symbol at the heart of Israel's worship, will not even be remembered because something more significant will take its place. God will purify and reunite the northern and southern kingdoms (v. 18), fulfilling the promises He made to in Gen 12:2-3. This anticipates the gathering of Jews and Samaritans, together with the Gentiles, into the church (Acts 1:8; 8:1b-17) and ultimately into the New Jerusalem (Heb 12:22-24; Rev 21:24-26). But they must repent, confessing that the LORD is their God (vv. 19-25). : Flee to safety! I am bringing disaster from the north, says the LORD. I have heard the trumpet! The whole land shall be a desolation. • 4:1-4. Faithless Israel Called to Repentance (cont.). True repentance, for both Israel (vv. 1-2) and Judah (vv. 3-4), is more than simply lamenting the consequences of sin. It requires a new heart. Externally, they may have been circumcised, marked out as belonging distinctively to the LORD as a holy nation, as God commanded Abraham (Gen 17:10-14). But they need to match that external mark of the covenant with internal commitment to the LORD, as Deut 10:16 commands. Failure to keep the terms of the covenant in this way will lead to certain judgment. • 4:5-31. Disaster is Coming from the North. In this section Jeremiah was so sure that God's judgment was imminent that he described it as already present. Unless Judah and Jerusalem repent, disaster in the form of a devastating invasion will come from the north (1:13-16). This is the direction from which Assyrian armies came and from which the Babylonian armies will come. A defeat so terrible will occur that it will seem as if God’s act of creation has been reversed (the phrase “without form and void” of v. 23 is same as Gen 1:2, before there was any light or any human). The invasion will lead to lamenting (vv. 5-13), though it should lead to repentance (vv. 14-18). Thus, refusing to repent is foolish (vv. 19-31). Even still, in the midst of the devastation, there is a tiny glimmer of hope (v. 27): The LORD will preserve a remnant and the creation will endure because of God’s mercy and eternal plan (Eph 1:3-14). : Israel and Judah have been utterly unfaithful to me. I am bringing a distant nation against you. Your sins have deprived you of good. • 5:1-13. Jerusalem Refused to Repent. Despite Jeremiah’s messages, the people do not repent (vv. 1-9). For Sodom, a minimum number of ten righteous people would have saved the city. On this occasion, God offers to spare Jerusalem if a single righteous person can be brought forth. But there is not a single just, faithful, and covenant- keeping person in Jerusalem for whose sake God would pardon the whole people (v. 1). Sadly, God’s discipline has not led to repentance but to a hardened resolve to sin. This is true not only of the poor (those uneducated in the ways of the LORD), but of the “great” as well (those who should know God’s ways). Indeed they prefer false teaching to the truth (vv. 10-13), for they wish to continue their immoral, unjust ways. To act justly is to act according to the norms of behavior that God has established. While the LORD must punish them for rejecting the terms of the covenant, yet He will still not destroy them completely, but will preserve a remnant for a (Jer 31:31- 34). In v. 13, Jeremiah mocks the peoples’ words with a pun: instead of being words of the Spirit, they are merely empty “wind” (the same Hebrew word can be translated Spirit or wind). They are nothing but “windbags.” • 5:14-31. The LORD Proclaims Judgment. In contrast to the words of false prophets, the words in Jeremiah's mouth would consume the unrepentant nation. “God of hosts” (v. 14) is a title often used of God when He judges (Isa 3:1; 5:16). Rather than a circumcised heart (4:4), the people have a stubborn and rebellious heart (v. 23), and so they mistake the LORD’s patience and forbearance as inactivity or indifference. But when the LORD acts, He will vindicate the prophet’s words. Because of Judah’s refusal to repent, they will soon experience the full force of ’s invasion (vv. 14-31), who will eat up everything and everyone in Judah as if it were a hungry animal (v. 6). Even still, Israel’s punishment will be for disciplinary purposes, to bring them to their senses and to educate them (vv. 18-19). The prophets should warn the people of the coming punishment, but instead, they prophesy “lies.” The priests should teach the people the law; instead, they teach their own ideas. Such teaching might be very popular with God’s people, but it is deadly because it fails to take into account what will happen “when the end comes” (v. 31). : Flee from Jerusalem! I appointed watchmen but you would not listen. An army is coming from the north. My people are rejected silver. • 6:1-30. God Has Rejected His People. Having rejected the LORD, the people now find that He has rejected them. Judah must prepare for invasion and defeat (vv. 1-8) since she has rejected God’s Word (vv. 9-15) and refused to walk in God’s ways (vv. 16-26). Normally, people would flee to a city for safety when danger threatened, but in v. 1 Jeremiah advises the reverse behavior, because Jerusalem will fall after a devastating siege. Of course, the real enemy is not the opposing kings and armies that surround Jerusalem but the LORD, who commands and directs the siege to punish the city for their sins (vv. 6-9). Judgment will affect everyone from the youngest “children in the street” to the “old,” men and women alike. The reason for this comprehensive judgment is comprehensive sin: “all are greedy for gain” (v. 13). The usual sacrificial offerings could not atone for their defiant sin, even if accompanied by expensive spices (v. 20). The problem was not with the sacrificial system but with the people: if the hands that brought the offering were defiled, the offering itself was defiled and therefore unacceptable to God. The phrase “terror is on every side” (v. 25) is a favorite saying of Jeremiah. But the people turned Jeremiah's saying around and used it against him, saying that all he saw were terrors coming from every direction. Jeremiah’s ministry was commissioned for refining Judah, separating the pure metal from the dross. But in this case, the refining process is a failure: the refiner is unable to separate any silver from the bronze, iron, and lead. Judah is a base metal, fit only for punishment (vv. 27-30). The people are altogether dross and will be burned up entirely in the fire of God’s wrath. : Proclaim at the temple: Has this house become a den of thieves? I sent prophets but you did not listen. Judah will become desolate. • 7:1-15. False Trust in the Temple. Having recounted God’s accusations against Judah in chapters 2-6, Jeremiah spends the next four chapters laying out the truth of the charges. Jeremiah begins by confronting the people as they enter the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem. This is the place where God Himself told them to come and worship, yet mere attendance at His house is not enough if they continually despise Him by breaking His commandments. The inhabitants of Jerusalem repeat the refrain “the temple of the LORD” (v. 4) as if the temple is a magic amulet that will protect them no matter how they live. The existence of a temple does not guarantee God’s approval. Repentance must occur or the temple will be abandoned like the sanctuary at . Jeremiah admonishes the people for their trust in the temple (vv. 1-7), for their corrupt worship (vv. 8-11), and for acting in a way that will lead to the temple’s destruction (vv. 12-15). Jesus combined v. 11 with Isa 56:7 to highlight abuse in the temple of His day(Matt 21:13). • 7:16-29. False Religion Worthless. Because their religion is worthless, God will no longer heed intercessory prayer for Judah (vv. 16-20), for mere external observances do not impress Him (vv. 21-29). The people are full of hypocrisy by scrupulously following some ritual laws of the temple while completely transgressing the law in other areas. • 7:30-34. The Valley of Slaughter. Idolatry in Jerusalem had degenerated even to child sacrifice. Topheth and Hinnom were places of child sacrifice to Molech and other gods. Only judgment will put an end to Judah’s sins. When Babylon conquers Jerusalem, the dead bodies will be heaped so high that the valley will be renamed the “Valley of Slaughter” (v. 32). Such an act is both a fitting judgment (the bodies of those who killed their own firstborn would end up in the same place) and a way to defile the location so that it could not be used again for its pagan purpose. Understandably, in the NT this place became a symbol for the place of future judgment called (Mattt 5:22). : Why do these people refuse to return? They have no shame. The LORD has doomed us because we have sinned. Is there no balm in Gilead? • 8:1-3. The Valley of Slaughter (cont.). The same judgment of 7:30-34 will apply to all the leaders of Judah: the “kings and officials,” the “priests and prophets,” even those who had already been buried (v. 1). The sun, moon, and stars were worshiped as deities by many in the ancient world, yet they have no power to protect their worshipers. • 8:4-17. Sin and Treachery. The roots of Judah’s sin are in hardened hearts and rejection of God’s word. The scribes, the copiers and teachers of the Scriptures, altered God’s word to fit their own desires (v. 8). Rejecting God’s word proves they are really unwise. God finds no good “fruit” in Judah, so the people will be “picked” by Babylon (v. 13). • 8:18-22. Jeremiah Grieves for His People. Though Judah is justly condemned, neither the prophet nor the LORD delights in their downfall. The prophet mourns over the coming exile of his people and also gives voice to the LORD’s anguish. Gilead (v. 22) was a territory north of and was well-known for aromatic resin, which was used in a variety of medicines. But such could not cure the disease of Judah, who sought false physicians and false cures. : No one speaks the truth. I will scatter these people, says the LORD. The sound of wailing is heard from . Let the one who boasts, boast in the LORD. • 9:1-9. Jeremiah Grieves for His People (cont.). Because of verses like v. 1 (and v. 10), Jeremiah is often called the “weeping prophet.” The prophets were not detached and aloof from the people to whom they spoke but were often caught up in the emotion of the messages they delivered (cf. Ezek 3: 14-15). Despite his compassion, Jeremiah also fully understands the severity of their sins against God (v. 2). Verses 3-9 focus on the sins of the tongue, depicted as a deadly weapon, a bow in v. 3 and an arrow in v. 8. The central sin is deceitfulness, which includes lying about God (refusing to “know” the LORD) as well as lying to their neighbors. Even the closest relations (family, friends, and neighbors) are not trustworthy. They deceive their neighbor by speaking peace (v. 8) while plotting evil in their hearts. Though such duplicity may seem temporarily to be triumphing, it demands God’s judgment. • 9:10-22. Judah Grieves Jeremiah. Once again Jeremiah mourns Judah’s future, which includes terrible devastation. This devastation will be thorough, yet just (vv. 10-22). Ancient laments often included depictions of defeated cities becoming wastelands populated only by animals (vv. 10-11). The wise man of vv. 12-14 knows the people of Judah have forsaken God’s law, followed their own hearts, and followed their fathers in worshiping . God's declaration “I will scatter them among the nations” (v. 16) is just what had warned would happen if the people forsook the LORD (Deut 28:36, 64). The mourning women of vv. 17-22 are semi-professional mourners able to chant funeral songs. They will join Jeremiah’s wailing (vv. 1, 10-11) and teach others to mourn. In vv. 21-22, death is pictured as a thief stealthily climbing in the window or as a victorious army triumphantly entering a fortress. Death typically carried off the old, but now it will remove the “children” and the “young men,” the future of the community. The dead bodies lying in an “open field” was a sign of judgment, as it was a dishonor for a body to be left unburied. • 9:23-26. Boast in the LORD. Human wisdom, strength and riches will prove useless in the face of God’s impending wrath. Knowing God is all that will matter when judgment comes (vv. 23-26). Anyone who wishes to “boast” should boast in knowing the LORD (contrast v. 6). Knowing God means knowing His “steadfast love” (covenant faithfulness), “justice” (right judgment), and “righteousness” (right behavior, especially in keeping His promises). God's people should note what He delights in and order their priorities accordingly. The supreme goal and glory of humanity is to know and enjoy God. In the NT, Paul quotes this verse as he admonishes the Corinthians to boast in Jesus Christ alone, who is our righteousness, holiness, and redemption (1 Cor 1:30-31). Verse 25 lumps Judah in with four other nations that practiced circumcision of the flesh but neglected circumcision of the heart (4:4; Gal 5:2-5). Circumcision of the flesh was merely an outward symbol. If that alone were enough to please God, the pagan nations mentioned here would enjoy God's favor. Shockingly, Israel had become like these other nations, being circumcised in the flesh but not in heart (Deut 10:16). In coming days God will punish all Jews and Gentiles who are uncircumcised in heart. : Do not learn the ways of the nations. The LORD is the true God. Listen, a great commotion from the north! They have devoured . • 10:1-16. Idols and the Living God. Idolatry remains the chief sin that God will judge, for it cuts people off from their only true source of salvation and guidance. Judah must reject idols (vv. 1-5) since God alone is the LORD (vv. 6-10) and Creator (vv. 11-16). Israel’s idolatry often manifested itself in an interest in astrology (v. 2). Idols are made by people, so they have no power to speak or act, and serving them is foolish (vv. 3-5). While they are mere creations that lead to foolishness, the LORD created all things in heaven and earth and established it with wisdom (vv. 12-16 are repeated in 51:15-19). The doctrine of creation is central to the polemic against idolatry and is likewise crucial to rejecting modern idolatries that claim to explain the origin of the universe apart from the Creator. Creation is intricately connected with redemption in the OT. The same God who created the universe also called Israel into existence so that they could be “the tribe of His inheritance” and so that He could be their “Portion” (v. 16; cf. Deut 32:9). God is our inheritance, and we are His (see Eph 1:18), which means that we belong together for all eternity. • 10:17-22. Judah Will Go Into Exile. Exile is now inevitable as God will remove sinful Judah from the Promised Land. The imagery of shepherds (Judah's leaders) who were stupid and a flock that was scattered is expanded in Ezek 34. 10:23-25. Jeremiah’s Prayer. Jeremiah turns to God in prayer for wisdom, for he needs God to direct his steps. He knows God can correct a person, and only does so justly (Heb 12:5-11). Jeremiah asks for the LORD to discipline His people in justice, not in anger. This reflects the distinction between a judgment designed to restore someone to a renewed covenant relationship and a judgment designed to cast off that person (what God promised David in 2 Sam 7:14-15). Jeremiah also asks that the idolatrous nations attacking Judah may soon receive divine correction. : Both Israel and Judah have broken my covenant. I will bring disaster. Do not pray for them. I will punish those who seek your life. These two chapters highlight Israel’s history of covenant breaking (11:1-17), a plot hatched against Jeremiah (11:18-23), his complaint about his enemies (12:1-4), and God’s reply to Jeremiah, including a promise of Judah’s future (12:5-17). • 11:1-17. The Broken Covenant. God made a covenant with His people at Mount Sinai when He brought them out of the land of . Attached to that covenant were blessings and curses: blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience (Deut 28). The impending judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem is the consequence of their long history of breaking that covenant, and it is now inevitable. The task of the prophets was to remind the people of the stipulations of the covenant made between God and His people at Mount Sinai (Exod 19-24), and to warn of the consequences of disobedience (2 Chron 36:15-16). Even though the Israelites were not saved by works, possessing their land was conditional on obeying the God who graciously brought them out of Egypt. With the covenant now broken, they would be evicted from the Land. In vv. 16-17, Jeremiah uses a metaphor that depicts the nation as a flourishing olive tree planted by the LORD, something created by God. But now the tree had become dry and barren and its branches (representing the people) will be burned. Paul adopts a similar image in Rom 11:17-24, where the olive tree represents the true people of God: dead branches can be broken off from the tree, and other wild olive branches (the Gentiles) can be grafted in to take their place (but the original branches will also be restored one day). • 11:18-23. Plot Against Jeremiah. This is the first of Jeremiah’s six “confessions” (12:1-4; 15:10-21; 17:12-18; 18:18- 23; 20:7-18). Like some of the other prophets before him, Jeremiah is the target of plots because of his unpopular words. In his case, the LORD warns him of the danger, enabling him to escape and to commit his future to God. : O LORD, why do the wicked prosper? I have left my house. Many shepherds have ruined my vineyard. I will uproot my evil neighbors. • 12:1-4. Jeremiah’s Complaint. Jeremiah asks the same question as that in Psa 37 and Psa 73: “Why does the way of the wicked prosper?” (v. 1; cf. Ps 37:1-2, 35-36; 73:3-20). In Jeremiah’s case, the plot against his life probably triggers this concern (vv. 19-23). Yet Jeremiah’s concern for justice and for righteous punishment for those of his own family who betray him is a small matter compared to the LORD’s anger at His people’s betrayal of Him. • 12:5-17. The LORD Answers Jeremiah. The LORD gently rebukes Jeremiah. If Jeremiah is struggling like this when he has raced against only human adversaries, how will he fare if things get worse, metaphorically described as if he races against horses, which run much faster (v. 5)? That God has “forsaken my house” foreshadows the departure of God’s glory from the Jerusalem temple in Ezek 8-11 and the ultimate abandonment of Christ, the true temple (John 2:19), on the cross. However, wrath is never God’s final word to His covenant people. After judging them, He will bring them back from exile. More than that, He will show compassion on the nations as well, as the Abrahamic covenant anticipated. They too will be restored if they turn from their idols and join the LORD’s people (through faith in Jesus). But if they continue to be rebelliously committed to their idolatry, God will permanently destroy them. : The LORD told me to hide a sash in the rocks. So I will ruin the pride of Judah, says the LORD. All Judah will be carried into exile. In these three chapters, Jeremiah feels betrayed by God. As he probes God’s character, the prophet complains about God’s integrity. He preaches that Judah is a ruined and drunken nation (13:1-14) that ought to glorify God before it is too late (13:15-27). In the midst of a drought, Jeremiah intercedes for the people (14:1-22), but God refuses Jeremiah’s intercession (15:1–9), which leads Jeremiah to complain again (15:10-18), which prompts God’s rebuke (15:19-21). • 13:1-11. The Ruined Loincloth. This is the first of several symbolic acts Jeremiah performs to reveal God’s will, designed to engage those who did not want to listen to the prophet’s words. God orders Jeremiah to place an intimate garment in a rocky place where it becomes ruined. Just as the belt was closely attached to Jeremiah’s waist (vv. 1, 11), the LORD held Israel and Judah close to Himself (v. 11), but their pride and idolatry spoiled them. The nation the LORD created for His “name,” “praise” and “glory” (v. 11) became “good for nothing” (v. 10). • 13:12-14. The Jars Filled with Wine. While this parable states the obvious, “every jar shall be filled with wine” (v. 12), the application is surprising: God will fill the people and all their leaders with wine to the point of “drunkenness” (v. 13), i.e., He will make them act like drunkards, stumbling and reeling around (cf. Zech 9: 15). Then He will “smash them one against the other” (v. 14), shattering them like clay wine jars, with no pity or mercy or compassion (v. 14). • 13:15-27. Exile Threatened. This message is tied together with the sign-act (vv. 1-11) and the parable (vv. 12-14) by the themes of pride and stumbling. In tears, Jeremiah implores Judah to repent (vv. 15-17), lest their pride lead to shame. Jerusalem’s destruction is euphemistically described as a sexual assault (v. 22). Since she has been so eager to commit spiritual adultery, prostituting herself with the surrounding nations, the punishment will fit the crime. : There is no water in the cisterns. O LORD, do not forsake us! I will destroy them by sword and by famine. Can any idols bring rain? • 14:1-12. Famine, Sword, and Pestilence. As a terrible drought grips the land (alongside Babylon’s invasion), Jeremiah intercedes for the people. Having described the land as having no water, no grass, and no vegetation (vv. 2-6), the prophet identifies with the people in confessing their sins and appealing to the LORD for help (v. 7). God has been Israel’s deliverer in the past, and Jeremiah wonders if He will help the nation for the sake of His reputation (i.e., name). Though God is able to save, Israel’s sins must be addressed. Verses 11-12 are a rare instance when God will not accept intercession, for hypocritical, false religious observances will not move Him (7:1-29). • 14:13-22. Lying Prophets. The false prophets continue to confuse the people by sending a message opposite to Jeremiah’s message, declaring that there will be “peace in this place” (v. 13). But in no uncertain terms God denies sending these prophets. Their messages are from their minds, not God’s. Jeremiah weeps over the effects of the LORD’s curse that He has just announced, just as Jesus later weeps over Jerusalem (Matt 23: 37). Finally, Jeremiah confesses the people’s sins and asks the LORD to intervene and deliver them. But God cannot accept Jeremiah’s intercession because the people do not share Jeremiah’s sorrow over sin, as the LORD said in vv. 11-12. : Send these people away from my presence! Who will mourn for Jerusalem? O LORD, I suffer insult for you. I am with you, says the LORD. • 15:1-9. The LORD Will Not Relent. Even if Moses and , two great prophets, were to intercede on behalf of the people, it would not change their fate. Their destiny is determined by either death, sword, starvation, or captivity. • 15:10-21. Jeremiah’s Complaint. In response, Jeremiah laments that he was even born. The LORD gently rebukes him by assuring him that He has a good purpose for him (cf. 29:11) and will protect him until he accomplishes that good purpose. Jeremiah again complains about his assignment (vv. 15-18) but the LORD recommissions him (vv. 20-21). : The LORD said to me: Do not marry or have children. Why has the LORD pronounced evil against us? You have followed your evil hearts. • 16:1-13. Famine, Sword and Death. With sword, famine, and diseases coming as part of judgment, it will be better for Jeremiah not to have a wife or children to care for and not to have to watch them suffer and die (cf. 1 Cor 7:29- 32). The prophets were sometimes called to be signs themselves in their personal lives. Ezekiel was instructed not to mourn publicly when his wife died (Ezek 24:15-24) as a sign of the coming judgment, when there would be too many dead people for the proper mourning rites to be undertaken. Jeremiah’s highly unusual actions of not getting married and not engaging in mourning for the dead will be signs to the people of the certainty of his message. • 16:14-21. The LORD Will Restore Israel. This message of judgment is never the LORD’s last word for His people. Instead, it is the precursor for a new and greater exodus in which He will bring His people back “out of the north country” (v. 15; i.e., Babylon) and “out of all the countries” where they will be scattered. He will return them to their own land (v. 15). By bringing His people back from Babylon, the LORD will teach the nations His “power” and “might,” that they might recognize and acknowledge the LORD as the true God. This is the expectation and the purpose of Israel’s calling (Gen 12:1-3). The double imagery of God sending out many fishermen and many hunters (v. 16) was a frequent metaphor in Israel (Ezk 12:13; 29:4-5; Am 4:2; 9:1-4; Hab 1:14-17). The image of God sending out fishers of men was adopted by Jesus in His calling of His disciples (cf. Matt 4:19; Mark 1:17). : Cursed are those who trust in man. Blessed are those who trust in the LORD. If you keep the Sabbath, Jerusalem will remain forever. • 17:1-13. The Sins of Judah. An iron pen with a diamond point could chisel the sins of Judah even onto their stony hearts. The tablet of Judah's heart listing her sins is a far contrast to what would happen when God placed His law on hearts in the new covenant (31:33). The poem of vv. 5-13 has close parallels with Psalm 1 and the wisdom literature, focusing on two ways of death and two ways of life. The heart is more than the seat of one’s emotions, but is the location of a person’s will, including his thoughts and beliefs. The word “mind” often occurs together with “heart” to indicate the most hidden recesses of a person. The LORD is a judge who searches both the “heart” and the “mind” and is able to judge with absolute justice, rewarding each “according to his ways.” This is not good news given the deceitfulness of the human heart (v. 9). However, the LORD is able to heal and transform even such a broken and dysfunctional organ, promising to do so under the new covenant (Jer 31:33; cf. Ezek 36:26; Rom 5:5; Heb 10:22). That process is begun in the present in believers and will be completed on the “day of Christ Jesus” (Phil 1:6). • 17:14-18. Jeremiah Prays for Deliverance. Even though his hearers mock him, Jeremiah believes wholeheartedly in his message, so he prays that when the disaster he has been called to prophesy comes, the Lord will be his “refuge.” • 17:19-27. Keep the Sabbath Holy. The Sabbath command was a key part of the LORD’s covenant with Israel (Exod 20:8-11) as well as part of God’s design for humanity in the beginning (Gen 2:2-3). As Israel submitted their time to the LORD’s kingship, the Sabbath was a sign that distinguished them from the surrounding nations. The coming exile will be in part a punishment for their failure to keep the Sabbath (Lev 26:34-35), being a time for the land to enjoy the Sabbath rests that it never experienced during Israel’s time of residence (2 Chr 36:21). Restoration of Sabbath rest and worship will result in perpetual rule by David’s lineage, perpetual habitation, and perpetual worship. : The LORD said: Go to the potter. You are clay in my hand, O Israel. My people have forgotten me. O LORD, they have dug a pit for me. • 18:1-23. The Potter and the Clay. Just as a potter has the right to shape the clay and reshape it if the first design doesn’t please Him, so too the LORD has the right to deal with His rebellious people, whom He created. Many of the biblical prophecies are conditional; the human response of repentance or disbelief matters because the goal of prophecy, more than simply telling the future, is the moral formation of God’s people. After Jeremiah’s message is rejected yet again, he asks that the LORD vindicate the truth of his message by bringing upon his adversaries the righteous judgment that the LORD has announced (vv. 21-23). : The LORD said: Buy a clay jar. These people have burned sacrifices to foreign gods. Then break the jar. So I will smash this nation. • 19:1-15. The Broken Flask. As a third sign-act, Jeremiah is told to take an earthen flask out to the city dump (Hinnom, later known as Gehenna), and there proclaim to the kings of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem that God is about to smash Judah because of its idolatry and human sacrifices. Because of the lack of food caused by the upcoming siege, the people of Judah will turn to cannibalism (v. 9). In breaking the flask, Jeremiah pictures the havoc and destruction to be caused by the Babylonians. Burial places will be scarce, and the houses where idolatry was practiced will be defiled. Because of Judah’s unfaithfulness, the covenant curses of Deut 28:15ff are being enacted. : put Jeremiah in the stocks. Everyone mocks me. But the word of the LORD is a fire in my bones. Cursed be the day I was born! • 20:1-6. Prophecy Against Pashhur. Priests are at the center of the opposition to Jeremiah partly because they are one of the targets of his sharpest criticism (1:18). They are part of the central power structures in Jerusalem that Jeremiah declares are about to come to an end. Here, the priest Pashhur beats and imprisons Jeremiah. The opposition endured by all the OT prophets foreshadows the opposition faced by Jesus as the final prophet (Luke 11:49-1). Because Pashhur refuses to believe the LORD’s message, he and his friends will become living examples of its veracity: at the LORD’s decree, they will go into captivity to Babylon, where they will die and be buried. Pashhur’s name was changed to Magor-Missabib (“terror on every side”), which is what he would experience. • 20:7-18. Jeremiah’s Lament to God. Jeremiah cries out to God, lamenting his difficulties. This is the last of Jeremiah’s “confessions” and is his saddest and most bitter. Typically in laments the poet is wrestling with three subjects: God (whose purpose is called into question), his enemies (who mock and ridicule him), and himself (whose bones become a burning fire if he is silent). All three are present in vv. 7-9. As with many laments, the prophet turns from describing his own difficult situation to expressing confidence in the LORD and His protection as “a dread warrior” (v. 11). He has entrusted his cause to the LORD and will wait to see the LORD act to vindicate him (v. 12). After the words of confidence, there are words of praise to the LORD, words that anticipate already the LORD’s answer to his petitions (v. 13). But Jeremiah’s painful feelings are not resolved as he plunges back into depression, even pronouncing a curse on the day on which he was born. Job offered a similar lament in Job 3:11-19. : enquired about Nebuchadnezzar. The LORD says: Whoever stays in the city will die. Nebuchadnezzar will destroy it with fire. • 21:1-7. God’s Message to King Zedekiah. Zedekiah, the last king of Judah (597-586 BC) wants Jeremiah to inquire of the LORD on his behalf, not because he is repentant but because he is desperate for any possible source of help. He foolishly rebelled against Babylon, trusting in Egypt to come to his aid; in the aftermath, Jerusalem itself will be destroyed. The LORD rebuffs Zedekiah’s appeal because Zedekiah rebelled against the LORD as well as Babylon (2 Kings 24: 19). As a result, the LORD will not fight for Zedekiah, but instead He will fight against him (v. 5), assuring his defeat (v. 7). Incidentally, the “Pashhur” mentioned in v. 1 is very likely different from the one mentioned in chapter 20, as is the “Zephaniah” mentioned different from the prophet of the same name. • 21:8-10. God’s Message to the People of Judah. Echoing Deut 30:19 (but with an ironic twist), Jerusalemites have the choice of life or death: surrender to Babylon and live, or fight against Babylon and die (vv. 8-10). • 21:11-14. God’s Message to the House of David. The job of God’s chosen king is to “execute justice” and “deliver from the hand of the oppressor (v. 12; cf. Psa 72:1-2). The current king in the line of David, however, embodied the sin of the people. As goes God’s king, so goes God’s people. Therefore, the LORD’s wrath burns against His people. : Proclaim at the palace: I will make you a desert. Shallum will not return. They will not lament for . Coniah is cast away. • 22:1-9. God’s Judgment Against Wicked Kings. Jeremiah interacts very directly with the kings of Judah, as other prophets had done before him (e.g., Isa 7), warning that the line of David will be judged and brought to an end. • 22:10-30. God’s Message to the Sons of Josiah. Jeremiah addresses the sons of Josiah: Shallum/Jehoahaz (vv. 10- 12), Jehoiakim (vv. 13-23), and Coniah/Jehoiachin (vv. 24-30). After a short reign of 3 months, Shallum will die in exile in Egypt in 609 BC (2 Kings 23:31-33). Jehoiakim is denounced by Jeremiah more than any other king because he was tyrannical, covetous and oppressive. A humiliating death awaits him in which no one will mourn. Jehoiachin was exiled to Babylon in 597 BC (2 Kings 24:8-17; 25 27-30). That he would die childless in v. 30 is startling since he had seven sons (1Chron 3:17), but this is an allusion to the fact that none of his descendants would ascend to the throne. The Babylonians will place his uncle, Zedekiah, on the throne, but he too will die in the destruction of Jerusalem. : I will raise up a righteous Branch, says the LORD. The prophets fill you with false hopes. I did not speak, yet they have prophesied. • 23:1-8. The Righteous Branch. In spite of the declaration of an end to the rule of the Davidic line in Jehoiachin, God nonetheless still has a future for that line in the person of a future Messianic king, the Branch. Zedekiah means “the LORD is righteous,” but Zedekiah is anything but righteous. After him there are no more Davidic kings on the throne of Judah. In his place, the LORD ultimately brings a new offspring from the line of David, a “righteous Branch,” i.e., a new growth that is not the main stem. Isaiah speaks in similar terms of a new beginning for the line of David, a “shoot … from the stump of Jesse” (Isa 11:1). Other passages also promise a coming “Branch” (33:15; Isa 4:2; Zech 3:8; 6:12). In contrast to Zedekiah and Jehoiakim, He will “deal wisely” and “execute justice and righteousness” (v. 5). Unlike the Davidic kings before whose folly and sin brought catastrophe upon Jerusalem, He will save His people in an act far greater even than the Exodus. He will not be called Zedekiah (“the LORD is righteous”) but Yahweh Tsidkenu (“the LORD is our righteousness”). The righteousness that the LORD will provide will enable the people to “dwell securely,” experiencing the blessings promised in the Sinai covenant (Lev 26:5; Deut 28:1-14) rather than the curses they had merited through their own disobedience (Deut 28:15-68). This promise, of course, finds its final fulfillment in Jesus, the true Son of David (Matt 1:1), in whom we are “blessed with every spiritual blessing” (Eph 1:3). He is “the Holy and Righteous One” (Acts 3:14), the LORD who clothes us with His righteousness (Rev 7:13-14). • 23:9-40. Lying Prophets. The LORD warned His people in Deut 18:20-22 that false prophets would come. Yet Jeremiah is distraught at the ease with which they deceive the people. The people prefer to listen to false prophets because, rather than announce difficult truths from God, they tell the people what they want to hear. The LORD did not send them, yet they speak as if He did. Thus, their fate and the fate of those who listen to them are deserved. Jeremiah 24: The LORD showed me two baskets of figs after the exile to Babylon. The good figs are the exiles. The bad figs are those who remain. • 24:1-10. The Good and the Bad Figs. Many people, including the king himself, were carried into exile by the Babylonians in the days of (or Jehoiachin). Those who remain in Jerusalem regard those in exile as under the curse of God and as morally inferior to themselves. Jeremiah declares that the reverse is true: the better people have gone into exile, while God’s curse is about to fall on all those left in Jerusalem. : You did not listen, says the LORD. So I will summon Babylon. Make the nations drink my cup of wrath. The LORD will roar from on high. 25:1-14. Seventy Years of Captivity. This chapter describes a critical year in Near East history. In this year Jeremiah dictated his prophecies to his scribe Baruch (36:1-6), the battle of unfolded, and Nebuchadnezzar ascended the throne of Babylon. Jeremiah had been preaching fruitlessly for 23 years (other prophets at this time include Uriah, Zephaniah, and Habakkuk). Judah has become like the Canaanites in their worship and behavior, so they will suffer the same fate as the Canaanites. Even though the LORD will employ Babylon as His agent of destruction (Nebuchadnezzar is God’s “servant”), the Babylonians will be responsible for their own brutal actions, which will incur a debt of “guilt.” The result will be that just as the Babylonians make the land of Judah desolate forever, so also their land will be made “desolate forever.” Though the coming judgment will be devastating for those who remain in the land of Judah, it will not be the end of God’s purposes for His people. At the end of 70 years (rounded from first exile in 605 BC to the first return in 538-535 BC), the LORD will bring back those who are in exile. • 25:15-29. The Cup of the LORD’s Wrath. Judgment is often compared to drinking a cup filled with an intoxicating beverage, resulting in disorientation and confusion. This foreshadows God’s final judgment on the nations, represented by Babylon (Rev 18:6), but Jerusalem and Judah must drink this cup first. This is the cup that Christ drained for us on the cross (Matt 26:39, 42) so that we might drink the cup of blessing instead (1 Cor 10:16). • 25:30-38. Judgment on the Whole World. In vv. 30-33, the imagery changes from a cup of wine to a lion. It changes again to an image of the LORD treading out grapes in the winepress (Isa 63: 3; Rev 14:19-20; 19:15), and once more to the image of a great storm as nation after nation succumbs to Babylon's advances. Three times in verses 34-38, Jeremiah used the shepherd metaphor and then switched over to describe the nations' impending disaster. They will be shattered like a precious vase. The nations will be shattered by the One who is LORD over all the earth. : The LORD said: Speak in the courts. The priests seized Jeremiah to kill him, but the officials refused. Uriah had been put to death. • 26:1-15. Jeremiah Threatened with Death. In chapter 7, Jeremiah preached a powerful message against the temple in Jerusalem. This passage records how the people responded to that message and how the LORD protects his servant from death. The people display their attitude to the LORD’s message by how they respond to the LORD’s messenger (see 20:1-2; Matt 21: 35-36). They are ready to kill Jeremiah for speaking the LORD’s words. Death was the appropriate punishment for a false prophet (Deut 13:5), but these people leave false prophets unharmed while seeking to kill the true prophet. Jeremiah’s defense (v. 12) rests in the LORD’s sending him to prophesy these things. • 26:16-24. Jeremiah Spared from Death. Jeremiah’s case is assisted by some of the elders, who remind the people of the prophecy of Micah 3:12, which warned centuries earlier of the coming day when Zion would be “plowed like a field.” Far from putting Micah to death, heeded Micah’s warning and repented, and the city was spared. If they put Jeremiah to death, they reason, and he is indeed a messenger of the LORD, it will “bring a terrible disaster” on themselves (v. 19). Unfortunately, even though the people spare Jeremiah’s life, they don’t follow Hezekiah’s example of repentance. While Jeremiah would live, Uriah would be executed, a mystery of God’s providence. : The LORD said: Put a yoke on your neck. I will hand all the nations over to serve Nebuchadnezzar. Do not listen to your prophets. • 27:1-22. Judah to Serve Nebuchadnezzar. This chapter covers events eight years after the events of chapter 26. The common theme is the fierce opposition to Jeremiah’s consistent message of Jerusalem’s destruction. Jeremiah was commanded by God to make chains and yoke bars for himself. It also appears that Jeremiah made a separate yoke for each king of the five nations mentioned in v. 3, apparently giving an appropriate message for each ambassador. Revolt against Babylon, however, was futile because God had already assigned Babylon to execute judgment over these nations on His behalf. They will wear Babylon’s yoke just as Jeremiah wears his symbolic yoke. Again, Nebuchadnezzar is called “My servant” (v. 6) or instrument (cf. Cyrus in Isa 44:28). Having delivered God’s message to the other nations, Jeremiah now tells Zedekiah the same thing (vv. 12-15): serving Babylon is God’s will. Also, the remaining temple articles will go to Babylon (which happened in 587 BC), but will return (occurring in 538-535 BC). : Hananiah took Jeremiah's yoke and broke it. The LORD said: Tell Hananiah, I have put an iron yoke on these nations. Hananiah died. • 28:1-17. Hananiah the False Prophet. This chapter contains a specific example of Jeremiah’s confrontation with false prophecy in the person of Hananiah (like Jeremiah, a Benjaminite), who contradicts Jeremiah’s message in ch. 27. Like Jeremiah, Hananiah now performs a sign-act of his own as he breaks the yoke off Jeremiah’s neck to picture the freedom that his message proclaims. He declares the imminent return of the temple vessels and the people who are already in exile. Jeremiah’s response, “Amen!” (v. 6) expresses his wish that Hananiah’s prophecy were true, for he has prayed for the people (11:14; 14:11) and preached for their benefit. Hananiah’s breaking of Jeremiah’s yoke- bars (27:2) brought no response initially from Jeremiah. But in vv. 12-14, the LORD reiterates His message in even stronger terms: in place of a wooden yoke, Jeremiah is to make an unbreakable iron yoke and deliver it to “all these nations” to symbolize the irresistible power of the Babylonians. Not only Judah but all these nations will serve the king of Babylon. The difference between a true and a false prophet is this: what the true prophet says actually happens. The LORD condemns Hananiah to death because of his false prophecy. Hananiah will not even live for the two years necessary to prove his own prophecies false; he will die within one year. Two months later, in that year’s “seventh month” (v. 17), Hananiah dies, vindicating Jeremiah’s message and his identity as a true prophet. : Jeremiah wrote to the exiles: Seek peace for the city. After seventy years you will return. Ahab, Zedekiah and Shemaiah speak lies. • 29:1-23. Jeremiah's Letter to the Exiles. The purpose of this letter is to reassure the exiles that God has not abandoned them or forgotten His purpose for them. At the same time, since its contents would be widely known in Judah, it also reinforces Jeremiah’s announcements of impending judgment on those left in Judah. Shockingly, the LORD tells them to transfer their prayers and energies from Jerusalem to Babylon, the pagan capital, because for the next 70 years their “welfare” (shalom, which covers all aspects of peace and plenty) will be connected with Babylon’s “welfare.” The people of Israel were true to their calling when they brought blessing to the Gentiles (Gen 12:2-3). In v. 11, we see that God’s plans for the exiles is welfare (shalom), not evil, or “calamity.” Having sought Babylon’s shalom, the exiles will receive God’s shalom in the form of a “future and a hope” in their homeland. Their prayers for restoration will be answered. The amazing promise in v. 13, “You will seek Me and find Me” from the infinitely righteous, holy God to a sinful people echoes a promise in Deut 4:29 and remains true even to the present day (John 6:37). The Ahab and Zedekiah mentioned in v. 21 are not mentioned elsewhere but were likely prophesying a quick return from exile. God knows even their secret deeds and His judgment is coming to bear. • 29:24-32. Shemaiah's False Prophecy. Although located among the exiles, Shemaiah (unmentioned elsewhere) shares the negative perspective of many of the leaders back home in Jerusalem with regard to Jeremiah’s messages. He sent letters from Babylon to counter Jeremiah’s prior correspondence (vv. 4-23). He believes Zephaniah should punish Jeremiah and trust prophets like Hananiah who prophesy a short exile. Shemaiah is revealed as a false prophet who makes people trust in lies (28:15). Zephaniah takes no action beyond showing Jeremiah the letter. In turn, the LORD declares that Shemaiah will not share the good future the LORD has planned for the exiles. : Write these words in a book. I will restore my people, says the LORD. I have punished you but I will heal you. I will be your God. • 30:1-24. Restoration for Israel. Having consistently preached the destruction of Jerusalem for many years, Jeremiah now turns to speak words of comfort and consolation to the faithful remnant of His people (chs. 30-33). In ch. 30, Jeremiah emphasizes hope (vv. 1-11), healing (vv. 12-17), and rebuilding (vv. 18-24). The covenant relationship between Israel and the LORD has not been a blessing to Israel because of its unfaithfulness, but this will change in the years ahead. The LORD’s judgment of His people is not merely venting His wrath, but it is to establish a pure and holy people who will belong to Him in faithfulness, restored to the land that He promised to their ancestors. The LORD will bring Israel and Judah back together (v. 3), reuniting what was separated in the time of Rehoboam. This finds fulfillment in the NT as the Gospel goes to Samaria as well as to Jerusalem and Judea before going out to the ends of the earth. In Christ, all God’s scattered people are brought together into a new unity (Rev 7:4-10). The promise in vv. 8-9 of their yoke being broken also finds its fulfillment in Jesus’ invitation to take up His easy yoke (Matt 11:29). : Sing with joy for Jacob! Return to your cities. I will make a new covenant with Israel, says the LORD. I will put my law within them. • 31:1-30. The LORD Will Turn Mourning Into Joy. The old covenant ends in disaster and exile, as Moses anticipated (Deut 30:1-5). But God will do a new work, as He promised in Deut 30:6, giving the people a hope and a future. The LORD’s purpose to have a holy people for Himself remains unshakable in spite of Israel’s repeated sin and rebellion. If this purpose is to reach fruition, however, a new covenant is needed in which the LORD Himself undertakes to ensure that the conditions of the covenant are fulfilled; this occurs through Christ (Matt 5:17-18; Rom 8:1-4; Gal 4:4-5). Matt 2:18 quotes v. 15, connecting it with the mourning of the mothers of Bethlehem over the deaths of their young sons at the hands of Herod. But in Christ, mourning will be transformed into “joy,” “comfort,” and “gladness” (v. 13). • 31:31-40. The New Covenant. This passage is the only explicit OT reference to the new covenant. The new covenant is not like the old covenant made at Mt. Sinai, which inevitably ended in judgment for Israel because they repeatedly broke it even though the LORD was a faithful “husband” to them. The new covenant will remedy the long-standing problem of God’s people, namely, that they are circumcised in body but so few are circumcised in heart. In contrast to the old covenant, which gave the law to Israel written on tablets of stone, the new covenant will transform them internally, as God’s law is written on the hearts and minds of His people, resulting in real change (2 Cor 5:17). The new covenant is inaugurated through the shedding of Christ’s blood (Matt 26:28; Heb 9:15) and fulfills the purpose of the old covenant (Matt 5:17). Through the Spirit’s work, God’s people will know the LORD (v. 34) and will respond to Christ, in whom, our sins are forgiven and our wickedness is remembered no more (Ps 103:12; Rom 8:1-2). : Jeremiah bought a field in Anathoth. O LORD, the city has been handed over to Babylon. The LORD says: I will surely gather my people. • 32:1-15. Jeremiah Buys a Field During a Siege. The LORD tells Jeremiah to perform another sign-act, this time buying a field in enemy-controlled territory as a sign of confidence in the LORD’s promise that the people will return to the Land in peace and freedom. Jeremiah’s persistent messages of doom against the city and the king have made him unpopular with King Zedekiah, who sees Jeremiah’s words as treasonous and has him imprisoned. Anathoth is Jeremiah’s hometown, which at this time was already in Babylonian-held territory. Thus, it would seem an act of folly to purchase a property that appears lost forever. Yet because Jeremiah knows this is “the word of the LORD” (v. 8b), he buys the property (v. 9), paying the purchase price and having the transaction formally witnessed (vv. 9-10) • 32:16-35. Jeremiah Prays for Understanding. Jeremiah’s prayer expresses his confidence in God’s power, confessing the truth that the LORD is the Creator of all things, which means that nothing is too hard for Him to accomplish. He is sovereign over every molecule of the universe, including humanity. God is both just and gracious: He shows love to thousands but also brings the consequences of the parents’ sins on the next generation (Exod 34:6-7). Yet at the same time, He rewards each according to their own conduct. The LORD’s sovereignty is evident not only in creation but also in redemption: He brought His people out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. Yet Jeremiah is also puzzled by the LORD’s plans. The LORD’s answer begins in the same place as Jeremiah’s prayer. The LORD is indeed going to give the city to the Babylonians because of Israel’s sins, especially their sin of idolatry (vv. 29, 34-35). • 32:36-44. They Shall Be My People: I Will Be Their God. However, the LORD not only has the power to use the Babylonians as agents of His judgment against His people, but also the power to gather them and bring them back. He also has the power to “give them one heart and one way” (v. 39), uniting thought and deed in the LORD’s service, “that they may fear [Him] always.” This new relationship of peace and blessing will be “an everlasting covenant” (v. 40) in which the LORD will constantly bless His people and they will constantly serve Him. The land that is desolate on account of the people’s sins will be restored so that once again people will buy and sell property there. : The LORD says: I will tell you great things. I will bring healing to the land. David will never lack a son on the throne of Israel. • 33:1-13. The LORD Promises Peace. In OT context, a restoration of the people and the Land is incomplete without a corresponding restoration of the line of David to the kingship and the line of Levi to the priesthood. Because the LORD is sovereign over the future, He can reveal to His prophets “hidden things” (v. 3, things that no human can know by themselves. Though human attempts to save the city will fail, the LORD still has good plans for its future beyond the time of judgment. The people’s sin has brought judgment, but the LORD will “restore the fortunes” of Judah and Israel by reuniting them (v. 7), as well as “cleanse them” and “forgive all the guilt of their sins” (v. 8). The result of this new act of salvation will be “a praise and a glory” to the LORD “before all nations on earth” (v. 9). • 33:14-26. The LORD‘s Eternal Covenant with David. Jeremiah’s prophecy of a “righteous Branch” (v. 15) recalls chapter 23:5-6. The name “The LORD (Yahweh) is Our Righteousness” was formerly a name applied to the Messiah, but here is applied to Jerusalem. These verses do not promise the constant presence of a Davidic king and a Levitical priesthood in the interim (history shows this did not happen). Rather, it means that there will be no cessation of David's dynasty or of the office of the priesthood. Jesus fulfilled the offices of King and Priest (Psa 110:4), but notably, His priesthood does not follow Levi's line, but the line of Melchizedek, the priest of Salem (Gen 14:17-20). The fulfillment of these promises for David and Levi is found in the New Covenant, in which believers are kings and priests who reign and serve with Christ (1 Pet 2:5, 9; Rev 20:4-6). The promise is so certain, one can count on the natural order collapsing and going out of existence before God's promises to David, Levi, and the nation would fail. : Tell Zedekiah: You will not escape the king of Babylon. The people took back their slaves. The LORD says: You have not obeyed me. While God is faithful (34:1-7), the people of Judah act unfaithfully toward one another (34:8-22) and to God (ch. 35). • 34:1-22. Zedekiah to Die in Babylon. Verses 1-7 and 8-22 contain two contrasting messages addressed to King Zedekiah. Both speak of the certain fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar, but the first speaks in positive terms of Zedekiah’s own fate, while the second is much bleaker. Zedekiah will “not die by the sword” (v. 4) in battle, and the people will mourn him in death. This is a mark of God’s mercy in judgment, yet it is only a limited mercy: Zedekiah’s eyes will be put out after he sees his sons put to death (2 Kings 25:7). Had Zedekiah listened to Jeremiah and surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar earlier, things might have gone better for him. Zedekiah’s stubborn refusal to listen to the prophet’s words of counsel prove very costly. The people of Judah had been conveniently ignoring the laws of the Pentateuch about periodically freeing Hebrew slaves. Under the pressure of the Babylonian assault, they covenant to fulfill their obligations under the law, but when the Babylonians temporarily withdraw, they go back on their commitments. The LORD will bring upon them the curse they themselves pronounced. : The Rechabites refused to drink wine. The LORD said to Judah: The command of Jonadab has been obeyed, yet you have not obeyed me. • 35:1-19. The Obedience of the Rachabites. Going back about 10 years, Jeremiah describes one family in Judah, the Rechabites, who had faithfully kept a command from one of their ancestors not to drink wine or build houses in the Land. It is not that drinking wine, planting vineyards, or building houses is evil: these are part of the life of blessing as God intended it in the Land (Deut 28:2-8). The commitment of the Rechabites seems to be a reminder that the Promised Land and its blessings merely symbolize the real inheritance that God has prepared for His people. Three times Jeremiah contrasts the Rechabites' obedience to a human command with Judah's disobedience to the LORD. Because of their faithfulness, the Rechabites’ fate will be different from that of the rest of the people. The Judahites will not live long in the Land; the LORD will bring the curses upon them that He had threatened. But the Rechabites will receive rewards for their continued faithfulness; they will have continued descendants serving the LORD. : Baruch read out Jeremiah's words at the temple. The king sent for the scroll and burned it. The LORD said: I will bring disaster. • 36:1-32. Jehoiakim Burns Jeremiah’s Scroll. The events of this chapter take place about 605 BC, shortly before Nebuchadnezzar subjugates Judah and takes the first captives to Babylon. Apparently at the very same time that the Rechabites are demonstrating their faithfulness (ch 35), Jehoiakim is refusing to listen to the LORD’s word through his prophet. Juxtaposing chapter 35 and chapter 36 makes the contrast very stark. When Baruch had transcribed all the words Jeremiah spoke to him from God, he later gave a public reading of the scroll on a day of fasting. God’s merciful purpose in sending his written word was to lead Judah to repentance (35:12-15) so they could avoid the consequences of their covenant disobedience. But the peoples’ pleas for deliverance must be accompanied by repentance. While the message seems to be received by some of the king’s officials, the king himself systematically cuts sections of it off and throws them into the fire, symbolizing his utter disregard for its message. The scene dramatically contrasts with how Jehoiakim’s father, Josiah, responded to the reading of the rediscovered Book of the Law (2 Kings 22:11). Josiah tore his clothes and repented because of the LORD’s great wrath against his people for not keeping the law’s demands. Jehoiakim neither tears his clothes nor shows any fear at all (v. 24). Jehoiakim’s display of disdain will not prevent the prophecies from being fulfilled. The LORD commands Jeremiah to prepare a new scroll; it contains the previous warnings of coming judgment as well as the addition of “many similar words” (v. 32). The LORD reiterates one of the key judgment prophecies: Jehoiakim will not have a lasting dynasty to follow him on the throne of David (cf. 22:24-30), and his body will come to a dishonorable end. Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin reigns for merely three months before Nebuchadnezzar carries Jehoiachin off to Babylon, never to return. : Zedekiah became king. Jeremiah said: Do not think the Babylonians will leave us. Irijah arrested Jeremiah. Zedekiah gave him bread. • 37:1-10. Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah. Eighteen years passed between the events of chapter 36 and those of chapter 37. Verse 1 fulfills the prophecy in 36:30, for instead of Jehoiachin succeeding his father, Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar places Jehoiakim’s brother Zedekiah on the throne. Chapters 37-39 cover the painful last days of Jerusalem after the Babylonians surround it. Jeremiah himself is the target of assault and persecution because of his prophecies about the city’s impending fall. Even while charting a public course that will end in disaster, King Zedekiah has several private interviews with Jeremiah, seeking to discover the LORD’s word concerning the city’s future. Yet he is unwilling or unable to change his direction in response to Jeremiah’s clear warnings. Because his pleas to God for deliverance are without repentance, they are doomed to fail. In 588 BC, the Egyptians march out to threaten the Babylonians, who have already begun to besiege Jerusalem. The siege is temporarily lifted while Nebuchadnezzar deals with the Egyptians, but the respite for Jerusalem is only temporary, just as Jeremiah prophesied. The people of Jerusalem mistakenly greet the Babylonian withdrawal as the Lord’s deliverance, but the LORD is still set on their destruction. • 37:11-21. Jeremiah Imprisoned. When Jeremiah returns home (perhaps in relation to the land he purchased from Hanamel in 32:1-15), a sentry arrests Jeremiah, assuming that since his prophecies about the fall of the city have not come true, he is escaping the city. King Zedekiah called for Jeremiah a third time, but this time in secrecy. Perhaps he hoped that Jeremiah would be more inclined to give him good news after his lengthy confinement, but Jeremiah’s message to the king is unchanged. He, the king of Judah, would be handed over to the king of Babylon. : Jeremiah was thrown into a cistern. Zedekiah sent for him. Jeremiah said: If you surrender to the king of Babylon then you will live. • 38:1-6. Jeremiah Cast into the Cistern. Jeremiah’s prophecies of Jerusalem’s demise (which remained unchanged for all 10 years of Zedekiah’s reign) thus far have proven entirely accurate. But instead of listening to his words, the king’s officials want to silence him, claiming they are demoralizing to those who hear them. They throw Jeremiah into a pit normally used for storing water, intending for Jeremiah to slowly starve to death in this muddy pit. • 38:7-13. Jeremiah Rescued from the Cistern. The weakness of King Zedekiah is on full display in this chapter. When one group of his officials wants to kill Jeremiah, Zedekiah does nothing to prevent them from doing so, but when another of his servants wants to rescue Jeremiah, he supports him. Ebed-Melech, a Cushite court official (likely a eunuch), whose name means “servant of the king,” was a royal official of Ethiopian descent. While Jeremiah is rescued from the pit, he is not freed from imprisonment but is returned to the safety of the “court of the guard.” • 38:14-28. Zedekiah’s Final Meeting with Jeremiah. Zedekiah once again seeks a private audience with Jeremiah to find out the LORD’s word concerning his future. Jeremiah is understandably suspicious of Zedekiah’s intentions, given Zedekiah’s earlier failure to protect him and Zedekiah’s lack of response to Jeremiah’s earlier messages. Jeremiah has no new words for King Zedekiah; Jeremiah simply repeats what he told him before (27:1-15). Unsurprisingly, Zedekiah still refuses to change his behavior in response to it, fearing Judah’s defectors rather than the LORD (vv. 19- 20). Zedekiah’s weakness is again striking as he is unable to guarantee Jeremiah’s safety, which he swore in v. 16, unless his own officials are kept in the dark. Yet the LORD continues to protect Jeremiah (1:8). : The Babylonians besieged Jerusalem and captured Zedekiah. They took the people into exile. Nebuchadnezzar said: Do not harm Jeremiah. • 39:1-10. The Fall of Jerusalem to Babylon. All of Jeremiah’s words of judgment are finally and painfully vindicated in 586 BC when Nebuchadnezzar captures Jerusalem after a long, 2-plus year siege. This is the fullest account in the Old Testament of the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem. The siege of Jerusalem lasts about 18 months (Jan 15, 588 to July 18, 586 BC) before the city wall is broken through. As the Babylonians breach the wall, probably on the northern side, King Zedekiah and the remnant of his army flee at night to the east and south, toward the Arabah, where they hope to disappear into the wilderness. Zedekiah was captured and saw the slaughter of his sons and his nobles just before his eyes were put out by Nebuchadnezzar. Then he was carted off to Babylon in bronze chains. His palace was burned, along with the houses of the people, and the walls of Jerusalem were torn down. So important and tragic was the fall of Jerusalem that it is recorded in Scripture four times: here in Jer 39; Jer 52; 2 Kings 25; and 2 Chron 36. This is the third (and final) deportation to Babylon (11 years after King Jehoiachin was taken away in 598 BC) and includes the majority of the remaining inhabitants of Judah, including all those with skills or wealth. The poor are left behind to work the “vineyards and fields” so that the Babylonians can continue to receive their tribute. • 39:11-18. The LORD Delivers Jeremiah. The Babylonians had heard of Jeremiah’s prophecies. Though they didn’t believe in the LORD, they protected Jeremiah, whether out of superstition or a politically motivated desire to be able to claim that Judah’s own God had turned against them. Ironically, Jeremiah receives much better treatment at the hands of the Babylonians than he received from his own people. Unrecognized at first, Jeremiah was placed in chains and readied for deportation to Babylon (40:1). At Ramah, Jeremiah was recognized and released (40:4). Jeremiah is not the only one to escape death or exile. Ebed-Melech the Cushite is likewise rewarded for trusting in the LORD and faithfully rescuing Jeremiah (38:7-13). Here a Gentile eunuch is saved through faith in God. : Nebuzaradan said to Jeremiah: Go back to , who has been appointed over Judah. The captains warned Gedaliah about Ishmael. • 40:1-6. Jeremiah Remains in Judah. Although Nebuchadnezzar gave orders to release and protect Jeremiah (39:11- 12), in the chaos following the fall of Jerusalem, Jeremiah is caught up with other prisoners and taken in chains to the staging center at Ramah. Nebuchadnezzar’s orders were explicit enough to bring Nebuzaradan, the commander of the Babylonian imperial guard, to personally seek out and release Jeremiah from bondage. Jeremiah has no personal sympathy for the Babylonians nor any reason to wish to go and live in Babylon (cf. 25:12). Nebuzaradan therefore encourages Jeremiah to go back to help Gedaliah’s new administration, located in the town of Mizpah. • 40:7-16. Gedaliah Advises Peace. Some of Judah’s army scattered and hid after fleeing the city (52:8). These men came to Gedaliah to learn how he would govern. He gave them the same advice Jeremiah gave the exiles in 29:1-9. At this point, things were going well for those who remained in Judea. However, some in the community who remain in Judah plot to kill Gedaliah. When Gedaliah hears of the plot against his life involving Baalis the king of the Ammonites, and Ishmael, one of the “captains of the forces in the open country” (vv. 7-8), he does not believe the rumors. The Ammonites opposed Babylon (27:3) and would therefore oppose Gedaliah. This is a useless gesture of rebellion against Babylon, and it tragically removes from a position of influence a good man who has supported Jeremiah’s prophecies (see 38:1). Even when Johanan warns Gedaliah again, he ignores the danger. : Ishmael killed Gedaliah and eighty men. Johanan went to fight Ishmael but he escaped. Johanan led the survivors on the way to Egypt. • 41:1-10. Gedaliah Murdered by Ishamel. Ishmael (from the lineage of David) may have had ambitions to claim the throne. He murdered Gedaliah in October, 587 or 582 BC. In the killing spree, he spared 10 of the 80 pilgrims on their way to the temple (likely for the Feast of Booths) because they offered him hidden treasure in the field. • 41:11-18. The Captives Rescued by Johanan. Johanan, who opposed Ishmael, tracked Ishmael with all the captives he had taken from Mizpah. Johanan rescued the captives, and Ishmael escaped with eight men to Ammon. Johanan, to whom the mantle of leadership had now passed, feared what the Babylonians might do as reprisals for Ishmael's killing spree, so he was determined to take the remnant of the people left in Judah off to the “safety” of Egypt. : The people asked Jeremiah to pray. The LORD says: If you stay in the land, I will grant you mercy. If you go to Egypt, you will die. • 42:1-6. The People Seek Jeremiah’s Counsel. After the death of Gedaliah, those who remain in Judah are concerned about the risk of Babylonian reprisals. For that reason, they decide to flee to Egypt but they ask Jeremiah to inquire of the LORD for them. Although they promise in most emphatic terms that they will obey God’s word no matter what, they have already decided what their course of action will be and will ignore the LORD’s word when it comes. • 42:7-22. Jeremiah’s Advice to Stay. Through Jeremiah (after 10 days), the LORD promises that if they stay in the land, He will “build [them] up and not pull [them] down” (cf. 1:10). The judgment already inflicted by the king of Babylon is sufficient. This word of compassion from the LORD is conditional upon their responding in faith. In chapter 38, the prophet’s words about the safety of surrendering to Babylon in view of the impending destruction of Jerusalem called for faith; here too it is counterintuitive to believe that staying in Judah is safer than fleeing to Egypt. If they act in unbelief once again, they will find that the LORD’s triple judgment of sword, famine and pestilence (v. 17) will continue to pursue them. The same fate that had befallen the inhabitants of Jerusalem will meet them in Egypt for the very same reason: they refuse to listen to and heed the word of the LORD through His prophet. Yet it is evident to Jeremiah even as he speaks the LORD’s word to the people that they are determined to disobey it (vv. 19-22). : Johanan and all the people did not obey the LORD. They went to Egypt. The LORD said: Nebuchadnezzar will ravage the land of Egypt. • 43:1-7. Jeremiah’s Counsel Rejected. In spite of their solemn vow (42:5-6), the people refuse to listen to Jeremiah. Previously, they delighted in false prophets who promised peace for Judah; now they refuse to listen to the true prophet when he promises blessing, accusing him instead of lying as the false prophets had (cf. 5: 31). Johanan leads all the people (including Jeremiah), willingly or unwillingly, down to Egypt disregarding Jeremiah’s counsel. Those who began as liberators became as oppressive as Ishmael, the rebel from whom they supposedly freed the people. Ironically, the remnant of Jews fled back to the land they had escaped from about 900 years earlier. • 43:8-13. God’s Sign to the People in Egypt. In Egypt the LORD sends a message for Jeremiah to communicate by means of a sign-act, similar to the ones he had performed earlier in Jerusalem (13:1-14). Jeremiah declares that hidden stones will become the location where Nebuchadnezzar will set up his throne. Fleeing to Egypt will not put the Jews outside the reach of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian military. Instead, he will arrive right on their doorstep there in Egypt. In 568 BC, Nebuchadnezzar invaded Egypt as Jeremiah predicted, though it is not clear whether Jeremiah remained alive to see the fulfillment of his prophecy. : The LORD says: Why do you provoke me with other gods? The people said: We will not listen. The LORD says: I am going to punish you. • 44:1-14. God’s Judgment Against His People in Egypt. This chapter contains Jeremiah's last recorded public words. It is not known where or when he died. One tradition says he was murdered in Egypt by his fellow citizens of Judah. As for the Judahites, relocating to Egypt has not changed their hearts. Their old idolatrous practices continue to haunt them, dooming them inevitably to face the same curse that pursued them in Judah. Those in Egypt will die by the same covenantal curses of sword, famine and pestilence. Instead of being blessed by God and being a blessing, as Gen 12:1-3 promised, they will become a “curse” (v. 12), a living example of God’s judgment in action. • 44:15-30. The People’s Stubborn Response. The women deny that the LORD is the one who brought judgment on Jerusalem and instead claim that the cessation of their idolatrous worship practices at the time of Josiah’s reforms is the reason (cf. 2 Kings 23). As for the men, they knew that their wives were burning incense to idols, so they were not blameless in this apostasy. Not only did they not stop them; they supported their denunciation of Jeremiah. The LORD will deliver Hophra into the hands of his enemies to share the fate of his former ally, King Zedekiah of Judah, as a sign to the Jews that the LORD’s word (not theirs) will stand. The Jews in Egypt will be punished! : When Baruch wrote these words, the LORD said to him: I am going to break what I have built. Do not seek great things for yourself. • 45:1-5. The LORD’s Message to Baruch. Baruch, Jeremiah’s faithful scribe, has been carried off with Jeremiah to Egypt. Yet the LORD’s earlier word of blessing to him, recorded here, remains true in the midst of looming judgment on those around him. Baruch felt the effects of sharing Jeremiah’s ministry and persecution (36:19; 43:3, 6). He felt God was unjust and viewed the great events of the day as difficulties for him. In v. 4, God informs Baruch that He (God) has lost much more than Baruch has. God has lost all He had “built” and “planted”—Israel’s people and land. Apparently Baruch hoped for great personal success, not pain and suffering. Baruch is learning the lesson that the servant is not greater than the master: if they rejected the LORD, they will reject His servants also (John 15:20). : Of Egypt: There is no healing for you. Prepare yourselves for exile. I will deliver Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar. But fear not, O Jacob! Like other prophets (e.g., Isa 13-21; Ezek 25-32), Jeremiah delivers a series of messages against the nations around God’s people (46:1-51:64). The prophecies in this section focus on 10 nations— Egypt, Philistia, Moab, Ammon, , Syria (Damascus), Kedar, Hazor, , and Babylon. Possibly the messages were given at various times during Jeremiah's ministry, and then collected under the common theme of judgment for failure to live up to God's standards. As all people are created in God’s image, and thus are expected to live to a standard of holiness and righteousness that accords with God’s nature, God will judge the nations' sins, just as He will judge the sins of Israel and Judah. In addition, these messages often declare judgment on the nations for their assault on God’s people, reassuring them that the negative aspect of the Abrahamic covenant is still in place: “whoever curses you I will curse” (Gen 12:3). Even though the nations came against Judah at the LORD’s direction, they brought their own agendas and will pay the price for their enmity toward Israel and Judah. Thus, these are not necessarily intended to be delivered exclusively to these nations, but the messages are just as much or more for God’s own people, reminding them of the LORD’s sovereignty over the whole world. The LORD raises up nations for His own purposes and then brings them down again in turn. • 46:1-28. Judgment on Egypt. Since chapters 42-44 end with Jews who are fleeing to Egypt taking Jeremiah there, it is fitting that the message against Egypt comes first. Jeremiah claims that God will put Egypt to shame (vv. 1-12) and judge Egypt’s gods and kings (vv. 13-26), and then notes that God is with Israel (vv. 27-28). Egypt was defeated by the Babylonians at the battle of Carchemish in 605 BC. Verses 3-12 contain one of the most vivid poems in the OT. Bristling with sarcasm, it describes the Egyptian army preparing for its confrontation with Nebuchadnezzar. It was written either just before or just after the Babylonians thrashed Egypt. Despite the devastation, Egypt will endure (v. 26). God will leave Egypt with a remnant, perhaps one that will turn to Him (Isa 19:19-25). : Of the Philistines: Waters are rising from the north. The LORD is destroying the Philistines. How can the sword of the LORD be quiet? • 47:1-7. Judgment on the Philistines. The Philistines are among Israel’s oldest enemies. Even though they do not aid the Babylonians in their assault on Judah, the Philistines will be destroyed along with Judah. This brief chapter asserts that God will destroy the Philistines (vv. 1-4) at the hands of a foe from the north, for His sword cannot rest until then (vv. 5-7). The city of (a major city in Philistia) was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 604 BC. : Of Moab: Woe to Nebo, for it is laid waste. We have heard of his arrogance. How it is broken! Moab has become a derision to all. • 48:1-47. Judgment on Moab. Israel’s dealings with Moab date back even farther than its relationship with Philistia. Moab’s origins in Abraham’s era (c. 2000 BC) began with the tawdry episode of Lot and his daughters (Gen 19:30-38). Located east of Judah on the far side of the Dead Sea, Moab opposed Israel in Moses’ era (Num 22-25), served Israel in David’s era (2 Sam 8:2), and plotted with Judah against Babylon in the days of Zedekiah (Jer 27:3). But they later rebelled in 582 BC, at which time Nebuchadnezzar invades it. Shortly after, Arabs overrun them, and they cease to exist as a nation. Here Jeremiah claims God will judge Moab’s arrogance and idolatry (vv. 1-10), make Moab ashamed of its god (vv. 11-20), silence Moab’s boasts (vv. 21-44), and someday restore Moab (vv. 45-47). : The LORD says: Rabbah will become desolate. I will make Edom small. Damascus has become feeble. Flee, O Hazor. I will destroy Elam! • 49:1-6. Judgment on Ammon. Ammon (with its capital in Rabbah – modern Amman, Jordan) was a country east of the Jordan River and north of Moab and had been Israel’s enemies since the time of the Exodus. The Ammonites were descended from Ben-Ammi, son of Lot (Gen 19:38). During the reign of the Judean King Zedekiah, the Ammonites participated with Judah in a revolt against Babylon (Jer 27:3); they continued their revolt beyond the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC. Nebuchadnezzar’s army took the country around 582 BC. Ezekiel also condemned Ammon in the sixth century BC (Ezek 25:1-7). In the end, God will restore the fortunes of Ammon (v. 6) just as He promised to do for Egypt (46:26) and Moab (48:47). This theme is important to the prophet’s Judahite hearers: if God will restore Ammon, Moab, and Egypt after destroying them, how much more will that be the case for Israel and Judah? • 49:7-22. Judgment on Edom. Edom descended from Esau, brother of Jacob. They seem to have celebrated with joy and even participated in Judah’s downfall at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar (Obad 13-14). They are the subject of more judgment prophecies than any other nation (Isa 34:1-17; 63:1-6; Ezek 25:12-14; 35:1-15; 1:11-12; Obad; Mal 1:2-5). Jeremiah was surprisingly softer in his tone against them than he was toward any other nation. • 49:23-27. Judgment on Damascus. Damascus was the capital city of Syria (Aram); therefore, this city stands for the entire nation. In the days of Isaiah, an alliance between the northern kingdom of Israel and Aram sought to invade Judah and replace King Ahaz of Judah with a puppet king (Isa 7). Their armies also appear to have joined Babylon in its attack on Jerusalem in 597 BC. This may be why Damascus is condemned in these verses. • 49:28-33. Judgment on Kedor and Hazor. Kedar was a nomadic, Ishmaelite tribe in the Arabian desert (Gen 25: 13) that is frequently referred to in the OT. They were known for their sheep-breeding (Isa 60:7), their dwelling east of the Ammonites (Isa 42:11), their trading with Tyre (Ezek 27:21), and their archery skills (Is 21:16-17). The Hazor mentioned in v. 29 was a collection of villages or nomadic tribes in the desert, not the town in northern Israel. Nebuchadnezzar conducted a campaign in this region in 599/ 598 BC. • 49:34-39. Judgment on Elam. Elam was the first of Shem’s sons (Gen 10:22). It was an ancient kingdom (Gen 14:1) about two hundred miles southeast of Babylon in modern southwestern Iran. Its capital city was Shushan (or Susa; Neh 1:1; Est 1:2, 5; 8:2). Elam may be a general name for Persia. It was subdued by and later came under Babylonian and Persian rule. As with Israel (29:14), Moab (48:47), Ammon (49:6), and Egypt (46:26), God promised to restore the fortunes of Elam. This Gentile nation would become a recipient of God’s promises. : Of Babylon: A nation will make her desolate. Judah will seek the LORD. Repay Babylon for all her deeds. A sword against her warriors! • 50:1-46. Judgment on Babylon. The last and longest message against the nations is reserved for Babylon (extending through 51:64). Babylon was the great world power during the second half of Jeremiah’s ministry (609-587 BC). The LORD will in due course bring low and punish the nation that He raised up and used to judge the other nations, including Judah, because the Babylonians are arrogant and cruel. As prophesied, Babylon fell in 539 BC to an alliance of the and the Persians (Dan 5:30). In this chapter, Jeremiah asserts that Babylon and its gods will be destroyed (vv. 1-10) because the people have sinned against God (vv. 11-16). He claims that God will gather and pardon Israel (vv. 17-20) but will make Babylon like Sodom and Gomorrah (vv. 21-40), for God’s plans must be fulfilled (vv. 41-46). “In those days” (v. 20), “pardon” will be granted to God’s people, a promise fulfilled in Christ. : The LORD says: I will send a destroyer against Babylon. I will repay them for the evil done in Zion. Read these words in Babylon. • 51:1-64. Judgment on Babylon (cont.). The judgment against Babylon continues in the longest chapter in Jeremiah. o God has not Forsaken Israel (vv. 1-10). Despite all the judgments that God has sent on Judah and Israel, He has not forsaken them, for He will unite them (3:6-18) and give them a new covenant (31:31-40). And just as God winnowed Judah (15:7), so He will winnow Babylon. The nations are coming to destroy Babylon because “the LORD of Hosts” has not forsaken His people (v. 5). In this way, God has vindicated Judah and Israel by judging Babylon (v. 5). This action merits God’s praise as the LORD’s people sing of His salvation in Zion, His city (v. 10). o God is the Creator (vv. 11–24). Babylon’s judgment will come at the hands of the Medes (v. 11) and its king, including Darius the Mede, who ruled Babylon immediately after its downfall. The Medes were incorporated into the Persian Empire by Cyrus in 550 BC. The Medes and Persians are connected as one kingdom in Dan 5:28; 6:8, 12, 15. Verses 15-19 proclaim that God alone created and rules the earth (verses that are nearly identical to 10:12-16). In contrast to the Creator God, idols have no power. They are made by mere humans and have “no breath” (v. 17) with which to speak or accomplish anything. Those who trust in them are “stupid and without knowledge” (v. 17). But the LORD is “the One who formed all things” (v. 19), the One who made everything out of nothing and who chose Israel as “the tribe of His inheritance.” In Ephesians 1:18 Paul applies this to Christians because God chose us to belong to Him, and no one and nothing can separate us from His love (Rom 8:38-39). But Israel forgot this and was judged; Babylon ignored this and will be judged (Dan 5:13-30). In the past Babylon was God’s “hammer” (v. 20), or instrument of judgment (50:23), but now a new nation will play that role as Babylon becomes like the nations it defeated. The Persian king Cyrus now takes up the role that Babylon’s king Nebuchadnezzar previously held (Isa 41:2-4). Babylon’s punishment is not for their crimes against humanity as a whole but specifically “for the evil that they have done in Zion” (v. 24). o God will destroy Babylon for Israel’s sake (vv. 25–64). Verses 25-26 are the reverse of Dan 2:31-35, where a stone becomes a mountain that fills the whole earth, representing the kingdom of God. In contrast, the kingdom of Babylon starts out as a mountain that destroys the whole earth but shrinks to become small enough to be rolled off the cliffs and burned. It will not contribute a “cornerstone” or “stone for a foundation” but will remain desolate forever. But the LORD declares in Isa 28:16 that He will lay in Zion “a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation.” Mt. Zion will endure in spite of Israel’s sin, while the kingdoms of this world will all pass away. With impending judgment coming to Babylon, the Jewish captives are forewarned to leave, for the proud city will fall, its carved images destroyed, its leaders slain, and its walls leveled. Jeremiah concludes by commanding Seraiah (Baruch’s brother) to read the words against Babylon in captivity, and then sink them in the as a picture of Babylon’s doom. Ch. 52 is a postscript that records the fulfillment of some of Jeremiah’s prophecies. : Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem. Nebuzaradan burned the temple and took the people into exile. Evil- merodach released Jehoiachin. • 52:1-11. The Fall of Jerusalem Recounted. The content of these verses and 2 Kings 24:18-25:7 are nearly identical (as are vv. 4-11 and 39:1-7). Thus, this section begins a summary of the results of Jeremiah’s preaching (1:10). The siege of Jerusalem, with its horrible famine, lasted from January 588 BC to July 587 BC. There are many echoes of this chapter in Rev 18, where the city made by humans opposes God’s people in all ages and times (called “Babylon”); it reflects many of the characteristics of ancient Babylon and therefore shares the same ultimate fate of destruction. • 52:12-23. The Temple Burned. Though 39:8 has already described the city’s burning in general terms, this passage focuses on the pillaging and burning of God’s house. The Chaldean army “broke down all the walls,” thus leaving the city defenseless. Nehemiah began rebuilding the walls c. 445 BC (Neh 2:11-3:32). The sacred objects of the temple are taken away into exile to Babylon rather than destroyed in the temple fire (see 2 Kings 25:13). They are later brought out for Belshazzar’s ill-fated feast (Dan 5:1-4) before being repatriated with the returning exiles during the reign of Cyrus (Ezra 1:7). They thus provide an element of continuity between the first temple and its successor. • 52:24-30. The People Exiled to Babylon. The people are not as fortunate as the temple’s sacred objects. Babylon removes Judah’s chief religious, civic, and military leaders, leaving the nation without wise direction. The exile is not one event, but three or more deportations linked to political machinations. The first deportation (not mentioned here) was actually in 605 BC, shortly after Nebuchadnezzar came to the throne (and probably included Daniel). The first deportation mentioned here (but the second deportation) refers to the largest deportation, which took place in Nebuchadnezzar’s “seventh year” (597 BC), when Nebuchadnezzar took away Jehoiachin and replaced him with Zedekiah (and probably included Ezekiel). The second deportation mentioned here (but the third deportation) was in 586 BC, in the “eighteenth year” of Nebuchadnezzar. The third deportation mentioned here (but the fourth deportation) was in 581 BC. It may have come in response to the assassination of Gedaliah. • 52:31-34. Jeohoiachin Released From Prison. These verses are nearly identical to 2 Kings 25:27–30. Whatever the motives of Evil-merodach (Nebuchadnezzar’s successor), Jehoiachin was treated well as long as he lived. The Davidic lineage, like the people, waited in exile for the 70 years to end. God’s promises cannot fail, and God promised David a permanent kingdom (2 Sam 7:16; 1 Chron 17:14) from which the Messiah would come (Jer 23:1-8; 33:14-22).