Jeremiah 28:1-9 – What would you rather hear?

Remember that Jeremiah had been wearing the yoke that God told him to make over his neck. He was parading around the temple court signaling God’s message that all nations must come under Babylon’s dominion. For several months now and he was still wearing the yoke. In Jeremiah 25:11, we learned that he had proclaimed a 70-year duration of Judah’s captivity in Babylon. But now in Jeremiah 28:1, a prophet from Gibeon named Hananiah appeared to publicly prophesy in the Lord’s name contradicting Jeremiah’s message. He proclaimed to the priests and the people that God was breaking the dominion of Babylon. He insisted that within two years the vessels from the temple that Nebuchadnezzar had taken would be returned. He even said that God was “going to bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles of Judah who went to Babylon. (Jeremiah 28:4).

Notice that Hananiah was explicitly said to be from Gibeon. This already hinted that what he said could not be trusted. We learned how deceptive the Gibeonites were from the book of Joshua. They had deceptively duped Joshua into an alliance with them, by telling a lie that they came from a distant land. Therefore, how could one from the line of deceitful people be bearing the truth? If their history was anything to go by, this man could not be trusted.

Jeremiah’s response could be seen in verses 5-6. He wished that whatever Hananiah had said was true and that God would bring the people and the temple vessels that the Babylonians had taken back within two years.  He then pointed out that just by merely prophesying without authentication would not necessarily come a prophecy true. Jeremiah argued that whether a prophet and his prophecy came from God could only be determined when what had been prophesied happened. For the true test of a prophet and his prophecy would only be authenticated when what that prophet had said come to pass.  

Whose message was more believable? Hananiah’s or Jeremiah’s? One promises a time of pleasantry and the other, a time of hardship, struggles, and suffering.  The former tells what everyone desires to hear. It is assertive, edifying, and even patriotic. The latter, on the other hand, is depressing, gloomy, and doom and not the least bit palatable to the ears. One message is popular but false. The other is hard to stomach but true. If both Hananiah and Jeremiah were pastors in our world today, whose church would you rather attend? True pastors Jesus indicates are more like John the Baptist. This is what the Lord said of him in Matthew 11. He was more than a prophet. He was prophecy fulfilled. He did not just preach the word. He lived the word. His message is worth listening to. 

Jeremiah 27:16-22 – In God our hope is sure

In Jeremiah 27:16-22 God turned to address the priests of Jerusalem. They were listening to the self-proclaimed prophets who prophesied lies saying that the treasure that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the house of the Lord would be returned to them shortly. These treasures were made for the temple during the reign of Solomon. Second Kings 24:13 reveals that when Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem during the reign of Jehoiachin, he did not only take him, his family, and official to Babylon, but he also took treasures from the Lord’s house back with him. What the false prophets were essentially saying was that Babylon would be overthrown and the treasures would be returned to Jerusalem shortly. So here Jeremiah called off their bluff and exposed their lies.

Here God through Jeremiah instructed the priests to stop listening to those prophets’ lies. They should instead counsel the people to submit and serve Nebuchadnezzar to avoid needless bloodshed and destruction of the city. He even taunted the false prophets saying if they were genuine, they should entreat the Lord to prevent Nebuchadnezzar from taking the remaining articles from Jerusalem to Babylon. Here God was referring to the bronze pillars, bronze seas, and all the bronze stands Solomon had made (these were described in 1 Kings 7). These were the articles that Nebuchadnezzar did not take with him during his siege.  God then made known that He was going to let the Babylonians carry these articles to Babylon. And they would remain there until the distant future when God visit them again. These articles would then be returned home and restored to Jerusalem.   

The passage here clearly shows us that even in wrath, God still shows mercy. Even in discipline God still talks about His visitation to restore the people in the future.  When the yoke we are experiencing is God’s yoke, our suffering won’t be long. Psalm 30:5 assures us that “His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning.” In Matthew 10:28-30 Jesus asked us to come to Him if we are heavy with burden. He invites us to His yoke upon ourselves and learns from Him. For He is gentle and humble in heart, and we will find rest to our souls. The yoke of Jesus is easy and His burden is light. He is our surest hope in life.

 

   

Jeremiah 27:8-15 – Be careful who we listen to

God had ordained that Babylon should be the dominant power at that time. He told all the emissaries of the Edom, Moab, Ammon Tyre, and Sidon who had been gathered in Jerusalem to form an alliance to go against Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon. God told them that it was pointless to resist as this was His plan. 

In Jeremiah 27:8-11, the message from God was for them and all nations also to serve Nebuchadnezzar. Whoever would not acknowledge the power of Babylon, God would punish. Sword, famine, and pestilence meaning would be sent upon the nation that would not submit to Babylon as her overlord.  He guaranteed that the fierce conflict, famine, and disasters would not stop till that nation had been destroyed. Those who were inclined to accept the pronouncement of the self-acclaimed prophets, diviners, dreamers, soothsayers, or sorcerers, God told them not to listen or believe in their false proclamation. If they continue to resist and would not yield to Babylon, they were only courting disaster and devastation.

Turning to King Zedekiah in Jeremiah 27:12-15, God warned him and Judah of the same thing he said to the other nations. He told him not to pin his hopes on the lies prophesied by the false prophets that he had surrounded himself with. They were goading him not to give in to Babylon something that did not come from God. He did not send those false prophets; hence their words were all lies. They had prophesied falsely in the Lord’s name. God then guaranteed Zedekiah that by heeding those lies, he together with the false prophets would be driven from the land.

It is important who we listen to in life. We court needless trouble by not discerning the people we should go to for counsel. One false step will take us years to correct and realign and adjust.  Many people end up in misery and had to go to great lengths to undo the result of their missteps and errors. Wisdom dictates that we seek always to do and act right in our walk with God. If not, we will need the time to do it again. Thus, listening to the right counsel matters. The incident in Numbers 13 leaves us with an example of always listening to the right counsel. The people of Israel then, ended up meandering in the wilderness for another 40 years till they all died there. All because they chose to listen to the ungodly counsel of the ten spies and refused to listen to the godly counsel of Joshua and Caleb. We must be careful who we listen to in life!      

Jeremiah 27:1-7 – Nothing can happen to us without God’s permission

King Zedekiah, the son of Josiah was placed on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar. This Babylonian king had Zedekiah’s nephew Jehoiachin deposed and taken captive to Babylon. It was also he who had his name changed to Zedekiah from Mattaniah. However, early in Zedekiah’s reign, he did something that was tantamount to treasonous. He sought to form a coalition with Edom, Moab. Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon to come against Babylon. So here in Jeremiah 27:1-7, the prophet Jeremiah was sent by God with a message to the emissaries of those kings whom Zedekiah was seeking to form an alliance with. They were told to take the message home to their kings.  

The message God had for them came through an illustrated sermon. Jeremiah was instructed to make a yoke and put it around his neck. A yoke, as we know, was an implement that was used to put around the necks of two oxen to pair them together so that they could move in tandem with each other. Obviously, God was not for this alliance. He was making known that whatever Nebuchadnezzar was ordained to do was part of His plan. He was and still is the only one who would sovereignly determine the destiny of nations and men. No one, whether man or beast, could or would be in any position where He had not ordained. And no one now or ever could change the course of His plan. But at this juncture in history,  God had ordained that every nation both people and beasts would come under the control of Babylon. Hence no one would be able to take her down till the time God her regime ended.  

Clearly, God wants us to know that He is in sovereign control. Our lives are in His hand.  Nothing can ever happen to us outside of His will and plan. Everything, positive or negative, can only happen to us by His permission. Hence, we must learn to accept them while seeking the lessons He wants to teach us through them. We must practice what Paul exhorts us to do in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22,  ^“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully: hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.”

   

Jeremiah 26:20-24 – God will see us through.

Jeremiah 26:16-19 tells us how the king's officials intervene and prevent Jeremiah from being executed. He cited how Micah said something similar to Jeremiah concerning Jerusalem’s destruction and as spared. King Hezekiah in that instance  chose to heed his message and Micah was spared.  

Jeremiah 26:20-23 look like another case that the priests and the prophets who had seized Jeremiah brought to counter the call of the king’s official to spare Jeremiah.  It was apparent that they were bent on  executing him. So they brought up this other incident where a man named Uriah was executed for prophesying for the Lord. He then fled to Egypt because his life was threatened by Jehoiakim. But the king pursued him. He sent men led by Elnathan to Egypt and had Uriah extradited and executed with a sword. The body of Uriah was then buried among the common people.

Verse 24 indicates that Jeremiah was safe yet by another unexpected source. God used a man named Ahikam,  the son of Shaphan. His presence with Jeremiah prevented the people from apprehending him. According to 2 Kings 22:11-13, Ahikam was one of those people whom King Josiah had commissioned to inquire of the Lord when the “book of the Law” was found while repairing the temple. It was this Ahikam whose presence with Jeremiah prevented his execution.

As perilous as serving the Lord may be, He will always have people He would use to ensure His servant’s safety in their times of peril. The Bible is replete with stories of how God’s servants had been provided with unexpected sources of help in their time of need, Moses had the princess of Pharoah, David had his motley crew, Nehemiah had Artaxerxes, Esther had Ahasuerus, etc. Once again we turn to another of Annie Johnson Flint’s poems for encouragement as we conclude. She said these words in his poem "God Hath Not Promised." 

God hath not promised skies always blue,

Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through;

God hath not promised sun without rain,

Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.

 

God hath not promised we shall not know

Toil and temptation, trouble and woe;

He hath not told us we shall not bear

Many a burden, many a care.

 

God hath not promised smooth roads and wide,

Swift, easy travel, needing no guide;

Never a mountain, rocky and steep,

Never a river, turbid and deep.

 

But God hath promised strength for the day,

Rest for the labor, light for the way,

Grace for the trials, help form above,

Unfailing sympathy, undying love.  

 

 

Jeremiah 26:16-19 – Why we need to know God’s Word.

In Jeremiah 26:14-15, we saw how Jeremiah dared his captors to do whatever they intended to do since he was in their hands. With no fear, he told them to go ahead with what they intended but say to them “Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves, and on this city and on its inhabitants; for truly the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”

Those officials who came from the king then intervened and prevented Jeremiah from being executed. Firmly, they told the priests and prophets that there should be no life sentence for him. They insisted that Jeremiah had spoken to them in the name of the Lord, their God. Some of the elders then cited an incident of how the Prophet Micah was spared in the time of King Hezekiah. He was almost put to death for prophesying something similar concerning Jerusalem (Micah 3:12). What Micah said then prevented the judgment of God from falling on Jerusalem because Hezekiah heeded the word. The reason for citing Micah’s incident was obvious. Like Hezekiah and the people who heeded Micah's word and repented so also must they heed Jeremiah's word and repent and turn to be saved.     

If anyone should know the Scriptures better, it would be those priests and the prophets who wanted to execute Jeremiah. They were the leaders entrusted to handle and teach the Word of God, yet they showed how unaccustomed they were to the Scriptures. They were workmen who did not their tools. What a shame! It was the king’s officials that help them to recall what they should have known. 

These verses underscore for us why it is important to know the Scriptures. It will help us to stay true to the Lord even when messengers of God stray from the word. Knowing the Scriptures can help us from errors propagated by those who claimed to champion it. Let’s be committed to knowing the Bible, which Paul insists in 2 Timothy 3:15 are “the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” Why? ^“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16).” The Word of God gives us the full counsel of God. Be well-versed with it!           

Jeremiah 26:10-15 – Stay committed to God no matter what happens.

In earlier verses, we saw how the priests, the other prophets, and the people seized Jeremiah for the prophecy of the outcome of Jerusalem. He told them that God was about to destroy it as He did to Shiloh and remove its inhabitants. Jeremiah 26:10-11  reveal that when the officials of the city learned of it, they quickly went to intervene. They came and sat at the entrance of the new gate in the temple and waited. Then the priests and the other prophets came out to them and in front of the people said, “A death sentence for this man! For he has prophesied against this city as you have heard in your hearing. They were bent on putting Jeremiah to death.  

In verses 12-15, we see Jeremiah’s defense. He did not shrink from proclaiming the truth. He took the opportunity and reiterated what He had said. He told the officials that came from the king’s house that  it was the Lord who had sent him to speak. What he was proclaiming came from God. Then he quickly followed up by calling for them to repent saying, “Now, therefore, amend your ways and your deeds and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will change His mind about the misfortune which He has pronounced against you.”

Jeremiah stood firmly behind what he said for he knew he was speaking God’s message. He declared his commitment to the truth he had delivered and stood by it. He was prepared to take what they intended to do to him, even if it meant death. Jeremiah was so firm in his stand. He told his accusers that if they put him to death, they would be guilty of shedding innocent blood. Besides the guilt for the destruction of the city would also rest on them.      

Like Jeremiah to the people at his time, we are God’s redemptive agents in the world today. Like him, we too will face opposition for speaking the truth.  People are often offended by the truth because their flaws are being exposed by the truth. As we share the Good News of Jesus be aware that we run the risk of offending our listeners and may have to face their hostility.  Despite this, we must stand firm and stay committed to the Lord. Take the example of John Elliot who said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”