- Is this prophecy before or after the broken pot prophecy?
- It is before
- Israel is a vassal to Egypt
- This is prior to any major actions by Babylon
- The editor, possibly a scribe of Jeremiah, organizes the material using a standard Jewish process of colleting things thematically
- At an early point in the reign of Jehoiakim (second son of Josiah), what do we learn?
- There is still a chance that there actions will change God's response. If the repent, God will relent of the disaster he has proposed (at least for a time)
- While most of the priests and prophets were against Jeremiah, there were still some (a remnant) who were faithful and believed
- Micah had prophesied a similar message
- Jehoiakim was already killing prophets for a similar message
- APPLICATION: When there was still a chance for salvation, how do the leaders respond to the message? They refused to listen or change
- Is this prophecy before or after the broken pot prophecy?
- It is after
- Israel has had two deportations
- This is probably around 593, prior to Zedekiah's summoning to Babylon
- In 5 years, Judah will rebel and after two years of seige, Jerusalem will be completely destroyed
- Zedekiah is Josiah's brother. Jehoiachin, the third son, only lasted a few months before he was taken to Babylon. The passage seems to suggest Zedekiah was Josiah's son, but that is not done in all manuscripts, and some commentators feel that it was a common was to refer to the ancestral relationship of king to king
- Once again, after two deportations, and many furnishings and treasure having been taken, the false prophets are saying, "but, these things won't be taken." What does it sound like the prophets are doing?
- "Well, maybe we didn't get it exactly right, but we are sure now"
- These are false prophets because God's word requires a prophet to be 100 percent accurate
- What evidence does Zedekiah have for doing the right thing?
- Jeremiah has already been proved right and the false prophets wrong
- Zedekiah still chooses to ignore Jeremiah's message
- APPLICATION: Now there is no chance for salvation (changing of the circumstances), but life is offered to those who will repent and obey. They still refuse to listen and change
- When God says "he did not humble himself before Jeremiah," how might you put that in other words?
- Zedekiah would not admit he was wrong when confronted with his sin
- Zedekiah thought he was more important than God's messenger
- Zedekiah thought he was above following the rules. They were for everyone else
- Chronicles says "… until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy." The end until point was the "pottery" prophecy. From 931 to 586 was 345 years, and 931 to 722 was 209 years. God was extremely patient with Israel and Judah, but God does reach a point where there is no longer a "remedy." How much longer before the US reaches that point?
- How would a message like Hananiah's go over in Judah? Would he have a lot of crowds, admirers, well-wishers, ministry supporters, fans …?
- 2 Tim 4:3-4 (NIV) For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
- People flock to those who say what their itiching ears want to hear
- Notice what Paul tells Timothy to do
- 2 Tim 4:1-2, 5 (NIV)
- What did Jeremiah do after Hananiah's theatrics (when he takes the yoke off of him and breaks it to the crowd's amusement)?
- Jeremiah walks away
- Jeremiah waits for a message from the Lord (there is apparently more than what is said given that Jeremiah's message to Hananiah is not repeated)
- Jeremiah boldly declares the message to a very popular preacher
- APPLICATION: Not everyone who hangs the "Christianity" shingle on their life is truly a believer. Clearly the terrorist in Norway chose a method of evangelism which is against everything that is taught in the scriptures. Jesus never forced anyone to be saved. Jesus never killed anyone to make a point. Jesus does talk about being ready for persecution (sword and Peter), but not in the sense of trying to make a physical conquest of another
- For Hananiah, probably all signs pointed to a ministry that was blessed by God. I can imagine large crowds with increasing attendance, opportunities to speak pouring in, favor with the king and other high leaders, how could his life be anything but "blessed by God?"
- APPLICATION: Numbers, popularity, increasing attendance, being well-liked, are not sufficient conditions for evaluating a ministry. In this case, the most important standard, adherence to the word of God was ignored. Is the message I preached watered down to "politically correct" level or do I adhere to the whole counsel of God?
- One last note. Pashhur, the guy who put Jeremiah in stocks, was punished much differently than Hananiah. I wonder if Pashhur was redeemable, that is, a man willing to humble himself before God, whereas Hananiah was not
- Jeremiah is not taken in the first two deportations, but he still ministers to those in Babylon through letters. In this chapter we see the context for a verse that is one of the most often quoted verses in scripture. What about the context gives different insight into the promise?
- The people are fugitives from their homes
- They live in a foreign place with people who have a foreign speech
- They hear conflicting stories of what God is going to do or not do
- Jeremiah promises that in 70 years they will return which for most will be after their death
- APPLICATION: When life is falling apart and things don't make sense, even in those conditions, God has a plan to give hope and a future. God does not create evil or cause evil. But God can bring good out of evil. God can use evil for good (Joseph's story is a case in point (Gen 50:20)). Our response is never to give up, but to call on God, to seek his face, to humble ourselves, to repent, to pray to him
|
609
|
Josiah killed in
battle by Egyptians at Megiddo
|
2 Chron. 35:20-25
|
|
|
Jehoahaz reigns
over Judah for 3 months
|
2 Chron. 36:1-3
|
|
|
Jehoiakim made
king of Judah by Pharaoh Necho
|
2 Chron. 36:4
|
|
605
|
Nebuchadnezzar
defeats the Egyptians at Carchemish
|
Jer. 46:2
|
|
|
The first
deportation of exiles (including Daniel) to Babylon
|
Dan. 1:1-7
|
|
604
|
Jehoiakim burns
Jeremiah's first scroll
|
Jer. 36
|
|
601
|
Jehoiakim rebels
against Babylon
|
2 Kings 24:1
|
|
598
|
Jehoiakim is
deposed and dies
|
2 Chron. 36:3
|
|
|
Jehioachin reigns
over Judah for 3 months
|
2 Kings 24:8
|
|
597
|
The second
deportation of exiles (including Jehoiachin) to Babylon
|
2 Kings 24:12-16
|
|
|
Zedekiah made king
of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar
|
2 Kings 24:17
|
|
593
|
Zedekiah summoned
to Babylon
|
Jer. 51:59
|
|
588
|
Zedekiah is
besieged in Jerusalem for treachery
|
Jer. 52:3-4
|
|
586
|
Fall of Jerusalem
|
Jer. 39
|
Jer 26:1-9, 17-23 (NIV) Early in the reign of
Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came from the Lord: 2
"This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard of the Lord's house
and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah who come to worship in the
house of the Lord. Tell them everything I command you; do not omit a word. 3
Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from his evil way. Then I will
relent and not bring on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil
they have done. 4 Say to them, 'This is what the Lord says: If you do not
listen to me and follow my law, which I have set before you, 5 and if you do
not listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I have sent to you
again and again (though you have not listened), 6 then I will make this house
like Shiloh and this city an object of cursing among all the nations of the
earth.'"
7 The priests, the prophets and all the people heard
Jeremiah speak these words in the house of the Lord. 8 But as soon as Jeremiah
finished telling all the people everything the Lord had commanded him to say,
the priests, the prophets and all the people seized him and said, "You
must die! 9 Why do you prophesy in the Lord's name that this house will be
like Shiloh and this city will be desolate and deserted?" And all the
people crowded around Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.
. . .
17 Some of the elders of the land stepped forward
and said to the entire assembly of people, 18 "Micah of Moresheth
prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah. He told all the people of
Judah, 'This is what the Lord Almighty says:
"'Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,
the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.'
19 "Did Hezekiah king of Judah or anyone else
in Judah put him to death? Did not Hezekiah fear the Lord and seek his favor?
And did not the Lord relent, so that he did not bring the disaster he
pronounced against them? We are about to bring a terrible disaster on
ourselves!"
20 (Now Uriah son of Shemaiah from
Kiriath Jearim was another man who prophesied in the name of the Lord; he
prophesied the same things against this city and this land as Jeremiah did. 21
When King Jehoiakim and all his officers and officials heard his words, the
king sought to put him to death. But Uriah heard of it and fled in fear to
Egypt. 22 King Jehoiakim, however, sent Elnathan son of Acbor to Egypt, along
with some other men. 23 They brought Uriah out of Egypt and took him to King
Jehoiakim, who had him struck down with a sword and his body thrown into the
burial place of the common people.)
Jer 27:1-11. 19-21 (NIV) Early in the reign of
Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the
Lord: 2 This is what the Lord said to me: "Make a yoke out of straps and
crossbars and put it on your neck. 3 Then send word to the kings of Edom,
Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to
Zedekiah king of Judah. 4 Give them a message for their masters and say, 'This
is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "Tell this to your
masters: 5 With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its
people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please. 6 Now
I will hand all your countries over to my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon; I will make even the wild animals subject to him. 7 All nations will
serve him and his son and his grandson until the time for his land comes; then
many nations and great kings will subjugate him.
8 "' "If, however, any nation or kingdom
will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon or bow its neck under his yoke,
I will punish that nation with the sword, famine and plague, declares the
Lord, until I destroy it by his hand. 9 So do not listen to your prophets,
your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums or your sorcerers who
tell you, 'You will not serve the king of Babylon.' 10 They prophesy lies to
you that will only serve to remove you far from your lands; I will banish you
and you will perish. 11 But if any nation will bow its neck under the yoke of
the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let that nation remain in its own
land to till it and to live there, declares the Lord." '"
. . .
19 For this is what the Lord Almighty says about the
pillars, the Sea, the movable stands and the other furnishings that are left
in this city, 20 which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away when
he carried Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah into exile from Jerusalem
to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem — 21 yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the
God of Israel, says about the things that are left in the house of the Lord and
in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem: 22 'They will be taken to
Babylon and there they will remain until the day I come for them,' declares
the Lord. 'Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.'"
2 Chron 36:11-19 (NIV) Zedekiah was twenty-one years
old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. 12 He did
evil in the eyes of the Lord his God and did not humble himself before
Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the Lord. 13 He also rebelled
against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take an oath in God's name. He
became stiff-necked and hardened his heart and would not turn to the Lord, the
God of Israel. 14 Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became
more and more unfaithful, following all the detestable practices of the
nations and defiling the temple of the Lord, which he had consecrated in
Jerusalem.
15 The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to
them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people
and on his dwelling place. 16 But they mocked God's messengers, despised his
words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused
against his people and there was no remedy. 17 He brought up against them the
king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the
sanctuary, and spared neither young man nor young woman, old man or aged. God
handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar. 18 He carried to Babylon all the
articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of
the Lord's temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. 19 They set
fire to God's temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the
palaces and destroyed everything of value there.
Jer 28:1-4, 10-11, 15-17 (NIV) In the fifth month of
that same year, the fourth year, early in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah,
the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, said to me in the
house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people: 2
"This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'I will break
the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two years I will bring back to this
place all the articles of the Lord's house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
removed from here and took to Babylon. 4 I will also bring back to this place
Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the other exiles from Judah
who went to Babylon,' declares the Lord, 'for I will break the yoke of the
king of Babylon.'"
. . .
10 Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke off the
neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broke it, 11 and he said before all the
people, "This is what the Lord says: 'In the same way will I break the
yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon off the neck of all the nations within
two years.'" At this, the prophet Jeremiah went on his way.
. . .
15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the
prophet, "Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, yet you have
persuaded this nation to trust in lies. 16 Therefore, this is what the Lord
says: 'I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This very year you
are going to die, because you have preached rebellion against the Lord.'"
17 In the seventh month of that same year, Hananiah
the prophet died.
In the presence of God and of
Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his
appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the Word; be
prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great
patience and careful instruction. … 5 But you, keep your head in all
situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the
duties of your ministry.
Jer 29:4-14 (NIV) This is what the Lord Almighty,
the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to
Babylon: 5 "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they
produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and
give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters.
Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and
prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the
Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." 8 Yes, this
is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "Do not let the
prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you
encourage them to have. 9 They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have
not sent them," declares the Lord.
10 This is what the Lord says: "When seventy
years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious
promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for
you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come
and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when
you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the
Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all
the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the Lord,
"and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into
exile."
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