JEREMIAH 27A
Message of the LORD during reign of Jehoiakim verse 1
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah
came the word unto Jeremiah from the LORD – saying
Object lesson of the yoke verse 2- 7
Thus says the LORD to me
Make you bonds and yokes – and put them upon your neck
and send them to the king of
Edom – Moab – the Ammonites – Tyre – Sidon
by the hand of the messengers which
come to Jerusalem unto
Zedekiah king of Judah
Command them to say unto their masters
Thus says the LORD of hosts – the God of Israel
Thus shall you say unto your masters
I have made the earth, man and beast that are upon the ground
by MY great power by MY outstretched arm
and have given it unto whom it seemed
meet unto ME
NOW I have given all these lands into the hand of
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon MY servant
And the beasts of the field have
I given him also to serve him
And all nations shall serve him his son – his son’s son
until the very time of his land come
AND then many nations and great
kings shall serve themselves of him
LORD will judge any nation not submitting verse 8
AND it shall come to pass
that the nation and kingdom which will not serve he same
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon
and that will not put their neck under the yoke of
the king of Babylon
that nation will I punish – says the LORD
with the sword – famine – pestilence
until I have consumed them by his hand
Warning to not listen to lying prophets verse 9- 11
THEREFORE hearken not ye to your PROPHETS – DIVINERS
DREAMERS – ENCHANTERS – SORCERERS
which speak unto you – saying
Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon
for they prophesy a LIE unto you
to remove you far from your land
and that I should drive you out
and you shall perish
BUT the nations that bring their NECK under the YOKE of the
king of Babylon – and serve him
those will I let remain still in their land –says the LORD
and they shall till it and dwell therein
Jeremiah encourages Zedekiah to listen verse 12- 15
I spoke also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words – saying
Bring your NECKS under the YOKE of the king of Babylon
and serve him and his people – and LIVE
Why will you die – thou and your people
by the sword – famine – pestilence
as the LORD hath spoken against the nation that
will not serve the king of Babylon?
THEREFORE hearken not unto the words of the prophets
that speak unto you – saying
You shall not serve the king of Babylon
for they prophesy a LIE unto you
For I have NOT sent them – says the LORD
yet they prophesy a LIE in MY name
that I might drive you out – and that ye might perish
you – and the prophets that prophesy unto you
Jeremiah encourages priests and people to listen verse 16- 18
Also I spoke to the PRIESTS and to all the PEOPLE – saying
Thus says the LORD
Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you saying
BEHOLD the vessels of the LORD’S house shall
now shortly be brought again from Babylon
FOR they prophesy a LIE unto you
Hearken not unto them serve the king of Babylon – and live
Wherefore should this city be laid waste?
BUT if they be prophets and if the word of the LORD be with them
let them now make intercession to the LORD of hosts
that the vessels which are left in the
house of the LORD
and in house of the king of Judah and at Jerusalem
go not to Babylon
LORD says all vessels of Temple going to Babylon verse 19- 22
FOR thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the
pillars – sea – bases – residue of the vessels that remain in this city
WHICH Nebuchadnezzar – king of Babylon took not
when he carried away captive Jeconiah
son of Jehoiakim king of Judah
from Jerusalem to Babylon
AND all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem
Yea – thus says the LORD of hosts – the God of Israel
concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the LORD
and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem
They shall be carried to Babylon and there shall they be until the day
that I visit them – says the LORD
THEN will I bring them up
and RESTORE them to THIS PLACE
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 5 I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the ground, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and have given it to whom it seemed proper to Me The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982)
Devotion: Speaking to authority and powers can be an intimidating and fearful experience! God seems to repeatedly bring his leaders and spoke persons into confrontation with earthly authorities. From Genesis to Revelation the message must be spoken faithfully and without respect to civil powers. That is not to say that the people who spoke for God did not show respect and exercise wisdom and judgment while in the presence of authorities. Moses, Abraham, Joseph, Elijah, Esther, Nehemiah, Paul and many others are examples of this truth. In each instance the men or women recognized God was sovereign and directing their lives. When Jeremiah stood before the king and priests of Israel and declared the message he also acknowledged God’s sovereignty. Irving Jensen in his little book [Jeremiah and Lamentations, Moody Press, Chicago, 1976. 80.] states that Jeremiah’ message in these verses(1-8) involves a) the fact of sovereignty v. 5 b) the exercise of sovereignty v. 6-7, and c) the warning of sovereignty v.8.
As sovereign God chose who would rule and who would serve. A lesson that we need to remember and take to heart as well.
Application: Many timeswe struggle with the path and leading of God when it is not prosperous and filled with sunshine. Jeremiah spoke clearly to a rebellious people of the path God had provided them to walk. As He directs us let us submit and not be rebellious. May we accept His sovereign rule of our lives and paths. (Dr. Brian Miller – board member)
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 9 Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon. (3786 "sorcerers" [kashshaph] means a magician, enchanter, or one who practices the black magic arts.
DEVOTION: The children of Israel and Judah had strayed far from the LORD. They were practicing all kinds of false religion. They were looking to the stars for guidance. They were asking people to interpret their dreams. They were looking for people who could contact the dead to give answers. Finally, they were consulting with those who could perform magic. They were turning to everyone they could excluding the LORD.
Jeremiah tells the king of Judah, the leaders and the people that these individuals are liars. Their prophets that were telling them that the captivity would end right away were liars. The only one telling the truth was Jeremiah. Jeremiah warns the Israelites not to trust the words of this group of people.
We need to understand the same warning. There are many false prophets with false messages that are being quoted today. We still have false prophets, diviners, dreamers, enchanters and magicians in this world that say they have power that is given to them of God.
One of the rules in the Old Testament regarding anyone who said they had a message from God is that they had to be one hundred percent accurate. If they were not one hundred percent accurate, they were to be killed.
We don’t have that authority today but they should be as dead men to us. However, too often, these false dispensers of lies fool people who claim to be Christians. Don’t listen! Watch out! Some just want our money but others just want to lead us as far from the God of the Bible as they can. Watch who we follow!! Watch who we listen too! Watch want we read! There are Christians who look at their horoscope each morning. This is not what the LORD wants us to do. Some even look at the fortune cookies for their lucky numbers. LOOK to the Word of God and those who preach it only!!!
CHALLENGE: Watch who or what you depend on for your future outlook on life. The Word of God and the Holy Spirit should guide you.)
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 22 They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until the day that I visitthem, says the LORD; then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place. (6485 “visit” [paqad] means attend to, muster, appoint, pay attention to, observe, or hunt up.
DEVOTION: We find that there are many false prophets in the days of Jeremiah. They were the ones lying to the people. However, the people would rather believe a lie rather than the truth from the mouth of Jeremiah.
There is a tendency in all of us to want to hear what we like rather than what we don’t like. We really don’t want to change our habits. We seem to enjoy our sinful habits and think that it is OK to keep them.
The LORD has sent many messengers with the instructions from the LORD to change their present habits and the LORD will take away the captivity. They didn’t want to hear it. They were going into captivity no matter what the false prophets had told them.
One of the benefits of believing in the LORD is the fact that HE is a God of HOPE. HE always gives a message of future hope to those who are believers. They might pay the consequences of their sins while they are still here on the earth but HE does restore after a time. We find this promise in this verse.
HE is going to bring the vessels of the house of the LORD back to the Promised Land after seventy years. We know from reading the rest of Scripture that it is the people who will bring the vessels back. The remnant that is believers will return.
Remember they were the ones the LORD told through Jeremiah to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar and be taken into captivity. The ones who refused to obey the command were killed. Even those who fled to Egypt were killed.
Jeremiah gave God’s instructions and those who obeyed would see the Promised Land again. Those who disobeyed were dead.
God still gives promises today. HE informs us concerning the future. We are to obey HIS commands to us while we are still here. We are to be witnesses for HIM to our world. We are to be ones who keep in close contact with HIM on a daily basis. We are the ones who humbly follow HIM.
CHALLENGE: The LORD through Jeremiah told HIS people what the future was going to be. It happened just as HE said. This is our HOPE.)
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
- Chastity (Purity in living)
- Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
- Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
- Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
- Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
- Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
- Frugality (wise use of resources)
- Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
- Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
- Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
- Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
- Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
- Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Intercession verse 18
- Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
- Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
LORD’s house verse 16, 18, 21
Vessels verse 18, 19, 21
Pillars verse 19
Sea verse 19
Bases verse 19
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Word of the LORD verse 1, 18
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal) verse 1, 2, 4, 8, 11,
13, 15, 16, 18,
19, 21, 22
LORD of hosts verse 4, 18, 19, 21
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign) verse 4, 21
God of Israel verse 4, 21
Creator verse 5
Omnipotence verse 5
Punishment of God verse 8
Word of the LORD verse 18
House of the LORD verse 18, 21
Promise to Israel verse 22
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
King of Edom verse 3
King of Moab verse 3
King of the Ammonites verse 3
King of Tyrus verse 3
King of Zidon verse 3
Nebuchadnezzar – king of Babylon verse 6, 8, 9, 11- 14
17, 20
Nebuchadnezzar – God’s servant verse 6
All nations verse 7
Babylon verse 16, 18
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Consulting false prophets verse 9, 10, 14- 16
Consulting diviners verse 9
Consulting dreamers verse 9
Consulting enchanters verse 9
Consulting sorcerers verse 9
Lie verse 10, 14- 16
Listening to false prophets verse 14, 16
God has not sent false prophets verse 15
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
LORD speaks to priests verse 16
Not listening to false prophets verse 17
Future restoration verse 22
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Jehoiakim verse 1
Jeremiah verse 1
Jerusalem verse 3, 18, 20, 21
Zedekiah – king of Judah verse 3, 12, 18
Israel verse 4
Jeconiah- son of Jehoiaim king of Judah verse 20
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
QUOTES
27:14–15Though 27:12 is addressed to Zedekiah, the plural pronoun “you” (27:14–15) and the plural verbs used throughout 27:12–15 (“bow … serve … live … die … listen … perish”) show that the entire nation was included in the appeal to Zedekiah. The Lord warned Zedekiah, as he had warned the rulers in 27:1–11, not to listen to the lies of the prophets because he had not sent them. Because they believed the false prophets, the Lord declared that he would banish both Zedekiah and the prophets who were leading him astray (see 39:5–7, where the fate predicted here for Zedekiah overtook him). (Huey, F. B. (1993). Jeremiah, Lamentations (Vol. 16, p. 244). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
Jeremiah then gave the same message to King Zedekiah (Jer. 27:12–15). Since the king had rebelled against Babylon and refused to pay tribute, he was now in serious trouble. When the king saw Jeremiah wearing the yoke, he surely must have gotten the message: “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live” (v. 12). Jeremiah warned the king not to listen to the deceptive messages of the false prophets, because they were speaking only lies in the name of the Lord.
Jeremiah then delivered the “yoke message” to the priests and the people (vv. 16–22). The false prophets were claiming that the valuable articles of gold and bronze that the Babylonians had taken from the temple would soon be returned to Jerusalem, but Jeremiah knew this was a lie. Actually, these treasures weren’t brought back until God visited the Jews and the remnant returned to Judah after the decree of Cyrus (Ezra 1–2). The important thing wasn’t to rescue the temple furnishings but to save the people from death and the city from destruction. This could be done only if the nation submitted to the king of Babylon.
Jeremiah taunted the false prophets by encouraging them to pray about the matter. After all, if they were true prophets of God, the Lord would surely answer their prayers. He told them to pray, not for the return of the treasures now in Babylon, but for the preservation of the treasures still in the temple. When the Babylonians organized a second deportation in 597 at the beginning of Zedekiah’s reign (Jer. 27:1; 28:1), it proved that the false prophets were indeed liars and that their prayers weren’t answered.
Jeremiah ended his message to the priests and people with a promise of hope: At the end of the seventy years of captivity, God would visit His people in Babylon and bring them back to their land. Even in wrath, God remembers mercy (Hab. 3:2). (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). Be Decisive (pp. 119–120). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
Chapters twenty-seven and twenty-eight are intimately connected. Both alike treat of the general subject of passive submission to the Babylonian yoke. Strange as it may seem to those not conversant with the ways of God with man on earth as outlined in the Scriptures, it was He Himself who had raised up Nebuchadrezzar and had given His people and the Gentile nations into his hand. This, and the failure on man’s part (especially that of the “head of gold,” as the Chaldean monarch was declared to be), will all be found fully detailed in the book of Daniel. It was for Israel and Judah to own God’s righteousness in thus causing the dominion to pass from David’s house, because of their sin, and to be given to the stranger. This, Zedekiah, as we have seen, did not do; and from the present position it would appear that he and the kings of the surrounding nations, Edom, Moab, Ammon, etc., had attempted an organized coalition against the king of Babylon. Jeremiah is therefore commissioned to warn Zedekiah and his allies of the futility of any such attempt.
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To Zedekiah also a personal warning and entreaty was given. He was urged not to rise in rebellion, but to bend his neck to the yoke, thus saving himself and the people. In his court also were false prophets, who predicted the success of his effort to throw off subjection to Babylon, but the Lord had not sent them. They were prophesying lies in His name (vers. 12–15). (Ironside, H. A. (1906). Notes on the prophecy and Lamentations of Jeremiah (p. 134). Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers.)
Ver. 15. For I have not sent them, saith the Lord, &c.] See ch. 23:21: yet they prophesy a lie in my name; to deliver out a lie was a very wicked thing, sinful in them, and fatal to others; but to make use of the name of the Lord, and cover it with that, and back it with his authority, was much more wicked and abominable: that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish; being driven out of their own land, perish in another; which, though the false prophets did not intend by their prophesying, yet such would be, and was, the issue of it: ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you; for it would end in the ruin and destruction of them both; both of the false prophets, as the Targum here again calls them, and those that listened to their prophecies; both would fall into the same ditch. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 5, p. 552). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you. This way you can waste your life and lose your soul.” (J.I. Packer)
“A God whom we could understand exhaustively, and whose revelation of Himself confronted us with no mysteries whatsoever, would be a God in man’s image, and therefore an imaginary God, not the God of the Bible at all.” (J.I. Packer)
There is a common misconception in the Christian world that if you are doing the Lord’s will, you will not suffer hardships for it. The example of the Jews rebuilding the temple certainly does not support that supposition. The Lord clearly intends for them to rebuild the temple, yet they suffer opposition the entire time. It is not necessarily a sign of God’s displeasure when work begun for Him fails. There may be other reasons for the failure, which are hidden in His sovereignty. That is why it is so important to be in fellowship with Him. If something we are doing fails, we have confidence that it is not because of our sin, but His sovereignty. (Quietwalk July 3 by Walk thru the Bible)