2.02. Chapter 2 - Boldness

Chapter 2 - Boldness

Boldness was not natural to Jeremiah. Quite the contrary. It was the power of God and of His Spirit alone, at work in the prophet, which induced him to deliver (over the course of so many years) the warnings he was given by the Lord for his people and their rulers.

1. Public Speaking

What a trial for this timid young man to convey publicly to his hearers the word that God had given him for them! Let’s mention a few instances. In Jeremiah 2:1-2 he must “Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord’.” In Jeremiah 7:1-2 the test becomes more severe since he must “Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the Lord!” Then in the early years of Jehoiakim’s reign, having ministered for nineteen years, he is called upon to “Stand in the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the Lord’s house, all the words that I command you to speak to them.” He must not diminish a word. (Jeremiah 26:1-2). This involved more than private conversations or talks addressed to a few. Everyone in Jerusalem and in the cities of Judah was to hear the divine warnings by means of a public and general proclamation. In the book of Proverbs, Wisdom lifts up her voice. “She takes her stand on the top of the high hill, beside the way where the paths meet. She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city, at the entrance of the doors” (Proverbs 8:1-3). Although it was prophesied of the Lord Jesus that “He shall not cry out, nor raise His voice, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street”, when occasion required it, He would stand and cry, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37). A lamp is not lit to be put under a bushel or under a bed, but upon a lamp stand. Its function is to shine so that “they who enter in may see the light.” Likewise the “city situated on the top of a mountain cannot be hid” (Matthew 5:14-15; Luke 8:16). Today believers are exhorted not only to exercise a “holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God,” but they also are a “kingly priesthood to show the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness to his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:5,1 Peter 2:9).

What a privilege to be able to proclaim the message of grace! What a contrast to Jeremiah’s message of judgment.

2. Messages to the People In chapter two, the prophet recalls the blessings of former times, “Thus says the Lord: I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothal, when you went after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. Israel was holiness to the Lord, the firstfruits of His increase.” This reminder of the time when Israel left Egypt resembles the period of early conversion. It is much like a young person who has been truly brought to the Lord and is full of joy because of it.

Later the Lord established the people in Canaan: “I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality” (Jeremiah 2:21). Earlier Isaiah had recalled the care of the Lord for His vineyard (Isaiah 5:1,2). Jesus Himself stressed the same care in His parable about the husbandmen (Mark 12:1). But Israel had already forsaken their God at the very time He was leading them in the way (Jeremiah 2:17). What a bitter experience it is to forsake God! Because the people were not aware of what they had done, the prophet, as it were, leads them to a hilltop and declares, “See your way in the valley; know what you have done. You are a swift dromedary breaking loose in her ways” (Jeremiah 2:23). Should we not also look back at every stage of our lives and consider the path already covered? What kind of footsteps have we left behind us? Have we unswervingly followed the Lord, or have we wandered about, seeking our own interest and not the Lord’s? In chapter 7 the prophet exposes the double life of the people. On one hand they spoke of “The temple of the Lord” as their possession. They did not fail to stand before the Lord in “This house which is called by My name.” They even thought that God had delivered them to continue in their abominations (Jeremiah 7:10). Indeed, they had every appearance of godliness, even to assembling together in the place of God’s choice, but what about their actual behavior? How much injustice, oppression and idolatry? Because their actions so contradicted their outward profession, judgment, would come upon them and upon their temple. Does this not resemble the conduct of some of us? Should not each of us consider it before God? Many have been reared within the Christian circle and continue to walk there. They attend assembly meetings and outwardly maintain a Christian life style. However, like the foolish virgins of Matthew 25:1-46 who had lamps without oil, they lead a double life which leaves considerable room for the world and its covetousness. What a risk they take - the risk of eventually finding that “The door was shut.” This explains why Jeremiah had to deliver a message of judgment. Although he exhorted the people to return to “the old paths”(Jeremiah 6:16) they determined not to do so. Although he reminded them that watchmen had been set over them to warn them, they refused to listen. So He spoke further, “Hear, O earth! Behold I will certainly bring calamity on this people, even the fruit of their thoughts... Behold a people comes from the north country, and a great nation will be raised from the farthest parts of the earth” (Jeremiah 6:19-25). The seething pot was about to boil over, bringing distress, anguish and terror from the north.

Failing to grasp the situation, the people asked, “Why has the Lord pronounced all this great disaster against us? Or what is our iniquity? Or what is the sin that we have committed?” (Jeremiah 16:10). How similar are the words of those who listen to the gospel but do not want to acknowledge that they are guilty and lost. Feeling that they have led a well-ordered and honest life, they forget that man’s worst sin is to reject Christ and His work: “Your fathers have forsaken me … and have walked after other gods ... and you ... (walk) according to the imagination of your own evil heart ... no one listens to Me” (Jeremiah 16:11-12). This judgment must be announced by Jeremiah time and again throughout his life. In chapter 25 (that is, in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, 607-606 BC) the first year deportation into exile takes place; Daniel is led off to Babylon, and some of the vessels of the temple are carried away. Jeremiah reminds the people that “From the thirteenth year of Josiah ... even to this day, this is the twenty-third year in which the word of the Lord has come to me; and I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, but you have not listened” (Jeremiah 25:3). God sends them other prophets, but the people also refuse to listen to them or leave their evil ways. Judgment is at the door, and yet they turn a deaf ear to Jeremiah’s warnings. The seventy-year captivity in Babylon begins in the year 606 as announced by the prophet (Jeremiah 25:11), after which a remnant will come back with Zerubbabel in order to rebuild the temple, as related in the first chapters of Ezra. The sacred vessels carried away to Babylon and desecrated by king Belshazzar will be partly brought back (in obedience to the edict of Cyrus) and put in the restored temple (Ezra 1:7-11). These vessels represented the worship rendered to God. The period of seventy years between their removal and return, as announced by the prophet, emphasizes their symbolic importance. To more effectively impress the people with the message of the Lord, Jeremiah is led to use various illustrations. One day he must buy a linen belt and wear it without washing it (Jeremiah 13:1-27). Then God ordered him to go and hide it in a rock crevice near the Euphrates River. Jeremiah undertakes this harrowing journey without arguing about it. After a long time he must return to the Euphrates and dig it up, only to find that the belt was “ruined ... profitable for nothing” (Jeremiah 13:7). For the inhabitants of Anathoth and for the entire people, the allegory is obvious: “For as the (belt) clings to the waist of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to me,” says the Lord (Jeremiah 13:11). But their pride, their refusal to listen to the words of the prophets, the obstinacy of their idolatrous heart, could only earn them exile on the shores of the Euphrates. On another occasion Jeremiah must visit the potter’s house (Jeremiah 18:1-23) and observe his work. “And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.” From this, Jeremiah draws a lesson: If the people turn away from their evil ways and doings, God may repent of His sentence against them. On the other hand, if finally they turn away from him, the announced blessing can be lost. This change of mind on the part of God (the Greek word “metanoia” means repentance or change of mind) does not imply any regret as to His initial decision. Rather it manifests His grace and righteousness in suspending the sentence when he discerns the least sign of repentance in the guilty one. On many occasions, this patience of God is mentioned in Scripture. For example, at the time of the flood, “the long-suffering of God waited” (1 Peter 3:20); and again: for such an ungodly man as Ahab king of Israel, the Lord exhibited His patience (1 Kings 21:27-29). Even in the case of “Jezebel” who introduced corruption into the church, God’s patience is displayed: “I gave her time that she should repent.” (Revelation 2:21).

Another time Jeremiah is invited to buy a potter’s earthen bottle. Then in the sight of the elders of the people and the elders of the priests, the prophet breaks the bottle. Thus God will “break this people and this city as one breaks a potter’s vessel which cannot be made whole again.” (Jeremiah 19:11).

Chapter 27 speaks of six yokes which Jeremiah is called upon to send to several kings; and he has to put one upon his own neck. This is a sign of the servitude to which all of them must be reduced by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.

However, the prophet’s practical illustrations have no more real effect on the people than his preaching did.

3. Messages to the Chief Men On various occasions, Jeremiah spoke to the leaders of the people.. In Jeremiah 21:1-7 he answers the two emissaries of King Zedekiah who were sent to him with the hope that God would deliver Judah from the king of Babylon through the prophet’s intervention. Jeremiah, however, does not allow himself to be impressed by the importance of the messengers. He can only confirm the judgment already announced. On the other occasion he speaks to King Jehoiakim himself (Jeremiah 22:1,Jeremiah 22:18). Without hesitation, he points out the king’s pride and hardness, his selfishness, his vain-glory, his lack of concern for the welfare of his people (Jeremiah 22:13-17).

It is too late to bemoan his predecessors. Good King Josiah was dead (Jeremiah 22:10). Johoahaz had been captured and would never see his native land again (Jeremiah 22:10-12). With regard to Jehoiakim himself, he will die violently with none to lament him. Further, “He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey, dragged and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem “ (Jeremiah 22:18-19). Despite this frightening prophecy, the king refuses to listen.

Jeremiah next rebukes the shepherds (Jeremiah 23:1) who destroyed and scattered the flock, instead of visiting them and caring for them. Ezekiel, the prophet of the captivity, had the same message for the shepherds of Israel (Ezekiel 34:1-31). They did not strengthen the weak sheep. They did not heal the sick. They did not bind up what was broken. They did not restore those who were driven away. Neither did they seek for that which was lost. They ruled over them with harshness and with rigor (Ezekiel 34:4), and the sheep were “scattered.” While allowing for differences in times and places, is it not true that similar practices have been repeated throughout the Church’s history, even at times within the assemblies? Harshness and rigor have caused scattering. Sick, wounded, and wandering sheep result when proper care is not provided and when only “the fat and the strong” are considered.

Jeremiah next reproached the prophets (Jeremiah 23:9,Jeremiah 23:16). Instead of conveying to their hearers the Word of the Lord, “They speak a vision of their own heart.” Instead of standing in the council of God and causing His people to hear His Word (Jeremiah 23:22), they go forth according to their own thoughts. How dangerous is that unfaithfulness which warps or even falsifies the message of God’s Word through bringing in one’s own opinions. “I did not send these prophets, yet they ran; I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied” (Jeremiah 23:21).

Jeremiah speaks also to the priests - those responsible in the sphere of religious activity. He especially warns them concerning “the vessels of the Lord’s house” (Jeremiah 27:16). Contrary to the words of the false prophets, these vessels would not yet be brought back from Babylon. Rather, the vessels still left in the temple would eventually be carried away. Such a sad prospect should have brought those responsible for the worship of God to repentance. But they did not care.

More than once the prophet did not shrink back from speaking directly to King Zedekiah. His message no longer resembled the one delivered during the time of the previous kings when repentance would have suspended the execution of judgment. More than one had been exiled; God now commanded the people to submit to discipline. They were not to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar, but to accept the yoke, to surrender, and to serve the king of Babylon. Instead of humbling themselves, Zedekiah and the rest of the people persisted in resisting the Lord’s command.

Immediately upon Zedekiah’s coronation, Jeremiah speaks to him (Jeremiah 27:12) and exhorts him to bring his neck “under the yoke of the king of Babylon” and to serve him. During the siege of Jerusalem he again warns him of the consequences of disobedience, “You shall not escape from his hand ... your eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon” (Jeremiah 34:1-7).

Maybe Zedekiah was somewhat impressed by the prophet’s insistence. “When Jeremiah entered the dungeon and the cells, and ... had remained there for many days, then Zedekiah the king sent and ... asked him secretly, “Is there any word from the Lord?” (Jeremiah 37:15-17). These had been frightful months for Jeremiah, and he could have understandably tempered his message somewhat to get deliverance. However, remaining faithful to the mission entrusted to him by God, he answers: “You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.” A short time later Zedekiah orders the prophet to be brought to him at the third entrance of the house of the Lord (Jeremiah 38:14). For the last time Jeremiah exhorts the king to “freely go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes”, and to accept God’s discipline. Jeremiah assures Zedekiah that he would not be given over into the hands of the Jews that had deserted to the Chaldeans: “Please, obey the voice of the Lord which I speak to you. So it shall be well with you” (Jeremiah 38:20). The king hesitates a while, but is unable to reach a decision. In the tenth month of the ninth year of the reign of Zedekiah, Nebuchadnezzar comes and besieges Jerusalem. Sixteen months later the city is broken up (Jeremiah 39:1-2). As the king of Judah and his men of war flee, they are pursued and overtaken by the army of the Chaldeans. Captured, Zedekiah is taken to Riblah, where Nebuchadnezzar pronounces judgment upon him. “The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes, and the king of Babylon slaughtered all the nobles of Judah; and he put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with chains of brass, to carry him to Babylon” (Jeremiah 39:6-7). Jerusalem is taken; the house of the king and the houses of the people are burned; the walls of the city are broken down; the temple is plundered and destroyed, and the people are taken captive to Babylon (2 Kings 25:9-11). Overwhelmed with these misfortunes, Jeremiah writes his “Lamentations”.

“How lonely sits the city that was full of people ... She weeps bitterly in the night, her tears are on her cheeks ... Judah has gone into captivity ... She dwells among the nations, and finds no rest” (Lamentations 1:1-13). God has given full vent to His anger against “the daughter of Zion” (Lamentations 2:1-2). The altar has been cast off. The sanctuary has been rejected. The walls of the palaces have been given into the hand of the enemy. They have shouted loudly in the house of God. The ramparts and the wall have been destroyed. The gates are broken down. The princes have been exiled among the nations. The law is in effect no more, and the prophets find no vision from the Lord. The elders sit upon the ground in silence and have put dust upon their heads. The virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground (Lamentations 2:7-10). The prophet mentions how frightful the siege of Jerusalem had been. Young children were asking for bread, but there was none to give. Those who feasted on delicacies shortly before, were perishing in the streets. Those who were brought up in fine clothing now embrace ash heaps. It was better to be slain with the sword than to die from hunger. Women in their despair were eating their own children (Lamentations 4:4-10).

Everything is destroyed; all is finished. Everything has sunk into despair. “The joy of our heart has ceased; our dance has turned into mourning. The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!” (Lamentations 5:15-16). When everything has crumbled, what is left? “You, O Lord, remain forever” (Lamentations 5:19). This is the verse that one of our sisters discovered inscribed on a wall among the ruins of a mission in China. Despite the rebellion that was driving the Christians out of the country, the Lord Himself remained. One of our brethren who was looking over the ruins of London after the war found the following words engraved on the lintel of a door that was still standing among the wreckage: “For we know that if our earthly house be destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” (2 Corinthians 5:1)

“You remain.” Is not Jeremiah’s supreme and unwavering hope placed before us as an example to firmly trust the One who remains and is coming soon - in spite of the evil that surrounds and the judgment that is imminent?

Thinking Things Through 1. What were some of the messages Jeremiah had for the people of Judah?

How might the prophet’s messages be applied to us?

How did the people react toward Jeremiah’s messages?

2. What special messages were aimed at the leaders of Judah?

What special difficulties did the prophet encounter due to his message to this group of people?

3. What were the circumstances surrounding the writing of the book of Lamentations?

What is the Christian hope in the midst of the “lamentable condition of the world”?