Jeremiah 28

Study Guide 61: Jeremiah 27-29; 34-52 EDGE OF JUDGMENT Overview Jeremiah’ s book contains many sermons and prophetic messages given during the last three decades of Judah’ s existence. These messages are recorded out of chronological order. The chapters studied in this unit are from the final decades before the Babylonians totally destroyed Jerusalem. In 605 b.c. Nebuchadnezzar’ s Babylonian army defeated the Assyrians at Carchemish. Judah, like other Palestinian states, was forced to send hostages to Babylon. In 601 b.c., Nebuchadnezzar attempted to invade Egypt, but was defeated. Jehoiakim of Judah now allied his nation with Egypt. But in 598 b.c. Nebuchadnezzar returned, determined to discipline the fickle Palestinian states. Jerusalem surrendered in 597 b.c., and another larger group of 10,000 captives was deported to Babylon, along with the wealth of the city. When a new Pharaoh began to rule in Egypt, Zedekiah, king for Judah’ s last 11 years, rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar again. Now the army of Babylon placed Jerusalem under siege. In 586 b.c. the city was finally destroyed and the beautiful temple of Solomon burned. The passages in Jeremiah we explore in this unit are messages and reports from the final years of Judah, under King Zedekiah. These last chapters of Jeremiah also tell of the flight of the last few Jews from Judah to Egypt. This flight was in direct disobedience to the Lord, who warned the people to remain in Judah. To the very end, the people of Judah remained unwilling to listen to God.

Commentary By 597 b.c. it was stunningly clear that all Jeremiah had prophesied for the past 30 years was true. The most distinguished families in Judah were taken to Babylon in the first of three deportations. Zedekiah, Judah’ s last king, was destined to rule only 11 more years. During these 11 years, Jeremiah continued to warn God’ s people. He advised submission to Babylon, since God had chosen this pagan power to discipline His people. But in spite of the evidence of fulfilled prophecy, the Jews and their leaders refused to listen. Zedekiah rebelled, and in 586 the city fell. Zedekiah’ s children were executed while he watched, and then he was blinded so that the last thing he saw was their deaths. Temple treasures were transported to Babylon; both city and temple were razed. All but the poorest of the land were taken into Captivity, and Gedaliah was appointed as governor over the remnant.

Jeremiah’ s Messages During Zedekiah’ s Reign: Jeremiah 21-29; Jeremiah 34:1-22; 37-39 Zedekiah had been warned. Jeremiah continued to faithfully announce God’ s message. But Zedekiah and the people of his time were as unready to listen as were the people of Jehoiakim’ s time. A brief survey of the prophet’ s messages shows how clearly God’ s Word had come to the men and women of the stubborn city of Jerusalem.

Messages In Zedekiah’ s Time Jeremiah 21:1-14Advice for the king Jeremiah 24:1-10Zedekiah abandoned Jeremiah 27:1-22Judah must submit Jeremiah 28:1-17God’ s iron yoke Jeremiah 29:1-32Letter to the exiles Jeremiah 34:1-22Judah’ s broken covenant Chapters 37-39Jerusalem’ s fall Jeremiah 49:1-39The nations warned Events of Gedaliah’ s Rule Chapters 40-42The flight to Egypt Chapters 43-44In Egypt Later Chapters 50-51The judgment of BabylonJer_21:1-14. As the Babylonian invasion force approached, Zedekiah asked Jeremiah to see if the Lord might “ perform wonders for us as in times past so he will withdraw from us” (Jeremiah 21:2). Jeremiah told the king that God would actually “ fight against you with an outstretched hand” (Jeremiah 21:5). Jeremiah warned the people of Jerusalem to desert the city, and surrender to the besieging Babylonians! His warning, “ Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague” (Jeremiah 21:9) was crystal clear. But to the people of his time it seemed “ unpatriotic.” Jeremiah 24:1-10. The message of surrender was not a new one. Earlier Jeremiah had had a vision of two baskets of figs. One basket had good figs, the other “ so bad they could not be eaten” (Jeremiah 24:2). Jeremiah interpreted the vision to the people of Judah. The good figs were the people taken into Captivity by the Babylonians; the bad figs, those who remained in Judah. Those who remained in Jerusalem would experience sword and famine and plague “ until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their fathers” (Jeremiah 24:10). Jeremiah 27-28. Early in the reign of Zedekiah, Jeremiah made a yoke of straps and crossbars, and put it on his neck. This symbolized submission to Babylon. Jeremiah was told to send word to all the surrounding kings as well as to announce his message to Zedekiah. God had determined all must serve Babylon. Any who refused would be destroyed. And Jeremiah clearly warned against any “ prophet” who might speak otherwise. Almost immediately a prophet named Hananiah contradicted Jeremiah. Speaking in the presence of the leaders and the people, Hananiah, claiming to speak in God’ s name, announced “ I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. 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. 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.” Jeremiah 28:2-4Jeremiah’ s response is instruction. He affirmed his own desire that what Hananiah had said would come true. For Jeremiah was a patriot: he took no pleasure in the doom of his fellow-countrymen. But Jeremiah reminded all there that according to Scripture, the prophet of God “ will be recognized as one truly sent by the Lord only if his prediction comes true” (Jeremiah 28:9; cf. Deuteronomy 18:14-22). Jeremiah left, but soon the Word of the Lord came to him, and he returned to confront Hananiah. Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies. 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.” Jeremiah 28:15-16The very next verse tells us that just two months later, Hananiah was dead! Yet even with this clear vindication of his role as God’ s messenger, Jeremiah’ s word continued to be ignored by God’ s unresponsive and sinful people. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT The confrontation between Jeremiah and Hananiah is dramatic. It is so dramatic that it offers a special opportunity to vitalize your group session. Before the group meets work with others to dramatize the events described in Jeremiah 28:1-17. Either script the scene beforehand, or ad-lib, but only after each participant has studied the events thoroughly. Stop the drama after the first confrontation in which the two contrasting messages are presented by Jeremiah and Hananiah. Ask the rest of the group which prophet they would believe, and why? Then play out the scene where Jeremiah announced Hananiah’ s coming death. Discuss: “ Even when Hananiah died within months, Judah did not believe Jeremiah or repent. Why do you think this was? How can this incident be applied to our own day and lives?” Jeremiah 34:1-22. In an attempt to win God’ s favor Zedekiah made a promise, and forced others in Jerusalem to promise to free their Hebrew slaves. Enslaving a fellow Jew violated Old Testament Law, which permitted binding a countryman to a maximum of seven years of service (Leviticus 25:39-55). Almost immediately the people of Judah went back on this commitment, and “ took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again” (Jeremiah 34:11). Jeremiah was commissioned to announce the “ freedom” that God had determined for this wicked people, who would not repent even though disaster was obviously near. The freedom they had was “‘ freedom’ to fall by the sword, plague and famine” (Jeremiah 34:17). Jeremiah 37-39. These chapters describe the end of the city, and Jeremiah’ s treatment by his frantic countrymen. His insistence that the Jews surrender led to the accusation that Jeremiah intended to desert to the Babylonians. Jeremiah was arrested and beaten, and put in a dungeon. Many of the officials insisted Jeremiah be put to death. The king made a weak effort to save him, but finally gave in. Jeremiah was lowered into an empty cistern, where he sank deep into the mud. Later another official moved the king to release Jeremiah. In a final interview with the prophet, Zedekiah was told his last hope. If he would surrender to the King of Babylon, the city would not be destroyed, and the king and his family would live. But Zedekiah still would not act. Pleading fear of the Jews who had gone over to the Babylonians, he decided to fight on. The king would survive, but his city and his family, as well as his officials, would die. Zedekiah swore Jeremiah to secrecy. But the words of Jeremiah soon came true. Though the king fled by night, he was quickly captured by the Babylonians. After seeing his sons killed, the king was blinded and taken in chains to Babylon. Jeremiah was released by the Babylonians, and on Nebuchadnezzar’ s orders was well treated. God’ s promise to rescue Jeremiah from danger had been kept. The prophet survived. But his city was destroyed.

Under Gedaliah: Jeremiah 40-44 After the city had been destroyed and most of the Jews transported to Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah as governor over the small remnant. He also left a small Babylonian occupation force in Judah. Jeremiah chose to remain behind, still committed to his mission of guiding his people with God’ s Word. But the Jews again rebelled! In yet another uprising Gedaliah was killed along with the Babylonian garrison. Terrified at the revenge this act must surely bring, the remaining Jews fled toward Egypt. Jeremiah was forced to go along. Though they asked Jeremiah to seek God’ s guidance for them, they again rejected God’ s Word. The portrait Jeremiah sketches of that incident is a fitting climax to the decades of Judah’ s denial of God. Looking back on it, we see the people “ from the least to the greatest” respectfully approach the 67-year-old prophet. “ Please hear our petition,” they said, “ and pray to the Lord your God for this entire remnant. For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few are left. Pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do” (Jeremiah 42:1-3). Jeremiah agreed to pray, and the people promised, “ May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us, if we do not act in accordance with everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us. Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for we will obey the Lord our God.” (Jeremiah 42:5-6). But the message Jeremiah returned was not what the remnant expected. They were told not to fear the king of Babylon: God would keep them from punishment and restore them to their lands. They were definitely not to flee to Egypt, for if they did, sword and famine would overtake them and they would die there with no survivors. As soon as Jeremiah finished telling the people these words of the Lord, the leaders “ and all the arrogant men” shouted at Jeremiah. “ You are lying! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘ You must not go to Egypt to settle there.’ But Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Babylonians, so they may kill us or carry us into exile to Babylon” (Jeremiah 43:2-3). Rejecting God’ s Word, and the lessons of their history, these people plunged on into Egypt, dragging the prophet with them. In Egypt, Jeremiah continued to minister, reminding the people of the sins of their fathers that had brought the judgment and warning against the punishment that must come to them in Egypt. Their response demonstrated the justice of God, who acts only when there is no hope of response or change in His people. Judah had gone too far in its commitment to sin. Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women who were present — a large assembly — and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt, said to Jeremiah, “ We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord! We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the queen of heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our fathers, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off, and suffered no harm. But ever since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine.” Jeremiah 44:15-18A saddened and angry Jeremiah then made a final statement. Did not the Lord remember and think about the incense burned in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem by you and your fathers, your kings and your officials and the people of the land? When the Lord could no longer endure your wicked actions and the detestable things you did, your land became an object of cursing and a desolate waste without inhabitants, as it is today. Jeremiah 44:21-22And now again calamity befell the remnant. Pharaoh Hophra, the Egyptian king who had welcomed Judah, was given over to his enemies. Sword and famine destroyed the Jewish colony that had committed themselves to perform their vows not to the God who loved them but to the pagan idols that had been their downfall! And Jeremiah? Tradition tells us that he found his way to Babylon and there completed his book, including his eyewitness account of the last days of Judah, recorded for the exiles — and for us.

Hope The messages recorded in the Book of Jeremiah during these decades show God’ s continuing concern for His people. He hates and will punish rebelliousness. But Jeremiah has offered these powerful reminders that God remains faithful to His ancient covenant promises. Seventy years (Jeremiah 25:1-38). Jeremiah had warned Judah for some 23 years, speaking again and again of the judgment that would surely come. Speaking again of the “ desolate wasteland” which the whole country would become, Jeremiah made an important announcement. The judgment to come did not signify a final rejection of the Jewish people. The devastation of Judah and the Exile itself would last only 70 years. “ When the 70 years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation” (Jeremiah 25:12). Hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:1-32). Jeremiah also wrote a letter to the exiles in Babylon, telling them to seek the peace and prosperity of their captors. “ Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jeremiah 29:27). Now the prophet added a specific commitment to the earlier announcement of 70 years. “‘ When 70 years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill My gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans that I have for you’ , declares the Lord, ‘ plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:10-11). A New Covenant (Jer. 30-33). Moses gave Israel the Law Covenant, which promised blessing to Israel if only the people would trust and obey the Lord. The history of Israel and Judah had demonstrated over and over again in the nearly 1,000 years between Moses and Jeremiah that the Jews could not obey God. Despite punishments and discipline, despite times of blessing in revivals, despite God’ s miraculous interventions showing His people His power and His goodness, the Jews had again and again turned their backs on God and His covenant. Now Jeremiah looked ahead and saw a New Covenant, not like the Mosaic in that one day God will write His law not in stone but in the hearts of His people. Then, moved by an inner transformation, the people will truly serve God. Their sins will be forgiven, and they will honor God with their lives. Taken together, the identification of a limit on the Exile, the promise of both judgment on Babylon and restoration to the land for the Jews, with the vision of a New Covenant, must have been encouraging to the godly Jew who was swept up with his fellow-citizens and torn from the Promised Land. We may fail God. God may punish us. But God does not desert that people who are called by His name, and whom He owns as His own.

Teaching Guide Prepare Read Jeremiah 29:1-32 and Jeremiah 43:1-13 carefully, listening to sense not only the agony of Jeremiah’ s day but also the implications of what he wrote for us today.

Explore

1. Begin with a dramatization of Jeremiah’ s confrontation with Hananiah, described in the “ link-to-life” above.
2. Choose brief, selected readings from other chapters in this section. The readings should sum up warnings given by Jeremiah to Judah during the time of Zedekiah. Introduce the readings briefly, but let Jeremiah’ s words speak for themselves.

Expand

1. Give a minilecture on the fall of Jerusalem. Summarize what happened to Zedekiah, and to the remnant who rebelled against Gedaliah. Emphasize their response to Jeremiah’ s final directions from God. Then ask your group to assume they are Jews in Babylon who hear this report. How will they feel? What might they think of their people? What conclusions might they draw about God’ s attitude toward them now?
2. Have teams look at the promise of the 70-year span determined by God for the Captivity (Jeremiah 25:1-38; Jeremiah 29:1-32). Discuss: “ What does this tell us about God?” Also share: “ What are times when Christians need to be reminded that God has ‘ a hope and a future’ in His plans for us as well?

Apply Conclude, thanking God that He is a Person who remains faithful to us even when we are not faithful to Him. We may experience discipline as Judah did. But God will never desert His own.