CHAPTER 27

(598 B.C.)

THE LESSON OF THE YOKES: SERVITUDE TO BABYLON

¹In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying (even though this Prophecy was given to Jeremiah at the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, still, it was not to be delivered until some years later, which was at this particular time, the reign of Zedekiah),

²Thus says the LORD to me; Make you bonds and yokes, and put them upon your neck (the word yokes, in the Hebrew, is plural. This shows that the article was literally constructed as a symbol and a vehicle of doctrine. The yokes expressed a condition of slavery, and the Prophecy symbolized by them was fulfilled),

³And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah (these yokes were made and sent to the various nations by messengers from these nations who came to visit Zedekiah in the ninth year of his reign, when he rebelled against the king of Babylon. These visitors were perhaps discussing a common defense with Judah against what they all felt would be an invasion from Babylon.

Using the yoke as a symbol of submission to the Will of God and subjection to the king of Babylon, they were told by Jeremiah what they must do. They were to come under the yoke of the Babylonian Empire. And had they obeyed, they would have saved themselves untold bloodshed);

⁴And command them to say unto their masters, Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall you say unto your masters (all of these countries mentioned in Verse 3 were idol worshippers; therefore, what must have been their thoughts when they were given this Message by the God of Israel?);

⁵I have made the Earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto Me. (The declaration of Verses 5 through 11 was such as Gentile princes could easily understand the Being and Almighty Power of God; His purpose in giving the supreme government to Nebuchadnezzar [Vs. 6]; the punishment of those who should rebel against Him [Vs. 8]; the tranquility of those who would submit [Vs. 11]; and the future doom of Babylon itself [Vs. 7].)

⁶And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him. (My servant, concerning Nebuchadnezzar, referred to him as an instrument, not to relationship. And the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him, indicates the unlimited character of Nebuchadnezzars power.)

⁷And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his sons son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him. (And then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him, refers to Babylon being overthrown by the great kings of Medo-Persia. History testifies to the accuracy of this prediction, for Nabonidus was co-regent with his son Belshazzar when the Babylonian Empire was overthrown.)

⁸And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the 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, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. (Tragically, these other nations, as Judah, would not listen and were consumed, irrespective of the great Promise given to them by God in Verse 11.)

CONCERNING LYING PROPHETS

⁹Therefore hearken not you to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon (Through Jeremiah, the leaders of these nations were being told that their prophets, so-called, would speak the very opposite of what Jeremiah was saying. They must not heed them, but tragically they did!):

¹⁰For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and you should perish. (These enchanters prophesied lies to the kings of these nations, as the false prophets prophesied lies to the kings and people of Judah.)

¹¹But 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 own land, says the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell therein. (If they submitted to the Word of God, they would continue to remain in their own land, but with their land under the control of the king of Babylon. If they did not yield to the king of Babylon, they would, for Gods Own Divine purposes, suffer destruction.)

COMMANDS TO ZEDEKIAH, KING OF JUDAH

¹²I 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. (The Message is unequivocally clear!)

¹³Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD has spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? (The question, Why will you die?, proclaims every word beating hotly with the Love of God. So Judah and all these surrounding nations had no excuse for their rebellion. The Word of the Lord came to them most clearly!)

¹⁴Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets who speak unto you, saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you. (The same words the Holy Spirit had said through Jeremiah to the heathen, He now says to Judah.)

¹⁵For I have not sent them, sa ys the LORD, yet they prophesy a lie in My Name; that I might drive you out, and that you might perish, you, and the prophets who prophesy unto you. (This is very similar to the statement given to the heathen kings in Verse 10; however, there was a difference. Whereas the sorcerers of Verse 9 prophesied from the realm of demon spirits, these false prophets in Judah and Jerusalem were prophesying a lie in Gods Name. They attempted to give authenticity to their lies by using the Name of the Lord. As such, they only deepened their great sin; in fact, they blasphemed by attempting to make God a part of their lying schemes. Consequently, they would perish, as well!)

COMMANDS TO ALL JUDAH

¹⁶Also I spoke to the Priests and to all this people, saying, Thus says the LORD; Hearken not to the words of your prophets who prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the LORDs house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you. (The vessels in question were those taken by Nebuchadnezzar in his first two excursions into Jerusalem. They were taken from the House of the Lord [II Ki. 24:13; II Chron. 36:7-10; Dan. 1:1-2].)

¹⁷Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city be laid waste? (The words, Hearken not unto them, concerning the false prophets, were not only valid for Jeremiahs day, but are also just as valid presently [Gal. 1:8-9].)

¹⁸But 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 the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon. (The false prophets were claiming that the vessels from the Temple which had been taken to Babylon in the first two excursions by Nebuchadnezzar would be brought back, while Jeremiah was saying that not only were the remaining vessels going to be taken to Babylon, but the Temple and the city would also be totally destroyed. Jeremiah says that if these individuals are true Prophets, let them pray that what he has said would not happen. If it does not happen, it will show that they are true and he is false.)

¹⁹For thus says the LORD of Hosts concerning the Pillars, and concerning the Sea (Brazen Laver), and concerning the Bases (that on which the smaller Brazen Lavers sat), and concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city,

²⁰Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem (the carrying away of a number of the vessels of the Temple as well as some of the people of Judah and Jerusalem should have been a warning to the people and to the nobles that they must repent; however, those things seemed to have no effect!);

²¹Yes, 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 (these vessels were very important, simply because they were a part of the worship of God regarding the Temple at Jerusalem. The Lord allowing such to be removed was, in effect, allowing a part of the means of their worship to be removed, with the prediction that if they didnt repent, all of it would be removed, including themselves);

²²They 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. (In fact, these vessels in Babylon were to be restored, but at a much later date, and by Cyrus; they would be brought to Jerusalem by Ezra [Ezra 1:7, 11]. By using the words, until the day that I visit them, the Lord is saying that these vessels will be brought back, but only when He says so, not when those false prophets say so! They were to be restored to this place, but only after the Lord had carried out that which He desired to do, which was the captivity of the people of Judah and Jerusalem, with them suffering the punishment they deserved.)