Jeremiah 21-52
Introduction
Jeremiah’s prophetic ministry overlapped those of Nahum, Zephanaiah, Habakkuk, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Huldah, around the time the southern kingdom of Judah went into exile after wavering between alliances with either Assyria or Egypt. Jeremiah was dubbed “The Weeping Prophet” for good reasons; his entire adult life was spent delivering harsh, negative truth to his people, and such a life and mission invites personal attack. It’s a very biographical book, in that it continually tells of the prophet’s own feelings and experiences, and the tragedy of being denied the companionship and acceptance he always wanted, along with the refusal of Judah to repent. By the world’s standards he was an abject failure, but by spiritual standards he was a hero. Please refer to these resources as well: this commentary, the NETS Bible, and this LXX Interlinear.
Jer. 21-29
Ch. 21 begins with a message from God after King Zedekiah asked Jeremiah to ask God for help when Jerusalem was under seige by Babylonian forces. But since God ordered Babylon to do this, he himself would be fighting against Jerusalem rather than helping it. But in verse 8 God offers mercy to anyone who surrenders to Babylon. Such people would be considered traitors by the people of Jerusalem, but not by God. Sometimes our choices aren’t any easier, but we need to be sure of God’s will as much as possible. Then in verse 11 God turns to the royal court and admonishes them to stop being corrupt, but they keep refusing.
In ch. 22 God gives one more warning, and in verse 10 he says not to weep for the dead king but the surviving king, who will never see his homeland again. More dire predictions follow, including the exile of Jeconiah in verse 24.
In ch. 23 the rest of the leadership is indicted and judged, and in verse 5 we see another Messianic prophecy for the future Millennium. Verse 9 turns to false prophets and corrupt priests and the grief they’ve caused to God. This goes on for quite a while, and in verse 35 God rebukes people who say his messages are burdensome.
In ch. 24 Jeremiah is given a vision to show that it’s the exiles who are the good people, and the ’patriots’ who are bad, because they wouldn’t heed the warnings. In ch. 25 Jeremiah is given another prophecy against Judah, because of their repeated rebellion, and the duration is given as 70 years. This is what Daniel would later read and lament about, as you can see in Dan. 9:1-2. Yet another vision comes in 25:15 about the nations being made to drink from the wine of Gods wrath, which is referenced in Rev. 14:10. Then we see a long description of what this means through the end of the chapter.
Ch. 26 begins another message, but they chose again to shoot the messenger. A court is hastily convened, and at least they allowed Jeremiah to make his defense. As a result, we seen in verse 16 that they relented from killing him. Ch. 27 revisits the issue of surrendering to Babylon via another object lesson, and it applies not only to individuals but also to nations. The people are also warned to ignore the false prophets who keep telling them everything will be all right. But in ch. 28 one such false prophet is named and confronted. Jeremiah tells him that the temple will indeed be restored, but not until after the 70-year exile is completed. And in 28:17 the false prophet died.
In ch. 29 Jeremiah sends out a letter to the exiles in Babylon, and he tells them to settle down because they’re going to be there a long time. They’re also to do what they can to ensure and promote the prosperity of the city they live in, because God has plans to bless them in the future. Wherever we live, we should pray for peace.This never means wishing an evil government well, but only for them to let us live, as the scriptures also say in 1 Tim. 2:1-4.
Verse 8 repeats the warning against false prophets and the required exile, and verse 11 is the popular scripture about God’s plans to prosper his people. But remember the context; this is a specific prophecy to a specific people at a specific time. Certainly we can all take comfort in such passages, but they aren’t meant to be guarantees of deliverance, since we don’t have direct prophecies for us as individuals.
The rest of ch. 29 are more words to the exiles, including using the horrible deaths of the false prophets as proof and a reminder that God means what he says. Then we’re given the text of an exchange of letters.
Jer. 30-52
In ch. 30 God tells Jeremiah to write this all down for the future. Then God addresses both Israel and Judah, and verse 7 is where we first see the phrase about “the time of Jacob’s Trouble”, which is to be followed by the Millennial Kingdom. See the link in the description for more detail as to how Jacob’s Trouble, the Great Tribulation, and the Day of the Lord all overlap. God has to punish his people for their sins, but in the end a remnant will repent and be blessed.
The blessing portion continues into ch. 31, and in verse 10 we see that this must be literal, not the least of which reason is that the people who were scattered will be gathered, and that has never been a description of the church. But suddenly, in verse 15 all the happy talk reverses in a familiar Messianic passage referenced in Mat. 2:17-18 when Herod killed all the baby boys in Judah. Certainly it was to be fulfilled in the near future to this context in Jeremiah, but prophecy often goes through many cycles over time. But in verse 16 God comforts “Rachel” after they repent, because they will not be exiled or lost forever. And as we read the rest of the passage, we can’t miss the fact that God has, and will, never replace the nation of Israel.
But what is the meaning of the end of verse 22? Commentaries offer various guesses, but it seems to me that the word there for “encompass” or “protect” should be understood as a figure of speech meaning “to court or woo”, since in this context it’s Israel finally reaching out to God, instead of God reaching out to Israel. This “turnabout” would be unprecedented.
Verse 23 continues describing the Millennial Kingdom, and verse 29 matches Ezekiel 18 regarding the fact that we don’t inherit guilt. But verse 31 is where we see mention of a new covenant— with Israel and Judah during the Millennium, not with the gentiles or the whole world, and in that time people won’t even suffer the consequences of other people’s sins. The commentary spends a lot of time arguing for the church being in this new covenant, but the text here is very specific.
Ch. 32 covers a time when Jeremiah was in custody for all the negative prophecies. Then he’s given assurance that God is still speaking to him, and then he’s told to buy a parcel of land, the reason being given in verse 15: to serve as a witness that in the future, people will again settle in the land. Then Jeremiah prays to God about all this, and in verse 26 God answers by reassuring him that everything will happen just as prophecied.
In ch. 33 the prophecies are repeated, and in verse 14 we see another Messianic prophecy about the Millennium. But notice the next message starting in verse 19: Only if day and night stopped revolving would God ever break the covenant he made with David and the Levites. Remember that this covenant was specifically for them and concerned the land and people, and that after the Millennium there will be no more night. So this is a specific and limited covenant, not an eternal one with everyone.
In ch. 34 it’s back to the impending exile to Babylon, but a new sin is being committed: The people had promised to release their slaves but enslaved them again later. So God sarcastically offers the slavers their own freedom: to choose the manner of their death.
In ch. 35 a contrast is made between unfaithful Judah and a tribe called the Rechabites, whose devotion to their ancestor Jonadab never waivered for 200 years. God promises to reward their faithfulness. In ch. 36 Jeremiah is told to write down everything he’d been given to prophesy, to be read to all the people in the temple. But after a private reading to the officials, they tell him and the reader to hide, and they themselves hide the scroll before telling the king what it said. But the king had them bring the scroll anyway and burned it as it was read.
In ch. 37 Jeremiah is falsely accused of desertion, then flogged and confined. After a long time the king asks him for a word from God, but then Jeremiah demands to know why he had been arrested, and the king sees to it that he is treated well as long as possible. In ch. 38 he’s falsely accused of treason and thrown into a cistern, where he sinks into the mud at the bottom. But an Ethiopian, not any of his own people, has him rescued. (Did we mention he’s called the Weeping Prophet?) But the king summons him again, and he repeats the dire prophecies.
In ch. 39 the siege finally begins. But Zedekiah tries to escape rather than surrender as Jeremiah told him, so he and his family come to a violent end. Jeremiah himself is treated kindly by the Babylonians, and then the kind Ethiopian is told he’ll escape and not be harmed.
In ch. 40 we see that Jeremiah was released and permitted to return to Judah, and a small province is set up for the poor survivors. Then in ch. 41 we see a murder plot, an ambush, and a rescue. In ch. 42 the survivors ask Jeremiah to pray for them, and God grants them safety if they listen to him and stay where they are. But in ch. 43 they do exactly what they said they wouldn’t: go to Egypt. In spite of all the times Jeremiah has been proven right, they still call him a liar. And the warnings God gave if they did are repeated.
The warnings continue into ch. 44, where in verse 17 we see another reference to the Queen of Heaven. Ch. 45 is a brief message to Jeremiah’s friend Baruch, and then ch. 46 begins a warning to Egypt concerning Babylon. But verse 27 turns back to distant hope for the remnant of Israel, and then it’s back to judgment in ch. 47, this time against the Philistines.
In ch. 48 it’s Moab’s turn, and it goes on for quite a while. Ch. 49 turns to Ammon, then Edom, then Damascus, Kedar, Hazor, and Elam. Then in ch. 50 it’s back to Babylon, and we see the same idea as expressed in Rev. 18:4, for the people of Judah to get out of Babylon so they don’t suffer its judgments. The judgment is specifically aimed at Babylon’s gods, which God calls “piles of excrement” many times in Ezekiel. Though this prophecy wouldn’t be completely fulfilled at that time, it will be in the future.
This long oracle continues into ch. 51, where we see phrases used in Rev. 16:19 and 18:6: that Babylon will be paid back for all her sins, and that she would drink from the cup of God’s wrath. The final chapter, 52, makes no mention of Jeremiah but simply records some final details about events during the reign of Zedekiah.