Jeremiah 27 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Jeremiah 27

The Yoke of Nebuchadnezzar

27:1 In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah¹ the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD. 2 Thus the LORD said to me: “Make yourself straps and yoke-bars, and put them on your neck. 3 Send word² to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the sons of Ammon, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon by the hand of the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4 Give them this charge for their masters: ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: This is what you shall say to your masters: 5 “It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me. 6 Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him. 7 All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson, until the time of his own land comes. Then many nations and great kings shall make him their slave.

8 “‘“But if any nation or kingdom will not serve this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, declares the LORD, until I have consumed it by his hand. 9 So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’ 10 For it is a lie that they are prophesying to you, with the result that you will be removed far from your land, and I will drive you out, and you will perish. 11 But any nation that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave on its own land, to work it and dwell there, declares the LORD.”’”

12 To Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke in like manner: “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people and live. 13 Why will you and your people die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, as the LORD has spoken concerning any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14 Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’ for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. 15 I have not sent them, declares the LORD, but they are prophesying falsely in my name, with the result that I will drive you out and you will perish, you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.”

16 Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the LORD: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, saying, ‘Behold, the vessels of the LORD’s house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon,’ for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. 17 Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city become a desolation? 18 If they are prophets, and if the word of the LORD is with them, then let them intercede with the LORD of hosts, that the vessels that are left in the house of the LORD, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon. 19 For thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars, the sea, the stands, and the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, 20 which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away, when he took into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem—21 thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of the LORD, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: 22 They shall be carried to Babylon and remain there until the day when I visit them, declares the LORD. Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.”

Footnotes

[1] 27:1 Or Jehoiakim
[2] 27:3 Hebrew Send them

Commentary

v1: See also 28.1, where Jeremiah clashed with Hananiah early in Zedekiah's reign.

v2-3: A message to surrounding nations, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon, see 25.21-22. Envoys had come from these nations to see Zedekiah, and these same envoys would have to return with the message from Jeremiah.

v4-6: All these nations were to become subject to Nebuchadnezzar. Even here we see a picture of Christ's dominion; for all shall bow the knee before Him.

God has every right to give the earth and its inhabitants to whomever He pleases. Since, ultimately, God is in control, we need not fear even the most powerful human authority.

v7: After a period of almost universal domination, Babylon would serve other nations. See 25.12,14.

v8: The alternative was destruction; paradoxically, Nebuchadnezzar became the means that many lives were saved, those who served him and his people.

v9-11: False religion in the various nations consistently proclaimed peace and security, but the message was a lie.

v12-15: The same message to Zedekiah and the people of Judah, see 21.8-10. Do not listen to the false prophets who proclaimed peace; to obey them is to perish.

v16-18: The vessels of the temple; a test for the false prophets. They had promised that those vessels already taken by Nebuchadnezzar would be returned. Jeremiah introduced a further test of their message; Would the vessels still in Jerusalem be taken to Babylon?

v19-22: The Lord stated His hand concerning the vessels left in Jerusalem. They too would be taken to Babylon; fulfilled 52.17-23, see 2 Chr 36.18. These vessels were in Babylon later, see Dan 5.2-3,23, at Belshazzar's feast.

The vessels would later be restored to Jerusalem, see Ezra 1.7; consistent with the prophecies concerning the people, "I will bring them back to this land," see 24.6.