JEREMIAH LESSON 29


     We will begin this lesson in Jeremiah 27:1 "In the beginning of
the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word
unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,"

     This was, probably, in the first year or two of the reign of
Jehoiakim.

     Jeremiah 27:2 "Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and
yokes, and put them upon thy neck,"

     Many times, the LORD would have the prophet do something in the
physical that would show the condition of the people in the land. The
yoke that was put on Jeremiah's neck, was to signify the people being
under the yoke to Babylon. When Jeremiah had this yoke upon his neck,
it showed them exactly their own condition.

     Jeremiah 27:3 "And 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;"

     It appears from this, that Jeremiah made a yoke for each leader
to demonstrate their being in bonds to Babylon. All of the countries
listed here, were under bondage to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Zedekiah
was made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah's name had been
Mattaniah. He was very evil.

     Jeremiah 27:4 And command them to say unto their masters, Thus
saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto
your masters;

     The yokes had been carried from Jeremiah to the king by
messengers. They are not only to take them a yoke, but to carry a
message to them, as well. The message is spoken to the messengers by
Jeremiah, but actually it was the Word of the LORD of hosts.

     Jeremiah 27:5 "I 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."

     God is explaining, that since He is Creator of all the earth and
all that is in it, He can give any part of it to whomever He desires.
The creation must obey its Creator. God, not only created the earth,
but mankind, as well. He can do with His creation as He wishes.

     Jeremiah 27:6 "And 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."

     The lands wherein they dwelled had been given to Nebuchadnezzar,
by God. He has even been given the beasts of the field, as well. At
this point, Nebuchadnezzar is spoken of as the "servant of God",
because he is carrying out the wishes of God.

     Jeremiah 27:7 "And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and
his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many
nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him."

     The time mentioned in another lesson, was 70 years of service to
Babylon. We see, here, the captivity lengthened to the third
generation. At the end of this time, Babylon will be overthrown. It
eventually will be destroyed, never to be built again. Cyrus is the
attacker of Babylon, but many nations will serve themselves of him.

     Jeremiah 27:8 "And 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, saith the LORD, with the sword,
and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed
them by his hand."

     This captivity of God's people to Nebuchadnezzar is a punishment
from God. They have rebelled against God, and this is in judgment
against them. For them to refuse to go into captivity, would be to
refuse the chastisement of God. Their captivity is for them to realize
their need for God. They must repent of their worship of false gods,
and again recognize the One True God. Those who refuse their
captivity, will be destroyed.

     Jeremiah 27:9 "Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to
your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to
your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the
king of Babylon:"

     Their false prophets, diviners, dreamers, enchanters, and
sorcerers had been telling them that all was well. They had said,
peace, peace, peace, when there would be no peace. They were telling
the people not to go into captivity to Babylon.  A diviner is someone
who determines by casting lots, or by a magical scroll. An enchanter
is one who practices magic. A "sorcerer" is one who is a magician.
These would be similar to fortune tellers, magicians, and readers of
horoscopes today. All of these thing draw their power from the devil,
instead of God.

     Jeremiah 27:10 "For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you
far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should
perish."

     This is strange, but the only way to stay in their land and not
perish, is to go into captivity to Nebuchadnezzar.

     Jeremiah 27:11 "But 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, saith the LORD; and they shall till it, and
dwell therein."
     Jeremiah stayed in Jerusalem by permission himself. He is trying
to express to them, that it would be better to surrender to these
people and work for them, than to run to a foreign land for safety. In
their own land, they will be allowed to raise crops. They will have
enough to eat here.

     Jeremiah 27:12  "I spake 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."

     We remember that Zedekiah was the uncle of Nebuchadnezzar. He was
over Judah. This message was not just for Jerusalem, but for all who
had been invaded by Babylon. "Bring your necks under the yoke" just
means to voluntarily surrender to their control.

     Jeremiah 27:13 "Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the
sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD hath spoken
against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?"

     Jeremiah tries again to make them realize that the Babylonian
invasion is a judgement of God against them. They must surrender to
God's chastisement, or they will die.

     Jeremiah 27:14 "Therefore hearken not unto the words of the
prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of
Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you."

     This is just telling them that they are listening to false
prophets. Any prophet that goes against the will of God is a false
prophet.

     Jeremiah 27:15 "For I have not sent them, saith the LORD, yet
they prophesy a lie in my name; that I might drive you out, and that
ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you."

     It is a dangerous thing for people to take it upon themselves to
represent God to the people, when they are not chosen of God. In the
Scripture above, they are using the name of God to convince the people
they are speaking for God. Jeremiah says, do not believe a lie.

     Jeremiah 27:16 "Also I spake to the priests and to all this
people, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Hearken not to the words of your
prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the
LORD'S house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon: for they
prophesy a lie unto you."

     Jeremiah had warned the people and the priests of what God
intends to do. The Babylonian captivity will not be over in a few
days, but will last 70 years. These false prophets are giving them
false hope.

     Jeremiah 27:17 "Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon,
and live: wherefore should this city be laid waste?"

     To save the city, they must go into Babylonian captivity. All of
this is saying, "Realize you have sinned, and accept your punishment
for it". Then, God will not totally destroy this place.

     Jeremiah 27:18 "But 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."

     Jeremiah is saying, if these false prophets were truly prophets
of God, they should pray for the city, people, and the things of the
sanctuary, so they would not be taken away.

     Jeremiah 27:19  "For thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the
pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and
concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city,"

     The pillars, spoken of here, are two bronze pillars, called
Jachin and Boaz. I Kings 7:21 "And he set up the pillars in the porch
of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called the name
thereof Jachin: and he set up the left pillar, and called the name
thereof Boaz." "Bronze" symbolizes judgement, and "pillars" are spoken
of as a support. This, then, means that the support of the temple is
the judgement of God. If God did not, from time to time, judge the
temple, or the church, they would crumble and fall. The "sea" is
speaking of a large basin that held water for ceremonial washing. This
is symbolic of water baptism. The "bases" are twelve oxen that hold
the sea up. The name "Jachin" meant establishes. Many believe that
pillar said, "Yahweh will establish thy throne forever". Boaz's pillar
possibly said, "In Yahweh is the king's strength". All of these
articles were heavy and, probably, difficult to travel with, so they
had not been taken away.

     Jeremiah 27:20 "Which 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;"

     We have mentioned before that Jeconiah is the same as Jehoiachin.
He was held captive in Babylon 36 years. They took them, probably, so
they would not be able to influence the people against Babylon.

     Jeremiah 27:21 "Yea, thus saith 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;"  Jeremiah
27:22 "They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until
the day that I visit them, saith the LORD; then will I bring them up,
and restore them to this place."

     It appears, the things of the temple will be carried to Babylon
to be in safe keeping, until the captivity is over. The Babylonian
captivity was of God, for their sins. The restoration will be of God,
as well, after they repent.

                         Jeremiah 29 Questions


1.  Who was the father of Jehoiakim?
2.  What did the LORD tell Jeremiah to make?
3.  Why did Jeremiah put a yoke on his neck?
4.  Who did he send yokes to?
5.  How did Zedekiah become king?
6.  What had Zedekiah's name been changed from?
7.  How had Jeremiah sent the yokes to the various leaders?
8.  Quote Jeremiah chapter 27 verse 5.
9.  What privilege does God have, since He is Creator God?
10. Whose hands had God given these lands into?
11. Why was Nebuchadnezzar called "servant of God"?
12. What will happen to the nations, who will not surrender to
    Nebuchadnezzar?
13. Verse 9 says, hearken not to your __________, nor to your
    ________,
    nor to your ____________, nor to your _________, nor to your
    ____________.
14. What is a "diviner"?
15. What is an "enchanter"?
16. Who would they be similar to in our society today?
17. What does verse 10 say, their prophecies are?
18. Who will be able to stay in their own land and till it?
19. Who was Zedekiah?
20. What does "Bring your neck under the yoke", mean?
21. God had not sent them, yet they prophecy a lie in His _______.
22. What lie had they been telling?
23. What are the pillars mentioned in verse 19?
24. What were the names of the 2 pillars?
25. "Bronze" symbolizes ______________.
26. "Pillars" are spoken of as a __________.
27. What was the "sea", here?
28. What were the "bases"?
29. What two messages were believed to be on the 2 pillars?
30. Where will the things of the temple be in safe keeping, until the
    end of the captivity?