The Yoke of Babylon
Jeremiah 27–29
Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • May 19, In the year of our Lord Christ, 2019
- Chaps 21–33 | Prophecies of Judgment & the Messiah
- Chaps 21–29 | Judgment: Judah & Nations
- Chap 27–29 | The Yoke of Babylon
- Chap 27 | Babylon’s Yoke
- 27.1–11 | Yoke on the Nations
1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 “Thus says the LORD to me: Make for yourselves bonds and yokes, and put them on your neck, 3 and send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4 And command them to say to their masters, Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel—thus you shall say to your masters: 5 I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the ground, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and have given it to whom it seemed proper to Me. 6 And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and the beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him. 7 So all nations shall serve him and his son and his son’s son, until the time of his land comes; and then many nations and great kings shall make him serve them. 8 And it shall be, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish,” says the LORD, “with the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. 9 Therefore do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon. 10 For they prophesy a lie to you, to remove you far from your land; and I will drive you out, and you will perish. 11 But the nations that bring their necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let them remain in their own land,” says the LORD, “and they shall till it and dwell in it.”
- What was Jeremiah to put on his neck?
- He was to put bonds and yokes on his neck.
- These bonds and yokes would also be sent where?
- Notice again, that the Lord always had a concern for the nations of the earth.
- The Hebrew Bible was never about the nation of Israel only, but the messages in the Old Testament are for the whole world.
- What did the Lord say that gave Him the right to put things under Nebuchadnezzar’s control?
- The Lord had made everything.
- Therefore, He could make Nebuchadnezzar king if He so desired.
- After the nations had served Nebuchadnezzar, what would happen?
- What would God do to the nations that would not serve Babylon?
- Who was trying to lead Israel or Judah astray?
- What was Jeremiah to put on his neck?
- 27.12–15 | Message to Zedekiah
12 I also spoke 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! 13 Why 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? 14 Therefore do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon, for they prophesy a lie to you; 15 for I have not sent them,” says the LORD, “yet they prophesy a lie in My name, that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.”
- What would happen if Zedekiah and Judah served Babylon?
- What was the message of the false prophets?
- 27.16–22 | Message to Priests and People
16 Also 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 prophesy to you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the LORD’S house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon; for they prophesy a lie to you. 17 Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city be laid waste? 18 But if they are prophets, and if the word of the LORD is with them, let them now make intercession to the LORD of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD, in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, do not go to Babylon. 19 For thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars, concerning the Sea, concerning the carts, and concerning the remainder of the vessels that remain in this city, 20 which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take, 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— 21 yes, 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: 22 They shall be carried to Babylon, and there they shall be until the day that I visit them,” says the LORD. “Then I will bring them up and restore them to this place.”
- What lie were the false prophets speaking?
- What would true prophets do?
- What would happen to the vessels of the temple?
- 27.1–11 | Yoke on the Nations
- Chap 28 | Against a False Prophet
- 28.1–4 | Hananiah’s False Prophecy
1 And it happened in the same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, who was from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the LORD in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying, 2 “Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two full years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the LORD’S house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. 4 And I will bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah who went to Babylon, says the LORD, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.”
- What do you think of this prophet’s bold declaration?
- Putting a two-year limit on it, was very risky, since he knew that the Lord had not revealed anything to him.
- 28.5–9 | Test of a Prophet
5 Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and in the presence of all the people who stood in the house of the LORD, 6 and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! The LORD do so; the LORD perform your words which you have prophesied, to bring back the vessels of the LORD’S house and all who were carried away captive, from Babylon to this place. 7 Nevertheless hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people: 8 The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against many countries and great kingdoms—of war and disaster and pestilence. 9 As for the prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, the prophet will be known as one whom the LORD has truly sent.”
- Did Jeremiah want Hananiah’s prophecy to be true?
- Why did Jeremiah give the warning of the test for a prophet?
- He had already prophesied of a 70-year captivity (25.11).
- Thereby they would know whether Hananiah was true.
- 28.10–11 | Reaffirming a Fake Prophecy
10 Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck and broke it. 11 And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the LORD: Even so I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years.” And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.
- Hananiah had a chance to modify what he said or to say that he was just dreaming his prophecy up.
- However, he sought to reassure everyone that it would happen just as he had said.
- Sometimes people believe things will happen just because they have said it or because they believe it.
- They believe that they are something.
- 28.12–17 | God Rebukes Hananiah
12 Now the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying, 13 “Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus says the LORD: You have broken the yokes of wood, but you have made in their place yokes of iron. 14 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him. I have given him the beasts of the field also.” 15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Hear now, Hananiah, the LORD has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie. 16 Therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I will cast you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have taught rebellion against the LORD.” 17 So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.
- Did they have to wait two years?
- Why is it that Hananiah with his false prophecy made the yoke of wood a yoke of iron?
- He was causing the people to trust in a lie.
- He made the situation worse.
- What sign did Jeremiah give that would show he spoke the truth and Hananiah spoke lies?
- 28.1–4 | Hananiah’s False Prophecy
- Chap 29.1–23 | Letter to the Captives
- 29.1–3 | For Those in Captivity
1 Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the elders who were carried away captive—to the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 (This happened after Jeconiah the king, the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.) 3 The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying,
- For whom was the letter intended?
- Who carried it to the captives?
- 29.4–7 | Get Settled In
4 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. 6 Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished. 7 And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace.”
- Therefore, the captivity would not last two years, but 70 years.
- What were they to do?
- Why were they to do it?
- 29.8–9 | Ignore False Prophets
8 “For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. 9 For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the LORD.”
- Why do people keep listening to false prophets?
- Why do people keep listening to predictions of Christ’s return?
- 29.10–14 | When They Will Return
10 “For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.”
- How many years had to be completed?
- Why 70 years?
- See 2Ch 36.20–21.
- Why would He bring them back?
- Would they be able to find the Lord?
- What condition had to be met before they would find the Lord?
- Is the Lord impressed if we give Him most of our hearts?
- How many years had to be completed?
- 29.15–19 | Judgment on Non-Captives
15 “Because you have said, The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon— 16 therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, concerning all the people who dwell in this city, and concerning your brethren who have not gone out with you into captivity— 17 thus says the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten, they are so bad. 18 And I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence; and I will deliver them to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth—to be a curse, an astonishment, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, 19 because they have not heeded My words, says the LORD, which I sent to them by My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; neither would you heed, says the LORD.”
- Some of the captives in Babylon were arguing that some prophets were saying that since a king still sat on the throne of David, and since there were still people in Jerusalem, that there was hope that Babylon would not conquer Judah.
- However, what did the Lord promise He would do?
- 29.20–23 | Evil Prophets
20 “Therefore hear the word of the LORD, all you of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon. 21 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in My name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall slay them before your eyes. 22 And because of them a curse shall be taken up by all the captivity of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, The LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire; 23 because they have done disgraceful things in Israel, have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and have spoken lying words in My name, which I have not commanded them. Indeed I know, and am a witness, says the LORD.”
- What would happen to the false prophets?
- How would they die?
- What disgraceful things had the false prophets done?
- 29.1–3 | For Those in Captivity
- 29.24–28 | Shemaiah’s False Preaching
24 You shall also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying, 25 “Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: You have sent letters in your name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, 26 The LORD has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, so that there should be officers in the house of the LORD over every man who is demented and considers himself a prophet, that you should put him in prison and in the stocks. 27 Now therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who makes himself a prophet to you? 28 For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, ‘This captivity is long; build houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat their fruit.’”
- What had Shemaiah done?
- Who did they think had sent them to Babylon?
- 29.29–32 | Shemaiah’s Punishment
29 Now Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet. 30 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying: 31 “Send to all those in captivity, saying, Thus says the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I have not sent him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie— 32 therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his family: he shall not have anyone to dwell among this people, nor shall he see the good that I will do for My people, says the LORD, because he has taught rebellion against the LORD.”
- What would Shemaiah not see?
- Chap 27 | Babylon’s Yoke
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