Call to Commitment

 

                                   Chapter 37

 

Zedekiah hopes for Jeremiah’s support

      1.      Now King Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah. 

      2.      But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land gave heed to the words of the LORD which He spoke by the prophet Jeremiah. 

      3.      And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, "Pray now to the LORD our God for us." 

 4.      Now Jeremiah was coming and going among the people, for they had not yet put him in prison. 

 5.      Then Pharaoh's army came up from Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they departed from Jerusalem. 

 6.      Then the word of the LORD came to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, 

 7.      "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Thus you shall say to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: "Behold, Pharaoh's army which has come up to help you will return to Egypt, to their own land. 

 8.      And the Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city, and take it and burn it with fire." ' 

 9.      Thus says the LORD: 'Do not deceive yourselves, saying, "The Chaldeans will surely depart from us," for they will not depart. 

 10.  For though you had defeated the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained only wounded men among them, they would rise up, every man in his tent, and burn the city with fire.' " 

 We have sometimes referred to the son of Jehoiakim as Jehoiachin, whereas Jeremiah usually gives his other name, Jeconiah, and shortens it to Coniah. He follows the word of the Lord, Who in chapter 22:24, dropped the prefix “Je” from his name, by way of reproach, for the Je signified Jah or Jehovah. The entire name meant the Lord will establish, but Jeremiah saw nothing of God´s establishment in the life or reign of Jeconiah. He and the Lord, both, called him Coniah.  

 In 2 Chronicles 36:9, it states that Jehoiachin or Jeconiah became king at eight years of age, while 2 Kings 24:8 said that he was 18. Some think that the writer of the Chronicles made a mistake, concerning his age. Others think that his father took him as a boy at eight years of age to join in the kingdom, in order to prepare him for his future reign. I would prefer to believe that opinion, as the reason for the discrepancy in these two accounts, rather than easily conclude that there is a mistake in the writing.  What we know for sure, is that he reigned by himself for only three months. By the time that he was 18, he had ample time to develop evil tendencies in his life. By that age, he had wives (2 K.24:15) and the chronicles of the kings show that he had offspring (1 Chr.3:16).

 I am trying to avoid, as much as possible, the chronology of this book, because it is extremely complicated. I am trying to concentrate on the content of the messages and prophecies. However, at times, it becomes necessary to refer to the different kings, during which reign Jeremiah prophesied. After the interjection of chapters 35 and 36 from the account of the earlier reign of Jehoiakim, chapter 37 continues from chapter 34 in the time of the reign of Zedekiah. Nebuchadnezzar took Jeconiah away to Babylon after three months and ten days, replaced him with his uncle, Mattaniah, and changed his name to Zedekiah (1). At 21 years of age, he is the third son of Josiah to reign in Judah and is of the royal line of David. He rebelled against the Babylonian emperor and, in so doing, broke his oath that he made before the true God (2 Ch.36:13), when he swore loyalty to Nebuchadnezzar. 

Chapter 36

A spoken record is not enough

        1.      Now it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying: 

 2.      "Take a scroll of a book and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah even to this day. 

 3.      It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the adversities which I purpose to bring upon them, that everyone may turn from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin." 

 4.      Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote on a scroll of a book, at the instruction of Jeremiah, all the words of the LORD which He had spoken to him. 

 I have no difficulty at all believing that Jeremiah was still an adolescent, when God called him into a prophetic ministry. The commentators, to which I often refer, see him as being very young, Adam Clarke calculating that he was only 14. The first proof of his age is in the Hebrew word that he used, when he protested his calling, saying “I am a youth” (1:6). The word is nahar, and is best translated a boy.

 Some commentators think that Jeremiah was exaggerating his youthfulness, but I find that that kind of assumption will breed error. You want to be careful of commentators, who infer that the writers of Scripture were exaggerators or even liars. It is a proof of the evil that is entwined with unbelief. Their conclusions mock Peter’s anointed statement: “Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2P.1:21). The book of Daniel clearly states that Daniel and his three companions were taken to Babylon very shortly before the time that Jeremiah 35 and 36 were written. Some liberal theologians teach that Daniel lived at a much later date. By then, most of his prophecies would be history and not future.

 As to Jeremiah’s youth, it is not surprising, when we consider that others were called by God at an early age. Samuel was a child, certainly not over twelve years of age, when God placed a very weighty message on him for Eli and his sons. David must have been an adolescent, as the youngest of eight sons, when he was anointed king. Joseph was 17 when he arrived in Egypt as a slave, and immediately began to manifest the hand of God upon him. Daniel and his three companions, already mentioned, were probably adolescents, when they were taken to Babylon. Isaiah, Hosea and Zechariah were also called at a young age. 

Chapter 35

 

An unbroken vow

      1.      The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, 

     2.      "Go to the house of the Rechabites, speak to them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink." 

 3.      Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, his brothers and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites, 

 4.      and I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door. 

 5.      Then I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, "Drink wine." 

 6.      But they said, "We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, 'You shall drink no wine, you nor your sons, forever. 

 7.      You shall not build a house, sow seed, plant a vineyard, nor have any of these; but all your days you shall dwell in tents, that you may live many days in the land where you are sojourners.' 

 8.      Thus we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, 

 9.      nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in; nor do we have vineyard, field, or seed. 

 10.  But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 

 11.  But it came to pass, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, 'Come, let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and for fear of the army of the Syrians.' So we dwell at Jerusalem." 

 Chapter 35 was written before the previous three, which were presented in the time of Zedekiah’s reign. This chapter takes us back to the prophecies during the reign of Jehoiakim. Notice the entire scope of Jeremias prophecies in chapter 1:2 and 3, from the time of Josiah through the reign of Jehoahaz, Josiah’s son. The Pharaoh of Egypt dethroned him after reigning only three months, and took him to Egypt, where he died. Pharaoh made Eliakim, another son of Josiah, king, and changed his name to Jehoiakim, who reigned for 11 years. Jeremiah’s ministry continued through the short reign, only three months, of Jehoiachin, Jehoiakim’s son, and on through the 11-year reign of Jehoiachin’s uncle and another son of Josiah, Mattaniah, better known as Zedekiah.

 It is King Jehoiakim, who is reigning at the time that this chapter is written (1). This book not only contains prophecy and history, but teaching from the Lord Himself, sometimes in forms of parables. This is a little different, God now uses an example of followers of a man called Rechab to give another lesson to the people of Jerusalem from Jeremiah.

 It is a significant time in Judah, because Chaldean raiders, as well as Syrians, are invading the land. At this time, the Lord instructs Jeremiah to visit the house of the Rechabites and bring them into a chamber of the temple (2).  Jeremiah speaks to their leader Jaazaniah, his brothers and sons, the chief people in the group, as well as the entire clan of Rachabites (3). He takes them to the temple, into the chamber of sons of Hanan, descendants of a man of God, named Igdaliah. Their chamber was next to the chamber, where the princes met, above the chamber of the high-ranking guard of one of the doors of the temple, Maaseiah (4).

 

 

God’s word to Zedekiah

      1.      The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army, all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem and all its cities, saying, 

 2.      "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: 'Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him, "Thus says the LORD: 'Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. 

 3.      And you shall not escape from his hand, but shall surely be taken and delivered into his hand; your eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, he shall speak with you face to face, and you shall go to Babylon.' " ' 

 4.      Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah! Thus says the LORD concerning you: 'You shall not die by the sword. 

 5.      You shall die in peace; as in the ceremonies of your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they shall burn incense for you and lament for you, saying, "Alas, lord!" For I have pronounced the word, says the LORD.' " 

 6.      Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, 

 7.      when the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and Azekah; for only these fortified cities remained of the cities of Judah.

 In the ninth year of the reign of Zedekiah, the last king over Judah, Nebuchadnezzar came to besiege Jerusalem. Zedekiah reigned eleven years and his kingship ended with the Babylonian conquest. In this chapter, the narration advances rapidly towards the fatal fourth month of the 11^th year of the king, when the enemy army will penetrate the city. In chapter 32, Jeremiah was imprisoned, because he dared to speak, not only of the judgment coming to Judah, but he also declared that the king would not escape out of the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. At the beginning of this chapter, we have an amplification of the judgment of Zedekiah, given in chapter 32. However, God speaks with compassion and shows that mercy will accompany the judgment.

 The mighty emperor came, along with the armies of defeated nations, to conquer Jerusalem (1). The Lord sent Jeremiah to speak directly to his king that He was about to turn the city over to Babylon and the result would be that they would totally set it on fire (2). As in chapter 32, this word again pronounced the capture of Zedekiah, that he would come face to face with the emperor, and then be carried into Babylon (3).  

Herman, late in life, still living Jeremiah 33:3*.

 

The Word of God is not bound

      1.      Moreover the word of the LORD came to     Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the prison, saying, 

      2.     "Thus says the LORD who made it, the LORD who formed it to establish it (the LORD is His name): 

 3.      'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.' 

 4.      "For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah, which have been Pulled down to fortify against the siege mounds and the sword: 

 5.      'They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but only to fill their places with the dead bodies of men whom I will slay in My anger and My fury, all for whose wickedness I have hidden My face from this city. 

 Satan and his forces have no greater nemesis than the word of God. It reminds them of the purposes of God from before the foundation of the world. It tells how man can be freed from demonic bondage through the victory at Calvary. It shows Christ conquering death, coming out of the tomb and manifesting Himself alive to over 500 believers. It declares the defeat and eternal condemnation of the fallen angels. This is nothing to comfort them from Genesis to Revelation, so they fight desperately in a vain attempt to silence the word. But Paul wrote Timothy from prison: “The word of God is not bound” (2 T.2:9).

 Paul still had his pen and wrote letters from his cell more precious for the church than “silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times” (Ps.12:6). The Romanian songwriter, Nicolae Moldoveanu, had his pen and paper taken away, when he entered a Communist prison, but he still had his mind. He composed several hundred hymns, while being tortured by the devil’s agents, and stored them in his memory until he was released. He went on to write over 6,000 more, during the rest of his life. Testimonies still come continuously from the battlefront of victory through Christ.