Jeremiah (1-31) 27:12 Commentary and Bible Study

Time moves on between verse 11 and verse 12. We are going forward 11 years from the first year of Jehoiakim when this started. We are now in the reign of Zedekiah, the last king. He wasn't really of the royal household. He was a stooge king imposed by Babylon. There have already been two initial invasions of Babylon, they haven't yet taken the land into captivity. The big invasion is still to come. It is just a few years down the line, but Zedekiah is now king. He is going to be a wicked king. He is going to be the one who has such pressure from his princes and the priests that he is going to try to hold out against Babylon. The message is repeated to the children of Israel, and that is a loaded procedure. Israel's prophet goes first to the pagan nations with the message, ‘Surrender or die’, and he gives them the message before he gives it to Israel, and that is to humble Israel. It is a way of saying to them, you are so stubborn that God is going to the idolaters first, as there is more likelihood of them listening than of you. ‘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.’ Voluntarily submit, and you will live. Then comes the reasoning. This is typical Jeremiah. He is not a type of Christ, but the method of communication which God has given him resembles very much ministry of Christ. There were warnings right through Christ’s ministry. There were promises – his public ministry on the Sermon on the Mount virtually opens with promises – and there was reasoning, appealing, pleading. It is too late now to get your nation saved, Jeremiah tells them, but you can save your lives by going as slaves into Babylon. Actually, they were quite happy slaves in Babylon, because it wasn't as terrible as the bondage in Egypt centuries earlier. Give way to Nebuchadnezzar and you will live. ‘Why will ye die, thou and thy people?’ A challenge to them to think. Why will you go headlong into this invasion? What's in your heads? Do you want to face sword, famine, pestilence, as the Lord hath threatened against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? God knows they are going to die or go into slavery, but he says to Jeremiah, appeal to them, regardless of that. ‘Why will ye die?’ So we appeal to all. We want them to respond, but if they will not respond then our words will show that God earnestly invited them to come to him.‘They prophesy a lie unto you’, and think of the magnitude of the lie. The people had been warned they were going into captivity, even rationally it was highly likely: Babylon was so strong. At the Battle of Carchemish, Babylon crushed Egypt. Babylon was all conquering, invincible, and here was tiny Judah. How could they possibly hold out? They ought to have been terrified. How could their pride and complacency overcome that? But even worse, how could their false prophets prophesy things of such magnitude? They were out of their depth. God would allow Babylon to come and invade with terrifying power. But they said, ‘No, it will never happen.’ They assure the people. ‘That I might drive you out, and that ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you.’ This lie is going to do its job. It is going to be believed, and the result will be that Judah disobeys God and refuses to submit to Babylon, and consequently is driven out of the land. That is God’s purpose for the nation, but they will be completely responsible for their refusal to obey.