©Michael Player
Chapter 21:8-10 (ESV) - “And to this people you shall say: ‘Thus says the LORD: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live and shall have his life as a prize of war. For I have set my face against this city for harm and not for good, declares the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.’
Question to consider: How could the people know that the word given to Jeremiah was true?
In the book of Ezekiel, the LORD expressed a parable of two majestic eagles to illustrate the words He gave directly to king Zedekiah in today’s passage (Ezekiel 17:1-17). The first eagle referred to Zedekiah’s brother, Jehoiachin, who (though wicked) surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar, and the people of Judah who were taken captive were able to survive in Babylon. The second was Zedekiah who would break the treaty with Nebuchadnezzar and align with Pharaoh Hophra of Egypt, making the LORD’s name be associated with his lie and bringing about the word of judgment given to Zedekiah through Jeremiah in yesterday’s passage.
The word given to Jeremiah today extended the same grace of survival in captivity for the people of Jerusalem as was given to Judah. If they refused to listen to the LORD in this and continued to stay in the city, they would die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. The one thing of which they could be sure was that the LORD had set His face against Jerusalem, and it would be given into the hand of the king of Babylon who would burn it to the ground.
Essentially, the people had to decide whether they trusted in the words of the false prophets who preached that God would never allow the city to fall, or the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah that it was doomed. It sounds like an easy decision when put this way, but the words of peace came from the religious leaders in Jerusalem who were well-respected and oversaw the times of prosperity that led up to this siege. We know that Jeremiah spoke the word of the LORD from hindsight, but at the time, Jeremiah was the one who shouted for years about judgment and called the established priests and prophets, “Fake news!”
If the people knew the book of Deuteronomy, they may have remembered that Moses spoke about what they should do in this very situation, “And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you, and return to the LORD your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you.” (Deuteronomy 30:1-3)
While it may seem unrealistic for me to say they should have remembered this obscure passage, the opening of the LORD’s word to Jeremiah specifically pointed them to those words from Moses. “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil.” (Deuteronomy 30:15) It’s worth noting that those today who profess to give you the word of the LORD and yet do not rightly handle the scriptures should be equated with the false prophets of Jeremiah’s day.
The people should have not only seen this as an opportunity to repent and turn back to the LORD as they surrendered to Babylon, but it should have been a tremendous assurance that the LORD spoke these words through Moses before they ever even inhabited the land. Nothing surprises God or is beyond His will.
Dear heavenly Father, thank You for showing grace and mercy to those who continue to rebel against You. While we are all scattered throughout the world and living at a time where truth and lies are getting harder to discern, help us to fix our eyes on Christ and the word You have revealed to us thousands of years ago. For in Him alone we have life and salvation. Amen.