©John Yerkes
Chapter 27:1-11 (ESV) - In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD. Thus the LORD said to me: “Make yourself straps and yoke-bars, and put them on your neck. Send word to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the sons of Ammon, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon by the hand of the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. Give them this charge for their masters: ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: This is what you shall say to your masters: “It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me. Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him. All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson, until the time of his own land comes. Then many nations and great kings shall make him their slave.
“‘“But if any nation or kingdom will not serve this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, declares the LORD, until I have consumed it by his hand. So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’ For it is a lie that they are prophesying to you, with the result that you will be removed far from your land, and I will drive you out, and you will perish. But any nation that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave on its own land, to work it and dwell there, declares the LORD.”’”
Question to consider: Why would the LORD think it was “right” to Him to give all nations to Nebuchadnezzar?
When we look at history, sometimes it is difficult to see it through the eyes of those who experienced it because we are doing so through the lens of hindsight. While hindsight may clarify the mistakes of history, it does little to help develop empathy for the people involved.
Think for a moment about Zedekiah, the begotten of Josiah (his grandfather). His father, Jehoiakim reigned eleven years and was killed by Nebuchadnezzar. His brother, Jehoiachin, reigned only three months before surrendering to Nebuchadnezzar along with a number of people from Judah, and he was never heard from again. Receiving a visit from Jeremiah with a yoke strapped to his shoulders saying the LORD has given the people of every tribe and nation to be enslaved to Nebuchadnezzar would have been incendiary news.
If you consider any of the regimes in history which have attempted global domination, I’m sure no country would have been happy to receive this word from Jeremiah that they should surrender to the dictator who led them. When you consider the manner in which it was presented, it is not a surprise that there were those who had a death wish for Jeremiah.
If I were Jeremiah, I would have not been thrilled to give this message in this way when all of the popular prophets gave the complete opposite message. I’m sure you can think of some people in the church or in modern society who have endured tremendous backlash, death threats, or assassination attempts from speaking an unpopular truth.
You may wonder why the LORD would make such a decree that the whole world would be made subject to an evil dictator like Nebuchadnezzar. After all, in the book of Daniel, he tried to cook men in a hot furnace just for refusing to worship a golden idol he created. Obviously, the LORD does what He wills for a number of reasons, and it’s not wise to definitively give an answer to the motives of God unless He has revealed them in scripture.
In a few chapters, the LORD will reveal to Jeremiah His ultimate plan for the world. In order to establish a future ultimate prophecy, the LORD typically gave signs for the people in that generation and the next generation as witnesses. The sign of Nebuchadnezzar’s rule was an immediate test of faith. Those who believed the word given to Jeremiah and submitted to Nebuchadnezzar lived and went on to have a life and family in Babylon. Those who did not were cut down with “the sword, with famine, and with pestilence” (which is an unfortunate truth for the Latter Day Saints who believed some escaped to the Americas during this time).
Those people of faith were then given an additional sign, “All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson, until the time of his own land comes.” So not only was the first sign amazing because it so contradicted the false prophets, but it was even more amazing to predict that such a powerful regime would lose its dominance within two generations. Once both things had come to pass, people could have enduring faith that the far-off plans would come about as the LORD promised to Jeremiah.
A second motive to consider is that Nebuchadnezzar was used by the LORD to typify sin and the world’s enslavement to it and condemnation for it. “Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ They answered him, ‘We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, “You will become free?”’
“Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.’” (John 8:31-36). Beyond the fact that Israel was originally enslaved to Egypt, the Pharisees should have made this connection with the entire world being enslaved to Babylon and recognized Jesus as the LORD made flesh.
Dear heavenly Father, thank You for appointing and overturning kings. Please help us to trust in You during difficult times and be willing to give voice to the truth even when it is unpopular to do so. Amen.