Scriptures as Psalms 115:3; 135:6; Isaiah 46:9–11; Daniel 36:13; see Ezek. 17:11–18); now Judah was suffering
Jeremiah 21
Nebuchadnezzar by refusing to pay tribute (2 Chron. 36:13; see Ezek. 17:11–18); now Judah was suffering the dreadful consequences of his foolish decision. In desperation, he looked to Jeremiah for help by sending Zephaniah the priest and Pashur, one of the court officers, to see whether the prophet could get guidance from the Lord.1 The king hoped that Jehovah would send a miraculous deliverance to Jerusalem as He had done in the days of godly King Hezekiah (2 Kings 18—19). Jeremiah, however, responded with dire pronouncements to the king (Jer. 21:3–7), the people (vv. 8–10), and the house of David (vv. 11–14). A pronouncement to King Zedekiah (vv. 3–7). Not only would God refuse to deliver the city from the enemy, but also He would fight with the enemy and bring about Jerusalem's defeat! Judah's military might would be ineffective against the Chaldean army. Whereas in the past, God's mighty "outstretched arm" and "strong hand" had worked for His people (Deut. 4:34; 5:15; 26:8), now He would work against them, because the nation had turned against God. "To the faithful you show yourself faithful … but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd" (Ps. 18:25–26 niv).
4. That God is sovereign over all the nations is proved by such Scriptures as Psalms 115:3; 135:6; Isaiah 46:9–11; Daniel 2:21; 4:17, 34–35; 7:14; Matthew 28:18; Acts 17:22–31; and Ephesians 1:22 to cite but a few. 5. The verb means "to empty" and is similar to the Hebrew word for jar. Perhaps Jeremiah had put water in the clay flask and then poured it out as he spoke these words. God would empty all the nation's plans and then break the nation that conceived them! 6. Three men named Pashur are found in this book: the son of Immer (Jer. 20:1), the son of Malchijah (21:1), and the father of Gedaliah (38:1). All three were enemies of Jeremiah and sought to silence his ministry. Whether the Pashur of 20:1 is the father of Gedaliah, we have no way of knowing for sure. 7. A century and a half before, Isaiah had predicted the captivity and named Babylon as the aggressor (Isa. 6:11–13; 11:11–12; 39:6). Therefore, any Jew who knew the Word of God would have recognized Jeremiah's witness as true. Jeremiah added the important facts about the seventy years' duration of the captivity (Jer. 25).
CHAPTER SEVEN Jeremiah 21—24 KINGS ON PARADE
It seems strange that the Lord would use words like "anger," "fury," and "great wrath" (Jer. 21:5) to describe His disposition toward His own people. Yet these words were a part of His covenant with the people, and the nation knew the terms of the covenant (see Deut. 29:23, 28; 32:16–17, 21, 29; Lev. 26:27–28). God had warned the Jews repeatedly that their disobedience would arouse His anger and force Him to bring judgment to the land, but the leaders wouldn't listen. They preferred dead idols to the living God, and power politics to simple faith in His word.
The tumult and the shouting dies The captains and the kings depart— Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice An humble and a contrite heart. Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, Lest we forget—lest we forget!
—Rudyard Kipling, "Recessional" K
Jeremiah announced that the people in Jerusalem would die of famine, pestilence, or the sword; many of the survivors would even be taken captive to Babylon. King Zedekiah and his officers would be handed over to Nebuchadnezzar and judged. That's exactly what happened. The siege began January 15, 588, and ended July 18, 586, a period of just over thirty months.2 After Zedekiah, his sons, and his nobles were captured, his sons were slain before the eyes of the king, who was then blinded and taken to Babylon, where he died (Jer. 39:1–10; 52:8–11, 24–27; 2 Kings 25). A pronouncement to the people (vv. 8–10). There was no hope for the king, but the Lord did offer hope to the people if they would surrender to Nebuchadnezzar (see Jer. 38:17–23). God set before them two ways—the way of life and the way of death—a choice that must have reminded them of the words of the covenant (Deut. 11:26–32; 30:15–20; see Jer. 27:12–13; 38:2–3, 17–18). With God, we must decide one way or the other (Ps. 1); it's not possible to be neutral (Matt. 7:13–29; 12:22–30).
ipling's "Recessional" was published in 1897 when Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee was celebrated in Great Britain. The poem was a quiet warning to the British people to beware of overconfidence in their hour of imperial glory. Perhaps Kipling had the words of Daniel in mind: "The Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses" (Dan. 4:25 nkjv), or he may have been thinking of Proverbs 16:18: "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (nkjv).
Jeremiah wrote a more pointed "Recessional" for the kingdom of Judah as he described one king after another leaving the scene and marching off to shameful judgment. In the great days of David, Hezekiah, and Josiah, the nation had honored the Lord, but now Judah was rapidly moving toward defeat and disgrace. In these pivotal chapters, Jeremiah delivered four important messages to the leaders and to the people.
God opposes the leaders of Judah (21:1–14) These events probably took place in the year 588, when the invincible Babylonian army was camped around the walls of Jerusalem. Hoping to secure help from Egypt, weak King Zedekiah had rebelled against
Of course, to surrender to the enemy was an act of treason, and Jeremiah eventually got into trouble for advocating this plan (Jer. 37:11–21; 38:1–6). The