Rick and Linda Reed

This chapter is dated “early in the reign of Jehoiakim” (1) which makes it one of five chapters specifically tied to events from this time period (four chapters are from the “fourth year of Jehoiakim”—25:1; 36:1; 45:1; 46:2). Chapter 26 likely occurs before the fourth year as by the fourth year (perhaps as a direct result of what is recorded here), Jeremiah is banned from open proclamation in the Temple courts (36:5).

Jeremiah is commanded to fearlessly and completely (“do not omit a word”) proclaim a message of impending judgment on Jerusalem.  The Lord’s purpose in having Jeremiah repeat this message is redemptive: “Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from his evil way.  Then I will relent . . .” (3).  However, if they continue in their indifference and disobedience, the Lord promises to “make this house like Shiloh and this city an object of cursing among all the nations of the earth” (6; 7:12).

Shiloh, a city in Ephraim, ten miles north of Bethel, had been the place Joshua set up the Tabernacle during the conquest, 500 years before Jeremiah’s ministry (see Joshua 18).  During the time of Eli, the ark was taken from Shiloh (and captured by the Philistines) making the Tabernacle diminished in importance.  During Saul’s reign (1 Samuel 21), David visits the priests at Nob who give him consecrated bread from a sacred tent (not specifically called the Tabernacle). Shiloh was no longer the place of meeting.  In fact, Shiloh became a wilderness and remains that way until today.  The message Jeremiah proclaimed about Shiloh was a reminder that God had allowed a holy place to be completely decimated before; He would do it again unless they repent.

A glorious past does not insure a glorious future.  The churches receiving letters from the Risen Christ in Revelation 2-3 are warned about having their “lampstand” removed if they do not repent (Revelation 2:5).  Today, those cities in Turkey are also spiritual ruins, devoid of a vibrant church.  This sober warning is one churches (and schools!) need to hear today.  Past fruitfulness must be matched by present faithfulness to insure future usefulness.

Jeremiah’s dire pronouncement about the Temple, Jerusalem and Judea caused quite a stir.  The prophets and priests who heard him were incensed, as were “all the people” (8). He is surrounded (like Paul would later be—Acts 21:32) and almost lynched.  He is brought to trial before the officials at the New Gate.  The priests and prophets call for the death penalty for having “prophesied against this city” (11).

Jeremiah’s defense is that “the Lord sent me” with the goal of warning the people of impending judgment so they might repent and obey the Lord.  Jeremiah’s good news was that if people repent, God would “relent and not bring the disaster He has pronounced against you” (13).  Jeremiah submits to their judgment on him, but warns that killing him would bring “the guilt of innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and on those who live in it” (15).

Jeremiah voices the biblical idea of collective guilt: the actions of a few can implicate the many.  This truth was the basis for the punishment given to Achan’s entire family for his sinful actions (Joshua 7:24-26).  It is applied in a universal way in Adam’s sinful choice as well as the righteous life and suffering of the Second Adam (Romans 5:12-21).  Our lives have wider ripples than we often realize.

Jeremiah again shows great courage and faithfulness to his calling.  When called to bring God’s message to the people at the Temple, Jeremiah obeys.  He has been ignored and insulted repeatedly by a people who “have not listened” (5), but still he goes.  As seen from the response of the priests, prophets and people, Jeremiah was putting himself in mortal danger.  But, like Paul, he is “ready not only to be bound but also to die in Jerusalem” (Acts 21:11).

I’m intrigued by the Lord’s statement in verses 3-5: “Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from his evil way . . . . though you have not listened.”  God sees the heart and knows the judgment is coming (1:13-16).  Yet He speaks in a way that confers causality upon people; their choice will determine His course (if they repent, He will relent).  Somehow God’s sovereign plans work out in conjunction with human choice (compatibilism: see http://da.rryl.me/2009/don-carson-on-compatibilism/).  God’s desire that none should perish (2 Peter 3:9) move him to give second, third, even thirtieth chances to stubborn sinners.  But there is a limit and a line that, once crossed, brings judgment.

The priests, prophets and people of Judah respond to Jeremiah’s pronouncement not with personal reflection and genuine repentance but with indignation and attack.  They accuse Jeremiah of sedition and anti-patriotic speech; they seek the death penalty.  The officials from the palace convene to hear the case and decide for Jeremiah.  They see precedent for dire warnings in the prophecies of Micah (see Micah 3:12).  They reference Hezekiah’s positive response of Micah as an example of what should be done. Ahikam (father of Gedeliah—who was later appointed ruler by the Babylonians) “supported Jeremiah and so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death” (24).

Inserted into the deliberations about Jeremiah’s fate is the sad tale of the prophet Uriah son of Shemaiah (20-23).  He gave a similar message as Jeremiah but was hunted down and killed by Jehoiakim (with the help of Elnathan).  This story is included here to show that Jeremiah was in a dangerous place.  It also shows God’s faithfulness to His promise to protect Jeremiah (1:19).

When he was first called to prophetic ministry, Jeremiah was appointed “over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant” (1:10).  Over the first twenty-three years of his ministry. Jeremiah had already “prophesied . . . against the nations” (including Babylon—25:13).  Now he is commanded to bring a message of coming destruction against Judah, the surrounding nations and, ultimately, against Babylon.  In this message, God’s judgment is compared to a “cup of wine” that nations are forced to drink until they are dead drunk, reeling and falling to “rise no more” (27).

Chapter 25 is given the same time stamp as Jeremiah 36 and 45:  “in the fourth year of Jehoiakim . . . which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar” (25:1). This is the same year Jeremiah is told to record all the words God had given him over the past 23 years (36:2; 25:2) and the same year Jeremiah was instructed to confront Baruch (45:1-5).  The fact that this message was given in the year Nebuchadnezzar came to power is significant—he would be the king God would use to subjugate and “completely destroy” (put under the ban) Judah and the surrounding nations (25:9).

The fact that God empowers Babylon and expands their reach and rule is not an indicator that He approves of their beliefs or behaviours. The prophet Habakkuk was troubled at the thought that God would use the Babylonians to judge His people, since the Babylonians were more wicked than Judah (Habakkuk 1:12-13).  God’s answer to Habakkuk and His revelation to Jeremiah was that He sees the guilt of the Babylonians (Sheshach—26) and, in His time, will judge them with justice and righteousness (Habakkuk 2:2-20; Jeremiah 25:12, 26).

The Lord reveals through Jeremiah that the coming “tumult” among the nations is His righteous judgment on sinful nations (31). He promises to “completely destroy” a host of countries: the Hebrew verb translated “complete destroy” (חָרַם) speaks of devoting or consecrating something to God, often for destruction (Joshua 2:10; 7:11; 8:26).  Five times in the chapter the Lord speaks of calling down a “sword” on the nations (16, 27, 29, 31, 38). This is why verse 33 refers to “those slain by the Lord” and verse 38 links together the “sword of the oppressor” and the “Lord’s fierce anger.”  The Lord brings “charges against the nations” (31) and judgment upon them for their guilt.

The list of nations that will be forced to drink the “cup filled with the wine of my wrath” (15) begins with “Jerusalem and the towns of Judah” (18).  God holds His people to a righteous standard and judges them for their persistent idolatry (6-7) and disobedience (“evil ways and evil practices”—5).  Then comes Egypt (19), Uz (20), the Philistines (20), Edom, Moab, Ammon (21), Tyre, Sidon (22), Dedan, Tema, Buz (23), Arabia (24), Zimri, Elam, Media (25—east of Babylon), all the kings of the north (25) and finally Babylon (26—“Sheshach”, a cryptogram for Babylon).  The final chapters (46-51) give extended prophetic judgments on many nations mentioned in chapter 25, starting with Egypt and ending with Babylon.

The final, poetic verses of the chapter (34-38) call the leaders (“shepherds”) of the various nations to “weep, wail” and “roll in the dust”(35).  There is nothing they can do to avert the coming destruction.  When God says it’s time for judgment to come, come it will!

God’s coming judgment is described in global terms; it reaches to “all the kingdoms on the face of the earth” (26).  He “roars”, “thunders” and “shouts” against “all who live on the earth” (30).  The result of the sword He sends will be catastrophic:  “those slain by the Lord will be everywhere—from one end of the earth to the other” (33).  The near context for this judgment is the next “seventy years” (12).  However the language of this chapter, including the climactic judgment on Babylon, is picked up in Revelation to describe the final global judgment at the return of Christ to establish His kingdom (Revelation 18).

It’s clear that while the Lord is the “God of Israel” (15), He is no tribal deity but the “LORD Almighty” (8).  He raises up and brings down (Daniel 2:21).  He determines the duration a nation will be subjugated or be supreme (70 years—25:12).  No one can resist His will or refuse to drink the cup of judgment He gives them: “make all the nations to whom I send you drink it” (15).  He is the King of kings and sovereign ruler of all nations.

The Lord works His will through the events of history. On one level, history can be explained in purely human terms: political developments and military might. However, this viewpoint is only part of the story.  God moves kings, nations and armies to accomplish His plans.  He is the One who will “summon” Nebuchadnezzar (“my servant”) and his allies and “will bring them against this land . . . and against all the surrounding nations” (9).  He gives Babylon seventy years of supremacy as the world power (11).  He is also the One who, after seventy years, will “punish the king of Babylon and his nation . . . for their guilt”; He will make Babylon “desolate forever” (12).

In spite of His unsurpassed greatness and global power, God’s own people would not listen to His words or align with His will. Jeremiah preached to an unresponsive people:  “the word of the Lord has come to me and I have spoken to you again and again but you have not listened” (3). We learn in chapter 36 that the Lord had Jeremiah record “all the words I have spoken to you concern Israel, Judah and all the other nations from the time I began speaking to you” (36:2).  God was giving them one more chance to turn from their wickedness and be forgiven (36:3).  Sadly, the nation stubbornly refuse to respond; by their indifference (“you have not . . . paid any attention”—4) and insolence, they “brought harm” to themselves (7) from the hand of the One who promised not to “harm” them if they would obey (6).

In this chapter we see the themes of God’s sovereign, global Kingship, His justice and judgment on nations (and the people in them) and His offer of grace and goodness to those who listen and follow His words.  He works through the events of history to bring devastation to the disobedient.  He makes the world drink the “cup” of His wrath (15).  In the New Testament, we see Jesus drinking that “cup” of God’s wrath for us (Matthew 26:39, 42), taking the harm we deserved for our sins.  At the cross God’s justice and mercy meet to bring the offer of salvation to those from every nations who listen and believe the gospel.