Jeremiah 37:1-21.  In chapters 30-33 Jeremiah took a break from his main themes of punishment and the disaster that was coming to give some hope.  Of course to put hope in perspective you need to remember that you are in trouble or have need, so there was some talk of that in those chapters too.  Before those chapters Jeremiah had been warning and warning.  In chapters 27-29 we have messages that Jeremiah gave during the reign of the last king of Judah, Zedekiah.  In chapters 34 and 36 we see the author return to messages and events during the siege of Jerusalem.  Those two chapters are basically an explanation or defense of why Jerusalem was in trouble.  Chapter 35  helps us understand by contrasting the unfaithfulness of the Jews to God with the faithfulness of the Rechabites (a non-Jewish or Gentile tribe of people) to one of their human ancestors.  Chapters 37-44 form a section of Jeremiah concerning the actual fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians and events in the lives of the Jews who ran away to Egypt.

In verse 1 we see that Zedekiah is king.  He was the third son of Josiah and was put into power by Nebuchadnezzar.  Nebuchadnezzar removed Zedekiah’s nephew from the throne in 597 BC.  In this verse he calls the nephew, Coniah.  That is a shortened form of Jeconiah.  Both of these words are a compound of the Hebrew word for “establish” and the personal name of God, “Yahweh”.  When we see words that are reflections of the original Hebrew words (especially names) that start with “Je” that part of the name is the first part of “Yahweh”; the “Ya”.  The “iah” ending is also taken from “Yahweh” the “eh” part.  These word form compounds like Coniah, Jeconiah, or even Jehoiachin.  All three would translate as “Yahweh” (sometimes translated as Jehovah) will establish” (for more on this see “What’s in a Name”).  IN verse 2 we see what we already know, no one was listening to Jeremiah (which, by the way, would translate “the one whom Yahweh lifted up”).

In verse 3 we see something kind of shocking; the king sends two guys to ask Jeremiah to pray to “Yahweh our God”.  This is during the time of the siege (as we will see) and the king must have been nervous about the outcome.  Of course if he had been listening he would have known what was coming.  If he ad been listening and been a good leader they might have avoided the invasion altogether. In verses 4-5 we are told this is “before Jeremiah was imprisoned”.  We have already seen that he was held in the courtyard of the palace as prisoner.  He had actually been a prisoner before that, as we will see in a few verses.  We are also told that the Egyptian army was coming to help Jerusalem and that the Chaldean (Babylonian) Army was pulling away from Jerusalem to go deal with them.  So this part of the story is in the earl days when the siege was lifted.  No body was listening to Jeremiah who consistently told them not to resist the Babylonians.  Zedekiah’s request seems sincere but what he was really looking for was Jeremiah to talk God into taking all the trouble away; something that God had repeatedly told them was not going to happen.  There had been a time when God would have let them stay in the land (probably under Babylonian control) if they would turn back to him, but they never did.  Even here it’s more about Zedekiah trying to “turn” God to him rather than him “turning” to God.  In Numbers 22-24 there is a story of a king, Balak, and a prophet, Balaam.  Balaam actually was a prophet of Yahweh but he was not a part of the Israelite people. In the story (which takes place during the 40 years that the Israelites spent in the wilderness, see “The Old Testament Connection”) Balak was a foreign king who felt threatened by the Israelites, he repeatedly asked Balaam to ask God to curse the Israelites, but each time Balaam came back he had “blessings” (promises to provide and protect) from God for the Israelites instead.  In Numbers 23:19 God’s message to Balak was, “God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should repent (change his mind or plan); has he said and will he not do it?  Or has he spoken and will he not fulfill what he has said?”  Unfortunately Balaam was not as consistent as God or Jeremiah, evidently he was true to repeat what God told him but he also told Balak how to deal with the Israelites; get them to marry your daughters and turn their back on Yahweh (Numbers 31:16).

Jeremiah once again delivered the truth to Zedekiah and the people, “Pharaoh is going back, Nebuchadnezzar is coming back, and this city is going to be laid out on it’s back (Ok technically the city was going to be burned down, common habit back in those days of invading armies)” (vv. 6-8).  I think God was getting a little tired of the constant asking without listening.  IN verses 9-11 God informs Zedekiah (and perhaps all the people) that even if they had defeated the entire army of Nebuchadnezzar that the wounded enemy soldiers would still win by burning the city down.

In verses 11-16 the siege lifted (for a while).  Back in Jeremiah 32:1-15 Jeremiah was told by God to help out a relative by “redeeming” a piece of land that belonged to the family.  It was a symbolic act to show that the Israelites would not be banished from the land forever.  Jeremiah bought the land and sealed the deed up in a jar that could keep it safe for “a long time”.  In today’s it appears that this symbolic act may have taken place very early during the time that the siege was lifted (when the relative would have had access to Jerusalem).  In verses 11-13 it seems like the action is continuing from that story.  Jeremiah was going to check out some land in the territory of Benjamin (the tribe he was from, so this was “back home”, and is possibly the same land he had just bought).  When he got to the Benjamin Gate (the one leading out of the city in the direction of his home territory) he was challenged and arrested.  The captain of the guards at the gate accused him to being a traitor and trying to defect (He had after all been telling all of them to surrender for years).  Evidently in those days there was no innocent until proven guilty because Jeremiah was beaten and locked up in a near by house that they were using as a jail.  The language here indicates that he was put in an underground room and that it may have had a low ceiling.  The language is sometimes used for a cistern, sort or an underground room used to collect water for use in the dry seasons.  Think of a pool with a concrete lid on it.  Jeremiah was kept there for “many days”.  The siege probably returned while he was in this pit.

In verses 17-21.  Zedekiah has Jeremiah brought to him from this “prison”.  Once in the palace the king “secretly” asked Jeremiah if he had a message for him from God.  Of course he did, and guess what, it was the same as it had been all along, “You lose!”  In an unusual show of personal emotion Jeremiah then challenges Zedekiah about why he has put him in prison.  The interesting thing is that Zedekiah may have had nothing to do with what happened to Jeremiah, it looks like all the action was by certain “officials”.  The fact that Zedekiah questioned Jeremiah secretly, and that he still wanted a message from God and through Jeremiah, tells me that Zedekiah was a weak king.  Jeremiah on the other hand was very strong in his challenge to Zedekiah, “Why are you asking me?  You never listen to me.  Where are all those “prophets” who told you this would never happen?”  Then Jeremiah challenged Zedekiah to act like a king, he petitioned (asked for favor, real kings had power to choose what happened to their subjects) Zedekiah not to send him back to the dungeon; Jeremiah was sure he would die if he was put back in the pit.  It was at this time that Jeremiah was put in the courtyard of the guardhouse where he remained a prisoner until Jerusalem was destroyed.  The king also made sure that Jeremiah would be fed until food completely ran out in the city.

Although he was a weak leader it appears that Zedekiah had at least some respect for Yahweh.  It was not uncommon for people in the ancient would to have more than one god.  Maybe Zedekiah was just “covering his bases” by continuing to ask Jeremiah for a message from Yahweh.  In Matthew 6:5-8 Jesus told his followers not to be hypocritical when they prayed.  There were lots of people in Jesus day who prayed as a show but Jesus wanted them to talk to God in a real way.  They needed to go to God privately like they would to any one and ask God whatever it was they wanted to ask him for.  Jesus also told them to not keep asking. Some people think that the person they are asking for help or advise or whatever doesn’t understand them so they keep asking over and over again.  Jesus said God hears and know what we need.  Later he assures his followers that God not only hears but will meet their needs.  When we keep asking over and over again people get mad, they don’t want to be bugged.  Sometimes it is like we are trying to manipulate or control them; force them to do what we what.  But that is disrespectful, we need to ask and then trust them for help.  Of course we are evil and sometimes we don’t do what we ought to do, but God is never like that he will take care of us and give us what we need.  Zedekiah seems to know God is real and has power but he didn’t really trust or respect him; Zedekiah was told “no”, basically, and he needed to leave it at that and honor Nebuchadnezzar.  Unfortunately it was too late for Zedekiah, nothing was going to stop the invasion, God was actually behind it, the Israelites needed to learn that God is pure and be reminded that they were to have no other “gods”.  They also needed to learn that God is serious about his standard.  When God answers our prayers we need to listen and accept whatever the answer is.  We need to understand what it is God is trying to do in our lives and turn down the paths he is leading us on.  God is the good shepherd and his “rod an staff” should comfort us, the paths he leads us down take us to sources of refreshment and quiet rest, now and for eternity (Psalm 23).  We need to respond to God willingly and sincerely and let him care for us, as only he knows how to do.

God thank you for leading.  Thank you for caring.  Thank you for being consistent.  Thank you for knowing.  Help me trust you only for the answers in good times and bad.  Help me not be a hypocrite.  Let me care for your sheep and your servants. 

Jeremiah 36:20-32.  Today’s reading continues the story of the scroll we started yesterday.  In 605 BC God told Jeremiah to write down all that he had been told over the years by God, since the beginning of his service or ministry back when Josiah was king (Jeremiah started delivering messages in 627 BC).  Jeremiah was then to have his secretary, Baruch, take the scroll and read it in the Temple, on a day when a national fast was declared.  About a year later the opportunity came and Baruch read the scroll in the Temple to many people.

Bible experts believe that much if not all of what is in chapters 1-25 was in the scroll.  Keep in mind that Jeremiah’s messages in those chapters were consistently about how the people of Judah were disobedient and disrespectful toward Yahweh (LORD).  The people and their rulers had turned to false gods and foreign armies for help in their struggle against Babylonian invaders.  Jeremiah informed them that the Babylonian invasion was punishment for their unfaithfulness to God.  Jeremiah’s message first was to turn back to God and possibly divert some of the trouble, though not all of it.  As the rebellion toward God and his discipline became more deeply rooted in the people of Judah, Jeremiah’s message became more insistent on the destruction of the city and the Temple.  There would be no excaping God’s discipline.  Through out the messages there was hope, if not for the all the individuals in Jeremiah’s world at least for their descendants, the tribes of Israel.  Also keep in mind that in 605 BC that Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king, cemented his control over the area and took certain top citizens captive from the kingdoms of the area, including Judah.  A year later in 604 BC Nebuchadnezzar captured and looted the city of Ashkelon on the Mediterranean coast about 50 miles from Jerusalem (Think Riverside and Long Beach or maybe Newport Beach and Los Angeles).  That is probably why the day of fasting was called for by the people, they were scared and wanted God’s help.

After Baruch read the scroll in the Temple some of the religious leaders (scribes) heard about it.  They had been in the palace of the king when the scroll was read.  They had Baruch brought to the palace where he was asked to read the scroll again.  This was done in their private offices and the king was not present.  The scribes were very impressed by what Baruch had communicated and after they determined that the  words were the words of Jeremiah (whom they must have considered a legitimate prophet) they took the scroll and told Baruch to find Jeremiah and hide.  These men had a variety of previous experience and connections.  As we saw yesterday three of them (at least) had connections back to the good and obedient king, Josiah.  The fathers of these men had been a part of bringing the actual word of God, the Old Testament, back into the daily lives of the people of Judah.   Another of these men had been involved in a “hit squad” who tracked down and brought a faithful prophet to the king to be executed (Elnatha, Jeremiah 26:20-23).  Though they were entangled in the evil politics of Jehoaikim’s reign it appears that they were not completely supportive of him.  Here we find them in great fear because of the word of God that they have heard.  For some this might have been the turning point in their lives, the kind of turning Jeremiah had been urging.  In spite of their sense of the danger of the situation they wee more afraid of God.  There were two things they had to do; protect God’s messengers and deliver God’s word to the king.

After sending Baruch away they approached the king with news of the scroll.  They had left the scroll in their office and we can only guess why.  The king ordered the scroll to be brought out and read to him.  Since it was winter the king was in a part of the palace that would be warmer, probably on the first floor, with a little fire pit burning in the room to keep it warm.  The scroll was probably made out of papyrus (a paper made out of reeds) the pieces of “paper” were connected together in a long strip about 10” tall and 30’ wide.  The strip was written on up and down the 10” way in columns.  As a column was completed the writer would roll the “paper” up in a stich and keep writing.  When the scroll was finishe or stored away two sticks would be used and the scroll could be “scrolled’ back and forth between the two sticks.

As one of the scribes, Elishama, read the scroll from Jeremiah the king would cut three of four columns off and throw them in the fire.  The knife he used was  a knife used by scribes to cut scrolls to certain lengths and also to scrape off the writing if they made a mistake, like an eraser.  I guess in that respect the king thought he was an editor fixing the “mistakes” of Jeremiah or Baruch.  In this case though he was rejecting the whole paper, it’s kind of like a teacher crumpling up an essay you have written and telling you to start over.  The problem here of course is that the author was Yahweh, I’m pretty positive I don’t have anything to say to God about anything he has to say.  In verse 23 we learn that he did on fact reject the whole thing.  In verse 24 we are told that the king and his servants (probably political leaders, not maids and butlers) were not afraid and did not tear their garments.  Back in the day when Josiah was brought a scroll that contained the Old Testament in it (or some part of it) he had it read to him too.  His response to hearing God’s word was tearing his clothes; it was a sign of sadness for the fact that they had not been hearing from God for a long time.  There is certainly a contras here between the good and faithful king Josiah and his unfaithful son King Jehoaikim.  Jehoiakim was completely rejecting Jeremiah’s word as being from God; or he worse, he was rejecting and denying the power of Yahweh.  In verse 25 we see that they scribes pleaded with him not to destroy the scroll.  With what happens next we will see that these guys were putting themselves in serious danger; and remember one of them had been on the hit squad that brought another faithful servant of God (Uriah) back to be executed by the hand of this very king (In 2 Kings 23:37 we are told that he was evil or wicked and in 2 King 24:4 we are told that he “filled Jerusalem with innocent blood”, not a guy you want to cross.).

In verse 26 we see this violent tendency coming out in the king when he orders his son and others to go arrest Baruch and Jeremiah.  By the way there is some indication that Baruch might have had connections with this group of scribes, he was sort of an insider.  I’m sure the arrest order for him made the other scribes quite nervous.  Of course don’t think that Jehoaikim wanted to just arrest Jeremiah this time, I’m sure he was sharpening his knife or sword waiting for his guys to bring back his next innocent victims.  Unfortunately for him Yahweh is powerful and Yahweh had hidden Jeremiah and Baruch.

In verses 27-31 Jeremiah is told to make another scroll by Yahweh (LORD).  He was to write on it “all the words that were on the scroll that Jehoaikim, King of Judah, had burned”.  We don’t want to miss the little details here.  First this is Yahweh talking.  He is the personal God of Israel and also the creator God of the universe.  Second these are God’s words not Jeremiah’s or Baruch’s (Jeremiah 36:2, 4, 6, 8, 11, 29).  Third (v. 28) God makes a real point of naming Jehoaikim and his position, it’s almost like he making fun of Jehoiakim; “Oh!  Big bad King Jehoiakim who can cut up and burn paper!”  Paper is nothing and neither are titles it’s the person behind the paper or the title that matters and here we have a match between the Creator of the Universe and King Jehoiakim.  By the way, Jehoiakim was only king because Pharaoh Necho took his younger brother off the throne and put him on it.  But wait there’s more, Pharaoh Necho was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar who we are told was a servant of Yahweh (Jeremiah 25:9; 27:6; 43:10).  The power of these guys is so small God doesn’t even really have to try when he wants to deal with they.

In verse 29-30 God personalizes this scroll.  Because Jehoiakim questioned the punishment that God warned them was coming, God was going to completely remove Jehoiakim’s family from the throne and all future influence.  Mr. Big Shot King was losing his kingdom and he wouldn’t even get the honor that most kings get, his body would not be buried with spices, no honor fire for him, his body was going to be left out to rot.  It is interesting that he died suddenly (in December 598) after rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar.  Nebuchadnezzar was on his way to put down the rebellion when Jehoiakim died and his son Jehoiachin became king.  In March Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and captured Jehoiachin.  We are also told that Nebuchadnezzar’s servants besieged the city first and then Nebuchadnezzar arrived (2 Kings 24:10).  In 2 Chronicles 36:6 we are told that Nebuchadnezzar came up against him and “bound him with bronze shackles to take to Babylon”.  That seems to contradict the story in 2 Kings 24 and the prediction of Jeremiah here in verse 30.

It is important to start with the things that are clear and then work out from there.  In 2 Kings 24 we are told that Jehoiakim rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and that Yahweh sent groups of raiders against him.  These raiders included Chaldeans (the people of Nebuchadnezzar), as well as Arameans, Moabites, and Ammonites.  These were all tribal people in the area.  They would have been subjects of Nebuchadnezzar.  After these raiders came we are told he “slept with his fathers”; a polite way of saying he died (2 Kings 24:6), then Jehoiachin, his 18 year old son, became king and after 3 months and 10 days he was dethroned by Nebuchadnezzar himself (2 Chronicles 36:9; 2 kings 24:11).  In 2 Kings 24:10 we are told that the siege was started by “Nebuchadnezzar’s servants”; this may be a reference to the raiders from 2 Kings 24:2.  Certainly they were his servants even if Yahweh stirred them to action against Jerusalem.  God may have even used their allegiance to Babylon as the way of motivating them.  If we take the information in 2 Chronicles 36:6 at face value then Jehoiakim was bound and taken captive with the goal of taking him to Babylon.  Although that verse says Nebuchadnezzar bound him it could have been a representative of Nebuchadnezzar; his guys.  The raiders certainly fit this description, especially the “Chaldeans”.  They may have been dragging him back home when he died.  Depending on the circumstance they may have left his body behind, even parading it around the outside of Jerusalem before abandoning it.  Notice the various accounts never say Jehoiakim ever made it to Babylon.  With Nebuchadnezzar on the way and continual raids the body may have laid there in the “heat of the day and the frost of the night” (remember it was winter).  When Nebucahdnezzar arrived he then would have taken the son captive.

Another problem some people have with this part of Jeremiah is that Jeremiah (well actually God) told the king that he would have “no descendants to sit on the throne of Jerusalem”.  First of all the usual way that sort of curse works out in the Bible is all of the kids are killed by someone.  In verse 31 we are told Jehoiakim will have descendants but they will be punished for their “iniquity” (a word that has the idea of “twisted”).  So we know that the “no one on the throne” thing isn’t going to work out in the usual way.  And his son, Jehoiachin, did become king in his place.  Didn’t he sit of the throne?  Well he probably did “sit” on the throne but God may have meant more than physically setting down.  The Hebrew word for “sit” is “yashab”.  It is in the Bible 922 times and 437 of theses it has the idea of “dwelling” and 221 times it has the idea of “inhabiting”.  It seems like the idea is more than just taking a break, in three and a half months while under constant siege he probably didn’t really live the part of king, he didn’t even get around to burying his father.  That may or may not be what happened but we have to be careful of accusing God or a prophet of error when it is us and our interpretations or limited knowledge of the facts that is the problem.  And there are other possibilities based on the various meanings of the words used.  A well established rule of legal and historic investigation is to give a witness the “benefit of the doubt”.  Ad it is clear that there is no absolute contradiction in the Bible’s accounts.

In verse 31 we are reminded that the trouble had come because of the “twisted” ways of the kings “descendants, servants and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah”.  We are also reminded that God had warned the people (“declared”) but they did not listen.

IN verse 32 we are told that Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch.  Baruch then “wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah” (wrote what Jeremiah dictated) all the words that had been on the scroll that Jehoiakim had burned and more like them. In Jeremiah 36:2 our translations say something like “write all the word I spoke to you”.  It is clear that Jeremiah didn’t write all the words because he adds more when he rewrote the scroll.  The original command didn’t explicitly contain the word all but even if it contained the idea of all it may have meant all in substance not necessarily all in content.  God wanted the ideas communicated and not necessarily every single word.  If the content of the scroll is what we have in chapters 1-25 it would seem to contain all the ideas God might have wanted to communicate to his lost and wandering people in Judah.  The amount of repetition should have been enough for anyone to get the picture and it certainly contained a number of specific warnings to key people like kings and false prophets.   God certainly seems to think his people had enough information to turn back to him.  He had told them over and over again-but they did not listen.

God has spent centuries working to give us a complete picture of the problem of “sin”.  He wants us to know how we have offended him and what needs to happen to fix our broken relationship.  God has also spent centuries helping us know what won’t work (see “The Old Testament Connection” for more). He paid a high price to fix our relationship (Philippians 2:5-8) and he has patiently endured all the messed up history before and since so people would have a chance to understand and turn to Jesus (2 Peter 3:9).  There will be an end to all of it though (2 Peter 3:10-15).  There will be a day of judgment and the dawn of a new world; an existence with God.  But we need to consider that God wants people with him (2 Peter 3:15). For God so loved the world that he sent Jesus so that whoever believes in who he is (the infinite God-man) and what he has done (died in our place) can spend eternity with God.

God thank you for being so patient with us, with me.  Thank you for being clear and reliable and persistent.  It is clear that sin has consequences.  It is clear that you are willing to give lots of chance for us to turn back to you.  It is also clear that there are limits, Jehoaikim rejected your word; he and his children and his servants and the people of Judah and they were sent into exile.  You told the author of Hebrew that we all die once and then are judged.  We have this life alone to turn to you.  Thank you for showing me the way before it was too late.   Help me show others the way so they will not be exiled in eternity.