Jeremiah 28:1-17.  In yesterday’s reading Jeremiah acted out or used a prop to get his message across; he placed a wooden yoke on his neck.    The yoke was a symbol of control and his message was that God had put the region under the control of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzer and that the people should not rebel against it.  Jeremiah warned all the kingdoms or nations under Nebuchadnezzar’s control, he warned Judah specifically, and he warned the priests and people of Judah also.  In the warning to the priests and people he got very specific about not listening to the false prophets and even challenged the prophet about their false messages.  He told them to pray about the stuff left in the Temple after the recent raid by Nebuchadnezzar.  He told them that if they were true prophets of Yahweh (the God of Israel, the one true God) that they should pray to him to preserve the stuff that was left.  He said if they were true prophets maybe it would not be take in another raid.  But then he assured the people there would be another raid and all the stuff would be taken.

In today’s reading one of the false prophets sort of takes Jeremiah up on the challenge.  In verse 1 we learn that the (false) prophet’s name is Hananiah.  He is from the town of Gibeon.  Gibeon was in the region of Benjamin the same region of the kingdom that Jeremiah was from.  Hananiah approached Jeremiah in the Temple (house of the LORD (Yahweh)).  There, in front of the priests and people, Hanaiah claimed to be speaking for “the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel”.  That was the exact same language Jeremiah had used.  In his message Hananiah twice tells the audience that he is going to “break the yoke of the king of Babylon” (vv. 2,4).  He also says that all of the stuff that was taken will be returned, as well as the captives tht were recently taken, and the young king (Jehoiachin).  He even gave a time table, “within two years”.  In Jeremiah 22:26-27 Jeremiah predicted that Jehoiachin would die in exile.  In Jeremiah 27:21-22 Jeremiah predicted that the rest of the stuff in the temple would be removed and would be there for some time.  That would seem to indicate that the stuff already take would not come back soon.  Hananiah’s predictions were in complete contrast to those of Jeremiah; it was a full on challenge.

In verses 4-9 Jeremiah answers Hananiah’s challenge.  I would been Hananiah’s face if I had been Jeremiah, but instead Jeremiah answers by saying, “Amen, May Yahweh do so!”  Wow.  If Hananiah’s predictions came true that would make Jeremiah’s predictions false, I’m sure the leaders and the people would lose no time retrying and executing Jeremiah.  I’m not sure I would be hoping for an event that would surely lead to my execution.  But Jeremiah was confident that he had honored God; had spoken “all that Yahweh had commanded him”, and he was also devoted to God, His city, His Temple, and to honoring God.  If he was wrong then all of that would come back and he deserved to die anyway.  Wow, that is dedication.

In verses 7-9 though, Jeremiah is very careful to set the ground rules.  Throughout the history of Israel there had been a lot of trouble, lots of times when they had been invaded.  Often these invasions were used by God to make the people see that they were not being faithful to Him.  True prophets would warn and warn and warn the people that if they did not turn back to God an invasion would happen.  At the same time there would be false prophets talking about peace.  Hananiah is like these false prophets, predicting that the current trouble will just go away.  In the Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 18:20-22) we find that the test of a prophet is whether or not what they have predicted actually happens.  Anything less than 100% accuracy means you are a false prophet and you are to be executed for making false claims about Yahweh.  Jeremiah reminds them about the ground rules.  It is interesting that he uses situations a lot like the one he is in to lay out the rules, in the past it was usually the “prophets” who were saying “peace” who were false, just like Hananiah.

In verses 10-11 Hananiah responds to Jeremiah’s answer.  He takes the yoke off of Jeremiah’s neck and breaks it.  He then basically accepts the “rules” by repeating his prediction.

At the end of verse 11 Jeremiah simply walks away.  But that is not the end of his communication with Hananiah.  God spoke to Jeremiah again after this event.  There are two parts to the message that God gave to Jeremiah.  The first part is about the control of Nebuchadnezzar over the region.  The yoke that Hananiah broke was the wooden one that Jeremiah had made for himself, it was a symbol of Babylonian control.  Yahweh (LORD) told Jeremiah to tell Hananiah that he had broken a wooden yoke and that now it would be replaced by an iron one.  The idea here is one of strength, wood is strong, iron is stronger.  It seems that God is saying that the control will now become stronger.

Historically we see that is true.  Nebuchadnezzar passed through the area in 605 BC and took some of the top citizens as captives, to use as advisors, that is how Daniel and his friends wound up in Babylon.  In 598-597 he came back to the area in response to rebellion by Jehoiakim.  At that time he took some stuff from the Temple (probably to show that he had power over “Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel” (of course he was mistaken about that)), and he also took 10,000 of the “leading” citizens as captive.  He also took the new king, Jehoiachin, captive and set us his Jehoiachin’s uncle as king.  In 586 Nebuchadnezzar will be back because of more rebellion, at that time he will destroy the Temple, get rid of kings all together, set us a governor, and take everyone else captive.  So the control will increase or get stronger.

The second part of the message to Hananiah is much more serious (at least for Hananiah) and has a much quicker fulfillment.  Remember that the test of a prophet was accuracy, in the history of Israel many predictions took a long time to be fulfilled, Daniel had one that would take 483 years to be partially fulfilled, some predictions are still waiting.  It would be important for the true prophets of God to have at least some that could be checked out in their own time.  In Jeremiah’s case he needed a “hit” at this at bat.  God told Jeremiah that Hananiah was going to die because he was a lying false prophet who was misleading the people, and it would happen  that year.  Hananiah would not even get to see if his two year prediction came true (which it would not).  God does not need to wait to see the outcome he already know what is going to happen and so he passed sentence on this false prophet.  In the seventh month of that year Hananiah died.

Jeremiah was faithful and was batting 100%.  God knows and he communicates to us so that we can know too; know that he is the one true God, know that we have offended Him, know that there are consequences for our disobedience and rebellion, and know of his love and mercy and grace.  It is interesting that Hananiah’s name means “Yahweh is gracious” (see “What’s in a Name?”).  One pastor has said that “grace” is giving someone what they don’t deserve and that mercy is not giving someone what they do deserve.  A lot of people want God to be gracious, always givng us good things, and he does, but they seem to miss the fact god is not giving us what we do deserve, eternal banishment from his kingdom.  If we forget how badly we have offended God and just focus on the good that he has put in our world and lives we will start to become arrogant; we will get ”big heads” and think we actually deserve the good that God gives.  We need to be careful not to forget the “undeserved” part of the definition.  Hananiah seemed to be like a lot of us thinking we deserve only good and even predicting that that would be the case.  God and his prophets are true to the reality of our relationship with God.  There is goodness and hope for more but there is also offense and separation and the reality of that separation becoming permanent.  We have cheated on God and we need to face that.  God will forgive but not unless we admit our cheating and let him help us stop.  We need to listen to the bad news, we need to respond to the message God has given us, we need to stop all the wishful thinking, pretending that the future is what we want it to be.  The up side is that the future will be more that we could ever hope if we put our eternity into the hands of God.  That can be scary, like this encounter between Jeremiah and Hananiah.  I’m sure Jeremiah walked away thinking, “This better be right or I’m dead (literally).”  And then he had to go back and push a little more.  Very hard, very scary.  But God backed him up and he will back us up too.  He already has at the cross.  Jesus said, “Come to me all who are weary and carrying a heavy burden and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon yourself and learn from me, I am gentle and humble and you will find rest for your souls.  My yoke is easy and the load is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)  He was contrasting the burden of trying to reach God on our own verses putting our relationship with God in his hands.  Jesus is the way back to God there is no other (John 14:6).  It is a burden, the burden of submission, the burden of dependence, but it is light and the reward is great.  Be faithful to God to day and let him give you the true undeserved gift of eternity with Him.

God thank you for your mercy.  Thank you for your grace.  Help me not be prideful.  Help me not want to have life my way.  Let me trust your way.  Thank you for taking the burden for me.  Jesus thank you for letting your relationship with the Father be broke so mine could be healed.  Thank you for the Holy Spirit who helps me honor you from day to day.  Let me be faithful even in the face of danger.  Keep me true. 

Jeremiah 27:1-22.  In yesterday’s reading we saw the conclusion of a trial of Jeremiah early in the reign of Jehoaikim (probably 609-608 BC).    Jeremaih dodged the bullet (or sword) in that one but his fellow prophet, Uriah, was not so lucky.  Jeremiah didn’t survive by compromising though, he was faithful to all God had told him to say and do (as was Uriah).  We learned that serving God can be dangerous.  We also learned that serving God and being a part of his forever kingdom are choices that each one of has to make.  We don’t get “grandfathered” in just because our Grandfather, or father, or mother loved God.

Today’s reading is kind of interesting.  In chapter 27 Jeremiah jumps right back in, confronting a new king about submitting to God.  Although this follows immediately the story of the trial, action in chapter 27 is actually 16 years later.  Zedekiah’s reign began in 597 BC.  In chapter 26 similar language was used and I mentioned that it was usually a technical term that indicated that first partial year of a kings reign.  Tomorrow we will find out that this message was actually 4 years into Zedekiah’s reign or 594 BC.  In this chapter Jeremiah uses a symbolic act to get across God’s message.  He makes a yoke for himself and puts it around his neck.  A yoke is the “collar” worn by horses or other animals so that they can pull plows, wagons, or other items. Most of our yokes here in the United States are made of leather but in other places they are made of wood.  Jeremiah seems to be describing a yoke made of two pieces of wood with leather straps between them. Yokes represent being under the control of another.

In verse 3 Jeremiah is told send messages to several kings of surrounding areas.  The kings themselves are not in Jerusalem but representatives of them are.  These representatives had come to Jerusalem to meet with the new king, Zedekiah.  In 597 BC Babylon was in control  of the area and had been for 8 years.  Often times a controlling nation would let the individual kingdoms sort of run themselves but would require then to send money to it; this money is usually referred to as “tribute”.  If you know someone who like older music you ma have heard of “tribute” bands.  These are bands who put on shows, singing and sometimes acting like the original band, it is a way of honoring them and showing respect for their music.  Money given in “tribute” is sort of the same thing, it is supposed to show honor and appreciation, but often it was paid grudgingly to keep from being attacked.  These representatives may have been in Jerusalem to try to get Zedekiah to rebel against Babylon.  Zedekiah face this sort of pressure for the 10 year that he reigned and eventually gave in, but not here in 597.

In verses 4-7 Jeremiah basically tells them to tell their kings, “Don’t even think about it.”  In verse 4 God identifies himself in several ways.  He calls himself “the LORD of hosts”.  The word translated “LORD” is Yahweh in Hebrew.  That is the personal name of the one true God.  The idea of “hosts” is armies, often this idea is that God controls a heavenly army of angles.  That may be the meaning here or it could mean that armies on the earth can be controlled by him too.  He also calls himself the “God of Israel”.  God is a general term meaning mighty being, in this case he is the “mighty being of Israel”, which brings us full circle to Yahweh, the one true God.  Although these kings might have been skeptical about listening to the god of another people they should have seen through history that this “god” was the one God.  If there was any doub’t as to Yahweh’s credentials verse 5 make it very clear that Yahweh claims to be the one true creator God who has authority and power over all of creation.  In verse 6 we learn that he has decided to give Babylon authority over the area but verse 7 makes it clear that it will only be for a certain amount of time (in Jeremiah 25:11 we learned it would only be for 70 years).

In verse 8 these surrounding kingdoms are warned not to resist Nebuchadnezzar (the king of Babylon) the yoke represents his control, control that was given to him by Yahweh.  Resisting Nebucahdnezzar is basically the same as resisting God and the trouble that will come their way (sword, famine, and disease) although in the form of Nebucahdnezzar’s army is really from God (so in a way he is the LORD of those hosts).

In verse 9-10 Jeremiah warns them no to listen to the guys they would usually go to, to see what their gods wanted.  Jeremiah tells them their prophets and others are liars.   He then repeats in verse 11 that if they let Nebuchadnezzar rule over them that they will have safety in their land.

Verses 12-15 are basically a repeat performance of what he had said to the other kings but this time he was speaking to Zedekiah, the new king of Judah.  Two difference stand out to me though.  In the first message Jeremiah challenged prophets, fortune tellers or astrologers, dreamers, those who talk to spirits, and magicians.  In the message to Zedekiah he only challenges “prophets”.  The other difference is that in the message to Zedekiah the “prophets” speak falsely in the name of Yahweh while the other group makes no claim to be representing Him.  All of these guys, in both groups, though had the “ear” of their leaders and Yahweh wanted them to hear him, hear the truth, instead.

In verses 16-22 the message is to the priests and people.  From theses verse we see that he is talking to the priests and people in Judah and Jerusalem.  In 597 BC when Nebuchadnezzar came to put down the revolt by Jehoiakim, he instead found Jehoaichin (Jehoaikim’s 18 year old son) on the throne.  Jehoaikim had died the previous winter.  Jehoiachin was taken captive and many item in the Temple were also take back to Babylon.  Also 10,000 of the “leading” citizens of Judah were take captive too.  That was when Zedekiah was placed on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar.  Evidently the prophets in Judah were telling the people that it wouldn’t be long until they had their stuff back.  Maybe they were listening to the representative of the surrounding kingdoms and were convinced that they could band together and beat Nebuchadnezzar.God’s message to all of them, through Jeremaiah was, “Think again, your not going to be Nebuchadnezzar, I’m on his side for now.”

In verse 18 Jeremiah issues sort of a challenge.  He says that if those guys are real prophets then let them beg God to protect the stuff that is left in the Temple so that it won’t be taken away to Babylon.  In verses 19-20 Jeremiah lists some of the stuff and in verses 21-22 he confirms that they will be taken away to Babylon.  Clearly the prophets were not speaking for God or the stuff never would have left Jerusalem.  At the end of verse 22 we see that the stuff will eventually be returned to Jerusalem and to the Temple.

Its awesome how Jeremiah speaks not only to the people of Judah but also to all the nations that he has access to.  In Jeremiah 1:5 he is called a “prophet to the nations”.  Yahweh is not only the God who created and controls everything that is he is also the God who cares about all that is.  God is in the process of drawing people into his forever kingdom but he doesn’t limit it to one family or kingdom or nation, his offer forgiveness is to anyone who will turn their rebellion and disobedience over to Jesus (John 3:16).  It is also cool how God works it out to punish people that continually reject him without violating his promises.  Some day Jerusalem will be the political and worship center of the universe and we see his seriousness about Jerusalem in his restoring worship there time and again in history.  One final thing I noticed as I was reading this was how consistent God is.  The warnings to the nations and to Judah and to the individuals in Jerusalem were all the same.  God doesn’t play favorites he has one way to make things right; one plan, and it involves Jesus.  That “fix” is the same for everyone and we see his fairness in the three warnings that are really just one warning.

God thank you for being fair.  More than fair actually, because it would be fair for all of us to have to did and be separated from you for eternity for our own rebellion (sin).  Instead of leaving each of us to pay our own way, you paid for all of us (1 John 2:2).  It is sad that many won’t listen and turn to Jesus, the only way back to you (John 14:6).    Help me show many that Jesus is the path back.  Thank you for being patient toward me and not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9-10).  Help me trust and honor you regardless of the situation I find myself in.  Thank you for a place in your forever kingdom.