In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord. 2 Thus the Lord said to me: “Make yourself straps and yoke-bars, and put them on your neck. 3 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. 4 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: 5 “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. 6 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. 7 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.
8 “‘“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. 9 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.’ 10 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. 11 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.”’”
12 To Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke in like manner: “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people and live. 13 Why will you and your people die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, as the Lord has spoken concerning any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14 Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’ for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. 15 I have not sent them, declares the Lord, but they are prophesying falsely in my name, with the result that I will drive you out and you will perish, you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.”
16 Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, saying, ‘Behold, the vessels of the Lord's house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon,’ for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. 17 Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city become a desolation? 18 If they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is with them, then let them intercede with the Lord of hosts, that the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon. 19 For thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, the sea, the stands, and the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, 20 which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away, when he took into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem— 21 thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: 22 They shall be carried to Babylon and remain there until the day when I visit them, declares the Lord. Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.” Jeremiah 27 ESV
Jeremiah 27 The Yoke of Nebuchadnezzar
1-7. Make yourself straps and yoke-bars - This will go ever well. Jeremiah is instructed to use a visual aid, the yoke that is warn by oxen when they pull the plow, turn the mill stone, or the wine press. It would be familiar to them, even in the city you may see it on an animal used for pulling a cart, and it is also used in scripture to describe the futility of sharing such a yoke with an unbeliever. When two oxen are to carry and pull the same burden, they need to be equal or else they will go in circles. Here, Jeremiah is to willfully place this burden on his neck and then instruct others to do the same pertaining to Babylon. Accept the Lord's judgment and discipline. Imagine, these are the people who kept mocking, saying, "the burden of the Lord, the burden of the Lord."
…4I say to the proud, ‘Do not boast,’ and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn. 5Do not lift up your horn against heaven or speak with an outstretched neck.’” 6For exaltation comes neither from east nor west, nor out of the desert,… Psalm 75: 4-6
Send word to the king - This message was to go out to all the kingdoms of that area.
Made the earth - Jeremiah is the messenger of the Creator, speaking to His creation. It is a huge contrast, made between eternal being and that which was called up from the dust, which He also created.
…3Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me. 4Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. 5Who fixed its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched a measuring line across it?… Job 38: 3-5
I give it to whomever it seems right to Me - According to God, He is sovereign, there are no self made rulers or prodigies out there, it all belongs to Him, and authority comes from Him.
…10So Pilate said to Him, “Do You refuse to speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You and authority to crucify You?” 11Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed Me over to you is guilty of greater sin.” 12From then on, Pilate tried to release Him, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who declares himself a king is defying Caesar.”… John 19: 10-12
Beasts of the field - I wonder if the king reflects on this later?
…31While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “It is decreed to you, King Nebuchadnezzar, that the kingdom has departed from you. 32You will be driven away from mankind to live with the beasts of the field, and you will feed on grass like an ox. And seven times will pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.” 33At that moment the sentence against Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from mankind. He ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.… Daniel 4: 31-33
Until the time of his own land comes - Though God uses Babylon to punish Judah and the other nations, it is not a mark upon them that their sins and over zealous rule will go unchecked. This kingdom like all others will be judged when the fullness of the cup is reached.
…15For by this time I could have stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with a plague to wipe you off the earth. 16But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power to you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth. 17Still, you lord it over My people and do not allow them to go.… Exodus 9: 15-17
8-11. Put its neck under the yoke - This will not be popular with anyone, and again Jeremiah will be considered a traitor. Stiffening of the neck and raising the horn is a good picture of an ox that is refusing the yoke.
…26“Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, so that it may remain there as a witness against you. 27For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you are already rebelling against the LORD while I am still alive, how much more will you rebel after my death! 28Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officers so that I may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to witness against them.… Deuteronomy 31: 26-28
…15In their hunger You gave them bread from heaven; in their thirst You brought them water from the rock. You told them to go in and possess the land which You had sworn to give them. 16But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked and did not obey Your commandments. 17They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in loving devotion, and You did not forsake them.… Nehemiah 9: 15-17
So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your fortune tellers, or your sorcerers - There were plenty out there that would read your fortune or say, "thus says the Lord", and all for profit, so if you didn't like what Jeremiah or Micah, or any of God's other true prophets said, you could get a second opinion. This list also addressed those that were used for wisdom in the pagan lands. The church has absorbed much of this in it's Pentecostal wings, which put feelings, experiences and materialism above the word of God, and in the end are no different than pagan mediums or spiritualist.
I will leave on it's own land - The false prophets were telling them that Babylon wasn't going to take them away, but God was saying surrender and save your life, those that resist will go as slaves or die by sword, pestilence and famine. During sieges this would be common, run out of food, water cut off, and disease due to dead bodies, unsanitary conditions and malnutrition. Those that listened could stay on their own land.
12-15. You shall not serve the king of Babylon - The false prophets keep putting this out there, and it is a popular message. "God will not judge, you are the center of your world, the land is yours, you have a bond to this soil, be proud, trust in your own strength and heritage, have your best life now." Maybe we should all pay attention to this, God keeps exalting His word, but He keeps telling these people don't listen to these prophets, "I did not send them."
…10And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel. 11Now these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. 12So the one who thinks he is standing firm should be careful not to fall.… 1 Corinthians 10: 10-12
…5Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness. 6 These things took place as examples to keep us from craving evil things as they did. 7Do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written: “The people sat down to eat and to drink, and got up to indulge in revelry.”… 1 Corinthians 10: 5-7
16-22. For it is a lie - The false prophets are saying that what had already been taken from the temple would be returned shortly. God uses it as a challenge and more proof that Jeremiah is His man. Not only are those things not going to be returned when the false prophets said, but Babylon was actually coming back for more, and the stuff from the temple would not be returned until Persian rule.
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