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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Jeremiah 27:1 - 27:11
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The Message of the Yokes
v. 1. In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim (rather, of Zedekiah), the son of Josiah, king of Judah, about 609 B. C. came this word unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
v. 2. Thus saith the Lord to me, Make thee bonds and yokes, the yokes being held in place on the neck by strong cords or thongs, and put them upon thy neck, retaining the one for himself,
v. 3. and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, all the smaller nations round about Palestine, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah, king of Judah, ambassadors who were trying to cement the alliance between Judah and their own nations, in order to shake off the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar;
v. 4. and command them to say unto their masters, the rulers of the nations which they represented, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Thus shall ye say unto your masters:
v. 5. I have made the earth, the man, and the beast that are upon the ground, calling them into being by an act of His will, as the King of the universe, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, symbol of irresistible might, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto Me, not on the basis of any one's merits, but according to His good pleasure.
v. 6. And now have I given all these lands, the various countries enumerated above, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, My servant, who, in this instance, carried out the Lord's will; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him, so that his authority and power is practically unlimited.
v. 7. And all nations shall serve him and his son and his son's son, three generations being represented in the dynasty of Babylonian emperors, in a total of five rulers, until the very time of his land come, when Babylon would, in turn, be conquered by another nation; and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him, be impressed into service to Nebuchadnezzar and his successors.
v. 8. And it shall come to pass that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, willingly submitting to his power, accepting his overlordship, that nation will I punish, saith the Lord, with the sword and with the famine and with the pestilence, the dreaded exterminators of nations, until I have consumed them by his hand, Nebuchadnezzar being the instrument of the Lord in this instance.
v. 9. Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, the self-appointed leaders of this class, nor to your diviners, those who insisted that they could uncover the future, nor to your dreamers, literally, "your dreams," to show the vanity of such a reliance, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, the last two classes making use of witchcraft to deceive the people, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon,
v. 10. for they prophesy a lie unto you to remove you far from your land, that being their object in making deliberate misstatements, and that I should drive you out, for refusing to obey His injunction to submit to the Chaldean king, and ye should perish.
v. 11. But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the Lord, not subjecting them to the disgrace of deportation; and they shall till it and dwell therein. The Oriental despots were satisfied if nations would but accept their sovereignty and pay their tribute-money, resorting to sterner measures only when a nation stubbornly refused to submit. It is ever thus that misfortune and destruction comes upon those who follow the guidance of false prophets.