Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Jeremiah 27:12 - 27:22

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Jeremiah 27:12 - 27:22


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The Special Message to Zedekiah

v. 12. I spake to Zedekiah, king of Judah,
applying the statements of the first part of the chapter to him and Judah in particular, according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people and live, maintaining their national existence.

v. 13. Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence,
deliberately inviting these scourges by their disobedience, as the Lord hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?

v. 14. Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets,
those that bore this name by their own choice, not by God's appointment, that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you.

v. 15. For I have not sent them, saith the Lord, yet they prophesy a lie in My name,
adorning their false doctrine with the tag of His revelation, that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish, ye and the prophets that prophesy unto you, the latter being swept away in the same calamity which their false statements had brought upon Judah.

v. 16. Also I spake to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the Lord's house,
which had been taken to Babylon at the time of Jchoiakim, 2Ch_36:5-7, and Jeconiah, 2Ki_24:13, shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon, in the near future; for they prophesy a lie unto you, deceiving the people of Judah also in this case.

v. 17. Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon and live,
retaining their homes and maintaining their national existence; wherefore should this city be laid waste? Why simply challenge the calamity by their obstinacy?

v. 18. But if they be prophets,
servants of the Lord by His appointment, and if the Word of the Lord be with them, as they insisted that it was, let them now make intercession to the Lord of hosts that the vessels which are left in the house of the Lord, which the Chaldeans had not yet carried away, and in the house of the king of Judah and at Jerusalem go not to Babylon, that the final act of the drama might not be staged. If they were true prophets, their intercession would carry enough weight to influence the Lord, so that He would avert the catastrophe which despoiled the nation entirely.

v. 19. For thus saith the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars,
the two brass or bronze towers known as Jachin and Boaz, 1Ki_7:15 ff. and concerning the sea, 1Ki_7:23 ff. and concerning the bases, 1Ki_7:27 ff. and concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city, the vessels and instruments of worship which had not yet been taken away by the conquerors,

v. 20. which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, took not when he carried away captive Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem,
as related in 2Ki_25:13 ff.

v. 21. Yea, thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the Lord and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem,
the repetition serving to increase the impression of inevitable calamity and disaster:

v. 22. They shall be carried to Babylon,
as a welcome booty, and there shall they be until the day I visit them, saith the Lord, namely, when Cyrus overthrew the Babylonian power. Then will I bring them up and restore them to this place. This prophecy was fulfilled in every detail, although only a minor prediction, whereas the greater prophecies concerning the Messiah found an even more glorious fulfillment.