by Keith Hunt
Chapters 24 - 29
The following chapters are some of the events in the life of
Jeremiah as he warned the people of his day about the coming
punishment from the Lord.
You can take the lessons to learn as you meditate on the events
that look place. We shall see from the start of chapter 30, there
are indeed lessons and events with Israel and Judah that will yet
take place at the end of this age, and into the age to come.
I will present it from the New-Living Translation:
CHAPTER 24
Good and Bad Figs
1 After King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon exiled Jehoiachin son of
Jehoiakim, king of Judah, to Babylon along with the princes of
Judah and all the skilled craftsmen, the LORD gave me this
vision. I saw two baskets of figs placed in front of the LORD's
Temple in Jerusalem. 2 One basket was filled with fresh, ripe
figs, while the other was filled with figs that were spoiled and
could not be eaten.
3 Then the LORD said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?"
I replied, "Figs, some very good and some very bad."
4 Then the LORD gave me this message: 5 "This is what the LORD,
the God of Israel, says: The good figs represent the exiles I
sent from Judah to the land of the Babylonians. 6 I have sent
them into captivity for their own good. I will see that they are
well treated, and I will bring them back here again. I will build
them up and not tear them down. I will plant them and not uproot
them. 7 I will give them hearts that will recognize me as the
LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they
will return to me wholeheartedly.
8 "But the rotten figs," the LORD said, "represent King Zedekiah
of Judah, his officials, all the people left in Jerusalem, and
those who live in Egypt. I will treat them like spoiled figs, too
rotten to eat. 9 I will make them an object of horror and evil to
every nation on earth. They will be disgraced and mocked, taunted
and cursed, wherever I send them. 10 I will send war, famine, and
disease until they have vanished from the land of Israel, which I
gave to them and their ancestors."
Seventy Years of Captivity
CHAPTER 25
1 This message for all the people of Judah came to Jeremiah from
the LORD during the fourth year of Jehoiakim's reign (605 B.C.)
over Judah. This was the year when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon
began his reign.
2 Jeremiah the prophet said to the people in Judah and Jerusalem,
3 "For the past twenty-three years - from the thirteenth year of
Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, until now - the LORD has been
giving me his messages. I have faithfully passed them on to you,
but you have not listened.
4 Again and again, the LORD has sent you his prophets, but you
have not listened or even tried to hear. 5 Each time the
message was this: 'Turn from the evil road you are travelling and
from the evil things you are doing. Only then will I let you live
in this land that the LORD gave to you and your ancestors
forever. 6 Do not make me angry by worshipping the idols you have
made. Then I will not harm you.'
7 "But you would not listen to me," says the LORD. "You made me
furious by worshipping your idols, bringing on yourselves all the
disasters you now suffer." 8 And now the LORD Almighty says:
"Because you have not listened to me, 9 I will gather together all
the armies of the north under King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon,
whom I have appointed as my deputy. I will bring them all against
this land and its people and against the other nations near you.
I will completely destroy you and make you an object of horror
and contempt and a ruin forever."
Obviously "forever" here has a context of until the time
appointed.
10 "I will take away your happy singing and laughter. The joyful
voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard. Your
businesses will fail, and all your homes will stand silent and
dark. 11 This entire land will become a desolate wasteland.
Israel and her neighboring lands will serve the king of Babylon
for seventy years."
Again in context "Israel" is here the people of Judah, who
are Israelites, as Californians are Americans.
12 "Then, after the seventy years of captivity are over, I will
punish the king of Babylon and his people for their sins, says
the LORD. I will make the country of the Babylonians an
everlasting wasteland. 13 I will bring upon them all the terrors
I have promised in this book - all the penalties announced by
Jeremiah against the nations. 14 Many nations and great kings
will enslave the Babylonians, just as they enslaved my people. I
will punish them in proportion to the suffering they cause my
people."
The Cup of the LORD'S Anger
15 Then the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me, "Take from my
hand this cup filled to the brim with my anger, and make all the
nations to whom I send you drink from it. 16 When they drink from
it, they will stagger, crazed by the warfare I will send against
them."
The book of Revelation tells all that is to come on the
nations of this earth in the last 42 months of this age.
17 So I took the cup of anger from the LORD and made all the
nations drink from it - every nation the LORD sent me to. 18 I
went to Jerusalem and the other towns of Judah, and their kings
and officials drank from the cup. From that day until this, they
have been a desolate ruin, an object of horror, contempt, and
cursing. 19 I went to Egypt and spoke to Pharaoh, his officials,
his princes, and his people. They, too, drank from that terrible
cup, 20 along with all the foreigners living in that land. So did
all the kings of the land of Uz and the kings of the Philistine
cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what remains of Ashdod. 21
Then I went to the nations of Edom, Moab, and Ammon, 22 and the
kings of Tyre and Sidon, and the kings of the regions across the
sea. 23 I went to Dedan, Tema, and Buz, and to the people who
live in distant places. 24 I went to the kings of Arabia, the
kings of the nomadic tribes of the desert, 25 and to the kings of
Zimri, Elam, and Media. 26 And I went to the kings of the
northern countries, far and near, one after the other - all the
kingdoms of the world. And finally, the king of Babylon himself
drank from the cup of the LORD's anger.
Probably Jeremiah went in "spirit" or "vision" to all the
nations. A way of telling us that God will deal with the nations
of the earth in His time plan and as we know from the book of
Revelation.
27 Then the LORD said to me, "Now tell them, 'The LORD Almighty,
the God of Israel, says: Drink from this cup of my anger. Get
drunk and vomit, and you will fall to rise no more, for I am
sending terrible wars against you.' 28 And if they refuse to
accept the cup, tell them, 'The LORD Almighty says: You must
drink from it. You cannot escape! 29 I have begun to punish
Jerusalem, the city where my own name is honored. Now should I
let you go unpunished? No, you will not escape disaster. I will
call for war against all the nations of the earth. I, the LORD
Almighty, have spoken!'"
It is indeed true that the Lord will start to shake the
nations of the world by first (after the fall of the king of the
South) allowing Judah, Jerusalem and the nations of modern Israel
(the majority of the Western world) to fall to destruction, then
it will be the end time Babylon of Europe and finally the kings
of the East (Russia, China, India, Japan etc.)
30 "Now prophesy all these things, and say to them, 'The LORD
will roar loudly against his own land from his holy dwelling in
heaven. He will shout against everyone on the earth, like the
harvesters do as they crush juice from the grapes. 31 His cry of
judgment will reach the ends of the earth, for the LORD will
bring his case against all the nations. He will judge all the
people of the earth, slaughtering the wicked with his sword. The
LORD has spoken!'"
32 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Look! Disaster will fall
upon nation after nation! A great whirlwind of fury is rising
from the most distant corners of the earth!"
33 In that day those the LORD has slaughtered will fill the earth
from one end to the other. No one will mourn for them or gather
up their bodies to bury them. They will be scattered like dung on
the ground.
No such destruction like this has come on the earth, but
when the events of the book of Revelation take place, the FULL
depth of these prophecies will take place. The destruction of
Judah in captivity to Babylon was a TYPE of what will come on the
whole planet earth in the last days.
34 Weep and moan, you evil shepherds! Roll in the dust, you
leaders of the flock! The time of your slaughter has arrived; you
will fall and shatter like fragile pottery. 35 You will find no
place to hide; there will be no way to escape.
36 Listen to the frantic cries of the shepherds, to the leaders
of the flock shouting in despair, for the LORD is spoiling their
pastures. 37 Peaceful meadows will be turned into a wasteland by
the LORD's fierce anger. 38 He has left his den like a lion
seeking its prey, and their land will be made desolate by the
sword of the enemy and the LORD's fierce anger.
Again, what was to befall Judah and her spiritual and
secular leaders was a type of what is yet to come on Judah,
Israel, and all nations, at the end of this age.
Jeremiah's Escape from Death
CHAPTER 26
1 This message came to Jeremiah from the LORD early in the reign
of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah. 2 The LORD said,
"Stand out in front of the Temple of the LORD, and make an
announcement to the people who have come there to worship from
all over Judah. Give them my entire message; include every word.
3 Perhaps they will listen and turn from their evil ways. Then I
will be able to withhold the disaster I am ready to pour out on
them because of their sins.
4 Say to them, 'This is what the LORD says: If you will not
listen to me and obey the law I have given you, 5 if you will not
listen to my servants, the prophets for I sent them again and
again to warn you, but you would not listen to them 6 then I will
destroy this Temple as I destroyed Shiloh, the place where the
Tabernacle was located. And I will make Jerusalem an object of
cursing in every nation on earth.'"
7 The priests, the prophets, and all the people listened to
Jeremiah as he spoke in front of the LORD's Temple. 8 But when
Jeremiah had finished his message, saying everything the LORD had
told him to say, the priests and prophets and all the people at
the Temple mobbed him. "Kill him!" they shouted. 9 "What right do
you have to prophesy in the LORD'S name that this Temple will be
destroyed like Shiloh? What do you mean, saying that Jerusalem
will be destroyed?" And all the people threatened him as he stood
in front of the Temple.
10 When the officials of Judah heard what was happening, they
rushed over from the palace and sat down at the New Gate of the
Temple to hold court. 11 The priests and prophets presented their
accusations to the officials and the people. "This man should
die!" they said. "You have heard with your own ears what a
traitor he is, for he has prophesied against this city."
12 Then Jeremiah spoke in his own defense. "The LORD sent me to
prophesy against this Temple and this city," he said. "The LORD
gave me every word that I have spoken. 13 But if you stop your
sinning and begin to obey the LORD your God, he will cancel this
disaster that he has announced against you. 14 As for me, I am
helpless and in your power - do with me as you think best. 15 But
if you kill me, rest assured that you will be killing an innocent
man! The responsibility for such a deed will lie on you, on this
city, and on every person living in it. For it is absolutely true
that the LORD sent me to speak every word you have heard."
16 Then the officials and the people said to the priests and
prophets, "This man does not deserve the death sentence, for he
has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God."
17 Then some of the wise old men stood and spoke to the people
there. 18 They said, "Think back to the days when Micah of
Moresheth prophesied during the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah.
He told the people of Judah, 'This is what the LORD Almighty
says: Mount Zion will be plowed like an open field; Jerusalem
will be reduced to rubble! A great forest will grow on the
hilltop, where the Temple now stands.' 19 But did King Hezekiah
and the people kill him for saying this? No, they turned from
their sins and worshipped the LORD. They begged him to have mercy
on them. Then the LORD held back the terrible disaster he had
pronounced against them. If we kill Jeremiah, who knows what will
happen to us?"
20 (At this time, Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-Jearim was
also prophesying for the LORD. And he predicted the same terrible
disaster against the city and nation as Jeremiah did. 21 When
King Jehoiakim and the army officers and officials heard what he
was saying, the king sent someone to kill him. But Uriah heard
about the plot and escaped to Egypt. 22 Then King Jehoiakim sent
Elnathan son of Acbor to Egypt along with several other men to
capture Uriah. 23 They took him prisoner and brought him back to
King Jehoiakim. The king then killed Uriah with a sword and had
him buried in an unmarked grave.)
24 Ahikam son of Shaphan also stood with Jeremiah and persuaded
the court not to turn him over to the mob to be killed.
Jeremiah Wears an Ox Yoke
CHAPTER 27
1 This message came to Jeremiah from the LORD early in the reign
of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah. 2 The LORD said to me,
"Make a yoke, and fasten it on your neck with leather thongs. 3
Then send messages to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and
Sidon through their ambassadors to King Zedekiah in Jerusalem. 4
Give them this message for their masters: 'This is what the LORD
Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 5 By my great power I have
made the earth and all its people and every animal. I can give
these things of mine to anyone I choose. 6 Now I will give your
countries to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who is my servant. I
have put everything, even the wild animals, under his control. 7
All the nations will serve him and his son and his grandson until
his time is up. But then many nations and great kings will
conquer and rule over Babylon. 8 So you must submit to Babylon's
king and serve him; put your neck under Babylon's yoke! I will
punish any nation that refuses to be his slave, says the LORD. I
will send war, famine, and disease upon that nation until Babylon
has conquered it.'"
9 "Do not listen to your false prophets, fortune-tellers,
interpreters of dreams, mediums, and sorcerers who say, 'The king
of Babylon will not conquer you.' 10 They are all liars, and I
will drive you from your land and send you far away to die. 11
But the people of any nation that submits to the king of Babylon
will be allowed to stay in their own country to farm the land as
usual. I, the LORD, have spoken!"
12 Then I repeated this same message to King Zedekiah of Judah.
"If you want to live, submit to the king of Babylon and his
people," I said. 13 "Why do you insist on dying - you and your
people? Why should you choose war, famine, and disease, which the
LORD will bring against every nation that refuses to submit to
Babylon's king? 14 Do not listen to the false prophets who keep
telling you, 'The king of Babylon will not conquer you.' They are
liars. 15 This is what the LORD says: I have not sent these
prophets! They are telling you lies in my name, so I will drive
you from this land. You will all die - you and all these
prophets, too."
16 Then I spoke to the priests and the people and said, "This is
what the LORD says: 'Do not listen to your prophets who claim
that soon the gold utensils taken from my Temple will be returned
from Babylon. It is all a lie! 17 Do not listen to them.
Surrender to the king of Babylon, and you will live. Why should
this whole city be destroyed? 18 If they really are the LORD's
prophets, let them pray to the LORD Almighty about the gold
utensils that are still left in the LORD'S Temple and in the
king's palace and in the palaces of Jerusalem. Let them pray that
these remaining articles will not be carried away with you to
Babylon!
19 For this is what the LORD Almighty says about the bronze
pillars in front of the Temple, the bronze Sea in the Temple
courtyard, the bronze water carts, and all the other ceremonial
articles. 20 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon left them here when
he exiled Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, to Babylon,
along with all the other important people of Judah and Jerusalem.
21 Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says
about the precious things kept in the Temple and in the palace of
Judah's king: 22 They will all be carried away to Babylon and
will stay there until I send for them, says the LORD. But someday
I will bring them back to Jerusalem again.
Jeremiah Condemns Hananiah
CHAPTER 28
1 One day in late summer of that same year - the fourth year of
the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah - Hananiah son of Azzur, a
prophet from Gibeon, addressed me publicly in the Temple while
all the priests and people listened. He said, 2 "The LORD
Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will remove the yoke of the
king of Babylon from your necks. 3 Within two years, I will bring
back all the Temple treasures that King Nebuchadnezzar carried
off to Babylon. 4 And I will bring back jehoiachin son of
Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the other captives that were
taken to Babylon. I will surely break the yoke that the king of
Babylon has put on your necks. I, the LORD, have spoken!"
5 Jeremiah responded to Hananiah as they stood in front of all
the priests and people at the Temple. 6 He said, "Amen! May your
prophecies come true! I hope the LORD does everything you say. I
hope he does bring back from Babylon the treasures of this Temple
and all our loved ones. 7 But listen now to the solemn words I
speak to you in the presence of all these people. 8 The ancient
prophets who preceded you and me spoke against many nations,
always warning of war, famine, and disease. 9 So a prophet who
predicts peace must carry the burden of proof. Only when his
predictions come true can it be known that he is really from the
LORD."
So it is today, the burden of proof as to the true prophet
of the Lord is indeed that what he says WILL COME TO PASS!
10 Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke off Jeremiah's neck
and broke it. 11 And Hananiah said again to the crowd that had
gathered, "The LORD has promised that within two years he will
break the yoke of oppression from all the nations now subject to
King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon." At that, Jeremiah left the
Temple area.
12 Soon afterward the LORD gave this message to Jeremiah: 13 "Go
and tell Hananiah, 'This is what the LORD says: You have
broken a wooden yoke, but you have replaced it with a yoke of
iron. 14 The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I have put a
yoke of iron on the necks of all these nations, forcing them into
slavery under King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I have put
everything, even the wild animals, under his control.'"
15 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah, "Listen, Hananiah!
The LORD has not sent you, but the people believe your lies. 16
Therefore, the LORD says you must die. Your life will end this
very year because you have rebelled against the LORD."
17 Two months later, Hananiah died.
So it has been with many would be prophets, some said about
1975 would be the end of this age. Many of them came in the 1980s
predicting the end of the age and the return of Christ by 1988
(40 years after the Jews had formed a nation in the Holy Land).
Books were published, I saw and read a lot of them. Some prophets
gave the early or middle 1990s for the start of the Great
Tribulation. Some prophets claimed the year 2,000 would be the
end of the age. I told my readers that ALL these prophets were
WRONG! And they were indeed. They were FALSE prophets. Some
prophets have come in this decade and said the end would be in
2008. But I've told you Jesus will NOT come in this decade. Truly
MANY false prophets have come, many will yet come, just as they
have always come in every century, just as they came in the time
of Jeremiah.
A Letter to the Exiles
CHAPTER 29
1 Jeremiah wrote a letter from Jerusalem to the elders, priests,
prophets, and all the people who had been exiled to Babylon by
King Nebuchadnezzar. 2 This was after King Jehoiachin, the queen
mother, the court officials, the leaders of Judah, and all the
craftsmen had been deported from Jerusalem. 3 He sent the letter
with Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, when they
went to Babylon as King Zedekiah's ambassadors to Nebuchadnezzar.
This is what Jeremiah's letter said:
4 The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, sends this message to all
the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: 5 "Build
homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food you
produce. 6 Marry, and have children. Then find spouses for them,
and have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! 7 And
work for the peace and prosperity of Babylon. Pray to the LORD
for that city where you are held captive, for if Babylon has
peace, so will you."
8 The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says, "Do not let the
prophets and mediums who are there in Babylon trick you. Do not
listen to their dreams 9 because they prophesy lies in my name. I
have not sent them," says the LORD. 10 "The truth is that you
will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do
for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you
home again. 11 For I know the plans I have for you," says the
LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you
a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will
listen. 13 If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when
you seek me. 14 I will be found by you," says the LORD. "I will
end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you
out of the nations where I sent you and bring you home again to
your own land."
15 You may claim that the LORD has raised up prophets for you in
Babylon. 16 But this is what the LORD says about the king who
sits on David's throne and all those still living here in
Jerusalem - your relatives who were not exiled to Babylon. 17
This is what the LORD Almighty says: "I will send war, famine,
and disease upon them and make them like rotting figs - too bad
to eat. 18 Yes, I will pursue them with war, famine, and disease,
and I will scatter them around the world. In every nation where I
send them, I will make them an object of damnation, horror,
contempt, and mockery 19 For they refuse to listen to me, though
I have spoken to them repeatedly through my prophets. And you who
are in exile have not listened either," says the LORD.
20 Therefore, listen to this message from the LORD, all you
captives there in Babylon. 21 This is what the LORD Almighty, the
God of Israel, says about your prophets - Ahab son of Kolaiah
and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah - who are telling you lies in my
name: "I will turn them over to Nebuchadnezzar for a public
execution. 22 Their terrible fate will become proverbial, so that
whenever the Judean exiles want to curse someone they will say,
'May the LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of
Babylon burned alive!' 23 For these men have done terrible things
among my people. They have committed adultery with their
neighbors' wives and have lied in my name. I am a witness to
this," says the LORD.
A Message for Shemaiah
24 The LORD sent this message to Shemaiah the Nehelamite in
Babylon: 25 "This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel,
says: You wrote a letter on your own authority to Zephaniah son
of Maaseiah, the priest, and you sent copies to the other priests
and people in Jerusalem. You said to Zephaniah, 26 'The LORD has
appointed you to replace Jehoiada as the priest in charge of the
house of the LORD. You are responsible to put anyone who claims
to be a prophet in the stocks and neck irons. 27 So why have you
done nothing to stop Jeremiah from Anathoth, who pretends to be a
prophet among you? 28 Jeremiah sent a letter here to Babylon,
predicting that our captivity will be a long one. He said we
should build homes and plan to stay for many years. He said we
should plant fruit trees, because we will be here to eat the
fruit for many years to come.'"
29 But when Zephaniah the priest received Shemaiah's letter, he
took it to Jeremiah and read it to him. 30 Then the LORD gave
this message to Jeremiah: 31 "Send an open letter to all the
exiles in Babylon. Tell them, 'This is what the LORD says
concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Since he has prophesied to
you when I did not send him and has tricked you into believing
his lies, 32 I will punish him and his family. None of his
descendants will see the good things I will do for my people, for
he has taught you to rebel against me. I the LORD, have spoken!'"
And so it was as the Lord had spoken through the mouth of
Jeremiah His true prophet.
Promises of Deliverance: A prophecy for the end time and the age
to come:
CHAPTER 30
30 The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, 2 "This is
what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Write down for the record
everything I have said to you, Jeremiah. 3 For the time is coming
when I will restore the fortunes of my people of Israel and
Judah. I will bring them home to this land that I gave to their
ancestors, and they will possess it and live here again. I, the
LORD, have spoken!"
4 This is the message the LORD gave concerning Israel and Judah:
5 "This is what the LORD says: I have heard the people crying;
there is only fear and trembling. 6 Now let me ask you a
question: Do men give birth to babies? Then why do they stand
there, ashen-faced, hands pressed against their sides like women
about to give birth? 7 ***In all history there has never been
such a time of terror.*** It will be a time of trouble for my
people Israel. Yet in the end, they will be saved!
Ah, it is the prophetic time of trouble that HAS NEVER BEEN
THE LIKE IN ALL HISTORY OF MANKIND.
....................
To be continued
|
No comments:
Post a Comment