Jeremiah 26:1-24
“In the beginning of
the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the
LORD, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD'S house, and
speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD'S house,
all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word: If
so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may
repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of
their doings.
And thou shalt say
unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my
law, which I have set before you, To hearken to the words of my servants the
prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye
have not hearkened; Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this
city a curse to all the nations of the earth.” (Jeremiah 26:1-6)
Jehoiakin was originally made king of Judah by Pharaoh Necho
of Egypt. Eleven years later Judah was
conquered by Nebuchadnezzar and he was carried away captive. Shortly after he became king, God directed
Jeremiah to deliver a message to the people of Judah who came to worship at the
temple, warning them of the consequences of their disobedience. He was to give them every detail, and if they
would change their behavior, God would still change his plans and have mercy on
them.
If they refused to listen to him or to obey the law, and
continued to ignore the warnings from the prophets he had sent them, then the
temple would be like Shiloh, and Jerusalem would be a curse to the rest of the
world. When Israel first conquered the
promised land, under Joshua’s leadership they had set up the Tabernacle at
Shiloh. In Eli’s day in I Samuel, The
ark of the Covenant was take away by the
Philistines who conquered the land and controlled Israel for several
years. Though Samuel continued to
minister there, the ark was never returned and Shiloh lost most of its
influence. A hundred years later, David
moved the Tabernacle to Jerusalem and Shiloh was completely deserted.
In Psalm 78:56-61, David describes what happened. “ Yet
they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies: But
turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside
like a deceitful bow. For they provoked
him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their
graven images. When God heard this, he
was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel: So that he forsook the tabernacle of
Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men; And delivered his strength into
captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand.” God would do the same thing to Jerusalem
and the Temple if they continued in their sin.
“So the priests and
the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the
house of the LORD. Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of
speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that
the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt
surely die. Why hast thou prophesied in
the name of the LORD, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city
shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered
against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.” (Jeremiah 26:7-9)
Because Jeremiah was speaking publicly in the Temple
courtyard to those who came to worship, the religious leaders of the day heard
his message. They didn’t like his
message and challenged his statements.
They were sure they were God’s people and pronouncements that Jerusalem
would be abandoned like Shiloh were considered treasonous. They wanted to
execute him.
“When the princes of
Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king's house unto the
house of the LORD, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the LORD'S
house. Then spake the priests and the
prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to
die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your
ears.” (Jeremiah 26:10-11)
The civil authorities were contacted and a hearing was
called to decide Jeremiah’s fate. The
religious leaders declared he ought to be killed for contradicting what they
stood for and accusing them of wrong doing, referring to what the people had
heard him say.
“Then spake Jeremiah
unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to
prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have
heard. Therefore now amend your ways and
your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent
him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you. As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with
me as seemeth good and meet unto you.
But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely
bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the
inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the LORD hath sent me unto you to speak all
these words in your ears.” (Jeremiah 26:12-15)
Jeremiah was permitted to speak for himself as the Law
required and he reminded them that what he had said was that if they would make
the changes and do what the Law required they would be spared. He went on to make it clear that executing
him would not change God’s plans, except to add another layer of judgment to
them. He knew it was God who had sent
them and killing him would not change that.
“ Then said the
princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets; This man is
not worthy to die: for he hath spoken to us in the name of the LORD our
God. Then rose up certain of the elders
of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying, Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days
of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus
saith the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall
become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a
forest. Did Hezekiah king of Judah and
all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the LORD, and besought the
LORD, and the LORD repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against
them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls.” (Jeremiah 26:16-19)
Jeremiah had not actively tried to destroy the city or hurt
anyone and the political and civil leaders concluded he had not committed any
crime justifying a death sentence. They
reminded the people that a little over a hundred years before Judah had been
threatened by the Assyrians, and a prophet names Micah had delivered a similar
message to the people. Instead of having
Micah killed. Hezekiah listened to the message and turned the nation to God,
becoming one of Judah’s greatest kings.
As a result, the destruction Micah had prophesied was avoided. To ignore Jeremiah or kill him might well
result in making his prophecy come to pass.
“And there was also a
man that prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of
Kirjathjearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according
to all the words of Jeremiah: And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty
men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death:
but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt; And
Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and
certain men with him into Egypt. And
they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the
king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of
the common people. Nevertheless the hand
of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him
into the hand of the people to put him to death.“ (Jeremiah 26:20-24)
About the same time Jeremiah made his prophecy, another man
by the name of Urijah made a very similar prophecy. King Jehoiakim and the civil leaders gave
orders to have him killed and he fled to Egypt to escape them. A unit was dispatched to Egypt to arrest him
and return him to Judah where he was executed.
That Jeremiah was not killed was largely due to the influence of a
powerful political leader named Ahikam.
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