18 August

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Jeremiah 23-25

Jeremiah 23

Having thus passed in review the predecessors of Zedekiah on the throne of Judah, the prophet proceeded to deal with those who had been responsible for the failure of the people, the false kings and prophets. This first section has to do with the kings.

In the divine economy the king has always been a shepherd, but the men who had held the kingly office had destroyed and scattered the sheep. This is the charge of Jehovah against them, and the prophet declared that Jehovah would visit on them the evil of their doings. Moreover, he announced the purpose of God to gather the remnant of His flock and set up over them shepherds who would feed them. In this connection his vision grew clearer, and he announced the coming of One of David's line, who would "reign as King and deal wisely," and through whom the restoration of the ancient people would be accomplished.

He then turned to the prophets. Of these he spoke out of a broken heart as he contemplated the condition of the land. He ascribed this terrible state of things to the profanation of prophet and priest. The judgment of the prophets was consequent on the falseness of the messages they had delivered. In the very presence of judgment they had spoken the lie of peace, declaring to the people that no evil would come upon them. Moreover, they had spoken without divine authority. They had dreamed their own dreams, rather than delivered the messages of Jehovah. Finally, he uttered the tremendous word of the divine judgment, beginning, "I am against the prophets, saith Jehovah".  The consequence of false prophesying is unutterable confusion, and ultimately the loss of the word of authority, so that "every man's word shall be his own burden."

This section clearly reveals the prophet's accurate understanding of the process of the nation's corruption. False kings and prophets had led the people into courses of evil resulting from degraded conceptions of God. In their turn the people had willingly followed and listened, refusing the true messages of God, such as had been spoken by Jeremiah and other of the divinely appointed messengers.

Jeremiah 24

Still speaking to Zedekiah, Jeremiah repeated three prophecies from the past, the first being a vision after Jeconiah's (Jehoiachin's) captivity, the second being a message delivered in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, and the last a yet earlier one, delivered in the beginning of Jehoiakim's reign.

The vision after Jeconiah's captivity was two baskets of figs, the first containing very good, and the second very bad, figs. The basket of good figs symbolized the captives who had been taken to the land of the Chaldeans. From them in the future Jehovah would restore His own. The basket of bad figs represented Zedekiah and those who remained in the land under him. These in the economy of God were devoted to judgment. This reminder of the vision would serve to make plain to Zedekiah the burden which the prophet had to deliver to him.

False prophets were speaking both among the captives and in Jerusalem, and throughout the remainder of Jeremiah's message to Zedekiah, he denied the authority and inspiration of these false teachers, and insisted upon the accuracy of this vision of the baskets of figs.

Jeremiah 25

Still speaking to Zedekiah, Jeremiah reminded him of the word which came in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. It was a message announcing the judgment of God against Judah, Babylon, the nations, the world.

With regard to Judah, the reason for the judgment was her persistent sin. Notwithstanding that Jehovah had spoken constantly and called them to return to obedience, they had not hearkened. The judgment foretold was the conquest of Judah by Babylon, and her captivity for seventy years.

Moreover, the prophecy foretold the judgment of Babylon after the seventy years by a confederacy of nations and kings. Yet the prophet had seen further afield, and had declared that the judgment of God must ultimately fall on all the nations, and that there could be no escape from it.

Finally, judgment would go forth from nation to nation, until a great tempest would be raised from the uttermost parts of the earth. The severest strokes of this evil would fall on the shepherds, that is, on the kings and rulers. Thus again Zedekiah, reminded of the prophecy delivered in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, would see how inevitable was the doom now threatening himself and Jerusalem.