Jeremiah 26:1-32

Section 2 Subsection 1 Commencing With A Speech In The Temple Jeremiah Warns Of What Is Coming And Repudiates The Promises Of The False Prophets, And While Opposed By The Hierarchy, Has His Own Status As A Prophet Recognised by Many Of The People (Jeremiah 26:1 to Jeremiah 29:32).

The danger of dividing the prophecy up into sections and subsections, as we have done, is that we can lose something of the continuity of the prophecy. Thus while the divisions in this case are seemingly clear, the continuity must not be overlooked. What follows in Jeremiah 26:1 to Jeremiah 29:32 must be seen in fact as a subsequent explanation expanding on what Jeremiah has already said in chapter 25 concerning both the evil coming on Jerusalem and the seventy year period of Babylonian domination. And we now discover that this was in direct contrast with what was being currently declared by the cult prophets mentioned so prominently in chapter 23.

The whole subsection thus brings out the threat under which Judah was standing, and the direct rivalry existing between Jeremiah and his supporters, and the cult prophets, a rivalry which was caused by their deeply contrasting views about the future. It commences with the fact that the cult prophets combined with the priests in arraigning Jeremiah and seeking his death in chapter 26, something which is followed by examples of their activities and their continued opposition to Jeremiah, thus illustrating what was described in Jeremiah 23:9. This section too could have been headed ‘concerning the prophets', were it not that its tentacles reached out further.

The subsection is a unity. It commences at the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim bringing out the new situation that had arisen with the death of Josiah and the advent of a new king who ‘did what was evil in the eyes of YHWH' (2 Kings 23:37), continues by showing that from that time on Jeremiah wore a yoke about his neck as an indication that Judah was no longer an independent nation, something which goes on until things are brought to a head during the reign of Zedekiah when the yoke is broken from his neck by a prophet who prophesies falsely and dies as a result. Meanwhile Jeremiah has sent duplicates of his yoke to the kings of surrounding nations who are contemplating rebellion against Babylon, to warn them against such rebellion. And the subsection closes with a letter from him to the exiles in Babylonia warning them against expecting a swift return, resulting in a return letter from a prominent prophet calling for the arraignment of Jeremiah.

The subsection itself divides up as follows:

A) ‘In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim -- came this word from YHWH saying --' (Jeremiah 26:1). The chapter commences in the Temple with a call to repentance, which is followed by a warning that their Temple would otherwise be made like Shiloh, (which was where the original Temple/Tabernacle was destroyed by the Philistines in the days of Samuel), and their city would become a curse among the nations (compare Jeremiah 25:29; Jeremiah 25:37). The resulting persecution of Jeremiah, especially by the priests and the cult prophets, is then described, although ameliorated by a counter-argument put forward by ‘the elders of the people of the land' who clearly accepted Jeremiah as a genuine prophet and cited the prophecies of Micah in his support.

B) ‘In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim -- came this word to Jeremiah from YHWH saying --' (Jeremiah 27:1). This chapter commences with Jeremiah, at the command of YHWH, starting to wear symbolic instruments of restraint on his neck as an illustration of the bondage that has come on them from Egypt and is coming at the hands of Babylon. Then during the reign of Zedekiah he is commanded to send these same instruments of bondage among the surrounding nations because of a planned rebellion against Babylon, conveying a similar message to them, that they must accept being subject nations, and warning them against listening to those who say otherwise. Meanwhile Zedekiah and Judah are given the same message together with the assurance, contrary to the teaching of the cult prophets, that rather than experiencing deliverance, what remains of the vessels of YHWH in the Temple will also be carried off to Babylon.

C) ‘And it came about in the same year at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah --' (Jeremiah 28:1). In this chapter the false prophets, and especially Hananiah, prophesy that within a short time subservience to Babylon will be over and Jehoiachin and his fellow exiles will return in triumph from Babylon together with all the vessels of the Temple. Jeremiah replies that it will not be so. Rather ‘all these nations' will have to serve Babylon into the known future. He then prophesies the death of Hananiah because of his rebellion against the truth of YHWH, something which occurs within the year.

D) ‘Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the Prophet sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders of the captivity, -- etc. (Jeremiah 29:1). In a letter sent to the exiles in Babylonia Jeremiah advises the exiles not to listen to false prophets but to settle down in Babylonia and make the best of a bad situation, because their exile is destined by YHWH to last for ‘seventy years'. Furthermore he emphasises the dark shadows of the future for those who are left behind, although promising that once His exiled people have been dealt with in judgment, YHWH will bring them back again to the land and cause them to acknowledge Him once again. He then prophesies against the false prophets, especially the prominent one who had put pressure on for him to be arrested.