Jeremiah 21:11-14

4. The alternatives for the royal house (Jeremiah 21:11-14)

TRANSLATION

(11) And to the house of the king of Judah: Hear the word of the LORD! O house of David, thus says the LORD: Judge with justice in the morning and deliver the oppressed from the hand of the oppressor lest My wrath go forth like fire unquenchable because of the evil of your[217] deeds. (13) Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, O rock of the plain (oracle of the LORD), who say, Who shall terrify us and who shall come into our habitation? (14) But I will punish you according to the fruit of your deeds (oracle of the Lord); I will kindle a fire in her forest and it will consume all that is round about her.

[217] Another reading is their deeds.

COMMENTS

The third brief oracle which comes as a response to the inquiry of Zedekiah is a last ditch appeal to the royal house (Jeremiah 21:11). They can still save their city if they are willing to make a radical change in the national policy, Two things are required: First, they might be able to escape the unquenchable fire of divine wrath if they will immediatelyin the morningbegin to practice and encourage social justice. The king and his administration must judge with justice and deliver the oppressed from the hand of the oppressor (Jeremiah 21:12). The word oppressed comes from a root which means to take by force, tear away, seize. The oppressed, then are those who have had their rights or properties taken away by force, i.e., by crooked justice. The Old Testament prophets had much to say in the area of social ethics. They were ahead of their times. Many Christians do not seem to have caught up with them in concern for the unfortunate and downtrodden.

The second thing that the royal house must do if disaster is to be averted is to cease their insane and irrational confidence in the inviolability of Jerusalem. In Jeremiah 21:13 God declares that he is against Jerusalem, the valley and rock of the plain. Jerusalem and Mt. Zion rise abruptly out of the surrounding valleys. Hence Jerusalem is the inhabitant of the valley. The city is like an impregnable rock which juts up from a plain. The word plain does not necessarily mean a level place but a plateau, either level or hilly. Because of the superior defenses of the city the Jewish defenders were confident of their ability to withstand the invader. Who shall come into our habitation? they boasted. Such boasts would suggest that the siege was in its early stages at the time Zedekiah sent the delegation to meet with Jeremiah. The confidence manifested by the Jerusalem leadership was ill-founded in view of the fact that God was punishing His people. According to the fruit of your deeds points to the fact that the punishment would correspond to the sins committed against God and man. Because of all of her crimes God will kindle a fire in the forest of Jerusalem i.e., in the houses of the city, and that fire will consume everything. (Jeremiah 21:14).