Jeremiah 27:16-22

D. A Warning to the Priests and People Jeremiah 27:16-22

TRANSLATION

(16) And unto the, priests and all this people I spoke, saying, (17) Thus says the LORD: Do not hearken unto the words of your prophets who keep on prophesying to you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the house of the LORD shall be returned from Babylon in just a short time; for they are prophesying falsehood to you. (18) But if they are prophets, and if the word of the LORD is with them, let them entreat the LORD of hosts in order that the vessels which remain in the house of the LORD, the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, do not go to Babylon. (19) For thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars, and the sea, and the bases, and concerning the rest of the vessels which remain in this city, (20) which Nebuchadnezzar did not take when he took captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. (21) Surely thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels which remain in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah, and Jerusalem: (22) They shall be brought to Babylon and there they shall be until the day I visit them (oracle of the LORD). Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.

COMMENTS

One cannot be absolutely positive that this message was delivered on the same day as the preceding two messages. The point of transition from the previous paragraph to the present paragraph is the blast against the false prophets. Not only had these false prophets given disastrous advice to the king and his court, they had raised false hopes among the priests and the people. Jeremiah now moves to shatter those delusions. The message as it has been recorded here contains a warning against the false prophets (Jeremiah 27:16-17), a challenge to the false prophets (Jeremiah 27:18), and a contradiction of the fake prophets (Jeremiah 27:19-22).

1. A warning against the fake prophets (Jeremiah 27:16-17)

Lies are often more attractive than truth. Certain prophets in Jerusalem were optimistically predicting that the vessels of the house of God which had been carried away by Nebuchadnezzar on his two previous assaults against Jerusalem (in 605 B.C. and 597 B.C.) would shortly be brought back from Babylon (Jeremiah 27:16). The implication of such a prediction was that Babylon would shortly be destroyed. Since this was the kind of news most men of Judah wished to believe, the false prophets must have had quite a following. such a prophecy regarding the return of the -Temple vessels would most likely have gained the support of the influential priests for the proposed revolt against Babylon. Again, for the third time in this chapter alone, Jeremiah calls such prophets liars, He urges the priests and people not to hearken to these lies, to face reality. Rebellion against Babylon will mean the desolation of this city! Do not support the proposed revolt and you will live. In other words Jeremiah is saying, you should not be so concerned about getting those Temple vessels back but about preventing a policy which would destroy the entire city including the Temple.

2. A challenge to the fake prophets (Jeremiah 27:18)

In Jeremiah 27:18 Jeremiah challenges the false prophets to prove that they are men called by God. If they are true spokesmen for God as they claim let them be praying as well as preaching. Let them pray that the vessels still remaining in Jerusalem be not carried away to Babylon. True prophets of God were always fervent and effective intercessors on behalf of their people. Jeremiah in this verse seems to be saying that not only are the prophets creating a delusion by insisting that the subservience to Babylon will shortly be ended, they are in reality powerless to prevent further humiliation at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. They can neither create good fortune by their preaching nor prevent disaster by their praying.

3. A contradiction of the fake prophets (Jeremiah 27:19-22)

Before concluding his message to the priests and people Jeremiah produces a double thus saith the LORD which directly contradicts all that the false prophets had been propagating. Those vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had left behind in the Temple when he took Jeconiah (i.e., Jehoiachin) into captivity in 597 B.C. will shortly be carried away by the Great King. This of course implies that Nebuchadnezzar will successfully besiege and conquer Jerusalem. Among the items which had not yet been taken away are named the pillars, the sea, and the bases. The pillars of brass were twenty-seven feet high and eighteen feet in circumference. One was called Jachin (He shall establish) and the other Boaz (In it is strength). These enormous pillars were no doubt one of the most attractive and distinctive aspects of the Temple of Solomon. Jachin and Boaz were broken up by the Chaldeans and carried to Babylon in 587 B.C. (Jeremiah 52:17). The large molten sea of Solomon's Temple is described in 1 Kings 7:23-26. It was forty-five feet in circumference and rested upon a beautiful base consisting of twelve oxen. The priests had to wash themselves at this enormous bowl before entering the Holy Place. The bases referred to by Jeremiah were ten in number. The author of Kings gives an elaborate description of them (1 Kings 7:27-37). The bases supported portable lavers.

The vessels of the house of God would not remain forever in Babylon. In God's own good time He would visit (i.e., punish) Babylon and then the vessels would be returned to Jerusalem (Jeremiah 27:22). Jeremiah's prediction was fulfilled when in 539 B.C. Cyrus conquered Babylon and issued a decree allowing the Jews to take their sacred vessels and return to their homeland (Ezra 1). Therefore Jeremiah agreed with the false prophets that the Temple vessels would return; it was in the matter of the time element that he disagreed with them.