Jeremiah 27:4-11

B. Instructions for the Foreign Ambassadors Jeremiah 27:4-11

TRANSLATION

(4) Command them to say to their lords: Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Thus say unto your lords: I have made the earth, and the men and beasts which are upon the face of the earth by My great strength and by My outstretched arm and I can give it to whoever is appropriate in My eyes. (6) Therefore I have given all of these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon My servant and even the beasts of the field I have given to him to serve him. (7) All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson until also the time of his land comes when many nations and great kings shall impose servitude upon him. (8) And it shall come to pass that the nation or kingdom that will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and will not put its neck in the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with sword, famine and pestilence (oracle of the LORD) until I have consumed them by his hand. (9) But as for you, do not hearken unto your prophets, diviners, dreamers, soothsayers and sorcerers, who repeatedly say unto you, Do not serve the king of Babylon. (10) For they are prophesying a lie to you which will only serve to remove you from your land; for I will drive you out and you will perish. (11) And the nation which causes its neck to come into the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him, I will cause to remain upon its land (oracle of the LORD) and they will till it and dwell in it.

COMMENTS

Jeremiah, the ambassador of the King of the universe, urges the ambassadors of the neighboring lands to carry a message back to their respective kings. Basically the message drives home the point that the God of Judah is not a local deity who controls only the territory in which His worshipers dwell. He is not a god; He is God! He exercises His sovereign pleasure over all nations of the earth. Jeremiah makes four points in this message to the nations.
He points out the basis of God's sovereign decrees (Jeremiah 27:5). God's right to direct the affairs of men is grounded in the fact that He is creator of the world and all that is in it. The God of creation is also the God of history. Because He is Creator, God may do with His creation whatsoever seems good to Him. He may, if He so chooses, appoint an overseer, a superintendent, a governor over His world. God need not consult with the children of men to see when and if He should take such action. He simply exercises His prerogative as Creator and appoints the one who seems right to Him.

Jeremiah announces God's sovereign will with regard to the world of the early sixth century before Christ (Jeremiah 27:6-7). God has given all the lands of the Fertile Crescent into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Even the beasts of the field have been brought under his jurisdiction. All nations are to serve him (Jeremiah 27:6). Thus decrees the Great King! Nebuchadnezzar is here again called My servant (cf. Jeremiah 25:9). The idea that the beasts of the field are to serve the king of Babylon is most likely an idiom expressing the all-embracing extent and unlimited power of Nebuchadnezzar's dominion (cf. Jeremiah 28:14; Daniel 2:38).

As if to temper somewhat the divine decree which he has just announced Jeremiah hastens to add that the supremacy of Babylon will not be permanent. All nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson until the time of his own land (Jeremiah 27:7). In other passages Jeremiah has indicated that the duration of the Babylonian world empire would be seventy years. Here he is probably saying the same thing in different words. It is unlikely that Jeremiah had in mind three specific kings.[238] Rather he seems to be saying that the nations would serve Babylon for a long time but not forever.[239] The time of his own land would refer to the time when Babylon would become subservient to another power. God Almighty has predetermined the duration of the Babylonian empire. Babylon is nothing more than a tool in His hands which is discarded when God no longer has need of it. At the end of the appointed time many nations and great kings shall enslave him. After the appointed time of world supremacy Babylon would become subservient to other nations. This prophecy was fulfilled when Cyrus the Persian conquered Babylon in 539 B.C.

[238] The successive sovereigns of Babylon were: Nebuchadnezzar, 44 years; Evil Merodach, 2 years; Neriglissor, 4 years; and Nabonidus, 17 years.

[239] Deuteronomy 4:25; Deuteronomy 6:2 use an equivalent expression in the general sense of a long time.

The prophet warns those nations which refuse to submit to God's sovereign decrees (Jeremiah 27:8-10). God will severely punish the nations which refuse to submit to the yoke of Babylon. God would use Nebuchadnezzar as the agent of His wrath to bring the sword against those nations which were in rebellion against the will of the Almighty. Famine and pestilence usually accompanied war in antiquity (Jeremiah 27:8).

A further warning appears in Jeremiah 27:9-10. The foreign ambassadors are warned not to listen to those other voices which were counseling revolt against Babylon. Five classes of prognosticators are singled out: prophets, diviners, dreams (or perhaps dreamers), soothsayers and sorcerers. Exact distinctions between each of these classes is impossible. It is interesting though that Jeremiah here recognizes the existence of prophet-like individuals among the foreign nations. The closest parallels to the Biblical prophets yet discovered are to be found at Mari in the eighteenth century B.C.

Those who were advocating rebellion against Babylon and pretending that such advice came from the deity were lying (Jeremiah 27:10). The phrase to remove you far from your land does not indicate purpose but result. That is to say, it was not the purpose of these false prophets, diviners and soothsayers to cause their peoples to go into captivity. Far from it! They were ultra patriots who could not conceive of the deity appointing a foreign ruler over their land. But the consequence of their lying words would be the destruction of their lands and the exile of their peoples.

Following the warning, there is a promise to those who submit to God's sovereign decrees (Jeremiah 27:11). Those nations which humbly and obediently submitted their neck to the yoke of Babylon would be allowed by God to remain in their own land. Thus it has always been that people who submit to the will of the Almighty have a peace which the world cannot know.