In this chapter the enemy is at the gates. The king is desperate. So desperate that he asks Jeremiah for a word from God. The king must have more respect now since his former words are coming true.
Zedekiah is retold of God's judgment. "There will be pestilence." Undoubtedly the sickness will be due to starvation caused by a siege. Those who do not die by illness will die by the sword, the edge of the sword. The leaders will be deported.
Jeremiah adds there is one way out. They must give themselves up, go through the wall and go out to the enemy troops. This is pretty risky. The troops might just kill you. But Jeremiah says they won't. He who goes out to the Chaldeans "will have his own life as booty". He will be a slave but he will be alive.
The Hebrew blessing oft quoted is turned around on them (v.10). "I have set my face against this city for harm and not for good."
He then tells those of the king's administration to administer justice every morning. Those who are robbing must be judged and those who are being robbed must be delivered and the situation set to right.
Perhaps God will still relent (v.12) if the people repent of their evil deeds (v.14). There is an implied hint that God might still relent. But even if he doesn't you owe God good works of justice.
Those who have the responsibility to do justice should do it.
Darrell Bock's Blog
About Me
- bbaker4311
- Houston, TX
- I am married to DW Barbara. I have been married 30 years this year, wahoo. I have four children. They are all just about grown. My oldest son (DS) has recently given us, with the help of his beautiful wife, a second grandbaby. This one is a girl. His first child is a boy who was one February 7. I have three daughters who are wonderful too. One lives in the NYC area and the other two are in colleges in Texas. I am proud of all my children and thank God for their health and their gifts and talents.
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1 comment:
Bruce, I’m glad to see anyone working through Jeremiah. It has become a great favorite of mine. In the OT, the essentials would have to include Deut, Is, and Jeremiah.
In Jeremiah 44:25ff, God, says (vastly paraphrased), “So you have made a vow to these idols! Well then, go perform your vows. You do what you have to do, and I will do what I have to do!”
These words sound pretty close to a married couple on the ragged edge of divorce, and are part of what changed my image of the relationship between God and his people from (primarily) a parental model to (primarily) a marital model. Of course, there is a mixture, but I think the marital imagery predominates.
It also helps me understand the “hot and cold” emotional state of God’s revelations toward Israel: breathing fire and destruction in one place, and undying love and tender devotion in another. This confused the heck out of me until I realized that it is exactly how a betrayed lover sounds.
But of course, along with the “divorce” there is also Jeremiah 33:2-3, 7-11
“Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it—the Lord is his name:
“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.
“I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first. I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.
“Thus says the Lord: In this place of which you say, ‘It is a waste without man or beast,’ in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man or inhabitant or beast, there shall be heard again the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord:
‘Give thanks to the Lord of hosts,
for the Lord is good,
for His steadfast love endures forever!’
These two ideas have come to encapsulate almost the whole of the Bible for me – the broken betrothal, followed by a great unilateral redemptive act by the aggrieved party, and ultimately a massive restoration and consummation worthy of a Jane Austin novel, at the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Jeremiah has become one of my favorite books for this!
Blessings!
-R. Eric Sawyer
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