Jeremiah chapter 27

Against the false prophets. To king Zedekiah of Judah. To the priests and the people.

 


 

AGAINST THE FALSE PROPHETS

 

VERSE 1. In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim. This should probably say “Zedekiah” instead of “Jehoiakim.”

It is probably due to a later scribe’s error in copying the manuscript.

 

VERSE 2. the LORD says to me: “Make bonds and bars, and put them on your neck.

Make bonds and bars. That is, make a yoke like those used to hitch together a team of oxen.

 

VERSE 3. Then send them to the king of Edom, to the king of Moab, to the king of the children of Ammon, to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.

 

VERSE 4. Give them a command to their masters, saying, ‘The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel says, “You shall tell your masters:

 

VERSE 5. ‘I have made the earth, the men, and the animals that are on the surface of the earth by my great power and by my outstretched arm. I give it to whom it seems right to me.

 

VERSE 6. Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant. I have also given the animals of the field to him to serve him.

Nebuchadnezzar … my servant. Inasmuch as he was attacking Judah as the LORD God willed, Nebuchadnezzar was acting as a servant of the LORD God.

 

VERSE 7. All the nations will serve him, his son, and his son’s son, until the time of his own land comes. Then many nations and great kings will make him their bondservant.

 

VERSE 8. “ ‘ “ ‘It will happen that I will punish the nation and the kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon,’ says the LORD, ‘with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.

 

VERSE 9. But as for you, don’t listen to your prophets, to your diviners, to your dreams, to your soothsayers, or to your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, “You shall not serve the king of Babylon;”

don’t listen to your prophets. In those days, the prophets were frauds. They were not to be trusted.

A few of them were sincere but deceived. Most were outright frauds. They were incapable of telling people the will of the LORD God.

Here is what they did. They preached their own personal preferences. And they told people that what they said was the will of the LORD God.

The people were naive enough to believe them. They were willing to be weaponized for their religious leader’s agenda.

In our day, many Christian leaders do the same. They claim to tell us God’s truth. However, they are not necessarily correct.

As in the days of Jeremiah, a few are sincere but deceived. Many are outright frauds.

We should not trust Christian leaders to tell us the will of God.

 

VERSE 10. for they prophesy a lie to you, to remove you far from your land, so that I would drive you out, and you would perish.

 

VERSE 11. But the nation that brings their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him, that nation I will let remain in their own land,’ says the LORD; ‘and they will till it and dwell in it.’ ” ’ ”

 

TO KING ZEDEKIAH OF JUDAH

 

VERSE 12. I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.

 

VERSE 13. Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD has spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?

 

VERSE 14. Don’t listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon;’ for they prophesy a lie to you.

do not listen to the words of the prophets. In those days, the prophets did not tell people the will of the LORD God.

Here is what they did. They preached their own personal preferences. And they told people that what they said was the will of the LORD God.

The people were naive enough to believe them. They were willing to be weaponized for their religious leader’s agenda.

 

VERSE 15. For I have not sent them,” says the LORD, “but they prophesy falsely in my name; that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you, and the prophets who prophesy to you.”

I have not sent them. Of all the self-proclaimed prophets in those days, the LORD God had sent NONE of them.

Not one.

they prophesy falsely in my name. Here is what they did. They preached their own personal preferences. And they told people that what they said was the will of the LORD God.

The people were naive enough to believe them. They were willing to be weaponized for their religious leader’s agenda.

 

TO THE PRIESTS AND THE PEOPLE

 

VERSE 16. Also I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, the LORD says, “Don’t listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, ‘Behold, the vessels of the LORD’s house will now shortly be brought again from Babylon;’ for they prophesy a lie to you.

Don’t listen to the words of your prophets. By now this message should be abundantly clear.

 

VERSE 17. Don’t listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon, and live. Why should this city become a desolation?

 

VERSE 18. But if they are prophets, and if the LORD’s word is with them, let them now make intercession to the LORD of Hosts, that the vessels which are left in the LORD’s house, in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, don’t go to Babylon.

 

VERSE 19. For the LORD of Hosts says concerning the pillars, concerning the sea, concerning the bases, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city,

 

VERSE 20. which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon didn’t take when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;

 

VERSE 21. yes, the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says concerning the vessels that are left in the LORD’s house, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem:

 

VERSE 22. ‘They will be carried to Babylon, and there they will be, until the day that I visit them,’ says the LORD; ‘then I will bring them up, and restore them to this place.’ ”

 


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JEREMIAH

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