In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, came this word from Jehovah, saying,
A date opens a new section of Jeremiah's book. God's word arrives just as Jehoiakim takes the throne in Judah — and the chapter it opens asks what becomes of a nation, and of a prophet, when the reform of the last reign has changed nothing underneath.
The date does more than fix a year. Commentators reading Jeremiah as a whole treat it as a hinge in the book.
The second division of Jeremiah begins with Jeremiah 26. What marks it out is that it takes up particular events, rather than the general proof of the sin of the Jews and of the nations — the sin that brought them all under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar.
The verse names the new king by his father: Jehoiakim, son of Josiah. That detail carries the weight. Josiah had led a sweeping national reform, and godly people had read it as a turning point.
Josiah was the king in whose reign the reformation took place that we noted earlier. The reform awakened a passing hope in godly minds that the people had permanently turned to God. But that hope was false. Indeed, we are never to entertain such hopes.
The reform rested on one man. His godliness held back a nation that had not itself changed.
The great crisis in the nation's history comes in the days of Jehoiakim. It could not have come sooner. Under Josiah, an outward restraint held evil back. The king's godliness affected the nation and brought a blessing on it from God. But when his son Jehoiakim came to the throne, nothing in the people gave God moral ground to favour them.
The word comes at the start of the reign. It is an appeal, not yet a judgment.
Jeremiah 26 begins this series of details with a prophecy from the start of Jehoiakim's reign. The people are warned that they are already in sin, and that if they repent, they will escape. We have seen this character again and again in the prophecies of Jeremiah, as though God said, "Today, if you will hear My voice." Circumstances made this appeal urgent. If Israel did not repent, the house of Jehovah would be like Shiloh.
Jeremiah had been preaching for years before this date. This word gives him a harder task than the ones before it.
In chapter 2:1-2 he must "Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, 'Thus says the Lord'." In chapter 7:1-2 the test becomes more severe. He must "Stand in the gate of the Lord's house and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the Lord!" Then in the early years of Jehoiakim's reign, having ministered for nineteen years, he must "Stand in the court of the Lord's house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the Lord's house, all the words that I command you to speak to them." He must not leave out a word.
The chapter this date opens nearly ends with the prophet's death. The demand comes from the priests and prophets.
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, Jeremiah urged them to repent, but the priests and prophets demanded his death. The princes, however, protected him, and the elders reminded the people that Hezekiah did not put Micah to death. The answer to this, it seems, was that Jehoiakim had put the prophet Urijah to death. Ahikam, however, shielded Jeremiah.
The prophet was not left to his own strength.
They strive against him, but, as Jehovah had promised, they gain no advantage over him. It is the religious party that stirs up the people against the testimony which God bears to them through the prophet. But God turns the heart of the princes and of the people towards him.
A day of open evil does its own work in those who love God.
When the hearts of the godly are bowed down under the evil around them, they are led, like Jeremiah, into a greater desire for their own souls and for their own separation from evil. And they cry to God for their nation far more earnestly than if things went on with outward fairness and decency. So a double good is done.
- Hinge. Chapter 26 opens the book's second part. The focus narrows from general charges to particular events.
- Reform. Josiah's reform raised hopes of lasting change. Those hopes were false, and his son's reign proved it.
- Restraint removed. Josiah's godliness held evil back on the surface. Under Jehoiakim nothing was left in the people to give God ground to favour them.
- Warning. The word comes at the start of the reign — "Today, if you will hear My voice" — with escape still open if they repent.
- Cost. Jeremiah must stand in the temple court and leave out nothing. Priests and prophets then demand his death, and others shield him.
Thus saith Jehovah Stand in the court of Jehovah's house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in Jehovah's house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them diminish not a word.
God's word comes to Jeremiah early in Jehoiakim's reign and sends him to the temple court, where crowds from every town in Judah come to worship. There he must speak every word God gives him and hold nothing back.
Why did the crisis come now and not earlier? The change of kings is the key.
The great national crisis set before us here falls in the days of Jehoiakim, and it could not have come sooner. Under Josiah there was an outward restraint on evil. The king's godliness affected the nation and brought God's blessing on it. But under his son Jehoiakim there was no moral ground among the people for God's favour.
Each errand God gave Jeremiah put him in a more exposed place than the last. One writer traces the steps.
In chapter 2:1-2 he must go and cry out in the hearing of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord. In chapter 7:1-2 the test becomes harder, for he must stand in the gate of the Lord's house and call all of Judah who enter there to worship to hear the word of the Lord. Then come the early years of Jehoiakim's reign, after nineteen years of ministry. Now God calls him to stand in the court of the Lord's house and speak to all the cities of Judah. He must not diminish a word.
Jeremiah did not travel to those cities. They came to him, and one message had to reach them all.
This involved more than private conversations or talks addressed to a few. Everyone in Jerusalem and in the cities of Judah was to hear the divine warnings by means of a public and general proclamation.
Jeremiah had already been a prophet for years. So why does God commission him again here?
This is a fresh commission given to the prophet, though in a limited sense. As we saw in Jeremiah 1, he had already received his great call. Now, at the start of the second division of the book, he speaks to the people again, and warns them against cutting out a single word of what God had to say through him.
The same writer applies this to anyone carrying a message that is not his own. The danger runs both ways.
It is unworthy of a servant to cut down the Master's message. But let him also take care not to add to His words, or to the tone in which they should be delivered. Much depends on this, above all in dealing with others.
The crowd in the court had come to worship. Worship had become their cover.
Men fall into a dreadful delusion when they presume on God's favour to His people while staying indifferent to His will and glory. They insist that God must be faithful to them, even at the cost of His character. So they let off the very people Satan has turned into God's worst enemies, all under cover of His name, His law, and His land.
Saying this where the worshippers walked in took courage. And God was still waiting.
The Lord still waits in patience for their repentance. With holy boldness the prophet stands where the worshippers pass to enter the temple, and announces the message. The temple is to be like Shiloh — forsaken. Jerusalem is to be a curse.
Why must nothing be held back? Because the threat itself carried an offer.
How tireless the patience of the Lord is! He guarantees that He will relent from the evil He could not help but threaten, if only they listen and turn from their evil ways. But if they keep on rejecting the prophets He sent, rising up early and sending them, as He says, then let them prepare for the worst.
When God speaks of relenting, writers are careful about what that does and does not mean.
This change of mind on God's part does not mean He regrets His first decision. It shows His grace and righteousness: He suspends the sentence when He sees the least sign of repentance in the guilty person. Scripture mentions this patience of God on many occasions.
- Moment. Josiah's reform had collapsed under his son Jehoiakim, and the people gave God no moral ground to favour them.
- Place. God sent Jeremiah to the temple court, so that one message reached the whole nation at once.
- Measure. A servant may not cut his Master's message short — and may not add to His words, or to the tone.
- Hearers. They were worshippers who claimed God's favour while ignoring His will.
- Mercy. The whole threat was the whole offer: God suspends the sentence at the first sign of repentance.
Peradventure they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil which I purpose to do unto them because of the wickedness of their doings.
God sends Jeremiah to stand in the temple court and speak to the worshippers there. The message hangs on one uncertain phrase — "It may be" — and on what the hearers do with it.
This message came at the start of one king's reign, and the timing matters. Under Josiah there had been restraint; under his son it fell away.
The great crisis in the nation's history that we see here falls in the days of Jehoiakim. It could not have happened sooner. Under Josiah, an outward restraint held evil in check. The godliness of that king affected the nation and brought God's blessing on it. But when his son Jehoiakim sat on the throne, there was no moral ground among the people for God's favour.
God's offer of mercy reaches the people through a messenger. Kelly sets a limit on both sides of that job — nothing cut out, and nothing added.
It is unworthy of a servant to trim down his Master's message. He must also take care not to add to His words, or to the tone in which he should deliver them. Much depends on this, especially when dealing with others.
The same writer notes that this was a renewed charge, not a first one — Jeremiah had long been called, and now stands warned about subtraction.
In a limited sense, this is a fresh commission given to the prophet... Now, at the start of the second division of the Book, he spoke to the people again. He warned them against leaving out a single word of what God had to say through him.
The verse does not announce a sentence; it opens a door.
The people are warned, as being already in sin, that if they repent, they shall escape. We have seen this mark again and again in Jeremiah's prophecies. It is as though God said, "Today, if you will hear my voice."
"That I may relent of the disaster" sounds like God changing His mind. Commentators read the word another way.
It does not mean a change of mind on God's part, but a change of action caused by a change of mind on man's part. God sends warnings to man so that man may change his mind and repent. Then God may change His action from judgment to mercy. God has not changed His mind. God's mind has always been toward mercy... but man's sin must bring down the righteous judgment of God, even though He is slow to anger. There is only one way of escape, and that is repentance on the part of sinful man... If they hear and repent, then God may act according to the desires of His heart, and show mercy. If man will not repent, there is no other way, and judgment must fall.
This also explains why God announces the trouble instead of simply sending it.
Here we see again what is in God's heart towards men: He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. So if He proclaims judgment, His object is to turn them from their evil way.
So the threat is real. God does not bluff, and He does not wait forever.
Men's threats are sometimes mere idle words or empty boasting; the judgments God foretells are not like that. Never in the world's history has the Creator threatened judgments He did not mean to carry out. At times the people's repentance has held back His hand... It is part of the declared ways of God to withdraw sentence when men humble themselves before Him... It is also true that He is "slow to anger." He leaves the door open for repentance until the last. But even God's patience has its limits.
- Warning — God speaks the sentence before He carries it out. He announces judgment to turn the hearer, not to destroy him.
- Whole word — The messenger may not trim the message. Cutting words out is unworthy of a servant, and the tone matters as much as the words.
- Window — "It may be they will listen" is a real opening, not a formality. God warns people already guilty, and tells them repentance brings escape.
- Turning — Man's turning is what the verse asks for; God's "relenting" follows it. His mind has always been toward mercy — what changes is His action, not His heart.
- Time limit — God is slow to anger, and He has withdrawn sentences when people humbled themselves. But His patience has limits. The door does not stay open forever.
And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah If ye will not hearken unto me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you,
God sent Jeremiah to stand in the temple court and speak His words to everyone who came to worship. Verse 4 is where the message itself begins, and it begins with an "if."
The word came at a change of reign. Josiah's reforms had held evil back for a while. His son's reign uncovered what the nation was underneath.
Under Josiah, there was an outward restraint of evil. The king's godliness affected the nation and brought God's blessing on it. But when his son Jehoiakim took the throne, God found no moral ground among the people for His favour.
Before verse 4, God tells Jeremiah to leave nothing out. That command shapes everything he says next.
It is unworthy of a servant to trim down the message of the Master. He must only take care not to add to His words, or to the tone in which they should be delivered. Much depends on this, especially in dealing with others.
This was not Jeremiah's original call. It was a renewed charge, with one particular warning attached:
Jeremiah had already received his great call, as we saw in Jeremiah 1. Now, at the start of the second division of the book, he addressed the people again. He warned them against cutting out a single word of what God had to say through him.
Verse 4 opens with a condition, and that "if" marks the whole book.
Jeremiah's prophecies are more conditional than any other, except only Jonah's. In fact, they are stated more conditionally than even Jonah's. Jonah did not put forward a condition: "If you repent, God will spare Nineveh." But Jeremiah does state the condition: "If you repent, the LORD will repent of what He means to do."
The condition presses on the present moment, not on some distant day:
God warns the people, who are already in sin, that if they repent they will escape. We have seen this mark on Jeremiah's prophecies again and again, as though God said, "Today, if you will hear my voice."
The verse names two gifts God had already given: His law, and His servants the prophets. Refusing both is what turns a warning into a sentence.
How tireless the patience of the Lord is! He promises to turn back from the evil He had to threaten, if only they would listen and turn from their evil doings. But if they kept on rejecting the prophets He had sent — "rising up early and sending them," as He says — let them prepare for the worst.
The threat that follows names Shiloh, and it struck at the one thing the people felt sure of. Kelly draws out why no building could protect them:
Shiloh was the place where the tabernacle was first set up in the land. What was Shiloh now? God had profaned it, and God would do the very same thing where the ark now stood, where the sanctuary was in Jerusalem. It is impossible that God should bind Himself to maintain an empty form. He would no longer support what was a beautiful picture of His truth. In His eyes, the state of the people and of the priests was the most offensive evil under the sun.
Kelly names the delusion behind it:
It is an awful state of self-deception when people presume on God's favour to His people, in spite of their own indifference to His will and glory. They insist that God must stay faithful, whatever it costs His character, and so they let off those whom Satan has turned into His worst enemies — all under the cover of His name, and law, and land.
Jeremiah delivered the message, and the first move against him did not come from the crowd.
We see that it is the religious leaders who stir up the people against the testimony God gives them through the prophet. But God turns the heart of the princes and of the people towards him.
- Word — Jeremiah had to deliver every word, with nothing cut. A servant who trims the Master's message is unworthy of it.
- Warning — God had been repeating this warning for generations. He kept sending prophets, "rising up early" — the measure of His patience.
- Way out — The message came with an "if." Jeremiah states that condition more openly than any other prophet: repent, and God will turn from what He intended to do.
- Walls — Refusing that "if" left them nothing. God will not prop up an empty form; the temple could go the way of Shiloh.
- Withstood — The religious leaders stirred the crowd up against the message, yet God turned the hearts of the princes and the people towards His prophet.
to hearken unto the words of my servants the prophets, whom I have sent unto you, even rising early and sending [them], but ye have not hearkened,
God sends Jeremiah to the temple court early in Jehoiakim's reign, with one condition for Judah: listen to the prophets He keeps sending. This verse carries the painful half of that condition — God has sent for generations, and Judah has not listened.
A note on wording: the ESV says God sent the prophets "urgently." Older translations read "rising up early and sending them." The writers quoted below use that older wording.
Jeremiah was already a prophet. What happens here is not his first call. It is a fresh commission, given as the book turns a corner.
This is a fresh commission given to the prophet, in a modified sense. As we saw in Jeremiah 1, Jeremiah had already received his great call. Now, at the beginning of the second division of the book, he spoke to the people again. He warned them not to take away a single word of what God had to say through him.
Jeremiah was told to hold back nothing. That rule runs in both directions for anyone who speaks for God.
It is unworthy of a servant to cut down the Master's message. Only let him be careful not to add to His words, or to the tone in which they should be spoken. Much depends on this, above all in dealing with other people.
"Rising up early" pictures eagerness. God does not wait for anyone to ask Him. One writer goes further: people turn that very patience into a charge against Him.
God's patience kept rising up early and sending prophets, until there was no remedy. Unbelief throws that back in God's face. I adore Him for it, as for all His goodness.
Another writer puts God's unwillingness to stop in startling terms.
God did not know how to withdraw His prophets from Israel. He kept rising up early and sending them, though generations had refused them.
The message here comes with an "if." That sets Jeremiah apart. He does not only announce doom; he leaves the door open.
Jeremiah's prophecies are more conditional than any other, except only Jonah's. In fact, they state the condition even more plainly than Jonah's. Jonah never set out a condition, saying, "If you repent, God will spare Nineveh." But Jeremiah does state the condition: "If you repent, the LORD will repent of what He means to do."
"You have not listened" is the record so far. But there comes a point where the sending stops and world rule passes to others.
But then the Jews turned to idolatry. Whatever God's patience had been — rising up early and sending His prophets until there was no remedy — He had to give them up to judgment. He then set up Nebuchadnezzar, and the times of the Gentiles began.
Judah's problem was not doubt about God. They were sure of Him, and that confidence was the trap.
Men fall into a dreadful delusion when they count on God's favour to His people while caring nothing for His will and His glory. They insist that God must stay faithful, and they say it at the cost of His character. So they let off people whom Satan has turned into God's worst enemies, all under cover of His name, His law, and His land.
- Sent. God does not wait for people to come to Him. "Rising up early and sending" pictures a God eager to warn.
- Undiminished. The servant's duty is to deliver the message whole — neither trimming it down nor adding to its words or its tone.
- Conditional. Jeremiah's threats carry an open "if": turn, and God turns from the evil He intended.
- Refused. The tragedy is not a lack of warning. Generations refused it, while feeling secure in God's name, law and land.
- Ended. Patience runs until there is no remedy. Then God gives the nation up to judgment, and the times of the Gentiles begin under Nebuchadnezzar.
-- then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.
Jeremiah stands in the temple courtyard and tells the crowd what God will do to the temple and the city. The threat lands on the one thing Judah thought was safe. Does God's presence in a place ever protect the people in it?
Everything turns on what Shiloh was. God had put His name on that place, and then left it:
A place within the territory of Ephraim, where the tabernacle stood at the close of Joshua's life. Eli was priest there, and there Samuel began his ministry. The ark had been moved from Gilgal and stayed at Shiloh. Then it was carried into the camp, and the Philistines captured it. God had put His name there. But because of the wickedness of the Israelites He forsook the tabernacle at Shiloh, and afterwards the place stood as a sign of desolation.
Judah assumed God had tied Himself to the building. Shiloh says otherwise:
Shiloh was where the tabernacle first stood in the land. What was Shiloh now? God had profaned it. He would do the very same thing in Jerusalem, where the ark and the sanctuary now stood. It is impossible that God should bind Himself to maintain an empty form. He would no longer sustain what was a beautiful picture of His truth. In His eyes, the state of the people and the priests was the most offensive evil under the sun.
They leaned on God's faithfulness. That is what made their fall certain:
That is exactly what they did in Jeremiah's time when judgment was coming, and what Christendom is doing now. They said, "The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these," and, "The law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise." All the while they were going to Babylon. The faithfulness of God was unchanging. But the moment they used it to prop themselves up in a place of evil, it became the very ground of their ruin. The same principles that would be our security become our ruin if we leave out the sense of where we are.
The second half of the verse is not a random punishment. It reverses what the house and city were for:
The prophet took his stand in the court of the Lord's house to speak the word concerning it. This house gave the city its character. It was meant to be a centre of blessing to all nations and a house of prayer for all people. But because of the wickedness of the people the Lord declares, "I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse for all the nations of the earth." What a contrast we see here between His will and His way!
The threat is the second half of a condition, and the condition is where the mercy sits. The same passage names what shuts that door:
How tireless is the patience of the Lord! He promises to relent of the evil He could not help but threaten, if only they would listen and turn from their evil doings. But if they kept on rejecting the prophets He had sent — "rising up early and sending them," as He says — let them prepare for the worst. No mercy would turn aside His profaning of the sanctuary that their sins had already profaned. It is an awful state of delusion when men presume on God's favour to His people, despite their indifference to His will and glory. They claim God must be faithful at the expense of His character.
A ruined house of God drags His own name down with it. That has always seemed strange, and one writer gives the reason:
How strange it must often have seemed to many souls, that God can let His own people dishonour His name. They ought to be testifying for Him. And yet so it is. God would rather give up His own glory for the present, and hand His strength over into captivity, in the words of Psalm 78:61, than let His children go unrebuked and come to harm. He loves their profit more than His own present glory, though in the end everything will be for His glory.
Our standing is simply and entirely that of faith. We have no other. The moment we begin to think we have a standing-place apart from faith, we forget the basic principles of our calling. However free we may be, by grace, from the present condemnation of such a truth, the lesson will be of little value to us if we pin it on others and fail to apply it to ourselves.
- Shiloh — God put His name there, then left it. The ruin was already history, so no one could call the threat unthinkable.
- Form — God will not prop up a beautiful picture of His truth. Not when the people using it have become the worst evil in His sight.
- Reversal — the house meant to bless all nations becomes a curse to all nations. Misused privilege does not stay neutral. It turns.
- Presumption — claim God's faithfulness while ignoring His will, and that faithfulness becomes the ground of ruin, not safety.
- Mercy — the threat still hangs on an "if." God warns so that He will not have to strike. He loves His people's good more than His own present glory.
And the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of Jehovah.
Jeremiah stands in the temple courtyard and gives God's message to a full house. Priests, prophets and ordinary worshippers all hear him. Verse 7 is the quiet hinge of the chapter. Everyone heard — and what happened next shows that hearing God's word is not the same as receiving it.
This was not Jeremiah's first public assignment. Each new task pushed him further into the open:
In chapter 2:1-2 he must "Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem." In chapter 7:1-2 the test gets harder, since he must "Stand in the gate of the Lord's house and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who enter these gates to worship the Lord!" Then, in the early years of Jehoiakim's reign, after nineteen years of ministry, God calls him to "Stand in the court of the Lord's house, and speak to all the cities of Judah... all the words that I command you to speak to them." He must not leave out a single word.
So the crowd heard the whole message, with nothing trimmed. The same rule holds for anyone who carries God's word:
It is unworthy of a servant to cut down the Master's message. Let him also take care not to add to His words, or to the tone in which they should be spoken. Much depends on this, especially when dealing with others.
The message ended with a threat against the temple itself. God's patience had been long, and the people had misread it:
How tireless the Lord's patience is! He promises to turn back from the disaster He had to threaten — if only they would listen and turn from their evil ways. But if they kept on rejecting the prophets He had sent — He says He was "rising up early and sending them" — let them prepare for the worst... Men fall into a terrible delusion when they count on God's favour to His people while caring nothing for His will and His glory. They claim God must stay faithful to them, even at the cost of His own character.
Verse 7 says they heard. The very next verse says they seized him. The step from one to the other is short when the conscience is already uneasy:
In this state a bad conscience makes men relentless. They have no faith in God's warnings, any more than in His promises, so their one desire is to stamp out the testimony that stings them.
In their own eyes the anger was religious, not personal:
They were indignant that the prophet should pronounce ruin upon the holy temple of Jehovah. To them his warnings of judgment sounded like an attack on Jehovah's blessing on the nation, and on His choice of Israel as His people. Did not his words prove that Jeremiah had less confidence and less faith in Jehovah than they?
Notice the order in the verse: priests first, prophets next, the crowd last. The men closest to holy things led the attack — and God found help elsewhere:
The priests, prophets and people seized the prophet because of his word, and tried to have him put to death, bringing him before the princes... We learn here that when the priests and those who claimed to be nearest to God (and who should therefore know His mind best) became the greatest enemies of the truth, the Lord used others to rescue His servant. Sometimes He uses the most unlikely people, as He used the princes here. This teaches those who serve Him to trust in the Lord at all times.
The message they heard was not a sentence already passed. It carried a condition:
Jeremiah's prophecies are more conditional than any other, except only Jonah's. In fact they state the condition even more plainly than Jonah's did. Jonah did not put forward a condition: "If you repent, God will spare Nineveh." But Jeremiah does state the condition: "If you repent, the Lord will turn back from what He means to do."
- Full message. God told Jeremiah to hold nothing back. Cutting the Master's message down to size is beneath the servant who carries it.
- Full hearing. Priests, prophets and people all heard. No one in that temple court could later plead ignorance.
- Full offence. The word struck at their confidence in the temple. Men who count on God's favour while ignoring His will hear a warning as an attack.
- Full hostility. A guilty conscience does not argue with the testimony. It tries to silence it — and those closest to holy things led the way.
- Full mercy. Even so, the threat carried a condition: turn back, and God Himself will turn from the judgment He announced.
And it came to pass when Jeremiah had ended speaking all that Jehovah had commanded [him] to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, Thou shalt certainly die.
Jeremiah has just finished a short, sharp sermon in the temple courtyard, and the crowd turns on him at once. His attackers are not foreign invaders but the priests, the prophets and the worshippers in God's own house.
This scene belongs to a new reign. One writer sets the timing:
Years have gone by; Josiah is dead; the brief reign of Jehoahaz has come to an end. Jehoiakim has just taken the throne. Once more Jeremiah prophesies "in the court of the Lord's house." When they hear him, the priests, the prophets, and all the people seize him and say, "You will surely die" (v.8).
The arrest follows a message that was still an offer of mercy, not a closed verdict:
Jeremiah 26 begins this series of details with a prophecy from the start of Jehoiakim's reign. God warns the people, who are already in sin, that if they repent they will escape. We have seen this note again and again in the prophecies of Jeremiah, as though God said, "Today, if you will hear My voice." Circumstances made this appeal urgent, for if Israel did not repent, the house of the Lord was to be like Shiloh.
The arrest came only after Jeremiah had spoken "all that the LORD had commanded him." That one word — all — points back to his orders. He was to hold nothing back. One commentator draws out what this asks of anyone carrying a message for God:
It is unworthy of a servant to cut down the Master's message. But he must also take care not to add to His words, or to the tone in which he delivers them. Much depends on this, especially when dealing with others.
He obeyed to the last word. The cost came at the end of the sermon, not the beginning.
The verse names them in order: priests, prophets, then all the people. That order matters.
As usual, it was the religious element that was most wounded by the word of God and most hostile to His servant. The priests and the prophets decided on his death, with all the people easily stirred up and misled — and this in the Lord's house.
The crowd is carried along. It does not act on its own judgment.
In their eyes, Jeremiah had not just predicted disaster. He had insulted their God. Their outrage had a religious logic to it:
They were indignant that the prophet should pronounce ruin upon the holy temple of the Lord. To them, his warnings of judgment sounded like an attack on the Lord's blessing upon the nation, and on His choice of Israel as His people. Did not his words prove that Jeremiah had less confidence and less faith in the Lord than they?
That confidence was a trap. It turned God's faithfulness into a shelter for sin:
It is a terrible delusion when men presume on God's favour to His people, despite their own indifference to His will and glory. They insist God must be faithful even at the cost of His character. So they let off the very people Satan has turned into God's worst enemies — and they do it under cover of His name, His law, and His land.
The threat in verse 8 was never carried out. God had promised Jeremiah that his enemies would not win, and the rest of the chapter shows it:
They strive against him; but, as the Lord had promised, they gain no advantage over him. We see that it is the ecclesiastical party that excites the people against the testimony which God bears to them by the mouth of the prophet. But God turns the heart of the princes and of the people towards him.
One writer sees the same pattern long after Jeremiah's day:
Then he was arrested for his faithfulness and threatened with death, "You shall surely die." The priests and the prophets were his accusers before the princes. How often this has been repeated in the history of God's true witnesses!
- Mercy first. The sermon that got Jeremiah arrested was an offer of escape. If the people repented, the judgment would not fall.
- All of it. They seized him only after he had spoken every word he was given. A servant who trims the Master's message is unworthy of the errand.
- Religion first to strike. God's word wounded the religious leaders most, and they led the call for his death. The crowd followed, easily stirred.
- Presumption, not faith. They mistook confidence in the temple for loyalty to God. They used His faithfulness as cover for lives that ignored His will.
- Preserved, not silenced. They fought him and gained nothing. God turned the hearts of the princes toward the man they had condemned.
Why hast thou prophesied in the name of Jehovah, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of Jehovah.
Jeremiah had just finished delivering God's word in the temple court, and the crowd answered by seizing him and calling for his death. Their charge was the sentence about Shiloh — so why did that one threat drive worshippers to murder?
The crowd threw the name Shiloh back at Jeremiah. The place behind that name had a history they all knew.
Shiloh was a place within the territory of Ephraim, where the tabernacle stood at the close of Joshua's life. Eli was priest there, and there Samuel began his ministry. God had put His name there, but because of the wickedness of the Israelites He abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh, and afterwards the place was held up as a sign of desolation.
Jeremiah's hearers assumed the temple kept them safe. One writer names that assumption as the disease behind the riot.
No mercy would turn aside His profaning of His sanctuary, which their sins had already profaned. The temple He would make like Shiloh, and the city a curse before all nations. It is an awful state of infatuation when men presume on God's favour to His people, despite their indifference to His will and glory. They claim the necessary faithfulness of God at the expense of His character.
Verse 9 is not an argument. It is a demand that the speaking stop. One commentator traces that demand to the state of the men who made it.
In this state a bad conscience makes men implacable. They have no faith in God's threats, any more than in His promises. So their one desire is to put out the testimony that galls them.
The mob thought it was defending God. In their minds Jeremiah was the one with the small view of Him.
They were indignant that the prophet should pronounce ruin on the holy temple of Jehovah. It seemed to them as if his warnings of judgment were an attack on Jehovah's blessing upon the nation and on His choice of Israel to be His people. Did not his words prove that Jeremiah had less confidence and less faith in Jehovah than they had?
Verse 9 ends with the whole crowd around Jeremiah; older translations read that they gathered against him. But not everyone in Jerusalem shared their verdict.
The princes of Judah showed more conscience than the people or the priests or the prophets. The priests influenced the people, as is usually the case. The princes were men of more independent mind, and less swayed by the feelings of the masses. The weight and seriousness of the prophet's warnings impressed them to some extent.
The threat they found intolerable had never been final. Jeremiah's reply to them held out a way back, and one writer notes how rare that is among the prophets.
"Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God" — and the Lord will relent of the disaster He has pronounced against you. Jeremiah's prophecies are more conditional than any other, except only Jonah's. In fact they are stated even more conditionally than Jonah's own. Jonah did not put the condition into words: "If you repent, God will spare Nineveh." But Jeremiah does state the condition: "If you repent, Jehovah will repent of what He means to do."
This arrest was not a one-off. Another commentator looks past Jeremiah to what came after him.
Then he was arrested for his faithfulness and threatened with death: "You shall surely die." The priests and the prophets were his accusers before the princes. How often this has been repeated in the history of God's true witnesses!
- Shiloh warned. God had once put His name on Shiloh, then left it in ruins. That empty site proved a holy place is no charm.
- Presumption deafened. The worshippers claimed God's faithfulness while ignoring His will. They traded on His character instead of answering to it.
- Conscience hardened. They had no faith in His promises, and none in His threats. So they set out to silence the voice that disturbed them.
- Zeal misfired. They called Jeremiah the man of small faith. They were sure that defending the building was defending God.
- Mercy remained. The sentence they tried to kill him for came with a condition: turn, and the Lord will turn from the disaster.
And the princes of Judah heard these things; and they went up from the king's house unto the house of Jehovah, and sat in the entry of the new gate of Jehovah.
Jeremiah has just finished preaching in the temple. The priests, the prophets and the crowd have seized him and called for his death. Now the officials of Judah walk up from the palace and take their seats at the New Gate. A mob becomes a court, and the question is whether anyone in Jerusalem will listen to a word from God that they do not want to hear.
The men pressing the charge were not foreign enemies or the irreligious. They were the priests and the prophets, and the crowd followed their lead.
But when the enemy comes in like this, the Spirit of the Lord knows how to sustain a witness until the work is complete, even if He does not lift up a standard. As usual it was the religious element which was most wounded by the word of God and most hostile to His servant. The priests and the prophets settled on his death, and so did all the people, who were easily stirred up and misled. And this happened in the Lord's house.
The offence was not Jeremiah's manner but his subject. He had said the temple itself would fall. To them that sounded like an attack on God's own commitment to His people.
They were indignant that the prophet should pronounce ruin upon the holy temple of the Lord. To them, his warnings of judgment seemed to attack the Lord's blessing on the nation. They seemed to attack His choice of Israel to be His people. Did not his words prove that Jeremiah had less confidence and less faith in the Lord than they had?
The officials leave the palace and take their seats in the gateway. Their arrival changes the case.
The princes of Judah showed more conscience than the people or the priests or the prophets. The priests influenced the people, as they usually do. The princes had more independence of mind and were less influenced by the feelings of the crowd, so the weight and seriousness of the prophet's warnings impressed them to some extent.
Jeremiah now picks his audience.
So Jeremiah speaks to all the princes and to all the people. He does not now argue with the priests and the prophets; they were thoroughly hardened and sold to evil. But he does appeal to the princes on the one hand and to the people on the other, who, after all, were simple.
Given a hearing at the gate, Jeremiah does not plead for his life. He repeats the message that got him arrested, and hands his life over to the court.
Given the chance to speak, Jeremiah reminds the princes that he followed God's instruction to speak "against this house and against this city." Then he repeats his call: "mend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of the LORD your God." If they come back to Him, He will certainly relent of the disaster He has pronounced against them. "But as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you. Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves."
So where did that courage come from?
He makes his defence in a few dignified words. He tells them he is the Lord's messenger. He tells them that he is in their hands, but warns them that if they kill him they shed innocent blood. His courage came from faith. He knows that he is in His hands.
The hearing ends with a reversal.
The princes listen to Jeremiah and declare to the priests, "This man does not deserve the sentence of death." Some elders of the land recall Micah's prophecy in the time of Hezekiah. That king listened to him, and the judgment was held back. Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, steps in for Jeremiah, so that they would not hand him over to the people to put him to death. This time the prophet is delivered.
What happened at the New Gate is not an isolated scandal. The same alignment shows up again in Scripture.
As a third feature, we notice the bitter opposition of the prophets to God's prophets. "Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, 'This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears'" (Jeremiah 26:11, compare Acts 6).
- Word. Jeremiah's only crime was saying what God told him to say about the temple and the city.
- Wound. The message cut the religious leaders deepest. They, not outsiders, demanded his death inside God's own house.
- Weighed. The officials came up and sat at the gate. They showed more conscience than the crowd, because the priests swayed them less.
- Witness. Jeremiah answered by repeating the call to mend their ways. Then he placed his life in their hands. His courage came from faith: he knew he was in God's hands.
- Wall. The princes reversed the verdict, the elders recalled an earlier case, and Ahikam stood between the prophet and the mob. God knows how to sustain a witness until the work is complete.
And the priests and the prophets spoke unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die, for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears.
Jeremiah stands on trial inside the temple itself. The men demanding his death are the priests and the prophets — the very men whose work was to know God's mind. Their case is short: he spoke against Jerusalem, and the crowd heard him do it.
The charge is laid before the officials, whom older translations call princes. One commentator compares how each group in that courtyard responded:
The princes of Judah showed more conscience than the people or the priests or the prophets. The priests influenced the people, as usually happens. The princes were men of more independent mind, and less swayed by the feelings of the masses. So the weight and seriousness of the prophet's warnings impressed them to some extent.
The charge is that he "prophesied against this city." His accusers heard those words as an insult to God:
They were angry that the prophet announced ruin for Jehovah's holy temple. It seemed to them as if his warnings of judgment were an attack on Jehovah's blessing on the nation. They took them as an attack on His choice of Israel to be His people. Did not his words prove that Jeremiah had less confidence and less faith in Jehovah than they had?
The building itself was never meant to be a shield for the people living around it. As another writer puts it, the temple had a purpose the nation had abandoned:
This house, which gave its character to the city, was meant to be a centre of blessing to all nations and a house of prayer for all people, but because of the wickedness of the people the Lord declares, "I will make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth" (Jer. 26:6). What a contrast between His will and His way is seen here!
The demand for death comes from inside the temple, from the men who ran it. One commentator sees a familiar pattern:
But when the enemy comes in like this, the Spirit of the Lord may not lift up a standard. Even so, He knows how to sustain a witness until the work is complete. As usual it was the religious element which was most wounded by the word of God and most hostile to His servant. The priests and the prophets settled on his death, along with all the people, who were easily stirred up and misled. And they did this in Jehovah's house.
Standing beside the priests are other prophets. Men with the same title as Jeremiah are the ones calling for his death:
As a third feature, we notice the bitter opposition of the prophets to God's prophets. Compare Jeremiah 26:11 with Acts 6. "Now why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who is prophesying to you?" (Jer. 29:27; older translations read "who makes himself a prophet to you").
The accusers treat "as you have heard with your own ears" as proof enough. At the trial of Stephen, an early Christian preacher, a commentator weighs what such a charge is worth:
They were clearly twisting Stephen's words. But even if the charge were true, it was no reason for putting a man to death. He had very likely said before what he said later to the council: that the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands... For they had given the temple the place that belongs by right to its great Founder alone, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The men who should have known God's mind best are the ones seeking his death. One writer notes whom God used to protect Jeremiah:
The priests and those who claimed to be nearest to God should have known His mind best. Yet when they became the greatest enemies of the truth, the Lord used others to rescue His servant. Sometimes He uses the most unlikely people, as He used these princes. Even the name of one of them, Ahikam, means "of the enemy." This teaches those who serve Him to trust in the Lord at all times.
- Charge. The accusation is that Jeremiah prophesied against Jerusalem. His hearers took that as an attack on God's own choice of the nation.
- Accusers. The men demanding his death are the priests and the prophets — "the religious element which was most wounded by the word of God and most hostile to His servant."
- Crowd. The priests carried the people with them. The officials were less swayed by the mood of the masses, so they weighed the warning and showed more conscience.
- Verdict. The same charge returns at Stephen's trial, and it proves nothing. Even if true, it gave no ground for killing a man. They had given the temple a place that belongs only to its Founder.
- Rescue. When the men nearest to God became the greatest enemies of the truth, He used unlikely people to protect His servant.