In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, came this word to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,
This chapter opens with a date, and that date has puzzled readers for centuries — older translations name Jehoiakim here, while the ESV names Zedekiah. What follows is one of the hardest tasks Jeremiah was ever given: to wear wooden yokes on his own neck and tell the nations to surrender.
In the older text, verse 1 reads "Jehoiakim." Yet verse 3 sends the message to envoys visiting Zedekiah, who reigned after him. Commentators differ. Some read a copyist's slip:
This instruction came to Jeremiah in the days of Zedekiah, as verse 3 states. Copyists have no doubt put "Jehoiakim" in the first verse by mistake, in place of "Zedekiah." This suggestion is no attack on Scripture, but God does not work miracles to keep scribes right or printers right. They may misread the original, above all in the matter of a name or a date. Here Scripture itself makes the mistake plain, because Jehoiakim and Zedekiah certainly did not reign together. Zedekiah reigned after Jehoiakim.
Others keep the text as it stands and separate the moment the word arrived from the moment it was carried out:
The word about the supremacy of the King of Babylon, and the sign of submission, seems to have first reached the prophet "in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim" (Jer. 27:1). He was told to make bonds and yokes and send them to the kings of the nations around Israel, and to wear this sign himself, for it pictured the great burden of his whole prophetic word... Jeremiah did this in Zedekiah's day, as verses 3, 12, and 28:1 show. But that gives no reason to change the name Jehoiakim in 27:1 to Zedekiah, as some would do. Verse 1 only tells us when the word came to Jeremiah.
Judah's king was building an alliance with his neighbours. The aim was escape from Babylon:
This word came from the LORD to Jeremiah because the king of Judah was trying to form a coalition with the kings around the land, to throw off the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar. Empty thought! God had for an appointed term given him a dominion unlimited in title... Rebellious thought! for the God who gave the king of Babylon this large place of authority was openly chastising His own people, whose evil refused all remedy. Now when God is judging sin, the only fitting feeling in man is repentance in dust and ashes, with submission of heart to His ways.
The message the envoys carried home rests on who made the world. The Maker decides who holds it:
The foreign messengers or ambassadors are to carry the word to their lords: "Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: ... It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me. Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant."
The title given to a pagan conqueror carries a rebuke, and it has limits:
But God does not soften His sovereign will, nor hide the claims of His glory, because His people degrade themselves and put His name to open shame. And what a rebuke it was, especially to Judah and to the guilty son of David, to hear "the God of Israel" call Nebuchadnezzar "His servant"! God said it not only to the Jews, but to their Gentile neighbours... But Babylon's supremacy had a limit. It was no purpose of mercy. It was only a sovereign arrangement in providence, carrying out the needed chastisement of Judah and the nations.
Telling your own country to surrender looks like treason, not faith. That was the trial:
Notice how the conduct of faith at such a time exposed the prophet — and those who needed the word of the LORD — to blame. Men charged them with caring nothing for their country's honour and liberty. Men charged them, too, with proudly refusing to submit to the powers that ruled over Palestine and the kingdoms around. This is not the least of the trials of a sensitive spirit. Notice, further, that the path of faith always goes with the actual message of God for the state His people were in at that time. It was worse than useless to copy what was of God for the days of Moses, of Joshua, of David, or even of Hezekiah.
- Date. The verse fixes when the word came; the chapter shows Jeremiah delivering it under Zedekiah. Commentators differ — some read a copyist's slip, others a gap between message and delivery.
- Occasion. A coalition was forming to shake off Babylon. God calls that plan both empty and rebellious.
- Ground. The claim rests on creation: the One who made the earth gives it to whomever He chooses.
- Servant. Nebuchadnezzar is God's servant for a measured term — chastisement, not mercy, and not forever.
- Cost. Obeying this word made Jeremiah look unpatriotic. Faith follows God's present message, not a borrowed script from an earlier age.
Thus hath Jehovah said unto me Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck;
God tells Jeremiah to make straps and yoke-bars, wear them on his own neck, and then send them to the kings of the nations around Judah. The question the sign forces on everyone is simple: will you accept the yoke God has appointed, or fight it?
Jeremiah did not only announce the yoke of Babylon. He carried it on his own neck.
The next symbolic action reinforces and illustrates this message. Jeremiah has to take "bonds and yokes" and put them around his neck (27:2). This gave Zedekiah and the kings of other nations nearby (v. 3) an unmistakable demonstration: "the nation … which will not … put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, says the LORD, with the sword …" (v. 8).
One writer sets out the whole task, and why the prophet wore the sign himself.
Such striking signs as the belt (Jer. 13) were exactly fulfilled… Similarly the potter's vessel of Jeremiah 18; and the earthen vessel of Jeremiah 19. Also the bonds and yokes of chapters 27 and 28.
Judah's king had a plan of his own.
This word came from the Lord to Jeremiah because the king of Judah was trying to form a coalition with the kings around the land. Together they would throw off the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar. Vain thought!… Rebellious thought! For God gave the king of Babylon this large place of authority. And God was openly chastising His own people, whose evil refused all remedy. Now when God is judging sin, one feeling alone fits man: repentance in dust and ashes, with a heart that submits to His ways.
The verses that follow say where Babylon's power came from.
God speaks as Creator. In His sovereignty He appoints Nebuchadnezzar as head over the nations, over the beasts of the field, and over the birds of the sky (Dan. 2:38). This is not for ever, but for a time. God appointed a new form of government, because Jerusalem had failed. The rule of God through the house of David was to pass away. The Lord chooses an imperial head from among the Gentiles. He makes Nebuchadnezzar His servant; with him and his rule begin the times of the Gentiles… They end with the second, visible coming of Christ. Then Gentile world-dominion, which started with Nebuchadnezzar, will end, and the kingdom of heaven begins.
Calling a pagan conqueror God's servant was shocking, and it was said out loud to foreign envoys as well as to Judah.
God called the mourning prophet to a course that his countrymen saw as bold and presumptuous beyond words. How much more the ambassadors and the foreign powers! But God does not soften His sovereign will, nor hide the claims of His glory, because His people degrade themselves and put His name to open shame. And what a rebuke to Judah above all, and to the guilty son of David! "The God of Israel" proclaimed Nebuchadnezzar as "His servant," and not only to the Jews but to their Gentile neighbours. … But Babylon's supremacy had a measure. It was no purpose of mercy. It was only a sovereign arrangement in providence, carrying out the needed chastening of Judah and the nations.
Verse 1 names Jehoiakim, yet verse 3 has messengers coming to Zedekiah. Commentators differ. Some see a copying slip:
This instruction came to Jeremiah in the days of Zedekiah, as verse 3 states. In the first verse, copyists have no doubt written Jehoiakim by mistake for Zedekiah. This suggestion is no attack on Scripture. But God does not work miracles to keep scribes or printers right.
Others keep the text as it stands:
Jeremiah carried this out in Zedekiah's day, as verses 3, 12, and 28:1 show. But that gives no reason for changing the name Jehoiakim in 27:1 to Zedekiah, as some would do. Verse 1 simply tells us when the word came to Jeremiah. This sign of the bonds and yokes was characteristic rather than special. It signified that God had decreed that all must submit to the yoke of the King of Babylon.
The picture of a yoke returns with a very different King.
Power from God, although corrupted, is still with the Gentile nations today. When the Lord came in lowly grace to His people, they were under the Roman yoke… The yoke of kings had usually been oppressive. The yoke of this gracious King would be found easy and beneficial.
- Yoke worn. Jeremiah wears the yoke on his own neck before sending the sign to the kings around Judah. The messenger carries the message.
- Yoke refused. Judah planned a coalition to shake Babylon off. Commentators call it a vain thought and a rebellious one, because God Himself was doing the chastening.
- Yoke granted. God speaks as Creator. In His sovereignty He hands the nations to Nebuchadnezzar and calls a pagan king "His servant."
- Yoke measured. Babylon's rule was real, but God set its limit. It was His arrangement to chasten Judah and the nations, not a purpose of mercy.
- Yoke exchanged. The yoke of earthly kings was usually heavy. The yoke of the gracious King is easy and good.
and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the children of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers that come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah.
Five foreign kings had sent envoys to Jerusalem, and God told Jeremiah to load them with yokes to carry home. Why were the ambassadors there? Under which king of Judah did this happen? And by what right does the God of Israel tell Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon what to do?
These courts were not paying a friendly visit. One writer reads the visit as part of a shared plan to break away from Babylon:
Zedekiah's revolt might have had plausible political motives in the eyes of the world. As happens today too, it won the sympathy of everyone who resented Babylon's yoke. But this yoke was according to God... The surrounding nations were no doubt encouraging Zedekiah in what he did. We see it in Jeremiah 27:3. The kings of Moab, Edom, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon had sent their messengers to urge him to throw off the yoke of Babylon along with them.
The plan collided with God's own arrangement:
This word from Jehovah came to Jeremiah for a reason. The king of Judah was trying to form an alliance with the kings around the land, to throw off the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar. What an empty thought!... A rebellious thought too! The God who gave the king of Babylon this wide authority was openly chastening His own people, whose evil refused every remedy. When God is judging sin, the only fitting feeling in man is repentance in dust and ashes, with a heart that submits to His ways.
Verse 1 names Jehoiakim, but verse 3 puts the ambassadors before Zedekiah. Some treat this as a copying slip:
This instruction came to Jeremiah in the days of Zedekiah, as verse 3 states. Copyists have no doubt put Jehoiakim in the first verse by mistake, where it should read Zedekiah. Saying this is no attack on Scripture. God does not work miracles to keep scribes or printers from error.
Others keep both names. They separate the moment the word came from the moment Jeremiah carried it out:
God told him to make bonds and yokes and send them to the kings of the nations around Israel. The prophet himself was to wear this sign, for it pictured the great burden of his whole message. Then, as opportunity came, he was to give the representatives of the various nations these signs, to carry to their kings with the Lord's word about the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar. This happened in Zedekiah's day, as verses 3 and 12 and chapter 28:1 show. But that is no reason to change the name Jehoiakim in 27:1 to Zedekiah, as some would do. It simply tells us when the word came to Jeremiah.
The ambassadors came to negotiate and left carrying a message for their own masters. What Jeremiah did looked like treason:
God called the mourning prophet to a course that looked incredibly bold and arrogant to his own countrymen. How much more so to the ambassadors and the foreign powers!... And what a rebuke it was — above all to Judah and to her guilty king of David's line — to hear "the God of Israel" call Nebuchadnezzar "His servant," and say it not only to the Jews but to their Gentile neighbours!... But Babylon's supremacy had limits. It was no purpose of mercy. It was only a sovereign arrangement in God's providence, carrying out the chastening Judah and the nations needed.
God's claim over these five kings rests on His place as Creator:
Now look at the place God gives to the king of Babylon as Creator of the earth, of man and beast... God sets up the central, worldwide power. Any nation that refuses to submit to it would be in rebellion against God Himself, and would be destroyed... This was a government appointed by God. He had forsaken Jerusalem, and would no longer protect her unless she submitted to that government.
When God is chastening a nation, two responses are possible:
In a day of ruin faith always recognises the chastening of God and bows to it. Unbelief always resists, and calls its opposition patriotism, or perhaps religion. That is why the men of Judah saw Jeremiah as a very false Jew. He always advised them to submit to the king of Babylon. They thought themselves much better Jews, because they were willing to fight the king of Babylon.
Breaking the sign did not break the reality. When a false prophet broke the wooden yoke, God answered:
"You have broken the yokes of wood, and you have made in their place yokes of iron... I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, so that they will serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him" (vs. 13–14). And God judged the false prophet for his opposition.
- Occasion — Foreign envoys came to Jerusalem to pull Zedekiah into a joint revolt. God turned them into couriers for the opposite message.
- Owner — God is Creator of the earth, of man and beast, and He gave the king of Babylon his place. That power was a grant, not a prize he seized.
- Reach — Five foreign courts, not only Judah, had to wear the yoke. The chastening reached the nations too.
- Refusal — To resist the yoke was to rebel against God Himself. Breaking the wooden sign only brought yokes of iron.
- Response — Faith bows to God's chastening and repents. Unbelief resists, and calls the resistance patriotism or religion.
And give them a charge unto their masters, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel Thus shall ye say unto your masters
Foreign ambassadors were in Jerusalem on business of their own. God tells Jeremiah to hand them a message, and it is aimed past them, at the kings who sent them. Two things carry the weight here: the name God gives Himself, and His speaking to foreign kings at all.
The envoys had not come to hear from God. They came to organise a rebellion, and to pull Zedekiah in.
Zedekiah's revolt might have looked politically reasonable to the world. As happens today too, it won the sympathy of all those who chafed under Babylon's yoke. But this yoke was according to God. The Lord made it plain for all to see: the prophet Jeremiah walked through the city with a wooden yoke on his neck... No doubt the surrounding nations were urging him on. We see this in Jeremiah 27:3. The kings of Moab, Edom, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon had sent their messengers to press him to shake off the yoke of Babylon along with them.
The plan was both useless and rebellious:
This word came from the Lord to Jeremiah for a reason. The king of Judah was trying to form an alliance with the kings around him to throw off the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar. Vain thought! God had for an appointed term given him a dominion unlimited in title... Rebellious thought! The God who gave the king of Babylon this large place of authority was openly disciplining His own people, whose evil refused every cure. When God is judging sin, the only fitting feeling in man is repentance in dust and ashes, with a heart that submits to His ways.
The men sent to arrange a revolt now carry the command to submit.
A fresh message now goes to the nations. It commands them to take the yoke of submission to the king of Babylon. The foreign messengers, or ambassadors, are to carry the word to their own lords.
The first half of this double title reaches every power there is.
Scripture reveals a mighty heavenly host, and rulers and powers in the unseen world. God is the God of them all, as well as God of all the elements of nature, which He has often used to punish His enemies... We read of "the God of hosts" only a few times. Usually it is "Jehovah of hosts," and at times "Jehovah God of hosts." This shows that God revealed Himself under this name in connection with Israel.
The second half made it sting at home. Israel's own God called a pagan king His servant, and said so in front of the neighbours.
But God does not give up His sovereign will. Nor does He hide the claims of His glory, just because His people degrade themselves and put His name to open shame. And what a rebuke to hear "the God of Israel" call Nebuchadnezzar "His servant"! It struck Judah and the guilty son of David hardest, and God said it not only to the Jews but to their Gentile neighbours.
The words "you shall say to your masters" open the message itself. God moves from creation to government, and He sets a time limit on what He grants.
The verses which follow are of much importance and interest. God speaks as Creator. In His sovereignty He appoints Nebuchadnezzar as head over the nations, over the beasts of the field, and over the birds of heaven. This was not permanent, but for a time. Jerusalem had failed, so God appointed a new form of government. The rule of God through the house of David was to pass away. The Lord chooses an imperial head from among the Gentiles.
Where did that power come from?
His power was not the result of mere fortune, or inheritance, or military success; it was assigned him by God.
Carrying this word to foreign courts left Jeremiah open to attack from both sides.
Notice how faith had to act at such a time. It exposed the prophet, and those who needed the word of the Lord, to two charges. The first was that he did not care about his country's honour and liberty. The second was that he proudly refused to submit to the powers that ruled Palestine and the kingdoms round about... Notice too that the path of faith is tied to God's actual message for the state His people were in at that time. It was worse than useless to imitate what was of God for the days of Moses, of Joshua, of David, or even of Hezekiah. Faith is always taught of God, and understands His present testimony and dealings.
- Plot — Envoys from Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon came to pull Zedekiah into a revolt against Babylon.
- Courier — God turns those same messengers into His postmen. Their own hands carry the word back to their kings.
- Title — He signs it as the God of all hosts and as Israel's God. So the claim reaches foreign courts and still stings at home.
- Ground — He made the earth, so He gives it to whom He pleases. Nebuchadnezzar did not earn his power. God gave it, and only for a time.
- Cost — Whoever carries such a message looks disloyal. Faith holds to God's word for today, not to past glories.
I have made the earth, man and beast that are upon the face of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm; and I give them unto whom it seemeth right in mine eyes.
Judah's king was plotting revolt against Babylon when this message came. God answers by going back to first things: He made the earth, so He decides who holds it — even a foreign, idol-worshipping king.
Nebuchadnezzar's rise looked like conquest. One writer names the real source of his power:
His power was not the result of mere chance, or inheritance, or military success; it was assigned to him by God. … Here we see more than the transfer of royal privileges away from Israel, the nation God had appointed as His central authority on earth (an appointment still to be made good). We also see the Gentile king of Babylon given those privileges. The point is that God placed this supreme worldwide rule in the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. So he stands unrivalled in the list of emperors.
In the next verse God calls Nebuchadnezzar "my servant." One writer weighs what that title meant for Israel:
That is a remarkable word. It was no longer Zedekiah, My servant, but Nebuchadnezzar, My servant. The children of Israel and of Judah were about to lose their special place as His nation too. It was now a question, not of being His servant as a special honour, but merely in providence. Nebuchadnezzar, the idol-worshipping Gentile, could be His servant in this way as much as anyone else.
The title says nothing about the man's heart. Another writer sets him beside others God used without their knowing it:
God may see fit to call a man His servant who has no spiritual qualification for the place. Take Cyrus, or Balaam, or, in later days, someone like Judas Iscariot. A servant's place is certainly not the best… So we shall see that this mighty instrument, whom God used to correct His people, knew nothing of the hand that moved him.
The verse names the animals as well as mankind. One commentator sets that grant beside a greater rule still to come:
Dominion in the fullest sense, as well as the kingdom, belongs to our Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of Man. But here we learn that God (Jer. 27:5-7) made all things — the earth and everything on it. He had now given to His servant the King of Babylon all the beasts of the field, as well as all nations to serve him. Daniel 2:38 says that the birds of the heavens were given into his hand too. Genesis 1:28 shows that the fish of the sea were also to come under man, but they are not named as part of Nebuchadnezzar's dominion. When Psalm 8 speaks of the dominion of the Son of Man, all these are included, and indeed much more.
Zedekiah, the king in David's line, had to hear a pagan emperor called God's servant. The same word that gave Babylon its power also set its limit:
What a rebuke this was, above all to Judah and to the guilty son of David! They heard "the God of Israel" proclaim Nebuchadnezzar as "His servant" — and not only the Jews heard it, but their Gentile neighbours too. The divine grant was as detailed as it was wide: Jehovah gave him "the beasts of the field" to serve him, as well as "all these lands." But Babylon's supremacy had a limit. It was no purpose of mercy. It was only a sovereign arrangement in providence, carrying out the needed chastisement of Judah and the nations.
Judah's king was trying to shake off Babylon's yoke. One writer weighs that plan:
For a set term God had given him a dominion unlimited in title… Rebellious thought! For the God who gave the king of Babylon this large place of authority was openly chastising His own people. Their evil refused every remedy. And when God is judging sin, only one feeling in man fits. It is repentance in dust and ashes, with a heart that submits to His ways.
A prophet named Hananiah promised in God's name that the yoke would soon break. One writer names what that really was:
To do such a solemn thing, however pious and hopeful it might sound, was to speak "revolt against the Lord" (Jeremiah 28:16). God had made Nebuchadnezzar His servant and given him power and dominion.
- Made — therefore given. God's claim rests on creation. He made the earth, mankind and the animals — so the Maker chooses who holds His world.
- Given — not won. Nebuchadnezzar's empire came from God, not from chance, inheritance or military success.
- Given — to a servant without faith. "My servant" describes a use, not a heart; God has used men who never knew whose hand was moving them.
- Given — but measured. The grant covered lands and beasts alike. But it was providence for a set term — not mercy, and not permanent.
- Given — so submit. While God judges sin, the fitting response is repentance and submission. Promising a quick escape from the yoke was revolt against the Lord.
And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field also have I given him to serve him.
God tells Jeremiah to send word to Judah's king and to the kings around him. The God who made the earth has handed it, for now, to the king of Babylon. Two things startle here. God gives away rule over whole lands, and He calls a pagan conqueror "my servant."
Nebuchadnezzar ruled the ancient world. One writer traces that power past his armies and his family line to a decision of God.
His power was not the result of mere fortune, or inheritance, or military success; it was assigned him by God... Here God takes royal rights from Israel, the favoured nation He had planned to be His central authority on earth — a plan still to be made good. And He gives those rights to a Gentile, the king of Babylon. The point is that God placed this supreme worldwide rule in Nebuchadnezzar's hand. So he stands unrivalled in the list of rulers and emperors.
That transfer opens a long stretch of rule by Gentile — that is, non-Jewish — powers. One writer dates its start here:
For now, sovereign power over Jerusalem is in the hands of Gentiles. This state of things started in the days of Nebuchadnezzar with the Babylonian captivity... when God put power over men, and beasts, and birds, into Nebuchadnezzar's hands as the head of gold (Jer. 25:9-11; 27:6-7; Dan. 2:37-38).
God announced the title inside Judah and to the nations around it.
God's people degrade themselves and put His name to open shame. But He does not soften His sovereign will, and He does not hide the claims of His glory. What a rebuke to Judah and to her guilty king from David's line! They heard "the God of Israel" proclaim Nebuchadnezzar as "His servant" — and so did their Gentile neighbours.
The title is no compliment. One writer names the role in blunt words:
The house of David, the throne of Judah, had corrupted itself. The measure of the people's sin was full, and God's patience had run out in Nebuchadnezzar's day. The Lord uses him as the rod of His anger against Jerusalem, and as the hand that takes from Him the sword of rule and judgment in the earth.
The grant reaches past land. It covers animals too, which invites comparison with a greater rule still to come.
Dominion in the fullest sense, and the kingdom too, belongs to our Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of Man. But here (Jer. 27:5-7) God, who made all things — the earth and all upon it — had now given His servant the King of Babylon all the beasts of the field, as well as all nations, to serve him. In Daniel 2:38 we read that the birds of the heavens were likewise given into his hand. Genesis 1:28 shows that the fish of the sea were also to come under man. But they are not named with Nebuchadnezzar's dominion. When, however, the dominion of the Son of Man is spoken of in Psalm 8 all these are included.
Behind this message lies a piece of politics:
Judah's king tried to join with the kings around him and throw off Nebuchadnezzar's yoke. A pointless thought! God had given him a dominion with no limit in title, and for a set term. If it was limited in fact, that was only because he did not push his armies further. And a rebellious thought! The God who gave the king of Babylon this large place of authority was openly chastising His own people, whose evil refused every remedy.
The grant did not make Babylon safe:
Keeping this rule depended on faithfulness to the trust given by Him who rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He will. Babylon proved unfaithful, and so God set it aside.
Jeremiah's advice looked like treason to his own people.
In a day of ruin faith always recognises the chastening of God and bows to it. Unbelief always resists, and counts it patriotism or perhaps religion to oppose. Jeremiah seemed to the men of Judah a very false Jew for this reason. He always advised them to submit to the king of Babylon. They thought themselves far better Jews, because they were ready to fight the king of Babylon.
God had handed government to Nebuchadnezzar. What was left for Judah to do?
The only right course of action was to acknowledge this fact and to confess the sins that had led to it.
- Given — God assigned Nebuchadnezzar his power. It did not come from luck, family line, or success in war.
- Servant — the title names a job, not a good man. He was the rod of God's anger, and the hand that took the sword of rule from Jerusalem.
- Reach — lands, nations, and even the beasts of the field. Fuller dominion, the fish of the sea included, waits for the Son of Man.
- Limited — the title had no limit, but the term did. Keeping it depended on faithfulness to the One who gives rule to whomever He will.
- Response — faith bows to God's chastening and confesses the sin behind it. Unbelief fights back and calls the fight loyalty.
And all the nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the time of his land also come, when many nations and great kings shall reduce him to servitude.
Jeremiah tells the nations around Judah that fighting Babylon is not patriotism. It is rebellion against God. The God who made the earth handed this empire to Nebuchadnezzar. The verse gives the reach of the grant — every nation — and its end date: three generations, and then Babylon's own turn comes.
The startling word in this passage is not the length of Babylon's rule but what God calls its king. That name had belonged to someone else.
This is a remarkable word. It was no longer Zedekiah, My servant, but Nebuchadnezzar, My servant. The children of Israel and of Judah were about to lose their special place as His nation too. It was now a question, not of being His servant as a special honour, but merely in providence. Nebuchadnezzar, the idolatrous Gentile, could be His servant in this way as much as any other.
So how did such power come into his hands?
His power was not the result of mere fortune, or inheritance, or military success; it was assigned him by God… Here we see royal privileges pass away from the nation God had favoured and appointed as His central earthly authority — a purpose He will yet make good. We also see the Gentile, in the king of Babylon, given those privileges. God placed this supreme universal rule in Nebuchadnezzar's hand, so he stands unrivalled in the list of rulers and emperors.
The grant covers all the nations, and the words just before it add even the wild animals. Yet the same sentence that opens the empire also closes it.
God's grant was as detailed as it was wide. He gave "the beasts of the field" to serve him, as well as "all these lands." But God measured Babylon's supremacy. It was no purpose of mercy. It was only a sovereign arrangement in providence, and the carrying out of the needed chastening of Judah and the nations. When that work was done, many nations and great kings would make the Babylonian king serve them, after the third generation — as surely as all nations would serve him until then. But serve him they must till then, or God would punish them with His severe plagues.
The words "his son and his grandson" set a limit. That limit has a name attached to it, and a reason behind it.
God had foreseen that Nebuchadnezzar and his family would be no more faithful in the place of power than the house of David had been. So in Jeremiah 27:7 He foretold that Babylon's rule would end with Nebuchadnezzar's son's son. This was Belshazzar.
"The time of his own land" came when the conqueror became the conquered. That turn of events served God's people.
Babylon's doom comes under the Medes, led on by Cyrus the Persian. The result that matters most to God is this: the fall of Babylon opens the door for His people to come home from captivity. It is a picture of a final deliverance. Then One greater than Cyrus will be there to destroy the last holder of the last empire completely.
This handover is where a long era of world history begins — one that has still not ended.
Much of God's purpose for the earth is bound up with Jerusalem and with the land of Canaan. The throne once set up at Jerusalem will be restored to her in a coming day. Meanwhile sovereign power over her is in the hands of Gentiles. This state of things began in the days of Nebuchadnezzar with the Babylonian captivity… Those times will run on in line with Nebuchadnezzar's dream. They end when the stone cut out without hands breaks the image in pieces, puts an end to the four monarchies, and fills the whole earth. Then kingly power will be exercised at Jerusalem again, and the times of the Gentiles will be over.
Gentile power outlived Babylon. One writer follows it forward to the day the Lord Himself stood under it.
Power from God, although corrupted, is still with the Gentile nations today, and when the Lord came in lowly grace to His people they were under the Roman yoke. When He stood before Pilate He meekly acknowledged this authority. He even said that Pilate could have had no power against Him unless it was given to him from above… The yoke of kings had usually been oppressive, but the yoke of this gracious King would prove easy and good.
- Given, not won. God assigned Nebuchadnezzar his empire. He did not win it by luck, inheritance, or military success.
- Given away from Judah. God moved the title "My servant" from Zedekiah to an idolatrous Gentile. Royal privileges passed away from Israel, and God will yet make good His purpose for her.
- Given widely. The grant reached all these lands, all nations, and even the beasts of the field.
- Given briefly. God measured Babylon's rule at three generations, ending with Belshazzar. That family proved no more faithful in power than David's house had been.
- Given back. Babylon fell to Cyrus, and the door opened for God's people to go home. It pictures a final deliverance, when One greater than Cyrus destroys the last empire and the times of the Gentiles end.
And it shall come to pass, that the nation and 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, that nation will I visit, saith Jehovah, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
Judah and its neighbours were plotting to throw off Babylon's yoke. This verse names the price of refusing it — and asks why God would back a foreign empire against His own people.
This threat targets kings who were already scheming. One writer explains what prompted the message, and why their plan was doomed twice over:
This word from the LORD came to Jeremiah for a reason. The king of Judah was trying to form an alliance with the kings around the land, to throw off the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar. A pointless thought! God had, for a set term, given him a dominion unlimited in title. A rebellious thought! For God gave the king of Babylon this large place of authority, and He was openly disciplining His own people. Their evil refused every remedy. Now when God is judging sin, the only fitting response in man is repentance in dust and ashes. His heart must submit to God's ways.
The yoke looked like plain politics. But God Himself had set it there, and that changed what refusing it meant:
God has given the nations, and even the beasts of the field, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar for a certain time. God establishes the central and universal power. Any nation that refuses to submit to it would be in rebellion against Himself, and would be consumed. God appointed this government. He had forsaken Jerusalem, and would no longer protect her unless she submitted to it.
The verse points back to "this Nebuchadnezzar" — the king God had just called His own servant. That title runs right through the book:
The book speaks of Nebuchadnezzar about forty times, and the Lord calls him "My Servant." God raises him up to carry out His judgment on Israel, and on other nations too. The Lord says, "I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, My Servant… and all nations shall serve him." God gives him this dominion. God takes it away from Israel.
Sword, famine and pestilence are the sentence on any nation that refuses. Yet Babylon's own power had a time limit, and a purpose behind it:
But Babylon's supremacy was measured. It was no purpose of mercy. It was only a sovereign arrangement in providence, carrying out the discipline that Judah and the nations needed. When this was over, after the third generation, many nations and great kings would make the Babylonian king serve them. That was as certain as the fact that all nations would serve him until then. But serve they must till then, on pain of God's punishment with His severe plagues.
Commentators read this passage as more than a local crisis. Rule passed from Jerusalem to Babylon, and world power moved to the Gentile nations outside Israel:
God speaks as Creator. In His sovereignty He appoints Nebuchadnezzar as head over the nations, over the beasts of the field, and over the birds of heaven. This is not forever, but for a time. God appointed a new form of government, because Jerusalem had failed. The rule God had given to the house of David was to pass away. The Lord chose an imperial head from among the Gentiles. He makes Nebuchadnezzar His servant; with him and his rule the times of the Gentiles begin.
The verse pictures a neck that will not bend. Other voices were promising safety from Babylon, so this warning is about who you listen to:
To be stiff-necked and refuse God's word of warning is the sure road to ruin. His word then comes true in our own misery and destruction. To obey is better than sacrifice in the worst of times as much as in the best. But the prophets of men say what suits their masters' wishes and their own immediate interests. They promise safety from the coming evil, and that promise is as hollow as it is loud. In fact they only bring that evil faster.
- Cause — Judah's evil "refused every remedy," so the yoke came as discipline, not accident. Repentance and submission were the only fitting response.
- Giver — God the Creator placed the yoke, so any nation refusing Babylon "would be in rebellion against Himself."
- Servant — God called a foreign emperor "My Servant." He gave him dominion and took it from Israel.
- Limit — Babylon's supremacy was "measured." It lasted three generations, then other kings turned the tables. Sword, famine and pestilence fell on the nations that refused.
- Warning — A stiff neck under God's warning is "the sure road" to ruin. The popular prophets offer safety "as hollow as it is loud."
And ye, hearken not to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your soothsayers, nor to your sorcerers, who speak unto you saying Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
For they prophesy falsehood unto you, to remove you far from your land, and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.
Judah's prophets were telling the nation what it wanted to hear: Babylon's yoke would soon be broken. God's answer through Jeremiah is that the message is a lie. Believing it will cost them the land they think they are defending.
God's warning carries a promise with it. The nation that takes Babylon's yoke keeps its land. One writer weighs the cost of refusing that warning against the safety these prophets sold:
"But any nation that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave on its own land, to work it and dwell there, declares the Lord." (verse 11.) To be stubborn and refuse God's word of warning is the sure road to seeing that word fulfilled in our own misery and ruin. To obey is better than sacrifice in the worst of times just as much as in the best. But the prophets of men predict whatever suits their masters' wishes and their own immediate interests, and they only speed up the evil against which they promise a safety as hollow as it is loud.
These men were not crude frauds. They used the words of true prophecy, and the people liked what they heard.
It was more popular to prophesy smooth things and deceptions, and nothing is so dear to the human heart as to have God's approval on its own desires. That is why prophets were popular who would say, "Thus says the Lord," when the Lord had not spoken. We should not suppose that these prophets were always inventing lies, but they corrupted the word of God and made it suit man's taste (2 Cor. 2:17). They had to copy the real prophets in many of their expressions, and yet in the end they produced only their own empty speculations.
Dreamers belonged to the same trade. Scripture gives a test for them.
Scripture groups such dreamers with false prophets. Their dreams may have been a hypnotic state that evil spirits could use, to turn the people away from the Lord to idolatry. If what they predicted came true, the people still must not listen to them for that reason. God allowed it as a test, to prove whether Israel loved the Lord. Deut. 13:1-5. We have the same warning in the New Testament about the gospel and the confession of Jesus Christ come in flesh. Gal. 1:8-9; 1 John 4:1. In Jer. 27:9 the 'dreamers' stand alongside the 'diviners.'
The next chapter names one such man. Hananiah announced that Babylon's yoke was broken, and he used God's name to say it.
The sign of the bonds and yokes meant that God had decreed that all must submit to the yoke of the King of Babylon. In Jeremiah 28 Hananiah speaks against this, and he does it with "thus says the Lord" (v. 11) on his lips. To do such a serious thing was to speak "revolt against the Lord" (v. 16), however devout and hopeful it might sound. God had made Nebuchadnezzar His servant and given him power and dominion. Hananiah's doom was therefore sealed and carried out that same year (Jer. 28:17)! He had spoken a lie like the diviners and soothsayers — the spiritualists of the nations (Jer. 27:9-10).
Timing is part of the test.
It is always a mark of false prophecies that in a day of evil they promised prosperity. When the people of God have turned away from Him, false prophets prophesy smooth things. They have their glowing dreams of progress and of the spread of the Lord's work and blessing. The coming of great things and pleasant things is always their message. A true prophet, by contrast, in a day of evil warns of the coming of the Lord to judge the ungodly.
Obeying God's word here cost the faithful their good name.
Notice that the path of faith at such a time exposed the prophet — and those who needed the Lord's word — to two charges: that they did not care about their country's honour and freedom, and that they proudly refused to submit to the powers that ruled over Palestine and the surrounding kingdoms. This is not the least of the trials of a sensitive spirit. Notice, further, that the path of faith always goes with the actual message of God for the condition His people were in at that time.
- The lie flatters. Men's prophets say what their masters wish and what their own interests need. Their promised safety is as hollow as it is loud.
- The lie borrows God's name. These speakers copied the real prophets' language. They attached "thus says the Lord" to words God never spoke.
- The lie has a tell. Promising prosperity in a day of evil marks the false voice. The true prophet warns of coming judgment.
- The lie kills. Hananiah's hopeful message was revolt against the Lord, and he died that same year. In this verse the promise of freedom ends in exile and death.
- The truth costs. Faith took the yoke and bore the charge of disloyalty and pride. That yoke was what kept a nation in its own land.
But the nation that bringeth its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serveth him, will I let remain still in its own land, saith Jehovah; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.