If ye say, Jehovah hath raised us up prophets in Babylon;
Jeremiah's letter told the exiles to settle down in Babylon and wait out seventy years. Verse 15 quotes their reply: they had prophets of their own, and the rest of the chapter answers that claim.
The exiles pointed to preachers among them as proof that God was speaking in Babylon. But how much was that boast worth?
Had they boasted of those the Lord had raised up in Babylon to prophesy? Sadly, the true prophet was the least heeded, because he gave no advice to rebel. He did not despise the word of the Lord that came through Jeremiah. Instead he gave himself to prayer and confession as the time of deliverance drew near.
A crowd of prophets is not by itself a sign of God's favour.
When God raised up prophets in Israel's history, Satan at once confused things by raising up many false ones. In the days of Ahab there were 850 false to one true!
The counterfeit sells because it says what people want, in the words people trust.
It was more popular to prophesy smooth things and deceptions. Nothing is so dear to the human heart as having God's approval on its own desires. So people loved prophets who said, "Thus says the Lord," when the Lord had not spoken. We should not suppose that these prophets were always inventing lies. Instead, they corrupted the word of God and made it suit man's taste. They had to imitate the real prophets in many of their expressions. Yet in the end they only produced their own empty speculations.
Who were these prophets, and what were they promising?
The false prophets had predicted a speedy return. Some of these false prophets had gone with them to Babylon. They were in the prison camp on the banks of the river Chebar… Once again the seventy years come up, and what is to take place after they end… Two of the false prophets are mentioned by name, Ahab and Zedekiah (not the king). Besides being false prophets, they were adulterers. King Nebuchadnezzar roasted them in the fire.
God's answer turns to Jerusalem itself, and to the king still on its throne.
Then the Lord speaks about those Jews still remaining in Jerusalem under Zedekiah… This is not a promise of the return from Babylon under a son of David. The son of David was to suffer chastisement still more. There had been already a son of David carried into captivity. Another son of David was still reigning in Jerusalem. The pestilence and the sword were certain to fall on him.
The letter also settled who would answer for the lie.
Jeremiah sent the letter to encourage them to rest quietly under the yoke. This was God's mind for them. Those who spoke otherwise in the Name of the Lord would be punished, for it was rebellion against Him… Severe judgment was to come on them, on all such people, and on those who listened to them (vv. 15-19).
So what should the exiles do with their captivity?
Without a word from God, they would have kept plotting in Babylon to put an end to this miserable captivity. But when God sends a chastening, the part of faith is to bow to it, not to fight it. Suppose the Lord does something because of a wrong on our part. Faith in Him does not make light of the wrong, or of the chastening. It accepts the chastening with meekness and confesses the wrong.
Bowing to God's hand did not mean a joyless life.
To be happy, and to be peacefully pursuing what was good, was God's mind for them then: it is no less His mind for us now. This does not mean that either they or ourselves are to become Babylonish.
- The claim — The exiles boasted of prophets God had given them in Babylon. The true prophet among them was the one they heeded least.
- The counterfeit — Wherever God raises up true prophets, false ones appear in numbers. They copy the real words. They say "Thus says the Lord" when He has not spoken, and shape His word to man's taste.
- The content — They were popular because they promised a quick return. God had fixed seventy years.
- The consequence — Judgment falls on the deceivers, and on those who chose to believe them. The Jerusalem they hoped to hurry back to still faced the sword and the pestilence.
- The corrective — Faith bows to the chastening instead of plotting against it. It lives well and peacefully where God has placed it, without becoming like Babylon.
yea, thus saith Jehovah concerning the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and concerning all the people that dwell in this city, your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity;
This verse comes from Jeremiah's letter to the Jews already carried off to Babylon. The tone now turns: God speaks about the king left in Jerusalem and the relatives who stayed behind, and what He says is not comfort but sentence.
The exiles had been listening to voices promising a quick return. One commentator sets the scene by noting who was actually being ignored:
Had they boasted of those the Lord had raised up in Babylon to prophesy? Sadly, the true prophet was the one least listened to. He was no adviser of rebellion. He did not despise the word of the Lord that came through Jeremiah. Instead, he gave himself to prayer and confession as the time of deliverance drew near.
The phrase "the king who sits on the throne of David" might sound like a promise. It is not:
Then the Lord speaks about the Jews still living in Jerusalem under Zedekiah. He says He will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence on them. This is not a promise of a return from Babylon under a son of David. The son of David still had more chastening to suffer. There had already been a son of David carried into captivity. There was another son of David still reigning in Jerusalem, and the pestilence and the sword would fall on him.
By ordinary reckoning, the ones who stayed home had come off best. God's verdict runs the other way:
How could this be? Surely, one might have thought, those who remain in Jerusalem are the better Jews and those in Babylon are the bad ones. Why does God say the opposite? Because those who wanted to stay in Jerusalem were refusing to accept God's discipline. They thought they could evade it, either by staying in Jerusalem to fight or by fleeing to Egypt. Remember that since the first deportation in 606 BC, God had handed government in the world over to Nebuchadnezzar. The only right thing to do was to accept that fact and confess the sins that had led to it.
The first deportation, under Jehoiachin, had passed them by, and that escape left them sure of themselves:
The "bad figs, which are so bad they cannot be eaten," were the ones God Himself could do nothing with. They had not gone through the first judgment under Jehoiachin, so a second judgment had to come, and this time it was final. Though God declared that everything was lost, they, trusting in themselves, were boasting that they were the representatives of the people of God.
The title in this verse carries more weight than the man holding it:
While David's throne stood, it was still "the throne of the LORD," no matter how weak and worthless the men who sat on it were. The last king, Zedekiah, brought on the ruin by his treachery. Nebuchadnezzar "made him swear by God" (2 Chron. 36:13), but he "despised the oath by breaking the covenant" (Ezek. 17:17-18). Nothing was sacred in his eyes.
If neither the city nor the throne could protect anyone, the dividing line was something else — whether a person accepted God's hand:
The Lord meant their exile to be for their eventual good. This is a very important point. 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. For this reason the men of Judah thought Jeremiah was a very false Jew. He always advised them to submit to the king of Babylon. They considered themselves much better Jews, because they were willing to fight him.
- Warning. The exiles boasted of prophets of their own in Babylon, while the true prophet was the one nobody wanted to hear.
- Reversal. Those who never went into exile looked like the lucky ones. They were the bad figs: they refused God's discipline instead of escaping it.
- Sentence. God sends sword, famine and pestilence on the city that seemed safe, and on the king still seated on David's throne.
- Throne. Even a weak king sat on what was still God's throne, so Zedekiah's broken oath brought ruin on it.
- Faith. Faith recognises God's chastening and bows to it; unbelief resists and calls the resistance loyalty.
thus saith Jehovah of hosts Behold, I will send against them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like the vile figs, that cannot be eaten for badness.
Jeremiah's letter to the exiles in Babylon has just promised them a future — and then the tone changes. Verse 17 turns to the people still living in Jerusalem, and warns that they, not the captives, will face sword, famine and pestilence.
The threat answers a boast. The exiles had been saying that the Lord raised up prophets for them in Babylon. Commentators point out the irony: the one true prophet was the one nobody listened to.
Had they boasted of those the Lord had raised up in Babylon to prophesy? Sadly, the true prophet was the one least listened to. That was because he did not advise rebellion. He did not despise the word of Jehovah that came through Jeremiah. Instead he gave himself to prayer and confession as the time of deliverance drew near.
The picture comes from an earlier vision of two baskets of fruit, one very good and one so spoiled it was useless.
The "bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten" were fruit God Himself could do nothing with. They were those who had not gone through the first judgment under Jehoiachin. So they had to go through a second judgment, and this time a final one. God declared that everything was lost. Yet they trusted in themselves and boasted that they were the representatives of the people of God.
Their own escape from the earlier deportation had become their evidence of favour.
A large portion remained and were not taken away, and these attributed their escape from exile to some goodness in them.
The verdict looks backwards. God counted those left in the city worse than those already carried away. The difference was not where they lived, but how they answered His discipline.
How could this be? Surely, one might have thought, those who remain in Jerusalem are the better Jews and those in Babylon are the bad ones. Why does God say the opposite? Because those who wanted to stay in Jerusalem were refusing to accept God's discipline. They thought they could evade it, either by staying in Jerusalem to fight or by fleeing to Egypt.
Behind the refusal lies a settled danger. People count on God's favour while ignoring what He says.
It is an appalling state of self-deception when men presume on God's favour to His people, despite their indifference to His will and His glory. They insist on the faithfulness of God at the expense of His character. Under cover of His name, His law and His land, they let off those whom Satan has turned into His worst enemies.
Judgment came on those who fought the discipline. The same letter shows the other response.
The part of faith, when God sends a chastening, is to bow to it, not to fight against it. If the Lord sends something because of a wrong on our part, faith in Him does not make light of the matter or of the chastening. Faith accepts the chastening with meekness and confesses the wrong.
Another writer applies the same attitude to readers now, not only to the exiles then.
God's mind for them then was that they should be happy and quietly pursue what was good. It is no less His mind for us now. This does not mean that either they or we are to become like Babylon. We see in Daniel, who was one of those at Babylon, the sort of behaviour that pleased God. He said "No" to the king's food, yet he sought the good of those around him, according to the word of the Lord.
- Boast — The exiles claimed God had given them prophets in Babylon. The true prophet was the one they ignored, because he did not call for rebellion.
- Refusal — The warning falls on people who count on God's favour while ignoring His will and His glory.
- Reversal — The people left in Jerusalem looked like the better Jews. They treated their escape from exile as proof of it. God calls them the rotten fruit instead.
- Ruin — Figs too spoiled to eat are fruit God Himself can do nothing with. Those who dodged the first judgment met a second, and this time a final one.
- Bowing — The same letter shows the other way. Bow to the chastening, confess the wrong, and seek the good of the place God has put you. That was Daniel's course.
And I will pursue them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will give them over to be driven hither and thither into all the kingdoms of the earth, to be an execration, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I will drive them
Jeremiah wrote a letter to the people already carried off to Babylon. It comforts the captives, but it also warns those still left in Jerusalem. Sword, famine and plague will chase them, and their name will become a byword wherever God scatters them. Why did the ones who stayed home fare worse than the ones taken away?
This threat falls on those left behind in the land, not on the exiles. What separated the two groups? How each one answered God's chastening. One writer explains the difference by God's picture of the good figs and the bad figs.
Faith always bows to God's will. If faith tells me to resist, I resist. If faith tells me to yield, I am bound to do it. Jeremiah did not resist, but yielded. The bad figs resisted. Rather than yield, they fell back on Egypt. They tried to match the strength of the king of Babylon with political power and military aid. The Lord tells them that the good figs were those who had submitted, and who went into captivity in Babylon in the days of Jeconiah.
This threat sits in the middle of a letter about false prophets. The letter told the captives to settle down under Babylon's rule. Some men claimed to speak for God and said the opposite. The judgment falls on them, and on the people who believed them.
Jeremiah sent the letter to encourage them to rest quietly under the yoke. This was God's mind for them. Those who spoke otherwise in the Name of the Lord would face punishment, because it was rebellion against Him... Severe judgment was to come upon them, and upon all such, and likewise upon those who listened to them (vv. 15-19).
These three are not random misfortunes. The Bible names them together again and again. It traces them to God's own hand — the same hand that drives the people out.
This is often mentioned along with the sword and the famine as punishment from God upon His rebellious people. Scripture presents it as coming straight from God Himself. When David had numbered the people, the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel, and 70,000 men died. 2 Samuel 24:15-16.
To become "a curse" is more than to suffer a curse. It means other people put your name into their curses. You become the standing example of what nobody wants to be. Later in this same letter God names two of the lying prophets and shows exactly how that works.
Public examples were needed in certain cases to warn and impress a stubborn people. They believed man as easily as they refused to believe God... "and because of them this curse shall be used by all the exiles from Judah in Babylon: 'The LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire.'"
The same words fell on Jerusalem itself — on its leaders and its people. One writer points out how exactly it happened.
So Jerusalem, its princes and its people would become "a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse." And His word came true with startling exactness.
This threat is not the whole story. God's view of the people already taken to Babylon was very different.
Even in the land of the Chaldeans the eyes of the Lord are on them for good. They should be restored again, too, and settled in the land of Israel. But better than the best of the land, they should know the Lord. And better than returning to the place, they should return to Him. As He says: "I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart" (Jeremiah 24:7).
- Bow, and live. Faith yields to God's chastening instead of fighting it. God called the ones who submitted and went to Babylon good figs. Those who resisted and looked to Egypt stayed — and fell.
- Believe lies, share their sentence. The judgment lands on the false prophets and on the people who believed them.
- God's own hand. Scripture names sword, famine and pestilence together again and again. They are God's punishment on a rebellious people, not bad luck.
- A name men curse by. Becoming "a curse" means people curse by your name — as they did with Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned in the fire.
- Exactness, then mercy. God's word came true with startling exactness. Yet His eyes were on the exiles for good. He promised them a heart to know Him and a whole-hearted return.
because they have not hearkened to my words, saith Jehovah, wherewith I sent unto them my servants the prophets, rising early and sending; but ye have not hearkened, saith Jehovah.
Jeremiah's letter to the exiles in Babylon explains why the disaster came. God had spoken again and again through His prophets, and the people would not listen.
The verses just before this one announce sword, famine and plague. One writer shows who they fall on — the people still living in Jerusalem, not the exiles reading the letter:
Then the LORD speaks about those Jews still living in Jerusalem under Zedekiah. He names the king on the throne of David, the people of that city, and the relatives who did not go into captivity. On them He will send the sword, the famine and the pestilence. This is not a promise of the return from Babylon under a son of David. The son of David was to suffer still more chastening.
Where the ESV says "persistently sent," older translations say "rising up early and sending." The picture is of someone getting up at dawn to speak. One writer counted how often Jeremiah repeats it:
In His zeal for their good He speaks of "rising up early" to speak to them, time after time — eleven times at least! How this speaks of the Lord's intense love for them! No wonder He wept over Jerusalem! They have "forsaken Me!" they have "forgotten Me!" they have "turned their backs unto Me!" He says again and again. This shows how He felt their treatment and the bitter suffering they were bringing upon themselves.
God's servants the prophets did not come to announce a fixed sentence. They came so the sentence need never fall:
How tireless the patience of the Lord is. He guarantees that He will turn from the evil He could not but threaten, if only they would listen and turn from their evil doings. But if they kept on rejecting His prophets, let them prepare for the worst. He had sent those prophets, "rising up early and sending them," as He says.
They did listen — but to other messengers. Some prophets among them promised a quick trip home:
The false prophets had predicted a speedy return. Some of these false prophets had gone with them to Babylon. … But those who kept on in disobedience, and listened to the false prophets, will suffer the fate that was predicted. For them there will be no deliverance.
The same letter also sets a limit to the exile. The number seventy carries its own message:
The LORD measured the stay of seventy years in Babylon. It was long enough to carry out His chastening. It was short enough to prove His tender mercy, and to leave room for a greater display of Himself.
God's patience is not endless. One writer traces how it ran out, and turns the warning on our own day:
In infinite patience the Lord still waited for the return of His people. Judgment is His strange work, but He delights in mercy. He had compassion on them, so He sent them messengers who urged them and brought God's messages. But they mocked the messengers, despised God's gracious offers and misused His prophets, till there was no remedy. An awful statement… This age too rejects God's best. It is approaching a day when there will be no remedy and the judgment will fall.
- Sent — "Rising up early and sending" is Jeremiah's picture of God speaking again and again. Commentators read it as a mark of His intense love.
- Spurned — The prophets came with a condition, not a countdown. God would turn from the threatened evil if the people turned from their evil doings. Refusing the message made it final.
- Swapped — They did hear voices — the ones promising a quick return. Preferring a comfortable prophet to a true one is what sealed the fate announced here.
- Struck — The sword, famine and plague fall on those still in Jerusalem under Zedekiah, not on the exiles who received the letter. Even the throne of David faced further chastening.
- Spared — Even in judgment the measure is mercy. Seventy years was long enough to chasten, short enough to prove God's tenderness. But patience has an end: there came a point where there was no remedy, and that warning stands for readers now.