Jeremiah 27 - Bible Study, Explanation, and Application
Jeremiah 27 Bible Study
INTRO AND TIMELINE:
Jeremiah was a priest who lived in Anathoth (3 miles from Jerusalem). His ministry was directed towards the people of Judah, immediately before and during their exile in Babylon. His work as a prophet dates from 627 BC through the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BC.
Jeremiah is the longest book in the English Bible by word count. The book has 52 chapters.
Jeremiah prophesied under the following Kings of Judah:
Manasseh (687-642 BC)
Amos (642-640 BC)
Josiah (640-609 BC)
Jehoiakim (initially known as Eliakim, 609-598 BC)
Jehoiachin (also known as Jeconiah or Coniah, 598-597 BC)
Zedekiah (His reign ended when Babylon conquered Judah, (597-586 BC)
ZEDEKIAH’S MISTAKE:
Zedekiah was warned not to rebel against the king of Babylon. God told him to serve the Babylonians if he wanted his people to live (Jer 27:12).
Zedekiah, whose life was summarized by the phrase “he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord,” refused to listen to God, and put Jeremiah in prison for his prophecies (32:3).
He chose to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar with hopes that his allies would help him resist the Babylonian Empire, but of course, he was wrong.
In Zedekiah’s 9th year as king (2 Ki 25:1), Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and decimated the city with famine, violence, and fire (586 BC).
OUTLINE:
“SERVE THE KING OF BABYLON AND LIVE” (27:1-22):
Jeremiah was told by God to wear a yoke around his neck and speak to the ambassadors who came to Jerusalem from Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon (Judah’s neighbors).
He was to tell them that their nations would be subjected to the king of Babylon, and it was God’s will that they serve him.
Any nation that served Nebuchadnezzar faithfully and wore the yoke of Babylon, would be allowed to remain in their land.
Any nation that tried to throw off Babylon’s yoke would be thrown out of their land.
God had sent a similar message to King Zedekiah of Judah. He was not to resist Babylon or else his people would die by sword, famine, and pestilence.
God warned the nations to disregard the words of any prophet who suggested they wouldn’t be conquered by Babylon.
There were some prophets who were telling the people of Judah the gold vessels, which had been taken out of the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar and taken to Babylon during the reign of Jeconiah (2 Ki 24:13), would shortly be returned to the Temple. God said that this was a flat lie. Judah would serve Nebuchadnezzar, his son, and his grandson (27:7), and any prophecy promising a swift end to Babylonian control was not a prophecy from God.
God prophesied something very different through Jeremiah. He told the citizens of Judah that everything remaining in the Temple (the pillars, the washing basin, the stands, and the rest of the vessels) would be taken away to Babylon until the time He appointed for Judah’s restoration, but that would not happen for several generations.
APPLICATION:
Discerning the true words of God has been a challenge in every generation.
In Jeremiah’s day, there were all kinds of prophets and priests claiming all kinds of things about the true words and will of God.
A person had to be discerning to figure out which prophets were telling the truth.
Faith wasn’t something that could be done casually, the consequences of that was potentially ending up on the wrong end of the sword of God’s Babylonian judges.
The situation remains the same today. There are many teachers, but not all convey the words of God faithfully, and if you aren’t diligent in your search for God’s true words, you may end up on the wrong end of God’s judgement.
So don’t follow God casually! Finding truth has required hard work in every generation because the devil works hard to make sure its difficult to find.
A casual pursuit of the truth isn’t going to cut it when you have an adversary working night and day to keep you confused.
