First, He tells them that he was commanded by the Lord to speak Jeremiah 26:12 (NKJV)

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1 INTRODUCTION Chapter 26 should be studied in connection with Chapter 7 In Chapter 7 the Lord tells Jeremiah to stand in the gate of the Lord s house and tell the people as they enter the temple to not trust in the lies of the prophets and return to the Lord (Jeremiah 7:3-7) The false prophets were telling the people what they wanted to hear Jeremiah preached what the people needed to hear He told them Jeremiah 26:4 6 (NKJV) 4 Thus says the LORD: If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law which I have set before you, 5 to heed the words of My servants the prophets whom I sent to you, both rising up early and sending them (but you have not heeded), 6 then I will make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth. But, the people ignored Jeremiah and treated him like a false prophet. They believed that is was blasphemy to suggest that God would allow Jerusalem, home of His holy temple, to fall into the hands of Babylon God had promised to protect the city and the temple, and they saw Jeremiah as preaching heresy against God s covenant In their eyes, he was leading them astray and the people protested The palace officials heard of the demonstration against Jeremiah and came to the temple to find out what was going on After hearing the people, priests and prophets charge Jeremiah with blasphemy, they gave the opportunity to speak He presents 3 arguments First, He tells them that he was commanded by the Lord to speak Jeremiah 26:12 (NKJV) 12 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and all the people, saying: The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city with all the words that you have heard. Second, they were the ones in danger. He was trying to rescue them. Jeremiah 26:13 (NKJV)

2 13 Now therefore, amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; then the LORD will relent concerning the doom that He has pronounced against you. Third, if they killed him they would shed innocent blood Jeremiah 26:15 (NKJV) 15 But know for certain that if you put me to death, you will surely bring innocent blood on yourselves, on this city, and on its inhabitants; for truly the LORD has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing. Vs. 16 we read that the princes and the people tell the priests and the prophets that Jeremiah didn t deserve to die for 3 reasons First, the accusations were false, Jeremiah wasn t guilty of blasphemy Jeremiah 26:16 (NKJV) 16 So the princes and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, This man does not deserve to die. For he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God. Second, we have historical precedence that says we don t kill prophets because they warn the nation of impending doom Jeremiah 26:17 19 (NKJV) 17 Then certain of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying: 18 Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus says the LORD of hosts: Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, And the mountain of the temple Like the bare hills of the forest. 19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah ever put him to death? Did he not fear the Lord and seek the LORD s favor? And the LORD relented concerning the doom which He had pronounced against them. But we are doing great evil against ourselves. Third, Jeremiah had friends in high places Jeremiah 26:24 (NKJV) 24 Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death. Chapter 27 we see another of Jeremiah s action sermons

3 The timing of this message is key it happens at a time when Zedekiah is having a conference with representatives from 5 allies of Judah They were meeting to plan a strategy for dealing with Nebuchadnezzar The Lord tells Jeremiah to make and wear a yoke and to send them to 5 allies of Judah by messenger like an elaborate singing telegram The Lord tells Jeremiah to instruct the messengers to say Jeremiah 27:8 11 (NKJV) 8 And it shall be, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish, says the LORD, with the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. 9 Therefore do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon. 10 For they prophesy a lie to you, to remove you far from your land; and I will drive you out, and you will perish. 11 But the nations that bring their necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let them remain in their own land, says the LORD, and they shall till it and dwell in it. A yoke speaks of submission and the strategy that the nations needed was not a plan of battle, but submission to Babylon The spiritual leaders of both the Jewish and Gentile nations were lying to their leaders by saying they would not serve the King of Babylon The Jews had false prophets The Gentiles had diviners (people who read omens), dreamers (those who interpreted dreams), Enchanters and sorcerers (those who collaborated with demons in order to discover or control the future) But God says they re all lying Now, this is what you have to understand it was forbidden for Jews to have anything to do with diviners, dreamers, enchanters and sorcerers So why would Zedekiah listen to political counsel from the pit of hell? Because they were the experts? Skilled strategists? No, Zedekiah was seeking their counsel because he rejected God s counsel and that is true for us (Vs ) God tells Zedekiah to reject the counsel of the false prophets (Vs ) God tells the priest and the people to reject the counsel from the false prophets

4 (Vs. 18) God gives the priest and the people a test for the prophets Jeremiah 27:18 (NKJV) 18 But if they are prophets, and if the word of the LORD is with them, let them now make intercession to the LORD of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD, in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, do not go to Babylon. The false prophets were claiming that all the valuable articles of gold and bronze would be returned immediately to Jerusalem, but Jeremiah knew this was a lie In fact, the treasures weren t returned until after the decree of Cyrus (mentioned in Ezra 1-2). Jeremiah calls them out by saying, if this is true then let the prophets pray out loud about the matter and if they were true prophets God would hear their prayer and answer them. When the Babylonians organized a second deportation in 597 BC at the beginning of Zedekiah s reign, it proved that the false prophets were indeed liars and that their prayers weren t answered Nevertheless, God promises to restore Israel to the land Jeremiah 27:22 (NKJV) 22 They shall be carried to Babylon, and there they shall be until the day that I visit them, says the LORD. Then I will bring them up and restore them to this place. In Chapter 28 we have a confrontation between Jeremiah and one of the false prophets of Judah Hananiah History tells us that Nebuchadnezzar was putting down an uprising in his own country and Hananiah wrongly interprets this as the end of Nebuchadnezzar s rule He uses Jeremiah s metaphor of the yoke and prophesies that the yoke of the King of Babylon has been broken and the temple treasures would be returned to Jerusalem in 2 years Hananiah would have fit on TBN Not only would the temple treasures be returned, but King Jeconiah and all the exiles would return as well This message contradicted Jeremiah s message, so Jeremiah responds to Hananiah

5 Jeremiah 28:5 9 (NKJV) 5 Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and in the presence of all the people who stood in the house of the LORD, 6 and the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen! The LORD do so; the LORD perform your words which you have prophesied, to bring back the vessels of the LORD s house and all who were carried away captive, from Babylon to this place. 7 Nevertheless hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people: 8 The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against many countries and great kingdoms of war and disaster and pestilence. 9 As for the prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, the prophet will be known as one whom the LORD has truly sent. So they have a show down Jeremiah says hey, I hope you re right but you re wrong I would prefer that God do what you say over what I say This makes Hanaiah mad Jeremiah 28:10 11 (NKJV) 10 Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke off the prophet Jeremiah s neck and broke it. 11 And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus says the LORD: Even so I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way. Could you imagine going to church and watching 2 pastors go at it? It was an exciting day at temple today! Hananiah was speaking nationally concerning the yoke that Jeremiah prophesied about and the people chose Hananiah s message As a result, the yoke of wood, which was lite, would be replaced with a heavier yoke of iron Jeremiah 28:13 14 (NKJV) 13 Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus says the LORD: You have broken the yokes of wood, but you have made in their place yokes of iron. 14 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him. I have given him the beasts of the field also.

6 Remember, God s plan was to protect the people so they could live His plan wasn t to deliver them from the consequences of their idolatry But to protect them as they went through the consequences But Hananiah would be judged by the Lord for lying to the people Jeremiah 28:15 17 (NKJV) 15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah, the LORD has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie. 16 Therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I will cast you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have taught rebellion against the LORD. 17 So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month. Here s the lesson False prophets lead the people astray False prophets cause people to doubt the Word of God There are false prophets today that call into question whether events in the Bible actually occurred or not They could be the nicest people in the planet Like Hananiah, they could have the appeal of culture, the popular vote of the people but they are false prophets and God will judge them I ve known and even served with false prophets, God has always led me away from them before He judged them You don t want to be around them when He does In Chapter 29 Jeremiah goes on a letter writing campaign He writes several different letters in this chapter The first letter is written to encourage the exiles Jeremiah 29:4 14 (NKJV) 4 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. 6 Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters that you may be increased there, and not diminished. 7 And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away

7 captive, and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace. 8 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. 9 For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the LORD. 10 For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. As a shepherd, Jeremiah s concern was for the people and he wanted them to be encouraged He knew that the Jews would have a difficult time adjusting to a pagan society and he gives them instruction on how to live in a foreign place So Jeremiah tells them how to handle such a depressing situation The first thing he tells them is to accept it from the hand of God And the he tells them to let God have His way To turn a tragedy into a triumph, you first have to see it in the bigger perspective of God s purpose for your life Then you have to surrender your life into the hands of a loving God who redeems our lives for His purposes Because God s plan is not to harm us, but to bless us He isn t thinking the worst about us, but He wants us to know that He has a future hope for us The next letter was concerning the false prophets in Babylon Jeremiah 29:15 17 (NKJV) 15 Because you have said, The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon 16 therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, concerning all the people who dwell in this city, and concerning your brethren who have not gone out with you into captivity 17 thus says the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten, they are so bad. The false prophets were giving the people false hope Everything is going to be fine look at King Zedekiah, still on the throne Look at the people still in Jerusalem it s going to be fine But God made it clear that the people that remained in the land were bad figs that would be thrown out

8 Next Jeremiah writes a letter naming 2 false prophets Jeremiah 29:21 23 (NKJV) 21 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in My name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall slay them before your eyes. Not only did the false prophets lie to the people, they lived godless lives Be careful of any religious leader who claims to speak God s Word and yet lives a lifestyle that doesn t line up with God s Word In the case of these false prophets, they were committing adultery with their neighbor s wives and lying to the people by saying God told them to say something when He didn t Jeremiah writes a final letter and names another false prophet Shemaiah who wrote letters in the name of the Lord encouraging people to imprison Jeremiah because he was a madman Shemaiah was influential and had a following, so Jeremiah warns the exiles that the man was a rebel against God, that God didn t send him and that his message wasn t from God Jeremiah 29:24 28 (NKJV) 24 You shall also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying, 25 Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: You have sent letters in your name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, 26 The LORD has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, so that there should be officers in the house of the LORD over every man who is demented and considers himself a prophet, that you should put him in prison and in the stocks. 27 Now therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who makes himself a prophet to you? 28 For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is long; build houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat their fruit. Jeremiah is in trouble for telling people that they will be in captivity a long time, so build houses and settle in for the long haul So the Lord says that He will punish Shemaiah and he will be childless in Babylon thus his family will never see the Promised land again

9 It appears that God doesn t seek to deliver us out of our circumstances as much as He empowers us to go through our circumstances Chapters are often referred to The Book of Consolation In these 4 chapters, God amplifies the promise that He gave to His people in Jeremiah 29:11 Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV) 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Here we see God s promise unveiled Jeremiah 30:3 (NKJV) 3 For behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah, says the LORD. And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. God promises a new day, a new horizon and it has a near and far application The near application is the return of the exiles to Judah The far application is the gathering of Israel as a nation in the last days Jeremiah 30:5 9 (NKJV) 5 For thus says the LORD: We have heard a voice of trembling, Of fear, and not of peace. 6 Ask now, and see, Whether a man is ever in labor with child? So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins Like a woman in labor, And all faces turned pale? 7 Alas! For that day is great, So that none is like it; And it is the time of Jacob s trouble, But he shall be saved out of it. 8 For it shall come to pass in that day, Says the LORD of hosts, That I will break his yoke from your neck, And will burst your bonds; Foreigners shall no more enslave them. 9 But they shall serve the LORD their God, And David their king, Whom I will raise up for them. God speaks of a day when Israel will be united in serving the Lord God says this time will come after the time of Jacob s trouble The time of Jacob s trouble in vs. 7 is referring to the Great Tribulation period mentioned in Matthew 24 and covered in Revelation 6-19

10 The promise in vs. 9 applies to the future Kingdom Age, following the Tribulation Period when the Messiah is reigning from Jerusalem God also promises that their wounds will be healed Judah is sick as a nation and the prophets that were sent to heal them made them worse The allies (lovers) that the Jewish leaders trusted have abandoned Judah to her fate The Lord reminds Judah that it was He who is bringing correction He uses Assyrian to correct Israel and Babylon to correct Judah In the last days, God will use the Gentile nations to correct Israel and prepare them for the return of their Messiah However, God will also punish the Gentile nations for the way they will mistreat the nation of Israel in the last days God gives Israel a word of encouragement Jeremiah 30:17 (NKJV) 17 For I will restore health to you And heal you of your wounds, says the LORD, Because they called you an outcast saying: This is Zion; No one seeks her. Finally, God ends the chapter with an encouragement of restoration Jeremiah 30:18 20 (NKJV) 18 Thus says the LORD: Behold, I will bring back the captivity of Jacob s tents, And have mercy on his dwelling places; The city shall be built upon its own mound, And the palace shall remain according to its own plan. 19 Then out of them shall proceed thanksgiving And the voice of those who make merry; I will multiply them, and they shall not diminish; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small. 20 Their children also shall be as before, And their congregation shall be established before Me; And I will punish all who oppress them. The people of Judah and Jerusalem will experience intense trials at the hands of the Babylonians They will end up wearing the Gentile yoke, bearing the wounds caused by their sins and enduring the storm of God s judgment But God will deliver them, break the yoke, heal their wounds and bring peace after the storm by returning them to the land

11 This is all just a foreshadow of what will happen to the Jews in the end times and they will be reminded of this prophecy during the last days Jeremiah 30:23 24 (NKJV) 23 Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD Goes forth with fury, A continuing whirlwind; It will fall violently on the head of the wicked. 24 The fierce anger of the LORD will not return until He has done it, And until He has performed the intents of His heart. In the latter days you will consider it.