Jeremiah 27 Study Notes: Jeremiah Wears a Yoke
Jeremiah wears a yoke as a sign that Judah and its neighbors must submit to Nebuchadnezzar, to whom God, the Creator of the earth, has handed these lands for a set time. He warns Zedekiah and the priests against prophets promising the temple treasures will soon return; the rest will go too, until God restores them.
General
What did Jeremiah say would come of trusting the prophets, diviners and dreamers who insisted the nations would not serve Babylon (Jeremiah 27:9-10, 14-15)?
Answer: It would lead to exile from the land and death
The LORD warned against prophets, diviners, dream interpreters, mediums and sorcerers who told the nations they would never serve Babylon (27:9). Their message was a lie, and believing it would get the people removed from their land so that they would perish (27:10). To Zedekiah the LORD added that He had not sent these prophets, though they spoke falsely in His name (27:14-15). Diviners and mediums, who claim to learn secret knowledge from spirits or omens, were already forbidden in God’s law (Deuteronomy 18:10-12). Elsewhere the LORD says He did not send such prophets or give them His word (23:21; 14:14).
- Jeremiah 27:9-10 (BSB)“But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums, or your sorcerers who declare, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ For they prophesy to you a lie that will serve to remove you from your land; I will banish you and you will perish.”The nations are warned not to heed diviners and prophets whose lie will lead to exile.
- Jeremiah 27:14-15 (BSB)“Do not listen to the words of the prophets who say, ‘You must not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they are prophesying to you a lie. For I have not sent them, declares the LORD, and yet they are prophesying falsely in My name; therefore I will banish you, and you will perish—you and the prophets who prophesy to you.””The LORD tells Zedekiah these prophets were not sent by Him.
- Deuteronomy 18:10-12 (BSB)“Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery, casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD. And because of these detestable things, the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you.”God’s law forbids divination, sorcery and consulting mediums.
- Jeremiah 23:21 (BSB)“I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied.”These prophets ran and spoke though the LORD had neither sent them nor spoken to them.
- Jeremiah 14:14 (BSB)““The prophets are prophesying lies in My name,” replied the LORD. “I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, a worthless divination, the futility and delusion of their own minds.”The LORD says these prophets speak falsehood in His name without His commission.
Theological
According to Jeremiah 27:9-10 and 14-15, what is the effect of believing the prophets and diviners who deny Babylon’s coming rule?
Answer: It would lead to exile from the land and death
The LORD condemns the whole apparatus of false assurance, prophets, diviners, dreamers, mediums and sorcerers, whose message that the nations will not serve Babylon is a lie (27:9). Believing it brings the very removal from the land and destruction it denies (27:10). To Zedekiah the LORD adds that these men prophesy falsely in His name without being sent (27:14-15). Divination was already forbidden under the Mosaic law (Deuteronomy 18:10-12), and Jeremiah repeatedly exposes prophets who run without a commission (23:21; 14:14).
- Jeremiah 27:9-10 (BSB)“But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums, or your sorcerers who declare, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ For they prophesy to you a lie that will serve to remove you from your land; I will banish you and you will perish.”The nations are warned not to heed diviners and prophets whose lie will lead to exile.
- Jeremiah 27:14-15 (BSB)“Do not listen to the words of the prophets who say, ‘You must not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they are prophesying to you a lie. For I have not sent them, declares the LORD, and yet they are prophesying falsely in My name; therefore I will banish you, and you will perish—you and the prophets who prophesy to you.””The LORD tells Zedekiah these prophets were not sent by Him.
- Deuteronomy 18:10-12 (BSB)“Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery, casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD. And because of these detestable things, the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you.”God’s law forbids divination, sorcery and consulting mediums.
- Jeremiah 23:21 (BSB)“I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied.”These prophets ran and spoke though the LORD had neither sent them nor spoken to them.
- Jeremiah 14:14 (BSB)““The prophets are prophesying lies in My name,” replied the LORD. “I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, a worthless divination, the futility and delusion of their own minds.”The LORD says these prophets speak falsehood in His name without His commission.
General
On what basis did the LORD claim the right to hand the nations over to Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 27:5-6)?
Answer: He created the earth and assigns it to whomever He wills
The LORD grounded His decision in creation: by His great power He made the earth, with its people and animals, and He gives it to whomever He chooses (27:5). Because the world is His, He had now placed these lands under Nebuchadnezzar, even calling him My servant (27:6). This is God’s sovereignty, meaning His rightful rule over everything. The same truth is stated in Daniel, where the Most High holds rule over human kingdoms and hands them to whomever He chooses (Daniel 4:17), and in the psalm that says God does whatever He pleases (Psalm 115:3). Jeremiah prayed the same way, saying no task is too hard for the God who made heaven and earth (32:17).
- Jeremiah 27:5-6 (BSB)“By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please. So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I have even made the beasts of the field subject to him.”The LORD grounds Nebuchadnezzar’s authority in His own work as Creator.
- Daniel 4:17 (BSB)“This decision is the decree of the watchers, the verdict declared by the holy ones, so that the living will know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes, setting over it the lowliest of men.’”Daniel’s account says God rules over human kingdoms and hands them to anyone He chooses.
- Daniel 2:21 (BSB)“He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.”God removes kings and sets them up, so rulers hold power by His appointment.
- Psalm 115:3 (BSB)“Our God is in heaven; He does as He pleases.”God in heaven does whatever He wills, the principle behind 27:5.
- Jeremiah 32:17 (BSB)““Oh, Lord GOD! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!”Jeremiah praises the Creator of heaven and earth, for whom no task is too hard.
Theological
What ground does the LORD give in Jeremiah 27:5-6 for placing the nations under Nebuchadnezzar’s authority?
Answer: He created the earth and assigns it to whomever He wills
The LORD bases Nebuchadnezzar’s dominion on His own creatorship: having made the earth, mankind and beasts by His mighty strength, He disposes of it as He pleases (27:5), and so He has given these lands to My servant Nebuchadnezzar (27:6). Political power is a trust assigned by the Creator, not a prize won by human strength. Daniel confesses the same sovereign disposal of kingdoms (Daniel 4:17; 2:21), Psalm 115:3 states it as a general principle, and Jeremiah’s own prayer links creation with God’s unlimited power (32:17).
- Jeremiah 27:5-6 (BSB)“By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please. So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I have even made the beasts of the field subject to him.”The LORD grounds Nebuchadnezzar’s authority in His own work as Creator.
- Daniel 4:17 (BSB)“This decision is the decree of the watchers, the verdict declared by the holy ones, so that the living will know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes, setting over it the lowliest of men.’”Daniel’s account says God rules over human kingdoms and hands them to anyone He chooses.
- Daniel 2:21 (BSB)“He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.”God removes kings and sets them up, so rulers hold power by His appointment.
- Psalm 115:3 (BSB)“Our God is in heaven; He does as He pleases.”God in heaven does whatever He wills, the principle behind 27:5.
- Jeremiah 32:17 (BSB)““Oh, Lord GOD! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!”Jeremiah praises the Creator of heaven and earth, for whom no task is too hard.
General
True or False: Jeremiah challenged the prophets that if they were true prophets, they should pray to the LORD that the articles still in Jerusalem would stay there instead of going to Babylon (Jeremiah 27:18).
Answer: True
This is true. Jeremiah said that if these men truly were prophets who carried the LORD’s word, they should beg Him to keep the articles still left in the temple, the king’s palace and Jerusalem from going to Babylon (27:18). In the Bible, a true prophet both speaks God’s word and prays for the people. God told Abimelech that Abraham was a prophet who would pray for him (Genesis 20:7), and Samuel said that to stop praying for Israel would be sin on his part (1 Samuel 12:23). Instead of promising that what was lost would come back, a true prophet would have been praying that nothing more would be lost.
- Jeremiah 27:18 (BSB)“If they are indeed prophets and the word of the LORD is with them, let them now plead with the LORD of Hosts that the articles remaining in the house of the LORD, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, not be taken to Babylon.”Jeremiah challenges the prophets to pray that the remaining articles stay in Jerusalem.
- Genesis 20:7 (BSB)“Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet; he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not restore her, be aware that you will surely die—you and all who belong to you.””Abraham is called a prophet who would pray for Abimelech.
- 1 Samuel 12:23 (BSB)“As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you the good and right way.”Samuel calls it sin to stop praying for God’s people.
Theological
True or False: In Jeremiah 27:18 Jeremiah tests the false prophets by calling on them to intercede so that the vessels still left in Jerusalem would not be carried off to Babylon.
Answer: True
This is true. Jeremiah turns the false prophets’ claim against them: if they truly carry the LORD’s message, they should intercede with Him so that the vessels still kept in the temple, palace and city stay where they are (27:18). Intercession was part of the prophetic office, as with Abraham (Genesis 20:7) and Samuel (1 Samuel 12:23). Men promising the return of what was already taken, while not pleading for what remained, showed they did not stand in the LORD’s counsel.
- Jeremiah 27:18 (BSB)“If they are indeed prophets and the word of the LORD is with them, let them now plead with the LORD of Hosts that the articles remaining in the house of the LORD, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, not be taken to Babylon.”Jeremiah challenges the prophets to pray that the remaining articles stay in Jerusalem.
- Genesis 20:7 (BSB)“Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet; he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not restore her, be aware that you will surely die—you and all who belong to you.””Abraham is called a prophet who would pray for Abimelech.
- 1 Samuel 12:23 (BSB)“As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you the good and right way.”Samuel calls it sin to stop praying for God’s people.
General
True or False: The LORD said that Babylon’s rule over the nations would last only until the time came for Babylon itself to be conquered (Jeremiah 27:7).
Answer: True
This is true. The nations would serve Nebuchadnezzar, his son and his grandson, but only until the time for his own land came; at that point many nations and powerful kings would make Babylon serve them (27:7). God called Nebuchadnezzar My servant (27:6; 25:9) because He was using him to carry out His judgment, not because Nebuchadnezzar was godly. Babylon still answered for its own guilt, and the LORD promised to punish it when the seventy years were complete (25:12). Isaiah had said the same of Assyria: God used it as a rod of His anger, though Assyria only meant to destroy (Isaiah 10:5-7). God rules over the plans of nations, yet each nation is responsible for its own sin.
- Jeremiah 27:7 (BSB)“All nations will serve him and his son and grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will enslave him.”Babylon’s dominion is given a set limit, after which it will itself be subjected.
- Jeremiah 25:9 (BSB)“behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.”The LORD also calls Nebuchadnezzar My servant when sending him against Judah.
- Jeremiah 25:12 (BSB)“But when seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, declares the LORD, and I will make it an everlasting desolation.”After seventy years the LORD will punish Babylon for its own guilt.
- Isaiah 10:5-7 (BSB)“Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath. I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets. But this is not his intention; this is not his plan. For it is in his heart to destroy and cut off many nations.”God uses Assyria as His instrument while Assyria pursues its own destructive aims.
Theological
True or False: In Jeremiah 27:7 the LORD sets a limit on Babylon’s dominion, after which Babylon itself would be enslaved by other nations.
Answer: True
This is true. Babylon’s hegemony is bounded by divine decree: the nations serve Nebuchadnezzar, his son and his grandson only until Babylon’s own hour arrives, when it will be subjugated in turn by many peoples and mighty kings (27:7). The title My servant (27:6; 25:9) marks Nebuchadnezzar as an instrument of God’s purpose, not a righteous man, and his empire remains accountable for its guilt (25:12). Isaiah 10:5-7 gives the pattern: the LORD wields Assyria as the rod of His anger while Assyria pursues its own violent aims. God’s sovereign ordering of history and the real culpability of the agents He uses stand together.
- Jeremiah 27:7 (BSB)“All nations will serve him and his son and grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will enslave him.”Babylon’s dominion is given a set limit, after which it will itself be subjected.
- Jeremiah 25:9 (BSB)“behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.”The LORD also calls Nebuchadnezzar My servant when sending him against Judah.
- Jeremiah 25:12 (BSB)“But when seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, declares the LORD, and I will make it an everlasting desolation.”After seventy years the LORD will punish Babylon for its own guilt.
- Isaiah 10:5-7 (BSB)“Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath. I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets. But this is not his intention; this is not his plan. For it is in his heart to destroy and cut off many nations.”God uses Assyria as His instrument while Assyria pursues its own destructive aims.
General
According to Jeremiah 27:8-12, what would happen to a nation that accepted the rule of Babylon?
Answer: It would be allowed to stay and farm its own land
The LORD said that a nation refusing to bow to Babylon would be punished with sword, famine and plague until it was destroyed (27:8). But a nation that accepted Babylon’s rule would be left on its home soil to work it and live there (27:11). Jeremiah gave King Zedekiah the same message: submit to Babylon’s king and people and stay alive rather than die (27:12-13). Jeremiah repeated this word to Zedekiah later, when Jerusalem was under siege (38:17; see also 21:9). Accepting Babylon’s rule meant accepting the judgment God Himself had decreed.
- Jeremiah 27:11-12 (BSB)“But the nation that will put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave in its own land, to cultivate it and reside in it, declares the LORD.” And to Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke the same message: “Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and live!”The nation that submits remains in its land, and Zedekiah is urged to submit and live.
- Jeremiah 27:8 (BSB)“As for the nation or kingdom that does not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and does not place its neck under his yoke, I will punish that nation by sword and famine and plague, declares the LORD, until I have destroyed it by his hand.”The nation that refuses Babylon’s rule will be punished by sword, famine and plague.
- Jeremiah 38:17 (BSB)“Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you indeed surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned down, and you and your household will survive.”Jeremiah later tells Zedekiah that surrender would save his life and the city.
- Jeremiah 21:9 (BSB)“Whoever stays in this city will die by sword and famine and plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who besiege you will live; he will retain his life like a spoil of war.”Those who surrender to the Chaldeans will keep their lives.
Theological
According to Jeremiah 27:8-12, what outcome awaited the nation that submitted to Babylon’s rule?
Answer: It would be allowed to stay and farm its own land
The oracle sets two paths. The nation that refuses Babylon’s yoke will be punished by sword, famine and plague until the LORD has consumed it by Nebuchadnezzar’s hand (27:8); the nation that submits will remain on its own soil to till it and dwell there (27:11). Zedekiah receives the identical word: bow to Babylon and live (27:12-13). The counsel is consistent throughout Jeremiah’s ministry (21:9; 38:17): submission to the instrument of God’s judgment is submission to God’s own decree.
- Jeremiah 27:11-12 (BSB)“But the nation that will put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave in its own land, to cultivate it and reside in it, declares the LORD.” And to Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke the same message: “Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and live!”The nation that submits remains in its land, and Zedekiah is urged to submit and live.
- Jeremiah 27:8 (BSB)“As for the nation or kingdom that does not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and does not place its neck under his yoke, I will punish that nation by sword and famine and plague, declares the LORD, until I have destroyed it by his hand.”The nation that refuses Babylon’s rule will be punished by sword, famine and plague.
- Jeremiah 38:17 (BSB)“Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you indeed surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned down, and you and your household will survive.”Jeremiah later tells Zedekiah that surrender would save his life and the city.
- Jeremiah 21:9 (BSB)“Whoever stays in this city will die by sword and famine and plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who besiege you will live; he will retain his life like a spoil of war.”Those who surrender to the Chaldeans will keep their lives.
General
Some prophets promised that the temple furnishings carried off to Babylon would soon come back. What did the LORD say would happen instead (Jeremiah 27:16-22)?
Answer: The remaining articles would also go to Babylon
Jeremiah told the priests and people not to believe prophets who said the temple furnishings already taken would very soon return (27:16). The truth was the reverse: even the pieces left behind, the pillars, the bronze basin called the sea, the stands and the rest, would be carried off to Babylon (27:19-22). They would remain in Babylon until the time the LORD chose to attend to them, and then He would bring them back (27:22). Both parts came true. The Chaldeans later smashed the bronze pillars, stands and sea and hauled the bronze away to Babylon (52:17), and King Cyrus of Persia later released the temple articles Nebuchadnezzar had taken, which were carried back to Jerusalem with the returning exiles (Ezra 1:7, 11).
- Jeremiah 27:16 (BSB)“Then I said to the priests and to all this people, “This is what the LORD says: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, ‘Look, very soon now the articles from the house of the LORD will be brought back from Babylon.’ They are prophesying to you a lie.”Jeremiah warns against prophets who promise a quick return of the temple articles.
- Jeremiah 27:21-22 (BSB)“Yes, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says about the articles that remain in the house of the LORD, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: ‘They will be carried to Babylon and will remain there until the day I attend to them again,’ declares the LORD. ‘Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.’””The remaining articles will go to Babylon until the LORD brings them back.
- Jeremiah 52:17 (BSB)“Moreover, the Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars and stands and the bronze Sea in the house of the LORD, and they carried all the bronze to Babylon.”The bronze pillars, stands and sea were later broken up and taken to Babylon.
- Ezra 1:7 (BSB)“King Cyrus also brought out the articles belonging to the house of the LORD that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the temple of his gods.”Cyrus released the temple articles that Nebuchadnezzar had taken to Babylon.
- Ezra 1:11 (BSB)“In all, there were 5,400 gold and silver articles. Sheshbazzar brought all these along when the exiles went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.”Sheshbazzar took the articles with the exiles on their journey back to Jerusalem.
Theological
How does the LORD answer the prophets who promised a speedy return of the temple articles (Jeremiah 27:16-22)?
Answer: The remaining articles would also go to Babylon
Against prophets promising that the temple vessels would very soon be restored (27:16), the LORD declares that even the furnishings left after Jeconiah’s exile, the pillars, stands, sea and remaining vessels, will be hauled off to Babylon (27:19-21), remaining there until He visits them and brings them home (27:22). Both judgment and restoration are His to schedule. The word was fulfilled on both counts: the Chaldeans hauled the bronze of the pillars, stands and sea to Babylon (52:17), and Cyrus later released the vessels Nebuchadnezzar had taken, which went back to Jerusalem with the returning exiles (Ezra 1:7, 11).
- Jeremiah 27:16 (BSB)“Then I said to the priests and to all this people, “This is what the LORD says: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, ‘Look, very soon now the articles from the house of the LORD will be brought back from Babylon.’ They are prophesying to you a lie.”Jeremiah warns against prophets who promise a quick return of the temple articles.
- Jeremiah 27:21-22 (BSB)“Yes, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says about the articles that remain in the house of the LORD, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: ‘They will be carried to Babylon and will remain there until the day I attend to them again,’ declares the LORD. ‘Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.’””The remaining articles will go to Babylon until the LORD brings them back.
- Jeremiah 52:17 (BSB)“Moreover, the Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars and stands and the bronze Sea in the house of the LORD, and they carried all the bronze to Babylon.”The bronze pillars, stands and sea were later broken up and taken to Babylon.
- Ezra 1:7 (BSB)“King Cyrus also brought out the articles belonging to the house of the LORD that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the temple of his gods.”Cyrus released the temple articles that Nebuchadnezzar had taken to Babylon.
- Ezra 1:11 (BSB)“In all, there were 5,400 gold and silver articles. Sheshbazzar brought all these along when the exiles went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.”Sheshbazzar took the articles with the exiles on their journey back to Jerusalem.
General
What sign did the LORD tell Jeremiah to act out for the envoys of the nearby kings who had come to Zedekiah (Jeremiah 27:2-3)?
Answer: Wear a yoke made of leather straps on his neck
The LORD told Jeremiah to make a yoke using leather straps and wear it on his own neck (27:2). A yoke is the frame laid across the necks of oxen so they can be made to pull and work. He was to give a message for their own kings to the envoys from Tyre, Sidon, Edom, Moab and Ammon who were in Jerusalem to meet King Zedekiah (27:3). The yoke pictured the message: these nations must bow under the rule of Babylon (27:8, 11). Jeremiah acted out God’s word in other signs too, with a linen cloth (13:1) and a smashed clay jar (19:10-11), and this yoke appears again in the next chapter, where it is called a yoke of wood (28:10, 13).
- Jeremiah 27:2-3 (BSB)“This is what the LORD said to me: “Make for yourself a yoke out of leather straps and put it on your neck. Send word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.”The LORD tells Jeremiah to wear a yoke and send a message to five neighboring kings through their envoys.
- Jeremiah 13:1 (BSB)“This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and buy yourself a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water.””An earlier sign in which Jeremiah acted out the LORD’s message with an object.
- Jeremiah 19:10-11 (BSB)“Then you are to shatter the jar in the presence of the men who accompany you, and you are to proclaim to them that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I will shatter this nation and this city, like one shatters a potter’s jar that can never again be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.”Another enacted sign: the shattered jar pictured the LORD’s coming judgment.
- Jeremiah 28:10 (BSB)“Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it.”The same yoke is later taken from Jeremiah’s neck and broken by Hananiah.
Theological
What prophetic sign-act accompanied the LORD’s message to the envoys gathered at Zedekiah’s court (Jeremiah 27:2-3)?
Answer: Wear a yoke made of leather straps on his neck
Jeremiah is commanded to fashion a yoke with leather straps and wear it on his neck (27:2), then send the LORD’s message to the rulers of Tyre, Sidon, Edom, Moab and Ammon by way of their envoys at Zedekiah’s court (27:3). The yoke embodies the oracle: submission to Babylon’s rule is the LORD’s decree for every one of these nations (27:8, 11). It belongs with Jeremiah’s other enacted signs, such as the linen cloth (13:1) and the shattered jar (19:10-11), and becomes the center of the confrontation with Hananiah, who breaks this yoke of wood (28:10, 13).
- Jeremiah 27:2-3 (BSB)“This is what the LORD said to me: “Make for yourself a yoke out of leather straps and put it on your neck. Send word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.”The LORD tells Jeremiah to wear a yoke and send a message to five neighboring kings through their envoys.
- Jeremiah 13:1 (BSB)“This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and buy yourself a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water.””An earlier sign in which Jeremiah acted out the LORD’s message with an object.
- Jeremiah 19:10-11 (BSB)“Then you are to shatter the jar in the presence of the men who accompany you, and you are to proclaim to them that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I will shatter this nation and this city, like one shatters a potter’s jar that can never again be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.”Another enacted sign: the shattered jar pictured the LORD’s coming judgment.
- Jeremiah 28:10 (BSB)“Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it.”The same yoke is later taken from Jeremiah’s neck and broken by Hananiah.