Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Jeremiah 27:13

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Jeremiah 27:13. Why will ye die — If ye resist the king of Babylon, to whom I have given a commission against you, ye shall be destroyed by the sword and by famine; but if ye submit, ye shall escape all these evils.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Submit to Babylon (27:1-22)

Early in the reign of Zedekiah, representatives from various neighbouring countries came to Jerusalem, in the hope of forming an alliance with Zedekiah against Babylon. Jeremiah delivered God’s message to them, illustrating the message by putting an ox’s yoke on his neck. The meaning was that the people were to submit to the yoke, or rule, of Babylon. This was God’s will, and there was no use rebelling against it. Babylon would not be overthrown till God’s time for it had come (27:1-7).
This message applied to all nations. All had to acknowledge Babylon’s overlordship, regardless of the pronouncements of self-appointed prophets in Judah or fortune-tellers in other nations. Those who resisted Babylon were only inviting disaster and ruin (8-11). Jeremiah repeated the message for the benefit of the Judean king in particular, since he had mistakenly placed his hope in the assurances given by the false prophets (12-15).

The priests of Jerusalem were also building up false confidence in people. They announced that Babylon would soon be overthrown, and the temple vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had taken to Babylon would be returned. Such prophecies were lies (16-17; cf. Daniel 1:2; 2 Kings 24:13; 2 Kings 24:13). The priests and prophets should rather have been urging the people to repent and so prevent any further plundering of the temple by the Babylonians (18).

But Jeremiah knew that the people would not repent. As a result the few remaining treasures in the temple would also be taken to Babylon. Only in the distant future, when Babylon’s power was gone, would these temple treasures return to Jerusalem (19-22).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"And I spake to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live. Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as Jehovah hath spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? And hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon; for they prophecy a lie unto you. For I have not sent them, saith Jehovah, but they prophesy falsely in my name; that I may drive you out, and that ye may perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you."

Green spoke of this chapter thus: "Jeremiah provides proof positive of his superb statesmanship in his assessment of the political situation."Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1971), p. 137. Although seemingly innocent, such a statement violates every true conception of the message of the inspired prophets of the Old Testament. It was not shrewd statesmanship on Jeremiah's part. What God revealed through him was in no sense dependent upon what the prophet himself might have been able to guess or forecast from the basis of his own knowledge or experience. "The revelations of this chapter are not shrewd political comment but something which Jeremiah received as he stood in the counsels of Yahweh."J. A. Thompson, The Bible and Archeology (Grand Rapid, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1972) p. 534.

This paragraph reveals that Jeremiah repeated for Zedekiah the same message which had been sent, along with the yokes, to the five neighboring kings by their ambassadors.. So powerful was the influence of all the false prophets, soothsayers, dreamers, sorcerers etc. of that day that Jeremiah found it appropriate to warn the king Zedekiah against paying any attention to their falsehoods. "To underestimate the power of a lie in times of national distress is sheer folly."Ibid., p. 545.

The Septuagint (LXX) has omitted much of this chapter; and, upon that basis, some scholars attempt to reject what is written here; but, "It is far too bold to insist that the shorter form is the original."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 643. Additionally, we reject the silly critical rule that the shorter of two passages is more likely to be the original. It is just as likely, or even more likely, that the shorter passage is merely an abbreviation. This is just another foolish critical dictum designed to serve their evil purposes. Furthermore, as Keil pointed out, "Considering the innumerable arbitrary interferences of the LXX with the text of Jeremiah, the omission of the words in question cannot justify the slightest critical suspicion of their genuineness."C. F. Keil, Keil-Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), p. 404. For many reasons, we are unwilling to accept changes found in the Septuagint (LXX) as any dependable reason whatever for altering the text of the American Standard Version.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Zedekiah was restless under the Babylonian yoke, and the false prophets found only too ready a hearing from him. He is addressed in the plural because his feelings were fully shared by the mass of the officers of state and by the people.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

Here is a threatening added; for all means were used not only to invite the Jews, but also to stimulate them to repent. The Prophet offered them pardon, if they quietly submitted to be chastised by God. It was to be their life, he said, when the Lord punished them according to his will. As they could not be sufficiently moved by this kindness, he now adds, “See ye to it, for except ye receive the life offered to you, you must inevitably perish. Therefore thou, Zedekiah, wilt precipitate thyself with all thy people into eternal destruction, if ye continue to be perverse and obstinate against God.”

We hence see that nothing was left undone by the Prophet to bend the Jews to obedience and to lead them to repentance. By speaking of the sword, famine, and pestilence, he intimates that there would be no end, until they were consumed by God’s vengeance, except they suffered themselves, as we have said, to be thus chastised by his paternal kindness, for this would be salutary to them.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 27

Now Jeremiah goes on to declare that,

In the beginning ( Jeremiah 27:1 )

He's speaking this to the king Zedekiah.

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck ( Jeremiah 27:1-2 ),

So Jeremiah made this wooden yoke and he put it over his neck. A yoke like they put over an ox, and it was a sign of servitude. So he put this yoke over his neck and walked around every place he went. Here he had this old yoke over his neck, and people are saying, "What in the world have you got on your neck there? What is that yoke? Why are you wearing that thing for?" He said, "So is the Lord going to bring Israel into bondage because of their iniquities. God's going to lead us into captivity because of our sin." And so it was something that sparked a question in the minds of the people, but gave to Jeremiah the opportunity to share with them the word of the Lord. Now he said...

So he made a bunch of these little yokes. One that he put on his own neck, but others that he sent to the various kings that surrounded Judah. Now at this particular time they were preparing to rebel against Babylon. And they were planning a confederacy that they might get Edom, Moab and the king of Tyre and Sidon that they might all join together against Babylon in hopes of breaking the yoke of Babylon from them. And so God says, "Now make a little yoke for each of these kings and send it to them with a message."

Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and I have given it unto whom it seemed right unto me ( Jeremiah 27:4-5 ).

Now God is here declaring His sovereignty, really, over His creation. "I've created the earth. I've created man. I have created kingdoms and I have set upon the kingdoms those whom I will. Those who seem good to Me." Now it is interesting that at this point the Babylonian kingdom had arisen to world dominance. It was a world-dominating empire. And Nebuchadnezzar who God had placed upon the throne of Babylon was boasting of the greatness of the Babylonian kingdom. "Is this not the great Babylon," he said, "that I have built?" And a voice came from heaven and said, "The watchers have been watching you, boy, and you're in big trouble." And so he came to Daniel and said, "What does it mean?" He said, "Look, you walk carefully. You are in big trouble. Don't let your heart be lifted up with pride, but walk softly before God."

You see, he had had this dream. He had seen in the dream this great image. Daniel interpreted the dream as to represent the kingdoms that would rule over the earth. "You, Nebuchadnezzar, are the head of gold. But your kingdom is going to fall to an inferior kingdom, the chest of silver, the Medo-Persian. Which will fall to the Grecian Empire, the stomach of brass. Which will fall to the Roman Empire, the legs of iron. Which will fall to the Grecian Empire, the stomach of brass, the legs of iron, the Roman Empire and the feet of iron and clay with the ten toes." Now Nebuchadnezzar made a proclamation, "Be it known there is no God in all the earth like the God of Daniel who is able to reveal dreams," and all this kind of stuff. And then he turns right around and defies the dream. For he had built in the plains of Dura a huge image, ninety feet tall, of all gold. This was a statement of Nebuchadnezzar.

The statement is, "The Babylonian kingdom will never fall. It's not going to be replaced by the chest of silver and by the stomach of brass and legs of iron. Babylon will live forever." And he ordered that at the sound of the music, everybody bow down and worship this image that he has set up in the plains of Dura to dedicate themselves to this concept--Babylon will last forever. So he is defying the plain revelation of God. So you know the story of the three Hebrew children who refused to bow and were cast in the burning fiery furnace without any harm. After they came out of the fire he said, "There's no God... I, Nebuchadnezzar, make a proclamation--there is no God in all the earth like the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who is able to deliver from the burning fiery furnace." But then he was still filled with pride. "Is this not the great Babylon that I have made?" And, of course, then the angel speaks to him and tells him, "Hey, the watchers have been watching you." The watchers from heaven.

Boy, did you know that there's watchers in heaven watching you? And so he was in great fear and for a year he walked carefully. He was very careful. But after a year he was walking through his gardens and looking at these beautiful hanging gardens, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. "Is this not the great Babylon that I have built?" The voice said, "That's it. You've had it." Pow! Something snapped. He went insane. He began to go out in the fields and eat grass with the oxen. He lived like a wild man. His hair grew like feathers and his nails like claws. And he had a period of insanity for seven seasons until he would acknowledge that the God of heaven rules and reigns over the kingdoms of man and sets on the thrones those whom He will. He was brought to the acknowledgment God reigns. He came out of this period of insanity. "And I, Nebuchadnezzar, make a proclamation: No God in all the earth like the God of heaven Who establishes the kingdoms who He desires and sets upon the thrones those whom He would. And those He will exalt He can exalt and those He wants to bring down He can bring down. I command that all men worship this God."

Now he came to this acknowledgment. It is interesting that here in Jeremiah we have the very same thing that is being declared. That God gives in authority those whom He would. He raises up the powers that He would. And so God has raised up Babylon. So it is foolish for you, little kings, to think of rebelling against Babylon. God has raised it up as His instrument. God has raised up the Babylonian kingdom.

And now [God says] I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant ( Jeremiah 27:6 );

I've done it. God is the One that raised up Nebuchadnezzar. God is the One that set him on the throne. Nebuchadnezzar came to realize this in time. But here we find the same acknowledgment in the book of Jeremiah before the experience that Nebuchadnezzar had, recorded in the book of Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar, my servant,

and the beasts of the field have I given also to serve him. And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son ( Jeremiah 27:6-7 ),

Interesting. He goes down to his grandson, and his grandson was Belshazzar. And it was during the time of Belshazzar's reign that the kingdom of Babylon fell to the Medo-Persian Empire. So God carried it. His son, Nabonidus , took over after him and then his grandson Belshazzar and during his reign Babylon fell. So I've given it to him and to his son and to his son's son. Here God accurately predicts really the time of the Babylonian fall.

until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him ( Jeremiah 27:7 ).

So a multiplicity of nations, the Medes and the Persians will join together and destroy him. And so here's interesting prophecy long before the actual fact took place.

And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand ( Jeremiah 27:8 ).

So if you seek to rebel, then you'll be destroyed. God said, "I'm the One that has set this fellow up. I'm the One that's given him the kingdom. I'm the One that's given him your kingdoms. And if you fight against it, you're only going to be destroyed." And that is so true. Fighting against the will or the work of God only destroys you.

Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, You will not serve the king of Babylon ( Jeremiah 27:9 ):

Don't listen to these men.

For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and that you should perish. But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell therein ( Jeremiah 27:10-11 ).

Now if you'll just submit then you won't be carried off captive. You'll be able to remain right in your land. You won't be destroyed but you can stay right where you are and farm your own ground and all. All you have to do is pay tribute to him, but I've given all of you to serve him now.

And so it was, because Judah sought to fight against him Judah was destroyed and carried away to Babylon. Whereas these other kings who hearkened to the voice of Jeremiah, in submitting to Babylon were able to remain in their own lands and till their own territories.

So he said, Jeremiah speaking,

So I spoke also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live ( Jeremiah 27:12 ).

Just surrender. Don't try to fight. Don't rebel. Just surrender to him and live.

For why will ye die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, You will not serve the king of Babylon: for they are prophesying a lie unto you ( Jeremiah 27:13-14 ).

Now we'll be coming to Habakkuk a while later down the road, another prophet. Habakkuk was prophesying and about this same period as was Jeremiah. And Habakkuk begins his little book by praying unto the Lord and he says, "O Lord, please don't show me anything else. I can't take it. God, this whole system is going down the tubes and You're not doing anything about it. There's all kinds of corruption in government. There are all kinds of bribery and evil men are reigning. And God, things are getting worse and please, I would just rather not even have an insight into what's going on because I can't take it anymore, Lord. To see all of these things happening and You're not doing anything about it." And God said to Habakkuk, "Habakkuk, I am doing something about it. But if I told you what I was doing, you wouldn't believe Me." Habakkuk said, "Well, try me, Lord."

And the Lord said, "I am preparing the king of Babylon and he is going to come with his bands and he's going to take this land captive." "God, You can't do that. We're evil, sure. I recognize that. But man, they're even worse than we are. Now why would You use a nation that is worse than we are to punish us?" God said, "I told you you wouldn't believe it." But Habakkuk's problem was the method that God was going to use to bring judgment. By using another nation that was even more evil than they were. But God used them as His instrument of judgment.

You say, "Well that doesn't sound quite right that God would use a more evil nation." For instance, would God use Russia to bring judgment upon the United States? Quite possibly. He would be following a pattern that He has used in times past. But why would God use an atheistic country that doesn't even acknowledge God to punish a country that is a Christian nation? Wait a minute. You see, knowledge brings responsibility. To whom much is given, much is required. To sin against knowledge is worse than to sin in ignorance. To him that knoweth to do right and does it not, that's sin. "He that knew the will of God and yet did not the will of God will be beaten with many stripes. Yet he who did things that were worthy of many stripes, because he did not know the will of the Master will be beaten with few. For unto whom much is given, much is required" ( Luke 12:47-48 ). And God in the past has used wicked nations as an instrument of judgment against His people who have turned their back upon God.

The United States does not have any real security apart from God and apart from a commitment to God. The world in which we live today is a very insecure world. The present position of the United States is an extremely insecure position. General Lewis Walt, four-star Marine general, wrote a book, The Eleventh Hour. It was published last year. In which he warns of the tremendous peril that the United States presently faces as the result of Russia's tremendous military strength. General Keegan, I have a speech of his in my office in which he again warns the tremendous peril that the United States is facing at this time because of Russia's military superiority. General Rogers, the supreme allied commander in Europe, in a Reader's Digest article last December, warns of the great peril that we are facing at the present time, again pointing out the military weakness of the United States in ratio to Russia.

And each of these generals, Walt, Keegan, Rogers, have pointed to the year 1982 as the crisis year in the history of America. Henry Kissinger has been saying the same thing, that we are facing a tremendous crisis. The Pentagon this week asked for 1.5 trillion dollars over the next five years for military budgets in order that we might begin to close the gap of the disparity that exists between Russia's power and ours. These men are worried. These men are concerned. General Lewis Walt in the preface of his book The Eleventh Hour said, "I've never sent..." He said, "I've always had one unbreakable rule and that is I've never sent the Marines into battle until I first of all told them the truth as I knew it." He said, "That's what I want to do in this book." He says, "The truth is this: you and your family are facing the greatest peril at this time than any other time in the history of the United States. For whether you live or die, it's right now being determined by the leaders of the Kremlin. And if they should choose tomorrow that you and your family should die, there's nothing we can do to stop them." And he goes on in the book and warns of the peril that faces the United States at this time.

You say, "Well, yeah, but God, that isn't fair." I am praying that God will bring our nation to its knees. I'm praying that God will stir us as a nation to return to God, because right now we dare not to trust in our military abilities. They are inferior to Russia's. We must put our hope and our trust in God if we're going to survive. That is the only hope the United States right now has. Our strength is not in our military might. Our strength is and must be in the Lord. So Jeremiah brought the message in order that the people might turn to God, in order that God might breathe a sigh of relief and say, "All right, don't have to destroy." And God is sounding out a message to the United States today. And it is getting much the response that Jeremiah's message got.

The political cartoonists are having great time with it. The Daily Pilot today, junky thing, had this political cartoon of this Bible and a snake coming out of the bottom of the Bible marked "Moral Majority" and it takes a big bite out of the constitutional rights as though the moral majority were trying to violate our constitutional rights. It's just hogwash. But the thing that upsets me is that there are people stupid enough to believe that. People don't think for themselves. And there are people stupid enough to think that the moral majority is a threat to our constitutional rights. And they're trying to say, "Oh, you know, trying to make America theocracy." No, we're only trying to make America a decent place for our children to grow up and our grandchildren to grow up.

I would like my little granddaughter to be able to walk down the street without the fear of her being assaulted and raped and molested. I would like to see some moral decency and moral purity again in this nation. I'd like to be able to send them to the store without them having to see all kinds of magazines and newspaper stands and so forth with nudity all over the place. God, can't we keep their minds pure at least for a while? Must we put pollution all around? Can't decent people have the right to live decently? Does constitutional freedom mean that we have to expose everybody to the filth and the pollution of perverted minds? I hope not. Or I'm for changing the Constitution and establishing some basis for morality rather than the nothingness and the vacuum that is being created by the humanists today.

Jeremiah was warning the nation Israel. Conditions existed then in Israel that can exist today in the United States and there's such a parallel here. Israel was known as God's nation, the people of God, but they had turned from God. They were filled with immorality. The priests and the prophets were false shepherds and they were leading the people astray. They were bringing the messages of comfort and they were ridiculing the prophets of God who were warning the people of the judgment that was to come. And they were saying, "Oh, they are just a bunch of doomsday prophets," and making light and fun of the issues. So he wrote, so he spoke to Zedekiah and he said, "Hearken not to those prophets saying that you're not going to serve the king of Babylon, because that's a lie."

For I have not sent them, saith the LORD ( Jeremiah 27:15 ).

Verse Jeremiah 27:15 , chapter 27:

yet they prophesy a lie in my name; that I might drive you out, and that you might perish, you, and the prophets that prophesy unto you. Also I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Hearken not to the words of your prophets that are prophesying unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the LORD'S house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon: for they are prophesying a lie unto you ( Jeremiah 27:15-16 ).

These prophets are going around saying, "Thus saith the Lord. Oh, the vessels that Nebuchadnezzar took, the golden vessels, they're soon going to be brought back. They'll be sitting here in place again, thus saith the Lord." And Jeremiah says, "Don't listen to that. That's a lie."

Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: for why should this city be destroyed? But if they are true prophets, and the word of the LORD be with them, then let them now make intercession unto the LORD of hosts, that the vessels which are left here in the house of God, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, are not also carried away to Babylon. For thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning this brass sea ( Jeremiah 27:17-19 ),

That was made by Solomon that sat there, the big brass sea that was on the twelve oxen and so forth where the priests bathed.

and concerning the bases, and concerning the remaining of the vessels that are in this city, Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all of the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem; yes, thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are remaining in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem; They also will be carried to Babylon, and there they shall be until the day that I visit them, saith the LORD; and then I will bring them up, and restore them to this place ( Jeremiah 27:19-22 ).

So hey, the false prophets are coming along and saying, "Ah, the vessels will soon be brought back." That's a lie. The vessels that are here, those that haven't been taken away, will soon be taken away. They'll be taken away also. Don't believe their lies. If they're really prophets, let them intercede that the rest that hasn't been taken away won't be carried away.

Well, when Nebuchadnezzar came back, it was proved that Jeremiah was the true prophet. He took the brass, the pillars and all of the rest of the valuables that were left in the city and carried them away captive to Babylon. They did not return until the time of Nehemiah who received orders from the king Artaxerxes to come back and restore and rebuild. Ezra, during that period, they brought back the treasures. And the king says, "Now take back all these treasures to the house of your Lord." And Ezra was embarrassed, because man, he had so much gold and silver and precious metals that he was fearful because the area between there and Jerusalem was full of bandits and everything else. We got all this treasure. But he was embarrassed to ask the king for a guard of soldiers to go with him because he'd been telling them how great his God was. "Now the God that we serve, He rules everything." And now he's really in a pickle because he's got all of this vast treasure and he's worrying now about getting it back there safely after he'd been bragging about God so much. But he said, "We put our trust in the Lord and we started out." And, of course, the Lord brought them safely in. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Jeremiah also counseled Zedekiah to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar. If he did, the Judahites could continue to live. But if he resisted, the people of Judah would die by the sword, starvation, and sickness.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Jeremiah’s appeal to King Zedekiah 27:12-15

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Why will ye die, thou and thy people, the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence,.... Through a blockade of the Chaldean army, which would invade their land, and besiege their city, upon a refusal to be subject to their yoke:

as the Lord hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? as the Lord has threatened shall be the case of any and everyone of the above nations that should refuse to be tributary to him; of which, no doubt, Zedekiah and his court had been apprized; see Jeremiah 27:8.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      12 I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.   13 Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?   14 Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.   15 For I have not sent them, saith the LORD, yet they prophesy a lie in my name; that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you.   16 Also I spake to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the LORD's house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.   17 Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city be laid waste?   18 But if they be prophets, and if the word of the LORD be with them, let them now make intercession to the LORD of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon.   19 For thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city,   20 Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;   21 Yea, thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem;   22 They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until the day that I visit them, saith the LORD; then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place.

      What was said to all the nations is here with a particular tenderness applied to the nation of the Jews, for whom Jeremiah was sensibly concerned. The case at present stood thus: Judah and Jerusalem had often contested with the king of Babylon, and still were worsted; many both of their valuable persons and their valuable goods were carried to Babylon already, and some of the vessels of the Lord's house particularly. Now how this struggle would issue was the question. They had those among them at Jerusalem who pretended to be prophets, who bade them hold out and they should, in a little time, be too hard for the king of Babylon and recover all that they had lost. Now Jeremiah is sent to bid them yield and knock under, for that, instead of recovering what they had lost, they should otherwise lose all that remained; and to press them to this is the scope of these verses.

      I. Jeremiah humbly addresses the king of Judah, to persuade him to surrender to the king of Babylon. His act would be the people's and would determine them, and therefore he speaks to him as to them all (Jeremiah 27:12; Jeremiah 27:12): Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and live. Is it their wisdom to submit to the heavy iron yoke of a cruel tyrant, that they may secure the lives of their bodies? And is it not much more our wisdom to submit to the sweet and easy yoke of our rightful Lord and Master Jesus Christ, that we may secure the lives of our souls? Bring down your spirits to repentance and faith, and that is the way to bring up your spirits to heaven and glory. And with much more cogency and compassion may we expostulate with perishing souls than Jeremiah here expostulates with a perishing people: "Why will you die by the sword and the famine--miserable deaths, which you inevitably run yourselves upon, under pretence of avoiding miserable lives?" What God had spoken, in general, of all those that would not submit to the king of Babylon, he would have them to apply to themselves and be afraid of. It were well if sinners would, in like manner, be afraid of the destruction threatened against all those that will not have Christ to reign over them, and reason thus with themselves, "Why should we die the second death, which is a thousand times worse than that by sword and famine, when we might submit and live?"

      II. He addresses himself likewise to the priests and the people (Jeremiah 27:16; Jeremiah 27:16), to persuade them to serve the king of Babylon, that they might live, and might prevent the desolation of the city (Jeremiah 27:17; Jeremiah 27:17): "Wherefore should it be laid waste, as certainly it will be if you stand it out?" The priests had been Jeremiah's enemies, and had sought his life to destroy it, yet he approves himself their friend, and seeks their lives, to preserve and secure them, which is an example to us to render good for evil. When the blood-thirsty hate the upright, yet the just seek his soul, and the welfare of it, Proverbs 29:10. The matter was far gone here; they were upon the brink of ruin, which they would not have been brought to if they would have taken Jeremiah's counsel; yet he continues his friendly admonitions to them, to save the last stake and manage that wisely, and now at length in this their day to understand the things that belong to their peace, when they had but one day to turn them in.

      III. In both these addresses he warns them against giving credit to the false prophets that rocked them asleep in their security, because they saw that they loved to slumber: "Hearken not to the words of the prophets (Jeremiah 27:14; Jeremiah 27:14), your prophets,Jeremiah 27:16; Jeremiah 27:16. They are not God's prophets; he never sent them; they do not serve him, nor seek to please him; they are yours, for they say what you would have them say, and aim at nothing but to please you." Two things their prophets flattered them into the belief of:-- 1. That the power which the king of Babylon had gained over them should now shortly be broken. They said (Jeremiah 27:14; Jeremiah 27:14), "You shall not serve the king of Babylon; you need not submit voluntarily, for you shall not be compelled to submit." This they prophesied in the name of the Lord (Jeremiah 27:15; Jeremiah 27:15), as if God had sent them to the people on this errand, in kindness to them, that they might not disparage themselves by an inglorious surrender. But it was a lie. They said that God sent them; but that was false; he disowns it: I have not sent them, saith the Lord. They said that they should never be brought into subjection to the king of Babylon; but that was false too, the event proved it so. They said that to hold out to the last would be the way to secure themselves and their city; but that was false, for it would certainly end in their being driven out and perishing. So that it was all a lie, from first to last; and the prophets that deceived the people with these lies did, in the issue, but deceive themselves; the blind leaders and the blind followers fell together into the ditch: That you might perish, you, and the prophets that prophesy unto you, who will be so far from warranting your security that they cannot secure themselves. Note, Those that encourage sinners to go on in their sinful ways will in the end perish with them. 2. They prophesied that the vessels of the temple, which the king of Babylon had already carried away, should now shortly be brought back (Jeremiah 27:16; Jeremiah 27:16); this they fed the priests with the hopes of, knowing how acceptable it would be to them, who loved the gold of the temple better than the temple that sanctified the gold. These vessels were taken away when Jeconiah was carried captive into Babylon, Jeremiah 27:20; Jeremiah 27:20. We have the story, and it is a melancholy one, 2 Kings 24:13; 2 Kings 24:15; 2 Chronicles 36:10. All the goodly vessels (that is, all the vessels of gold that were in the house of the Lord), with all the treasures, were taken as prey, and brought to Babylon. This was grievous to them above any thing; for the temple was their pride and confidence, and the stripping of that was too plain an indication of that which the true prophet told them, that their God had departed from them. Their false prophets therefore had no other way to make them easy than by telling them that the king of Babylon should be forced to restore them in a little while. Now here, (1.) Jeremiah bids them think of preserving the vessels that remained by their prayers, rather than of bringing back those that were gone by their prophecies (Jeremiah 27:18; Jeremiah 27:18): If they be prophets, as they pretend, and if the word of the Lord be with them--if they have any intercourse with heaven and any interest there, let them improve it for the stopping of the progress of the judgment; let them step into the gap, and stand with their censer between the living and the dead, between that which is carried away and that which remains, that the plague may be stayed; let them make intercession with the Lord of hosts, that the vessels which are left go not after the rest. [1.] Instead of prophesying, let them pray. Note, Prophets must be praying men; by being much in prayer they must make it to appear that they keep up a correspondence with heaven. We cannot think that those do, as prophets, ever hear thence, who do not frequently by prayer send thither. By praying for the safety and prosperity of the sanctuary they must make it to appear that, as becomes prophets, they are of a public spirit; and by the success of their prayers it will appear that God favours them. [2.] Instead of being concerned for the retrieving of what they had lost, they must bestir themselves for the securing of what was left, and take it as a great favour if they can gain that point. When God's judgments are abroad we must not seek great things, but be thankful for a little. (2.) He assures them that even this point should not be gained, but the brazen vessels should go after the golden ones, Jeremiah 27:19; Jeremiah 27:22. Nebuchadnezzar had found so good a booty once that he would be sure to come again and take all he could find, not only in the house of the Lord, but in the king's house. They shall all be carried to Babylon in triumph, and there shall they be. But he concludes with a gracious promise that the time should come when they should all be returned: Until the day that I visit them in mercy, according to appointment, and then I will bring those vessels up again, and restore them to this place, to their place. Surely they were under the protection of a special Providence, else they would have been melted down and put to some other use; but there was to be a second temple, for which they were to be reserved. We read particularly of the return of them, Ezra 1:8. Note, Though the return of the church's prosperity do not come in our time, we must not therefore despair of it, for it will come in God's time. Though those who said, The vessels of the Lord's house shall shortly be brought again, prophesied a lie (Jeremiah 27:16; Jeremiah 27:16), yet he that said, They shall at length be brought again, prophesied the truth. We are apt to set our clock before God's dial, and then to quarrel because they do not agree; but the Lord is a God of judgment, and it is fit that we should wait for him.