Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Jeremiah 27:5

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Jeremiah 27:5. I have made the earth — I am the Creator and Governor of all things, and I dispose of the several kingdoms of the world as seemeth best to me.

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 give them a charge unto their masters, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Thus shall ye say unto your masters: I have made the earth, the men and the beasts that are upon the face of the earth, by my great power, and by my outstretched arm; and I give it unto whom it seemeth right unto me. And now have I given all these lands into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field also have I given him to serve him. And all the nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the time of his own land come: and then many nations and great kings shall make him their bondman."

The Bible makes it clear indeed that "The Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will" (Daniel 4:25). By divine inspiration, Jeremiah here made it plain enough that God had given dominion over the world of that period into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.

This is a staggering thought, especially in view of the truth that very evil men often prove to be the very ones to whom God gives such vast power and dominion. The wisdom of Matthew Henry in contemplating this is appropriate.

The things of this world are not the best things, for God often gives the largest share of them to bad men, men who are rivals of God and rebels against him. Nebuchadnezzar was a proud, wicked man, but he had world dominion by divine fight. He was a very bad man, but God called him his servant. If God so uses and rewards evil men who serve him, however unwittingly, how much more wonderfully will God reward and honor those who love God and truly serve him!Matthew Henry's Commentary, p. 579.

"I have made the earth and the men and the beasts that are upon the face of the earth" God here reveals himself to be not merely the Creator and Sustainer of all created things, but as their Sovereign Lord and Controller also. He is the God of history who has his hand firmly upon the progression of the nations as well. As Paul expressed it, "God made of one every nation of men to dwell on the earth, having determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation" (Acts 17:26). Note in this very paragraph, God had appointed a "season" for the dominion of Babylon, and also that there would be another "season" when Babylon's time came to be themselves the bondmen of others!

"Him and his son, and his son's son" Cheyne declared that this is not intelligible unless we should understand the "seventy years" of captivity as "a round number."T. K. Cheyne, Jeremiah in the Pulpit Commentary, p. 574. Cheyne's error was his failure to see that the expression here is, "a very general one, signifying Nebuchadnezzar and all of his successors until the whole seventy years expired."J. A. Thompson, The Bible and Archeology (Grand Rapid, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1972) p. 533. Of course, there were other successors to Nebuchadnezzar during this period. Thus it is not the number seventy which is "round," but this abbreviation of Nebuchadnezzar's successors.

"Until the time of his own land come" Of course, this is the predictive prophecy of an event to occur many years after the death of Jeremiah; and the radical critics, following their crazy rule about there being no predictive prophecy in the Bible promptly label this verse as a "vatticinium ex eventu".C. F. Keil, Keil-Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), p. 400. But, as noted above, if this event had already happened why was it necessary for the announcer to dress himself up in an ox yoke? Henderson, Keil, Graf, and many other discerning scholars refuse to allow such ridiculous, high-handed, illogical misinterpretations of the scriptures.

This predictive prophecy of the end of Babylonian domination and the subjection of them to others "was fulfilled in the destruction of the Chaldean Empire by Cyrus and his allies at the termination of the seventy years of Jewish exile in Babylon."E. Henderson, The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah (London: Hamilton, Adams, and Company, 1851), p. 154.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

Then follow these words, I have made the earth, the man and the beast, which are on the face of the earth, by my great power, and by mine extended arm. ⁽¹⁷⁹⁾ The spectacle would have been unmeaning and to no purpose, had Jeremiah only put the yoke on his neck, and added no instruction; for we know that all signs are as it were dead, except life is given them by the word. As then an image avails not much, so whatever signs may be set before our eyes, they would be frivolous and without meaning, were no doctrine added as the life. And hence also is condemned the madness of the Papists, who amuse the minds of the people with many signs, while no doctrine is conveyed. It therefore follows that they are mere figments, and attended with no profit. God, then, has ever added to signs his doctrine, which may therefore be truly compared to the soul, which gives life to the body, that would otherwise be without motion or strength. On this account Jeremiah shews what the yoke meant. He also speaks of the power and sovereign authority of God; for kings, though they confess that God holds the government of the world, cannot yet entertain the idea that they can be in a moment overwhelmed and cast down from their dignity. For they seem to themselves to be fixed in their nests, and so they promise to themselves a permanent condition, and imagine that they are not subject to the common lot of mortals.

As, then, kings are so inflated with pride, the Lord used this preface, that he made the earth and all living beings. He speaks not of heaven, but mentions only that he made the earth, and man, and the animals which are on the face of the earth; and adds, by my great power and extended arm Why was this said, except that men might be awakened on hearing that the earth continues not as it is, but as it is sustained by God’s power by which it was once created? The same power preserves men and animals; for nothing can remain safe except God exercises from heaven his hidden power. This, then, was the reason why these words were introduced. God set his own arm and power in opposition to the pride of those who thought that they stood by their own power, and did not acknowledge that they were dependent on the nod of God alone, who sustained them as long as he pleased, and then overthrew and reduced them to nothing when it seemed good to him.

This doctrine, then, ought to be applied to ourselves: for Jeremiah did not speak generally and indiscriminately of God’s power, but accommodated to the subject in hand what he said of God’s power, that men might, know that there is nothing fixed or permanent in this world, but that God preserves men and animals, and yet in such a way, that at any moment he can by a single breath reduce to nothing all those who exist and all that they have. It follows —

(179) Whenever the pronouns are set down in Hebrew, they are emphatic: the beginning of this verse ought to be rendered, “I myself,” or “made have I, even I, the earth, the man also and the beast that are on the face of the earth,” (not as in our version, “upon the ground,”) etc. The last clause, “and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me,” according to Calvin and our version, ought rather to be, “and I will give it to whom it shall seem right in my eyes.” So Venema and Blayney; and it is according to the Sept., though the other versions are the same with our own. The verb indeed is in the past tense, but it is preceded by ו conversive. Then follows the next verse, “And now I — given have I all these lands,” etc. The fifth verse contains a general declaration of truth; God made the earth, and would give it to whom he pleased: the sixth includes his determination as to all these lands; he had given them to Nebuchadnezzar. — Ed

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’s warning to the foreign messengers 27:1-11

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Yahweh announced that He was the Creator of all things, and that He would give His creation to whomever was pleasing in His sight.

"Marduk of Babylon might claim authority over nations by right of conquest, but the LORD claims the right to rule as creator." [Note: Scalise, p. 49.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

I have made the earth, the man and the beast that [are] upon the ground,.... The earth was made by him on the first day, and man and beast on the sixth day, of the creation; the earth is still supported in its being, and man and beast are continued on it in succession: this is mentioned to show his right and authority to dispose of the earth, and all in it, at his pleasure; which is founded on his creation and sustaining of it, and all creatures in it: which was, and is, as he says,

by my great power, and by my outstretched arm; for nothing less could have created the original chaos out of nothing, and brought that into form and order, and produced out of it such creatures as man and beast; and nothing less than that could continue it in being, and a succession of creatures on it:

and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me; some part of it to one, and some to another; and more to one than to another; but to none according to their merit, but according to his own sovereign will and pleasure; see Psalms 115:16.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,   2 Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck,   3 And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah;   4 And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters;   5 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 have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.   6 And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.   7 And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.   8 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.   9 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, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:   10 For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.   11 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.

      Some difficulty occurs in the date of this prophecy. This word is said to come to Jeremiah in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 27:1; Jeremiah 27:1), and yet the messengers, to whom he is to deliver the badges of servitude, are said (Jeremiah 27:3; Jeremiah 27:3) to come to Zedekiah king of Judah, who reigned not till eleven years after the beginning of Jehoiakim's reign. Some make it an error of the copy, and think that it should be read (Jeremiah 27:1; Jeremiah 27:1), In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, for which some negligent scribe, having his eye on the title of the foregoing chapter, wrote Jehoiakim. And, if one would admit a mistake any where, it should be here, for Zedekiah is mentioned again (Jeremiah 27:12; Jeremiah 27:12), and the next prophecy is dated the same year, and said to be in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah,Jeremiah 28:1; Jeremiah 28:1. Dr. Lightfoot solves it thus: In the beginning of Jehoiakim's reign Jeremiah is to make these bonds and yokes, and to put them upon his own neck, in token of Judah's subjection to the king of Babylon, which began at that time; but he is to send them to the neighbouring kings afterwards in the reign of Zedekiah, of whose succession to Jehoiakim, and the ambassadors sent to him, mention is made by way of prediction.

      I. Jeremiah is to prepare a sign of the general reduction of all these countries into subjection to the king of Babylon (Jeremiah 27:2; Jeremiah 27:2): Make thee bonds and yokes, yokes with bonds to fasten them, that the beast may not slip his neck out of the yoke. Into these the prophet must put his own neck to make them taken notice of as a prophetic representation; for every one would enquire, What is the meaning of Jeremiah's yokes? We find him with one on, Jeremiah 28:10; Jeremiah 28:10. Hereby he intimated that he advised them to nothing but what he was resolved to do himself; for he was not one of those that bind heavy burdens on others, which they themselves will not touch with one of their fingers. Ministers must thus lay themselves under the weight and obligation of what they preach to others.

      II. He is to send this, with a sermon annexed to it, to all the neighbouring princes; those are mentioned (Jeremiah 27:3; Jeremiah 27:3) that lay next to the land of Canaan. It should seem, there was a treaty of alliance on foot between the king of Judah and all those other kings. Jerusalem was the place appointed for the treaty. Thither they all sent their plenipotentiaries; and it was agreed that they should bind themselves in a league offensive and defensive, to stand by one another, in opposition to the growing threatening greatness of the king of Babylon, and to reduce his exorbitant power. They had great confidence in their strength thus united, and were ready to call themselves the high allies; but, when the envoys were returning to their respective masters with the ratification of this treaty, Jeremiah gives each of them a yoke to carry to his master, to signify to him that he must either by consent or by compulsion become a servant to the king of Babylon, let him choose which he will. In the sermon upon this sign, 1. God asserts his own indisputable right to dispose of kingdoms as he pleases, Jeremiah 27:5; Jeremiah 27:5. He is the Creator of all things; he made the earth at first, established it, and it abides: it is still the same, though one generation passes away and another comes. He still by a continued creation produces man and beast upon the ground, and it is by his great power and outstretched arm. His arm has infinite strength, though it be stretched out. Upon this account he may give and convey a property and dominion to whomsoever he pleases. As he hath graciously given the earth to the children of men in general (Psalms 115:16), so he give to each his share of it, be it more or less. Note, Whatever any have of the good things of this world, it is what God sees fit to give them; we ourselves should therefore be content, though we have ever so little, and not envy any their share, though they have ever so much. 2. He publishes a grant of all these countries to Nebuchadnezzar. Know all men by these presents. Sciant præsentes et futuri--Let those of the present and those of the future age know. "This is to certify to all whom it may concern that I have given all these lands, with all the wealth of them, into the hands of the king of Babylon; even the beasts of the field, whether tame or wild, have I given to him, parks and pastures; they are all his own." Nebuchadnezzar was a proud wicked man, an idolater; and yet God, in his providence, gives him this large dominion, these vast possessions. Note, The things of this world are not the best things, for God often gives the largest share of them to bad men, that are rivals with him and rebels against him. He was a wicked man, and yet what he had he had by divine grant. Note, Dominion is not founded in grace. Those that have not any colourable title to eternal happiness may yet have a justifiable title to their temporal good things. Nebuchadnezzar is a very bad man, and yet God calls him his servant, because he employed him as an instrument of his providence for the chastising of the nations, and particularly his own people; and for his service therein he thus liberally repaid him. Those whom God makes use of shall not lose by him; much more will he be found the bountiful rewarder of all those that designedly and sincerely serve him. 3. He assures them that they should all be unavoidably brought under the dominion of the king of Babylon for a time (Jeremiah 27:7; Jeremiah 27:7): All nations, all these nations and many others, shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son. His son was Evil-merodach, and his son's son Belshazzar, in whom his kingdom ceased: then the time of reckoning with his land came, when the tables were turned, and many nations and great kings, incorporated into the empire of the Medes and Persians, served themselves of him, as before, Jeremiah 25:14; Jeremiah 25:14. Thus Adonibezek was trampled upon himself, as he had trampled on other kings. 4. He threatens those with military execution that stood out and would not submit to the king of Babylon (Jeremiah 27:8; Jeremiah 27:8): That nation that will not put their neck under his yoke I will punish with sword and famine, with one judgment after another, till it is consumed by his hand. Nebuchadnezzar was very unjust and barbarous in invading the rights and liberties of his neighbours thus, and forcing them into a subjection to him; yet God had just and holy ends in permitting him to do so, to punish these nations for their idolatry and gross immoralities. Those that would not serve the God that made them were justly made to serve their enemies that sought to ruin them. 5. He shows them the vanity of all the hopes they fed themselves with, that they should preserve their liberties, Jeremiah 27:9; Jeremiah 27:10. These nations had their prophets too, that pretended to foretell future events by the stars, or by dreams, or enchantments; and they, to please their patrons, and because they would themselves have it so, flattered them with assurances that they should not serve the king of Babylon. Thus they designed to animate them to a vigorous resistance; and, though they had no ground for it, they hoped hereby to do them service. But he tells them that it would prove to their destruction; for by resisting they would provoke the conqueror to deal severely with them, to remove them, and drive them out into a miserable captivity, in which they should all be lost and buried in oblivion. Particular prophecies against these nations that bordered on Israel severally, the ruin of which is here foretold in the general, we shall meet with, Jeremiah 48:1-49; Ezekiel 25:1-17, which had the same accomplishment with this here. Note, When God judges he will overcome. 6. He puts them in a fair way to prevent their destruction by a quiet and easy submission, Jeremiah 27:11; Jeremiah 27:11. The nations that will be content to serve the king of Babylon, and pay him tribute for seventy years (ten apprenticeships), those will I let remain still in their own land. Those that will bend shall not break. Perhaps the dominion of the king of Babylon may bear no harder upon them than that of their own kings had done. It is often more a point of honour than true wisdom to prefer liberty before life. It is not mentioned to the disgrace of Issachar that because he saw rest was good, and the land pleasant, that he might peaceably enjoy it, he bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant to tribute (Genesis 49:14; Genesis 49:15), as these are here advised to do: Serve the king of Babylon and you shall till the land and dwell therein. Some would condemn this as the evidence of a mean spirit, but the prophet recommends it as that of a meek spirit, which yields to necessity, and by a quiet submission to the hardest turns of Providence makes the best of bad: it is better to do so than by struggling to make it worse.

      Many might have prevented destroying providences by humbling themselves under humbling providences. It is better to take up a lighter cross in our way than to pull a heavier on our own head.