Study Desk

God 's Message that came to Jeremiah regarding the drought: "Judah weeps, her cities mourn. The people fall to the ground, moaning, while sounds of Jerusalem's sobs rise up, up. The rich people sent their servants for water. They went to the cisterns, but the cisterns were dry. They came back with empty buckets, wringing their hands, shaking their heads. All the farm work has stopped. Not a drop of rain has fallen. The farmers don't know what to do. They wring their hands, they shake their heads. Even the doe abandons her fawn in the field because there is no grass— Eyes glazed over, on her last legs, nothing but skin and bones."

"I've arranged for four kinds of punishment: death in battle, the corpses dropped off by killer dogs, the rest picked clean by vultures, the bones gnawed by hyenas. They'll be a sight to see, a sight to shock the whole world—and all because of Manasseh son of Hezekiah and all he did in Jerusalem.

This is how God answered me: "Take back those words, and I'll take you back. Then you'll stand tall before me. Use words truly and well. Don't stoop to cheap whining. Then, but only then, you'll speak for me. Let your words change them. Don't change your words to suit them. I'll turn you into a steel wall, a thick steel wall, impregnable. They'll attack you but won't put a dent in you because I'm at your side, defending and delivering." God 's Decree. "I'll deliver you from the grip of the wicked. I'll get you out of the clutch of the ruthless."

"When you tell this to the people and they ask, ‘Why is God talking this way, threatening us with all these calamities? We're not criminals, after all. What have we done to our God to be treated like this?' tell them this: ‘It's because your ancestors left me, walked off and never looked back. They took up with the no-gods, worshiped and doted on them, and ignored me and wouldn't do a thing I told them. And you're even worse! Take a good look in the mirror—each of you doing whatever you want, whenever you want, refusing to pay attention to me. And for this I'm getting rid of you, throwing you out in the cold, into a far and strange country. You can worship your precious no-gods there to your heart's content. Rest assured, I won't bother you anymore.'

"Say, ‘Listen to God 's Word, you kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem! This is the Message from God -of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel. I'm about to bring doom crashing down on this place. Oh, and will ears ever ring! Doom—because they've walked off and left me, and made this place strange by worshiping strange gods, gods never heard of by them, their parents, or the old kings of Judah. Doom—because they have massacred innocent people. Doom—because they've built altars to that no-god Baal, and burned their own children alive in the fire as offerings to Baal, an atrocity I never ordered, never so much as hinted at!

The priest Pashur son of Immer was the senior priest in God 's Temple. He heard Jeremiah preach this sermon. He whipped Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks at the Upper Benjamin Gate of God 's Temple. The next day Pashur came and let him go. Jeremiah told him, " God has a new name for you: not Pashur but Danger-Everywhere, because God says, ‘You're a danger to yourself and everyone around you. All your friends are going to get killed in battle while you stand there and watch. What's more, I'm turning all of Judah over to the king of Babylon to do whatever he likes with them—haul them off into exile, kill them at whim. Everything worth anything in this city, property and possessions along with everything in the royal treasury—I'm handing it all over to the enemy. They'll rummage through it and take what they want back to Babylon.

"Travelers from all over will come through here and say to one another, ‘Why would God do such a thing to this wonderful city?' They'll be told, ‘Because they walked out on the covenant of their God , took up with other gods and worshiped them.'"

My head is reeling, my limbs are limp, I'm staggering like a drunk, seeing double from too much wine— And all because of God , because of his holy words.

"Are you paying attention? You'd better, because I'm about to take you in hand and throw you to the ground, you and this entire city that I gave to your ancestors. I've had it with the lot of you. You're never going to live this down. You're going down in history as a disgrace."

The verdict of God -of-the-Angel-Armies on all this: "Because you have refused to listen to what I've said, I'm stepping in. I'm sending for the armies out of the north headed by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant in this, and I'm setting them on this land and people and even the surrounding countries. I'm devoting the whole works to total destruction—a horror to top all the horrors in history. And I'll banish every sound of joy—singing, laughter, marriage festivities, genial workmen, candlelit suppers. The whole landscape will be one vast wasteland. These countries will be in subjection to the king of Babylon for seventy years.

This is a Message that the God of Israel gave me: "Take this cup filled with the wine of my wrath that I'm handing to you. Make all the nations where I send you drink it down. They'll drink it and get drunk, staggering in delirium because of the killing that I'm going to unleash among them."

" God 's Message: Stand in the court of God 's Temple and preach to the people who come from all over Judah to worship in God 's Temple. Say everything I tell you to say to them. Don't hold anything back. Just maybe they'll listen and turn back from their bad lives. Then I'll reconsider the disaster that I'm planning to bring on them because of their evil behavior.

Then some of the respected leaders stood up and addressed the crowd: "In the reign of Hezekiah king of Judah, Micah of Moresheth preached to the people of Judah this sermon: This is God -of-the-Angel-Armies' Message for you: "‘Because of people like you, Zion will be turned back into farmland, Jerusalem end up as a pile of rubble, and instead of the Temple on the mountain, a few scraggly scrub pines.'

"Did King Hezekiah or anyone else in Judah kill Micah of Moresheth because of that sermon? Didn't Hezekiah honor him and pray for mercy from God ? And then didn't God call off the disaster he had threatened? "Friends, we're at the brink of bringing a terrible calamity upon ourselves."

And finally I spoke to the priests and the people at large: "This is God 's Message: Don't listen to the preaching of the prophets who keep telling you, ‘Trust us: The furnishings, plundered from God 's Temple, are going to be returned from Babylon any day now.' That's a lie. Don't listen to them. Submit to the king of Babylon and live a long life. Why do something that will destroy this city and leave it a heap of rubble? If they are real prophets and have a Message from God , let them come to God -of-the-Angel-Armies in prayer so that the furnishings that are still left in God 's Temple, the king's palace, and Jerusalem aren't also lost to Babylon. That's because God -of-the-Angel-Armies has already spoken about the Temple furnishings that remain—the pillars, the great bronze basin, the stands, and all the other bowls and chalices that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon didn't take when he took Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim off to Babylonian exile along with all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. He said that the furnishings left behind in the Temple of God and in the royal palace and in Jerusalem will be taken off to Babylon and stay there until, in God 's words, ‘I take the matter up again and bring them back where they belong.'"

Later that same year (it was in the fifth month of King Zedekiah's fourth year) Hananiah son of Azzur, a prophet from Gibeon, confronted Jeremiah in the Temple of God in front of the priests and all the people who were there. Hananiah said: "This Message is straight from God -of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel: ‘I will most certainly break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Before two years are out I'll have all the furnishings of God 's Temple back here, all the things that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon plundered and hauled off to Babylon. I'll also bring back Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the exiles who were taken off to Babylon.' God 's Decree. ‘Yes, I will break the king of Babylon's yoke. You'll no longer be in harness to him.'" Prophet Jeremiah stood up to prophet Hananiah in front of the priests and all the people who were in God 's Temple that day. Prophet Jeremiah said, "Wonderful! Would that it were true—that God would validate your preaching by bringing the Temple furnishings and all the exiles back from Babylon. But listen to me, listen closely. Listen to what I tell both you and all the people here today: The old prophets, the ones before our time, preached judgment against many countries and kingdoms, warning of war and disaster and plague. So any prophet who preaches that everything is just fine and there's nothing to worry about stands out like a sore thumb. We'll wait and see. If it happens, it happens—and then we'll know that God sent him." At that, Hananiah grabbed the yoke from Jeremiah's shoulders and smashed it. And then he addressed the people: "This is God 's Message: In just this way I will smash the yoke of the king of Babylon and get him off the neck of all the nations—and within two years." Jeremiah walked out. Later, sometime after Hananiah had smashed the yoke from off his shoulders, Jeremiah received this Message from God : "Go back to Hananiah and tell him, ‘This is God 's Message: You smashed the wooden yoke-bars; now you've got iron yoke-bars. This is a Message from God -of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel's own God: I've put an iron yoke on all these nations. They're harnessed to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. They'll do just what he tells them. Why, I'm even putting him in charge of the wild animals.'" So prophet Jeremiah told prophet Hananiah, "Hold it, Hananiah! God never sent you. You've talked the whole country into believing a pack of lies! And so God says, ‘You claim to be sent? I'll send you all right—right off the face of the earth! Before the year is out, you'll be dead because you fomented sedition against God .'" Prophet Hananiah died that very year, in the seventh month.

From a Wooden to an Iron Yoke Later that same year (it was in the fifth month of King Zedekiah's fourth year) Hananiah son of Azzur, a prophet from Gibeon, confronted Jeremiah in the Temple of God in front of the priests and all the people who were there. Hananiah said: "This Message is straight from God -of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel: ‘I will most certainly break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Before two years are out I'll have all the furnishings of God 's Temple back here, all the things that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon plundered and hauled off to Babylon. I'll also bring back Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the exiles who were taken off to Babylon.' God 's Decree. ‘Yes, I will break the king of Babylon's yoke. You'll no longer be in harness to him.'" Prophet Jeremiah stood up to prophet Hananiah in front of the priests and all the people who were in God 's Temple that day. Prophet Jeremiah said, "Wonderful! Would that it were true—that God would validate your preaching by bringing the Temple furnishings and all the exiles back from Babylon. But listen to me, listen closely. Listen to what I tell both you and all the people here today: The old prophets, the ones before our time, preached judgment against many countries and kingdoms, warning of war and disaster and plague. So any prophet who preaches that everything is just fine and there's nothing to worry about stands out like a sore thumb. We'll wait and see. If it happens, it happens—and then we'll know that God sent him." At that, Hananiah grabbed the yoke from Jeremiah's shoulders and smashed it. And then he addressed the people: "This is God 's Message: In just this way I will smash the yoke of the king of Babylon and get him off the neck of all the nations—and within two years." Jeremiah walked out. Later, sometime after Hananiah had smashed the yoke from off his shoulders, Jeremiah received this Message from God : "Go back to Hananiah and tell him, ‘This is God 's Message: You smashed the wooden yoke-bars; now you've got iron yoke-bars. This is a Message from God -of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel's own God: I've put an iron yoke on all these nations. They're harnessed to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. They'll do just what he tells them. Why, I'm even putting him in charge of the wild animals.'" So prophet Jeremiah told prophet Hananiah, "Hold it, Hananiah! God never sent you. You've talked the whole country into believing a pack of lies! And so God says, ‘You claim to be sent? I'll send you all right—right off the face of the earth! Before the year is out, you'll be dead because you fomented sedition against God .'" Prophet Hananiah died that very year, in the seventh month.

So prophet Jeremiah told prophet Hananiah, "Hold it, Hananiah! God never sent you. You've talked the whole country into believing a pack of lies! And so God says, ‘You claim to be sent? I'll send you all right—right off the face of the earth! Before the year is out, you'll be dead because you fomented sedition against God .'"

"But for right now, because you've taken up with these newfangled prophets who set themselves up as ‘Babylonian specialists,' spreading the word ‘ God sent them just for us!' God is setting the record straight: As for the king still sitting on David's throne and all the people left in Jerusalem who didn't go into exile with you, they're facing bad times. God -of-the-Angel-Armies says, ‘Watch this! Catastrophe is on the way: war, hunger, disease! They're a barrel of rotten apples. I'll rid the country of them through war and hunger and disease. The whole world is going to hold its nose at the smell, shut its eyes at the horrible sight. They'll end up in slum ghettos because they wouldn't listen to a thing I said when I sent my servant-prophets preaching tirelessly and urgently. No, they wouldn't listen to a word I said.'" God 's Decree.

Then God told Jeremiah, "Send this Message to the exiles. Tell them what God says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Shemaiah is preaching lies to you. I didn't send him. He is seducing you into believing lies. So this is God 's verdict: I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his whole family. He's going to end up with nothing and no one. No one from his family will be around to see any of the good that I am going to do for my people because he has preached rebellion against me." God 's Decree.