Jeremiah 40, Gedaliah and Peace in Judah (DRAFT)

(This DRAFT study has been done fairly quickly, without the further guide of commentaries. I hope to improve on it later.)

Jerusalem has been sacked and Jeremiah captured.

Jeremiah 40:1-5, Jeremiah freed

The word came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had released him at Ramah. He had found Jeremiah bound in chains among all the captives from Jerusalem and Judah who were being carried into exile to Babylon. 

When the commander of the guard found Jeremiah, he said to him, "The LORD your God decreed this disaster for this place. And now the LORD has brought it about; he has done just as he said he would. All this happened because you people sinned against the LORD and did not obey him. But today I am freeing you from the chains on your wrists. Come with me to Babylon, if you like, and I will look after you; but if you do not want to, then don't come. Look, the whole country lies before you; go wherever you please." 

However, before Jeremiah turned to go, Nebuzaradan added, "Go back to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the towns of Judah, and live with him among the people, or go anywhere else you please." 

Then the commander gave him provisions and a present and let him go. 

Jeremiah is freed and allowed to go wherever he wants. At the last moment, the commander of Nebuchadnezzar's imperial guard tells him to go give advice to Gedaliah who has been appointed puppet governor.

Jeremiah 40:6-12, Peace under Gedaliah

So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah and stayed with him among the people who were left behind in the land. When all the army officers and their men who were still in the open country heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam as governor over the land and had put him in charge of the men, women and children who were the poorest in the land and who had not been carried into exile to Babylon, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah--Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, and their men. 

Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, took an oath to reassure them and their men. "Do not be afraid to serve the Babylonians," he said. "Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you. I myself will stay at Mizpah to represent you before the Babylonians who come to us, but you are to harvest the wine, summer fruit and oil, and put them in your storage jars, and live in the towns you have taken over." 

When all the Jews in Moab, Ammon, Edom and all the other countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as governor over them, they all came back to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, from all the countries where they had been scattered. And they harvested an abundance of wine and summer fruit. 

Gedaliah reassures the other army officers that he will be an advocate for them to the Babylonians. This is good news to the displaced peoples and they return to Judah. The resulting harvest is plentiful.

Jeremiah 40:13-16, An assassin recruited

Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers still in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah and said to him, "Don't you know that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to take your life?" 

But Gedaliah son of Ahikam did not believe them. Then Johanan son of Kareah said privately to Gedaliah in Mizpah, "Let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and no one will know it. Why should he take your life and cause all the Jews who are gathered around you to be scattered and the remnant of Judah to perish?" But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, "Don't do such a thing! What you are saying about Ishmael is not true." 

One of the army leaders, Ishmael, has been recruited by the king of Ammon to assassinate Gedaliah. Gedaliah is told this but does not believe it.

Jeremiah 39, The Fall of Jerusalem (DRAFT)

(This DRAFT study has been done fairly quickly, without the further guide of commentaries. I hope to improve on it later.)

Jeremiah has been kept in a courtyard of the palace, while the city is besieged by Nebuchadnezzar. He has repeatedly told King Zedekiah to surrender.  

It is about 586 BC, a date that will become infamous.

Jeremiah 39:1-3, Jerusalem falls

This is how Jerusalem was taken: In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege to it.  And on the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah's eleventh year, the city wall was broken through. 

Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came and took seats in the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officials of the king of Babylon. 

It takes about a year and a half for the city to fall. Babylonian officials enter the city and take administrative seats at the city gate.

Jeremiah 39:4-7, Capture

When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled; they left the city at night by way of the king's garden, through the gate between the two walls, and headed toward the Arabah. But the Babylonian army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They captured him and took him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him. 

There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and also killed all the nobles of Judah. Then he put out Zedekiah's eyes and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon. 

Zedekiah and his retainers flee the city but are captured in the plains of Jericho. They are then taken to Nebuchadnezzar. The punishment for resistance and for fleeing is that Zedekiah's sons and other nobles are slaughtered in front of him. Then Zedekiah is blinded by having his eyes put out. Then he is shackled and taken to Babylon.

Jeremiah 39:8-9, Burnt

The Babylonians set fire to the royal palace and the houses of the people and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard carried into exile to Babylon the people who remained in the city, along with those who had gone over to him, and the rest of the people. 

The palace is burned and the people taken captive and deported to Babylon. The exile has begun.

Jeremiah 39:10, Poor given vineyards

10 But Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people, who owned nothing; and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields. 

The poor are left to take care of Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 39:11-14, Don't harm him.

Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had given these orders about Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard: "Take him and look after him; don't harm him but do for him whatever he asks." 

So Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard, Nebushazban a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officers of the king of Babylon sent and had Jeremiah taken out of the courtyard of the guard. They turned him over to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him back to his home. So he remained among his own people. 

Jeremiah is freed by Nebuchadnezzar's commander and allowed to go home.

Jeremiah 39:15-18, Ebed-Melech saved

While Jeremiah had been confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD came to him: 16 "Go and tell Ebed-Melech the Cushite, `This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am about to fulfill my words against this city through disaster, not prosperity. At that time they will be fulfilled before your eyes. But I will rescue you on that day, declares the LORD; you will not be handed over to those you fear. I will save you; you will not fall by the sword but will escape with your life, because you trust in me, declares the LORD.'" 

Ebed-Melech, who saved Jeremiah's life, will be spared by God.

Jeremiah 38, Down a Well (DRAFT)

(This DRAFT study has been done fairly quickly, without the further guide of commentaries. I hope to improve on it later.)

Jeremiah had been imprisoned by Zedekiah and then allowed to be free in the courtyard of the guard, a more suitable house arrest. But thinks are getting ready to turn ugly.

Jeremiah 38:1-3, Go to the Babylonians

Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah was telling all the people when he said, "This is what the LORD says: `Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague, but whoever goes over to the Babylonians will live. He will escape with his life; he will live.' 

And this is what the LORD says: `This city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.'" 

Jeremiah has been warning people to not resist Babylon. This naturally upsets the Judean leaders.

Jeremiah 38:4-5, Put him to death!

Then the officials said to the king, "This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin."

 "He is in your hands," King Zedekiah answered. "The king can do nothing to oppose you." 

So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king's son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud. 

Officials go to the king and complain about Jeremiah. They want him executed. The king will not stand in their way. So they take Jeremiah and lower him into a dry well. There he will die of starvation or thirst.

Jeremiah 38:7-13, Rescued

But Ebed-Melech, a Cushite, an official in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate, Ebed-Melech went out of the palace and said to him, "My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into a cistern, where he will starve to death when there is no longer any bread in the city." 

Then the king commanded Ebed-Melech the Cushite, "Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies." 

So Ebed-Melech took the men with him and went to a room under the treasury in the palace. He took some old rags and worn-out clothes from there and let them down with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern.  Ebed-Melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah, "Put these old rags and worn-out clothes under your arms to pad the ropes." Jeremiah did so, and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard. 

Ebed-Melech ("slave to Melech"?), an Egyptian who is an official in the palace, appeals to the king. He says that Jeremiah will starve to death and that this is not right. The king reluctantly agrees.  Ebed-Melech then organizes a way to pull Jeremiah from the well. Jeremiah is returned to living in the courtyard of the guard.

Jeremiah 38:14-16, Do not hide anything

Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the third entrance to the temple of the LORD. "I am going to ask you something," the king said to Jeremiah. "Do not hide anything from me." 

Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "If I give you an answer, will you not kill me? Even if I did give you counsel, you would not listen to me." 

But King Zedekiah swore this oath secretly to Jeremiah: "As surely as the LORD lives, who has given us breath, I will neither kill you nor hand you over to those who are seeking your life." 

Zedekiah seeks out Jeremiah. He promises not to kill Jeremiah, but wants to hear about the future. Jeremiah is naturally reluctant.

Jeremiah 38:17-18, Surrender

Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "This is what the LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: `If you surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down; you and your family will live. But if you will not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be handed over to the Babylonians and they will burn it down; you yourself will not escape from their hands.'" 

Jeremiah's prophecy is that if he surrenders, the city will not be destroyed. But if he does not surrender, it will be destroyed although Zedekiah will be spared.

Jeremiah 38:19-23, Your friends mislead you

King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "I am afraid of the Jews who have gone over to the Babylonians, for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will mistreat me." 

"They will not hand you over," Jeremiah replied. "Obey the LORD by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well with you, and your life will be spared. But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the LORD has revealed to me: All the women left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon. 

Those women will say to you: "`They misled you and overcame you-- those trusted friends of yours. Your feet are sunk in the mud; your friends have deserted you.'  "All your wives and children will be brought out to the Babylonians. You yourself will not escape from their hands but will be captured by the king of Babylon; and this city will be burned down." 

Jeremiah tells Zedekiah that he is not to fear those who have already surrendered to the Babylonians. But if he refuses to surrender, when he is captured, the city will be burned down and the women of the palace will tell Zedekiah that he had been misled.

Jeremiah 38:24-27, Don't tell anyone

Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "Do not let anyone know about this conversation, or you may die. If the officials hear that I talked with you, and they come to you and say, `Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us or we will kill you,' then tell them, `I was pleading with the king not to send me back to Jonathan's house to die there.'" 

All the officials did come to Jeremiah and question him, and he told them everything the king had ordered him to say. So they said no more to him, for no one had heard his conversation with the king. 

Zedekiah does not want anyone to know that he consulted with Jeremiah. So he concocts a lie. Jeremiah goes along with it.

Jeremiah 38:28, In the courtyard.

And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured.

Jeremiah will stay safely in the courtyard until the city falls. That will happen in the next chapter.

Jeremiah 37, Imprisoned (DRAFT)

(This DRAFT study has been done fairly quickly, without the further guide of commentaries. I hope to improve on it later.)

Jeremiah had his secretary, Baruch, write out a scroll announcing the coming disasters. That scroll was read in the temple and eventually carried to King Jeconiah who destroyed it and ordered the arrest of Jeremiah and Baruch. That scroll was then rewritten. Now we have a later message to King Zedekiah. This event occurs before Jeremiah is sent to prison.

Jeremiah 37:1-5, Inquiry from Zedekiah

Zedekiah son of Josiah was made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim. Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the LORD had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet. 

King Zedekiah, however, sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: "Please pray to the LORD our God for us." 

Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. Pharaoh's army had marched out of Egypt, and when the Babylonians who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem. 

Zedekiah has been ignoring Jeremiah's messages but now wants prayer, as the military situation shifts. The king of Egypt has moved in from the west and now threatens Nebuchadnezzar's army which has now withdrawn. Is this good? Zedekiah probably thinks so.

Jeremiah 37:6-10, Ignore Pharaoh

Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of me, `Pharaoh's army, which has marched out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt. Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capture it and burn it down.' 

"This is what the LORD says: Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, `The Babylonians will surely leave us.' They will not! Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn this city down." 

God's message, through Jeremiah, is that the Babylonian army will eventually prevail.

Jeremiah 37:11-14, Arrested

After the Babylonian army had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh's army, Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property among the people there. 

But when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested him and said, "You are deserting to the Babylonians!" 

"That's not true!" Jeremiah said. "I am not deserting to the Babylonians." 

But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 

Jeremiah, on an around to Benjamin to the north, is arrested leaving the city. He is accused of turning traitor and going over to the Babylonians. There is good reason to be suspicious of Jeremiah since he has been prophesying of a Babylonian victory.

Jeremiah 37:15-17, Imprisoned

They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison. Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time. 

Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought to the palace, where he asked him privately, "Is there any word from the LORD?" 

"Yes," Jeremiah replied, "you will be handed over to the king of Babylon." 

Jeremiah is imprisoned. When asked by Zedekiah of a prophecy, Jeremiah replies, "Yes, you will be imprisoned by Nebuchadnezzar."

Jeremiah 37:18-21. Why are you doing this?

Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, "What crime have I committed against you or your officials or this people, that you have put me in prison? Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, `The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land'? But now, my lord the king, please listen. Let me bring my petition before you: Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, or I will die there." 

King Zedekiah then gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given bread from the street of the bakers each day until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard. 

Jeremiah reminds the king of the false prophets who said Babylon would never attack. The king moves Jeremiah to a more suitable place, a form of house arrest in the courtyard where he is given decent bread.

Jeremiah 36, Baruch's Scroll (DRAFT)

(This DRAFT study has been done fairly quickly, without the further guide of commentaries. I hope to improve on it later.)

We have been reading a variety of messages of Jeremiah to various kings and people groups. Here we have a message during the reign of Jehoiakim, around 604 BC.

Jeremiah 36:1-3, Take a scroll

In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD: "Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah and all the other nations from the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiah till now. 

Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, each of them will turn from his wicked way; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin." 

Jeremiah is to record on a scroll all the upcoming disasters, in hopes that the people repent.

Jeremiah 36:4-7, Read to the people

So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and while Jeremiah dictated all the words the LORD had spoken to him, Baruch wrote them on the scroll. Then Jeremiah told Baruch, "I am restricted; I cannot go to the LORD's temple. So you go to the house of the LORD on a day of fasting and read to the people from the scroll the words of the LORD that you wrote as I dictated. Read them to all the people of Judah who come in from their towns. Perhaps they will bring their petition before the LORD, and each will turn from his wicked ways, for the anger and wrath pronounced against this people by the LORD are great." 

Baruch becomes Jeremiah's scribe. Jeremiah is restricted from entering the temple (by a decree of the king?) and so Baruch will read the scroll to them.

Jeremiah 36:8-10, Baruch reads

Baruch son of Neriah did everything Jeremiah the prophet told him to do; at the LORD's temple he read the words of the LORD from the scroll. In the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, a time of fasting before the LORD was proclaimed for all the people in Jerusalem and those who had come from the towns of Judah. 

From the room of Gemariah son of Shaphan the secretary, which was in the upper courtyard at the entrance of the New Gate of the temple, Baruch read to all the people at the LORD's temple the words of Jeremiah from the scroll. 

Baruch does as he is told. He reads to the people in the temple.

Jeremiah 36:11-16, Leaders respond

When Micaiah son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the LORD from the scroll, he went down to the secretary's room in the royal palace, where all the officials were sitting: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Acbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials. 

After Micaiah told them everything he had heard Baruch read to the people from the scroll, all the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, "Bring the scroll from which you have read to the people and come." 

So Baruch son of Neriah went to them with the scroll in his hand. They said to him, "Sit down, please, and read it to us." 

So Baruch read it to them. 

When they heard all these words, they looked at each other in fear and said to Baruch, "We must report all these words to the king." 

Led by Micaiah, a variety of leaders get Baruch to read the message to them. They are frightened by the message and decide they must carry the message to the king.

Jeremiah 36:17-19, Go hide

Then they asked Baruch, "Tell us, how did you come to write all this? Did Jeremiah dictate it?" 

"Yes," Baruch replied, "he dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them in ink on the scroll." 

Then the officials said to Baruch, "You and Jeremiah, go and hide. Don't let anyone know where you are." 

Before carrying the message to the king, these leaders tell Baruch that he and Jeremiah must go into hiding.

Jeremiah 36:20-22,

After they put the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary, they went to the king in the courtyard and reported everything to him. The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and Jehudi brought it from the room of Elishama the secretary and read it to the king and all the officials standing beside him. It was the ninth month and the king was sitting in the winter apartment, with a fire burning in the firepot in front of him. 

The scroll is read to the king. It is winter (ninth month) in Jerusalem and the king is sitting with a fire in a firepot nearby.

Jeremiah 36:23-26, Columns cut off

Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe's knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire. The king and all his attendants who heard all these words showed no fear, nor did they tear their clothes. 

Even though Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the LORD had hidden them.

The king is not receptive. The Hebrews read in columns and every four columns or so, the king cuts off and destroys. The king and his attendants are unrepentant. The king orders the arrest of Baruch and Jeremiah. But forewarned by Jehudi and the others, Baruch and Jeremiah have gone into hiding.

Jeremiah 36:27-31, Prophecy for Jehoiakim

 After the king burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah's dictation, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: "Take another scroll and write on it all the words that were on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah burned up. Also tell Jehoiakim king of Judah, `This is what the LORD says: You burned that scroll and said, "Why did you write on it that the king of Babylon would certainly come and destroy this land and cut off both men and animals from it?"  Therefore, this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on the throne of David; his body will be thrown out and exposed to the heat by day and the frost by night. I will punish him and his children and his attendants for their wickedness; I will bring on them and those living in Jerusalem and the people of Judah every disaster I pronounced against them, because they have not listened.'" 

Now the message is to Jehoiakim. The disaster will come personally for Jehoiakim and his body will be dumped in the wild, exposed to the elements.

Jeremiah 36:32, A second scroll

So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and as Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them. 

Baruch then  writes a second scroll. So the message survives. But, strangely, this story seems to end here. A new story begins in the next chapter.

Jeremiah 35, The Recabites (DRAFT)

(This DRAFT study has been done fairly quickly, without the further guide of commentaries. I hope to improve on it later.)

In the previous chapter we had a message from God to Zedekiah. Here we have a message to Jehoiakim.

Jeremiah 35:1-2, Go to the Recabites

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD during the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: "Go to the Recabite family and invite them to come to one of the side rooms of the house of the LORD and give them wine to drink." 

The Recabites are an interesting clan. See this GotQuestions link. Here Jeremiah is to offer them wine to drink. But the Recabites do not drink wine....

Jeremiah 35:3-5, Drink this wine

So I went to get Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons--the whole family of the Recabites. I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the room of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah the man of God. It was next to the room of the officials, which was over that of Maaseiah son of Shallum the doorkeeper. 

Then I set bowls full of wine and some cups before the men of the Recabite family and said to them, "Drink some wine." 

Note the details in this passage. There is a specific room that Jeremiah identifies for this event.

Jeremiah 35:6-11, Drink this wine

But they replied, "We do not drink wine, because our forefather Jonadab son of Recab gave us this command: `Neither you nor your descendants must ever drink wine. Also you must never build houses, sow seed or plant vineyards; you must never have any of these things, but must always live in tents. Then you will live a long time in the land where you are nomads.' 

We have obeyed everything our forefather Jonadab son of Recab commanded us. Neither we nor our wives nor our sons and daughters have ever drunk wine or built houses to live in or had vineyards, fields or crops. We have lived in tents and have fully obeyed everything our forefather Jonadab commanded us. 

But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded this land, we said, `Come, we must go to Jerusalem to escape the Babylonian and Aramean armies.' So we have remained in Jerusalem." 

The Jecabites are, by choice, tent dwellers who abstain from wine or houses or vineyards. It turns out that they are now in Jerusalem as refugees, fleeing Nebuchadnezzar.

Jeremiah 35:12-17, An example

Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying: "This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go and tell the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem, `Will you not learn a lesson and obey my words?' declares the LORD. `Jonadab son of Recab ordered his sons not to drink wine and this command has been kept. To this day they do not drink wine, because they obey their forefather's command. 

But I have spoken to you again and again, yet you have not obeyed me. Again and again I sent all my servants the prophets to you. They said, "Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and reform your actions; do not follow other gods to serve them. Then you will live in the land I have given to you and your fathers." But you have not paid attention or listened to me. The descendants of Jonadab son of Recab have carried out the command their forefather gave them, but these people have not obeyed me.' 

"Therefore, this is what the LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: `Listen! I am going to bring on Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem every disaster I pronounced against them. I spoke to them, but they did not listen; I called to them, but they did not answer.'" 

The Jecabites are given as an example of a clan that obeyed their forefather's instructions. But Judah, as a rule, has not. And so Judah will be punished.

Jeremiah 35:18-19, Promise to the Recabites

Then Jeremiah said to the family of the Recabites, "This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: `You have obeyed the command of your forefather Jonadab and have followed all his instructions and have done everything he ordered.' Therefore, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: `Jonadab son of Recab will never fail to have a man to serve me.'" 

Jeremiah says that YHWH has determined that there will always be a Recabite serving Him.  What do we know about the Recabite descendants? There are certainly claims of people groups to have descended from the Recabites....

Jeremiah 34, "Freed" Slaves (DRAFT)

(This DRAFT study has been done fairly quickly, without the further guide of commentaries. I hope to improve on it later.)

Jeremiah has been prophesying about a coming invasion. Now it approaches.

Jeremiah 34:1-5, Promise to Zedekiah

While Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms and peoples in the empire he ruled were fighting against Jerusalem and all its surrounding towns, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 

"This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Go to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him, `This is what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down. You will not escape from his grasp but will surely be captured and handed over to him. You will see the king of Babylon with your own eyes, and he will speak with you face to face. And you will go to Babylon.

"`Yet hear the promise of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the LORD says concerning you: You will not die by the sword; you will die peacefully. As people made a funeral fire in honor of your fathers, the former kings who preceded you, so they will make a fire in your honor and lament, "Alas, O master!" 

I myself make this promise, 

declares the LORD.'" 

Then Jeremiah the prophet told all this to Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem, while the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah that were still holding out--Lachish and Azekah. These were the only fortified cities left in Judah

Jerusalem will be burned down but Zedekiah will not be killed. Instead, he will die peacefully of old age. Jeremiah passes this on to Zedekiah while Nebuchadnezzar continues to besiege the last three fortresses of Judah.

Jeremiah 34:8-11, Free your slaves!

The word came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom for the slaves. Everyone was to free his Hebrew slaves, both male and female; no one was to hold a fellow Jew in bondage. 

So all the officials and people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their male and female slaves and no longer hold them in bondage. They agreed, and set them free. But afterward they changed their minds and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again. 

Zedekiah orders the people of Jerusalem to free their Hebrew slaves. This is a good first start in giving justice to the people. The people do this and then renege on the agreement.

Jeremiah 34:13-16, Profaned my name

Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 

"This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your forefathers when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I said, `Every seventh year each of you must free any fellow Hebrew who has sold himself to you. After he has served you six years, you must let him go free.' Your fathers, however, did not listen to me or pay attention to me. 

Recently you repented and did what is right in my sight: Each of you proclaimed freedom to his countrymen. You even made a covenant before me in the house that bears my Name. But now you have turned around and profaned my name; each of you has taken back the male and female slaves you had set free to go where they wished. You have forced them to become your slaves again. 

YHWH tells Jeremiah that he has noticed their breaking of their covenant vows. Their  reversal of their vow profanes the name of God, since the people bear His name.

Notice that the actions of the Israelites breaks the Third Commandment -- they have profaned the name of YHWH.

Jeremiah 34:17-22, "Freed"

"Therefore, this is what the LORD says: You have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom for your fellow countrymen. So I now proclaim `freedom' for you, declares the LORD--`freedom' to fall by the sword, plague and famine. I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth. 

The men who have violated my covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces. The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests and all the people of the land who walked between the pieces of the calf, I will hand over to their enemies who seek their lives. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. 

"I will hand Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials over to their enemies who seek their lives, to the army of the king of Babylon, which has withdrawn from you. I am going to give the order, declares the LORD, and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, take it and burn it down. And I will lay waste the towns of Judah so no one can live there." 

The people of Jerusalem will be "freed" just as their slaves have been "freed". 

The people have violated God's covenant with them. In the ancient Near East culture, covenants were ratified by splitting an animal in two and walking between the two halves. This sybolized that if either party broke the covenant, they would expect to be cut in two like the animals. (See Genesis 15:7-21 for the ratification of a covenant between Abram and God.)  Here the people of Israel are about to experience this penalty.

Some Random Thoughts

The Third Commandment says to not profane the name of God. Modern Christianity has watered this down to avoiding words like "God!" or "damn!" But the commandment is much much deeper than that. It speaks to people who claim the name of God and then acts in disobedience to Him. In American society today, there are many politicians who claim to speak for Jesus and Christianity -- while living out a life of abuse, adultery, slander... and evil is various forms.