Introduction to Jeremiah 37–45
CHAPTERS 37–45 FORM a subsection in the book of Jeremiah dealing primarily with the reign of Zedekiah and the fall of Jerusalem. Most of this material concerns the details of the Babylonian siege during the last two years of Zedekiah’s reign (588–586 B.C.), his capture and ignominious transport to Babylon (39:4–7), and the tragic aftermath of the city’s capture when Gedaliah, the Babylonian-appointed governor, is assassinated and Jeremiah is dragged to Egypt with a pitiful Judean contingent (chs. 40–44). A word of hope granted to Baruch concludes the section (ch. 45), dated to the fourth year of Jehoiakim (i.e., 605/604 B.C.). These narratives, therefore, did not form an original literary unity. They are a collection of accounts that have a thematic coherence to them.1
Some scholars have called this narrative section a “passion narrative” because the suffering and oppression of the prophet are central to the accounts.2 More important, however, is the fact that there are literary and thematic parallels in these chapters with the accounts of Jesus’ suffering. This is the real reason to consider using the expression. “Passion narrative” is accurate enough as a description of Jeremiah’s tragic setting, even if some may think that parallels to the passion accounts in the Gospels are overdrawn. The prophet is passionate enough about the fate of the people and tragically drawn into its consequences; nevertheless, it is unlikely that the expression would be used much without the New Testament connections.
It is important to stress that the suffering and oppression that Jeremiah experiences are not atoning or salvific for others. Atonement and salvation are wonderful terms to describe what Christ has accomplished for his people through his suffering. Those terms, however, do not describe what Jeremiah accomplishes (if that is even the right term to use) on behalf of God’s people. Jeremiah’s “passion narrative” describes the work of a prophet whose sensitivity toward a lost people results in a deep identification with them and their suffering, and also the work of a prophet whose innocent suffering is caught up in the fate of those same people. The Gospels describe a public ministry, and particularly narratives of a last tragic week in Jerusalem, that richly reflects the passion of our Lord, whose suffering is on behalf of his people. Jeremiah’s story is simply (and profoundly) a pointer in that direction.
We should also stress that these chapters are not the only accounts of Jeremiah’s persecution, either in prose (e.g., 20:1–6) or poetry (e.g., 20:7–12), nor is the prophet the only figure of suffering in the accounts. Baruch, Gedaliah, and Ebed-Melech are caught up in the drama as well.
Fundamentally, Jeremiah’s “passion narrative” continues the somber unfolding of self-incurred judgment on Judah and Jerusalem, a story deeply embedded in the minds of those who compiled Jeremiah’s poetry. Tragic dissolution is the central theme to the accounts, although they are not without words of hope (e.g., the word to Baruch in ch. 45). A city is largely destroyed, a royal family is decimated by execution, a governor is treacherously murdered, and the prophet and his scribal companion are taken against their will to Egypt. As a story of suffering, there is plenty of illustrative material, and perhaps this is the point on which to start building a satisfactory interpretation.
The fate of the nation is a massive tragedy. The consequences of the Babylonian siege and destruction continue on in vicious cycles after the city has quit smoldering and the Babylonian army has departed. At several levels no one is exempt from the dark influence of the nation’s fall. At another level, there are words of promise and protection to Ebed-Melech (39:15–18) and Baruch (45:1–5) that cast God’s care in personal terms in spite of the upheaval. Others among the remnant are pointed to a better way (42:7–12), but they choose the wrong path.
These are chapters to ponder and to read together, even if their prehistory suggests diverse origins. If we seek “good news” from them, there will surely be some disappointment with their overwhelmingly negative tone. They take on a different hue, however, when placed in the larger context of Israel’s history and the broader biblical witness, but we must be prepared to grapple theologically with the enormity of failure and with massive suffering. Only then will we sense the miracle of Jeremiah’s preservation until his forced exile to Egypt; only then will we grasp some sense of the cost of discipleship carried by God’s servants (Jeremiah, Gedaliah, Baruch, Ebed-Melech); only then will the gift of grace that comes undeserved be appreciated for what it is.
Jeremiah 37:1–21
1ZEDEKIAH SON OF JOSIAH was made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim. 2Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the LORD had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.
3King 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.”
4Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. 5Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt, and when the Babylonians who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.
6Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet: 7“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. 8Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capture it and burn it down.’
9“This is what the LORD says: Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us.’ They will not! 10Even 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.”
11After the Babylonian army had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army, 12Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property among the people there. 13But 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!”
14“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. 15They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison.
16Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time. 17Then 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.”
18Then 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? 19Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land’? 20But 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.”
21King 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.
Original Meaning
CHAPTER 37 PROVIDES yet another account (like ch. 36) of royal failure and the continued rejection of the prophetic word. The royal culprit this time is Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, who is the pathetic leader of the doomed city.
37:1–2. According to verse 1, Zedekiah was placed on the throne in Judah by the Babylonians. They had surrounded Jerusalem in the winter months of 598/597 B.C. In March 597 the city surrendered to the Babylonians, and Jehoiachin, who had been king only a few months, was deported to Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar placed Jehoiachin’s uncle Zedekiah on the throne. The deporting of Jehoiachin (sometimes called Coniah) and the appointing of Zedekiah as king were parts of a “divide and conquer” strategy on the part of the Babylonians. With two different men in two different communities claiming title to the Judean kingship, there was much occasion for internal tensions among the Judeans of Babylon and Palestine. The Babylonians hoped this would lessen the possibility of rebellion against their policies.
These two verses are actually a summary statement of Zedekiah’s eleven years of reign. Details of his kingship and of his relationship with Jeremiah are picked up in verse 3 and continue through the end of chapter 38. The section 37:3–38:28 concern only the period of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem during the years 588–587/586.
37:3–10. An Egyptian army is moving toward Judah in a manner intended to threaten the Babylonian army. This is probably part of the Pharaoh Hophra’s scheme to regain control of affairs in Judah in the spring or summer of 588.3 According to verse 4, Jeremiah was not confined or imprisoned during all of Zedekiah’s reign, but the rest of chapter 37 confirms that he was confined in a variety of circumstances.
Verses 6–10 report on a revelation given Jeremiah by the Lord, a message that he is to transmit to Zedekiah: Babylon will succeed in taking the city. Even the language of verse 8 is paralleled almost exactly in 34:22. What is new in the revelation is the prediction that the Egyptian army will not turn the tide of the Babylonian intent to take Judah and Jerusalem.
37:11–15. The appearance of the Egyptian army causes a temporary lifting of the Babylonian siege. Possibly Jeremiah’s futile attempt to leave Jerusalem at this time is the prelude to the visit of his cousin during his imprisonment (32:1–14). According to the summary statement in 37:12, Jeremiah wants to go to the Benjamite tribal area in order to get his share of the property there. With the (temporary) lifting of the siege must have come a lot of frenetic activity among the inhabitants of the region. In Jeremiah’s case, the guards of the city are suspicious that the prophet wants to leave the city in order to desert to the Babylonians. He is beaten and placed in confinement.
37:16–21. Zedekiah appears to be a classic case of a divided mind under pressure. On the one hand, he desperately seeks guidance for the difficulties of Judah, including his requests that Jeremiah pray to God (37:3) and that Jeremiah mediate God’s will to him (37:17; see also ch. 21). On the other hand, the word of the Lord causes him consternation and demands of him what his self-serving and vacillating nature will not allow. Indeed, in his irrational behavior Zedekiah mistreats the very prophet he approaches for help.
Jeremiah is confined to a house belonging to a scribe (37:15) and later to a place associated with a guardhouse (37:21). Neither place appears to be a prison in the modern sense of the word, although Jeremiah’s personal circumstances are painful. He is beaten at the scribe’s house, and his rations in the guardhouse quarters are minimal. Later still, he will be thrown into a cistern (38:6). In 37:18 Jeremiah inquires of the king in what way he has sinned against the king or the people that he should be treated in this manner. He has consistently preached what God has given him to deliver, and he has responded whenever the king has inquired of him. The implied point is that he has told the truth and that Zedekiah is persecuting him for it.
Bridging Contexts
ZEDEKIAH AND A WORD FROM THE LORD. Zedekiah turns to the appropriate source in seeking answers to his dilemma: He seeks a word from the Lord. He fails, however, to listen to the word God communicates. Appropriately for the national crisis, he advocates prayer (37:3) and seeks a message from the Lord through Jeremiah (37:17). The problem is that God has previously informed Zedekiah that his actions and those of the people are unacceptable, and nothing seems to have changed—nothing from the side of God or that of Zedekiah. God has not changed his mind regarding the assessment of king and people, and Zedekiah seems oblivious to the prophet’s message. For his part, Zedekiah seems to have followed a form of the proverbial advice to “shoot the bearer of bad news.”
Hindsight is usually better than foresight. The tragedy of this account is that God makes known the near future, and Zedekiah is simply incapable of hearing and responding.
Persecution and the prophets. Persecution comes to prophets. In a variety of ways the book of Jeremiah is one long testimony to the cost of prophetic activity. His imprisonment is one of several in the Bible for prophets; Joseph, Micaiah ben Imlah, John the Baptist, Peter, Paul, and John the seer of the Apocalypse are all companions in faith incarcerated for their role in delivering God’s word. Some who represent the message of the Lord suffer the ultimate human judgment of death (e.g., Uriah the son of Shemaiah, 26:20–23). Indeed, as is made clear in Jesus Christ, were God himself to advocate his Word, the reaction does not necessarily differ.
Contemporary Significance
THE PRAYERS OF GOD’S PEOPLE. When is prayer for deliverance not acceptable? The question initially seems out of place since a loving God is typically open to the cries of his people, even if the timing of his response remains mysterious. Jesus taught his disciples to pray that they not be led into temptation but that God will deliver them from evil (Matt. 6:13). But there is a difference between Zedekiah and Moses, and between Jesus’ disciples and the Judeans of Jeremiah’s day. Disciples of Jesus cannot blatantly disregard his Word and then assume that a prayer for deliverance is efficacious; correspondingly, Zedekiah cannot assume that his rejection of God’s Word will somehow induce God to send a different word of instruction.
There are circumstances where prayer is not what God desires. Although this sounds like a radical statement, it is worth some moments of reflection. Prayer is a staple of the Christian life, but it cannot be used as a reason for shirking one’s responsibility or as an excuse for not being obedient to divine instruction.
A widely told anecdote concerns a man caught in his house during a period of heavy rains and flooding. As the water began to rise around his house, a neighbor came by to take him to higher ground and safety. The man refused to go, saying that he would wait out the storm and trust the Lord. As the water began to pour into the house, the man moved to the second story of the house. A police officer in a small boat came back and called to the man in the second-story window. The man replied similarly that he would wait out the storm and trust in the Lord. As the water continued to rise, the man climbed to his roof. A helicopter came by, and the man motioned for it to go on. After several frustrating minutes, the helicopter departed.
The man waited to see what would transpire next, and when the water continued to threaten, he began to pray to the Lord. He got an answer: “I sent a neighbor, a police officer, and a helicopter. Why didn’t you listen?”
This seemingly trite story illustrates an important scriptural lesson. When God sends his servants to proclaim his message, and the servants and their message are rejected, then what other recourse is open? Unfortunately in many crises, no other avenue is open except that of failure and self-incurred destruction.
Stories of the recalcitrant and the disobedient (e.g., Zedekiah) in Scripture are not told so that a different generation can gleefully note how stupid “they” were. They are recorded so that any generation of God’s people who read them can be instructed. After all, somebody among the faithful got it right and preserved the accounts for posterity. The foolish finally point by way of contrast to what is healthy among the people. It is far more instructive to read the accounts sympathetically, giving due attention to the possibility that in one way or the other we have become Zedekiah or Judah in our day.
It is important to remember how easy it is to assault the messenger rather than to listen carefully and to learn humbly from him or her. It is more convenient to reject an “unfriendly” assessment than it is to look in the mirror of God’s Word.
Paradoxically, there is also hope in this disquieting account. Even in judging Zedekiah and the people, God is still at work to keep his promises. Zedekiah’s family (i.e., that of David) will still be privileged to play a crucial role in God’s economy. Moreover, what most Judeans think is an awful tragedy—the fall of the state and the resulting exile—is also the seedbed of new beginnings.
Jeremiah 38:1–28a
1SHEPHATIAH 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, 2“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.’ 3And 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.’”
4Then 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.”
5“He is in your hands,” King Zedekiah answered. “The king can do nothing to oppose you.”
6So 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.
7But 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, 8Ebed-Melech went out of the palace and said to him, 9“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.”
10Then 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.”
11So 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. 12Ebed-Melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Put these old rags and worn-out clothes under your arms to pad the ropes.” Jeremiah did so, 13and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
14Then 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.”
15Jeremiah 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.”
16But 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.”
17Then 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. 18But 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.’”
19King 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.”
20“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. 21But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the LORD has revealed to me: 22All 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.’
23“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.”
24Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know about this conversation, or you may die. 25If 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,’ 26then tell them, ‘I was pleading with the king not to send me back to Jonathan’s house to die there.’”
27All 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.
28And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured.
Original Meaning
CHAPTER 38 CONTINUES the narrative account begun in chapter 37 of Jeremiah’s imprisonments during the final stages of the second Babylonian siege of Jerusalem. Jeremiah says nothing new about Judah’s fate to Zedekiah (who wants desperately to have an authoritative but “positive” word on which to act). The choice that God has set before Zedekiah is described clearly, including words about the king’s personal circumstances (38:17–23).4 The fear expressed by Zedekiah that he will be abused by fellow Judeans if he surrenders suggests that Zedekiah’s concern about himself is stronger than that for his people.
38:1–6. The men named in verse 1 are “officials” (cf. v. 4). Two of them are named elsewhere in the book. Jehucal is the NIV rendering of Hebrew Yukal. The latter is a variant of the name Jehucal, a son of Shelemiah mentioned in 37:3; they are almost certainly the same person. Pashhur is one of Zedekiah’s servants (21:1). These officials have much autonomy in dealing with Jeremiah, as Zedekiah concedes in verse 5.
The officials are angry with Jeremiah because his words about Babylonian supremacy are “discouraging” (v. 4; lit., “weaken the hands”). This is not a common phrase in the Old Testament, but it occurs in a secular letter from the time of Jeremiah, where it describes the effect of bad news.5 The officials lower Jeremiah into a cistern that has mud but no water. This is vindictive treatment by his opponents. Indirectly this comment tells the reader about the desperate circumstances of the siege. An empty cistern indicates water scarcity. Jeremiah is trapped in the cistern and unable to move easily or to rest.
38:7–13. One of the palace officials, a eunuch from Ethiopia,6 courageously approaches Zedekiah to overturn the order consigning Jeremiah to a slow and painful death. He secures an agreement from the king (who is holding court in the gate of Benjamin) and goes with thirty men to pull the weakened prophet from the muddy cistern. The need for thirty men is not for the task of pulling Jeremiah out of the cistern but for controlling any attempts to stop Ebed-Melech.
One gains an idea of how weak the prophet has become from the description of Ebed-Melech’s manner of extricating him from the mire. The men provide some worn-out rags to place under Jeremiah’s arms so that the rope harness will not injure him. Jeremiah is freed from his sentence of slow death, but he is still kept under confinement with Zedekiah’s guards. The actions of Ebed-Melech later receive a commendation of God and the promise of personal deliverance when the Babylonians finally take the city (see 39:15–18).7
38:14–28. The chapter concludes with the notice that Jeremiah remains in the court of the guard (cf. 37:20–21; 39:11–14) until the day that Jerusalem is captured. But Zedekiah is not through with the prophet. As in earlier cases (21:1; 37:3), the king seeks spiritual advice from him. Initially, Jeremiah seeks assurance that he will not be killed, and the king swears not to hand the prophet over to those who want to kill him.
Readers learn from the narrative that Zedekiah is as worried about his personal safety and future as he is about the city and the state. Jeremiah sets before the king the alternatives of surrendering and trusting the Lord for his safety or holding out and seeing the Babylonians victorious. The latter scenario includes the burning of the city (v. 23).
Zedekiah asks Jeremiah not to reveal their conversation. This is another indication of the king’s divided mind and his vacillation with respect to listening to the prophet. One gains the impression from all this that both Jeremiah and Zedekiah are the subject of rumor and conspiracy and that Zedekiah has precious few people whom he can trust. The chapter concludes with the comment that Jeremiah remains in the courtyard of the guard until the Babylonians take the city. This last comment sets the stage for the narrative in chapter 39.
Bridging Contexts
FUNDAMENTAL CONVICTIONS. “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” (Josh. 24:15). Much of the book of Jeremiah is about God’s corporate judgment on Judah for her failures. Such a theological conviction is the presupposition of Jeremiah 38, yet this account also shines the light of inspired testimony on individual lives. Here the personal is at center stage. One sees how people variously react to fear and courage and how they view God’s work in their circumstances.
The circumstances of the siege and the awful predicament in which the inhabitants of Jerusalem find themselves lead to personal crises. The time has come for people to act on their fundamental convictions, be they “orthodox” or not. Some officials hear Jeremiah’s prophetic word as a threat, undermining the resolve of the people necessary to their continued survival. The officials believe that the Lord should strengthen the people in time of need, not announce judgment to them through a prophet. As a result, they take action against the prophet.
Zedekiah hears the message repeatedly but is unable to face up to its demands. Pressure from various quarters has resulted in his doing little more than fretting over his personal safety.
Ebed-Melech too hears much of the debate, and he likewise acts on his fundamental convictions. In the midst of tragedy and suffering, hard choices, and even personal fear, Ebed-Melech stands with the prophet. As a result, God will stand with Ebed-Melech (39:15–18). Since action is a key indicator of a person’s disposition, we should recognize in this man spiritual discernment as well as the courage of his convictions. Such discernment and moral courage are elements that can instruct Christians of any generation.
Readers may ask the question: Why would such an account as chapter 38 be preserved? Here are several answers. (1) It helps to explain the obdurate nature of Judah in refusing to see the hand of the Lord at work in judgment. (2) Moreover, it explains why Judah and Jerusalem fell. (3) But the account is also preserved in order to instruct readers and hearers in being open to God’s corrective word and in trusting that dark days will lead to something better.
Contemporary Significance
FEAR. Fear does strange things to people. Some are almost superstitious in their avoidance of “negative talk.” It is almost as if they believe that to silence the words means to avoid the reality to which they may point. The phenomenon is one reason for the proverbial saying that “one may kill the messenger but not the message.” That is, if you throw Jeremiah into the cistern, his message will not be heard and hopefully will not come to pass. Better for Jesus to die than for the people to get stirred up. So-called “gag orders” are intended to keep someone from stating a truth publicly when it may prove to be injurious.
Some people are frozen by fear, unable to make a decision because they cannot clearly see a resolution. Not to decide on a course of action may be prudent, just as staying a familiar course can be the better of options, but neither is satisfactory when God has called his people to accountability and to action. In the case of Zedekiah, not to act decisively and obediently to Jeremiah’s prophetic word means simply keeping on with the old and tired policies of failure. In his case, not to decide is actually to make a fateful decision.
God’s providence is so designed that people may inevitably face their fears and choose among difficult options. This is not necessarily “bad news.” The issue is first discernment and then trusting God, who sends such matters our way. The Gospel narratives provide us with portraits of a Jesus who spoke his word in season and stood by his claims. It is true that he prayed for the cup of suffering and shame to be taken away (Luke 22:39–44). Yet what remained paramount for Jesus (and remains so for us) is the discerning of God’s will. And once his will is discerned, trust in God is a conviction about life and our place in it.
Courage. Courage can be simply a noble human trait. But it can also be a gift of God in due season, and its manifestation in the lives of God’s people are markers along the path of discipleship. It is for the combination of wisdom and courage that all Christians should pray, knowing that it is only a matter of time until they must make some difficult choices.
In December 1997, a disturbed fourteen-year-old boy in West Paducah, Kentucky, shot and killed four girls at the conclusion of a prayer meeting held before school hours. Hearing the shots and seeing the bodies fall, a boy at the scene stood his ground and finally convinced the attacker to drop his firearm. Why didn’t he run from the killer, who still had a loaded weapon in his hand? A devout Christian, the boy stated simply that he felt that God wanted him to stand there and to reach out to the troubled attacker. Courage! It can be God’s gift, and its exercise can become a testimony to the grace of the Giver.
In a story like this, one does not first ask about the lives of the four girls who were killed or the life of the disturbed teenager who shot them. All of this is relevant, of course, to understand something of the background to the tragic shootings, but none of that was useful in the quick moment when a decision had to be made. Like so many things in life, events can force decisions on us when we don’t have the gift of time and leisurely reflection. If Christ’s disciples have not spent time in the practice of discerning God’s will and in being open to the leading of God’s Spirit, then the pressure of the moment will seem all the more constricting.
Jeremiah 38:28b–39:18
28bTHIS IS HOW JERUSALEM was taken: 39:1In 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. 2And on the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, the city wall was broken through. 3Then 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. 4When 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.
5But 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. 6There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and also killed all the nobles of Judah. 7Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.
8The Babylonians set fire to the royal palace and the houses of the people and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. 9Nebuzaradan 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. 10But 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.
11Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had given these orders about Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard: 12“Take him and look after him; don’t harm him but do for him whatever he asks.” 13So 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 14sent 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.
15While 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. 17But I will rescue you on that day, declares the LORD; you will not be handed over to those you fear. 18I will save you; you will not fall by the sword but will escape with your life, because you trust in me, declares the LORD.’”
Original Meaning
THIS CHAPTER HAS PARALLELS with the accounts in Jeremiah 52:1–16 and 2 Kings 25:1–12. As noted in the introduction, the year of the fall of Jerusalem is disputed. The eleventh year of Zedekiah (Jer. 39:2) was either 587 or 586 B.C., probably the latter. The city wall was breached in the fourth month, which would be July/August (according to a spring new year). The temple was not burned until a month later (52:6–14).8
38:28b–39:7. The first line of this section introduces the account of Jerusalem’s fall, but the narrative quickly shifts to a description of Zedekiah’s fate. To put it succinctly, his fate is essentially the same as that of the city and people (39:4–7). He attempts to escape the consequences of Jerusalem’s fall by fleeing to the Jordan Valley. He is caught by the Babylonian army with gruesome results. First he is taken to Riblah in Syria, where Nebuchadnezzar is in residence. The Babylonian king personally gives Zedekiah his sentence. His sons (and potential heirs) are slain in his presence along with other Judean nobles. The Judean king is then blinded so that the last thing he sees is the death of family and friends. He is then bound in fetters like other Judean exiles and taken to Babylon. Nothing else is preserved about him.
39:8–10. These verses describe succinctly the actual burning of the city. Named in particular are the royal palace and houses of the people. The walls are also pulled down. Nothing is mentioned about the temple here.
Nebuzaradan, a high Babylonian official, organizes much of the surviving population into a group for exile. Some of the poorest people in Judah (probably those who do not own land) are left to tend the land. Thus the former state of Judah is not totally depopulated, and the Babylonians will be able to extract tribute from those who remain to tend the land.
39:11–14. Nebuchadnezzar himself orders that Jeremiah be released from confinement. Reasons for his release are not cited, but Jeremiah’s confinement serves no Babylonian purpose, and perhaps Nebuchadnezzar has heard secondhand that a Judean prophet proclaimed his supremacy. Moreover, the Babylonians9 turn him over to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan. In the next chapter we learn that Nebuchadnezzar will appoint Gedaliah as governor of Judah. Here we see again the illustrious family of Shaphan, whose members had been supportive of Jeremiah.10 Gedaliah’s fate also mirrors the Judean tragedy, even though his personal commitments are closer to those of Jeremiah than Zedekiah’s.11
39:15–18. The narrator provides a retrospective account of an oracle Jeremiah received about Ebed-Melech, the eunuch who saved his life during the darker moments of the siege. God has granted Ebed-Melech his life.12 Even though he is an official of the despised Zedekiah, he will not be handed over to the Babylonians.
Bridging Contexts
WHEN READ IN THE CONTEXT of the book as a whole, Jeremiah 39 seems not only tragic but also somewhat anticlimactic. The fall of Jerusalem predicted by Jeremiah does, in fact, come to pass, and the faithless Zedekiah is treated harshly by the Babylonians. All we read are the bare details of the account, something like the brief report of the fall of Samaria in 2 Kings 17:1–6.13
Bilevel reading. One function of this chapter is the somber confirmation that Jeremiah’s prophetic word has reached fulfillment concerning the city and the king. Zedekiah pays the price for his moral and spiritual weakness. He had worried about reprisals from his countrymen if he surrendered to the Babylonians (Jer. 38:19) only to find that he was unable to avoid the prophetic word that he would have to account for his failures. According to the prophet, Zedekiah could have avoided an awful fate and saved the city from destruction (38:17–18), but it was not to be.
One can see this account working on at least two levels. On the one hand, hindsight demonstrates that Zedekiah chose the path that ultimately failed him. He was a responsible agent who acted irresponsibly. On the other hand, his path also confirmed the prophetic word that announced judgment on such a path. Act and consequence are tragically bound together. Both of these elements can be instructive to later readers who seek to learn from the past.
This bilevel reading also works for the report of Jeremiah’s word to Ebed-Melech. The eunuch chose his difficult path and discovered that God was with him. He was an agent who acted responsibly on his spiritual and moral convictions. He received his life rather than exile or execution, like many associated with the royal house (cf. Matt. 16:24–26). One cannot universalize from these two examples, but they are instructive nevertheless to God’s people.
Contemporary Significance
TRAGEDY AND JUDGMENT. Is there such a thing as an expected tragedy? So often what makes an event or circumstance “tragic” is its unexpectedness. Certainly readers of the Old Testament can point to the account of Jerusalem’s fall and say that the city’s fate was announced beforehand. A tragedy that is anticipated and yet comes to pass is, in some sense, doubly tragic, because if it is anticipated, there should be ways of mitigating its harshness.
In Judah’s case, we may question why one would even call such an event a tragedy rather than simply a reflection of God’s judgment. It is really both, and therein lies something for us to think about. Tragedy suggests that an event or process does not have to turn out that way. In theological terms it suggests that God may have preferred it otherwise (cf. Ezek. 18:32), that he took no pleasure in the fall—indeed, that he sent a string of prophets to try and turn Judah from its self-destructive folly. Whether tragedy or judgment, the circumstances of Judah’s fall were both allowed and then used by God in the history of his people.
Yet there can be a personal word from God that comes in the midst of tragedy or judgment. One sees it in the gift of life to Ebed-Melech. Such a word just comes. Is it expected? Hardly so, if one calls such a thing a word of grace. Grace happens, but it cannot be presumed upon. God is the God of new beginnings as well as the God of historical destiny. How judgment and new life work out in God’s economy is what gives shape to the Christian life and confirms God as Lord of all circumstances.
End and beginning. On December 7, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his famous “a day that will live in infamy” speech. It was his reaction to the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, an event that occasioned the official entrance of the United States into World War II. What tragedies and judgments resulted from that event! The attack on Pearl Harbor took place early on a Sunday morning. But is it only a past act, or was it really the ending of an old form of existence and the beginning of something new, something that is still working out its effects decades after the fact? It is both!14
The fall of Jerusalem is analogous. It brought several things to an end. Yet it was the beginning of something new, something that would continue on for decades. One might even argue that its effects are still being worked out in the history of Judaism and events occurring in the Middle East. Christians should see the outlines of a pattern here: God at work to use circumstances, even tragedy, for different and life-giving purposes.
Jeremiah 40:1–41:18
1THE 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. 2When the commander of the guard found Jeremiah, he said to him, “The LORD your God decreed this disaster for this place. 3And 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. 4But 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.” 5However, 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. 6So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah and stayed with him among the people who were left behind in the land.
7When 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, 8they 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. 9Gedaliah 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. 10I 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.”
11When 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, 12they 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.
13Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers still in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah 14and 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.
15Then 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?”
16But 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.”
41:1In the seventh month Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood and had been one of the king’s officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. While they were eating together there, 2Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, killing the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land. 3Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Babylonian soldiers who were there.
4The day after Gedaliah’s assassination, before anyone knew about it, 5eighty men who had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes and cut themselves came from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria, bringing grain offerings and incense with them to the house of the LORD. 6Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went. When he met them, he said, “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.” 7When they went into the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern. 8But ten of them said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us! We have wheat and barley, oil and honey, hidden in a field.” So he let them alone and did not kill them with the others. 9Now the cistern where he threw all the bodies of the men he had killed along with Gedaliah was the one King Asa had made as part of his defense against Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the dead.
10Ishmael made captives of all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah—the king’s daughters along with all the others who were left there, over whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.
11When Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him heard about all the crimes Ishmael son of Nethaniah had committed, 12they took all their men and went to fight Ishmael son of Nethaniah. They caught up with him near the great pool in Gibeon. 13When all the people Ishmael had with him saw Johanan son of Kareah and the army officers who were with him, they were glad. 14All the people Ishmael had taken captive at Mizpah turned and went over to Johanan son of Kareah. 15But Ishmael son of Nethaniah and eight of his men escaped from Johanan and fled to the Ammonites.
16Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him led away all the survivors from Mizpah whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after he had assassinated Gedaliah son of Ahikam: the soldiers, women, children and court officials he had brought from Gibeon. 17And they went on, stopping at Geruth Kimham near Bethlehem on their way to Egypt 18to escape the Babylonians. They were afraid of them because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land.
Original Meaning
THE TRAGEDY ASSOCIATED with Judah’s demise continues after the destruction of the city. Jeremiah 40–41 revolve around the ill-fated Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, who is appointed governor of the province by the Babylonians (40:5, 7) and who will die at the hands of a Judean zealot named Ishmael (41:1–3). Gedaliah is already mentioned in 39:14 as the one to whom Jeremiah is released from custody.15 He was from an influential family and one friendly to Jeremiah. His grandfather, Shaphan, had been a member of Josiah’s cabinet, and his father, also related to Josiah’s administration, had been of crucial support to Jeremiah after a disastrous temple sermon (26:24; cf. 2 Kings 22).
Thus, the Babylonians appoint someone known to those remaining in the land and someone with administrative and political experience. It is possible, indeed likely, that Gedaliah agreed with Jeremiah’s claim that God had employed Babylon as chastisement on Judah, and so he was prepared to do what seemed best for Judah in the months after Jerusalem’s fall. He advises those around him to “not be afraid to serve the Babylonians,” for in so doing it may go well with them (Jer. 40:9; cf. the prophet’s words to the exiles in Babylon, 29:4–7).
40:1–6. Nebuzaradan, a Babylonian official, addresses Jeremiah (39:9), stating that God has given Judah and Jerusalem into the hands of Babylon in order to judge them. This may sound strange to modern readers, but many people in antiquity affirmed the power of a local deity in its sphere of influence. There is no reason to suspect sarcasm or insincerity on the part of Nebuzaradan.16
Jeremiah is also given a choice whether to go to Babylon or remain in the land with Gedaliah. From the point of view of personal security, it would likely be better for Jeremiah to accompany Nebuzaradan to Babylon, but he chooses to remain with the remnant in the land. In this choice the prophet signals a commitment to the land and to renewal, just like his symbolic purchase of property during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem (32:1–15). So Jeremiah becomes a member of the remnant band associated with Gedaliah. He seems to know nothing about the plot against the governor. That Jeremiah is given provisions and a “present” by the Babylonians (40:5) is recognition on their part that the prophet predicted their success.
40:7–16. Remnants of Judeans begin to gather around Gedaliah at Mizpah, about five miles north of Jerusalem.17 Included in the group are Ishmael son of Nethaniah and Johanan son of Kareah, two people whose actions will affect decisively the fortunes of both the little province and the prophet Jeremiah. Johanan is a member of the Judean army but also seemingly well-connected to the remaining officials in Judah. Ishmael is related to the royal family of Judah (41:1). Johanan discovers (we know not how) that Baalis, king of the Ammonites (40:14), has concocted a plot with Ishmael to assassinate Gedaliah.18 Indeed, Johanan apprises Gedaliah of his knowledge, but Gedaliah does not believe the report.
Verses 10–11 remind us of the continuing impact of the Babylonian siege. When the Babylonian army first marched into the area, a number of Judeans had fled their homes to take up residence in surrounding territories. Now that the Babylonians have completed their siege and the main elements of the army returned to Babylon, many of these Judeans now return to see what remains of their former property. Upon doing so, they also find that additional property needs tending. Gedaliah’s comment to them—“Live in the towns you have taken over”—indicates that the control of land has now passed to them and to others who remain.
All in all, it is a precarious time for those who remain in the land. They can be called the “remnant of Judah” (40:15), and the tasks of bringing corporate life back to a more even keel are daunting. Gedaliah may well have been able to represent the interests of the remnant to the Babylonian provincial administration. Unfortunately, this will never be known because of his tragic and untimely demise.
41:1–3. Chapter 41 narrates quickly Ishmael’s treacherous murder of Gedaliah. Treachery is the correct description of murder during a mealtime, since the “eating together” of Ishmael and Gedaliah presupposes social bonding and hospitality. The massacre is both a strike against the Babylonians and an attempt by Ishmael to usurp power. In addition to Gedaliah (the appointed governor) Ishmael murders “all the Jews” with Gedaliah and the Babylonian soldiers present. By “all the Jews” is probably meant the Judean men who work with Gedaliah in administrative affairs. Verses 10 and 16 report the survival of some persons from the town of Mizpah.
41:4–18. The day after the murder at Mizpah, a group of pilgrims from Shiloh, Shechem, and Samaria come south on the hill-country road to Jerusalem. They have cut their beards and torn their clothes as signs of ritual humiliation, and they intend to worship at the site of the temple in Jerusalem (41:4–8). Here is unintended commentary on the importance of the temple for people who lived outside the territory of Judah. The pilgrims from the north want to present grain offerings and incense at the temple in Jerusalem; does this mean that part of the temple cult continues even after the destruction of the temple itself? Perhaps an altar has been erected and repositioned in the courtyard, or perhaps the ceremony envisioned by the pilgrims is for prayer and lamentation, and their gifts symbolic gesture. The text does not say, and interpreters should be wary of speculation.
In yet another treacherous act, Ishmael gains their confidence and brings them to Mizpah, only to murder most of them and then to cast their bodies into the large cistern built by a former king. A few are spared, who offer him provisions they have hidden in a field. Ishmael then gathers the townspeople and sets out to cross over the Jordan River to the Ammonites. Among his captives are daughters of the king. Most likely these are daughters of Zedekiah from marriages with women of prominent local families. Johanan and his soldiers attempt to intercept Ishmael. The two groups met near Gibeon, with the result that most of the captives taken by Ishmael are recovered by Johanan and his officers, but Ishmael and eight of his men escape.
The question faced by Johanan and his band is, “What now?” Their fear of Babylonian reprisal and the treachery of men like Ishmael lead them toward a decision to flee the region. Their choice of venue is Egypt, where already a sizable group of Judeans live.
Bridging Contexts
HUMAN TENDENCY TO self-destruction. Why would an exilic audience find this sad account instructive? The material is not provided only to explain to exiles (or later generations) what happened in the past, but also to demonstrate the tragic consequences of Judah’s folly as they continue to play themselves out after the fall of Jerusalem. In a related way the account confirms that the prophet of God does not have a saving word for every occasion. Although it is clear that Jeremiah did not support the assassination of Gedaliah, he says nothing about the plot beforehand (he may have known nothing about it). He will also be ineffective in seeking to convince Johanan and company to stay in the land (ch. 42). The prophet is thus caught up in the circumstances of the tragedy, and he will bear some of its consequences.
In some ways these two chapters are the saddest in the whole book of Jeremiah. Babylon has clearly demonstrated its mastery over Judah, confirming a word Jeremiah proclaimed for years; yet Gedaliah, the one figure who may have facilitated reconstruction of life in the land and become a symbol of hope, is senselessly killed. God will, of course, be able to overcome these bitter ashes of defeat, but it comes at considerable cost.
The account of life in the land after the fall of the city is a clear illustration of human community gone bad, with no mechanism to help it right itself. Part of the impact of reading these chapters is simply to sigh and be reminded of the human tendency toward self-destruction. Only the larger context of God’s superabounding grace, based on his resolve to stay with such a people, provides any hope beyond the tragedy.
Contemporary Significance
REBUILDING AFTER DEFEAT. “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). For North American readers, the depressing account of Gedaliah’s murder and the continuing downward spiral in Judah may strike a responsive chord in their historical memory. Abraham Lincoln announced that a “house divided against itself cannot stand.” He knew he was quoting a biblical text (cf. Mark 3:24–25), and he believed that God would judge the United States for its folly in the slave trade and its continuing bitter conflict over ways to resolve the matter.
After four years of civil war (1861–1865), with the southern states in tatters and the whole nation exhausted from the senseless bloodletting, Lincoln began to look for ways to rebuild the nation and to reconcile its various factions. He went public with his conviction that God had judged the affairs of the nation, and he refused to take the moral high ground of exemption when it came to confessing the judging hand of God. Lincoln was not perfect (nor was Gedaliah!), but he represented the possibility of moving past the consequences of moral and spiritual failure. A twisted soul named John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln before he could put his plans for reconciliation into effect, and the resulting turmoil in the southern states over harsh reconstruction policies was extremely costly.19
What does one say to such a “lesson”? One should begin by affirming that the painful historical process came about as self-incurred failure. Its effects linger on. The issues are not just “in the past.” Christians, however, should go on further and, like Lincoln, confess the hand of God at work in judgment.
Are there not additional things that we as Christians can confess? One of them is that Lincoln (like Gedaliah and Jeremiah) is something of a tragic figure. In a mysterious way, he bore corporate failure in his person and suffered along with the nation—and not just in his death. The Christological analogy is not complete: Lincoln (Gedaliah or Jeremiah) did not atone for the sins of others, but they did suffer as part of their “calling.”
Their tragedy raises interesting questions. If God uses their tragic circumstances to instruct his people and to evoke measures of repentance and sympathy, then they serve a larger purpose. Moreover, failure can be the prelude to and even the beginning of new directions. In the midst of a national humiliation Gedaliah advises his contemporaries not to fear. Jeremiah chooses the more difficult road rather than setting off to Babylon. Do those who have tasted new life in the crucified and risen Lord have eyes to see and ears to hear what the Spirit is saying?
Jeremiah 42:1–43:7
1THEN ALL THE ARMY OFFICERS, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached 2Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, “Please hear our petition and pray to the LORD your God for this entire remnant. For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few are left. 3Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.”
4“I have heard you,” replied Jeremiah the prophet. “I will certainly pray to the LORD your God as you have requested; I will tell you everything the LORD says and will keep nothing back from you.”
5Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the LORD your God sends you to tell us. 6Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the LORD our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for we will obey the LORD our God.”
7Ten days later the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah. 8So he called together Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him and all the people from the least to the greatest.
9He said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition, says:
10‘If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I am grieved over the disaster I have inflicted on you. 11Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the LORD, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands. 12I will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.’
13“However, if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ and so disobey the LORD your God, 14and if you say, ‘No, we will go and live in Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the trumpet or be hungry for bread,’ 15then hear the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and you do go to settle there, 16then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will die. 17Indeed, all who are determined to go to Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, famine and plague; not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them.’ 18This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘As my anger and wrath have been poured out on those who lived in Jerusalem, so will my wrath be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You will be an object of cursing and horror, of condemnation and reproach; you will never see this place again.’
19“O remnant of Judah, the LORD has told you, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Be sure of this: I warn you today 20that you made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the LORD your God and said, ‘Pray to the LORD our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do it.’ 21I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed the LORD your God in all he sent me to tell you. 22So now, be sure of this: You will die by the sword, famine and plague in the place where you want to go to settle.”
43:1When Jeremiah finished telling the people all the words of the LORD their God—everything the LORD had sent him to tell them—2Azariah son of Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are lying! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to settle there.’ 3But Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Babylonians, so they may kill us or carry us into exile to Babylon.”
4So Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers and all the people disobeyed the LORD’s command to stay in the land of Judah. 5Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers led away all the remnant of Judah who had come back to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been scattered. 6They also led away all the men, women and children and the king’s daughters whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah. 7So they entered Egypt in disobedience to the LORD and went as far as Tahpanhes.
Original Meaning
THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER ended with the note that Johanan and company were worried about Babylonian reprisals for the death of Gedaliah and thus considered an escape to Egypt (41:17–18). The current section (42:1–43:7) narrates a discussion between Jeremiah and the group, which takes place over a ten-day period and eventuates in the flight to Egypt. Jeremiah offers both a prophetic oracle and his personal word against such a flight.
One of the mysteries of the narrative is the location of Jeremiah and Baruch at the time of the massacres at Mizpah. According to the last reference to Jeremiah in the narrative, he left the presence of Nebuzaradan in Jerusalem and went to Gedaliah at Mizpah (40:1–6). Most likely, Jeremiah placed himself under the administrative authority of Gedaliah. But before the treacherous murders perpetrated by Ishmael at Mizpah, he and Baruch have probably settled elsewhere. In any case, the meeting of Johanan and Jeremiah apparently takes place after the arrival of Johanan and company at Geruth Kimham near Bethlehem.20 Through this account, we are given some context for the surprising fact that Jeremiah and Baruch eventually go to Egypt.
42:1–6. Should the remnant associated with Johanan (and until recently with Gedaliah) flee to Egypt or not? They seek the counsel of God through Jeremiah and promise obedience to the prophetic word. There is an implied self-curse in 42:5, should the company of Judeans not heed the Lord’s instruction. Jeremiah agrees to seek counsel from the Lord and to tell them everything the Lord reveals.
42:7–22. Jeremiah’s reply to the request of Johanan takes two forms. After ten days he begins with the preface, “This is what the LORD … says,” where the gist of the message is that God will preserve the remnant of Judeans if they stay in the land. In language associated with Jeremiah’s call, God promises to build and to plant them in the land and there to protect them from the wrath of Nebuchadnezzar (42:10–12). Should they choose to disregard his word and to flee to Egypt, judgment will come on them there.
This indication of judgment should be read in light of 42:5, where the people ask that God be a “true and faithful witness” against them if they disobey his revealed word. Jeremiah adds his personal word to the group (42:19–22), indicating that a choice for Egypt means that they are self-deceived and will not escape judgment.
43:1–7. Members of the group accuse Jeremiah of lying to them and of engaging in a conspiracy with Baruch, who wants the group to stay in the land. Why Baruch might be an agent of subterfuge is not clear from their accusation. Their reaction to Jeremiah’s prophetic oracle is similar to that of Zedekiah. The latter specifically asked Jeremiah for a word from the Lord, but when he didn’t like what Jeremiah provided, he simply refused to obey.
The end result is that Johanan leads the group to Tahpanhes in Egypt. Jeremiah and Baruch are taken with them, but not willingly. Tahpanhes (cf. 2:16) is located in the eastern section of the Nile Delta. It is one of the first communities that a traveler from Palestine would encounter when approaching the Nile Delta from the east. As 44:1 makes clear, it was one of several cities in Egypt with a Judean population.
Bridging Contexts
THIS EXCHANGE BETWEEN the group and the prophet is one of the clearest examples in Jeremiah of an overt disobedience to God’s revealed will. The conversation makes the issues relatively clear, if not ominous. The group wants to escape reprisal from the Babylonians. Jeremiah counsels them to be more attentive to what God has to say about their circumstances. Thus a primary reason to preserve the account is to explain the failure of and the judgment on the nation that continues among disobedient survivors of the Babylonian campaigns.
It is worth noting here that a decision to flee to Egypt likely seems the safer of the two choices, at least in appearance. Nebuchadnezzar would not take kindly to the assassination of his hand-picked governor, and there is every reason to expect reprisals in some form. Furthermore, Egypt is not (yet!) under the control of the Babylonians, so if Johanan and the group make it safely there, they may have some expectation of continued security from the Babylonians.
Both the group solicitation of Jeremiah and his prophetic reply to them are couched in the language of path and obedience. There is similarity in language and theme with the great sermons of Deuteronomy as well as with elements within Jeremiah’s own previous utterances. Readers are invited, therefore, not just to take note of the “why” of the continuing tragedy but to see in the language of path and obedience a calling to make their own. Jeremiah is not unconcerned about prevailing circumstances. Rather, he places concern for the safety of the group in the larger context of listening to the guidance of the Lord and having the courage to follow it.
Contemporary Significance
“NOT EVERYONE WHO says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ …” (Matt. 7:21–23; cf. Luke 6:46). It is difficult to talk about obedience in modern North America, whether in secular terms or as part of the life of discipleship. Our dominant culture is one of freedom of choice and avoiding lasting commitments; it also places a premium on “happiness” (whatever that might mean). In spite of these cultural traits, modern Christians should not understand obedience to God’s revealed will as an irrelevant burden or needless constriction; obedience is the proper response needed to fulfill one’s calling. In biblical terms obedience is virtually a synonym for the path of discipleship.
It is certainly easy to complain that we don’t always know God’s will and to offer that as a reason why we don’t do something. One should not make light of the intellectual difficulties associated with discerning God’s will, but it is more frequently the case that the hindrance to discipleship comes from moral sloth and failure to trust than from inability to discern at least the basics of a course of action.
A former teacher once said that truth is only known through commitment. What he meant is that the intellectual approach to God or the dialogical form of inquiry can be helpful, but personal commitment to God (and being known by God) is where the truth of God’s sovereignty and goodness is revealed. What a tragedy that Jeremiah’s companions could commit themselves in advance to following God’s will, only to reject it when it did not suit their predilections.
Jeremiah 43:8–44:30
8IN TAHPANHES THE word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 9“While the Jews are watching, take some large stones with you and bury them in clay in the brick pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace in Tahpanhes. 10Then say to them, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones I have buried here; he will spread his royal canopy above them. 11He will come and attack Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword. 12He will set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt; he will burn their temples and take their gods captive. As a shepherd wraps his garment around him, so will he wrap Egypt around himself and depart from there unscathed. 13There in the temple of the sun in Egypt he will demolish the sacred pillars and will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.’”
44:1This word came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews living in Lower Egypt—in Migdol, Tahpanhes and Memphis—and in Upper Egypt: 2“This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You saw the great disaster I brought on Jerusalem and on all the towns of Judah. Today they lie deserted and in ruins 3because of the evil they have done. They provoked me to anger by burning incense and by worshiping other gods that neither they nor you nor your fathers ever knew. 4Again and again I sent my servants the prophets, who said, ‘Do not do this detestable thing that I hate!’ 5But they did not listen or pay attention; they did not turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods. 6Therefore, my fierce anger was poured out; it raged against the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem and made them the desolate ruins they are today.
7“Now this is what the LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Why bring such great disaster on yourselves by cutting off from Judah the men and women, the children and infants, and so leave yourselves without a remnant? 8Why provoke me to anger with what your hands have made, burning incense to other gods in Egypt, where you have come to live? You will destroy yourselves and make yourselves an object of cursing and reproach among all the nations on earth. 9Have you forgotten the wickedness committed by your fathers and by the kings and queens of Judah and the wickedness committed by you and your wives in the land of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem? 10To this day they have not humbled themselves or shown reverence, nor have they followed my law and the decrees I set before you and your fathers.
11“Therefore, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am determined to bring disaster on you and to destroy all Judah. 12I will take away the remnant of Judah who were determined to go to Egypt to settle there. They will all perish in Egypt; they will fall by the sword or die from famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by sword or famine. They will become an object of cursing and horror, of condemnation and reproach. 13I will punish those who live in Egypt with the sword, famine and plague, as I punished Jerusalem. 14None of the remnant of Judah who have gone to live in Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah, to which they long to return and live; none will return except a few fugitives.”
15Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women who were present—a large assembly—and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt, said to Jeremiah, 16“We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD! 17We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our fathers, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm. 18But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine.”
19The women added, “When we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did not our husbands know that we were making cakes like her image and pouring out drink offerings to her?”
20Then Jeremiah said to all the people, both men and women, who were answering him, 21“Did not the LORD remember and think about the incense burned in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem by you and your fathers, your kings and your officials and the people of the land? 22When the LORD could no longer endure your wicked actions and the detestable things you did, your land became an object of cursing and a desolate waste without inhabitants, as it is today. 23Because you have burned incense and have sinned against the LORD and have not obeyed him or followed his law or his decrees or his stipulations, this disaster has come upon you, as you now see.”
24Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including the women, “Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah in Egypt. 25This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You and your wives have shown by your actions what you promised when you said, ‘We will certainly carry out the vows we made to burn incense and pour out drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven.’
“Go ahead then, do what you promised! Keep your vows! 26But hear the word of the LORD, all Jews living in Egypt: ‘I swear by my great name,’ says the LORD, ‘that no one from Judah living anywhere in Egypt will ever again invoke my name or swear, “As surely as the Sovereign LORD lives.” 27For I am watching over them for harm, not for good; the Jews in Egypt will perish by sword and famine until they are all destroyed. 28Those who escape the sword and return to the land of Judah from Egypt will be very few. Then the whole remnant of Judah who came to live in Egypt will know whose word will stand—mine or theirs.
29“‘This will be the sign to you that I will punish you in this place,’ declares the LORD, ‘so that you will know that my threats of harm against you will surely stand.’ 30This is what the LORD says: ‘I am going to hand Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt over to his enemies who seek his life, just as I handed Zedekiah king of Judah over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the enemy who was seeking his life.’”
Original Meaning
THIS SECTION NARRATES the work of Jeremiah (and Baruch) in Egypt. They are taken by their Judean compatriots to Tahpanhes in the eastern Nile Delta. Although implicit, Jeremiah and Baruch have been forced to accompany the group. In Egypt Jeremiah performs a symbolic act in preparation for judgment to come and informs the Judeans there of his activities (43:8–13). Chapter 44 records Jeremiah’s second judgmental prophecy against Judeans in Egypt (44:1–14), a reply on the part of his Judean audience (44:15–19), and then a third judgment speech of the prophet (44:20–30).
43:8–13. At God’s initiative, Jeremiah takes some large stones and buries them in the courtyard of a government building in Tahpanhes. He explains this act by saying that God will grant his “servant Nebuchadnezzar” a seat over these stones when the Babylonian king spreads out his royal canopy. Jeremiah’s prophetic depiction of Nebuchadnezzar’s presence is an indication that Babylon will conquer Egypt. Moreover, judgment will come on those Judeans who think they have escaped the reach of the Babylonians by fleeing to Egypt.21 The prophet also predicts that the Babylonians will set fire to temples in the land of Egypt and break the obelisks (standing stones) in the city of the sun, that is, Heliopolis, located just northeast of modern Cairo.
Readers may wonder what the local Egyptians thought about a Judean prophet burying stones in a public courtyard. The narrative, however, does not tell us. As the instructions to the prophet make clear, he is to take the stones and bury them while fellow Jews are watching. The symbolic act and accompanying oracle are intended as instruction for Jews, not Egyptians.
44:1–14. The bitter exchange between prophet and people in chapter 44 underscores the deep cultural and religious fissures in the Judean community. These verses are Jeremiah’s prophetic invective against Judean people in Egypt.22 They concentrate on Judean idolatry and syncretism, if not outright apostasy against their ancestral faith. Included is the (by now) familiar charge that God had sent prophets to warn them, yet their words of warning were rejected.
Verse 7 contains a rhetorical question: “Why bring such great disaster on yourselves?” The point is another one familiar to readers of the book: Acts have consequences; the idolatry and apostasy of Judeans in Egypt will have the same self-incurred consequences as did idolatry and apostasy in Judah. The prophet concludes with a statement that Judeans in Egypt seem not to have associated the fall of Judah and Jerusalem as judgment on their faithlessness to the Lord. As the following reply to the prophet makes clear, some have not made the connection.
44:15–19. The people’s testy reply to the prophet’s judgment speech—that they will indeed continue to worship the Queen of Heaven23—reflects two significant assumptions about religious practice on the part of Judeans. (1) Religion has the primary function of securing the health and safety of a group. (2) The worship of the Queen of Heaven was stopped earlier in Judah (by Josiah?) and subsequently resumed. The fortunes of the people, so they claim, have turned out better with her than with the Lord. “At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm” (v. 17). As a result, the Judeans in Egypt intend to maintain the worship of the Queen of Heaven as did their ancestors and their kings in Judah.
In particular, the Judean women reply that their worship of the Queen of Heaven was done with the acquiescence of their husbands (44:19). The crowd assembled with Jeremiah contains representatives from different communities in Egypt, women as well as men. Although Jeremiah’s previous comments have not singled out either Judean women or worship of the Queen of Heaven, their role in her cult takes center stage as the example of idolatry24 and apostasy. Perhaps the occasion for the prophet’s challenge to the Judeans comes at a time of public ceremony or festival, when people gather for public ritual.
44:20–30. Jeremiah’s reply to the people’s resolve to commit apostasy is that judgment will come on them for their act of faithlessness toward the Lord. He judges implicitly their claim that things are better with the Queen of Heaven than with the Lord.
Jeremiah recognizes that his give-and-take with the crowd has set out both their resolve to remain worshipers of the Queen of Heaven and God’s resolve that his word of judgment will come to pass. He predicts, therefore, that Pharaoh Hophra, the current ruler of Egypt, will be given over to the hands of his enemies as a sign of God’s mastery of affairs, even in Egypt. In 569 B.C. Hophra was killed by one of his officials in a military coup.
The prophet does identify a future for a Jewish remnant, a future in which the remnant will recognize whose word stands the test of time. Jeremiah predicts that it will be the word of the Lord that stands the test of time, not that of the Queen of Heaven and her worshipers.
Bridging Contexts
BLINDNESS CONTINUES. The Judeans in Egypt exhibit a pattern of behavior similar to that of Judah and Jerusalem before the Babylonian siege and destruction; that is, they ignore the words of the prophet, God’s servant. The consequences for them will be similar to those in Judah, thereby illustrating one of the larger themes of chapters 37–45. Unfortunately, spiritual blindness and political shortsightedness have not ceased among Judeans with the hammer blows of the Babylonians, and so the consequences of this blindness will be severe.
There is little in this section of the book about judgment that has not been said elsewhere in Jeremiah. It is as if the prophet is destined to face recalcitrance and intransigence among his Judean contemporaries all the days of his prophetic work. Readers should not despair over these somber reports, however. Some indeed take Jeremiah’s words to heart, preserve them, and prepare for the future on the basis of their authority.
It is illuminating to compare Jeremiah’s words to the Egyptian Judeans in chapter 44 with his word to Baruch in chapter 45. The prophet declares that there is no safe haven for Judean iniquity, even in Egypt and (temporarily) away from the reach of the Babylonians. For Baruch, by contrast, the promise is that wherever he goes, God is with him for protection.
In neither case should we read these prophecies and draw blanket conclusions for any situation—Babylon will not be the end of Judean existence in Egypt, nor does chapter 45 guarantee Baruch a blissful existence—but both judgment and promise tell us something fundamental about God. The Lord was (and remains) committed to the judgment of failure among his people as well as to the vindication of his servants. How these truths work themselves out in a given scenario will vary, but God’s commitments do not.
Religion that works. Judean presumptions about the efficacy of religious activities dedicated to the Queen of Heaven have their counterparts among modern people. (1) There are people for whom influencing the divine world (however defined) is the paramount reason to engage in religious activities. Religion is “whatever works,” rather than the worship and service of the one true God who spoke to Jeremiah and who was fully revealed in Christ. A similar form of religion is the “health and wealth” teaching that makes faith a work to guarantee personal health and material gain.
(2) Some modern interest has developed in goddess worship and spirituality as a way to supplement the worship of a so-called “patriarchal” God of the Bible. God, of course, may have “maternal” instincts (to use anthropopathic language) along with his “paternal” role, but the God of the Bible does not have a sexual identity. The newer interest among progressive Western religions for the feminine divine or goddess spirituality may be driven, in part, by a developing feminist consciousness. Even so, modern seeking for and worship of a goddess is essentially an update of the misplaced concerns of the Judean worshipers of the Queen of Heaven.
Contemporary Significance
EXERCISING DESPERATE MANEUVERS. The somber words of Jeremiah are eloquent reminders of what life can be like when one is estranged from God and has little clue to the power of inherited corruption. Especially hard to deal with are those people who insist they know something about God; for them, being sent into exile (or whatever difficulty) cannot be his work. It would be nice (so human reflection might go) if we could discover the key to saving ourselves consistent with what we think we know about God. Perhaps (so human reflection might continue) the key to self-saving comes in recognizing a new religious impulse whereby the divine world is invoked for protection; perhaps the key lies in the advance of science to meet God; or perhaps the key lies in the flight from problems in the hope that they will not reach us where we have gone. All of these things are overtly a seeking of life, but the end result will be death.
Desperate people will do desperate things. On July 24, 1998, Russell Weston attempted to enter the United States Capitol building without going through the required metal detector. When met by a uniformed officer, he pulled out a pistol and shot the officer, inflicting a mortal wound. A brief gunfight ensued within the hallways of the Capitol in which a second officer was killed trying to stop Weston from advancing any farther. Both Weston and a tourist were wounded in the exchange, with Weston felled by multiple gunshot wounds from officers who returned his fire. Perhaps time and investigation will reveal the degrees to which Weston’s senseless attack was precipitated by mental sickness, paranoia,5 and anger. Apparently he wanted to make his point and fix what he thought was wrong about the government. Everyone acknowledges that his actions were disastrously wrong, even if he himself was too ill to grasp right from wrong.
Weston’s sad case illustrates how often desperate maneuvers lead only to failure. Is he not ultimately a sad and twisted illustration of the human propensity to go to any length to make a “point” and to “fix it” ourselves? Sadly for him (and for all of us), the only avenue of “fixing things” comes by accepting God’s diagnosis of failure and his free gift of life.
In a related fashion, the modern movements toward worship of one or more goddesses may be motivated by true spiritual hunger. There is no reason to doubt that the Judeans’ worship of the Queen of Heaven resulted from pressing spiritual needs. They simply looked in the wrong direction to meet those needs. In a similar manner the modern counterparts will be judged. The hunger is real, but so is the spiritual blindness that keeps people from seeing their true home with the Lord.
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov. 1:7). The pathway to life begins by acknowledging that every road leads to death except the one charted by God. Jeremiah’s contemporaries in Egypt simply could not face the fact that they had been (and remained) part of a failed political and religious enterprise. Tragically, they were willing to do almost anything to hear from God: kidnap Jeremiah and Baruch, worship the Queen of Heaven, and so on. What they refused to do is to acknowledge their failure and depend on the God of grace, who can make all things new.
Jeremiah 45:1–4
1THIS IS WHAT Jeremiah the prophet told Baruch son of Neriah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, after Baruch had written on a scroll the words Jeremiah was then dictating: 2“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch: 3You said, ‘Woe to me! The LORD has added sorrow to my pain; I am worn out with groaning and find no rest.’”
4The LORD said, “Say this to him: ‘This is what the LORD says: I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the land. 5Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the LORD, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life.’”
Original Meaning
THE PROPHECY CONCERNING Baruch is out of place chronologically with the preceding chapters (Jeremiah 37–44). Verse 1 provides a date in the fourth year of Jehoiakim (605 B.C.), which coincides with the command from the Lord in 36:1 for Jeremiah to prepare a scroll of his prophecies. The fallout over Baruch’s reading from the scroll may have been an early occasion for public persecution of this scribe, who was Jeremiah’s secretary and companion. According to 36:19, 26, Baruch was forced into hiding because of his reading of the scroll at the temple complex. After the fall of Jerusalem, the Judeans accused him of playing loose with the truth (43:3). Subsequently he and Jeremiah were taken to Egypt by a band of Judeans.
Why does this account come at the end of the description of the Egyptian sojourn of Jeremiah and Baruch? Some commentators suggest that the chronological citation in 45:1 is an error (inadvertent or otherwise) and that the assurance to Baruch that God will spare his life originated as a timely assurance during the tense period in Egypt. This solution is possible, but not satisfactory. Although the prophecy does follow the narratives about life in Egypt, there are no compelling text-critical reasons to remove or to overlook the chronological citation in 45:1. Readers should take seriously the setting of the oracle during the reign of Jehoiakim.
Other commentators agree that the account is an earlier statement, but they suggest it is repeated “literarily” in this context to inform readers that God does take care of his own. This is a more satisfactory reading. These words to and about Baruch owe their literary placement to their thematic and theological value as a divine confirmation that Baruch served God and would be enabled to perform his calling. Moreover, the placement of this prophecy as a conclusion to the narratives about life in Egypt serves to reinforce the claim that Baruch’s presence in Egypt is not the result of God’s disfavor. Thus, although neither prophet nor companion will escape the fate of the nation, God will vindicate them nevertheless.1
Baruch’s “woe” (45:3) is a counterpart to the laments of Jeremiah. There is a cost to serving the Lord in times such as these—as Uriah (26:20–23) and Jeremiah discovered. The divine oracle to Baruch repeats the language of uprooting and tearing down used at Jeremiah’s commission to the prophetic office (1:10). In the tragic affairs of Judah and Jerusalem, God has been at work to uproot and tear down. Baruch has no more “right” (to use modern Western language) than anyone else to expect that he will escape the consequences of corporate and historical judgment that have swept through the region.
In that light, all that can be said is that God calls Baruch to be faithful and that his personal safety resides with God. God promises him that his life has been granted to him “wherever” he might go. Readers are given no additional information about where his service to Jeremiah and to God may take him. His life is a gift, and he has been called to use it well.
Bridging Contexts
INCARNATIONAL MINISTRY. The last word from Egypt in chapter 45 is actually a reminder of an earlier word of assurance. That word remained valid for Baruch wherever he went. Christian discipleship often requires people to identify with the circumstances in which God has placed them. If they do not commit themselves to the circumstances at hand, then it is possible that their looking ahead (usually a good thing) will keep them from exercising a discriminating witness in the present.
Not only is this a characteristic of discipleship; it is a form of incarnational ministry—to be there in person. Disciples are called to be salt and light wherever they are. Baruch’s call as scribe and companion to Jeremiah put him in more than one precarious situation. There is nothing wrong with his cry of “woe,” for such woeful circumstances were the common lot of the day as the tumult of Judean persecution and Babylonian conquest spread their tentacles. “Woe,” while understandable, cannot be the last word of discipleship. God will have the last word in the evaluation of one’s work and of one’s fate. The last word (literarily) from Egypt, where Baruch and Jeremiah have gone and from whom we will not hear again, is a reminder of an earlier word of assurance. Just as God was watching over his word to fulfill it (1:12), so God is watching over Baruch. Like Ebed-Melech, Baruch has received his life as a gift, so that in return he may serve the Lord in difficult circumstances.
In the Bible Egypt is a strange place for God’s people. Consider Abraham, Joseph, the Hebrew slaves, and Moses. Jeremiah offers judgment on Egypt (cf. Jer. 46:2–26) and the Judeans there. But his word should also be compared with that of Isaiah, who sees Egypt as a future blessing for the world (Isa. 19:23–25). In the New Testament the family of Jesus flees to Egypt as political refugees (Matt. 2:19–23). Egypt is not home to God’s people, but a lot of formation for ministry is accomplished there, and God’s resolve to bless comes from there.
Contemporary Significance
SERVING IN EXILE. According to Coptic Church2 tradition, Jeremiah and Baruch chose a spot to come and pray while in Egypt. It was the same place that Moses had used centuries earlier for the same purpose. Later, the holy family would utilize that same spot when they fled to Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod (cf. Matt. 2:13–15). This legendary tradition reveals a larger truth: God is a source of strength and encouragement to those serving “in exile.”
Christians who feel isolated or depressed over their circumstances, who have been forced into unfamiliar territory, or who are caught up in destructive forces that overwhelm their lives are invited to measure their lives against a scriptural pattern including saints such as Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Jeremiah, and Baruch. Abraham made mistakes in Egypt. Joseph was unjustly imprisoned there. Moses committed murder there and struggled against Pharaoh and his minions to mobilize his people to leave. Jeremiah and Baruch were kidnapped and brought to Egypt.
None of these saints, however, lacked the attention of God, who remained faithful to them in times of upheaval. This did not cause their pain to go away. Their lives were gifts in service to the Lord in and through the difficulties. And through their difficulties God formed disciples. No wonder that the idiom for Baruch is that his life is a prize of war. It is certainly given to him in the midst of struggle.
In Baruch’s case, he assisted in the formation of a book that now instructs us all. That is his greatest gift.