The Berean Pursuit
At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD. This is what the LORD said to me:
"Make for yourself a yoke out of leather straps and put it on your neck. Send word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. Give them a message from the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, to relay to their masters:
By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please. So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I have even made the beasts of the field subject to him. All nations will serve him and his son and grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will enslave him.
As for the nation or kingdom that does not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and does not place its neck under his yoke, I will punish that nation by sword and famine and plague, declares the LORD, until I have destroyed it by his hand.
But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums, or your sorcerers who declare, 'You will not serve the king of Babylon.' For they prophesy to you a lie that will serve to remove you from your land; I will banish you and you will perish. But the nation that will put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave in its own land, to cultivate it and reside in it, declares the LORD."
And to Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke the same message: "Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and live! Why should you and your people die by sword and famine and plague, as the LORD has decreed against any nation that does not serve the king of Babylon?
Do not listen to the words of the prophets who say, 'You must not serve the king of Babylon,' for they are prophesying to you a lie. For I have not sent them, declares the LORD, and yet they are prophesying falsely in My name; therefore I will banish you, and you will perish-you and the prophets who prophesy to you."
Then I said to the priests and to all this people, "This is what the LORD says: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, 'Look, very soon now the articles from the house of the LORD will be brought back from Babylon.' They are prophesying to you a lie. Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live! Why should this city become a ruin?
If they are indeed prophets and the word of the LORD is with them, let them now plead with the LORD of Hosts that the articles remaining in the house of the LORD, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, not be taken to Babylon.
For this is what the LORD of Hosts says about the pillars, the sea, the bases, and the rest of the articles that remain in this city, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he carried Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. Yes, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says about the articles that remain in the house of the LORD, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: 'They will be carried to Babylon and will remain there until the day I attend to them again,' declares the LORD. 'Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.'?"
In the fifth month of that same year, the fourth year, near the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, said to me in the house of the LORD in the presence of the priests and all the people: "This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: 'I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will restore to this place all the articles of the house of the LORD that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed from here and carried to Babylon. And I will restore to this place Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, along with all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon,' declares the LORD, 'for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.'?"
Then the prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the LORD. "Amen!" Jeremiah said. "May the LORD do so! May the LORD fulfill the words you have prophesied, and may He restore the articles of His house and all the exiles back to this place from Babylon.
Nevertheless, listen now to this message I am speaking in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. The prophets of old who preceded you and me prophesied war, disaster, and plague against many lands and great kingdoms. As for the prophet who prophesies peace, only if the word of the prophet comes true will the prophet be recognized as one the LORD has truly sent."
Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it. And in the presence of all the people Hananiah proclaimed, "This is what the LORD says: 'In this way, within two years I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon off the neck of all the nations.'?"
At this, Jeremiah the prophet went on his way. But shortly after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke off his neck, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: "Go and tell Hananiah that this is what the LORD says: 'You have broken a yoke of wood, but in its place you have fashioned a yoke of iron.'
For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: 'I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations to make them serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they will serve him. I have even given him control of the beasts of the field.'?"
Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, "Listen, Hananiah! The LORD did not send you, but you have persuaded this people to trust in a lie. Therefore this is what the LORD says: 'I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. You will die this year because you have preached rebellion against the LORD.'?"
And in the seventh month of that very year, the prophet Hananiah died.
This is the text of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets, and all the others Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. (This was after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the court officials, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metalsmiths had been exiled from Jerusalem.) The letter was entrusted to Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It stated:
This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles who were carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: "Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease. Seek the prosperity of the city to which I have sent you as exiles. Pray to the LORD on its behalf, for if it prospers, you too will prosper."
For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "Do not be deceived by the prophets and diviners among you, and do not listen to the dreams you elicit from them. For they are falsely prophesying to you in My name; I have not sent them, declares the LORD."
For this is what the LORD says: "When Babylon's seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore you from captivity and gather you from all the nations and places to which I have banished you, declares the LORD. I will restore you to the place from which I sent you into exile."
Because you may say, "The LORD has raised up for us prophets in Babylon," this is what the LORD says about the king who sits on David's throne and all the people who remain in this city, your brothers who did not go with you into exile- this is what the LORD of Hosts says:
"I will send against them sword and famine and plague, and I will make them like rotten figs, so bad they cannot be eaten. I will pursue them with sword and famine and plague. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth-a curse, a desolation, and an object of scorn and reproach among all the nations to which I banish them. I will do this because they have not listened to My words, declares the LORD, which I sent to them again and again through My servants the prophets. And neither have you exiles listened, declares the LORD."
So hear the word of the LORD, all you exiles I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you lies in My name: "I will deliver them to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them before your very eyes. Because of them, all the exiles of Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: 'May the LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire!' For they have committed an outrage in Israel by committing adultery with the wives of their neighbors and speaking lies in My name, which I did not command them to do. I am He who knows, and I am a witness, declares the LORD."
You are to tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "In your own name you have sent out letters to all the people of Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests. You said to Zephaniah:
'The LORD has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada, to be the chief officer in the house of the LORD, responsible for any madman who acts like a prophet-you must put him in stocks and neck irons. So now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who poses as a prophet among you? For he has sent to us in Babylon, claiming: Since the exile will be lengthy, build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat their produce.'?"
(Zephaniah the priest, however, had read this letter to Jeremiah the prophet.)
Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: "Send a message telling all the exiles what the LORD says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite. Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you-though I did not send him-and has made you trust in a lie, this is what the LORD says: 'I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good that I will bring to My people, declares the LORD, for he has preached rebellion against the LORD.'?"
After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, as well as the officials of Judah and the craftsmen and metalsmiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the LORD. One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early, but the other basket contained very poor figs, so bad they could not be eaten.
"Jeremiah," the LORD asked, "what do you see?"
"Figs!" I replied. "The good figs are very good, but the bad figs are very bad, so bad they cannot be eaten."
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. I will keep My eyes on them for good and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their heart.
But like the bad figs, so bad they cannot be eaten,' says the LORD, 'so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem-those remaining in this land and those living in the land of Egypt. I will make them a horror and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a disgrace and an object of scorn, ridicule, and cursing wherever I have banished them. And I will send against them sword and famine and plague, until they have perished from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.'?"
What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don't they come from the passions at war within you? You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask. And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.
You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God. Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy? But He gives us more grace. This is why it says:
"God opposes the proud,
but gives grace to the humble."
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.
Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. And if you judge the law, you are not a practitioner of the law, but a judge of it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit." You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast in your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.