Exile, Wrath, And Judgement

INTRO

In the four Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel), there were always statements about deliverance. Despite all their mistakes and wrongdoing, Israel was still the righteous branch of David. God intervened so the nation of Israel could have their freedom.

TEACHING

Jeremiah 24:1-14: In this chapter, Jeremiah prophesied that the people were going into Babylon. Wiersbe explains, “In 597 B.C., the Babylonians deported King Jehoiachin (also called Jeconiah or Coniah) along with many of the nobles and key citizens leaving only the poorer people to work the land (2 Kings 24:14–16). It was the beginning of the end for Judah, and no doubt Jeremiah was greatly distressed.”¹

The Lord showed Jeremiah an image of baskets of figs and asked what Jeremiah saw. Jeremiah responded that he saw baskets of figs—both good figs and bad figs. The bad figs were so bad they were inedible. The good figs represented the remnant of Israel that would obey the Lord. God told Jeremiah that while He would send away the remnant, He would continue to watch them and would eventually return them to the land. God promised to return them and build them up and not uproot them. They would be God’s people and God would be their Lord. God would give them a heart to know Him. This was a new covenant mentality.

Zedekiah, the king of Judah, along with his officials and the remnant of Judah that did not follow the Lord, were considered to be the basket of bad figs. The Lord would reject the bad figs. They represented an image of disaster for all the nations. The image of the figs represented the 12 tribes of Israel. The sword, famine, and plague would be used against the nations that did not obey or follow the Lord.

Wiersbe states, “Jeremiah had been serving for 23 years when he delivered the messages recorded in chapters 25 and 26 (25:3; 26:1). He was called into prophetic service in the year 626 B.C. (1:2) and continued to minister after the fall of Jerusalem in 587 B.C., a period of over 40 years.”² Jeremiah told the people of Judah and Jerusalem that after those 23 years, they had not listened or obeyed. He had been preaching repentance and judgment every day. He reminded them that God had sent multiple prophets, and none of them were listened to.

In verse 5, Jeremiah continued to reiterate his message and encourage the people not to provoke God to anger by worshipping idols. At this point, the message of Jeremiah went in two directions. One message of judgment was for the Jews, and the other message was for the Gentile nations. God would use the Babylonians as His agents.

Wiersbe explains the reference in verse 9 about Nebuchadnezzar: “Nebuchadnezzar wasn’t a believer in the true God of Israel, but in his conquests he was accomplishing God’s will (51:20–23).”³Nelson’s Commentary explains, “Nebuchadnezzar . . . My servant: This expression does not imply that the Babylonian monarch worshiped Israel’s God, simply that he was used by God to fulfill His purposes (as in the case of Cyrus, who is called the Lord’s ‘anointed’ in Isaiah 45:1).”⁴ God used the pagan king to walk out His will.

In verse 11, the statement about “this whole land” was directed to all of Judah and Israel. The Babylonian captivity would last 70 years. Nelson’s Commentary states, “It marks the period between the destruction of the first temple (586 B.C.) and the building of the second temple (520–515 B.C.), or about 66 to 72 years. The phrase ‘70 years’ is best viewed as an approximate period for the Babylonian captivity; it is a number with potent elements: ten sevens. It is also a number that caught the attention of Daniel in captivity (Daniel 9:2).”⁵ Part of the reason for Israel going into captivity for 70 years was to give the land a rest. God would put the Israelites in captivity and restore the land.

By verse 12, Jeremiah was prophesying that at the end of the 70 years, God would be done using the Chaldeans, the people of Babylon, and would make their land a ruin forever. They would be condemned because of their immoral and unethical treatment of people.

After verses 1–14 address the Jews and their 70 years of captivity, Jeremiah turned to the Gentiles (vv. 15–38). Eight images were used to describe how the Gentiles would experience the judgment of God: the cup of wrath, the roaring lion, the winepress, the lawsuit, the storm, the refuse, the broken pottery, and the slaughtered flock. Each of these images was an example of judgment. The images reiterate the destruction of all those nations that sinned against God.

CLOSING

In chapter 26, Jeremiah again called for the Jews to repent at the temple. It appears that after 23 years, Jeremiah had become more confident in his calling as prophet. In his prophecy Jeremiah told the Jews they would be in captivity for 70 years and then God would reestablish them in their land, so there would be hope. The judgment against the Gentiles was final.