Here Endeth the Words of Jeremiah

Here Endeth the Words of Jeremiah

Jeremiah Chapters 46-52

Concerning the Nations

The final chapters of the book of Jeremiah contain messages that the Lord gave Jeremiah concerning the nations surrounding Judah. Chapter 46 concerns Egypt, whose inexorable destruction is summarized in verses 25-28. These verses also contain a promise of rescue to the remnant of Judah in exile in Egypt. Chapter 47 is a message about the Philistines, and in verses 6 and 7 it depicts the complete inevitability of the situation: the people are up against the Lord. Chapter 48 is a lengthy message concerning the awful fate of Moab. Lest we begin to think that the God in these chapters is beginning to sound like the vengeful, angry, Old Testament God of our archetypal understanding, we should take care to understand that the Lord does not take any pleasure in the message, or in the events that will transpire. This is indicated, for example, in the lament for Moab contained in verses 36-38.

There are messages to many nations in Chapter 49: Ammon, Edom, Damascus, and others. This long list and the message in verse 12 concerning the cup is reminiscent of the passages in Chapter 25 where Jeremiah is commissioned by the Lord to deliver a cup to the nations. This commission begins in verses 15 and 16. The verses immediately following are list of the cities to which Jeremiah must deliver the cup, and they include those for which we have recorded messages in the later chapters. In verses 27-29, the Lord speaks of the inevitability of the cup, and of a sword that is coming for all who live on the earth. In verses 30 and 31, it is clear that the sword is a sword of judgment.

In our study of chapter 25, we discussed the fact that the cup was also the symbol for salvation, and that by rejecting salvation, the people brought judgment upon themselves. God is not only the God of Israel and Judah, but of all people. It is easy to say that these neighboring nations were punished because they acted against Israel and Judah, and there may be some degree to which that is true. More than that, they were people unto themselves; God had plans for them, and they rejected those plans. Israel faired no better in her struggle against the will of the Lord, and we would do no better, ourselves.

Here Endeth the Words of Jeremiah

Chapter 50 is a long message to the Babylonians, in much the same stile as the messages to the other nations. The message continues through most of Chapter 51. However, in verses 59-64 of that chapter, there is a story that tells us that Jeremiah wrote these words (or had them written) on a scroll and gave them to an official who was going into exile in Babylon, so that he could read them ceremoniously there. If we compare the lineage of this official to that of Baruch given in 32:12, it would appear that this official was Baruch’s brother.

Chapter 52 is almost a copy of 2 Kings 24:18-25:30, but it differs in some areas of detail. For example, verses 28-30 gives much smaller numbers taken into exile than the account in 2 Kings. How the account came to be placed at the end of Jeremiah and why it differs from 2 Kings are a mystery, but we can assume that its purpose is to stand as witness to the fulfillment of prophecy.

The Word of God

Jeremiah is not an easy book to read: it is repetitive, it does not respect chronology, and it speaks, from time to time, of an angry God bringing terrible judgment on the people. It is also hard to read because it speaks of a people, not unlike ourselves, who clearly deserve judgment. The people had made idols for themselves, they had tried to reduce God to the level of an idol, they had tried to depend on themselves and do without God.

The book of Jeremiah tells us that the fall of Judah came because the people turned from their God. There is a danger in founding our theology on this observation. It may lead us to believe that God will punish all those we believe deserve to be punished. This is just what Israel and Judah thought. They thought they were special because God loved them, and their enemies would be defeated. But God loves everyone, even our enemies.

It would be a mistake to focus on the fall of Judah as a nation. The greater fall came when the people broke their covenant with the Lord. If, in the fall of the nation, the Lord is depicted as an angry God, in the spiritual fall the Lord is depicted as a patient, loving, forgiving God. In this aspect, the book of Jeremiah is fascinating. It is clear that Jeremiah is not sent to offer words of condemnation, but to offer words of salvation. In the end, the book of Jeremiah is not about the people, or about their idolatry, or their punishment, but about our God, who is a God of love, always in the business of redemption.