Jeremiah 27:13

This is what the Prophet means, when he promises that the Jews would live, if they submitted to the king of Babylon; not that they could merit life by their obedience; but the only way by which we can obtain God's favor and be reconciled to him, is willingly to condemn ourselves; for we anticipate extreme judgment, as Paul says, when we condemn ourselves; and then we shall not be condemned by God. (1 Corinthians 11:31.) For how is it, that God is so angry with the wicked, except that they wish to be forgiven while in their sins? But this is to pull him down from his throne, for he is not the judge of the world, if the ungodly escape unpunished and laugh at all his threatenings. So also on the other hand, when in true humility we suffer ourselves to be chastised by God, he becomes immediately reconciled to us. This, then, is the life mentioned here. It follows, -- This is an imperative in Hebrew, and live, but in all the early versions it is in the future tense, as rendered here by Calvin. The meaning is the same. — Ed. No doubt we may extend this promise to spiritual life, but here it means living in the land of Canaan, as opposed to the perdition or expatriation in Jeremiah 27:10. — Ed Jeremiah 27:13 13. Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 13.

24 Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that he was not delivered into the hand of the people to be slain. 1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, -- 2 Thus said Jehovah to me, Make for thee bands and yokes, and put them on thy neck; 3 Then send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the children of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the ambassadors, who shall come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah the king of Judah: 4 And thou shalt give them a message to their masters, saying, — Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Thus shall ye say to your masters, -- 5 I made the earth, man also and beast, Which are on the face of the earth, By my great power and my extended arm; And given it have I to whom it seemed good to me: 6 And now given have I all these lands Into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar The king of Babylon, my servant; And also the beast of the field Have I given to him to serve him: 7 And serve him and his son, And his son's son, shall all nations, Until the time of his land shall come, And also of himself; yea, serve him Shall many nations and great kings.

, saying, 2 Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck, 3 And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah; 4 And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters; 5 I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. 6 And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him. 7 And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him. 8 And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. 9 Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the k

27:12-18 Jeremiah persuades the king of Judah to surrender to the king of Babylon. Is it their wisdom to submit to the heavy iron yoke of a cruel tyrant, that they may secure their lives; and is it not much more our wisdom to submit to the pleasant and easy yoke of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, that we may secure our souls? It were well if sinners would be afraid of the destruction threatened against all who will not have Christ to reign over them. Why should they die the second death, infinitely worse than that by sword and famine, when they may submit and live? And those who encourage sinners to go on in sinful ways, will perish with them.

Why will ye die, thou and thy people, the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence,.... Through a blockade of the Chaldean army, which would invade their land, and besiege their city, upon a refusal to be subject to their yoke: as the Lord hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? as the Lord has threatened shall be the case of any and everyone of the above nations that should refuse to be tributary to him; of which, no doubt, Zedekiah and his court had been apprized; see Jeremiah 27:8.

To King Zedekiah Jeremiah addressed words of like import, saying: "Bring your necks into the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and ye shall live. Jeremiah 27:13 . Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by sword, famine, and pestilence, as Jahveh hath spoken concerning the people that will not serve the king of Babylon? Jeremiah 27:14 . And hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you: Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you. Jeremiah 27:15 . For I have not sent them, saith Jahveh, and they prophesy in my name falsely, that I might drive you out and ye might perish, ye and the prophets that prophesy unto you." - The discourse addressed to the king in the plural, "bring your necks," etc., is explained by the fact that, as Jeremiah 27:13 shows, in and along with the king of his people are addressed. The imperative וחיוּ intimates the consequence of the preceding command. Jeremiah 27:13 gives the application of the threat in Jeremiah 27:8 to King Zedekiah and his people; and Jeremiah 27:14 . gives the warning corresponding to Jeremiah 27:9 and Jeremiah 27:10 against the sayings of the lying prophets; cf. Jeremiah 14:14 and Jeremiah 23:16 , Jeremiah 23:21 .

All the sinners of My people shall perish - At the last, when the longsuffering of God has been despised to the uttermost, His Providence is exact in His justice, as in His love. As not "one grain should fall to the earth," so not one sinner should escape. Jerome: "Not because they sinned aforetime, but because they persevered in sin until death. The Aethiopians are changed into sons of God, if they repent; and the sons of God pass away into Aethiopians, if they fall into the depth of sin." Which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us - Their security was the cause of their destruction. They perished the more miserably, being buoyed up by the false confidence that they should not perish. So it was in both destructions of Jerusalem. Of the first, Jeremiah says to the false prophet Hananiah, "Thus saith the Lord, Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron" Jeremiah 28:13; and to Zedekiah, "Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, which I speak unto thee; so shall it be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live. But if thou refuse to go forth - thou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon, and thou shalt burn this city with fire" (Jeremiah 38:20, Jeremiah 38:23; add Jeremiah 27:9-10, Jeremiah 27:19).

(52) The last trump. —The trumpet was used to summon an assembly ( Exodus 20:18 ; Psalm 81:3 ; Isaiah 18:3 ; Isaiah 27:13 ) or to sound a warning. The last trumpet is the one which concludes a series which have already been sounding at intervals in notes of warning to the nations ( Psalm 47:5 ; Isaiah 27:13 ; Jeremiah 51:27 ). This verse states with reiterated emphasis that this change shall not be a protracted process, but a sudden and momentary alteration in the condition of our bodies.