Jeremiah 27

A Lesson In Submission - Part 5

Debra Isenbletter

Jeremiah Addresses Zedekiah (vs 12-14), King of Judah and this begins another section where Jeremiah turns from these five Gentile kings to the king of Judah.

Vs 12: “...Bring your necks under the yoke...and serve him...” In this section Jeremiah turns to King Zedekiah with the very same warning, it is a personal warning, it is an Admonition with a Promise. The message has not changed, it is repeated. Jeremiah comes before the king and his words are a command because the word “spake” means “to command, to promise and to pronounce.” The command is serve and the promise is that he will live. Again we have the dual message: Surrender (Bring your necks under the yoke) and Serve. The same is required of Zedekiah that is required of the nations. This man of pride must humble himself before “God’s servant,” Nebuchadnezzar. The stiff neck of this king reflects the rebelliousness of the Old Creation which says, “l will not!” God told Moses the people were stiffnecked (Ex 32:9); He told Isaiah their neck was as “iron sinew” (Is 48:4), and Stephen when he summed up the character of the nation at the time of Jesus used the same description: “Ye are stiffnecked’ (Acts 7:5 1). They would not bend their necks and accept the yoke the Lord gave them. Without true surrender they cannot learn the lesson the Lord would teach them and without surrender there can be no life, no fruit and no growth.

The promise given is to “live.” It has several meanings: “to keep alive, to revive, to recover and to be whole.” This blessing comes in stages as they yield to the Lord. A remnant will be “kept alive” through captivity. In the last days there will be one-third “kept alive” at the end of the Tribulation. They will “revive” and begin to “recover” from the judgments while they are in captivity and as they prepare to return home. Eventually they will be “made whole” and this is seen in their restoration, both to the land and in their fellowship with the Lord. There is a spiritual lesson in their surrender, their revival, their recovery and their being made whole. Only the Lord can bring about this spiritual recovery, but He is waiting for their subjection and surrender to Him in order to bring about this change. The day will come when they will have new life because the Lord will have breathed that breath of life into them, and where at one time they were dry bones, they will live. They will be a New Creation because they will have received their life from Christ. (Ezek 37:1-14). In the last days during that Tribulation there will be a remnant that will acknowledge the Lord has “torn them” and in faith they will say He will “heal us,” and after “two days will revive us.” That two days pictures this 2,000 years of the Church Age. At the end of this age, God will again turn to them and they will turn to Him, but it is the suffering they experience that will bring about their full and complete surrender.

Vs 13: “Why will ye die...Jeremiah begins this verse with A Question, goes on to The Judgment and describes The Disobedience.

The Lord asks this question with great sorrow. It’s not that He doesn’t know the answer, He does, but if they respond to this question then they too will know “why.” The reason for their death is a rejection on their part of all He is willing to offer. The sad fact is that they don’t have to die and the Lord asks Why? He is saying, “Why do you choose to die instead of live?” The Lord takes no pleasure in their death and He always provides a way out through obedience. The way out today is in Christ. How many today will choose death instead of life simply because they reject all the Lord has offered in His Son.

The judgment seen is a three-fold judgment (sword, famine and pestilence). The same three judgments that touch the nations will also touch the Jews and they can be seen in the seals that are opened in Rev. 6:3-8. Because these judgments are world-wide, we can see that this will ultimately picture the last days. All three of these judgments are the outcome of war: and bring death. The “sword” brings death through battle; “famine” brings death through the sieges; and “pestilence” brings death through the combination of the two. Bodies will be left unburied and disease will be rampant. The message is that death is the result of a failure to submit to the Lord, and it will either be swift or slow, but it will be certain. The Lord of hosts uses man’s nature, He allows man to do all he is capable of and what man does in war reflects this. During the tribulation there will be a terrible darkness because all restraints holding man in check will be removed, A picture of what man is capable of is seen in all the atrocities committed during war, both today and in the past. Man’s true nature is seen in Paul’s photograph of the Old Creation and in his description you can see these three judgments: “Their feet are swift to shed blood (sword), destruction and misery (famine/pestilence) are in their ways.” (Rom. 3:15-17). In this judgment that there is no captivity promised to these people, only death.

The Disobedience is seen in the phrase “will not serve.” The Lord says that He has spoken and He has already pronounced this judgment. He cannot change His Word just because His people have also disobeyed. His Word, when fulfilled, will bring all in submission to Him. (Isa. 45:23). Rebellion is at the very heart of man’s problem and it will be the chief trait in the last days. Psalm 12:4 says they will say: “Who is Lord over us?” This will be the attitude of the nations and apostate Israel and behind this attitude is Satan. He began his fall with rebellion when he said: “I will ascend...I will exalt...I will sit...I will ascend...I will be like the most high...” (Is 14:13 -14) With these five “I wills” Satan defies the Grace of God. He has passed that rebellious nature on to man through Adam’s sin and every man born will exhibit this nature to some degree.

Vs 14: “Therefore hearken not...” Jeremiah begins his third warning, it is against the prophets of the King: Jeremiah warns the king against his own prophets. This is the second time he warns against prophets that will oppose his message. He has already done so in vs 9. The same warning was given to the five kings. The lie that they speak is that “ye shall not serve.” This is what many want to hear, it appeals to their national pride, it appeals to the flesh. This was Jeremiah’s great grief and trial and a message he heard repeatedly from those who deliberately opposed him (Jer. 5:12- 14). God’s servant, Nebuchadnezzar would never meet their requirements for submission just God’s Servant, Jesus didn’t meet their requirements for Messiah, though He met His Father’s. They refused to submit to Him then and how many today refuse to submit to Him? How many fail to see in His example what submission is. Jeremiah challenges these prophets, he calls them liars for he says, “they prophesy a lie.” What a bold statement for a man that stands all alone. He has thrown down the gauntlet when he accuses them and challenges the message of these prophets.