Jeremiah 26

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Dave Burnette's Commentary

Jeremiah Chapter 26

Written By: God through Inspiration

Penned By: Jeremiah

Date Penned: (627-586 BC)

Overview: To Urge God's People to Turn from Sin to God (c 1-52)

Theme: God's Judgement on Judah (c 1-45)

Message: Jeremiah's Narrowly Escapes Death (v 1-24)

Jeremiah 26 Commentary

(26:1-24) Jeremiah On Trial - The events described in this chapter took place in 609-608 BC, before the events described in Jeremiah 25. Jehoiakim was a materialistic and self-centered king who persecuted and murdered innocent people (36:22-32; 2 Kings 23:36-24:6). Jeremiah 26 describes how and why Jeremiah was on trial for his life. 26:2-9 Shiloh was where the tabernacle had been set up after the conquest of Canaan (Joshua 18:1). It was destroyed in 1050 BC by the Philistines. God said he would destroy the temple just as Shiloh had been destroyed. When Jeremiah said that Jerusalem, the city of God, would become an object of cursing and the temple would be destroyed Jeremiah 26:6), the priests and false prophets were infuriated. The temple was important to them because the people's reverence for it brought them power. By saying that the temple would be destroyed, Jeremiah undermined their authority. Jesus also infuriated the religious leaders of his time by foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple (Matthew 24:2).

(26:2) Diminish Not a Word - God reminded Jeremiah that he wanted his entire message given: "Diminish not a word." Jeremiah may have been tempted to leave out the parts that would turn his audience against him, would sound too harsh, or would make him sound like a traitor. But by God's command, he was not to delete parts of God's message to suit himself, his audience, or the circumstances in which he found himself. Like Jeremiah, we must never ignore or repress important parts of God's Word to please anyone.

(26:11) Courageous - Jeremiah was branded a traitor because he prophesied the destruction of the city and the temple. But the "courageous" people advocated a foreign alliance to fight Babylon and retain their independence. The accusations they leveled at Jeremiah were actually true of themselves--they were the traitors because they had turned away from God.

(26:17-19) A Failure to Repent - The elders remembered the words of the prophet Micah (Micah 3:12), which were similar to the words Jeremiah spoke. When Micah called the people to repent, they turned from their wickedness. Although these people did not kill Jeremiah, they missed the main point--that the application of the story was for them. They spared Jeremiah, but they did not spare themselves by repenting of their sins. As you recall a great story of the Bible, ask how it can be applied to your life.

(26:20-23) Urihah - Urijah is an otherwise-unknown prophet who was executed for faithfully proclaiming God's words. This shows that God has had other prophets whose words are not included in the Bible.

Dave Burnette's Life Application

True Success

Each day we walk through the Bible chapter by chapter making an application of our text to help us grow in the Lord. Many applications can be made from each day's text. Today, we continue in the Book of Jeremiah with chapter 26. In our text today, we see Jeremiah narrowly escapes death, but through it all, God protected Jeremiah. Not because Jeremiah deserved to walk above persecution but because God's plan and purpose were not finished yet. In applying, we see that God Loves us and has a plan and purpose for our life. For some, it might be prosperity, but for others, it might be poverty. It is not our life on earth that defines us but to allow the Savior to live in and through us. When we allow Him to work through us, we will do His Will and be a Successful Person in the eyes of the Lord. How about you? Do you measure your life on worldly gain or prosperity? Let us learn from our text today and the life of Jeremiah to see that true Success is a life that is surrendered to the Lord, which allows Him to live in and through us, doing His Plan for our lives.

Jeremiah 26

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Jeremiah 26

¹In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the LORD, saying,

²Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD's house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD's house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:

³If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings.

⁴And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you,

⁵To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened;

⁶Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.

⁷So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD.

⁸Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.

⁹Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.

¹⁰When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king's house unto the house of the LORD, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the LORD's house.

¹¹Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears.

¹²Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard.

¹³Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you.

¹⁴As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you.

¹⁵But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the LORD hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears.

¹⁶Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets; This man is not worthy to die: for he hath spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.

¹⁷Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying,

¹⁸Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.

¹⁹Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the LORD repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls.

²⁰And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah.

²¹And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death: but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt;

²²And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt.

²³And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.

²⁴Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.

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