A Tale of Two Prophets

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In this chapter we will see two prophets of God who had very different ends. Both loved the Lord. Both preached the Word of God. One was murdered and the other was not. All of that occurs in chapter 26.
1. A Sermon (1-6).
A. Jeremiah was to preach a sermon in the Temple (1-2).
This was most likely the sermon preached in chapter 7. If you compare that sermon with what is recorded here, you will see the similarities. Chapter 26 occurs before the events of chapter 25. Chapter 25 was in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. This sermon was preached at the beginning of his reign. The year would have been around 609 BC.
Notice Jeremiah is not to hold back a single word that God has told him. He is to preach the full counsel of God’s Word. When you listen to a preacher you should not just listen to what he says. You should also listen to what he does not say. If he is not willing to preach all of God’s Word he should not preach any of God’s Word. The message God gave Jeremiah would not be easy to preach. He would be tempted to water it down. He would be tempted to leave the difficult parts out. God tells him not to do that.
B. Repentance is possible (3).
God tells Jeremiah that some of the people could repent. How do we reconcile this with al we have seen so far. God has told Jeremiah not to even pray for the people. It seems that there is no hope. We can explain it this way. While the nation itself will not turn back to God there are individuals who may. There were saved people in Jeremiah’s day. Some who went into captivity would repent. Even Ezekiel and Daniel were taken to Babylon. Those two were obviously men of God.
But the point remains that the repentance of the people is dependent on the preaching of the Word. Jeremiah must give the full counsel of God’s Word so the people can have an opportunity to respond. “How shall they hear if they have not a preacher?”
C. God has proven there is no safety in a city (4-6).
The people thought they were safe if they were in Jerusalem. This was God’s holy city. However, years earlier the Tabernacle was housed in Shiloh. This was a city about twenty miles North of Jerusalem (Joshua 18:1). The city was eventually destroyed by the Philistines and the Tabernacle moved to Nob (1 Sam. 4, 21-22; Psalm 78:60-64). God would do to Jerusalem what He did to Shiloh. The precedent had already been set.
Look at all the Lord had given the people:
The Law
The prophets
God had given the people a written Word. When they would not listen, He sent prophets to them to preach the Worde. His grace had been extended to them. Look at the end of verse 6.
“I will make this city a curse for all the nations of the earth.”
What does that mean? It means that after the nations see what happens to Jerusalem, they will use the name of the holy city when cursing others. When they hate someone, they will say something like “May what happened to Jerusalem happen to you.” The city of Jerusalem will be equated with an insult.
2. The arrest of Jeremiah (7-15).
A. Jeremiah is obtained and threatened with death (7-9).
Chapter 26 gives us more information about the sermon than chapter 7 does. Here we see how the people responded to the Temple Sermon. The priests and the prophets grabbed him and said, “You shall die!”
What were they most upset about? Look at verse 9. They were upset with the Shiloh refence. They knew that story well. They didn’t take kindly with being compared with those people. It’s a frightening scene. Jeremiah is surrounded by these people. He has nowhere to go. It’s clear that it’s not just the prophets and priests who are upset with Jeremiah. The common people are as well. They are ready to have him executed as a false prophet because in their mind what he was saying could not have come from the Lord (Deut. 18:20). It’s clear that they were not going to kill him themselves. They wanted some sort of legal proceeding to take place.
B. Officials save Jeremiah’s life (10-11).
These were representatives of the government. As representatives of the king they had the legal right to execute justice. Such a ruckus was being made at the Temple that they were sent to deal with the problem. They gathered at the New Gate of the House of the Lord. This was a place where official business was conducted.
I don’t think this was a formal trial at all. It seems chaotic. The priests and the prophets have already decided on the punishment without a trial. They say he deserves death then they give the charge. Their charge is he has given a false prophecy concerning the city. False prophets could be sentenced to death according to the Law (Deut. 18:20). According to the accusers there were plenty of witnesses to Jeremiah’s crime.
A. Jeremiah states his case (12).
Jeremiah’s response to the accusations was that he was obeying the Lord. He had been sent by God with a message and he delivered it. It’s important that Jeremiah did not recant. He was facing possible death, but he stood strong. His courage is clearly seen in verse 12. He relied on the Lord alone to protect him.
B. Jeremiah warns the people (13-15).
The prophet used his own trial as an opportunity to continue preaching. He tells them if they do not change their actions and obey the Lord then all Jeremiah has warned them about will come to pass. The nation would be destroyed, and they would be deported or killed. He then warns them of the consequences of killing him. He says they will be guilty of shedding innocent blood and their actions will bring serious consequences to the city. Jeremiah admitted that they had the power to kill him but warned them of the repercussions if they did.
3. Jeremiah is released (16-19,24).
A. The verdict is given (16).
The officials saw no reason to kill Jeremiah. They reason that he is a prophet and he is doing his job. I don’t know that the officials believed Jeremiah’s message. But they thought he had the right to preach it. They protected him in that regard. This was a vindication of sorts and it probably upset the religious establishment. I am reminded of the dilemma Pilate had with Jesus as I read this text.
B. Jeremiah is vindicated by some elders (17-19).
These elders were not the officials. These were probably older and wiser men of the community appointed for specific tasks. They often represented a community and could settle smaller cases themselves. These men agreed with the officials. They bring up some cases of previous prophets.
Micah prophesied during Hezekiah’s day. He essentially had the same message Jeremiah did, Jerusalem would be destroyed. The elders quote Micah 3:12 to prove their point. Micah had prophesied about a hundred years earlier the same message Jeremiah was preaching. Yet Micah was viewed as a prophet of God. The King and the people di not put him to death for it. 2 Kings 19:14-37 record Hezekiah’s repentance and the defeat of the Assyrian army by God.
The elders warn the prophets and priests that they are on the verge of provoking God’s judgment. To kill Jeremiah would be no different than killing Micah. We can see from these passages that the hatred felt for Jeremiah grew over time. At this point there were still people who sided with him.
C. Jeremiah is protected after release (24).
There is a parenthesis in verses 20-23. We will look at that in a moment. But verse 24 picks up where verse 19 leaves off so we will look at it first. Jeremiah is released into the hands of a man named Ahikam. This man was close to King Josiah (2 Kings 22:12). Josiah loved Jeremiah and this was probably what gave Jeremiah favor with those who served alongside the great King. It seems that some still remembered the reforms of Josiah. The revival of those days still had some residual effects on the people. God gave Jeremiah favor with this prominent man to protect him.
4. A prophet is killed (20-23).
A. Uriah is introduced (20).
Other than this section of Scripture we know nothing of this prophet. What we see here is he preached during the same time as Jeremiah and he preached the same message Jeremiah preached. This should remind us that not all God’s preachers are well known. There are faithful preachers who are preaching the Word of God yet they are known by few. Jeremiah was not alone. Others were preaching the same message he was.
B. Uriah fled for his life (21-22).
The message of this prophet upset the king. Jehoiakim ordered the death of this prophet. Uriah was afraid and went to Egypt to hide. Unfortunately, at this time Jehoiakim was in league with Egypt (2 Kings 23:34). He uses his power to have Uriah extradited back to Jerusalem. How should we interpret Uriah’s actions? Was he being cowardly? There is a contrast to how Jeremiah responds to his arrest. But I don’t think we should be too hard on Uriah. The Bible presents him as a faithful prophet and that is how we should see him.
C. Uriah is killed (23).
The prophet is not given a trial or a decent burial. He is treated shamefully. He is killed under the orders of the king by a sword. His body is not buried with his family. The difference in the cases of Uriah and Jeremiah appears to be the presence of Jehoiakim. Why was Jehoiakim not present at Jeremiah’s trial? Perhaps because everything happened so quickly. If the wicked king had been there Jeremiah would have probably faced the same fate as Uriah.
Why were too men who were so similar treated so differently? Both preached the Word in the same place at the same time. One was killed for it. The other survived. The answer is not for us to say. God uses His people as instruments to do His will. Some may see great results while others do not. Some may have prosperity in this world while others experience lack. Some may live long lives, others may die young. He is the Potter and we are the clay. We should not compare ourselves with one another. Our concern should be faithfulness to God. Let God with us what He will. We should be content with that.
Church tradition as well as some extrabiblical sources tell us that Jeremiah was ultimately stoned to death for preaching. However, that wasn’t until around 570 BC. Jeremiah lived a long life.
We may wonder why the Lord chose to allow Jeremiah to escape Jehoiakim while Uriah was killed by him. That isn’t nearly as tragic as what happened to Jesus. Jesus is a greater prophet than either of them. He only lived 33 years. He was killed quickly by corrupt religious and political leaders. His death while tragic, brought salvation to all who come to him. Every prophet of God we see in Scripture should remind us of the great prophet, the Lord Jesus.
The life of Jesus should also remind us that when you are faithful to God you should not expect to be accepted by the world. Jeremiah wasn’t, Uriah wasn’t, and Jesus certainly wasn’t. But we have the promise of eternal life. Both Jeremiah and Uriah are in heaven today because of the work of Jesus. Everyone who knows the Word of God should be encouraged to share it because of this. Christ has defeated death for us and therefore we have nothing to fear. This should embolden us to preach the Word in its fullness.
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