A Yoke on His Back and Egg on His Face

Jeremiah 27 & 28

These two chapters go together. In chapter 27 we will see Jeremiah preach a sermon with a yoke on his back. In chapter 28 a false prophet breaks the yoke and gives a false prophecy which results in the false prophet dying a premature death. One prophet had a yoke on his back and the other got egg on his face.

1. The symbolic act (1-11).

A. The instructions are given (1-2).

I want to begin by addressing what some see as a problem in verse 1. Some translations say in the beginning of Zedekiah’s reign while others say in the beginning of Jehoiakim’s reign. The KJV has Jehoiakim, the ESV has Zedekiah. Clearly the context is during the reign of Zedekiah. We see that in verses 3 & 12. So why the difference in translations? Some manuscripts say Jehoiakim and others Zedekiah. That’s why.

The Septuagint doesn’t even contain verse 1. Some Hebrew Manuscripts have Zedekiah in verse 1. The Textus receptus has Jehoiakim in verse 1. What is going on here? I think there was difficulty in reading this verse in some manuscripts probably due to wear and tear on old manuscripts. Some scribes may have opened chapter 27 the same way chapter 26 is opened and that’s why they put Jehoiakim’s name there. Or it could be that Jehoiakim is what was originally written. That would mean that Jeremiah received this prophecy during Jehoiakim’s reign but did not share it until the reign of Zedekiah. That would go well with Jeremiah 1:1-3. Either way there is no problem here. Either some scribes were trying to correct what they thought was a scribal error or some were trying to interpret what should be there. None of this changes any meaning to the text but it may help if you ever have to deal with someone who casts doubt on the Word of God.

Jeremiah is to put a yoke on his back and fasten it with two pieces of leather. It’s a wooden yoke made of two pieces. One piece went over his shoulders, the other under them. Jeremiah would have looked funny walking around with this thing attached to himself.

B. This message was for all nations (3-7).

Representatives from the surrounding nations who were in Jerusalem were to take note of Jeremiah’s message. He would be hard to miss, walking around the city with a yoke on his neck. These groups represented nations that believed they could possibly withstand the Babylonians. They are to return to their leaders and warn them not to resist the Babylonians. Look at what they are to say to them:

There is one God who is over all the earth.

God builds up and tears down nations.

He has given Babylon power at this time.

The nations are to submit to Nebuchadnezzar.

The rule of the Babylonians will continue for some time.

When the Babylonians time is up the Lord will bring a nation to rule over them.

Everything Jeremiah said happened. Nebuchadnezzars’ Babylon became the world power. The Babylonians ruled for several generations. Eventually God raise up Cyrus of Persia to defeat them.

C. The nations should not listen to their false prophets (8-11).

Every nation has religions therefore every nation has its spokesmen. Jeremiah mentions all sorts of religious leaders in verse 9. He tells the nations not to listen to these false prophets if they tell them to resist Babylon. If they do listen to these false prophets they will only make it harder on themselves. Their only hope of not being killed or deported is to submit to the Babylonian empire. This is the grace of God to pagan nations. God is granting them an opportunity to suffer the least amount possible. The nations have a choice. They can listen to their own spiritual leaders, or they can listen to Jeremiah. Again, don’t miss the grace of God extended to these pagan nations. God doesn’t have to do this, but he sends His prophet to them. This reminds us of the beginning of the book when Jeremiah was called to be a prophet to the nations (1:5).

It would hard for these representatives to forget what they saw. This man was preaching to them in a yoke. The yoke would remind them of the message. Serve Babylon, put yourselves in the yoke or lose everything.

2. A Message for Zedekiah (12-15).

Zedekiah was the last ruling king of Judah. Under his leadership the country continued to do evil and was eventually destroyed. Jeremiah shared the same message with his own king. The message was simple:

Listen to the false prophets who are telling you to resist Babylon and you will lose your land and possibly your life too.

Listen to God and there is hope you will survive.

Zedekiah made the mistake of resisting and looking to Egypt for help. This decision cost him dearly. His sons were killed before him and then his eyes were gouged out (2 Kings 25:7).

3. Jeremiah speaks to the priests and the people (16-22).

A. He gives the same warning to the priests and the people (16-18).

He says, “Serve the king of Babylon and live.” If they will not repent at least they can submit to the discipline and possibly escape with their lives. The priests and the people need to realize that damage to the city will be worse if they fight.

The false prophets were telling people that all the Temple items Jeremiah took in an earlier invasion would be returned soon (2 Kings 24:13). That implies Judah would somehow be victorious. Jeremiah says it isn’t going to happen. He issues a challenge to them. He says “Have the prophets pray that the Temple not be destroyed and the items within in not taken.” They wouldn’t pray that because they didn’t believe it was going to happen. They believed the ones that had already been taken would be returned. The prophets and the people were living in a fantasy world.

B. A list of items taken by Nebuchadnezzar (19-22).

When the Babylonians invaded in 597 BC they took what they wanted from the Temple. They left other things. Among them were large items like basins used for ceremonial washings and rinsing of sacrifices. Eventually all the items in the Temple would be taken. They would be taken to Babylon. The good news is that the Lord would send the items back when Jerusalem was rebuilt. Ezra 1:7-11 records that King Cyrus sent these items back with the Jews when they returned to Jerusalem after the captivity.

4. Jeremiah is challenged by a false prophet (1-4).

A. The message of the false prophet (1-4).

This is the only place in the Bible this prophet is mentioned. His name is Hananiah. He confronts Jeremiah in the Temple. There is a crowd watching. He essentially calls Jeremiah a liar. He has a prophecy of his own. He says the Lord has given it to him. This is his message:

The Lord has broken the yoke of the Babylonians

Within two years everything will be restored to the Temple.

King Jehoiachin will be restored to the throne.

The exiles who had been taken to Babylon would return within two years.

He contradicted everything Jeremiah said.

He was bold!

He gave great detail!

B. Jeremiah responds in an unusual way (5-9).

He wishes it were true. He says “Amen!” He says he hopes Hananiah is right. I bet that surprised everyone. Jeremiah didn’t want these things terrible things he was prophesying of to happen. He took no joy in in the destruction of the nation.

But in verses 7-9 he says history doesn’t agree with you. He tells Hananiah that in the past prophets did not prophesy like he is prophesying. Hananiah’s message was an odd one for a prophet. Jeremiah says to review the messages of prophets before them. They gave messages of:

War

Famine

Pestilence

Jeremiah said the only way they would know if Hananiah’s prophecy of peace would come true is to wait and see. Jeremiah was not threatened by false prophets. He knew they were not from God. Biblically speaking God sends prophets before He sends judgments. The job of the prophet is to call people to repentance. Prophets often do have promises of hope and peace, but they are contingent on repentance and faith. A nation in rebellion to God should not expect peace at all.

C. The false prophet’s symbolic act (10-11).

Hananiah takes things up a notch. He decides to do something dramatic to get the peoples attention. He snatches the yoke off of Jeremiah and busts it in pieces in front of everyone. He uses this act as a message from God. He says in the same way he destroyed the yoke Jeremiah wore the Lord break the yoke Nebuchadnezzar places on the nations. He repeats that this will happen within two years. He is doubling down on the date of this event.

Again, Jeremiah responds in an unusual way. He just walks away. The people have heard two sermons. The people have seen two symbolic actions. These sermons and actions could not have been any more different.

D. A final word for Hananiah (12-17).

Things would be worse for the people because they listened to Hananiah (12-14).

Sometime later Jeremiah found Hananiah. It was probably days later. He had a message from the Lord for the false prophet. He said you broke a yoke of wood, now a yoke of iron is coming. This simply means the punishment will be worse. It would be worse for Zedekiah. He was treated far worse than the other kings who were deported. The nation would suffer more as well. There would be more death because of the false prophecies of men like Hananiah. The hope this false prophet gave was short lived. In the end he made things worse for himself and the entire nation.

Jeremiah is straightforward with the false prophet. Look at verses 15-16:

The Lord has not sent you

You have made the people trust in a lie.

The Lord is going to take your life

You will not last until the end of the year

You have rebelled against God.

Jeremiah gives a prophecy with a time attached to it. However, his comes true. That very year the prophet died. We even see the grace of God in this. The Lord gave this prophet time to repent.

There is a lot here we can discuss about false prophets. Let’s discuss a few things:

False prophets are often bold. They are bold because they are: 1) Unbelievers/Atheistic 2) Deceived

False prophets are often overly positive. They tell people what they want to hear because it is expedient for them to do so.

False prophets often are specific. They attach dates to their prophecies. Beware of this.

False prophets are often dramatic. They will do things to draw attention to themselves.

False prophets often do not resemble the prophets in the bible.

Jesus told us we could determine if someone is a false prophet by looking at their fruit (Matthew 7:15-20). We are to measure preachers by the Word of God. The Word of God tells us to look at their doctrine and their character. If those things do not line up with the Word of God stay away from them.

In Jeremiah’s day those who trusted the false prophets ended up like Hananiah did, with egg on their face. They ended up humiliated. Those who trusted in what Jeremiah said were rewarded.

If you do not want to be ashamed on judgment day trust Christ. Trust in His Word. Trusting in any other will lead you to shame. Trusting in Christ will lead you to glory. You will be tempted to trust the lying voices in this world because they so often tell you what you want to hear. Christ tells us things we don’t want to hear. He says in this world you will have tribulation. He tells us to take up our cross and follow Him. He tells us to deny ourselves. That is not an appealing message, but it the true one. Trust Christ, not the false prophets of this world.