Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded

by H. J. Vine.

Chapters 42-43: Abiding or Departing?

What a picture is portrayed by the Holy Spirit in chapters 42 and 43! The very leader who had been used to deliver the thankful remnant from Ishmael now leads them into Egypt after feigning a desire to know and obey the word of the Lord concerning them!

They ought to have understood it was God’s present mind that His people should rest under the shadow of Nebuchadnezzar His servant, but all the captains and Johanan asked Jeremiah to inquire for them “the way wherein we may walk, and the thing we may do” (Jeremiah 42:1-3). The prophet having undertaken to tell them all that God made known, they, on their part, undertook to obey the voice of the Lord, whether it be good or whether it be evil (verses 4-6). After ten days they were told to abide in the land and the Lord would abundantly bless them (verses 7-12), but if they went down into Egypt, the sword, the famine and the pestilence should overtake them there (verses 13-18). The Lord knew their deceitful hearts, and the prophet plainly said to them, “Ye dissembled in your hearts when ye sent me unto the Lord” (verses 19-22). He knew they were already determined not to abide in the land, but to depart into Egypt.

The whole state of their hearts and minds is exposed in the next chapter. Azariah, Johanan, and all the proud men accuse the prophet of speaking falsely, saying that Baruch was setting him on against them. There is something contemptible about these leaders of the remnant. The Holy Spirit calls attention to the “proud men”! After what had happened one would hardly have expected pride; they had been so humiliated, and their position at that moment was enough to deeply humble them! There were nevertheless those amongst them who evidently prided themselves that they were still the people. Disobedience to the word of God therefore followed although they had undertaken to obey it. Taking Jeremiah, Baruch and the remnant “they came into the land of Egypt; for they obeyed not the voice of the Lord: thus came they even to Tahpanhes” (Jeremiah 43:1-7). It is the work of the Holy Spirit of God today to build up the saints of God in Christ, and to set their minds on things above where Christ is: it is very sad and serious work to turn the remnant in the downward direction, as we have illustrated so vividly in our chapter.

At the very spot they then reached, at Tahpanhes, the prophet is told to hide some great stones before their eyes, in the brick kiln which was at the entry of Pharaoh’s house. How eloquent was this sign! Did not the brick kiln remind them of Israel’s former slavery in Egypt? They had reached this spot again in their effort to escape the dominion of the king of Babylon, the servant of the Lord! Had they escaped? Had they found the liberty they expected by thus disobeying the word of the prophet? To that very spot where these stones were placed God would send His servant Nebuchadnezzar and place his throne upon them! His royal pavilion should be spread over them! Egypt and its wealth and its goods should be given into his hands: and it was so.

This is an important lesson for believers who go hither and thither in their restless endeavours to find an easy path, and who do not abide in Christ where God has set them. We are not left to choose our own way, but we are to abide in the path of God’s will, and not depart from it. There are difficulties doubtless. There were difficulties with this remnant. We are nevertheless to abide in Christ. To do otherwise is to increase the difficulties for ourselves and others. To abide in Him is to assure blessing and increase for ourselves and others also. May this be so with us for God’s glory.

Chapters 44-45: Great Things, or The Lord Himself?

Chapters 44 and 45 conclude this section. They give us the prophet’s final words to the Jews as well as their wilful reply, also an important word for the servant of the Lord to Baruch. In Egypt the word came to Jeremiah concerning them all (Jeremiah 44:1-14). They had seen with their own eyes the destruction and desolation which God had brought upon Judah and Jerusalem because of their wickedness. He had pleaded earnestly with them, saying, “Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate,” but they hearkened not, so the judgment which lingered long came with fury and anger at last. They are told to let that lesson teach them not to provoke the Lord to wrath any more by their abominable idolatry, for if they heeded not they should be consumed utterly.

The people, however, had become so hardened in their evil ways that they tell the prophet without hesitation, “We will not hearken unto thee”! They boldly inform him they will continue their idolatry and burn incense to the queen of heaven, for say they, when we did these things in Judah and Jerusalem we had plenty of bread and were well, and saw no evil (verses 15-19). Jeremiah points out to them it was the very thing which brought God’s judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem (verses 20-23). Moreover the prophet made known to them, since they were determined to continue their abominable practices, the Lord had said, “Behold, I have sworn by My great Name, says the Lord, that My Name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, The Lord God lives,” but they should be consumed, and as the king of Jerusalem had been given into the hand of the king of Babylon, so also should the king of Egypt be (verses 24-30).

In the midst of wrath—righteous wrath—He remembers mercy, however. How comforting it is to hear Him say even at such a time, “Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah” (verse 28). The blessed Lord knows the godly, and knows, too, how to deliver them. Some, doubtless, like the prophet and Baruch had been carried into Egypt by the proud and wilful. They were few and feeble. They were not there with a happy mind. They had been carried away by force of circumstances. It is always cheering to remind our hearts of that word, “The Lord knows them that are His” (2 Timothy 2:19). In His own time He opens the way for them to walk where He would have them. This is always so, it is so now. The road is clear to follow righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those who call on the Lord Himself out of a pure heart (2 Timothy 2:22). What a privilege! What an honour! An open door for a feeble, tried remnant to have the Lord Himself to call upon!

It is just at this point the final word of this section is given—the word to Baruch (Jeremiah 45). Why should it be put here when it was spoken as far back as the fourth year of Jehoiakim, as the Spirit significantly tells us in verse 1? It is surely to teach us the lesson that our true wisdom is to act without question upon the Word of God. At the time this was recorded there was no opportunity for Baruch to secure any greatness for himself. When the word was given to him things were very different—princes and nobles were in Jerusalem; now it was devastated, and he was with the wretched remnant in Egypt. It is at this time the Spirit of God records the word given to the servant of the Lord. Ruin had been foretold, complete and irremediable; and when this is the case the faithful servant is to cleave to the Lord alone, acting upon the word, and not looking for great things here.

Baruch had said, “Woe is me now!” The Lord who had built and planted would break down and pluck up both the city and the people! It is said of the last of the assemblies mentioned in Revelation 2 and 3, “I will spue thee out of My mouth.” Therefore the path for us is the same in principle now. We can count upon the Lord’s personal interest and care like Baruch, but it would have been pride on his part to attempt the reconstruction of the city and the nation. Let those who know somewhat of the importance of the truth of Christ and the assembly beware of this snare of reconstruction today. Let not proud ecclesiastical thoughts turn the heart from the Lord Himself. What governs us? Great things, or the Lord? As we cleave to Him alone, calling upon Him out of a pure heart, we may enjoy the privileges of the assembly and know the order of the house of God without setting up to be anything in ourselves, but just to be making our boast in the Lord. He never fails! The true assembly—His assembly—is built upon the revelation of Himself as the Christ, the Son of the living God, by His Father. The gates of hell therefore cannot prevail against it.

Some seem to think that it is only being built as some outward order is maintained. Order according to the truth will always be valued by real souls, but this building does not rest upon outward order. It rests upon revelation—the Father’s revelation of the Christ, the Son of the living God. This is specially unfolded in John’s gospel, though the word assembly is not mentioned. He speaks of the one Shepherd and the one flock. Upon the rock foundation of the Father’s revelation, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of man, is building His assembly. The work of others may fail: His will never fail. It is our wisdom, therefore, to rejoice in the Lord. We are told that this is safe (Philippians 3:1).

It is an important question to settle alone with God, Am I after great things here, or am I after the Lord? Baruch was not to seek great things for himself! Many have brought sorrow on themselves and others also by seeking to be great as rebuilders of the assembly. Let us learn to trust the blessed Lord, and thus be at liberty to grow in grace and in the most excellent knowledge of Himself. All else that is pleasing will follow.

“O Lord, we cast each care on Thee,

And triumph and adore;

O that out great concern may be

To love and praise Thee.”

Section 4—The Gentile Section (Jeremiah 46-51)

The seven chapters which we are now to consider conclude the book. Chapters 46 to 51 form the Gentile section, or the section concerning the nations. Jeremiah 52 stands alone, being an added conclusion. The book begins thus—“The words of Jeremiah,” and Jeremiah 51 ends—“Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.” Jeremiah 52 therefore is added for a special reason, as we saw was the case with the short Jeremiah 45 at the end of the last section. These cases, and others we have spoken of, show that the book of Jeremiah has a peculiar arrangement of its own.

This Gentile section gives us the prophet’s words to the nations, with cheering words also concerning Israel interspersed; language being used which shows that the future deliverance of Israel is still in view. Indeed, it ends by foretelling God’s judgment upon Babylon and Israel’s deliverance, whereas Jeremiah began by foretelling God’s judgment from Babylon and Israel’s captivity. At the end, we are told, not Babylon but Israel is the power God will use! “Thou art My battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms” (Jeremiah 51:20). On the other hand we read, “As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth” (verse 49).

Jeremiah 46: God and the Nations

The section begins—“The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations” (Jeremiah 46:1). 1. Egypt (Jeremiah 46:2); 2. The Philistines (Jeremiah 47:1); 3. Moab (Jeremiah 48:1); 4. The Ammonites (Jeremiah 49:1); 5. Edom (Jeremiah 49:7); 6. Damascus (Jeremiah 49:23); 7. Kedar (Jeremiah 49:28); 8. Hazor (Jeremiah 49:30); 9. Elam (Jeremiah 49:34); 10. Babylon (Jeremiah 50 and 51).

First as to EGYPT, a word was given to foretell the overthrow of Pharaoh-necho’s army which had gone up to the river Euphrates (Jeremiah 46:2-12). Egypt would have liked the pre-eminence among the nations, but Israel having failed and lost it, God had decided that it should be given to Babylon. All the nations must therefore be judged, and we see the care and patience of God in giving His word to them concerning this.

But not only does the prophet foretell the overthrow of the Egyptian army at the Euphrates; he also shows the coming of the king of Babylon into Egypt to smite the land (verses 13-26). In eloquent and energetic language he describes the breaking away of its defenders before the resistless tide “because the Lord did drive them” (verse 15). Though Nebuchadnezzar is used yet it is the work of “the King whose name is the Lord of hosts” (verse 18). At the end, when Israel is restored to national pre-eminence under our Lord Jesus Christ, Egypt shall be inhabited as in the days of old. In the following verses (verses 27-28) comforting words are spoken to Israel: the Lord significantly calls the nation “My servant Jacob” twice, because like him they were wanderers and in much fear and dread, yet He will save them and restore them after correcting them with judgment. It is interesting to find this cheering and consoling word added to that given to Egypt; for, in the coming age, under the reign of Christ, they are to be blessed along with Israel (see Isaiah 19:24-25). Then it shall be said, “Blessed be Egypt My people … and Israel Mine inheritance.”

Jeremiah 47: Spiritual and Fleshly Enemies

The Philistines, the enemies of God’s people in the land, are judged in Jeremiah 47. They represent the powers against whom those who are blessed in the heavenlies in Christ have to struggle today (Ephesians 6:12). Verse 1 speaks of Pharaoh smiting their head-quarters. The rest of the chapter foretells the rising up of the waters out of the north and of their overflowing the land like a flood! The king of Babylon should conquer them. This is the sword of the Lord (verse 6). In the future, when the opposing powers in the heavens lose their standing there (Revelation 12:9), Satan will set himself against Israel, of whom our Lord Jesus Christ came according to the flesh (verse 13), but as Egypt helped Israel and smote Gaza, the earth (some ordered government under God’s providence) will help Israel (verse 16). Finally Christ will appear. The sword of the Lord to smite the nations will not then be in the hand of any earthly king, for it is seen with the King of kings and Lord of lords when He comes in victorious power and great glory (see Revelation 19:15-16). Then shall Satan be bound in the abyss, and his work of deceiving the nations shall cease for a thousand years.

Jeremiah 48: Moab

Then as to Moab “We have heard of the arrogance of Moab, he is very proud—his loftiness and his arrogance and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart” (Jeremiah 48:29). Unlike the Philistines, however, he had a certain relationship to Jacob. Moab and Ammon (of whom we hear in the next chapter) were both children of Lot. Truly Moab was proud and magnified himself against the Lord and derided Israel His people (verses 26-27), therefore he should be punished accordingly; nevertheless, though he be destroyed from being a people (verse 42), yet in the latter days the Lord will turn again the captivity of Moab (verse 47).

If we have the spiritual energies, which are against those who are now blessed in Christ, typified by the Philistines, it is rather the fleshly forces which are represented by Moab and Ammon. Of the former we are told, he trusted in his works and in his treasured up riches (verse 7), also, ease had marked him from his youth: he settled on his lees and had not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither had he gone into captivity (verse 11). It is just so with those who have not been awakened to the fact that there is “no good” in the flesh, but when that bitter awakening comes to the sincere soul his ease disappears and he finds a principle within him that brings him into captivity. This we are told in Romans 7. It is after he has been emptied from vessel to vessel, after he has found he has no strength to withstand the evil or to do the good which he would, that he learns the way of deliverance. Of Moab it is said, “taste remained in him and his scent is not changed.” This must be altered before he can be blessed according to the last verse; and so likewise is it with the soul now. The old tastes and pleasures of the flesh must go. “Joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field” (verse 33) and the “riches that he has gotten are perished”: this must be understood figuratively for us now. God sent His Son in the likeness of flesh of sin, and He became a sacrifice for sin upon the cross: there God condemned it utterly, that we might have deliverance from it. Christ rose from among the dead, and the new principle of life in Him is that in which we are made free.

Jeremiah 49: The Ammonites, the Edomites, Damascus, Kedar, Hazor, Elam

Concerning the Ammonites (Jeremiah 49:1-6) we have a short but very instructive word in this connection. Fear, a characteristic of the flesh, is to take them (verse 5), even as it came upon Moab (Jeremiah 48:43). They are to be judged with consuming fire (verse 2) even as the flesh was in type in the sin offering. They must learn like Moab not to trust in their treasures (verse 4), and like him they shall eventually know deliverance (verse 6). The flesh, as such, can have no standing in Christ, although those who were once in sin, but who now know Him as their Saviour, Lord, and Deliverer, are “in Christ” where there is a new creation. Such are no longer in the flesh, though the flesh is in them still; but they are in the Spirit. The flesh is to be allowed no place. In verse 1 we find the Ammonites were in the land, in that place which belonged to Israel. It is therefore asked, Hath Israel no sons? Hath he no heir? Believers today are sons and heirs of God, and this relationship and inheritance are enjoyed as we walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. “As many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14). We have not received a spirit of fear, but the Holy Spirit, by whom we cry, ABBA, FATHER.

Edom comes next (Jeremiah 49:7-23). The Lord says, “I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him.” This is instructive. The use of the name of the nation’s father, Esau, indicates what is in the mind of the Spirit. Truly we have described very graphically the judgment of God which fell upon Edom at the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, but there is always a deeper lesson to be learned in these records. They are written for our learning as we are told, for the learning of those who have to meet the Esau character now. Even in the days of the apostles, warning was given as to this by the Spirit—“Lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it [the blessing] carefully with tears” (Hebrews 12:15-17).

Esau was more closely related to Jacob than Moab and Ammon. It is in him we have the profane character of the flesh typified. In no sense can those who are in the flesh please God. True believers now are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. This we are told in Romans 8, where the contrast between the flesh and the Spirit is shown.

There was pride and ambition as well as profanity with Edom. Judgment must therefore fall upon this nation. We read, “Edom shall be a desolation”; also, “I have sworn by Myself, says the Lord, that Bozrah shall become a desolation.” All this came true in the government of God. In the latter days, too, when the Lord Himself returns for the salvation of Israel, He will execute judgment upon Edom in a more terrible way than took place under Nebuchadnezzar. In Isaiah 63:1, it is asked, “Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in His apparel, travelling in the greatness of His strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” The day of vengeance was in His heart, and the year of Israel His redeemed had come. Esau must fall and Jacob be delivered and blessed. The Lord will come again from heaven to bring this to pass after He has taken the assembly, His heavenly bride, to be with Him for ever. The overthrow of Edom will then be final, as was the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah (verse 18).

For the believer now it is the judgment of sin in the flesh at the cross of Christ, so that being delivered and set free from the principle of sin and death, he may, in the life of Christ risen and in the power of the Spirit, have his mind on spiritual things and serve God happily in reverence and piety. As the judgment of Edom when Christ comes again will mean the deliverance of Israel, so the judgment of sin in the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ means the deliverance of the true believer now.

In the rest of the chapter (verses 23 to 39) we have pictured for us the judgment of DAMASCUS which is seized with fear and waxes feeble, also the overthrow of KEDAR by the king of Babylon, likewise the deliberated destruction of HAZOR, finally the smiting and scattering of ELAM. A special word was given to the prophet concerning Elam early in the reign of Zedekiah (verse 34). The first word to the nations is dated in the reign of Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 46:2). No reason is given for the smiting and scattering of Elam, but it is done in justice and judgment, for the Lord of hosts sets His throne there (verse 38). In the last verse is added a similar word to that which was said of Egypt, Moab, and Ammon, but not of the others: “In the latter days, I will bring again the captivity of Elam, says the Lord.” When Israel turns to the Lord and is delivered and established in her proper pre-eminence among the nations with our Lord Jesus Christ as her glorious King, then shall these broken nations be delivered also; reappearing according to God’s gracious promises they will form the national garden of Eden again, of which Ezekiel speaks, the paradise of administrative beauty and excellence of which Christ will be the honoured Centre. Babylon, the disputant of all this, must first be judged. Two whole chapters now follow regarding this very important competitor.

Jeremiah 50: The Lord: Babylon’s Judge and Israel’s Redeemer

Again we must remind ourselves that “whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning” (Romans 15:4). These two chapters (Jeremiah 50 and 51) certainly show us what happened to BABYLON and the land of the Chaldeans; but the prophecy goes deeper than what is merely historical, showing us principles which develop in the harlot Babylon of the book of Revelation, and which bring down the righteous judgment of God. As here (Jeremiah 51:48), so in Revelation 18:20 and 19:1, those in heaven rejoice in the overthrow of this cruel and idolatrous system.

The book of Jeremiah has clearly explained to us that God Himself raised up Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, to be His servant. He gave him world-power and dominion. He took it away from Jerusalem, His proper city of earthly government, and directly bestowed it upon Babylon. Guilty Jerusalem was set aside and Babylon was exalted. Since that time several Gentile powers have had authority from God, as derived from that bestowed upon Babylon in a direct way. In our two chapters, however, this is not so much in view, for Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon are looked at from the side of their own actings. Instead of being spoken of as the Lord’s servant the king is styled contemptuously, “This Nebuchadnezzar” (Jeremiah 50:17), and Babylon, “O destroying mountain” (Jeremiah 51:25). She had destroyed instead of ruling the earth; she had corrupted the nations also; therefore she is rejected by God in these two chapters, and the redemption of Israel and Judah is determined. We have the opposite of what was spoken of before in Jeremiah. Babylon was to be in the ascendancy, and Israel was to go into captivity: now Babylon is to sink and not rise again, whereas Israel is to remove out of the midst of Babylon” (Jeremiah 50:8; 51:6, 45) and return to Jerusalem. This again reminds us of Revelation 18. There we are told of the corrupting influences of the Babylon of the future, and, as in the Scriptures we have just referred to, God calls to the Jews to leave her, just before Babylon is thrown down to be found no more at all (verse 21), saying, “Come out of her My people” (Revelation 18:4).

Many details in Jeremiah 50 and 51 give us to see there is more in the mind of the Spirit than the overthrow of Babylon by Cyrus and the partial restoration of Israel afterwards. The day is yet to come when Israel is to be joined to the Lord in “a perpetual covenant which shall not be forgotten” (Jeremiah 50:5), and the day is yet future as Revelation 18 shows when “every purpose of the Lord shall, be performed against Babylon” (Jeremiah 51:29), when finally “Babylon shall sink and shall not rise” again (Jeremiah 51:64). It is as we understand this we are able to grasp that which is for our learning now in these chapters. Babylonish principles largely obtain today, and as we see the judgment of God concerning this system we ourselves will be intelligently kept clear of it. We cannot over-estimate the importance of this for those who seek to exalt the Lord and to call upon Him out of a pure heart. That which is Babylonish is always ready to ensnare such, but as we learn the mind of God we are fortified against the inroads of this lawless and superstitious system. We see that the Lord has purposed to judge it, to overthrow it altogether, also that He will save His people from its power. In this connection it is said, “THEIR REDEEMER IS STRONG” (Jeremiah 50:34). This is encouraging for us today in the face of the rapid development of Babylonish religion with world power on its side. Thank God, divine power is given into the hands of Him on whom we call.

It was to be declared “among the nations” of which Babylon was mistress that she and her idols are confounded and broken in pieces (Jeremiah 50:1-3). Israel and Judah then seek the Lord their God. Their face is turned Zion-wards: to the One who is their only hope they are seen going and weeping as they go (verses 4-8), The provisional centre of government is overthrown; the proper centre is established when Christ returns and Israel returns to Him who is so strikingly styled here, “The Lord, the habitation of righteousness, even the Lord, the Hope of their fathers,” against whom they had sinned. It is not simply a nation, but an assembly of great nations which destroy Babylon: so in Revelation 17:16. The holy character of this judgment is to be known in Zion, for it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of His temple (Jeremiah 50:28; 51:11). The Redeemer of Israel and Judah pleads their cause. He is strong to overthrow their oppressors in judgment as He did Sodom and Gomorrah, and to deliver His people and give them rest. The earth is moved at the fall of Babylon and the cry is heard among the nations (verses 33-46). All this goes beyond the past overthrow of Babylon.

Jeremiah 51: Babylon Cast Down: The Lord Exalted

Chapter 51 goes deeper still into the moral degradation of Babylon, but the deliverance of God’s people is still in view. Men may think that He is showing very little care for them, but he assures such, “Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the Lord of hosts,” He will deal with them and He will judge Babylon, He will render recompense. “The Lord God of recompenses will certainly requite” (verse 56). She had made the nations drunken so that they became mad, she had corrupted them with idolatry the work of errors, therefore the Lord will punish Babylon which “dwells upon many waters,” (verse 13; see also Revelation 17:1). Her end shall come (verses 1-18).

The Lord, who is exalted in the overthrow of this cruel and corrupt system, is the “Portion of Jacob”: He is the “Former of all things” and Israel is the rod of His inheritance, His battle axe and weapons of war; Israel is the nation which is peculiarly His, they are His earthly treasure. The assembly shares Christ’s rejection now as to the world: she is to reign with Him in the day of His glory. The false church, Babylon, seeks to reign now—“that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth” (Revelation 17:18). She shall receive righteous retribution, and “I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon,” says the Lord, but the people of God shall be brought to Zion where God will set the true King according to Psalm 2; and then they shall rejoice and say, “The Lord has brought forth our righteousness” (verse 10). That involves Christ being known as “Jehovah Tzidkenu” The judgment of Babylon “reacheth unto heaven” (verse 9). “The heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon” (verse 48). Revelation 19 answers to this, “I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: for true and righteous are His judgments: for He has judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth.”

The great voice of discord is destroyed out of Babylon (verse 55): the great voice of harmony is heard in heavenly gladness above (Revelation 19:1). Supremacy is taken from Babylon: the true King is to be found in Zion, in Jerusalem it is only from thence that the earth can rightly be ruled. The King is of David’s royal line, as Matthew 1 shows, not Nebuchadnezzar’s. He must also be divine—the Son of God. It is with this in view, probably, that Jeremiah 51:57 tells us that the One who decrees the destruction of the Babylonish princes and rulers is “THE KING, WHOSE NAME IS JEHOVAH TSEBAHOTH” Israel shall own Him as their Lord and their God, just as Thomas did when He showed Himself the second time to His gathered disciples. Thomas would not believe till he saw: Israel will believe when they look on Him whom they pierced (Zechariah 12:10).

Jeremiah 51 (cont.): “Seriah … The Lord has prevailed.”

The symbolic act recorded in the last 6 verses of our chapter is very interesting. It occurred as early as the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign. This is another instance of the exceptional arrangement of Jeremiah which we have pointed out. The placing of this incident here is most appropriate.

Seraiah, who was Baruch’s brother (See Jeremiah 32:12), went with Zedekiah to Babylon at the time named. Jeremiah gave him a book which he was to read when he arrived, and having learned therefrom the terrible judgments which were to come upon Babylon (the greatest city the world has ever seen, and which was then rising rapidly into fame), he was to bind a stone to the book and cast it into the river of Babylon, the Euphrates, and say, “Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise, because of the evil that I will bring upon her, and they shall be weary.” This signifies more than the overthrow of Babylon in the past: the Babylon which is to rapidly rise in worldly religious splendour presently is also in view. In the book of Revelation where the Spirit reveals this to us we read of the four angels which are “bound in the great river Euphrates” (Jeremiah 9:14); also that “the waters thereof were dried up” (Jeremiah 16:12), and as if continuing the thought expressed by Seraiah in the words of Jeremiah, “A mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all” (Revelation 18:21). This strikingly signifies the end of the wearisome, worldly, religious working of fallen man. This same system, which rises up and claims unrivalled supremacy, saying, “I am, and none else beside me,” is foretold by Isaiah. “Thou art wearied,” he says, “in the multitude of thy Counsels” (Jeremiah 47:13). Their conferences, schemes, and plans and labours are all wearisome and worthless! Our chapter says, “The people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary” (verse 58)! Thus, too, Seraiah concludes his words which pronounce Babylon’s doom—“And they shall be weary” (verse 64)! This is enough to cause any servant of the Lord to cease from Babylonish building today and to turn to Christ alone and labour for His glory. “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain” (Psalm 127:1). “Your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58), but it is altogether vain and wearisome, too, in worldly religion, in Babylon.

Babylon signifies confusion, and, thank God, this is to be ended both politically and religiously. The Euphrates means rushing, and probably signifies that Babylon grows up beside the rapid tides of fallen man’s will and energy. It is singularly striking also that Seraiah means “The Lord has prevailed”!

Man may exalt himself, and claim the supremacy which belongs to our Lord Jesus Christ alone, and may even for awhile appear to prosper, but eventually the Lord alone shall be exalted: in all things He shall have the pre-eminence: all things in heaven and earth shall be headed up in Him, and all shall see that “THE LORD HAS PREVAILED.” The heart which knows Him responds, “He is worthy!”

Section 5—The Concluding Section (Jeremiah 52)

The last chapter of Jeremiah—the added chapter—has a special character of its own. The previous one closed with saying, “Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.” This chapter 52, therefore is rightly separated from the rest and called, The Concluding Section. Commencing with the beginning of Zedekiah’s reign, it touches upon important events and carries us right forward to the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin.

The Holy Spirit of God has a special reason for giving us such a comprehensive summary in this added conclusion. It is to picture for us the complete failure of man on the ground of responsibility, and that illustrated in the most favoured nation of all, the nation to which God gave special privileges and a peculiar place of nearness to Himself. The importance of this is seen in that it demonstrates clearly that man cannot be trusted with national direction, for if the most favoured fails then nothing better can be expected from the others, but rather worse.

Jeremiah 52: “The Exaltation of the Lord”

At the age of twenty-one opportunity was given to Zedekiah to show that he had benefited by the stern and striking lessons which God had taught the nation through the lips of the prophet and by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, but “he did that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done” (verse 2). He also rebelled against the king of Babylon, whom God had used to set him on the throne at Jerusalem. We are told in verse 3 that this happened because the anger of the Lord was against Jerusalem and Judah till He had cast them out of His presence.

Judah, the representative at that time of the nation of Israel, still had the city of government and a king of David’s line on the throne. The House of the Lord still stood before them, and spoke to them of the preserving mercy of God; the chief priest and others still maintained the ministry, but they not only failed to do the good, they did that which was positively evil in God’s sight.

We see the story repeated in another connection in Revelation 2 and 3. The assemblies, divinely set up—as we have symbolized in the seven golden candlesticks there spoken of—soon sink so low, that we read of Satan dwelling among them, and of some holding the doctrine of Balaam and other vile things, till finally the faithful and true Witness, our Lord Jesus Christ, says to the angel of the assembly in Laodicea, “I am about to spue thee out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:16). This tells us of the failure of Christendom on the ground of responsibility; Jeremiah 52 tells us of the failure of Judaism. May we learn the lesson and cleave to the Lord Himself, abiding in Christ that our joy may be full in spite of the failure, and that we may be to God’s glory in these “difficult times.”

Verses 4 to 7 show us the overthrow of the city, and verses 8 to 11 the punishment and blinding of the king; verses 12 to 23 the destruction of the house of the Lord and all in connection with it; verses 24 to 27 the killing of the chief priest and others; solemnly closing with the words, “Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his land” (verse 27). The next three verses give us dates and details of the three lots of captives which were carried away to captivity.

The last four verses conclude this remarkable book by presenting to us an incident at the palace of Babylon, which stands in vivid contrast to that given of Daniel at the same royal establishment. Daniel would not defile himself with the king’s meat, but God gave him distinction nevertheless, by endowing him with divine wisdom and understanding. At this time, when Evil-merodach became king, Daniel does not seem to have been prominent; but Jehoiachin, the Coniah of Jeremiah 22:28, a despised broken idol, an outcast of the Lord, is raised up. Evil-merodach, the son and successor of Nebuchadnezzar, brought him out of prison and exalted him above the other royal captives at the palace, and gave him a daily allowance till the day of his death.

The things which happened to Zedekiah on the one hand and to Jehoiachin on the other, typify the lot of the Jews during the times of the Gentiles, whilst the house of the Lord and Jerusalem are desolated, as we have depicted in this chapter. “Wrath is come upon them to the uttermost” (2 Thessalonians 2:16), and like Zedekiah blindness has overtaken them. Chained and cast into prison, many have died fearful deaths: sufferings of the severest sort have been theirs. Like Jehoiachin, however, some have held exceptionally exalted places among the kings of the Gentiles, and indeed do so at this very time, and will do so increasingly; but it is not, generally speaking, that they owe their high position to faithfulness to the God of Israel, as was the case with Daniel.

This state of things will be ended when our Lord Jesus Christ returns; then “all Israel shall be saved; according as it is written, The Deliverer shall come out of Zion; He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And this is the Covenant from Me to them, when I shall have taken away their sins” (Romans 11:26-27). Their reception into favour again will not simply be a restoration, it will be like a resurrection to life, bringing in wealth and glory and blessing, as they rejoicingly recognize their once rejected but risen Messiah. They will repent and He will receive them, He will rule that nation as the head of all the nations, and great indeed shall be the glory. Nor need we wonder, for though Israel has been a nation terrible from their beginning, yet they are the Israelites, who are as princes with God, “whose is the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the law giving, and the service, and the promises; whose are the fathers; and of whom, as according to the flesh, is—THE CHRIST, WHO IS OVER ALL, GOD BLESSED FOR EVER. AMEN (Romans 9:4-5).

They shall yet be exalted in Him as a nation and He shall yet be exalted by them; yea, through Israel His Name shall be exalted in all the earth.

Appendix

Lamentations—This little book of five chapters is full of suffering, sadness, sorrow and desolation. It is quite unique; and like one bereaved of every loved object, it mourns all alone. It is apart, and truly sits solitary (Lam. 1:1). There is nothing else like it in all the scriptures. The divinely designed acrostic order in it is most marked however, being very distinct and definite.

The first two chapters, and the last two, have each 22 verses, the number of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet; whilst the centre chapter, the third, it will be noticed, has three times 22, making 66 verses; and these are arranged thus: three verses, each beginning with à, three verses, each beginning with á; and so on to the end. Chapters 1, 2 and 4, are also alphabetical; having one verse to each letter. They are, as we have said, all five filled full of affliction, and mourning, and sorrow; indeed, the cup of bitterness flows over; and when the final lament is reached in the last chapter, the soul seems so overcome in the presence of God, that the alphabetical order is altogether forsaken and forgotten, although the number of verses, 22, is still retained; so this fifth chapter ends thus: “Thou hast utterly rejected us; Thou art very wroth against us.” To this sad and solitary soul all seems to be lost in hopelessness and helplessness.

But God remains, and He has His own wonderful way in working. He may come down in the person of Jesus seeking fruit; He may curse the fruitless fig tree, He may destroy the rebellious husbandmen; but in a new way, in Christ, of the seed of David, raised from among the dead, when Israel turns to Him, He will bring forth fruit from the same nation; and His vineyard shall yield its increase.

It is the Spirit of Christ which is seen in the prophet of Lamentations. He enters into all the afflictions of Jerusalem, of the temple, and of the people of God. Such suffering was endured perfectly by the One who wept over Jerusalem, by Him who would have gathered and governed them aright; but they would not. Different to the prophet, in whom we see imperfection, our blessed Lord entered into all their affliction in His own personal perfectness. Truly there was no sorrow like unto His sorrow (Lam. 1:12), for He went underneath all at Calvary’s Cross, alone. The waves of suffering and sorrow surged about the head of the Forsaken and Afflicted One then, as none other ever knew, or could endure.

Although the prophet finds God’s presence in the last chapter, yet he closes the book apparently without a ray of hope. The crown is fallen. Zion is desolate. The heart is faint. The eye is dim. Rejection and wrath are theirs. But here again, Christ who fully entered into all, is different to the prophet. He looked to the moment of resurrection for Himself personally first; then to the national resurrection and restoration of Israel, He could say to God, “Thou wilt show me the path of life” (Psalm 16:11). He knew that the sufferings preceded the glory.

And this is doubtless the secret significance of the third, the three-fold chapter. It is there, in that centre chapter (where we have the 3 and the third, denoting resurrection), that the man of affliction of verse 1, speaks of “HOPE” three times, in verses 21, 24, and 29; the word being “wait” in verse 26. But wait for what? The salvation of God, which is secured in Christ raised from among the dead, for Israel, and for ourselves also. “It is good that one should both wait, and that in silence, for the salvation of the Lord” (verse 26). Saved by grace already, we shall know its fullness when our risen and glorified Saviour returns; and so too shall Israel afterwards. Wonderful, indeed, is the inspired order discerned in this small, choice book; more wonderful still, may we say, is its sweet testimony to the sufferings and salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

(Extracted from “The Alphabetical Scriptures; or The Divine Acrostics”)

This ends our reading for this session. Until next time, have a great day, and God bless.