FRAMEWORKS:
Jeremiah 37: Jeremiah imprisoned
[Preliminary
Comment: There is a recap to the beginning of Zedekiah's
rule and although he ignores Jeremiah's warnings he is nevertheless
open to the fact that Jeremiah had God's ear and asks him to pray
for them. For a moment it looks like Nebuchadnezzar is going to
leave them alone but Jeremiah warns that he will be back. When
Jeremiah goes to leave the city to go home, his arrested, beaten
and imprisoned but still Zedekiah asks about their future and
is told he will be taken by the Babylonians. Jeremiah points out
that his prophesies have been right and those of the false prophets
wrong, and so the king allows his imprisonment to not be in a
dungeon but in the courtyard outside the guardhouse.]
v.1,2
Zedekiah now reigns but ignores Jeremiah's warnings
v.1
Zedekiah
son of Josiah was made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim.
v.2
Neither
he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention
to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.
v.3
Nevertheless he asks Jeremiah to pray for them
v.3
King
Zedekiah, however, sent Jehukal son of Shelemiah with the priest
Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message:
‘Please pray to the Lord our God for us.'
v.4,5
Situation facts: Jeremiah is free, Egypt is rising up, Babylon
going to face them
v.4
Now
Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for he had
not yet been put in prison.
v.5
Pharaoh's
army had marched out of Egypt, and when the Babylonians who were
besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew
from Jerusalem.
v.6-8
Jeremiah has to tell the king that Babylon will be back
v.6
Then
the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet:
v.7
‘This
is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: tell the king of Judah,
who sent you to enquire of me, “Pharaoh's army, which has marched
out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt.
v.8
Then
the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capture
it and burn it down.”
v.9-11
Whatever you might think now, Babylon will bring down this city
v.9
‘This
is what the Lord says: do not deceive yourselves, thinking, “The
Babylonians will surely leave us.” They will not!
v.10
Even
if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian army that is attacking
you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would
come out and burn this city down.'
v.11
After
the Babylonian army had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh's
army,
v.12,13
Jeremiah is arrested, charged with going over to the enemy
v.12
Jeremiah
started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to
get his share of the property among the people there.
v.13
But
when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the captain of the guard, whose
name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested
him and said, ‘You are deserting to the Babylonians!'
v.14-16
Jeremiah denies it but is beaten and imprisoned
v.14
‘That's
not true!' Jeremiah said. ‘I am not deserting to the Babylonians.'
But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah
and brought him to the officials.
v.15
They
were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten and imprisoned in
the house of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into
a prison.
v.16
Jeremiah
was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a
long time.
v.17
Zedekiah enquires of him privately and is told he will be taken
v.17
Then
King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought to the palace,
where he asked him privately, ‘Is there any word from the Lord?'
‘Yes,'
Jeremiah replied, ‘you will be delivered into the hands of the
king of Babylon.'
v.18,19
Jeremiah asks him who had been false, him or the false prophets
v.18
Then
Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, ‘What crime have I committed against
you or your attendants or this people, that you have put me in
prison?
v.19
Where
are your prophets who prophesied to you, “The king of Babylon
will not attack you or this land”?
v.20,21
The king allows Jeremiah to be kept outside the guardroom
v.20
But
now, my lord the king, please listen. Let me bring my petition
before you: do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary,
or I shall die there.'
v.21
King
Zedekiah then gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard
of the guard and given a loaf of bread from the street of the
bakers each day until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah
remained in the courtyard of the guard.
Continue
to Chapter 38