Sermon Tone Analysis

JEREMIAH 24:1

The vision of Ch.24 brings this division of the prophecy to a conclusion by returning to the question Zedekiah had raised in Ch.21: “/is there going to be a miraculous intervention to save Jerusalem/?” [21:2].

The answer is still unequivocal: ‘No.

There will be no escape’.

§         Repentance was no longer a way of averting doom, but surprisingly there was a message of restoration beyond judgement.

§         What is more, the focus for the future was to be found among the exiles, not those who seemed to be more favoured by being left in the land.

#.

*THE EXILE *

*1.        **The Event *

*a.        **597BC  *

The opening words refer to the deportation of 597BC: “/after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive/…” [24:1].

§         This locates the vision in the aftermath of the events of March 597BC.

§         The deportation took place in April after the turn of the year: “/and when the year was expired, king Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought Jehoiachin to Babylon/…” [2Chr.36:10].

§         “/Jehoiachin/” [2Kgs.24:12]

and the leading citizens of Judah were taken away captive by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon.

§         Assuming that it is real “/figs/” [24:1] that are seen in the vision, this incident would have occurred a few months later, in August 597BC, when the figs became ripe.

*b.        **586BC*

The second decisive deportation, the main group of exiles, took place in 586BC

§         As we study this passage we are looking at Israel between 597BC and 586BC.

*c.        **The Remainder *

The remainder of the people stayed in Jerusalem.

§         Nebuchadnezzar appointed “/Zedekiah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his stead/” [2Kgs.24:17].

§         Zedekiah was left to rule over the group who remained in Jerusalem.

§         Jeremiah, the prophet, continued with the remaining group in Jerusalem.

*Application*

There is the reality of two Jewish communities, one in exile and one in Jerusalem.

§         Exile had already occurred and it would occur again.

*2.

**The Human Perception *

There must have been rivalry and conflict between a community in exile and a community at home.

*a.        **Community at Home *

The section of the community left at home would have felt themselves fortunate not to have been deported.

§         It must have been obvious to them that they were God’s chosen – not only especially loved, but protected and entrusted with God’s future.

§         Given that self-understanding, it would be equally obvious to the ones in Judah that the Jews in exile were not in God’s favour.

The Jerusalem community seemed to have ground for pride.

*b.        **Community in Exile *

At the same time, the community in exile would see themselves excluded from Jerusalem and from God’s favour.

§         Because they were the ones who suffered the punishment of exile, they must be rejected and judged by God.

§         Logically, this would produce a feeling of dejection in exile.

§         The exilic community had ground for despair because of their exclusion and deportation.

*c.        **The False Prophets *

The false prophets are guilty of shaping the thinking of the people in this way.

§         They are false prophets: “/hearken not…they make you worthless; they speak a vision of their own hearts/” [23:16].

§         False hope: “/they still say to them that despise me, The Lord has said that you shall have peace/…” [23:17].

§         False security: “/no evil shall come upon you/” [23:17].

*Application*

Those who remained in Jerusalem seemed to be full of optimism for the future and this optimism was reinforced by the false prophets.

§         It was treated as self-evident that those who had escaped deportation were the ones favoured by God.

§          

§         The natural conclusion would have been that those who remained in the land were fortunate to have escaped deportation, and that the unfortunate ones were those who had been deported.

*3.

**The Theological Significance *

*a.        **The Old Testament & Babylon *

*i.        **The Covenant*

The covenant framework: “/Thus says the Lord: Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death/…” [21:8].

§         Deuteronomy: “/see, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil/” [Deu.30:15].

§         Faithfulness: “/if you shall hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and do…all these blessings shall come upon thee/…” [Deu.28:1-14].

§         Unfaithfulness: “/if you will not hearken unto the Lord thy God…all these curses shall come upon thee/…” [Deu.28:15ff].

*ii.

**The Covenant Curses *

God is angry with Jerusalem because of her rebellion: “/For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, says the LORD/…” [21:10].

§         “/The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave to thee, until he has consumed thee from off the land/…” [28:21].

§         “/The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies/…” [28:25].

§         “/Thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the nations/…” [28:37].

§         “/he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt/…” [28:60].

§          “/The Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from one end of the earth even unto the other/…” [28:64].

§         The explanation: “/because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt/” [29:25].

*iii.

**Babylon** *

Babylon is the place that symbolises the breakdown of the relationship between Yahweh and Israel.

*b.        **The Message  *

The heart of Jeremiah’s preaching: “/I have set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build and to plant/” [1:10].

§         Remaining in Jerusalem or fleeing to Egypt is now regarded as resistance to God’s intent and therefore makes one subject to judgement: “/Thus says the Lord: Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death.

He that abides in this city shall die by the sword…but he that goes out, and falls to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live/…” [21:8-9].

§         The message to Zedekiah: “/Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people and live.

Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the Lord has spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon/” [27:12-13].

§         The false prophets: “/Hearken not unto the voice of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you/” [27:14].

*c.        **The New Testament & The Cross *

In the New Testament, the cross of Jesus Christ is the symbol of God’s wrath.

§         The covenant-breakers: “/cursed is everyone that does not continue in all things written/…” [Gal.3:10].

§         The curse bearer: “/Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us/…” [Gal.3:13].

§         The separation: “/My God, my God, why have you forsaken me/?” [Mat.27:46].

*Application*

Heart renewal could only come after judgement; so that judgement was the very means by which the new beginning for God’s people was to be achieved.

§         The message: embracing God’s estimation and judgement of sin; embracing God’s purpose for Israel.

#.

*THE VISION *

*1.        **The Two Baskets *

*a.        **The Figs *

The vision: “/the Lord showed me, and behold, two baskets/…” [24:1].

§         הִרְאַנִי֮ - “/showed me/” [24:1], hiphil perfect, ‘to see, look, view’; ‘divine disclosure through a vision’;

§         שְׁנֵי֙ דּוּדָאֵ֣י - “/two baskets/” [24:1], ‘a deep two-handled cooking pot, spherical in form, and probably in the shape of a basket’; ‘It was used in the cult for cooking meat [1Sam.2:14];

‘can also denote a container for carrying figs’;

§         תְאֵנִ֔ים - “/figs/” [24:1], ‘a tree of the mulberry family, with edible fruit and large leaves’; ‘the oblong or pear-shaped fruit with a covering (syconium), of the fig tree’;

§         The fig casts its leaves in autumn and blooms in the spring (late March).

The early figs begin to form in March and are ripe in May (cf.

Isa 28:4).

The late figs, developing on new shoots, ripen in late summer and are gathered from the middle of August into October.

*b.        **The Position *

The position of the baskets: “/set before the temple of the Lord/…” [24:1].

§         מוּעָדִ֕ים - “/set/” [24:1], the hophal participle of the verb ‘to appoint, assign’; ‘to place an object in a spatial location’;

§         The verb is used of the Lord meeting with his people at the tabernacle: “/there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee/…” [Exo.25:22].

§         לִפְנֵ֖י - “/before/” [24:1], ‘to the face’; ‘in front of’;

§         הֵיכַ֣ל יְהוָ֑ה - “/temple of the Lord/” [24:1], ‘palace, temple’; ‘dwelling place of the king~/God’;

§         The presentation of the first-fruits: “/now, behold, I have brought the first fruits of the land, which thou, O Lord, hast given me/…” [Deu.26:5-11].