Prophecies against other nations were part of the stock in trade of any Middle Eastern prophet. We heard earlier about the Court Prophets—those who worked officially for the King. We met some of them, such as Hananiah the ‘false prophet’ two weeks ago. Inevitably the role of a court prophet was to say what the King, and the nation, needed, or,more often, wanted to hear. This included prophesying doom and defeat for the enemies of the nation. Amos is probably the most widely read of the prophetic books. It begins with a whole series of condemnations of surrounding nations, all following the same formula.
For three sins of Damascus,
even for four, I will not relent. Prophesying 200 years before Jeremiah, in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, Amos goes in turn round Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, and Moab. You can imagine the enthusiastic response as, one by one, he picks of the surrounding nations in every direction. He could almost be a speaker for the English Defence League. The cheers would still be loud when he turned to their nearest relative, Judah, with whom relations were rarely peaceful. But Amos’ last, longest and most savage attack is on Israel itself. You can imagine the effect of that, having whipped up his audience into a patriotic frenzy, to turn the sharp focus of judgement upon them! Amos is the most unswervingly doom laden of all the prophets. Really, a prophet of doom should be called an ‘Amos’ not a ‘Jeremiah’J.
At first sight Jeremiah is at the opposite end of the spectrum from Amos. His Oracles are directed almost exclusively against the unfaithfulness and oppressive behaviour of his own people. Before the northern threat was fully identified, during the reign of King Jehoiacim as Nebuchadnezzar drew nearer, in that final ten year period between the first Fall of Jerusalem and its final destruction, and after his own exile to Egypt, Jeremiah never changed his tune. His condemnation of Judah and his message of appeasement to Babylon was unwavering. No wonder it got him in trouble, as we heard two weeks ago.
Yet even in the reign of King Jehoiacim there are hints of a wider focus. When Jeremiah puts on the yoke bars in front of King Zedekiah, he does it also in the presence of envoys from Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon, who are told to return to their own Kings and tell them that Nebuchadnezzar is gobbling up the surrounding nations by the appointment and power of yhwh. This, however, can be seen as simply an extension of his message of appeasement to Nebuchadnezzar. Twice in the second series of Oracles (7-25) Jeremiah includes a wider audience. The second of these, at the end of these Oracles begins This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. When they drink it, they will stagger and go mad because of the sword I will send among them. The list which follows, beginning with Jerusalem, is a most comprehensive catalogue of surrounding nations, and ends (in code) with Babylon itself—the ‘king of Sheshach’.
The image of drinking is brought to a head in a particularly graphic way
Then tell them, This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Drink, get drunk and vomit, and fall to rise no more because of the sword I will send among you. This oracle ends with another Psalm-like passage, emphasising the power of yhwh.
The LORD will roar from on high;
he will thunder from his holy dwelling
and roar mightily against his land.
He will shout like those who tread the grapes,
shout against all who live on the earth.
The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth,
for the LORD will bring charges against the nations;
he will bring judgment on all mankind
and put the wicked to the sword. Here, Jeremiah begins to exercise his original call to be ‘a prophet to the nations.’ All three Major Prophets have a distinct section of ‘Oracles against the Nations’. In Jeremiah these occupy Chapters 46-51. The Oracles against the Nations are rarely read or studied. The usual advice is to forget about those bits. I think they are worth looking at for two reasons, however. Firstly they contain some superb poetry and imagery; secondly they provide a good lead in to understanding the Prophecies of Hope with which we will end our series tonight. Unlike the other Oracles of Jeremiah these Oracles have no context or dating. The only hint we have is in the final verses
This is the message Jeremiah the prophet gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah in the fourth year of his reign. Jeremiah had written on a scroll about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon—all that had been recorded concerning Babylon. He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. 62 Then say, ‘LORD, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither people nor animals will live in it; it will be desolate forever.’ When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates. Then say, ‘So will Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring on her. And her people will fall.’ Here we have another scroll, containing, at least, the prophecies against Babylon. We have also, a final symbolic act—delivered at a distance. And after this final act, we are told
The words of Jeremiah end here. Jeremiah attacks, in turn: Egypt (46), the Philistines (47.1-7), Moab (48), Ammon (49.1-6), Edom (49.7-22), Damascus (49.23-27), Kedar and Hazor (49.28-33), Elam (49.34-39) and finally Babylon (50-51).
The Philistine cities were the home of non-Semitic invaders from the West, and, seeking more land for themselves, were the traditional bugbear of the Israelites—cf 1 Samuel. They stretched from Gaza in the south (still in the news today) to Tyre right at the north of the land. From North to South, Ammon, Moab and Edom were three transjordanian kingdoms , with Kedar a desert kingdom to their south in the north of the Arabian peninsula. Hazor was a city to the north of the Sea of Galilee, long destroyed by the Assyrians. The majority of the oracles against the small nations are directed against the small kingdoms to the west of Judah on the coast and to its east across the Jordan, which were sharing the Babylonian threat during the last years of the Judean kingdom. There appears to be no solidarity in the face of adversity here! These oracles, however, which in total occupy 93 verses are squeezed in between the much longer oracle against Egypt (28 verses) and Babylon (110 verses). We see here how the arrangements of the prophecies symbolise the political arrangements of the. Here are the remaining small independent kingdoms squeezed between the fading might of Egypt, and the much more serious and consequential power of Babylon!
The oracle against Egypt is in two parts. The first, following on from the death of King Josiah in battle against Pharaoh Neco, mainly takes the form of a description of a battle—as if the prophet was on the spot describing the carnage, terror and flight.
The second, somewhat later, describes the consequences of Nebuchadnezzar’s rise to power. Even Egypt will be subject to exile.
Pack your belongings for exile,
you who live in Egypt,
for Memphis will be laid waste
and lie in ruins without inhabitant. Reference is made to the annual rising of the Nile (45.7-8) on which Egypt’s fertility and strength depended. We also hear of Egypt’s world famous skill with medicines (46.11).
It is worth reading in full to enjoy the poetry with its vivid imagery.
The prophecy against Egypt ends with some words in prose which echo what Jeremiah prophesied in exile in Egypt, when he buried the stones at the entrance of Pharaoh’s place in Heliopolis. I am about to bring punishment on Amon god of Thebes, on Pharaoh, on Egypt and her gods and her kings, and on those who rely on Pharaoh. 26 I will give them into the hands of those who want to kill them—Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. Later, however, Egypt will be inhabited as in times past. Note the words of hope for Egypt.
Throughout this there are no specific accusations against Egypt, except that its pride, symbolized by the annual rising of the Nile.
Following those words for Egypt, the Lord addresses Israel—the undivided nation of David and Solomon.
Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant;
do not be dismayed, Israel.
I will surely save you out of a distant place,
your descendants from the land of their exile.
Jacob will again have peace and security,
and no one will make him afraid.
Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant,
for I am with you,
Though I completely destroy all the nations
among which I scatter you,
I will not completely destroy you.
I will discipline you but only in due measure;
I will not let you go entirely unpunished. Many of the same features are found in the oracles against the other nations.
There is an emphasis on horrific eye-witness description of a future battle, for example in this Oracle against the Philistines.
The people will cry out;
all who dwell in the land will wail
at the sound of the hooves of galloping steeds,
at the noise of enemy chariots
and the rumble of their wheels. Unlike those of Amos which highlighted social justice and human rights, the only accusations seem to be against the pride of the nations, and against their gods.
Moab is the closest kingdom to Judah, just across the river, and, not surprisingly, comes in for the closest scrutiny, 47 verses in all. To the charge of pride is added that of complacency and the pleasures of the idle rich.
Moab has been at rest from youth,
like wine left on its dregs,
not poured from one jar to another—
she has not gone into exile.
So she tastes as she did,
and her aroma is unchanged.
But days are coming,”
declares the LORD,
“when I will send men who pour from pitchers,
and they will pour her out;
they will empty her pitchers
and smash her jars. This reminds us of the Earthenware jar, though with the added imagery of the settled wine being shaken to disturb the lees.
In the case of Edom there are no accusations at all, merely the rather unfair prophecy
If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, why should you go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, but must drink it. The final three oracles, Damscus, Kedar and Hazor, are against nations already destroyed, the first and the last by the Asssyrians many years ago, and the middle by Nebuchadrezzar in the recent campaigns. Again, the arrangement makes a point. The oracles against the nations are squeezed between those against the superpowers. We have heard attacks on Judah’s neighbours to east and west, and now as we approach Jeremiah’s final words against Babylon, the principal aggressor, we encounter three nations who have already been crushed.
So, at last, Jeremiah turns to Babylon. This oracle has to be set in the context of what we heard last week. Jeremiah’s constant policy had been appeasement to Babylon. During the days of the final, dreadful siege, he had advocated surrender, and incited individuals to defect to the Babylonian camp. In the face of the message of all the false prophets who relied upon Davidic covenant and its associated Temple theology Jeremiah steadfastly proclaimed that Nebuchadnezzar was the instrument of yhwh wielded against a disobedient people who had broken their covenant with him.
The beginning of the oracle against Babylon is simple
Babylon will be captured;
Bel will be put to shame,
Marduk filled with terror.
Her images will be put to shame
and her idols filled with terror.’
A nation from the north will attack her
and lay waste her land.
No one will live in it;
both people and animals will flee away. What has happened to others, will, in turn, happen to Babylon. Yhwh will, in turn, use others as his instrument against Babylon, just as he used Nebuchadnezzar against Judah and her neighbours.
The result of this will be the penitent return of Israel.
In those days, at that time,
the people of Israel and the people of Judah together
will go in tears to seek the LORD their God. 5 They will ask the way to Zion
and turn their faces toward it.
They will come and bind themselves to the LORD
in an everlasting covenant
that will not be forgotten. Note that this is the whole people of Israel, those exiled by the Assyrians in 722 BCE as well as the Judeans taken off to Babylon in 597 and 587 BCE.
There are two accusations against Babylon, pride, and taking delight at the destruction of the Lord’s beloved people. Though Nebuchadnezzar was the Lord’s chosen instrument, he should not have enjoyed it so much.
In the midst of this is another psalm-like passage. It begins with a lyrical celebration of the power of yhwh .
The LORD Almighty has sworn by himself:
I will surely fill you with troops, as with a swarm of locusts,
and they will shout in triumph over you.
He made the earth by his power;
he founded the world by his wisdom
and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar;
he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain
and brings out the wind from his storehouse. It continues with a comparison between the power of yhwh and the powerlessness of false images.
Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;
every goldsmith is shamed by his idols.
The images he makes are a fraud;
they have no breath in them.
They are worthless, the objects of mockery;
when their judgment comes, they will perish. Finally, a restatement that Israel is his chosen people. This is a direct repetition of part of a longer Oracle against Idols in Chapter 10. He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these,
for he is the Maker of all things,
including the people of his inheritance—
the LORD Almighty is his name. The only other reference to Israel as ‘the Portion of Jacob’ is in Deuteronomy—a book associated with the reformation under King Josiah.
The comparison of yhwh’s power with that of idols is a bridge between the earlier language of Jeremiah and the wonderfully lyrical oracles of the second section of Isaiah.
There are two very vivid poems in these Oracles, one focusing on the word ‘sword’. This ends with the wonderful assertion that even the idols will The second of the poem appoints someone as yhwh’s war club, but who? Israel perhaps, or the new power from the north, who turns out to be the King of Media.
Perhaps it is left deliberately ambiguous, but the repeated use of the word ‘smash’ leaves little doubt about the comprehensiveness of Babylon’s fate. Here it is in the slightly more concrete language of the NRSV.
You are my war-club, my weapon of battle:
with you I smash nations;
with you I destroy kingdoms;
with you I smash the horse and its rider;
with you I smash the chariot and the charioteer;
with you I smash man and woman;
with you I smash the old man and the boy;
with you I smash the young man and the girl;
with you I smash shepherds and their flocks;
with you I smash farmers and their teams;
with you I smash governors and deputies.
I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea before your very eyes for all the wrong that they have done in Zion, says the LORD. The piling up of images and condemnations has a horrific effect. The final words leave us with that image of Babylon wiped totally off the face of the earth. Finally the Cup of the Lord is seen again.
I will make her officials and wise men drunk,
her governors, officers and warriors as well;
they will sleep forever and not awake,”
declares the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty. Belshazzar’s feast, full of drunkenness and pride, comes to mind. This image is of a drunk, powerless and insensible, after a session of binge drinking, to all that goes on around him. This time he will not wake up! The final declaration from yhwh is particularly solemn. The prophecies against the nations make us aware of two things; firstly that yhwh is supreme God of all, not merely of Israel; secondly that, whether they know it or not, the others nations are held to the same standards of behaviour as Israel.
PROPHECIES OF HOPE
Earlier, as well as in the condemnation of Babylon, we have seen signs of hope. The whole people of Israel is promised a new Exodus; new Shepherds will lead them in fruitful pasture, and the ‘righteous branch’, i.e. a faithful descendent of David, will be their ruler.
The story of two baskets of figs compared the good figs with the exiles in Babylon. This is where the future lies. yhwh says to them, as well as to King Zedekiah Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians. My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. Notice again the language used at Jeremiah’s calling.
In the following chapter a limit is put on Nebuchadnezzar’s power, and hence, also, on Judah’s punishment.
This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. The end of the seventy years will be marked by Babylon’s destruction.
But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation… for their guilt… and will make it desolate forever. I will bring on that land all the things I have spoken against it, all that are written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. This seventy year period is reiterated by Jeremiah in the letter he sent to the exiles in Babylon. The image of the lovers from the early Oracles is brought to mind.
Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. The first love of Israel will be rekindled, as they seek the Lord with all their heart. Yhwh will allow himself to be found. The result is his promise to them, a new Exodus.
I will be found by you, and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile. Chapter 24 adds to the image of the New Exodus another element, that of the New Covenant
I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart. Two weeks ago when we looked at the narrative chapters (26-45) we skipped over Chapter 30, 31 & 33. Embedded in the story of Jerusalem’s final descent into chaos, these contain Oracles of hope, like seeds hidden in newly burned soil.
They speak of that Restoration more fully than the brief hints elsewhere. They are divided by one more story, when Jeremiah redeems a piece of land at Anathoth. In the face of the imminent destruction of Jerusalem this symbolic act is a sign of hope that
Houses fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land. Jeremiah is told to
write in a book all the words I have told you. This is perhaps another scroll, to balance the one of doom which was cut into pieces by King Jehoiacim.
We could spend a whole week on the wonderful prophecies in these three chapters. All we can do tonight is pick out a few themes, and illustrate them with selected passages.
The punishment Israel has received is seen as discipline. This discipline leads finally to repentance. I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning:
‘You disciplined me like an unruly calf,
and I have been disciplined.
Restore me, and I will return,
because you are the LORD my God.
After I strayed,
I repented;
after I came to understand,
I beat my breast.
I was ashamed and humiliated
because I bore the disgrace of my youth. The Lord replies
Is not Ephraim my dear son,
the child in whom I delight?
Though I often speak against him,
I still remember him.
Therefore my heart yearns for him;
I have great compassion for him. The theme of the Highway follows—signposts set up to guide Israel back to the land.
In the middle of Chapter 31, after the Lord has said that he will
strengthen the weary and satisfy the faint we hear
At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant to me. Sleep—and dreams—clearly played a part in the formation of these Oracles. For once, contrasted with the agonised Confessions of last week, prophesying has been a pleasant experience for Jeremiah.
Yet this is not where the Oracles end.
The language of building and planting is repeated yet again, and the image of sour grapes is used to indicate a new start. In those days people will no longer say,
‘The parents have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—their own teeth will be set on edge. No longer will the people of Israel be judged on the sins of their forebears. This will be a genuine new start, with the slate wiped clean.
We heard in Chapter 24 language of a new Covenant, when the covenant formula
You will be my people and I will be your God was repeated. Now in Chapter 31 the idea of a New Covenant is expanded, and the old is contrasted with the new.
The days are coming,
when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them. The new Covenant will be different.
I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people. This time the law will not be written on tablets of stone but inside their hearts. Ezekiel takes this up when he talks about God removing the heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh. The keeping of commandments will be replaced by an innate knowledge of the Lord.
No longer will they teach their neighbour,
or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more. And all this will come about through the Lord’s initiative in forgiving.
The chapter ends with another Psalm-like passage in which yhwh reverses the threat of cosmic destruction, and pledges that as long as sun, moon and stars and the sea continue, if the heavens and the earth can be measured, his pledge to Israel will continue.
CONCLUSION
Jeremiah gives us an insight into the period leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem, and a close account of its last days. The narrative which winds through the book helps us to set Jeremiah in the context of his time.
Jeremiah was a priest, though perhaps from a marginalized family. Though he prophesied alongside others as an accepted prophet the very nature of his message arouses indignation, and led him along a dangerous and isolated path.
One of the central tasks of prophecy after the exile was to help the people of Judah come to terms with the shattering blow to their ancient faith. Their role after the Fall was to rebuild the hope of the exiles, and to encourage their obedience to yhwh. That was by no means an obvious reaction from the people, as we see from the prophet Ezekiel whose career overlapped that of Jeremiah, but was exercised amongst the exiles in Babylon.
In Jeremiah we get a glimpse into this prophetic ministry, which helped the Jews to transcend the disaster of 586 BCE, and to see their God at work, both in the wider world, and in their future.
I want to end tonight by repeating those words from Chapter 31. What themes: the passionate love of God and the forgiving heart of God. Over a broad canvas of historical people, places and events we see this love at work.
In speaking of a New Covenant and of the innate knowledge of the Lord, Jeremiah foresees the heart of New Testament theology—the new Covenant in Christ’s blood, and the presence of the Holy Spirit in each of our hearts.
I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.
