Jeremiah 27:1 - Meaning and Application

Some difficulty arises with the date of this prophecy. It says this word came to Jeremiah in the beginning of Jehoiakim’s reign (Jeremiah 27:1), yet the messengers who were to receive the symbols of servitude are said later to come to Zedekiah, king of Judah (Jeremiah 27:3). Zedekiah did not reign until eleven years after Jehoiakim began to rule. Some think the text here has a copying error and should read Zedekiah instead of Jehoiakim, since Zedekiah is mentioned again (Jeremiah 27:12), and the next prophecy is dated the same year and also placed in the beginning of Zedekiah’s reign (Jeremiah 28:1).

Dr. Lightfoot explains it this way: in the beginning of Jehoiakim’s reign, Jeremiah was told to make these bonds and yokes and put them on his own neck, as a sign that Judah would be subject to the king of Babylon. That subjection began at that time. Later, in Zedekiah’s reign, he was to send the same signs to the neighboring kings, with the message that their ambassadors and Zedekiah’s succession would be mentioned in advance.

Jeremiah is first told to prepare a sign showing the general lowering of all these countries under Babylon’s rule (Jeremiah 27:2). He must make bonds and yokes, with straps to fasten them, so they would stay on the neck of the animal. The prophet was to wear one himself so people would notice it as a prophetic act. Everyone would ask what Jeremiah’s yoke meant. We later find him wearing one in Jeremiah 28:10. By doing this, he showed that he was recommending nothing to others that he was not ready to bear himself. He was not one of those who put heavy burdens on others and refuse to move them with a finger. Ministers should also place themselves under the weight and duty of what they preach.

He is then told to send this sign, along with a message, to the nearby princes mentioned in Jeremiah 27:3, those who lived near the land of Canaan. It seems there was then a treaty being arranged between the king of Judah and these other kings. Jerusalem was the appointed meeting place. Their full representatives came there, and they agreed to form a defensive and offensive league, to support one another against the rising power of the king of Babylon and to weaken his growing control. They trusted their combined strength and likely thought of themselves as powerful allies. But as the envoys returned with the agreement sealed, Jeremiah gave each one a yoke to carry back to his master. This showed that each king must become a servant of Babylon, either willingly or by force, whichever he chose.

In the message attached to this sign, God first claims his unquestionable right to dispose of kingdoms as he wishes (Jeremiah 27:5). He is the Creator of all things. He made the earth, set it in place, and it still stands. Though one generation passes and another comes, the world remains. He also keeps bringing forth humans and animals on the earth by his great power and stretched-out arm. His arm is infinitely strong, even when stretched out. Because of this, he may give property and rule to whom he pleases. Just as he has graciously given the earth to people in general (Psalm 115:16), so he gives each person their portion of it, whether large or small. Whatever anyone has in this world is what God sees fit to give. So we should be content, even if we have little, and not envy others, even if they have much.

Next, God publicly grants all these lands to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. As the old phrase goes, let all present and future people know. This is a formal declaration that he has given all these lands, with all their wealth, into the hands of the king of Babylon, including even the beasts of the field, whether tame or wild. Nebuchadnezzar was a proud, wicked idolater, yet God in his providence gave him this large dominion and these vast possessions. The things of this world are not the best things, because God often gives the largest share of them to bad men who oppose him. Nebuchadnezzar was wicked, but what he had was still given by God. Dominion does not come from grace. People may have a real title to earthly goods even if they have no claim to eternal life. Though Nebuchadnezzar was a very bad man, God still calls him his servant, because God used him as an instrument in his providence to punish the nations, especially his own people. For that service, God richly repaid him. Those whom God uses will not lose by serving his purpose, and he will be even more generous to those who sincerely and willingly serve him.

God also tells them that all these nations will certainly come under the Babylonian king’s power for a time (Jeremiah 27:7). All these nations, and many others, will serve him, then his son, and then his grandson. His son was Evil-merodach, and his grandson was Belshazzar, during whose reign his kingdom came to an end. Then the time came for Babylon itself to be judged, and the tables were turned. Many nations and great kings, gathered into the empire of the Medes and Persians, then made him serve them, just as earlier nations had been made to serve Babylon (Jeremiah 25:14). So Adonibezek, who had trampled on others, was himself trampled.

Finally, God threatens military judgment on any nation that refuses to submit to the king of Babylon (Jeremiah 27:8). The nation that will not put its neck under his yoke will be punished with sword and famine, one judgment after another, until it is destroyed by his hand. Nebuchadnezzar was very unjust and cruel in forcing his neighbors into submission and taking away their rights and freedom. Yet God had wise and holy purposes in allowing it, because he was using Babylon to punish these nations for their idolatry and their great sins. Those who would not serve the God who made them were justly made to serve enemies who sought to ruin them.

He also shows them how empty their hopes were if they imagined they could keep their freedom (Jeremiah 27:9, Jeremiah 27:10). These nations had their own prophets too, who claimed to predict the future by the stars, dreams, or magic. To please their patrons, and because their listeners wanted it, these prophets told them they would not serve the king of Babylon. In this way they encouraged resistance, and though they had no true ground for it, they thought they were helping them.

But he also warns them that resistance would lead to their own ruin. If they fought against Babylon, they would make the conqueror deal even more harshly with them, drive them out of their land, and send them into a miserable captivity. There they would be scattered and, for a time, forgotten. We will see separate prophecies against these neighboring nations in Jeremiah 48 and 49, and in Ezekiel 25, where the same judgment is foretold in more detail. When God judges, he will win.

He also shows them a way to avoid destruction, and that is quiet and willing submission, as in Jeremiah 27:11. The nations that accept the king of Babylon and pay tribute to him for seventy years, which is about ten years of service under him, will be left in their own land. Those who bend will not break. Babylon’s rule may not be any harder on them than the rule of their own kings had been.

It is often more a matter of pride than true wisdom to choose liberty at the cost of life. Issachar was not blamed for bowing to labor and tribute when he saw that rest was good and the land was pleasant, so that he could enjoy it peacefully (Genesis 49:14-15). In the same way, these nations are told, “Serve the king of Babylon and you shall till the land and live in it.” Some may call that a weak spirit, but the prophet presents it as a gentle and humble spirit, one that accepts necessity and makes the best of a hard providence. It is better to do that than to struggle and make matters worse.

Many people could have avoided harsher troubles by humbling themselves under the troubles already sent to them. It is better to take up a lighter cross on the road than to bring a heavier one down on your own head.