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Jeremiah 21 Commentary

Jerusalem To Fall, Sealed Fate!

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KEY THOUGHT: I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger and fury and great wrath. [Jeremiah 21:5 NKJV]

Kindly read your Bible before going through the commentary!

Jeremiah 21 NKJV
Jerusalem’s Doom Is Sealed

21 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying, 2 “Please inquire of the Lord for us, for [a]Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon makes war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to all His wonderful works, that the king may go away from us.”

3 Then Jeremiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, 4 ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon and the [b]Chaldeans who besiege you outside the walls; and I will assemble them in the midst of this city. 5 I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger and fury and great wrath. 6 I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they shall die of a great pestilence. 7 And afterward,” says the Lord, “I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence and the sword and the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life; and he shall strike them with the edge of the sword. He shall not spare them, or have pity or mercy.” ’

8 “Now you shall say to this people, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out and [c]defects to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be as a prize to him. 10 For I have set My face against this city for adversity and not for good,” says the Lord. “It shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.” ’

Message to the House of David

11 “And concerning the house of the king of Judah, say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, 12 O house of David! Thus says the Lord:

“Execute[d] judgment in the morning;
And deliver him who is plundered
Out of the hand of the oppressor,
Lest My fury go forth like fire
And burn so that no one can quench it,
Because of the evil of your doings.

13 “Behold, I am against you, O [e]inhabitant of the valley,
And rock of the plain,” says the Lord,
“Who say, ‘Who shall come down against us?
Or who shall enter our dwellings?’
14 But I will punish you according to the fruit of your [f]doings,” says the Lord;
“I will kindle a fire in its forest,
And it shall devour all things around it.” ’ ”

Footnotes

a. Jeremiah 21:2 Heb. Nebuchadrezzar, and so elsewhere in the book
b. Jeremiah 21:4 Or Babylonians, and so elsewhere in the book
c. Jeremiah 21:9 Lit. falls away to
d. Jeremiah 21:12 Dispense justice
e. Jeremiah 21:13 dweller
f. Jeremiah 21:14 deeds

New King James Version (NKJV)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Jeremiah 21 Commentary

This is Jeremiah’s life. Today he is beaten at the Temple, tomorrow he is consulted by the King. Of course, these events may be wide apart and not exactly following each other, as may be suggested by the order of appearance in the book.

The Pashhur of Verse 1 who King Zedekiah sends to Jeremiah may be different from the Pashhur who beats and locks up Jeremiah in yesterday’s chapter.

What the LORD does! Pashhur, the fighter priest, disappeared in history quietly, while Jeremiah’s name and his work are referenced by millions each year.

Many argue that Jeremiah’s work is the longest single work by one author in the holy script! Such is the value of the man who “nameless” men beat and lock up at will!

The Pashhur of this chapter is an emissary of the King to Jeremiah. The king wants Jeremiah to speak to the LORD concerning what the king knew was real and present danger. The Babylonians knocked hard. The stakes were high.

As usual Jeremiah was determined to impress the King of kings, but not King Zedekiah.

We can see just how far the nation of Israel had fallen. The man sitting on David’s throne was supposed to be anointed and full of the Holy Spirit.

Several centuries before Zedekiah was Samuel, an anointed leader who pleaded with the LORD for the people. Before Samuel were several Judges who, under the power of the Spirit of God, rescued Israel.

Of course, Moses stands out amongst them all. And after Samuel was David on whose throne Zedekiah sat. They all sought the face of the LORD and the nation was saved.

Here is our Zedekiah, weak and sinful, and zero anointing, leading God’s people. The LORD God was the actual King and Zedekiah was meant to be an under-shepherd – feeding the sheep from the God’s table. But there was zero connection between Zedekiah and the King of kings whom he should have represented. Sad state of affairs, indeed!

We are not at all surprised that the king sends Pashhur and the priest Zephaniah to Jeremiah.

Enough about the Zedekiah, but what about Zephaniah? Wasn’t the priest Zephaniah supposed to be God’s representative to the people? Zephaniah was possibly in the same boat as Zedekiah – zero anointing. King Zedekiah knew who to consult and who could possibly speak to the LORD. And it wasn’t the LORD’s priest, Zephaniah!

We can learn one important lesson from here. The world is watching. The world grades us: the serious, the less serious, and the useless – useless just like them but with religious talk. Zephaniah was graded lowly by King Zedekiah.

It takes a lot to gain a higher grade. Ask Jeremiah.

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me,” said the LORD Jesus Christ.

Loving Scripture….

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25 thoughts on “Home”

  1. It has been exciting learning how God can make things happen to his choosen one, God workout something wonderful and fulfils the promises he made to the father of Joseph.

    God’s words remains true so are his promises and indeed it has been God working out the salvation of man Kind by Grace through Faith alone.

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  11. Profound. My life needs a new introduction to God. Not that I have been right, but because God desires to help me… I see an amazing Grace here. Having broken the first commandment, still God looks for me and helps me to build up with him… And live for him. A littles knowledge of the Lord will ignite my passion and desire to serve him. This morning I pledge to seek, live and serve the Lord Jesus Christ and His purposes everyday of my life.
    Beautiful lesson

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  12. The Lord reintroduces himself and shows Israel, He is all they need. Some boast in horses and others in chariots but we’ll boast in the Lord. He is able and the only one worthy of our trust. Lord teach me how to always look up to you at all times and not focus on my strength or capabilities. This is my prayer

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  14. This far too common today. Just do something that seems like true worship yet it’s intent and actual practice is not even close to the set standard by the Lord. I personally feel challenged of some things we do in our personal lives, the focus of many churches and ministries today. We’ll need to realize the Lord must be worship as he has personally guided. Provides a good start of my reflection today

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  15. In those days when there was no King everyone did as they pleased. This is a good reminder to us that we are on own when the King of Kings isn’t leading our lives we’ll be doing what is not right and the results will show clearly how life without Christ looks like. We thank God that even when it looks like he’s not there, he’s behind the scenes working. I have learnt to trust in the Lord always.

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  16. Iam seeing this being stressed… There was no King in Israel… So lawlessness is the order of the day. This shows how heartless and wicked man can be with out the right King in his life. He can do anything. May the Lord help us to allow Christ in our lives that every aspect of our lives is changed and we yield ourselves to him alone.

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  17. I’m sure as the two daughters in-law stayed in Naomi’s home they learned about the God of Israel and appreciated His works among his people. Ruth’s determination and what she says moves my heart. She’s convinced she must go with Naomi and wants to spend her life with her, this relationship was strong especially between a mother inlaw and a daughter in-law. Yet Ruth stays and how she puts it shows the depth of her heart, I’ll go with with you, your people will be my people, your God will be my God…

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