GEMS FROM JEREMIAH (11) “The Rise of Babylon: The Life & Times of Jeremiah”, part V

 


“…thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, I am going to send for all the tribes of the north, says the Lord, even for King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these nations around; I will utterly destroy them, and make them an object of horror and of hissing, and an everlasting disgrace… This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation…for their iniquity, says the Lord, making the land an everlasting waste.” (Jer. 25.8-12)

     In 626 B.C., an independent neo-Babylonian[1] state was established under the reign of Nabopolassar within the Assyrian empire.  Allying themselves with the Medes to the East, they began to challenge the Assyrians.  They conquered the imperial capital, Nineveh, in 612 and crushed an Assyro-Egyptian alliance at the Battle of Carchemish in 605, putting an end to Egyptian hegemony of Judah.  That same year, Nabopolassar died and his son Nebuchadrezzar found himself to be the absolute ruler of the now-defunct Assyrian empire, including the vassal-kingdom of Judah.  Before the year 605 was out, Nebuchadrezzar had marched on Jerusalem (cf. Jer. 1.13-19) and demonstrated his authority over King Jehoiakim by deporting certain nobles, including Daniel and his companions, to Babylon (cf. Dn. 1.1-7; 2 Chr 36.6-7).[2]  During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadrezzar encouraged the nations surrounding Judah to conduct raiding parties into Judahite territory (cf. 2 Kings 24.1-4).

     In this same year of 605, Jeremiah turned his attention to Babylon as the inevitable cause of Jerusalem’s ultimate destruction as he continued to prophesy in the courts of the Temple (cf. Jer. 26.1-3; 7.1-2).  Indeed, Jeremiah’s preaching had become a high-risk affair; in the year 609, Jeremiah had come close to being lynched by an angry mob of “priests and prophets and people”.  Some friends in key positions prevented the worst from happening (26.1-16, 24).  Another prophet, Uriah son of Shemaiah, wasn’t so fortunate.  After fleeing to Egypt to avoid the wrath of Jehoiakim, he was pursued, brought back to Jerusalem to be murdered and have his body thrown outside the city (26.20-23).  In Jer. 22.10-30, God makes some bitter pronouncements about four of the last five kings of Judah.  God instructs Jeremiah not to weep for Josiah, but to weep rather for his son Jehoahaz, who will die in exile in Egypt.  Then follows “God’s epitaph” of Jehoahaz’s brother Jehoiakim, which decrees that this king who had exploited the people for his own comfort will come to a sorry end (Jer. 22.18-19).  Finally, God berates Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim, who is called “a broken pot”, and predicts his eventual death in exile in Babylon.  God then pronounces judgment on the evil “shepherds” (i.e., kings) who scatter his sheep (i.e., his people).  Finally, God promises to one day establish “a righteous branch” for David (i.e., the Messiah), and to bring his people back from their exile (Jer. 23.1-8).  Indeed, Jehoiakim, whose funeral was predicted to be that of a donkey (22.19), may well have been hurriedly buried, as the Babylonians were almost at the gates at the time of his death in 598.


[1] The “Old Babylonian Empire” began around the time of Abraham, in the 19th century B.C. and lasted until the sack of Babylon by the Hittites in 1595.  Assyrian history extends back to the 27th century B.C.!

[2] Cf. Hill, Andrew E. & John H. Walton, A Survey of the Old Testament, Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2009 [1991, 2000], pp. 535, 571-72.

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