GEMS FROM JEREMIAH (46) Seek the welfare of Babylon

 


     Chapters 27-29 of the book of Jeremiah describe events which occurred nine years before the siege of 589 began, i.e., in 598 B.C.  This was a year of 3 kings – Jehoiakim died, his son Jehoiachin (a.k.a. Jeconiah: 27.20) reigned for three months before being deposed and exiled to Babylon by emperor Nebuchadnezzar along with the royal family, the artisans and many inhabitants of Jerusalem[1] (29.1-2), who placed his uncle Zedekiah on the throne of Jerusalem (he would be the last king of Judah, the third son of Josiah to rule, and the last descendant of David to wear the crown; cf. 2 Sam. 7.1-15). 

     In chapter 27, Jeremiah performs an enacted parable by walking the streets of Jerusalem wearing a “yoke” across his neck and shoulders like an ox, as a symbol of what Jerusalem should do vis-à-vis the Babylonians – they should submit to them and be an obedient vassal to the Babylonian empire.  Jeremiah prophesies that every nation that refuses to wear the yoke of the king of Babylon will be exiled from its land, but that each nation that submits to the yoke will be allowed to remain in its land (27.8-11).  Jeremiah repeatedly warns against “false prophets” who are reassuring the people that they will never be exiled to Babylon (27.9-10, 14-18). 

     In chapter 28, Jeremiah is confronted in the Temple by one of the false prophets – Hananiah son of Azzur, who claimed that Yahweh had said: “I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.  Within two years I will bring back to this place King Jeconiah of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon” (28.1-4).  Jeremiah then warns Hananiah that the prophets who had preceded them prophesied war, famine and pestilence and that the prophet who prophesies peace must wait for his message to come true so that the people can know that he has truly been sent by God (28.7-9).  Hananiah then takes the yoke off of Jeremiah’s neck and breaks it, repeating his promise that God will break the yoke of the king of Babylon within two years (28.10-11).  Later on, the word of the Lord comes to Jeremiah, and sends him to confront Hananiah and to tell him that God has forged an iron yoke to replace the wooden one that Hananiah broke!  Jeremiah goes on to accuse Hananiah of being a false prophet, and of having made the people trust in a lie.  Jeremiah then prophesies that Hananiah will die before the year is out, a dire prediction that indeed does come to pass (28.12-17).

     In chapter 29, we have the text of a letter that Jeremiah sent to those who had been exiled to Babylon along with King Jehoiachin in 598.  This letter contains some of the best-known verses from the book of Jeremiah.  Jeremiah encourages the exiles to build houses and start families in Babylon; he exhorts them to

“seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray for it; for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (29.4-7). 

Jeremiah warns the exiles against false prophets and then announces that the exile will last for 70 years, after which time God will bring his people back to their land,

“For surely I know the plans I have for you, plans to give you a future with hope” (29.8-11).

This is followed by yet another lengthy warning against false prophets (29.15-23).  Then we have a heated exchange between Shemaiah of Nehelam and Jeremiah; Shemaiah had sent the High Priest in Jerusalem a letter telling him that he should put Jeremiah in the stocks, to which Jeremiah responded with a curse against Shemaiah, saying that he will not have any descendants who will live to see the restoration of Judah that God has promised (29.29-32).


[1] This was the second wave of deportations to Babylon, the first having occurred in 605 B.C., when Daniel and his friends had been among those exiled from Jerusalem (Dn. 1.1-2).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A 40-DAY JOURNEY WITH THE KING: Lenten reflections from Mark’s Gospel (5)

Image
“A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean .”   Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean !” Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean .   (Mk. 1.40-42)      Along with exorcisms, Jesus performs many healings of various physical ailments in the early chapters of Mark’s Gospel.   Jesus’ first healing is that of Simon’s mother-in-law (1.29-31).   With the restoration of the leper, we begin to understand the meaning of Jesus’ healings (and exorcisms).   The thrice-repeated word “clean” in the above passage reveals what is truly going on when the King restores the members of the people of God to wholeness.   Leprosy rendered its victim “unclean”, i.e., it proscribed that person from participation in the life of the community, of both civil society and the worship/litur...
Read more

The Protestant Reformation - good news?

Image
  The study of Reformation Europe makes many Christians wish that they had lived in the 16th century. Name 1) Some good reasons for not living in the sixteenth century and 2) Some ways in which we can live more deliberately as Christians today because of the events of that century. How should it and how should it not make a difference?    Some good reasons for not living in the 16th century include the climate of religious intolerance and violence.   Religious affiliation and observance were compulsory and imposed on the people by the state, especially it seems, in Protestant countries.   There was no freedom of conscience, except perhaps in England during the reign of Elizabeth, where the windows to people’s souls remained shut to the state, so long as they publicly conformed to the monarch’s religion (as enforced by parliament).   One may have thought that Luther’s appeal to conscience at the Diet of Worms would have inspired a broader and more sensit...
Read more

“Walking the tightrope” (St. Luke’s: Wednesday, August 22nd, 2018: Ez. 34.1-11; Ps. 23; St. Mt. 20.1-16)

Image
Ancient relevance.   Any conscientious catholic who has the habit of watching the news cannot help but notice a direct link between today’s first reading and what is going on in the Church these days.   Last week, a grand jury released a report detailing the results of their 2-year long investigation into dozens of clergymen who had abused upwards of 1,000 children in various dioceses in the state of Pennsylvania.   Every time cases of the abuse of children by priests and religious come to light, we are reminded that we live in a world – and are part of a Church – deeply infected by evil .   And of course, let’s not forget that the line between good and evil runs through each one of us (cf. Solzhenitsyn).   In today’s first reading, the prophet Ezekiel proclaims an oracle of judgment against the false “shepherds” of God’s “flock”.   Instead of caring for, protecting and nurturing God’s people , Israel’s leaders had exploited the people for their...
Read more