The following commentary covers Chapters 27 and 28.
Refusal
of submission to the Gentile head appointed by God in
rebellion against God Himself
Chapters 27 and 28 go
together. Their chief subject is the submission to the
head of the Gentiles, which God requires of the Jews. But
before dwelling on this, I would call attention to the
care which God bestows on His people, warning them again
at each new phase of their career towards judgment. We
remember that Zedekiah brought down this judgment by
rebelling against the king of Babylon. At the beginning
of his reign the Lord sent His word by Jeremiah to warn
all the kings around, as well as Zedekiah, that they must
submit. If they submitted, they should dwell in their
land in peace; if not, they should be driven out and
perish.
Let us now observe the
place which, as Creator of the earth, of man and beast,
God gives to the king of Babylon. God has given the
nations, and even the beasts of the field, into the hand
of Nebuchadnezzar for a certain time. God establishes the
central and universal power, and the nation that refuses
to submit to it would be in rebellion against Himself,
and should be consumed. Compare Daniel 2: 38, which adds
the fowls of the heaven to his dominion. All on earth was
subjected to this king of the earth—the imperial
head taken from among the Gentiles. It was a government
appointed of God, who had forsaken Jerusalem, and would
no longer protect her unless she submitted to this
government. It appears that the kings of the surrounding
countries were plotting with Zedekiah to throw off the
yoke of the king of Babylon, and that the mission of
their ambassadors was the occasion on which this prophecy
was given, God declaring that He would have all submit to
this yoke, for it was He Himself that imposed it.
Man under a new
trial: his failure
This fact—that God
has committed power in this world to a man—is very
remarkable. In the case of Israel man had been tried on
the ground of obedience to God, and had not been able to
possess the blessing that should have resulted from it.
Now God abandons this direct government of the world
(while still the sovereign Lord above); and, casting off
Israel whom He had chosen out from the nations, grouping
the latter around the elect people and His own throne in
Israel, He subjects the world to one head, and committing
power unto man, He places him under a new trial, to prove
whether he will own the God who gave him power, and make
those happy who are subjected to him, when he can do
whatever he will in this world.
do not enter here into the
details of the history of this trial: they belong to the
Book of Daniel. We know that man failed in it. Senseless
and presumptuous, he ravaged the. world and oppressed the
people of God, trod down His sanctuary, and prepared for
himself a judgment so much the more terrible that Satan
will induce him to resist it, and will aid him in his
rebellion. Nebuchadnezzar alone answers in all points to
that which we have just said. He is the head of gold. God
had committed immediately to him the government of the
world. Cyrus had personally a more peculiar place, and
one more honourable in some respects. But as an empire,
the Persians only took the place of one that already
existed; and the sources and character of power
continually deteriorated, in proportion as their distance
from God and His gift increased.
False prophets and
teachers: God's testimony to the true prophet
False prophets as well as
false teachers oppose the truth in this very point on
which God tries His people. They can use all other parts
of truth in order to deceive, and appear to have
increased faith in them. It is manifest that the secret
of the Lord is never with them. But whatever appearances
may be, they neither stop nor turn away God from the path
He takes. Yet the true prophet's position is a painful
one. He may seem for the time to be reduced to silence;
for the popular falsehood possesses the hearts of the
people. Jeremiah had to go away. Nevertheless in the
combat between truth and error God often intervenes by a
striking testimony, and so it was here. The function of
the prophet, with respect to the government of the world
and of the people's walk, is always a testimony to the
judgment which hangs over unfaithfulness.
Jeremiah 28 Bible Commentary
John Darby’s Synopsis
Refusal of submission to the Gentile head appointed by God in rebellion against God Himself
Chapters 27 and 28 go together. Their chief subject is the submission to the head of the Gentiles, which God requires of the Jews. But before dwelling on this, I would call attention to the care which God bestows on His people, warning them again at each new phase of their career towards judgment. We remember that Zedekiah brought down this judgment by rebelling against the king of Babylon. At the beginning of his reign the Lord sent His word by Jeremiah to warn all the kings around, as well as Zedekiah, that they must submit. If they submitted, they should dwell in their land in peace; if not, they should be driven out and perish.
Let us now observe the place which, as Creator of the earth, of man and beast, God gives to the king of Babylon. God has given the nations, and even the beasts of the field, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar for a certain time. God establishes the central and universal power, and the nation that refuses to submit to it would be in rebellion against Himself, and should be consumed. Compare Daniel 2: 38, which adds the fowls of the heaven to his dominion. All on earth was subjected to this king of the earth—the imperial head taken from among the Gentiles. It was a government appointed of God, who had forsaken Jerusalem, and would no longer protect her unless she submitted to this government. It appears that the kings of the surrounding countries were plotting with Zedekiah to throw off the yoke of the king of Babylon, and that the mission of their ambassadors was the occasion on which this prophecy was given, God declaring that He would have all submit to this yoke, for it was He Himself that imposed it.
Man under a new trial: his failure
This fact—that God has committed power in this world to a man—is very remarkable. In the case of Israel man had been tried on the ground of obedience to God, and had not been able to possess the blessing that should have resulted from it. Now God abandons this direct government of the world (while still the sovereign Lord above); and, casting off Israel whom He had chosen out from the nations, grouping the latter around the elect people and His own throne in Israel, He subjects the world to one head, and committing power unto man, He places him under a new trial, to prove whether he will own the God who gave him power, and make those happy who are subjected to him, when he can do whatever he will in this world.
do not enter here into the details of the history of this trial: they belong to the Book of Daniel. We know that man failed in it. Senseless and presumptuous, he ravaged the. world and oppressed the people of God, trod down His sanctuary, and prepared for himself a judgment so much the more terrible that Satan will induce him to resist it, and will aid him in his rebellion. Nebuchadnezzar alone answers in all points to that which we have just said. He is the head of gold. God had committed immediately to him the government of the world. Cyrus had personally a more peculiar place, and one more honourable in some respects. But as an empire, the Persians only took the place of one that already existed; and the sources and character of power continually deteriorated, in proportion as their distance from God and His gift increased.
False prophets and teachers: God's testimony to the true prophet
False prophets as well as false teachers oppose the truth in this very point on which God tries His people. They can use all other parts of truth in order to deceive, and appear to have increased faith in them. It is manifest that the secret of the Lord is never with them. But whatever appearances may be, they neither stop nor turn away God from the path He takes. Yet the true prophet's position is a painful one. He may seem for the time to be reduced to silence; for the popular falsehood possesses the hearts of the people. Jeremiah had to go away. Nevertheless in the combat between truth and error God often intervenes by a striking testimony, and so it was here. The function of the prophet, with respect to the government of the world and of the people's walk, is always a testimony to the judgment which hangs over unfaithfulness.