Jeremiah 21.a. Can God turn against Israel?

 During World War I the British army adopted the motto “For God, King and Country.” It appeared in speeches, banners, and as a patch on some uniforms. Meanwhile, German soldiers had on their belt buckle the phrase “Gott mit uns.” This war cry went back to Prussian sources and was central to the ideology inspiring the army. 

 Assuming that the same God/Gott was implied, one wonders who’s side the Lord was on. Probably neither as they both suffered tremendous loses. As Treebeard said when Pippin and Merry asked whose side he was on, “Side? I am on nobody’s side, because nobody is on my side, little Orc. No one cares for the woods anymore” (J. R. R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings. BTW. After graduating from Oxford, Tolkien served in France during World War I, especially during the Battle of the Somme in 1916). 

 My point is that the question is backwards. The only thing that matters is, “Who is on the Lord’s side” (See Exodus 32: 26). In Jeremiah’s time, is the remaining kingdom of the Jews, that is, Judah, a special case such that God must automatically be on their side? Would God turn against Israel if the government behaved in an ungodly manner? Let’s see.

Jeremiah 21: 1-2.  This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malchiah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, saying, “Please inquire of the LORD on our behalf, for King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon is making war against us; perhaps the LORD will perform a wonderful deed for us, as he has often done, and Nebuchadrezzar will withdraw.”

 This calls for a review of the historical background. Jeremiah began his career as a prophet in 626 BC when Josiah was the King of Judah. Josiah carried out religious reforms to undo the damage his father and grandfather had done. Jeremiah supported these reforms and warned the people to repent in seriousness lest a threat from the north overwhelm them. When Jeremiah began, though he never named the threat, everyone thought it would be the Assyrian Empire. But Assyria was in its declining years and a new coalition of Babylon and Media conquered city after city until the empire fell in 609 BC. 

 Oddly enough, at first Judah supported Babylon because they thought the greater threat was from Assyria. However, when the Babylonian Empire got rolling, they looked next toward the Levant (countries along the Mediterranean coast, including Judah) and Egypt. The Egyptians were defeated at the Battle of Carchemish in 605, opening the way to the coast and the Nile delta.

 By 597 BC, the Babylonians had already removed one of Josiah’s sons as king and replaced him with another son, Zedikiah. Jerusalem had surrendered and the temple was looted, making Judah a vassal state to Babylon. However, about seven or eight years later, Zedekiah made moves toward independence. He started by refusing to pay the yearly tribute. It did not take long for the Assyrian army to return and lay siege to the city of Jerusalem.

 That is the context for today’s reading from Jeremiah Chapter 21. The siren has sounded: “Alert! This is not a test!” Jeremiah has persistently warned of an invasion and now it is here; Judah is in trouble. 

 Notice how clueless the king and the priests are. Indeed, God did perform wonderful deeds, such as releasing the captive Israelites from Egypt so they could make their Exodus. More recently, God drove away the Assyrian army which was encamped around Jerusalem by sending a plague to decimate the army. That was just over 100 years ago (701 BC). Will God perform another miraculous escape for Jerusalem and Judah? The king and priests have that blind hope, but they should know better.

Jeremiah 21: 4-7.  Then Jeremiah said to them: Thus you shall say to Zedekiah: Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I am going to turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls, and I will bring them together into the center of this city. I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and mighty arm, in anger, in fury, and in great wrath. And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both humans and animals; they shall die of a great pestilence. Afterward, says the LORD, I will give King Zedekiah of Judah and his servants and the people in this city—those who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine—into the hands of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, into the hands of their enemies, into the hands of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword; he shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.

Whoa! As clueless as they are, the priests are probably shocked at this answer. King Zedekiah will be too when he hears it. They should have known since this is consistent with Jeremiah’s ministry for about 30 years. Who has been dozing off during his sermons? 

 First, the people of Judah, the remaining Israelite kingdom, assume that they still have a viable relationship with God. They do not. 

 Second, the priests and servants come to Jeremiah to “inquire of the Lord.” Inquire! They should have come crawling on their knees, crying out in repentance, begging to be forgiven. They did not. 

 So, they now hear shocking words spoken by God. The irony is that, a long time ago, in a different context, God spoke these as comforting words to Israel: “the LORD your God brought you out from there (Egypt) with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm” (Deuteronomy 5: 15). 

 But now these words are spoken against Judah rather than against their enemy. Do not expect any wonderful works here! Why not? Because when God gave Israel good laws and rituals that would instantiate the character of God within them, they did not listen, they did not participate, and they did not become holy in their practices (see Leviticus 26: 14-22 and Deuteronomy 28: 15-29). 

 Notice the irony here, and I do not think it is accidental. It was a great plague on Egypt that forced Pharaoh to release the Israelites from captivity. But now a great plague will come on Judah, and they will go into captivity in Babylon. This really is the end of the Israelite kingdoms, first Israel in 721 BC, and now Judah, defeated in 597 and destroyed in 587 BC. 

Jeremiah 21: 8-10.  And to this people you shall say: Thus says the LORD: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death. Those who stay in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but those who go out and surrender to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live and shall have their lives as a prize of war. For I have set my face against this city for evil and not for good, says the LORD; it shall be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.

 Many years before, Joshua gathered the Israelites on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal and laid out two paths for them to choose from (Joshua 23 & 24). Jeremiah now does the same thing for the people of Judah. One path leads to life, and that path is to surrender now to Babylon and take their punishment. The other path leads to death, and that is the path of defying God by holding out to the last. That path will lead to even more death and destruction. God is turning against the Jewish government, but God still offers the people a way out through surrender and repentance.  

 So much for nationalism. So much for the department of defense. So much for patriotism. These concepts are not God, nor should they be treated as if they are sacred. They are not. The people must listen to God who tells them to surrender. Nothing else matters. Did they listen? They did not.