Theological Commentary: Click Here
Understanding
the history of the exile is important to this chapter of Jeremiah. Babylon had come. They had beaten the Hebrew people into
submission. Nebuchadnezzar has taken
captives. He has allowed some people to
remain as his vassals and who were expected to pay regular tribute. These vassals would occasionally submit, but
as we hear in today’s lesson they would turn to Egypt and inspire mini-rebellions
thought would periodically need to be put down.
In this
context, God sends a clear message.
Those Hebrew people who went into exile would be celebrated and allowed
to return as a faithful remnant. Those
who remained and who inspire the rebellions against Babylon would continue to
be persecuted. They would be rejected by
God.
Be careful
here, because a wrong interpretation would lead to a horribly wrong teaching. It is not that God minds uprisings against leadership. Bad leadership needs to change. In fact, that is the very point God is making
by bringing Babylon! The leadership of
the Hebrew people needed to change.
The reason
that the people who stay in the Promised Land are rejected by God is because
they have rejected God’s attempt to reform them. In searching for help from Egypt, they are
inherently rejecting the very help that God is trying to give them through the
Babylonian exile. What from one perspective
looks like people trying to lift of a veil of Babylonian oppression is actually
people trying to get out from under the correction of God.
This is an
important lesson to learn. Freedom is a
powerful right. It is good to be able to
make one’s own decisions and choices. However,
true freedom only comes from God. When seeking
freedom, we need to be sure that the freedom we seek is not actually freedom
from God’s plan. The people left in
Jerusalem after Nebuchadnezzar’s attack make that very mistake.
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