ToES Diary July 2017

Very little writing today. The audio serial of Terror on Every Side! Volume 2 – As Good As It Gets finished this morning. Going through the minor errors and problems that have been found during the series so that Chris can fix them.

Nineteen micro-tales have now been completed, so there are only three to go before the book of 22 can be published. Started working on the book cover design in the last few days.

Still working on finalising the events to recount in the remainder of Josiah’s reign before covering the final battle with Pharaoh Neco. Should Josiah have gone to fight with Neco?

Baal and other idols: choice of adherents to worship a non-existent deity just because everyone else does and because of the freedom we all have to define religion as it suits us.  God speaks of them as beings at times to some extent (Judges 10:13; Jeremiah 16:13), but also as non-existent fantasies at other times (Deuteronomy 4:35, 39; Isaiah 44:19; 45:7, 14, 21, 22; 46:9).  Various passages through the Old Testament (including Psalms 115:4-8, Isaiah 44:9-20; 46:6-7 and Jeremiah 10:3-5) mock those who worship dumb idols, but the fact that it is ridiculous has never stopped people.  In some ways, popular science has now replaced idols in western countries.

It occurred to me that I should also look at prophets contemporary with Jeremiah: Ezekiel, Daniel, Zephaniah and Habakkuk as well as Jeremiah’s book of Lamentations. Some of the passages in Ezekiel are more difficult to put in the categories I used yesterday, as they describe future worship in a temple and concentrate on a subset of priests – the sons of Zadok – because of their faithfulness. Of course, if Jeremiah was a son of Hilkiah, the High Priest, he was a son of Zadok. We don’t know anything about the family of Ezekiel the priest, except for the name of his father, Buzi, which does not occur anywhere else in scripture. Jewish commentators appear to think that he came from the family of Ithamar rather than the family of Eleazar from which Zadok came. I have not come across any reason for believing this this.

• For/blessings: All referring to the sons of Zadok and many of them only good by implication Ezekiel 40:45-46, 43:27; 44:15; 48:10-11
• Against: Lamentations 2:6; 4:13, 16; Ezekiel 7:26; 22:26; 44:13 (not sons of Zadok); Zephaniah 1:4; 3:4
• Against foreign priests of idols: None.
• Ambivalent: Lamentations 2:20
• Informational: Lamentations 1:4, 19; Ezekiel 1:3; 42:13-14; 43:19, 24; 44:21-22, 30-31; 45:4, 19; 46:2; 46:19-20; 48:13

The references from Zephaniah are interesting because he spoke in the time of Josiah (probably towards the end of his reign) when you would expect the priesthood to have been better than in the times of the preceding and following kings, but his two comments are entirely negative.

Once again, the only positive comments were related to a time in the future, except for a repeated reference to the sons of Zadok as having not gone astray in the past when the rest of the priests and Levites did so. When is this talking about? Possibilities:

1. The time of Solomon’s coronation.
2. The time of Jeroboam’s splitting of the kingdom and his introduction of the golden calves.
3. In the time of Jeremiah/Ezekiel/Zephaniah, but the negative comments from God through these prophets makes that unlikely – unless it referred only to them (Jeremiah and Ezekiel). This is possible.

I have no real proof for this, but the times that seem most likely are the time of Solomon’s coronation and the time where Jeroboam corrupted Israel’s worship with the golden calves. We do read of priests coming to Judah at that time, but the picture painted in 2 Chronicles 11:13-17 is of all priests and Levites coming to Judah, rather than just the sons of Zadok. 2 Chronicles 13:9 suggests the same thing. Not only that, but 1 Kings 12:31 and 13:33 make it clear that Jeroboam appointed priests who were not even Levites. The only other reference that could be important is to Azariah the priest in the time of Hezekiah who is said to be of the house of Zadok (2 Chronicles 31:10). He observes that since the people had begun to bring offerings as God had commanded, the priests had been able to eat. Maybe he and his family had been faithful during the times of evil kings before Hezekiah and had nearly starved.

Overall, the praise of the sons of Zadok in Ezekiel is quite puzzling and my conclusion is not very convincing – but nor is any other that I know of!

Also, I looked at references to Levites, connected as they are to the priests. The word only occurs in the last few chapters of Ezekiel in his vision of the temple. Most of the references are just informational, but any that aren’t just giving information are negative:

• Against: 44:10; 48:11-12
• Informational: 45:5; 48:12-13, 22

Jeremiah chapters 16-18 are still a problem for me in determining their order and timing.  Jeremiah 16 I have assigned to a time when Jeremiah was young and likely to want to get married since if he had not been wanting to get married when he was young, it is less likely that God would have ever have needed to forbid him from marrying at any time.  But what about the rest of those chapters.  When in Jeremiah’s life did they happen?

When trying to determine timing and order, I always start by looking at what sections the passage may be divided into: chunks of text that start with words that may indicate a new interaction with God or a new scene.

16:1 The word of the Lord came to me
(16:5 “For” suggests a continuation of the same chunk, although one or two translations lack the word)
(16:10, 11 “And…then” suggests a continuation of the same chunk)
(16:14 “Therefore” suggests a continuation of the same chunk, although one or two translations lack the word)

16:19-20 appear to be words from Jeremiah, but not connected with the preceding message from God because they talk about other nations rather than Israelites in captivity, although it is possible that it is part of the previous scene.

16:21 “Therefore” seems to indicate a response to Jeremiah from God.

17:1 Seems to be a different subject, but could easily be a continuation of God’s words from 16:21.  The words “while their children remember their altars and their Asherim, beside every green tree and on the high hills, on the mountains in the open country.” may suggest that this was given at a time when the people did not have these idols – possibly because of the work of Josiah in destroying them – but they still remember them.  Or it could be after the destruction of Jerusalem when their gods had been finally destroyed, but they still wanted them.  This may fit in with parts of Jeremiah 15.

Aside:  17:4 includes the words “a fire is kindled” (see Deuteronomy 32:22 and its context) which is also used in 15:14.  Contrast this with 17:27 “I will kindle a fire” which is also used in a few other places, seemingly when the punishment has not yet begun (21:14; 43:12; 49:27; 50:32).  This may suggest that 17:4 comes after 17:27 or it may be an allusion to Deuteronomy 32:22 and use the same terminology so that people would see the connection with the song of Moses from the Book of the Law which had been read to them.  I don’t know!

17:5 “Thus says the Lord” Seems to be a slightly different subject again, but could easily be a continuation of the previous passage.  If it is not part of the previous scene (v1-4), there is no basis for assigning a time at all.

17:9 Appears to be an observation made by Jeremiah, possibly in response to God’s comments, although the connection is not immediately obvious.  It could even be a sort of heading for what follows.

17:10 God’s response.  A lack of quotation marks in the ESV suggests that 17:11 is Jeremiah speaking again, but the words suggest to me that it is more likely to be God continuing from 17:10.

17:12-18 Jeremiah speaking.  Note that in verse 13, “those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth” is “those who turn away from me shall be written in the earth” in Hebrew which would suggest a brief answer from God as the last half of verse 13 or that anyone not with Jeremiah was against God.

17:19 “Thus said the Lord”
All the words and ideas which follow suggest the section to the end of chapter 17:27 is connected to 17:19 and came at the same time.  What time?  We don’t know, but maybe 17:27 could give an indirect hint: “you kings”.  Maybe Josiah’s sons were there to hear in the last few years of Josiah’s reign, say some time in 28th-31st year.

18:1 “The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord”

18:5 “Then the word of the Lord came to me” as God had indicated it would in 18:2

18:11 “Say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem”  God is shaping destruction.

18:18 “Then they said”  Probably the response of the people when Jeremiah passed on God’s message stated in 18:11-17.

18:19 “Hear me O God” Jeremiah prays to God.

19:1 Thus says the Lord.

From this, the most likely “scenes” in this section seem to be:

1. Time: 18th year of Josiah.
   (a) Jeremiah 16:1-18 No marriage, mourning, rejoicing; coming destruction; restoration.
   (b) Jeremiah 16:19-21 Jeremiah: All nations will come to God.  God: I will make them know my might.
2. Time: 20th year of Josiah.
   (a) Jeremiah 17:1-4 The sin of Judah is built-in, so they will be taken away.
   (b) Jeremiah 17:5-8 God cursing and blessing.
3. Time: 29th year of Josiah.
   (a) Jeremiah 17:9-18 Heart deceitful but God tests it.  Jeremiah praying, ends with request for destruction.
   (b) Jeremiah 17:19-27 Sabbath commands.  Jerusalem to remain if people keep the Sabbath.

Another possible hint in helping with ordering of Jeremiah is in the use of the word “kings” by God.

The expression “the kings” is used often in Jeremiah to talk about kings of other nations and about the past kings of Judah, but it is also used at times to refer to current and/or future (near future) kings and some of these uses might give us a hint for when the prophecies were give.  Zedekiah was the last king, so you would not expect any reference to “kings” in his time when referring to him and any following kings.  This is what we do find in sections that we know were in his reign.  However, in some passages where we do not know at what time a prophecy was given, we have the term “kings” used clearly referring to more than one king.  It seems reasonable to conclude that such prophecies must have been given in the time of Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim or even Jehoiachin (just!).  To my way of thinking, the most likely time seems to be the last few years of Josiah’s reign because at that time his sons were old enough to hear also.  At the end of Josiah’s reign, Jehoahaz was 23, Jehoiakim 25 and Zedekiah about 9 years old.  Even Jehoiachin may have been about 6 years old (depending on whether he was 8 or 18 years old when he became king).

• Jeremiah 1:18 In the 13th year of Josiah, Jeremiah was to oppose the kings.
• Jeremiah 2:26 House of Israel will be shamed including the kings.  Probably still some time around the 13th year of Josiah.
• Jeremiah 13:13 Inhabitants of the land will be filled with drunkenness, including the kings.  No indication of time.
• Jeremiah 17:19-20 People’s Gate through which the kings of Judah pass.  “Hear the word…you kings”.  No indication of time.
• Jeremiah 19:3 “Hear the word of the LORD, O kings…”.  No indication of time.
• Jeremiah 25:18 Jeremiah made the kings of Jerusalem drink from God’s cup of wrath.  Probably 4th year of Jehoiakim (25:1).  At that time, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah were the remaining kings.  If Jehoiachin was 18 when he became king (as seems more likely me than 8), then he would have been about 11 at that time and Zedekiah about 14.

• Jeremiah 13:13: This chapter is in two parts.  First, Jeremiah takes a loincloth and hides it.  “After many days” he is told to go and fetch it, by which time it is rotten.  He is given a message to deliver which includes this mention of kings, but also refers to the queen mother.  Jeremiah 22:26 and 2 Kings 24:12-15 make it likely that this means Jehoiachin’s mother (Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem (2 Kings 24:8)).  I’m not ignoring Ezekiel 19, but I think that refers to Israel/Judah rather than a literal mother.  As to when this is; if the king being spoken of in Jeremiah 13:18 is Jehoiachin, then we have an intriguing question about the timing of this prophecy.  It appears that Babylon was besieging Jerusalem for all of the time that Jehoiachin was king, with Jehoiakim having died during a Babylonian attack.  When would Jeremiah have left Jerusalem and returned?  The Euphrates was no small distance away, although exactly where he went we do not know.  Probably it was a return trip of about 1,200-1,500km.  At 40km per day, that would take 30-40 days for a quick trip.
• Jeremiah 17:19-20: Previously, I have assigned a time between the 18th and 20th years of Josiah, but maybe a little later would be more likely.  It seems to me that God’s prophecies become more simple after the time of Josiah because the kings and people have gone further away from him.  The concentration seems to be against idol worship and other details relating to Babylonian punishment of the land.  Maybe sometime around the 28th year.  We don’t hear any response to this message.  I will see what fits in with the story, because there doesn’t seem to be any convincing argument for any particular time.
• Jeremiah 19:3: I have assigned this to the 2nd year of Jehoiakim.  After the time of Josiah because of the beating of Jeremiah.  Before the first invasion by Nebuchadnezzar, based on the content of the prophecy.

Jeremiah 5:1-6:30 is not located in time. I had wondered if it was in the time of Jehoahaz, but the time of Jehoahaz is not mentioned in the time in which God spoke to Jeremiah (see Jeremiah 1:3), so probably not. Instead, the impending arrival of an enemy makes it more likely to be in the 3rd or 4th year of Jehoiakim, before Nebuchadnezzar arrives for the first time.

Finally content that I have decided what happened when in the reign of Josiah, even though it is not completely conclusive. I will include an updated version of the table sometime soon (God willing).

Rearranged parts of the first two chapters due to my “final” ordering of the prophecies of Jeremiah.

Continued to work on another part of ToESVol3 chapter 2. Jeremiah invited to a wedding. Cannot go (Jeremiah 16:8-9). He also comes to believe that this constraint was why he was not able to go to his brothers’ weddings (Volume 2 – As Good As It Gets Chapter 2) even though he had not known of the limitation at the time.

If Jeremiah has a message against those who get married, and those who become parents in the land, how much should he try to discourage people from getting married?

How much would he have followed up God’s message with active “preaching” of the message and applying it directly to the life of people he knew?

What would God have expected of him? Would it have been just the same as it is for us? – “Make the most of every opportunity”?

In Jeremiah 11, there are several references to covenants (Jeremiah 11:2, 3, 6, 8 and 10) as well as language that is very similar to that in Deuteronomy.

For example:
Jeremiah 11:3 & 6 and Deuteronomy 27:26
Jeremiah 11:4 and Deuteronomy 4:20
Jeremiah 11:5 and Deuteronomy 26:9, 15
Jeremiah 11:10 and Deuteronomy 31:16

And, just in case we missed it, Jeremiah 11:4, 7 also refer to the way in which God led the people out of Egypt.

The connections seem very strong and so it seems most likely that this section of Jeremiah 11 was given to Jeremiah at a time quite close to the reading of the Book of the Law in the 18th year of Josiah. With it and his speaking of the message in Jerusalem and all the towns of Judah (11:6) seems to have come the first serious plan to kill Jeremiah in 11:18-21. It seems most likely that this was not a plan that ever got very far because God revealed it to Jeremiah. It was centred in Anathoth rather than Jerusalem, presumably because Josiah would never have approved it.

What support or protection did Jeremiah get from the High Priest?

Began to tell the story of this episode.

Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah are all described in Daniel 1:4 as “youths” which seems to be a word which can mean anything from a child to a young man. Nebuchadnezzar took them to Babylon in the 4th year of Jehoiakim as youths who were already well educated and wise, with the intention of training them further. This suggests a level of education similar to what we might call “further education” ie. university. They seem to have been very clever young men, with God’s blessing upon them, so they may have been younger than others. If, then, they were all around the same age, about 16-17, when they were taken to Babylon, that suggests they would have been about 13 when Josiah died after reigning 31 years. If so, they would have been born in approximately the 18th or 19th year of Josiah.

The book of Ezekiel begins with some chronological details. Ezekiel 1:2 states that it was the 5th year of the captivity of Jehoiachin and we see, in combination with verse 1, that it was the 5th day of the 4th month. The first verse mentions the 30th year in a way that is a little obscure, but probably refers to Ezekiel’s age. 30 was an important age for Levites and priests (Numbers 4 cf. Numbers 8:24-26 and 1 Chronicles 23:3, 24-27) and seems to be important for God in the life of a few other people too (Joseph became second in command in Egypt at 30 (Genesis 41:46), David became king at 30 (2 Samuel 5:4), Jesus began his ministry at about 30 (Luke 3:23)). If Ezekiel was 30 in the 5th year of Jehoiachin’s captivity – also the 5th year of Zedekiah’s reign – then he would have been about 25 when taken in captivity, and about 13-14 when Josiah died. As such, he would also have been born in about the 17 or 18th year of Josiah.

So Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah and Ezekiel were probably all about the same age within just a few years – about 21-23 years younger than Jeremiah.

It seems likely that the events of the 18th year of Josiah’s reign had some effect on at least some of the children born at that time – their parents may have been encouraged to worship God more, and pass on the love of God to their children better than at other times.

The point of this is simply that in the 20th year of Josiah, there were probably some very young children in Jerusalem who were to grow up as very godly men. Would Jeremiah have known their parents?

It may be wishful thinking, but I am going to assume the answer is “Yes”.

Mostly in this diary there is not much about the micro-tales published in the newsletter, but from time to time a few thoughts are included.  This is such a time.

1. Paying tithes could happen at any time.  In the Old Testament, there were some times specified for paying some tithes, but there also seem to be more than one tithe and only some have a time associated with them.  The matter of tithes is a little vague in the Old Testament anyway.  A few indications in the New Testament also suggest that various things were changed from the Old Testament methods anyway (e.g., the timing of Passover and Unleavened Bread and also Pentecost being a fixed time).  Some tithes were given to the Levites: Leviticus 27:30-33; Numbers 18:21-32.  Every three years, some tithes seem to have been eaten by the giver as well as being shared with the needy and the Levites at the place God would choose: Deuteronomy 12:5-14, 17-19; 14:22-29; 26:12-14.
2. That the gift given by the woman was tithes rather than a temple tax or any other specified amount.  It seems most likely from the example in Matthew 17 that if it were paying a temple “debt” then collectors would have come asking for it.  Giving it without it being recorded would not seem likely to happen.
3. That someone would have heard Jesus and gone to help.  No evidence at all for this, but God does provide, and this is one way in which he might have provided.

And now back to Jeremiah…

Two characters were introduced at the end of Volume 2 so that they could be the parents of Daniel.  In Volume 3, Daniel was born in the 19th year of Josiah.  There is no proof for this, but Daniel is more likely to have come from somewhat godly parents than from completely ungodly ones.

Would Daniel have stood out in Judah as he immediately stood out when he arrived in Babylon?  It seems likely that he would have done so.  What about his three friends?  Did they all know each other before they were taken into captivity?  Did any or all come from Jerusalem?

And what about Ezekiel?  Where was he from in Judah?  He seems to have know or recognised the temple when he saw it in visions, so maybe he came from Jerusalem.