ToES Diary October 2017

1. Pharaoh Neco may have been unhappy with the fact that a wanted man had to be searched for in Egypt.  That may have embarrassed and angered Jehoiakim.
2. Maybe Uriah should have had courage as God had said Jeremiah must.  If so, a failure to do that could be expected to have a bad result.
3. Possibly Jehoiakim thought that Uriah did not have any authority.  At least Jeremiah was a priest and thus had some authority in matters of religion.

After plots to kill Jeremiah and the death of Uriah the prophet, the danger of working as a prophet must have been very clear to Jeremiah. When God gives him instructions to go to a potter, to prophesy in the temple and to do other work that would draw the attention of a murderous king. Jeremiah seems to begin to ask for the punishment of Judah on a few occasions. It seems that prophets weren’t the only people being killed by Jehoiakim and his men in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 22:17).

Jerusalem would have been a terrifying place to live in the time of Jehoiakim, just as it would have been in the time of Manasseh.

How did Jeremiah fit in his work as a prophet with his work as a priest?

We are given no detail of his life as a priest except to state that he was one (Jeremiah 1:1).

Much more is made of his position as a prophet, and there are cases where the title “prophet” is used in preference to “priest” which could have been used.  Two clear examples of this:

• In Jeremiah 29:29, we are told that Zephaniah the priest read a letter to Jeremiah the prophet.
• In Jeremiah 37:3, we are told that Zephaniah the priest and another man were sent to Jeremiah the prophet.

He is frequently called a prophet:

2 Chronicles 36:12
Jeremiah 20:2
Jeremiah 25:2
Jeremiah 28:5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 15
Jeremiah 29:1, 29
Jeremiah 32:2
Jeremiah 34:6
Jeremiah 36:8, 26
Jeremiah 37:2, 3, 6, 13
Jeremiah 38:9, 10, 14
Jeremiah 42:2, 4
Jeremiah 43:6
Jeremiah 45:1
Jeremiah 46:1, 13
Jeremiah 47:1
Jeremiah 49:34
Jeremiah 50:1
Jeremiah 51:59
Daniel 9:2

It seems likely that God’s work for Jeremiah as a prophet could often have conflicted with the work he should have been doing as a priest.  This would have caused troubles in his relationship with the other priests.

In Jeremiah 18:1-2 God tells Jeremiah “Arise”. Presumably this means he was at least sitting, but probably lying down when the instruction was given. The instruction appears to require immediate obedience and since it went with the instruction to go to see the potter, it must have happened at a time when the potter would be working by the time he arrived.

On this basis, it could be siesta time (this seems to have been a habit in the country at times e.g., 2 Samuel 4:5 and 2 Samuel 11:2), or a time when he was sick or just lying around in laziness. Siesta time seems the most likely.

In some passages there are a few little details that can easily catch you out. Shortly after I wrote yesterday’s diary, another question sprang to mind that also depended on just one word.

In Jeremiah 18:2, God sends Jeremiah to “the” potter’s house. Why the definite article? It seems unlikely that there was only one potter in Jerusalem. But was there one particular potter with whom Jeremiah had dealings?

If chapter 19 preceded chapter 18 in time, then maybe “the potter” would be the one from whom he bought the pottery vessel as commanded by God. However, I think it is most likely that the message of chapter 18 was given first, and there is no indication as to when either was given.

Today I was reviewing a couple of past details and answering a question.

Jeremiah 22

I was asked how I had decided that Jeremiah 22:1-10 were speaking of Jehoiakim.  My reasoning is this.

In Jeremiah 22, verse 11 speaks of Jehoahaz/Shallum as having gone, never to return, with verse 10 talking either about him or, more likely, about others who would be taken away during or after the reign of the then current king, which verse 18 suggests to me is Jehoiakim.  The first word of the verse “therefore” also suggests that the verses before (v13-17) are also speaking of Jehoiakim.  Given this context, and the picture of Shallum as an example of what will happen to others, I conclude that v1-19 (with the exception of v11) are all speaking of Jehoiakim.  Of course, I could be wrong!

Continuing on from there:

• Jeremiah 22:20-23 seem to speak of Judah as a nation once they are left without a king (after the death of Jehoiakim)
• Jeremiah 22:24-30 speak of Jehoiakim/Jeconiah/Coniah
• Jeremiah 23 seems to reflect on the leaders and prophets of Judah who have been directing the king(s) and the nation badly.  A king is coming who will reign well without having officials who act as bad shepherds.  This king still hasn’t come, but I hope he comes soon.

A short message needs a prepared crowd

Jeremiah 26:1-6 describes God giving a message to Jeremiah which had to be delivered exactly.  The message is brief, but the response it garners is disproportionately large.  If he simply stood and delivered the message once to anyone who happened to be there to listen, I doubt that there would have been much response.  Did he deliver the message several times with the response growing as he did so?  Did he gather the crowd to listen and then speak once?

It’s hard to know, but I guess that he probably collected a crowd before delivering the message.

It is interesting that Jesus should have been attacked in just the same way as Jeremiah was for giving the same message about the destruction of the temple (Matthew 26:60-61; Mark 14:58; Matthew 27:40; Mark 15:29).

Commanded?

In Jeremiah 19:1-13, God tells Jeremiah to go to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the Potsherd Gate and act out a parable (19:1-2, 10).  He was not attacked.

Jeremiah 19:14 tells us that Jeremiah returned from the place where God had sent him to prophesy and spoke to the people in the court of the temple.  Did God send Jeremiah to the temple?  Had he been instructed to go there?  There are two mentions of being sent to Topheth and none about being sent to the temple.

When speaking to the people in the temple, he still says “Thus says the Lord” which argues that he had been sent.  The next day, he has a message from God for Pashhur, which also argues that he had been sent.  But no explicit statement.

I wonder why?

Protection

Jeremiah also complains in Jeremiah 20:7 that God had deceived him, which I think is most likely to be linked to the promise in Jeremiah 1:8,17 that he would be protected.  Protection of God’s prophets was not always protection against physical suffering or even death, but against defeat – the words would still come to pass whether people believed them or not and whether the prophet who delivered them was murdered or not.

The stocks

Jeremiah was put in the stocks at the gate of the temple (Jeremiah 20:2).  Stocks are first mentioned in Israel during the reign of Asa when he put Hanani the seer in the stocks in prison because he was angry about the prophet’s message (2 Chronicles 16:10).

Stocks would not be placed at the gate of the temple unless they were expected to be used, but we have no record of when they were placed there, what they were used to punish or how often.  When you look for details of life in the Bible, there are normally more questions raised than answers given.  I suppose that shows clearly that the Bible is primarily about spiritual matters, not for answering all of my questions about daily life!

In Jeremiah 29:24-28, during the reign of Zedekiah, a letter is written by Shemaiah of Nehelem telling Zephaniah the priest that Jeremiah should be being put in the stocks (with neck irons also) to punish him for writing letters to the captives in Babylon.  This suggests that the stocks were used to deal with trouble-makers and that extra punishments were also available depending on the seriousness of the trouble.

In Jeremiah 20, Pashhur beat Jeremiah before putting him in the stocks.  Deuteronomy 25:1-3 talks about beating guilty people with up to 40 stripes and Paul speaks of being given forty lashes less one on five occasions by the Jews (2 Corinthians 11:24-25).  Both of these suggest a whip rather than a rod.  God gave 40 as an upper limit, but in Paul’s time they seem to have taken it as a single dose of punishment.  Once you deserved a lashing, you deserved 39 lashes.  Not at all how Deuteronomy 25:2 reads when it says “with a number of stripes in proportion to his offence”.

Jeremiah 27:1-11 Make yoke and wear it to give messages for foreign kings come for discussions about Nebuchadnezzar.

There is some uncertainty about the timing of this passage:

• Most Hebrew manuscripts say Jehoiakim (not Zedekiah) in v1.  LXX does not have v1 at all.
• Most Hebrew manuscripts say Zedekiah in v3.  LXX has no name at all in v3.

If this is in the 3rd year of Jehoiakim, it is probably the first time that Babylon is mentioned as the attacking power and Nebuchadnezzar as its leader.  The earliest we know of otherwise is in the 4th year of Jehoiakim.

Jeremiah 27:12 refers to the same message being delivered to King Zedekiah and Jeremiah 28:1 refers to the “same year” which is identified as the fifth month of the fourth year.

I don’t believe there is any simple solution to these conflicts.  The simplest solution is probably to assume that Jeremiah 27:1-11 refers to the time of Jehoiakim and that the message is repeated to Zedekiah in his fourth year as king.

Zedekiah may well have been involved in the discussions with the visiting envoys while his older brother Jehoiakim was still king.

The message was to be delivered to the envoys who have come to Jerusalem and they would deliver it to their kings.

Language details

• The Edomite language was very similar to Hebrew, but probably written with a Phoenician script.  Now considered to be a dialect of Hebrew.  (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edomite_language)
• The Moabite language was also very similar to Hebrew but probably written with a Phoenician script.  Now considered to be a dialect of Hebrew.  (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edomite_language)
• The Ammonite language was also very similar to Hebrew and used the Hebrew script.  Not considered to be a distinct language from Hebrew.  (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonite_language)
• Tyre and Sidon would both have spoken the Phoenician language which in grammar and vocabulary was very close to Hebrew. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenician_language)

Jeremiah 25:15-38 describe Jeremiah being given a cup to take to many different nations.  Jeremiah 25:18 talks of the nations being ruined “as at this day”, which suggests that this text was written some time after the prophecy was fulfilled.

Jeremiah is given a cup with instructions to make many nations drink from it.  Every commentary I have found dismisses the possibility that any of this could be literal.  All say it is in symbol and that Jeremiah did not go around with a cup, and the vast majority say that he did not go around at all.

The list of nations who were to drink is very long:

• Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials,
• Pharaoh king of Egypt, servants, officials and people,
• all the mixed tribes among them;
• all the kings of the land of Uz;
• all the kings of the land of the Philistines (Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod);
• Edom,
• Moab,
• and the sons of Ammon;
• all the kings of Tyre,
• all the kings of Sidon,
• and the kings of the coastland across the sea;
• Dedan,
• Tema,
• Buz,
• all who cut the corners of their hair;
• all the kings of Arabia,
• all the kings of the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert;
• all the kings of Zimri,
• all the kings of Elam,
• and all the kings of Media;
• all the kings of the north, far and near,
• all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth.
• And after them the king of Babylon shall drink.

Let’s start with the question: Did Jeremiah visit any of these countries or nations to give them God’s message?  Jeremiah 27 speaks of a message being delivered to visiting envoys and it is possible that this could have been done in this case, but it doesn’t read that way.  Jeremiah 25:18-19 speaks of kings and officials.  Jeremiah 25:20-26 speaks of kings and Jeremiah 25:28-29 describes what should happen if they refuse to drink.  Giving it only to envoys or ambassadors does not seem to fit.

Jeremiah was told at the very start that he was a prophet to the nations.  How can a prophet to the nations deliver a message only to his own nation?  How can such a message be said to be delivered if it never reaches anyone outside Judah?

I am not sure whether the cup is literal or not, but I think it is most likely that the message was delivered in many countries, probably over quite some time, and possibly only finishing when he could speak of destruction and say “as at this day.”

Jeremiah was given a cup by God. This raises a few questions for me.

Was the cup really given or was it just in a vision? If it was just in a vision, how did it all work? He was given the cup and told to give it to various nations. He says that he did so, but the list contains the indication mentioned in yesterday’s diary that it was written after the events once the destruction of Judah was complete (“as at this day”). God goes on to say (Jeremiah 25:28) “if they refuse to accept the cup” suggesting that this could happen outside the vision.

Overall, the text suggests to me that Jeremiah’s job was not limited to some interaction in a vision. I think it is most likely that he would have felt that he literally needed to deliver these messages since a warning is no use unless it is communicated. That, after all, is why God sent prophets.

Whether the cup existed only in a vision or not, what did it look like and what was it made of? Babylon is spoken of as a “golden cup in the Lord’s hand” (Jeremiah 51:7), so presumably this cup was not golden or particularly remarkable in any way. Given its contents, I expect that it would not be attractive.

One interesting thought to contemplate. The Hebrew word for cup used here is also used for the name of an unclean bird, probably an owl (see Leviticus 11:17; Deuteronomy 14:16 (“little owl” in ESV, KJV and most other translations I have). In Jeremiah 1:11-12, God uses a play on words based on the similarity of the words for “almond” and “being on the lookout for”. God could have done the same sort of thing by having a cup carved in the shape of an owl or with the unblinking eyes of an owl, also giving the picture of God watching those who were to drink from the cup of his wrath.

Intriguing, but since it is not mentioned, it is probably unlikely. God also forbids the creation of likenesses of animals, and generally seems to avoid it himself (although there are exceptions like the bronze snake in the wilderness and the carvings of cherubim, etc.).

Some more planning was done for the novel I hope to write in November (for NaNoWriMo https://nanowrimo.org).

Joseph has always been one of my favourite Bible characters and I have given some series of talks on his life at different times, so a lot of the research has already been done to a reasonable depth.  Chapter divisions are difficult at times, and this book will probably have a lot more chapters than the volumes of Terror on Every Side!

I intend to write it as an ever-present narrator since that allows more direct analysis of Joseph as a character and acknowledgement of his better features.

To be honest, I hope that the story is never finished because it is interrupted by the return of Jesus.  However, until that happens, work continues for each of us.

Jeremiah begins his task of passing on God’s message about his wrath.  If you received the command God gave to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 25, would you think it was all spiritual or would you feel that for people to be warned, you really needed to go and tell them.  For me, it seems very much like the orders God gives to Ezekiel about being a watchman.  If Ezekiel told people and they ignored him, well and good.  If he did not tell them, he would be responsible for their blood.