A suggested division of this chapter.
1. God tells Jeremiah to announce the doom to befall Jerusalem, Jeremiah 26:1-6.
2. He is accused of blasphemy by the false prophets, who declare him worthy of death, Jeremiah 26:7-11.
3. Jeremiah says that he is innocent, Jeremiah 26:12-15.
4. The officials and ‘all the people’, seem to be on Jeremiah’s side, Jeremiah 26:16-19.
5. The execution of Uriah, Jeremiah 26:20-23.
6. Ahikam rescues and protects Jeremiah, Jeremiah 26:24.
Here Jeremiah deals with events that occur at the beginning of Jehoiakim’s reign. Jeremiah 25, which dealt with the fourth year of his reign but this is now ‘early in the reign of Jehoiakim’, Jeremiah 26:1. Most scholars date this chapter to around 607/608 B.C.
God tells Jeremiah to stand in the courtyard and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah who come to worship in the house of God, Jeremiah 26:2. This was a good location because it enabled Jeremiah to reach a greater audience, people from all the towns round-about would be in the courtyard.
He is to tell them everything God command him and he’s not permitted to omit a word, Jeremiah 26:2 / Jeremiah 26:9 / 2 Timothy 3:16-17 / 2 Peter 1:3-5. Why was it important for Jeremiah not to omit any words? It’s important because if they listen and repent then God won’t punishment upon them, Jeremiah 26:3.
Feinberg, in his commentary, says the following, concerning Jeremiah 26:3.
‘1. The kind of repentance which God demands is always an individual matter and 2. promises of divine judgment are always conditional.’
However, if they don’t listen to and follow God’s law, Jeremiah 26:4, and if they don’t listen to the prophets he sent, Jeremiah 26:5, then He will make this house like Shiloah and the city will be cursed, Jeremiah 26:6. In making the temple like Shiloh, would remind God’s people during the days of Samuel when the tabernacle was setup in Shiloh but God allowed it to be destroyed by the Philistines because of the people’s sins, Jeremiah 7:12 / 1 Samuel 4.
Notice the priests, the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speak these words in the house of the LORD, Jeremiah 26:7. This section points out the importance of obeying God’s law and the terrible punishment that would await them if they didn’t and Shiloh was again given as an example of the destruction that would come to Jerusalem and the temple.
This was a truly evil scene as the false priests and false prophets were at it again. It says here that ‘all the people’, Jeremiah 26:8, wanted to seize him, and they said, ‘You must die,’ Jeremiah 26:8. They say Jeremiah is worthy of death, as far as the Law is concerned but the covenant breakers condemn the covenant keeper.
Scholars see a link between what is being said here and the sermon in Jeremiah 7, which is known as ‘Jeremiah’s temple sermon’. There Jeremiah was exposed to danger but here he is exposed to death. It was mob rule again and reminds us of the trial of Jesus in Jerusalem when the mob cried, ‘crucify him!’ Luke 23:21. This is the same response we read against Jesus, John 11:45-57, and Stephen when they preached God’s message at the temple in Jerusalem, Acts 7:57-60.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The Law of Moses gave the death penalty as punishment for blasphemy, Leviticus 24:16, and the same Law gave the death penalty for the speaking of a false prophecy, Deuteronomy 18:20.’
They ask Jeremiah why did he preach what he preached concerning Shiloh, Jeremiah 26:9. Jeremiah had no choice as he was commanded to preach exactly that, Jeremiah 26:6.
As we said when we looked at Jeremiah 7, the significance of Shiloh was the fact that it had been the first place that the ark came to rest after Israel entered the Promised Land. The Bible itself doesn’t make any reference to its destruction but a Danish expedition unearthed some pottery and other evidence that is said to support the fact that Shiloh was destroyed by the Philistines in about 1050 B.C.
‘All the people’, Jeremiah 26:9, had come together for the express purpose of setting up a court to try Jeremiah. They have come to the Lord’s house to judge a prophet for the law that they have no respect for anymore. It was these unworthy shepherds who were the ones to press the charges against him.
The officials of Judah would have heard the commotion that was raised in the temple and went to investigate, Jeremiah 26:10. The irony of this is that all the true prophets of God had been saying the same thing throughout the latter end of the northern kingdom and now the end of Judah.
The priests and prophets said to the officials and all the people that Jeremiah should receive the death sentence because he prophesied against the city and then reinforce what they say by telling the officials they themselves have heard him preach this message, Jeremiah 26:11.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘It was not true that the princes and elders had indeed heard the alleged blasphemy of Jeremiah and these words were directed to the bloodthirsty mob as their cue to join in the demand for Jeremiah’s death. There was nothing fair about the charges of the priests and the prophets; they announced the verdict of death before they even mentioned the charges.’
Jeremiah’s message, therefore, was a contradiction to what the false prophets were saying, ‘Peace, Peace,’ Jeremiah 6:14 / Ezekiel 13:10. It was also an attack against the professionalism of the priests and false prophets. His message of doom manifested their failure to keep the people close to the Word of God.
In defending himself, Jeremiah is defending the law. He says, my appointment is from God, my words are God’s words, Jeremiah 26:12, so mend your ways, Jeremiah 26:13. Notice how fully committed Jeremiah is now to God and sure of God’s promises. He says, ‘I am in your hands, do with me whatever you think is good and right,’ Jeremiah 26:14.
He knew that they had the power to kill him but he says, ‘if you do so, you do so in cold-blooded murder. I am doing what God has told me to do’, Jeremiah 26:15. This again, is similar to what Pilate to the Jews who wanted to kill concerning Jesus, Matthew 27:24-25.
Because of this, the leaders change their minds and notice that ‘all the people’ have changed their minds and say this man is not worthy of death, Jeremiah 26:16 / Acts 20:26-27. And what they said must have sounded good to Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 26:17, we see that some of the elders have spoken up for Jeremiah.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This is really a fine defence, and the argument was perfectly conclusive. Some think that it was Ahikam who undertook the prophet’s defence, Jeremiah 26:24.’
In Jeremiah 26:18, they proved his message by one of the other prophets. Micah is the one that they refer to, this verse is a quotation from Micah 3:12. Hezekiah didn’t condemn Micah to death for preaching God’s word, Jeremiah 26:19. What he did do was listened to God and pleads for His grace, Isaiah 38:5, and when he did, God didn’t bring disaster upon the city.
It is not an admission of guilt on their part but they knew that evil done to Jeremiah would bring evil upon themselves, Jeremiah 26:19. We see from the argument that continues that they are as favourable for his death as for his life. The difference here is the providence of God. How quickly a mob of people can change. They realised their guilt should they put Jeremiah to death, Jeremiah 26:19, and so, Jeremiah won the day.
The mention of Urijah, Jeremiah 26:20, indicates that there were many other prophets of God working in Israel who are not mentioned in the Bible. They ministered the word of God to Israel as Jeremiah but they did not have their messages recorded by the inspiration of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit inspired selected prophets to write in order that we might have their writings as resources from which to learn, Romans 15:4 / 1 Corinthians 10:11. Some of these prophets were killed and thus their deaths give evidence to the fact that they believed the word of God that they spoke, Hebrews 11:32-40.
In the case of the murder of Urijah, Jeremiah 26:20, we are given this historical information in order to be reminded that the prophets of God risked their lives to preach the message of God. Uriah spoke the same words as Jeremiah did during the reign of Jehoiakim but when Jehoiakim and his officials heard his words, they were determined to put him to death. When Uriah found out what they were planning to do, he ran to Egypt, Jeremiah 26:21, but Jehoiakim sent people to Egypt, Jeremiah 26:22, and had the prophet brought back to Judah and killed and then they dumped his body with the common people of the land, Jeremiah 26:23.
Ahikam rescues and protects Jeremiah, Jeremiah 26:24.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The Ahikam mentioned here was probably the father of Gedaliah, who, after the capture of Jerusalem, was appointed governor of the country by Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah 40:5.’