Abortion in Jewish and Christian views

I have a friend in the US whom I've known for 50 years plus. He wrote to me this week asking about the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs Wade. He wondered if the religious views of the Court might not have had something to do with the ruling. 7 Christians vs 2 Jews.

Here are some of my answers to him:

First, is the Jewish view on abortion. There is NO agreement among Jewish people on the subject of abortion. 

For instance, Chabad (representing the ultra-Orthodox) says this:

The sages of the Talmud point out that the phrase in Genesis “one who sheds the blood of man through man” is more accurately translated as “one who sheds the blood of man within man.” Based on this, Rabbi Ishmael said that under ordinary circumstances the killing of a fetus is considered a capital offence for all descendants of Noah, i.e., humankind.”

But their website adds what they think is somewhat contradictory evidence, but really says it only in a different angle. 

This is another quote from Torah (Exodus): “Should men quarrel and hit a pregnant woman, and she miscarried but there is no fatality, he shall surely be punished when the woman’s husband makes demands of him, and he shall give [restitution] according to the judges’ [orders]. 

Since the Torah obligates only monetary compensation but no capital punishment, the Torah seemingly views the fetus as property, not as human life. There are various ways of reconciling these verses. All agree, however, that under ordinary circumstances abortion is prohibited.”

One issue is “full term” babies. According to most Jewish sources, if they are able to reach full term, the unborn then become living beings. If they don’t reach full term, then they must live a full 30 days outside the womb before they are a real person. 

The Talmud states in part that if the “greater part was already born, one may not touch it, for one may not set aside one person’s life for that of another.” So, the act of birth changes the status of the unborn from a nonperson to a person (Hebrew word: nefesh). Killing the newborn after this point would be infanticide. No one thinks this is acceptable. The question is then, what about before that actual birth? Many Talmudic sources and commentators on the Talmud substitute the word “head” for “greater part.” Others maintain the “greater part” meaning the trunk/ torso. So, Dave, that’s where I’m guessing you learned about the ‘head’ or ‘crown’ you mention. 

Famous rabbis and commentators like Maimonides and Joseph Caro also considered the viewing of the head to indicate birth. They both also said that by rabbinic decree, even if only one limb of the unborn came out and then retracted, childbirth is considered to have taken place.

Not only is the precise time of the birth significant in determining whether aborting the fetus is permissible to save the mother’s life, but the viability of the unborn must also be taken into account. The newborn child is not considered fully viable until it has survived thirty days following birth, as is stated in both Torah and in the Talmud:

“Rabbi Simeon ben Gamliel said: Any human being who lives 30 days is not a nephel [abortus] because it is stated: ‘And those that are to be redeemed of them from a month-old shalt thou redeem (Numbers 18.16) since prior to thirty days it is not certain that he will survive.”

 

Further support for the necessity of a 30‑day postpartum viability period for adjudicating various Jewish legal matters pertaining to the newborn also comes from Maimonides, who said,

“Whether one kills an adult or a day‑old child, a male or a female, he must be put to death if he kills deliberately…provided that the child is born after a full‑term pregnancy. But, if it is born before the end of nine months, it is regarded as an abortion until it has lived for thirty days, and if one kills it during these thirty days, one is not put to death on its account.

Thus, although the newborn infant reaches the status of a person or nefesh, which it didn’t have prior to birth, it still does not enjoy all the legal rights of an adult until it has survived for thirty days postpartum. The death penalty is not imposed if one kills such a child before it has established its viability, but killing it is certainly prohibited because “one may not set aside one person’s life for that of another.”

Taken from Biomedical Ethics and Jewish Law, published by KTAV.

All that to say that most traditional Jewish views on birth indicate that the unborn is not really a fully-functioning human until some part of the unborn fetus is viewable (arm, leg, crown), and thus even up to a 9^th-month abortion would be legal. 

 

What about Christian views? if only life were so simple. There are some Christians whose whole raison d'être seems to Include fighting for the rights of the unborn. There are some Christians who have had abortions and there are tons of middle-of-the-pack others. There is no one size fits all theology of abortion/ murder philosophy. The Bible shows God knowing Jeremiah the prophet in the womb (before he was born) and John the Baptist actually filled with the Spirit while in the womb of Elizabeth his mother. Those unborn future Jewish leaders are representative, they say, of all the unborn whose souls have formed already in utero. 

 

I guess the 7 vs 2 of the SCOTUS may well have religious overtones, and certainly that’s one of the big arguments about the Trump appointees, and I hope I’ve helped fill in some thoughts as you continue that processing. Thanks again for asking. 

Threats to the prophet (Jeremiah 26)

 Truth and Consequences: 

A study in the prophecy of Jeremiah

Chapter 26

By Bob Mendelsohn

Given 23 June 2022

 

Lesson Twenty-six:  Threats to the prophet

 

INTRODUCTION

We ended last week with a review of the early words of Jeremiah in chapter 1

 

“See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, 

            To pluck up and to break down, 

            To destroy and to overthrow, 

            To build and to plant.” (verse 10)

 

God had used the words of the prophet the first 25 chapters to pluck up and break down, to destroy and overthrow. Now beginning in the reading for today, the 2^nd half of the book leads us to see the “to build and to plant” and that is for many of us what would be titled ‘hope.’ 

Listen, today is 24 June, and three days ago we experienced the winter solstice. That’s the day when the day is the shortest, when our light is the least of any one 24-hour period in the entire year. And if you will, we are now moving towards summer. Every day we increase in light, and every day is getting longer. Not significantly, but it is increasing. That may be a way to view Jeremiah’s prophecy at this point. To build and to plant… that’s where we are going. 

 

So chapter 26 is really the half-time interval. But we are past the solstice. 

 

1.     The reprise of the curse if you don’t listen (.1-6)

OK, verse 1 sounds the rewind of the tape. We are back in 609 BCE, the beginning of the reign of King Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah. Remember Josiah had initiated great changes int eh Jewish people, and begun a revival of sorts. It didn’t last, as we have discussed, which had to disappoint Josiah himself, and certainly those of the righteous who followed his reforms. 

When we read ‘bereishit mamlachut” it reminds me of the Platinum anniversary celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II we have watched the last couple of weeks. 

בְּרֵאשִׁ֗ית מַמְלְכ֛וּת         

 

Think back to the beginning of her reign, 1952, and you will remember who you are, where you were, etc. That’s what Baruch, the scribe, is doing with chapter 26. Flashback to 609 BCE. Reminder of Jeremiah’s words of warning in verses 1-6. Matthew Henry said of this section, “Those who will not be subject to the commands of God, make themselves subject to the curse of God.”

 

This section of rewrite should be read in conjunction with the Temple sermon of chapter 7. Again we mention that if we had the editorial capacity we would have moved chapter 26 to be next to chapter 7, but we don’t have that capacity. There, the people trusted in their religion and Jeremiah said, the temple won’t save you. The religion of your fathers won’t save you. Listen to my words, turn from your sins, that will be part of your salvation. But the people didn’t heed his prophecy and turned on him, then, and now in the reiteration of that time in chapter 26.

 

Using Jehoiakim according to Stulman (Abingdon Press, 2005) is a code word. “He is a prototype of infidelity and disobedience.” Stulman says it is a ‘code word for cosmic crumbling and the collapse of moral courage.” Think about some folks in your own history or your national story. Someone like Daniel Boone or Sam Houston in the US are code words for courage and valour. Someone in the US like Benedict Arnold or Julian Assange are code words for traitor. Here in Australia, Ned Kelly is code word for much more than larrikin; he’s a bush ranger and outsider to law and order. Stulman is saying Jehoiakim is code word for failure and infidelity.

 

Now I mention this is the interval and if you remember how musicals operate in the theatre, after the interval (Americans: intermission) the orchestra will reprise some of the music from the first half of the show. That’s what Jeremiah is doing here. God told him back in chapter 1 to preach anytime and anywhere, and that some will listen, but most will reject him out of hand. He will face opposition from the leadership/ shepherds like priests and kings, even other prophets. Even so, the reprise continues, he is not to fear them for God will guard him. All that is found in chapter 26.  Barnes says this chapter is “a narrative of the danger to which Jeremiah was exposed by reason of the prophecy contained in Jeremiah 7.”

 

Jehoiakim’s reign began under the authority of Pharaoh Neco II after a military victory gave Egypt the oversight of this region. Neco installed Jehoiakim as vassal in 609 BCE and taxed him and Judah heavily. It’s into that situation that God sent his servant the prophet to get Jehoiakim to rule like his dad, Josiah and to rule well. That unfortunately did not happen. 

 

The words of verses 1-6 are clear: “If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law which I have set before you, ⁵ to listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have been sending to you ¹again and again, but you have not listened; ⁶ then I will make this house like Shiloh, and this city I will make a curse to all the nations of the earth.”

 

If you don’t clean up your act, you will be a curse.

 

He mentions Shiloh… what’s that? That’s where the Tabernacle stood in the days of Samuel the prophet. The ark, the holy place, the place where God dwelled. Imagine the chutzpah of Jeremiah to predict this. Yeshua had this same chutzpah when he stood on the Temple Mount and cried out, 

But He responded and said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.” (Matthew 24.2)

 

That’s either unmitigated gall, bravery, or sheer stupidity to say ON THE TEMPLE GROUNDS! That’s what a prophet sounds like, though. 

 

Verse 4 and 5 combines the testimony of the Law and the Prophets. Each prophet uses his office as a continuity with Torah, and calls on the authority of Moses and the prophets to validate his own message. Jeremiah is no different. 

 

Verse 3 has a word I missed the first couple of times in reading this chapter. It’s the word ‘perhaps.  (Heb: אוּלַ֣י  ). It’s a word not found in chapter 7. It’s a word of hope, certainly of longing. Maybe they will listen. 

Maybe they will repent.

Maybe they will follow me with all their heart. 

Wow, it’s a whisper of God’s intention and God’s longing. The Gentle and Lowly King of the Universe is aching to hear a word, a soft word, a cry from the kishkes of his people. Perhaps. Oolai. 

 

 

2.     A plot to kill Jeremiah (.7-11)

 

The second section of the chapter today is verses 7 to 11. Jeremiah preaches and the people are roused by the leadership to murder him. They use the phrase found in Genesis 2

מ֥וֹת תָּמֽוּת

 

This is the cry of “Death penalty” if you will. God said that to Adam that in the day he eats of the wrong tree he will surely die. The Hebrew is dyingly die. It’s multiplied death. It’s inescapable death. It’s the death penalty in a court of law. God uses this phrase three times in Torah related to capital crimes (Ex 21, Lev 20,  Numbers 35). Let’s just say this is serious and Jeremiah is not going to escape the cry for his death. 

 

3.     Jeremiah’s self-defense and rescue (.12-24)

 

But then they listen one more time to Jeremiah in his defence.  Odd to pronounce the death sentence before they gave him such an opportunity to self-defend. But maybe I’m reading the prosecution’s accusation as a sentence. I could be wrong.

What is his defence? God spoke and I must discharge those words to you. End of story. Oh, except it was to be done here and now. And if you miss it, you will kill me, but you will bring innocent blood onto your own heads. You will own the wrong you are committing. Are you really willing to do so? That’s Jeremiah’s question. 

He uses the occasion of his defence in court to remind the people, the priests, and the other prophets that what he has said, he is saying again. Listen oh Israel, Sh’ma Yisrael, to what God has said. He is a jealous God. 

 

Verse 16, the officials change their mind. They undo the verdict of the death penalty and any commensurate sentence. The verse 17, “elders of the land” sounds like people from regional areas who are in Jerusalem perhaps for an occasion, a holiday or such, who are not at all intimidated by the Jerusalem authorities, the priests who ran the Temple etc. Judaism then, as today, is ever divided and Jeremiah found mates in the country leadership, not the leadership of the country. And I love how they got the people on side with them.  They quote Scripture, especially another prophet Micah. Chapter 3.

 

You see, Deuteronomy says that if a prophet prophesies and the thing does not come to pass, then he is a false prophet and should be stoned. The people in Micah’s day were patient and listened. He prophesied destruction unless the people repented. What happened? King Hezekiah took the prophecy on board, and he repented. Then the people repented and God stayed the evil he had planned. On the basis of that precedent, the elders in Jeremiah’s day are saying, we should also not kill Jeremiah! Those country elders knew both the Scripture and the One who gave them to us. 

 

Perhaps!

 

I really love these Tamworth or Kansan farmers who are elders in their village. They bring up Hezekiah and that may well be a code word (see Stulman) for fidelity and honour in direct contrast to Jehoiakim. If he wanted to rid the world, certainly his world, of Jeremiah, and thus depict his own infidelity, the elders of the land mention Hezekiah and Micah and thus depict their own fidelity. God loves to listen to humble souls, and humble leaders. Christopher Wrights says, “Hezekiah spared the prophet and sought the Lord. (verse 19). Jehoiakim killed a prophet and hardened his heart.” (verses 20-23) That prophet was Uriah, a previously unnamed Jewish prophet. The author is showcasing the evil that lurked in Jehoiakim and the possibility of the end of Jeremiah. 

 

But look at the final verse of the chapter. The Lord spared Jeremiah to keep proclaiming the message. 

 

Craigie says this in summary of the section, 

“the explicit teaching in the Gospels that Jesus went to this death as one in the long line of prophets persistently sent by God but rejected by the people and killed (Jer 26:5, 20–23; Luke 13:33–34; Matt 23:29–32). These prophets bear a common message, that unrepentant sinners are never safe, even in the temple of the LORD (Jer 26:4–6, 18, 20; Matt 24; Mark 13; Luke 21). God’s people cannot create security for themselves by technology or strategies, theology or liturgies. They will find life and hope only at the intersection of human repentance and divine mercy (Jer 26:3). Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem in Matt 23:37–39//Luke 13:34–35 reflects the content of Jer 26. The people of Jerusalem kill God’s prophets (26:20–24), yet God persistently sends more, desiring the people’s restoration (26:4–5, 13). The alternative is the desolation of the temple and the city (26:5–6, 9, 18). But the people must recognize and listen to the one who comes and speaks in the name of the LORD (26:15–16).

 

            “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone to death the ones sent to you: How often have I longed to gather your children together like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See, your house is left to you, desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” (Matt 23:37–39)

 

Perhaps you are hearing that message today? Perhaps you want to give your life to the One who gave his life on the cross for you. Would you like to do that? In a moment my friend Jimmy will lead you in such a prayer. Please turn and listen. And pray and join the family of God with us. 

 

CONCLUSION

God is calling each of us to know him and to walk with him, today and throughout our days. Have you received Yeshua as your messiah and Lord? He is risen from the dead! Have you renounced your sin, your idolatry, your forsaking God and given him First Place in your life? If not, please, do so now, just now, as we pray together. Use your own words, if you want, but yield, surrender, to the Lord of life. 

 

PRAYER

Then please write us (admin@jewsforjesus.org.au) to tell us what you have just done, and we will send you literature and encourage you. You are part of our family; we love and appreciate you. And we want you to enjoy the presence of the Lord who calls, who knows, who blesses and builds us up. 

We hope to see you again next week as we study chapter 27. Until then, Shabbat shalom!

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barnes, Albert, Albert Barnes’ Commentary on the Old Testament.

Craigie, Peter; Kelley, Page; Drinkard, Joel. Word Biblical Commentary. Book of Jeremiah.  1991. 

Henry, Matthew, Commentary.

McConnville, Gordon, Jeremiah, New Bible Commentary. 

Wright, Christopher, The Message of Jeremiah, The Bible Speaks Today, Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, 2014.

 

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ACTUAL TEXT

 

Jer. 26:1   In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the LORD, saying, ² “Thus says the LORD, ‘Stand in the court of the LORD’S house, and speak to all the cities of Judah who have come to worship in the LORD’S house all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them. Do not omit a word! ³ ‘Perhaps they will listen and everyone will turn from his evil way, that I may repent of the calamity which I am planning to do to them because of the evil of their deeds.’ ⁴ “And you will say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD, “If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law which I have set before you, ⁵ to listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have been sending to you again and again, but you have not listened; ⁶ then I will make this house like Shiloh, and this city I will make a curse to all the nations of the earth.”’”

 

A Plot to Murder Jeremiah

 

Jer. 26:7   The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD. ⁸ When Jeremiah finished speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “You must die! ⁹ “Why have you prophesied in the name of the LORD saying, ‘This house will be like Shiloh and this city will be desolate, without inhabitant’?” And all the people gathered about Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.

 

Jer. 26:10   When the officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the LORD and sat in the entrance of the New Gate of the LORD’S house. ¹¹ Then the priests and the prophets spoke to the officials and to all the people, saying, “A death sentence for this man! For he has prophesied against this city as you have heard in your hearing.”

 

Jer. 26:12   Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and to all the people, saying, “The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard. ¹³ “Now therefore amend your ways and your deeds and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will change His mind about the misfortune which He has pronounced against you. ¹⁴ “But as for me, behold, I am in your hands; do with me as is good and right in your sight. ¹⁵ “Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves, and on this city and on its inhabitants; for truly the LORD has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”

 

Jeremiah Is Spared

 

Jer. 26:16   Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and to the prophets, “No death sentence for this man! For he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.” ¹⁷ Then some of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying,

¹⁸         “Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Thus the LORD of hosts has said, 

            “Zion will be plowed as a field, 

            And Jerusalem will become ruins, 

            And the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.”’

¹⁹ “Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the LORD and entreat the favor of the LORD, and the LORD changed His mind about the misfortune which He had pronounced against them? But we are committing a great evil against ourselves.”

 

Jer. 26:20   Indeed, there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the LORD, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim; and he prophesied against this city and against this land words similar to all those of Jeremiah. ²¹ When King Jehoiakim and all his mighty men and all the officials heard his words, then the king sought to put him to death; but Uriah heard it, and he was afraid and fled and went to Egypt. ²² Then King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: Elnathan the son of Achbor and certain men with him went into Egypt. ²³ And they brought Uriah from Egypt and led him to King Jehoiakim, who slew him with a sword and cast his dead body into the burial place of the common people.

 

Jer. 26:24   But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that he was not given into the hands of the people to put him to death.

The captor will see punishment as well (Jeremiah 25)

 Truth and Consequences: 

A study in the prophecy of Jeremiah

Chapter 25

By Bob Mendelsohn

Given 17 June 2022

 

Lesson Twenty-five: The Captors will be Judged

 

INTRODUCTION

Thank you, friends, for joining us today here in the Zoom room, as we unpack chapter 25 of Jeremiah. .. (this talk is on youtube)

1.     Judgment on Judah (.1-11)

Everything we said last week about God’s all-sufficient grace is still true, but in today’s reading, there is not even the slightest hint of that graciousness being extended to anyone left in Judah. Certainly, not in verse 1 to Jehoiakim or anyone previously listed in the cast of characters. There is a comprehensive sigh of exasperation coming from the prophet to anyone and everyone. You had your chance, he’s saying. You didn’t take it. You are sinking; your boat has a giant hole in it, and you are going down. I will not be singing to you any songs of hope. This is the final curtain. I hear that beat of the distant drum, and the tribe has spoken. The lady on Weakest Link says, “You are the weakest link. Goodbye.” The end. 

 

Wow, that’s hopeless and why so many people skip this and other sections of the Older Testament. The time stamp is the year is 605 BCE with all the details of who’s who and what year it is. It announces Nebuchadnezzar as king in his first year, and what a first year it is. He has conquered the Egyptians and thus is set up as the supreme ruler of the entire Fertile Crescent. That’s the good soil and travel routes from Babylon around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers through Canaan and down to Egypt. It’s a massive swath of territory, and the new ruler is set up for decades.  This now adds to the doom and gloom of the prophecy and sounds like Jeremiah all the rest of his book.

Verse 3, the Hebrew ‘shacham’ translated relentlessly, or ‘again and again’ means that God didn’t only send one email and that’s it. He kept trying to communicate, and maybe that’s the sound of grace, too?

Verses 5 and 6, from Craigie:

There is a shift of person from that first call to repentance to the next phrase, “and from your evil deeds,” a shift from third person masculine singular to second person masculine plural. This phrase also occurs several times in Jeremiah (4:4; 21:14 [cf 21:12]; 23:2 [cf 23:22; 26:3]; 44:22).

         The consequence of the call to repentance is expressed in the imperative that follows, “and remain (‏ישׁב‎),” i.e., “turn, and you will remain” [GKC § 110f] The word play involving the two verbs ‏שׁוב‎, “turn,” and ‏ישׁב, “remain,” is another example of the assonance frequently found in Jeremiah (Holladay, JBL 81 [1962] 46).

And maybe this is the word of grace, verse 11 says, “70 years.” That’s the duration of this captivity, so it’s not 100 or 400 years; it’s not eternity, so I guess that’s ok. Or is it?

 

Look, I think I’m straining at a gnat here. There is little grace in chapter 25. The reality is the ship is going down. God signs up a free agent, Nebuchadnezzar and calls him “my servant” in verse 9. That’s got to sting. Israel is God’s servant. Look through Isaiah at how many times God uses that phrase of his people. Not a pagan king of a pagan people! It must be how the elder brother felt in the story of the Prodigal Son, right? I’m here, I’ve been here the whole time, and now some upstart, some ne’er-do-well is taking my title? 

Also recall that it was exactly 23 years ago that Jeremiah began his public ministry and he saw the pot that was boiling and tipped over and it came from the north. Most people then would have thought it to be the Assyrians, who had been the power for 150 years or so in the region, but no one else saw the Babylonians taking the world stage. The more I study history and the biblical history specifically, the more I realize how little stays the same. New kings and prophets arise; new governments ally with other powers and create super powers but they also will fall to later powers. God alone can see the end from the beginning and He alone is worthy of our consideration in light of nations and powers. 

Honestly, what did you think on 24 February when Russia invaded Ukraine? Did you see God’s hand? Did you think it was simply a country warring with another country? I don’t think Jeremiah would have been so cavalier.

2.     Then the captor becomes the guilty (.12-14)

Our second section this morning relates to Babylon itself. The prophet declares in verse 12 God’s plan for the nation that took captive the Jewish people. They will fail. They will be punished. They will bear their iniquity. What iniquity is that? The sin of how they mistreated the Jews. But, wait a minute, you cry. That’s not fair! From everything we’ve been studying the last 6 months in this line-by-line study of Jeremiah, God warned the Jewish people that if they misbehaved; if they did not listen to his voice, that he would act against us. Fair enough. HE said he would raise up others to take us captive and that’s exactly what is going to happen in less than 20 years from this prediction. 

And who would be the captors? The Babylonians. Great, now we know the players in the cast of characters. We know Judah, the protagonist, will disobey the Almighty and the Simon LeGree of the cast is the nation of Babylon. They will be the ‘bad guys’ and when they approach, the audience will boo and hiss. Got it. BUT, the Babylon Bad Boys are also the ones who served the plan and the purposes of the Lord, so in a way, in a very direct way, they are actually doing what God wants, while Judah is not doing what God wants. Who then should be receiving commendation and the audience’s applause? Obviously the Babylonians. IS that what will happen? Not on your life!

In the same way we saw the tables turn last week with the exiles being titled the ‘good figs’ and those who remained in the Land of Judah being titled the “bad figs,” so this week, the characters in the play who are the ‘obedient’ to God’s plan are going to be given the same 70 years to come good, but they won’t come good (we know the story) and thus God will judge those who ‘did his will.’ 

Here's how this works. Judah is responsible to serve God with gladness and singleness of heart for the abundance of all things. (Dt. 28.47) Judah despises God’s word and walks away. God judges her by sending Babylon to take her captive. The punishment includes being away from home for 70 years. At the end of that time, God will judge Babylon for the mistreatment of the people of God, Judah, and punish Babylon. End of the day, everyone will pay for their sins. Judgment will come on all people, and on all nations. Judgment will come on Putin and on Ukraine. And on Australia and on tribes in Canada and in the US. Judgment will fall on Australia and New Zealand and on you and on me. God will not be mocked; what we sow, that will we also reap. Amen?

This from verses 12 to 14:

will make it an everlasting desolation. ¹³ ‘I will bring upon that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against ^ball the nations. ¹⁴ ‘(For many nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.)’”

By the way the change from first person to 3^rd is probably that this section is the re-write of the book by Baruch (see chapter 36). Hence in verse 13 we read about ‘this book’ which probably was that which Baruch re-wrote.

 

Don’t you wish there were an editor who would have cut and paste, rearranged the chronology of the chapters? I certainly do, but what we have is how they organized it and we will have to discuss this with Baruch and Jeremiah and maybe even the Lord when we see them all together one day. I’ll add this to my list of questions for heaven.

 

3.     Judgment on the nations (.15-29)

 

Now the paintbrush of the prophet dips deep into the paint can and he takes a wide brush, is lavish in painting the canvas applying the judgment applied first to Judah and then to Babylon, now to various nations all around. And the imagery is a shared cup. Most of you will know that celebrations often involve cups and drinking. We remember those every Shabbat and certainly on most Jewish holidays, most notably on Passover. But perhaps more often in Scripture we find cups bringing judgment on the bearers and the drinkers. Consider these texts: Lam. 4.21, Psalm 11.6, 75.8, Isa. 31.17-21 Drinking judgment onto ourselves seems to be in view. And look at the result of that poisoned drink: staggering, going mad, drunkenness, vomiting, falling down to rise no more. The imagery could not be more graphic. This is sin that leads to death. There is no grave, no burial; this is terminal. This drinking is not alcohol, but the cup of the wrath of the Lord in judgment. 

 

Then we see the antinomy again of two conflicting perspectives and two apparently conflicting persons of responsibility. First we see the actions of the Almighty, bringing a sword (16, 29, 31) and the agents who bring that sword being Babylon (.38). Earlier in Jeremiah 4.7 and 5.6, we saw God bringing a lion image against the Jewish people from the north, and now in verses 30 and 38 here in this chapter, God uses that lion imagery of himself. This is a constant problem in Tenach and really throughout the whole Bible. Who is the agent of God’s goodness? Who is the agent of God’s judgment? Who is who? That’s where the word I taught you last week, antinomy comes in. It’s not one or the other; it’s both. 

Who will be drinking from this cup? All the nations round about, but look at verse 17 and 18. It starts with Judah. That seems unnecessary to list, doesn’t it? We know Judah is going to cop it. What is God saying in this? That like Peter records for us (1 Peter 4.17) “judgment must begin with the house of God.” Did you ever look at your oldest child and say something similar? A disruption was happening in the home and you walked in to discover its being played out. After a moment of being taken aback you turn to your eldest and say something like, “You should have known better.” The responsibility for prevention falls on the one who knows the most. Again I remember the Prodigal Son story (Luke 15) and recall that the elder brother would have been the one who should have looked after his brother, who should have welcomed him the earliest, the elder was responsible for the younger. In this case, Judah is held most accountable; he knew more. James the brother of Yeshua teaches Don’t let many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a ¹stricter judgment.” (The Greek is the word mega for stricter.)

 

Then the list of the nations reads like a table of contents as most of them will be repeated in the summary at the end of this book. 

 

You have to ask, why is this fair? Because the Word of the Lord has gone out from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2) Because creation itself teaches what we should already know about God. (Romans 1) No one is guiltless before the Lord. Listen how God describes those who will receive his judgment in this chapter: 

 

All the inhabitants on the earth (.29,.30)

To the ends of the earth (.31)

The nations (.31)

All flesh (.31)

The remotest part of the earth (.32)

Shepherds (.34-35) represent the governments of all these nations

 

Chapter 25 is really the halfway point in the story. Remember in chapter 1, Jeremiah is told to 

¹⁰       “See, ^aI have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, 

         ^bTo pluck up and to break down, 

         To destroy and to overthrow, 

         ^cTo build and to plant.”

 

And now here, he reaches the halfway, and the pluck up and break down, the destroy and overthrow is over. From now, build and plant is coming. Not 100%, but principally, he is at his own Hump Day, and we will see and hear a different theme or feeling coming from Jeremiah; look for that to come. 

 

CONCLUSION

God is calling each of us to know him and to walk with him, today and throughout our days. Have you received Yeshua as your messiah and Lord? He is risen from the dead! Have you renounced your sin, your idolatry, your forsaking God and given him First Place in your life? If not, please, do so now, just now, as we pray together. Use your own words, if you want, but yield, surrender, to the Lord of life. 

 

PRAYER

Then please write us (admin@jewsforjesus.org.au) to tell us what you have just done, and we will send you literature and encourage you. You are part of our family; we love and appreciate you. And we want you to enjoy the presence of the Lord who calls, who knows, who blesses and builds us up. 

We hope to see you again next week as we study chapter 26. Until then, Shabbat shalom!

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barnes, Albert, Albert Barnes’ Commentary on the Old Testament, 

Craigie, Peter; Kelley, Page; Drinkard, Joel. Word Biblical Commentary. Book of Jeremiah.  1991. 

Henry, Matthew, Commentary.

McConnville, Gordon, Jeremiah, New Bible Commentary. 

Weirsbe, Warren. Be Decisive. David Cook Publishers, Colorado Springs 1991.

Wright, Christopher, The Message of Jeremiah, The Bible Speaks Today, Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, 2014.

 

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ACTUAL TEXT

 

Jer. 25:1   The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), ² which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ³ “For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened. ⁴ You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the LORD persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, ⁵ saying, Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. ^{6 l}Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, ^mor provoke me to anger with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ ⁷ Yet you have not listened to me, declares the LORD, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm. 

 

Jer. 25:8   “Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, ⁹ behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the LORD, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. ¹⁰ Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. ¹¹ This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. ¹² Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the LORD, making the land an everlasting waste. ¹³ I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. ¹⁴ For many nations and great kings shall make slaves even of them, and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”

 

The Cup of the Lord’s Wrath

 

Jer. 25:15   Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: ^z“Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. ¹⁶ They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of ^athe sword that I am sending among them.”

 

Jer. 25:17   So I took the cup from the LORD’S hand, ^band made all the nations to whom the LORD sent me drink it: ¹⁸ Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day; ¹⁹ Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people, ²⁰ and all the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of the land of Uz and all the kings of the land of the Philistines (Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of ⁱAshdod); ^{21 j}Edom, ^kMoab, and the sons of Ammon; ²² all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland across the sea; ²³ Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut ^rthe corners of their hair; ²⁴ all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; ²⁵ all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; ²⁶ all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of Babylon¹ shall drink.

 

Jer. 25:27   “Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of the sword that I am sending among you.’

 

Jer. 25:28   “And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: You must drink! ²⁹ For behold, I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the LORD of hosts.

 

Jer. 25:30   “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:

          ^b“‘The LORD will roar from on high,

                   and from his holy habitation utter his voice;

          he will roar mightily against his fold,

                   ^cand shout, like those who tread grapes,

                   against all the inhabitants of the earth.

³¹       The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,

                   for the LORD has an indictment against the nations;

          he is entering into judgment with all flesh,

                   and the wicked he will put to the sword,

                   declares the LORD.’

 

Jer. 25:32           “Thus says the LORD of hosts:

          Behold, disaster is going forth

                   from nation to nation,

          and a great tempest is stirring

                   from the farthest parts of the earth!

 

Jer. 25:33   And those pierced by the LORD on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground.

 

Jer. 25:34           “Wail, you shepherds, and cry out,

                   and roll in ashes, you lords of the flock,

          for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come,

                   and you shall fall like a choice vessel.

³⁵       No refuge will remain for the shepherds,

                   nor escape for the lords of the flock.

³⁶       A voice—the cry of the shepherds,

                   and the wail of the lords of the flock!

          For the LORD is laying waste their pasture,

³⁷       and the peaceful folds are devastated

                   because of the fierce anger of the LORD.

³⁸       Like a lion he has left his lair,

                   for their land has become a waste

          because of the sword of the oppressor,

                   and because of his fierce anger.”