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Chapter 6
Jeremiah 6:1-9 ~ Prepare for the Invasion
1 Flee in a body, Benjaminites, right away from Jerusalem! Sound the trumpet in Tekoa! Light the beacon on Beth-ha-cherem! For disaster lowers from the north, an immense calamity.
There is no time marker to date this oracle. The land of the tribe of Benjamin included Jerusalem and also lands to the north and east of the city. It was one of the two tribes (the other being the tribe of Judah) that made up the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Tekoa was the home of the prophet Amos and was 5 miles (8 km) south of Bethlehem, David's city that was about 5 miles south of Jerusalem. The location of Beth-ha-cherem, "house/place of the destruction" also mentioned in Nehemiah 3:14, is an unknown site, but since the movement is from the south to the north it may be associated with Ramath Rabel, about 3 miles (5 km) south of Jerusalem
2 Beautiful, delicate as she is, 3 I shall destroy the daughter of Zion! Shepherds are advancing on her with their flocks. They have pitched their tents all round her, each grazes his part. 4 Prepare for holy war against her! To arms!
The "she," "the daughter of Zion," is Jerusalem. The "shepherds" are commanders of the advancing army who have put the city under siege. It is a "holy war" either because the aggressors feel they have a just cause in attacking Jerusalem (because the king of Judah has abandoned his treaty with the Babylonians), or because God is using the aggressors as His instrument of judgment, as is suggested in verses 6-9.
It is possible that the advancing army described in the oracle is that of the Egyptians in 609 BC, or the Babylonians in 605 BC, or possibly the Babylonians in 598 BC. King Josiah was killed at the Battle of Megiddo by the Egyptians in 609 BC. T
Jeremiah 6:10-15 ~ Those Placed Under Judgment
This passage is a formal accusation, supported by the judicial "give testimony," in the literal Hebrew.
People whose stubborn nature prevents them from hearing is a common theme in Scripture (in addition to Jer 5:21 and Acts 7:51, see Is 6:9-10; Ez 2:5-7; 3:7; Mt 13:13-17; Mk 4:12; Acts 28:25-28; Rom 11:7-8).
It is a consequence of war that the victor takes possession of the property and loved ones of the vanquished. T
Jeremiah 6:16-19 ~ The People Ignore Yahweh's Warnings
Jeremiah 6:16-21 is a two-part oracle. In verses 16-19, God warns through Jeremiah that this is the last chance to repent.
Jeremiah 6:20-21 ~ Yahweh Rejects the People's Gifts of Insincere Worship
This passage is part 2 of the oracle that began in verse 16. Verse 20 is a criticism of Temple worship carried out by an apostate people. The liturgy of worship that God gave His people at Mt. Sinai no longer delights Him because it is no longer sincere. They have rejected His word both written and preached. God prescribed the offering of a special mixture of incense for use in the liturgy of worship in Exodus 30:1-10, and an offering of incense is described in the heavenly Sanctuary in Revelation 5:8-10.
Jeremiah 6:22-26 ~ The Warning that the Destroyer is Coming
This oracle, similar to Jeremiah 4:5-8, is another warning of the coming of the enemy from the north. The command to "Look/Behold," hinneh in Hebrew (verse 22), is common in the book of Jeremiah; it is the most frequently used beginning to Jeremiah's oracles in both the prose and poetry sections. For example, thus far in the Hebrew text (but not always in the English translation) see: 1:6, 9/10, 18; 3:5; 4:13, 16; 5:14, 15; 6:10, 22.
The "daughter" metaphor for Jerusalem in 6:23 is repeated in verse 26. Jerusalem, with her Temple, is the lovely daughter of the covenant people and representative of the nation. The people have heard the news of the advancing army, and they are terrified. Through His prophet, Yahweh advises the people to seek shelter within the walls of Jerusalem and to wear sackcloth and ashes as a sign of mourning and repentance.
Jeremiah 6:27-30 ~ Jeremiah the Tester of the People
Jeremiah is the appointed as Yahweh's "tester" of the people. The comparison in verses 27-30 comes from the refining of metals, specifically from the treatment of silver ore from which the silver and ore are extracted separately. However, when Judah/Jerusalem is tested in the "melting pot" of suffering, there is no pure metal to be extracted; only the impure dross is found. Compare with Isaiah 1:22, where the prophet Isaiah lamented, The faithful city, what a harlot she has become! Zion, once full of fair judgment, where saving justice used to dwell, but now assassins! Your silver has turned into dross ... (also see Ez 22:18-20 and Mal 3:2-3). Jerusalem, the place where God chose for His name to dwell (Dt 12:11-12; 1 Kng 11:36; 2 Chr 6:6), the shining jewel of His people in the Promised Land, is nothing but a tarnished trash heap of sin where not a single righteous person is found to save her from disaster.
Agape Bible Study
Ezekiel 34 - 35
Chapter 34: The False Shepherds versus the Divine Shepherd
The prophecies against the nations in Chapters 25-32 focused on the prophetic fulfillment of God's curse judgments for failing to maintain the Sinai Covenant in Leviticus 26:14-45 and Deuteronomy 28:15-68. However, in Part III of the Book of Ezekiel, the focus of Yahweh's oracles concerning the restoration of Israel will recall the promised blessings for covenant fidelity in Leviticus 26:1-13 and Deuteronomy 28:1-14.
Ezekiel 34:1-6 ~ Oracle 3, Part 1: Yahweh's Indictment Against the Failed Shepherds of Israel
In verses 1-6, God lists the failures of the "shepherds"/rulers He placed over His covenant people as their guides and protectors. The symbolic imagery of a shepherd-king was common in the ancient Near East, and the Bible uses this same imagery. For example, when the twelve tribes came to ask David to become the king of all the tribes and not just Judah, they said: "Look, we are your own flesh and bone. In days past when Saul was our king, it was you who led Israel on its campaigns, and to you it was that Yahweh promised, You are to shepherd my people Israel and be leader of Israel'" (2 Sam 5:1b-2). Scripture also refers to God as the Divine Shepherd (for example see Ps 80:1; Heb 13:20; 1 Pt 2:25; 5:4).
Jeremiah used this same "shepherd" imagery for the kings of Israel to rebuke their failures (Jer 2:8; 10:21; 23:1-3) and to proclaim that God would give His people new shepherds who would lead His people ("pasture" them) with integrity (Jer 3:15; 23:4). God also promised through His prophets that from the ancestral line of the shepherd-king David would come a righteous "Branch," the Davidic Messiah, to "shepherd" His people (Is 11:6-9; Jer 23:5-6; Ez 34:23-24). In Chapter 34, God takes up the same "shepherding" theme through the prophet Ezekiel that will resume in the prophecies of Zechariah (Zec 11:4-17; 13:7).
Ezekiel 34:7-10 ~ Judgment Against the Failed Shepherds of Israel
This passage repeats some of the charges against the failed shepherds made in verses 2-6 and then concludes in Yahweh's divine judgment in verse 10.
Zedekiah is the last reigning Davidic king. After the return from exile, there is no Davidic king to sit on the throne of David.
Ezekiel 34:11-16 ~ Yahweh's Remedy
Yahweh continues His covenant lawsuit against the failed leaders of the Sinai Covenant who do not rightly "shepherd" the flock of God's people. After listing the failures of past "shepherds" of Israel and His judgment to take away their power to rule over His people in Ezekiel 34:1-10, God contrasts each abuse with His remedy (Ez 34:11-16). Yahweh begins His response to the failed shepherds with His promise that "I Myself" will come to "look after and tend my sheep" (repeated three times in Ez 34:11, 15 twice, and 20). Yahweh fulfilled that prophecy in the Incarnation of God the Son, Jesus of Nazareth: son of David, son of Abraham (Mt 1:1). God Himself came as the heir of the eternal Davidic covenant (2 Sam 7:16; 23:5; 2 Chr 13:5; Sir 45:25; 47:11/13 Lk 1:32-33) to restore His people and to seek out those lost in the darkness of sin. Jesus announced to the people that He is the Davidic "Good Shepherd" who came according to prophecy (Jn 10:1-18).
Ezekiel 34:17-22 ~ Yahweh Judges the Sheep of His Flock
17 "As for you, my sheep, the Lord Yahweh says this: I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and he-goats.
Question: Who are those symbolically referred to as sheep, rams, and he-goats? Hint: the sin offering for a civil leader was a he-goat (Lev 4:22-26) while the sin sacrifice for infringing Yahweh's sacred rights or deceiving a member of the covenant people was a ram (Lev 5:14-26)
Answer: The sheep probably represent the covenant people as a whole, and especially the ordinary people from whom God will separate out the righteous from the wicked. The rams and he-goats are probably the Davidic princes and the civil and religious leaders.
It was the common practice to keep goats and sheep in the same flock. In bad weather, the shepherd had to separate them at night and take the goats into a warmer enclosure since their coats were not sufficiently heavy to keep them warm (Jeremias, Parables of Jesus, page 206). God "tends" all peoples together, but the time will come when He will separate by divine judgment the "sheep from the goats."
| The Abuses of the Failed Shepherds (34:2-10) | God's Remedies (34:11-16) |
| 2b Shepherds, the Lord Yahweh says this: Disaster is in store for the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! | 11 "For the Lord Yahweh says this: Look, I myself shall take care of my flock and look after it. |
| 5 For lack of a shepherd they have been scattered, to become the prey of all the wild animals; they have been scattered to become the prey of all the wild animals; they have been scattered. | 12 As a shepherd looks after his flock when he is with his scattered sheep, so shall I look after my sheep. I shall rescue them from wherever they have been scattered on the day of clouds and darkness... |
| 6 My flock is astray on every mountain and on every high hill; my flock has been scattered all over the world... | 13 I shall gather them back from the countries and bring them back to their own land. I shall pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the inhabited parts of the country. 14 I shall feed them in good pasturage; the highest mountains of Israel will be their grazing ground. There they will rest in good grazing grounds; they will browse in rich pastures on the mountains of Israel. |
| 4b You have failed to bring back strays or look for the lost. On the contrary, you have ruled them cruelly and harshly. 6b ...no one bothers about them and no one looks for them | 16a I shall look for the lost one, bring back the stray, bandage the injured and make the sick strong. |
| 10 The Lord Yahweh says this: Look, I am against the shepherds. I shall take my flock out of their charge and henceforth not allow them to feed my flock. | 16c I shall be a true shepherd to them. |
| Michal E. Hunt Copyright © 2017 | |
In response to their abuses, God promises that He will come Himself to "look after and tend my sheep," and He will gather them back from where they are scattered. Jesus identified Himself as the Good Shepherd and said His mission was to find the "lost sheep" of the House of Israel (Jn 10:11-15; Mt 10:6; 15:24; Lk 15:4-7).
Ezekiel 34:23-31 ~ Oracle 3, Part 2: The Divine Shepherd as Divine Judge
Question: What is God's remedy for the abuses His covenant people suffered at the hands of failed shepherds? See Ez 34:23-24; Mt 1:1, and Lk 1:30-33.
Answer: God Himself will come as Divine Shepherd and as Divine Judge to rule over His covenant people through His servant, a Davidic heir. The coming of the Davidic heir will inaugurate a covenant of peace.
Chapters 35:1-36:15
Oracle 4: A Prophetic Oracle for the Mountains of Edom and Israel
In the other oracles, the judicial charges come first followed by Yahweh's divine judgment. In this case, the order is reversed in the judgment preceding the charges. The oracle is in two parts:
Part 1: Yahweh's prophecies concerning the Edomites (35:1-15).
Part 2: Yahweh's prophecy concerning Israel (36:1-15).
Part 1 is in two parts:
Part 1a: Yahweh's judgment against the mountains of Edom (35:1-9).
Part 1b: Yahweh's reasons for the judgment (35:10-15).
The oracle develops two topics:
1. The Edomites intended occupation of the Promised Land of Israel after the Babylonian defeat and exile of its people.
2. God's assurance that Israel would repossess its land and in greater prosperity than before.
In Part 1 of the oracle, Ezekiel is commanded to address Mount Seir, the mountainous region in Edom ( Dt 1:2, 44; 2:1; 33:2; Josh 11:17;2:7; Judg 5:4; 1 Chr 4:42) with the intention of contrasting Edom with the "mountains of Israel" in Part 2.
Ezekiel 35:1-9 ~ Judgment Against Edom
The judgment against Edom is total destruction because they joined with the Babylonians in the destruction of Jerusalem (verse 5). See the earlier judgment against Edom in Ezekiel 25:12-14. The Edomites supported Nebuchadnezzar's campaign against Jerusalem and celebrated the fall of Judah and Jerusalem (Ps 137:7; Lam 4:21-22; Amos 1:11-12; Is 11:14; 21:11-12; 34:5-17; Jer 49:7-22). They initiated "bloodshed" against Judah, and therefore "bloodshed" is their judgment (repeated four times in verse 6).
Ezekiel 35:10-15 ~ The Charges Against Edom
Question: What are Yahweh's two charges against the Edomites?
Answer: The charges against the Edomites that condemn them to divine judgment include:
- Their plan to possess the Promised Land of Israel in both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms motivated by their jealousy and hatred for Israel (verse 10).
- Their insolence towards Yahweh (verse 13).
As in the case of the judgments against Israel, the purpose of God's divine judgment is so the Edomites, who were once part of the family of Abraham (Gen 25:19-28), will know that I am Yahweh (verse 15). The Edomites have Yahweh's invitation to return to the family of Abraham represented by the people of Israel, the descendants of Esau's brother Jacob-Israel. What was Edom became part of Judah when King John Hyrcanus I took control of the territory in 129 BC (1 Mac 4:36-59; 2 Mac 10:1-8). In the 1st century BC, Edom was known by the Greek spelling as Idumea and continued under the control of the Hasmonean rulers of Judah. What was once Edom is part of the modern state of Israel.
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A Daily Defense
DAY 229 Self-Authenticating Scriptures?
CHALLENGE: “We don’t need the Church to help us identify Scripture. God’s word is self-authenticating.”
DEFENSE: This makes for good rhetoric but does not stand up to examination.
The word of God is powerful (Ps. 33:6; Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12), but this does not mean it is self authenticating. Scripture records that even prophets could be mistaken about whether a word they heard came from God (1 Sam. 3:2–9).
Taken literally, the claim that Scripture is self-authenticating would mean that the text of Scripture has certain qualities that prove it to be (that is, authenticate it as) the word of God.
What might these be?
According to the Westminster Confession of Faith, “the heavenliness of the matter [in the Bible], the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man’s salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God” (1:5). This is stirring rhetoric, but it can’t be cashed out in practical terms:
• It is impossible to state a list of objective literary qualities that characterize all the books of the Bible and only the books of the Bible.
• Even if one did so, one would need to argue why this collection of qualities shows it to be the word of God.
• And why couldn’t someone write new literature that also displayed those qualities? If so, such writings would also self-authenticate as the word of God and would be new scriptures.
For a closed canon, one thus would need to specify a set of literary qualities that not only marked out the Bible a s unique and as the word of God but that would also be impossible to duplicate.
This is not possible, as shown by the fact that nobody really applies this test. Those who claim Scripture is self-authenticating (including the authors of the Westminster Confession; see Day 236) end up appealing to factors other than the text, such as the witness of the Holy Spirit, meaning that the text is not self-authenticating.
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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