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Agape Bible Study
Jeremiah 45-46
Baruch and Jeremiah
Chapter 45: A Prophecy for Baruch
Jeremiah 45:1-5 ~ Yahweh Gives Baruch Two Oracles
Baruch receives the two oracles close to the time when he wrote out the scroll of Jeremiah and read it to the assembly of Israel in the Temple in 605 BC (see Jer 36:1-32). The writing down and reading of the scroll was the easy part. However, after King Jehoiakim destroyed the scroll, Jeremiah and Baruch had to go into hiding to save their lives. It is at this point that Baruch began to lament his condition in linking his life to Jeremiah's mission. He did not voice his discomfort, but God read his thoughts.
Through Jeremiah God gives the scribe two oracles: mixing an oracle of judgment with an oracle of salvation. The oracle of judgment is for Judah and the nations, but also it contains a rebuke for Baruch.
Question: What is the rebuke?
Answer: God tells Baruch there are greater events taking place than the discomfort, loss of ambitions, and fears of a single scribe. Baruch is being self-centered in thinking he deserves special treatment when all Judaeans are under the curse of divine judgment.
God reminds Baruch in verse 4 that He also suffers in having to "knock down" what He "built" and "uproot" what He "planted" in the land of Israel/Judah. What God tells Baruch reminds us of what Jesus told His disciples during His homily at the Last Supper when He said that they will share in His sufferings: Remember the words I said to you: A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too ... (Jn 15:20). However, Jesus also told His disciples to be brave and faithful in the face of persecution: In the world you will have hardship, but be courageous: I have conquered the world (Jn 16:33).
Question: The rebuke is followed by what promise of salvation?
Answer: Yahweh promises to protect him and to preserve his freedom and his life.
Jeremiah 46:1 ~ The words of Yahweh that were addressed to the prophet Jeremiah against the nations.
This verse is the introduction of Chapters 46-51. Jeremiah received these prophecies in a series of visions and oracles, and verse 1 reminds the audience that these oracles fulfill Jeremiah's call as a prophet to the nations. That Jeremiah's mission includes "nations" was made clear in Jeremiah 1:5 and 10 where "nations" (goyim) refers to all nations in the region including Judah.
The oracles are against nine nations: Egypt, Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus (Syria), Kedar-Hazor (Arab tribes), Elam, and Babylon. In the Septuagint text, the foreign nation oracles are in a different order: Elam, Egypt, Babylon, Philistia, Edom, Ammon, Kedar-Hazor (Arab tribes), Damascus (Syria), and Moab. Another difference is that in the Massoretic translation the superpowers of Egypt and Babylon appear first and last. It is significant that some of the oracles of judgment for the nine nations end in a promise of mercy and restoration, including a reminder of Yahweh's promise of restoration for Israel:
There is a reminder of restoration for Judah and Israel within the other oracles in 46:27-28; 50:19-20. However, no restoration is promised for Philistia, Edom, Damascus, Kedar-Hazor, or Babylon.
The first oracle comes as a vision of the Egyptian defeat by the Babylonians at the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BC. 46:1 is the introduction (or superscription) to the oracles against the nations. When Yahweh first called Jeremiah to his prophetic ministry, He told him that his ministry was not limited to the nation of Judah: Look, today I have set you over the nations and kingdoms, to uproot and to knock down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant (Jer 1:10). All the oracles against the nations are delivered by Jeremiah to a Jerusalem audience before the fall of Jerusalem.
Chapter 46:2-28 ~ The Oracles Against Egypt
Verses 1-2 are in prose and announce both this part of the book and the first prophecy against Egypt. Verses 3-11 are in the poetic form, while verses 12-13 return to prose. The poetry picks up again in verses 14-24 and breaks into prose again in 25-26 before returning to poetry in 27-28.
Jeremiah 46:2 ~ The Egyptian Defeat at Carchemish
Verse 2 sets the stage for the oracle that follows. Notice the spelling of Nebuchadrezzar as opposed to Nebuchadnezzar. Most English translations do not correctly record the alternate spelling. The spelling of Nebuchadrezzar with an "r" instead of an "n" is confirmed in the Babylonians Chronicles where Nabu-kudurri-usur is understood to mean "Nabu, protect the (eldest) son!" Nebuchadnezzar II was the eldest son and heir of Babylonian king Nabopolassar. His father was still alive at the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BC but died in the same year.
Jeremiah 46:3-12 ~ Jeremiah's Vision of the Battle of Carchemish
This passage dates to before the summer of 605 BC when the Babylonians defeated the Egyptians, led by Pharaoh Necho II, at the Battle of Carchemish. Jeremiah not only receives Yahweh's word but he also has a vision of the battle and describes it in detail.
Jeremiah 46:13-18 ~ Oracle of the Invasion of Egypt
The introduction (superscription) in verse 13 is in prose and is followed by the poetic oracle. Notice that the three cities named in verses 14 (also see verse 19) are the same cities where the Judaean refugees settled in 44:1. This oracle probably dates to the Babylonian invasion of Egypt in 582 BC, soon after the Judaeans refugees arrived, or perhaps to the invasion of 568-67 BC when the Judean refugees were living in Egypt during the reign of Pharaoh Amasis who deposed Hophra (see 43:12; Pharaoh Hophra was deposed in 570 BC and was the "sign" of the coming invasion in 44:29-30).
Jeremiah 46:19-24 ~ Oracle Continued: Defeat and Exile for Egypt
The heifer goddess Hathor was one of the major deities of the Egyptians. The "gadfly from the north" is the Babylonian army. A series of metaphors are used for Egypt and the advancing Babylonian soldiers: Egypt hisses like a snake and is like a felled forest while the Babylonians from "the north" are like woodcutters, and locusts.
Jeremiah 47:25-28 ~ Oracle: Yahweh's Divine Judgment for Egypt and Hope for Israel
The verses 25-26 are in prose, but the rest of the oracle is in the poetic form. In this passage, we have the repeating formula of divine judgment followed by a word of mercy and hope. Yahweh will punish the major deity in the Egyptian pantheon, the false god Amon (also called Amon-Ra), the ram-headed god of Thebes (No is the Egyptian name for Thebes; see Ez 30:14-16; Nah 3:8).
Question: What are Yahweh's words of mercy and salvation in verses 26b-28?
Answer: Yahweh words of mercy and salvation are that Egypt will be inhabited again and that after Jacob/Israel is disciplined, God will rescue all His people and they will also return their land.
Yahweh also promises to bring judgment to the nations where they were captives who mistreated His covenant people (verse 28). These last verses repeat the prophecy in Jeremiah 30:10-11 that also began "Do not be afraid, my servant Jacob ..."
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A Daily Defense
DAY 253 The Prophecy of Immanuel
CHALLENGE: “Matthew misunderstands Isaiah’s prophecy of Immanuel (Isa. 7:14). It doesn’t point to Jesus.”
DEFENSE : Matthew understands the prophecy better than you think.
The biblical authors recognized Scripture as operating on multiple levels. For example, Matthew interprets the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt as a fulfillment of the prophetic statement, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.” In its original context, it is obvious the “son” of God being discussed is Israel: “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt, I called my son” (Hos. 11:1).
Matthew understood this. He had read the first half of the verse and knew that, on the primary, literal level, the statement applied to the nation of Israel. But he recognized that on another level it applied to Christ as the divine Son who recapitulates and fulfills the aspirations of Israel.
In the same way, it is obvious in Isaiah that on the primary, literal level the prophecy of Immanuel applied to the time of King Ahaz (732–716 B.C.). At this point, Syria had forged a military alliance with the northern kingdom of Israel that threatened to conquer Jerusalem (Isa. 7:1–2). God sent Isaiah to reassure Ahaz the alliance would not succeed (Isa. 7:3–9) and told him to name a sign that God would give him as proof (Isa. 7:10–11).
Ahaz balked and refused to name a sign (Isa. 7:12), so God declared one: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. . . . For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted” (Isa. 7:14–16).
For this sign to be meaningful to Ahaz, it would have to be fulfilled in his own day—indeed, very quickly. It therefore points, on the primary, literal level, to a child conceived at that time (perhaps Ahaz’s son, the future King Hezekiah).
This was as obvious to Matthew as it is to us, but—like the other New Testament authors—he recognized the biblical text as having multiple dimensions, so the prophecy was not only fulfilled in Ahaz’s day but also pointed to Christ as “Immanuel” (Hebrew, “God with us”).
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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