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Prophets and Kings
have heard with your ears.”
Verse 11
. But Jeremiah stood boldly before
the princes and the people, declaring: “The Lord sent me to prophesy
against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard.
Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice
of the Lord your God; and the Lord will repent Him of the evil that
He hath pronounced against you. As for me, behold, I am in your
hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you. But know ye
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for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent
blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants
thereof: for of a truth the Lord hath sent me unto you to speak all these
words in your ears.”
Verses 12-15
.
Had the prophet been intimidated by the threatening attitude of
those high in authority, his message would have been without effect,
and he would have lost his life; but the courage with which he delivered
the solemn warning commanded the respect of the people and turned
the princes of Israel in his favor. They reasoned with the priests
and false prophets, showing them how unwise would be the extreme
measures they advocated, and their words produced a reaction in the
minds of the people. Thus God raised up defenders for His servant.
The elders also united in protesting against the decision of the
priests regarding the fate of Jeremiah. They cited the case of Micah,
who had prophesied judgments upon Jerusalem, saying, “Zion shall
be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the
mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.” And they asked:
“Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did
he not fear the Lord, and besought the Lord, and the Lord repented
Him of the evil which He had pronounced against them? Thus might
we procure great evil against our souls.”
Verses 18, 19
.
Through the pleading of these men of influence the prophet’s life
was spared, although many of the priests and false prophets, unable to
endure the condemning truths he uttered, would gladly have seen him
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put to death on the plea of sedition.
From the day of his call to the close of his ministry, Jeremiah stood
before Judah as “a tower and a fortress” against which the wrath of
man could not prevail. “They shall fight against thee,” the Lord had
forewarned His servant, “but they shall not prevail against thee: for I
am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the Lord. And I