Last King of Judah
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carried them to Babylon: and I will bring again to this place Jeconiah
the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that
went into Babylon, saith the Lord: for I will break the yoke of the king
of Babylon.”
Jeremiah 28:2-4
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Jeremiah, in the presence of the priests and people, earnestly en-
treated them to submit to the king of Babylon for the time the Lord
had specified. He cited the men of Judah to the prophecies of Hosea,
Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and others whose messages of reproof and
warning had been similar to his own. He referred them to events which
had taken place in fulfillment of prophecies of retribution for unre-
pented sin. In the past the judgments of God had been visited upon the
impenitent in exact fulfillment of His purpose as revealed through His
messengers.
“The prophet which prophesieth of peace,” Jeremiah proposed in
conclusion, “when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then
shall the prophet be known, that the Lord hath truly sent him.”
Verse 9
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If Israel chose to run the risk, future developments would effectually
decide which was the true prophet.
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The words of Jeremiah counseling submission aroused Hananiah
to a daring challenge of the reliability of the message delivered. Taking
the symbolic yoke from Jeremiah’s neck, Hananiah broke it, saying,
“Thus saith the Lord; Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two
full years.
“And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.”
Verse 11
. Apparently
he could do nothing more than to retire from the scene of conflict. But
Jeremiah was given another message. “Go and tell Hananiah,” he was
bidden, “Thus saith the Lord; Thou hast broken the yokes of wood;
but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron. For thus saith the Lord of
hosts, the God of Israel; I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all
these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon;
and they shall serve him....
“Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear
now, Hananiah; The Lord hath not sent thee; but thou makest this
people to trust in a lie. Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will
cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because
thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord. So Hananiah the prophet
died the same year in the seventh month.”
Verses 13-17
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