seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Jeremiah 26:1 Early in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came from the Lord: 2 “This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s house and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah who come to worship in the house of the Lord. Tell them everything I command you; do not omit a word. 3 Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from their evil ways. Then I will relent and not inflict on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done. 4 Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: If you do not listen to me and follow my law, which I have set before you, 5 and if you do not listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I have sent to you again and again (though you have not listened), 6 then I will make this house like Shiloh and this city a curse[a] among all the nations of the earth.’”
7 The priests, the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speak these words in the house of the Lord. 8 But as soon as Jeremiah finished telling all the people everything the Lord had commanded him to say, the priests, the prophets and all the people seized him and said, “You must die! 9 Why do you prophesy in the Lord’s name that this house will be like Shiloh and this city will be desolate and deserted?” And all the people crowded around Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.
10 When the officials of Judah heard about these things, they went up from the royal palace to the house of the Lord and took their places at the entrance of the New Gate of the Lord’s house. 11 Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and all the people, “This man should be sentenced to death because he has prophesied against this city. You have heard it with your own ears!”
12 Then Jeremiah said to all the officials and all the people: “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the things you have heard. 13 Now reform your ways and your actions and obey the Lord your God. Then the Lord will relent and not bring the disaster he has pronounced against you. 14 As for me, I am in your hands; do with me whatever you think is good and right. 15 Be assured, however, that if you put me to death, you will bring the guilt of innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and on those who live in it, for in truth the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”
16 Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man should not be sentenced to death! He has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.”
17 Some of the elders of the land stepped forward and said to the entire assembly of people, 18 “Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah. He told all the people of Judah, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“‘Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,
the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.’[b]
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,
the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.’[b]
19 “Did Hezekiah king of Judah or anyone else in Judah put him to death? Did not Hezekiah fear the Lord and seek his favor? And did not the Lord relent, so that he did not bring the disaster he pronounced against them? We are about to bring a terrible disaster on ourselves!”
20 (Now Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath Jearim was another man who prophesied in the name of the Lord; he prophesied the same things against this city and this land as Jeremiah did. 21 When King Jehoiakim and all his officers and officials heard his words, the king was determined to put him to death. But Uriah heard of it and fled in fear to Egypt. 22 King Jehoiakim, however, sent Elnathan son of Akbor to Egypt, along with some other men. 23 They brought Uriah out of Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim, who had him struck down with a sword and his body thrown into the burial place of the common people.)
24 Furthermore, Ahikam son of Shaphan supported Jeremiah, and so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.
Footnotes:
a. Jeremiah 26:6 That is, its name will be used in cursing (see 29:22); or, others will see that it is cursed.
b. Jeremiah 26:18 Micah 3:12
Now I know this is supposed to be about Judah and Jerusalem..... and Jeremiah's message.... but there's another story going on here..... what happened to the other prophets? Micah was doing it.... they didn't kill him. But then there is this guy Uriah son of Shemaiah..... he ran to Egypt.... he was afraid God would let them martyr him.... and they did murder him. Jeremiah warned them that God sent him and killing him would be shedding innocent blood.
This is from Bible-studys.org.
The people, “priest”, and “prophets” call for Jeremiah’s death for preaching against the temple. They likely believed that Jeremiah should be executed as a blasphemer or false prophet for daring to speak against the Lord’s house, as was Jesus (Lev. 24:16; Deut. 18:20; Mark 14:58).
Elders … spake”: These spokesmen cited the prophet Micah (compare Micah 3:12), who before and during Hezekiah’s reign (ca. 715 - 686 B.C.), prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple. They reasoned that because they didn’t kill Micah, God rescinded the judgment. They must not kill Jeremiah so God might change His mind. Micah’s prophecy and Jeremiah’s would come true in time.
Even in times of national apostasy, there were faithful individuals who followed the Lord and took seriously the messages of His prophets.
“Ahikam” had a long record of faithful service at the highest levels. He had been a member of Josiah’s delegation to the prophetess Huldah (2 Kings 22:12). His continued influence was to be felt through his son Gedaliah, who was appointed governor of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar at the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.
He used his strategic influence to spring Jeremiah free of the death threat. This civil leader under King Josiah and father of Gedaliah, was appointed governor over Judah by the Babylonians after Jerusalem’s final fall (in 586 B.C.).
Even though they had killed Urijah for almost the same message that Jeremiah brought, they decided Jeremiah was a true prophet of God and did not kill him. It seemed that Ahikam was the one who swayed the group into believing in Jeremiah. Both of Ahikam's sons seemed to believe in Jeremiah as well.
This is from enduringword.com.
Jeremiah was not the only faithful prophet during his years of ministry. There were others who told the truth about the coming judgment, including this Urijah the son of Shemaiah.
The king sought to put him to death: Since the events of this chapter happened in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the king must have tried to kill Urijah even earlier. These things had recently happened.
When Urijah heard it, he was afraid and fled, and went to Egypt: This faithful prophet did not stay in Jerusalem or Judah. He hoped to find safety in the large Jewish community in Egypt but did not. The king sent men to find Urijah and bring him back to Jerusalem.
That they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death: Jeremiah did not only have the threat from the prophets and the priests, but also from the people. The princes would not carry out a formal execution (Jeremiah 26:16), but Jeremiah also needed protection against the mob, from the hand of the people.
This is from the easy English site.These verses show that it was dangerous to speak the truth. Uriah came from a place that was quite near to Jerusalem. His message was the same as Jeremiah's. Uriah heard about the king's plan to kill him. So Uriah escaped to Egypt. But Jehoiakim was a cruel king. Probably there was some political agreement between Jehoiakim and the leaders in Egypt. So Elnathan was able to go to Egypt to return Uriah to his own country. Elnathan may have been the father of Jehoiakim's wife (2 Kings 24:8). He probably acted on Jehoiakim's orders. Later, he tried to stop Jehoiakim when he burned Jeremiah's book. The graves of the ordinary people were in the Kidron valley, outside Jerusalem. Zechariah was the only other prophet in the Old Testament whom the people killed (2 Chronicles 24:20-22). But Jesus spoke about the death of prophets. That means that there were other prophets who died because of their courage (Matthew 23:31; Luke 13:34).
Fortunately, Ahikam and his family supported Jeremiah. Ahikam's father Shaphan may have been the secretary when Josiah was the king (2 Kings 22:3-14). Ahikam's brother Gemariah, tried to stop Jehoiakim when he burned Jeremiah's book. Gedaliah, was also a son of Shaphan. He looked after Jeremiah after the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem.
There is a contrast between what happened to Jeremiah and to Uriah. The LORD allows different things to happen to his servants. Uriah died. But Jeremiah prophesied and had troubles for many more years. In the same way, Herod killed the James, who was one of Jesus’ followers (Acts 12:2). But his brother, John, lived until he was old. People find those differences hard to understand. But we must realise that the LORD is wiser than people.
So.... not a lot of people were interested in hearing the "naysaying" of Jeremiah and the other prophets. Standing up in the Temple.... calling the preachings and prophesies lies...... that was a courageous thing to do. Think about it.... what if someone was to stand up in church next Sunday and declare the preacher to be a liar..... what would happen.... those people were even more passionate about their religion than we are today..... they put people to death for speaking against the church.... Judah was still a Theocracy......
Some were brave enough to withstand the backlash and others weren't. Jeremiah seems to have had friends in high places.... which seemed to help him. He also seems to have just the right words and the right moment..... I can see those priests and leaders in the Temple going ballistic when Jeremiah told them they were doing it all wrong. That's what caused them to mob Jeremiah [verse 9].
Even though Jeremiah escaped the death penalty.... that angry mob had to be dealt with. Jeremiah had to remind the mob that shedding innocent blood was no way to avoid what was coming. Jeremiah wasn't the only one talking about the destruction of Judah, Jerusalem, and the Temple. He's just lucky that someone was reminded of Micah.... who was preaching the same truth..... and that second witness thing was a lifesaver once again.
Being a Christian..... Believing in the One Living God..... gets harder every day. Yesterday hubby was describing the vastness of the galaxies and universes.... now that we have Hubble..... we have to respect our total insignificance in reality. With all those galaxies and universes in the heavens.... there have to be more planets God is watching over...... So.... I'm not a big deal..... but somehow I still feel like I'm important.... and the somehow I still think the story presented in the Bible is true. Interesting.....
