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Daily Devotions

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 
Day 
Day 301

"Bonds and yokes"

Text: Jeremiah 27:2

A COPYIST’S ERROR

The original Scriptures from God were error-free. But in the transmission of copies of the original, the scribes sometimes make errors. Jeremiah 27:1 is an example of such a scribal error.

“In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah,
king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
‘Thus says the LORD to me:
‘Make for yourselves bonds and yokes, and put them on your neck,
and send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab,
the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon,
by the hand of the messengers
who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.””
Jeremiah 27:1-3

1. “In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying”

a) The name of Jehoiakim was included erroneously.

b) Jeremiah 26 focused on the wicked reign of Jehoiakim.

c) The correct name should be “Zedekiah” (Jeremiah 27:3).

2. “Thus says the LORD to me: ‘Make for yourselves bonds and yokes, and put them on your neck'”

a) Jeremiah had some loyal supporters

b) They stood with him as he preached for the Lord.

c) They were to:

i) Make bonds:
These were leather thongs.

ii) Yokes
The bonds (leather thongs) were to bind the yoke upon the neck of Jeremiah
and his team.

d) This was a message that would be enacted.

3. “And send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah”

a) There was a conference held by Zedekiah

b) The envoys of these kingdoms:

i) Edom

ii) Moab

iii) Ammon

iv) Tyre

v) Sidon

c) What were they doing?

i) The Babylonians were the overlords of these smaller nations.

ii) At this point of time, Babylon had to meet with the problem of uprising from the countries that were paying tribute.

iii) This confederacy was a meeting to consider how they may break away from the bonds and yokes of the Babylonian Empire.