Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck,
God told Jeremiah to make bonds and yokes and put them upon his own neck as a visible acted sign of subjection to Babylon. The instruction belongs to Jeremiah's messages during the Babylonian captivity marked by conflict between the true prophet and false prophets.
During Zedekiah's reign, as Babylon's threat drew nearer, Jeremiah carried this sign before ambassadors from the neighboring nations and sent yokes to their rulers. The yoke declared God's decree that Judah and the surrounding nations were given into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to serve him for a limited time appointed by God, signifying coming judgment and obligation to God. By the sign Jeremiah urged Judah to accept Babylonian rule and maintain friendly relations with Babylon rather than provoke its rule or rely on entangling alliances with Egypt.
Submission would allow the nations to remain in their own lands, while resistance and refusal of the yoke would bring more severe punishment in famine, war, and pestilence. The servitude, the captivity, and the Temple vessels were to remain in Babylon for seventy years, after which God would deliver the captives and punish Babylon. The warning called the people to submit for the time God had set, with their return from captivity depending on repentance and obedience.
God told Jeremiah to make bonds and yokes and put them upon his own neck as a visible acted sign of subjection to Babylon. The instruction belongs to Jeremiah's messages during the Babylonian captivity marked by conflict between the true prophet and false prophets.
During Zedekiah's reign, as Babylon's threat drew nearer, Jeremiah carried this sign before ambassadors from the neighboring nations and sent yokes to their rulers. The yoke declared God's decree that Judah and the surrounding nations were given into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to serve him for a limited time appointed by God, signifying coming judgment and obligation to God. By the sign Jeremiah urged Judah to accept Babylonian rule and maintain friendly relations with Babylon rather than provoke its rule or rely on entangling alliances with Egypt.
Submission would allow the nations to remain in their own lands, while resistance and refusal of the yoke would bring more severe punishment in famine, war, and pestilence. The servitude, the captivity, and the Temple vessels were to remain in Babylon for seventy years, after which God would deliver the captives and punish Babylon. The warning called the people to submit for the time God had set, with their return from captivity depending on repentance and obedience.