Jeremiah 37:3-21

Unwarranted Optimism

3 King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to the prophet Jeremiah saying, "Please pray for us to the LORD our God." 4 Now Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. 5 Meanwhile, the army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.

6 Then the word of the LORD came to the prophet Jeremiah: 7 Thus says the LORD, God of Israel: This is what the two of you shall say to the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me; Pharaoh's army, which set out to help you, is going to return to its own land, to Egypt. 8 And the Chaldeans shall return and fight against this city; they shall take it and burn it with fire. 9 Thus says the LORD: Do not deceive yourselves, saying, "The Chaldeans will surely go away from us," for they will not go away. 10 Even if you defeated the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men in their tents, they would rise up and burn this city with fire. (Jeremiah 37:3-10, NRSV)

Comments on this reading are repeated here with editing and supplement from October 12, 2005 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 12, Year One):

Perhaps you have noticed that in the last few days the Old Testament readings have presented a rather smooth transition from the narratives of 2 Kings into prophetic work of Jeremiah within that period. On Friday of last week (Oct. 17, 2007), the reading was 2 Kings 23:36-24:17, with accounts of the reigns of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, and Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim. On Saturday (Oct. 18, 2007), the reading was Jeremiah 35:1-19, on the Rechabites, whose faithfulness to their religious convictions is praised by Jeremiah. Lessons then continued in Jeremiah, as Jeremiah sent Baruch to read a scroll of prophecy to Jehoiakim (Jer. 36:1-10, Sun., Oct. 14), Jehoiakim’s obstinate burning of the scroll (Jer. 36:11-26, Mon., Oct. 15), and so forth. It now appears that King Zedekiah has had a change of heart about Jeremiah and his predictions of doom. He now sends “Jehucal son of Shelemiah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to the prophet Jeremiah saying, ‘Please pray for us to the LORD our God’ ” (Jer. 37:3). We are reminded that Jeremiah is still able to go “in and out among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison” (v. 4, cf. v. 15). The setting for today’s reading seems to have changed for the better. The Chaldean (Babylonian) army that has been besieging Jerusalem withdraws to face the challenge posed by “the army of Pharaoh [which has] come out of Egypt” (v. 5). But it is still not wise to trust in Egypt (cf. Isa. 31:1-3; Jer. 2:18; 26:21-23). Through the prophet Jeremiah, the LORD says (v. 6), “Thus says the LORD, God of Israel: This is what the two of you shall say to the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me; Pharaoh's army, which set out to help you, is going to return to its own land, to Egypt” (v. 7). The apparent relief as Pharaoh’s army distracts the Babylonian army will not last, says the LORD. The Chaldeans (Babylonians) will “ return and fight against this city; they shall take it and burn it with fire,” says Jeremiah (v. 8), and the people of Jerusalem should not deceive themselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” because, says Jeremiah, “they will not go away” (v. 9). The inevitability of judgment upon Jerusalem and Judah, as God’s punishment, is stressed. The Babylonian army is merely the LORD’s instrument. “Even if you defeated the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men in their tents, they would rise up and burn this city with fire” (v. 10). So the hopes raised by the approach of Pharaoh’s army, causing the Chaldeans to withdraw temporarily from Jerusalem, will soon fade. This, says Mark E. Biddle, was “shortly after [Zedekiah’s] accession (Spring, 587 BCE)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Jer. 37:3-10). “Jeremiah warned them,” adds Biddle, “that such optimism was wholly unwarranted” (Ibid.).

Jeremiah Imprisoned

11 Now when the Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem at the approach of Pharaoh's army, 12 Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to receive his share of property among the people there. 13 When he reached the Benjamin Gate, a sentinel there named Irijah son of Shelemiah son of Hananiah arrested the prophet Jeremiah saying, "You are deserting to the Chaldeans." 14 And Jeremiah said, "That is a lie; I am not deserting to the Chaldeans." But Irijah would not listen to him, and arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15 The officials were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him and imprisoned him in the house of the secretary Jonathan, for it had been made a prison. 16 Thus Jeremiah was put in the cistern house, in the cells, and remained there many days. (Jeremiah 37:11-16, NRSV)

During this interlude, when the Chaldean army has temporarily withdrawn from Jerusalem to face the challenge of Pharaoh’s approaching army (Jer. 37:11), Jeremiah tries to attend to some personal business: “Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to receive his share of property among the people there” (v. 12). He wants to inspect the property he has recently purchased (Jer., chap. 32). But when he reaches “the Benjamin Gate,” he is arrested by “a sentinel there named Irijah son of Shelemiah son of Hananiah,” and accused: “You are deserting to the Chaldeans,” he is told (v. 13). Although Jeremiah denies this charge, saying, “That is a lie; I am not deserting to the Chaldeans,” Irijah is determined; he arrests Jeremiah, and brings him “to the officials” (v. 14), who “beat him and imprisoned him in the house of the secretary Jonathan” (v. 15). So “Jeremiah was put in the cistern house, in the cells, and remained there many days” (v. 16). Jeremiah’s purchase of a field (chap. 32) at Anathoth, his home town (1:1), was a prophetic action, a sign that “Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land” (32:15). In other words, it was an act of faith in the long-term future of Israel, on the eve of the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon, in “the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar” (Jer. 32:1), that is, 588 B.C. But the sentinel who arrested him did not share that faith.

Zedekiah’s Secret Interview with Jeremiah

17 Then King Zedekiah sent for him, and received him. The king questioned him secretly in his house, and said, "Is there any word from the LORD?" Jeremiah said, "There is!" Then he said, "You shall be handed over to the king of Babylon." 18 Jeremiah also said to King Zedekiah, "What wrong have I done to you or your servants or this people, that you have put me in prison? 19 Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, 'The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land'? 20 Now please hear me, my lord king: be good enough to listen to my plea, and do not send me back to the house of the secretary Jonathan to die there." 21 So King Zedekiah gave orders, and they committed Jeremiah to the court of the guard; and a loaf of bread was given him daily from the bakers' street, until all the bread of the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard. (Jeremiah 37:17-21, NRSV)

In the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, he “rebelled against the king of Babylon” (2 Kgs. 24:20b), and Nebuchadnezzar’s response was to come “with all his army against Jerusalem, and [lay] siege to it; they built siegeworks against it all around” (2 Kgs. 25:1). Biddle (op. cit., on Jer. 37:16-21) notes that Zedekiah sought out Jeremiah hoping for “reassurance for his ill-advised revolt”: “Is there any word from the LORD?” (Jer. 37:17a). But, so late in the period, Jeremiah has no word of consolation for Zedekiah. “There is [a word from the LORD]!” says Jeremiah, “You shall be handed over to the king of Babylon” (v. 17b). Perhaps Zedekiah senses what awaits him without needing to be told; in any case, he does modify “Jeremiah’s imprisonment to house arrest, and [guarantee] him a minimum food ration as long as their were supplies” (Ibid.).

1 Corinthians 14:13-25

The Need for Interpretation of Tongues

13 Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unproductive. 15 What should I do then? I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also; I will sing praise with the spirit, but I will sing praise with the mind also. 16 Otherwise, if you say a blessing with the spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say the "Amen" to your thanksgiving, since the outsider does not know what you are saying? 17 For you may give thanks well enough, but the other person is not built up. 18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you; 19 nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind, in order to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

The Effects of Prophecy versus the Effects of Tongues

20 Brothers and sisters, do not be children in your thinking; rather, be infants in evil, but in thinking be adults. 21 In the law it is written,

"By people of strange tongues

and by the lips of foreigners

I will speak to this people;

yet even then they will not listen to me,"

says the Lord.22 Tongues, then, are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers.23 If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your mind? 24 But if all prophesy, an unbeliever or outsider who enters is reproved by all and called to account by all.25 After the secrets of the unbeliever's heart are disclosed, that person will bow down before God and worship him, declaring, "God is really among you." (1 Corinthians 14:13-25, NRSV)

On April 3 and 4, 2006 (Monday and Tuesday in the week of the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year Two), comments were used from October 12 and 13, 2005 (Wednesday and Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 12, Year One).

Paul lists gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians, chapter 12, and presents love (agapē) as the indispensable, essential condition of their use, “a still more excellent way” (1 Cor. 12:31). Neither speaking in tongues nor prophetic powers have any value apart from love (13:1-2). But given that condition, both have some value. Paul values prophecy more than tongues, though he credits speaking in tongues with some value (and admits to speaking in tongues himself, v. 18). “Those who speak in a tongue build up themselves,” he says (1 Cor 14:4a). Paul even admits to speaking in tongues himself (1 Cor. 14:18), but he cautions the Corinthian church that it is not helpful in the worship services unless there is interpretation. “Otherwise, if you say a blessing with the spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say the "Amen" to your thanksgiving, since the outsider does not know what you are saying?” (v. 16). He advises that, “I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also; I will sing praise with the spirit, but I will sing praise with the mind also” (v. 15), adding, “in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue” (v. 19). The value placed on speaking in tongues here suggests to me the value of various forms of private and personal religious experience, including meditation and the like. The special emphasis on prophecy, “those who prophesy build up the church” (v. 4, cf. vv. 5, 12 and 19), relates to sound preaching of the gospel, which builds up the church in our time.

Paul continues with an admonition to think like adults in considering this matter. “Brothers and sisters, do not be children in your thinking; rather, be infants in evil, but in thinking be adults” (v. 20). Paul cites a saying from scripture to support his point, introduced by saying, “In the law (nomos) it is written” (v. 21a). Richard A. Horsley says the quotation is “Not actually in the law [i.e. the Torah, known to us as the Pentateuch], but in Isa. 28:11-12” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on 1 Cor. 14:21), though influence from Deut. 28:49 has also been suggested (the United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament, on 1 Cor. 14:21). Consider the following:

By people of strange tongues / and by the lips of foreigners

I will speak to this people; / yet even then they will not listen to me. (1 Cor14:21, NRSV)

Truly, with stammering lip / and with alien tongue

he will speak to this people, / to whom he has said,

‘This is rest; / give rest to the weary;

and this is repose’; / yet they would not hear (Isa. 28:11, 12, NRSV)

The LORD will bring a nation from far away, from the end of the earth, to swoop down on you like an eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand, (Deut. 28:49, NRSV)

Both passages refer to the language of a foreign nation used in judgment of the Lord’s people. For Paul’s quotation, the Isaiah passage is clearly the primary source, but even that has been adapted to Paul’s purpose. He infers that “Tongues, then, are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers” (1 Cor. 14:22). And he comes to the point by contrasting the relative values of speaking in tongues with those of prophecy. Outsiders will only be confused by speaking in tongues. “If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your mind?” (v. 23). But prophecy will have the benefit of reproving the unbelievers and calling them to faith. “But if all prophesy, an unbeliever or outsider who enters is reproved by all and called to account by all. After the secrets of the unbeliever's heart are disclosed, that person will bow down before God and worship him, declaring, ‘God is really among you’ ” (vv. 24-25). Horsley comments as follows:

Not until vv. 23-25 is [Paul’s] argument clear, that while tongues are a counterproductive sign for outsiders, prophecy, because intelligible, will be productive on outsiders, by disclosing the secrets of their hearts. (op. cit, on vv. 20-25)

Matthew 10:24-33

As the Teacher, So the Disciple

24 "A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; 25 it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household! (Matthew 10:24-25; cf. Luke 6:40; Jn. 13:16; 15:20)

Whom to Fear

26 "So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. 27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. 28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:26-31, NRSV; cf. Luke 12:2-7)

Acknowledge Christ before Others

32 "Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; 33 but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven. (Matthew 10:32-33, NRSV, cf. Luke 12:8-9)

On May 20, 2007 (the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year One), comments were selected from comments on Matt. 10:24-33, 40-42, which made use of comments from May 8, 2005, two years earlier (the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year One), and from October 12 and 13, 2005 (Wednesday and Thursday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 12, Year One). The comments from May 20, 2007 are used again here with editing and supplement.

It is commonly observed that the overall structure of the Gospel of Matthew includes five major speeches of Jesus alternating with groups of narrative episodes. The action episodes demonstrate Jesus power and authority, and the growing conflict with his opposition. The speeches, in which Matthew uses topical arrangement of material found in various parts of Mark and Luke, also play a part in advancing the action with more focus on the disciples and the developing Christian community.

Today’s reading continues from parts of Jesus’ second major speech in Matthew, in which Jesus summons and names “his twelve disciples” and gives them “authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness” (Mt. 10:1). This commissioning and instructing of the disciples continues through verse 42, and the end of the speech is marked by Matthew’s formula, “Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and proclaim his message in their cities” (11:1; cf. 7:28-29; 13:53; 19:1; 26:1). The parallel passages presented in the separate file, Disciple-Teacher, Fearless Confession, focus mainly on passages which Matthew and Luke have drawn from a common source, though there is a hint of parallels with Mark as well.

Earlier parts of Jesus’ Mission Speech in Matthew have warned of persecutions for the disciples as they attempt to carry out their mission. Jesus’ warnings that the disciples will undergo persecution “because of me” (Mt. 10:18), perhaps even martyrdom (cf. v. 21), seem to anticipate later persecution faced by Christians. Matthew undoubtedly includes these instructions and reminders as challenge and encouragement for fellow Christian believers in his own time (later in the first century) to be faithful to their Christian witness in the face of rejection and persecution.

But today’s reading begins with Jesus’ reminder that “A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master” (Mt. 10:24; cf. Lk. 6:40a; Jn. 13:16; 15:20a). “It is enough,” says Jesus, “for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like his master” (Mt. 10:25a). In Luke’s brief form of the saying, Jesus mentions qualification of a disciple: “but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher” (Lk. 6:40). “If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul,” says Jesus, according to Matthew (cf. Mt. 9:34), “how much more will they malign those of his household” (Mt. 10:25b). John, whether he had access to Matthew or, more likely, to traditions also used by Matthew, generalizes, but also anticipates a possible positive response: “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also” (Jn. 15:20b).

Encouragement for the disciples follows: “So have no fear of them” says Jesus (Mt. 10:26a), “for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known” (v. 26b; cf. Lk. 12:2; cf. also Mk. 4:22 and Lk. 8:17). Jesus directs the disciples to proclaim his message openly. “What I say to you in the dark,” he says, “tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops” (Mt. 10:27). According to J. Andrew Overman, this is “a denial of any secret or esoteric teaching” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Mt. 10:27). What Matthew’s version commands, Luke’s version anticipates as accomplished. “Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops” (Lk. 12:3).

The disciples are exhorted not to fear martyrdom, but rather punishment in hell. “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mt. 10:28; cf. the elaborated version in Lk. 12:4-5). If God cares for the sparrows, will he not care for them (vv. 29-31). Luke has Jesus ask about “five sparrows sold for two pennies” (Lk. 12:6), where Matthew has “two sparrows sold for a penny” (Mt. 10:29), but the difference is inconsequential–one free sparrow?–the point is that “you are of more value than many sparrows” (Mt. 10:31b; Lk. 12:7c). The encouragement is also for those who respond to the message, “everyone . . . who acknowledges me before others” (Mt. 10:32; Lk. 12:8). Eventually that includes us. You and I “are of more value than many sparrows” (v. 30), and so may expect God’s gracious care. It was a part of the disciples’ mission to “acknowledge” Christ before others, but this instruction surely anticipates the witness of the church in the years following Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. The efforts of many Christians over the centuries to take this admonition seriously have led to serious, even life-threatening consequences, time and again.

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net