Jeremiah 27:1-7: a reflection

1In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2the LORD says to me: “Make bonds and bars, and put them on your neck. 3Then send them to the king of Edom, to the king of Moab, to the king of the children of Ammon, to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4Give them a command to their masters, saying, ‘The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel says, “You shall tell your masters: 5‘I have made the earth, the men, and the animals that are on the surface of the earth by my great power and by my outstretched arm. I give it to whom it seems right to me. 6Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant. I have also given the animals of the field to him to serve him. 7All the nations will serve him, his son, and his son’s son, until the time of his own land comes. Then many nations and great kings will make him their bondservant.

God gives Jeremiah a strange, dramatic command: to make a yoke and wear it on his neck, and to send word to the surrounding kings. The message is startling. God declares that he made the earth and everyone in it by his great power, and that it is his to give to whomever he chooses. And for this season, he has chosen to give the nations, even Judah, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, whom he even calls, remarkably, my servant.

This is a hard word, and it teaches something we resist: that God's sovereignty extends even over the rise of empires we would never choose, and even over seasons of judgment and submission. God was not absent while Babylon rose; he was working out his purposes, using even a pagan king as an instrument. The call to Judah was to submit to what God had ordained rather than to fight against it, trusting that the God who gives also sets limits, and that Babylon's own time would come.

There are seasons when God's providence leads us through submission rather than triumph, under circumstances we would not have chosen and cannot change. This passage does not make such seasons easy, but it steadies us with the truth that God remains sovereign over them. The empires and forces that seem to hold sway are, in the end, on a leash of God's appointing. Trust that the God who made the earth by his great power is still ruling, even when his hand leads you through a hard and humbling providence.

Lord, you made the earth by your great power, and even the empires that seem to rule are in your hand. When your providence leads me through submission rather than triumph, through circumstances I would not choose, steady me with the truth that you remain sovereign over it all. Help me to trust that you are still ruling, and that your purposes will stand. Amen.