Jeremiah 26
1
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the LORD, saying,
2
Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD'S house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD'S house, all the words that I command thee to speak to them; diminish not a word:
3
It may be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent of the evil, which I purpose to do to them because of the evil of their doings.
4
And thou shalt say to them, Thus saith the LORD, If ye will not hearken to me to walk in my law, which I have set before you,
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To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I have sent to you, both rising early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened;
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Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.
7
So the priests and the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD.
8
Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.
9
Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah, in the house of the LORD.
10
When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king's house to the house of the LORD, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the LORD'S house.
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Then the priests and the prophets spoke to the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears.
12
Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes, and to all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard.
13
Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent of the evil that he hath pronounced against you.
14
As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as it seemeth good and meet to you.
15
But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye will surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, upon this city, and upon its inhabitants: for of a truth the LORD hath sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.
16
Then said the princes and all the people to the priests and to the prophets; This man is not worthy to die: for he hath spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.
17
Then arose certain of the elders of the land, and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying,
18
Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.
19
Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? did he not fear the LORD, and beseech the LORD, and the LORD repented of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls.
20
And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath-jearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah:
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And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death: but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt;
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And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt.
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And they brought forth Urijah from Egypt, and brought him to Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.
24
Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.
Sacred Scripture # 14
14. When the Lord speaks to his disciples about the close of the age, which is the last time of the church, at the end of his predictions about the sequence of changes of state he says,
Immediately after the affliction of those days the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Humanity will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will wail; and they will see the Son of Humanity coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a trumpet and a loud voice, and they will gather his chosen people from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. (Matthew 24:29-31)
[2] Spiritually understood, this does not mean that the sun and moon will be darkened, that the stars will fall from heaven, and that a sign of the Lord will appear in heaven and he will be seen in the clouds accompanied by angels with trumpets. Rather, the particular words are here used to mean spiritual events that have to do with the church, spiritual events about its state at its end. The underlying reason is that in the spiritual meaning the sun that will be darkened is the Lord as an object of love; the moon that will not give its light is the Lord as an object of faith; the stars that will fall from heaven are the knowledge of what is good and what is true that will come to an end; the sign of the Son of Humanity in heaven is the manifestation of divine truth; the tribes of the earth that will wail are a complete lack of true belief and of good actions that come from love; the coming of the Son of Humanity in the clouds of heaven with power and glory is the Lord’s presence in the Word, and a revelation - the clouds being the literal meaning of the Word and the glory being the spiritual meaning of the Word. The angels with a trumpet and a loud voice mean heaven as our source of divine truth; and the gathering of the chosen people from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other, means a new kind of church, specifically its love and faith.
[3] It is obvious from the prophets that this does not mean the darkening of the sun and the moon and the falling of the stars to earth, because things like this are said there about the state of the church when the Lord will come into the world. It says in Isaiah, for example:
Behold, the fierce day of Jehovah is coming, a day of blazing wrath. The stars of the heavens and their constellations will not shine their light. The sun will be darkened in its rising, and the moon will not make its light shine. I will execute judgment upon the world for its malice. (Isaiah 13:9-11; 24:21, 23)
In Joel,
The day of Jehovah is coming, a day of darkness and gloom; the sun and the moon will be darkened and the stars will withhold their light. (Joel 2:1-2, 10; 3:15)
In Ezekiel,
I will cover the heavens and darken the stars. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light. I will darken all the bright lights and bring darkness upon the land. (Ezekiel 32:7-8)
The day of Jehovah means the Coming of the Lord, which happened when there was no longer anything good or true left in the church, and there was no knowledge of the Lord.
