Jeremiah Chapter 26
Jeremiah 26
Jeremiah Spared from Death
Jeremiah 26:1-3, The Command to Speak
Jeremiah 26:1-3, “In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the LORD, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Stand in the court of the LORD'S house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD'S house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them, diminish not a word: If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings.”
Jeremiah 26 takes us back to the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah. Jehoiakim came to the throne after the death of Josiah and after the brief reign of Jehoahaz. This was before the final destruction of Jerusalem, and it was still a season in which Judah was being warned. The LORD had not left the nation without witness.
God commands Jeremiah to stand in the court of the LORD’s house. This was a public place where worshipers from the cities of Judah would come. Jeremiah is not sent to a hidden corner or private gathering. He is sent to the temple court, the very center of Judah’s religious confidence.
The message must be spoken to “all the cities of Judah” that come to worship in the LORD’s house. This shows that Judah’s worship attendance did not mean Judah was spiritually right. They came to the temple, but they needed the word of the LORD. They performed religious acts, but their ways and doings were evil.
The command “diminish not a word” is essential. Jeremiah must not reduce, soften, edit, trim, or protect the people from anything God commanded. The prophet is not free to make the word more acceptable. He must speak all the words God gives him. This is a permanent standard for faithful preaching and teaching.
Acts 20:26-27, “Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.”
God says, “If so be they will hearken.” The LORD knows all things, yet Jeremiah is to preach with real urgency and real hope. The call is that every man would turn from his evil way. If they listen and repent, the LORD says He may repent of the evil He purposed against them. This does not mean God sinned or changed in character. It means God would relent from threatened calamity if the people truly turned.
The reason for the threatened judgment is “the evil of their doings.” Judah’s trouble was not accidental. Their coming calamity was connected to their own rebellion.
Jeremiah 26:4-6, The Words to Speak
Jeremiah 26:4-6, “And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you, To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened; Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.”
The message Jeremiah must deliver is direct. If Judah will not hearken to the LORD, walk in His law, and listen to His servants the prophets, then judgment will come. Hearing God is not mere listening with the ears. To hearken is to receive, submit, and obey.
God reminds them that He had sent His servants the prophets, “rising up early, and sending them.” This phrase shows God’s patience and persistence. He did not send one warning and immediately destroy. He sent prophet after prophet. The problem was not a lack of revelation. The problem was hardened refusal.
The warning is that the temple will become like Shiloh. Shiloh had once been a sacred place where the tabernacle stood and where the ark of the covenant was kept. Yet Shiloh did not protect Israel when Israel lived in sin.
1 Samuel 4:10-11, “And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent, and there was a very great slaughter, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. And the ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.”
Shiloh stood as historical proof that sacred places do not protect rebellious people. If Judah continued refusing the LORD, Jerusalem and the temple would suffer a similar disgrace.
The city would also become “a curse to all the nations of the earth.” Jerusalem was meant to display the glory of the LORD. Because of sin, it would become a warning of covenant judgment.
Jeremiah 26:7-9, Opposition from the Priests, the Prophets, and the People
Jeremiah 26:7-9, “So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD. Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die. 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.”
Jeremiah obeys. He speaks the words in the house of the LORD. The priests, prophets, and people hear him. When he finishes speaking all that God commanded, they seize him and say, “Thou shalt surely die.”
Their response proves the depth of their rebellion. Jeremiah has called them to repent so that God might relent. Instead of receiving the warning, they attack the messenger. Religious leaders and common people join together against the prophet.
The priests and prophets are especially guilty. The priests should have guarded the law and taught holiness. The prophets should have spoken the word of the LORD. Instead, they become leaders in persecuting the true prophet.
Their accusation is that Jeremiah prophesied against the temple and the city. He said the house would become like Shiloh and the city desolate without inhabitant. They likely viewed this as blasphemy, treason, and an attack on national morale. But Jeremiah was not against the temple because he hated it. He warned of its destruction because Judah had profaned it.
The people gather against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD. The temple court, which should have been a place of prayer and repentance, becomes a place of mob hostility against God’s messenger.
Jeremiah 26:10-11, The Charge against Jeremiah Brought to the Princes of Judah
Jeremiah 26:10-11, “When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king's house unto the house of the LORD, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the LORD'S house. Then spake the priests and the prophets unto 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.”
The princes of Judah hear what is happening and come from the king’s house to the house of the LORD. They sit in the entry of the new gate, taking the position of judges. Jeremiah is now placed in a public legal crisis.
The priests and prophets present the charge, “This man is worthy to die.” They claim the reason is that he prophesied against the city. Their accusation is based on what the people heard with their own ears. Jeremiah did indeed speak against the city, but he did so because the LORD sent him.
This shows how truth can be twisted into a charge. Jeremiah did not invent a hateful message. He delivered God’s warning. But his enemies framed obedience as treason.
The issue is not whether Jeremiah’s words were hard. They were hard. The issue is whether they were from the LORD. A hard word from God is mercy when it calls sinners to repentance. A soft lie from false prophets is cruelty when it leaves sinners under judgment.
Jeremiah 26:12-15, Jeremiah Defends and Explains His Message
Jeremiah 26:12-15, “Then spake Jeremiah unto 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. Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you. As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you. But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof, for of a truth the LORD hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears.”
Jeremiah answers with courage and clarity. He does not deny the message. He does not apologize for saying the temple and city are under judgment. He explains the source of the message, “The LORD sent me.” This is the foundation of his defense. He is not a political agitator. He is not speaking personal opinion. He is a messenger under divine commission.
He again calls them to repentance, even while standing under threat of death. “Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God.” Jeremiah’s concern is still their salvation from judgment. He does not merely defend himself. He pleads with them to turn.
He says if they amend their ways and obey God, the LORD will relent from the pronounced calamity. This shows that Jeremiah’s message is not fatalistic. It is a warning meant to produce repentance.
Then Jeremiah places himself in their hands. “Do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you.” He does not manipulate, beg, flatter, or compromise. He entrusts himself to God while acknowledging their earthly power over him.
But he also warns them that if they kill him, they will bring innocent blood upon themselves, upon the city, and upon its inhabitants. Killing the prophet will not silence the truth. It will only add bloodguilt to their existing sins.
Jeremiah ends where he began, “for of a truth the LORD hath sent me.” His confidence rests in his commission. This fulfills the promise God gave him at the beginning of his ministry.
Jeremiah 1:17-19, “Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee, be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. And they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee, for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.”
Jeremiah stands as a defended city, an iron pillar, and a brasen wall because the LORD is with him.
Jeremiah 26:16, Jeremiah Will Not Be Condemned to Death
Jeremiah 26:16, “Then said the princes and all the people unto 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.”
The princes and all the people respond to the priests and prophets by declaring Jeremiah not worthy of death. The public mood shifts. The same people who had gathered against him now acknowledge that he has spoken in the name of the LORD.
This does not necessarily mean they fully repent. But they recognize that Jeremiah should not be executed for speaking God’s word. The priests and prophets had demanded death, but the princes and people restrain them.
This moment shows God’s providential protection. Jeremiah’s courage matters, but his safety ultimately comes from the LORD. God can turn a crowd, raise defenders, and restrain enemies when He chooses.
There is also a sobering contrast with Christ. Jeremiah was accused by religious leaders and spared by officials. Jesus was accused by religious leaders, declared innocent by a Roman governor, and still delivered to death.
Luke 23:4, “Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man.”
Jeremiah was spared from death at this moment. Christ, the greater Prophet, went willingly to death to bear sin.
Jeremiah 26:17-19, Remembering When They Used to Listen to the Prophets
Jeremiah 26:17-19, “Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying, Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake 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 a forest. Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the LORD repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls.”
Certain elders rise and speak wisdom to the assembly. They appeal to history. Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah and gave a severe message against Jerusalem. He declared that Zion would be plowed like a field, Jerusalem would become heaps, and the mountain of the house would become like the high places of a forest.
This quotation comes from Micah.
Micah 3:12, “Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.”
Micah’s message was similar to Jeremiah’s. He also warned of Jerusalem’s destruction. Yet Hezekiah did not put Micah to death. Instead, Hezekiah feared the LORD and sought His favor. The LORD relented from the disaster He had pronounced.
This historical precedent is powerful. A previous king heard a severe prophetic warning and responded with humility instead of violence. The result was mercy. Therefore the elders argue that killing Jeremiah would be evil against their own souls.
They understand that the issue is not Jeremiah’s comfort first, but Judah’s guilt. If they kill the prophet, they harm themselves. They would add innocent blood to their sins and invite greater judgment.
This section also shows the value of remembering faithful prophetic history. The words of Micah, spoken more than a century earlier, were still known and quoted. God’s people are helped when they remember how previous generations responded rightly to the word of the LORD.
Jeremiah 26:20-23, The Faithfulness of the Prophet Urijah, His Persecution and Death
Jeremiah 26:20-23, “And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah: 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; And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt. And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king, who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.”
The chapter then remembers another prophet, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim. He also prophesied in the name of the LORD against the city and the land according to the same message Jeremiah preached. Jeremiah was not alone in his warning. God had other faithful witnesses.
Urijah’s case, however, ended differently. When Jehoiakim and his officials heard his words, the king sought to put him to death. Urijah fled to Egypt out of fear. Scripture does not condemn him for fleeing. Flight from persecution can be wise when it is not a denial of God.
Jehoiakim sent men into Egypt, including Elnathan the son of Achbor, to bring Urijah back. This shows the king’s determination. He was not merely angry in the moment. He pursued the prophet across national boundaries.
They brought Urijah back to Jehoiakim, and the king slew him with the sword. Then he cast his dead body into the graves of the common people. This was both execution and disgrace. Urijah died as a faithful prophet, but without public honor.
This account gives a sobering balance to Jeremiah’s deliverance. God spared Jeremiah here, but He did not spare Urijah from martyrdom. Both were faithful. One lived, one died. The difference was not faithfulness, but God’s providence. Faithfulness does not guarantee earthly escape. It means obeying God whether spared or slain.
Hebrews 11:35-38, “Women received their dead raised to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection, And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment, They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, Of whom the world was not worthy, they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”
Urijah belongs among those faithful witnesses of whom the world was not worthy.
Jeremiah 26:24, Help for Jeremiah from Ahikam
Jeremiah 26:24, “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.”
The chapter ends with God providing help through Ahikam the son of Shaphan. Ahikam’s hand was with Jeremiah, meaning he supported, protected, and used influence on Jeremiah’s behalf.
Ahikam came from a family connected to reform and faithfulness. Shaphan had been involved in the days of Josiah when the book of the law was found. Ahikam himself had been among those sent to Huldah the prophetess.
2 Kings 22:12-14, “And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king's, saying, Go ye, enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found, for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us. So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe, now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college, and they communed with her.”
God used Ahikam to keep Jeremiah from being handed over to the people for death. The princes had decided Jeremiah should not be executed, but the mob still posed danger. Jeremiah needed protection not only from formal legal condemnation, but from popular violence.
This final verse shows the quiet providence of God. Sometimes God protects His servants through dramatic deliverance. Sometimes He uses one influential man who stands with them. Ahikam was not the prophet, but his support mattered. In God’s work, faithful defenders also have a place.
Doctrinal and Practical Notes
Jeremiah 26 teaches that faithful preaching must not diminish the word of God. Jeremiah was commanded to speak all God’s words, not edit them for safety or acceptance.
Jeremiah 26 teaches that religious attendance does not equal obedience. The message was given to those coming to worship at the LORD’s house, yet they needed to repent.
Jeremiah 26 teaches that God’s warnings are merciful. The purpose of the warning was that the people might turn and God might relent from calamity.
Jeremiah 26 teaches that sacred places cannot protect rebellious people. Shiloh was destroyed, and Jerusalem could become like Shiloh if Judah refused to hear.
Jeremiah 26 teaches that false religious leaders often attack the true word of God. The priests and prophets led the charge against Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 26 teaches that God’s messenger must value obedience above personal safety. Jeremiah stood under threat of death and still called the people to amend their ways.
Jeremiah 26 teaches that killing God’s servants brings bloodguilt. Jeremiah warned them that putting him to death would bring innocent blood upon the city and people.
Jeremiah 26 teaches the value of historical memory. The elders remembered Micah and Hezekiah, and that memory restrained evil.
Jeremiah 26 teaches that true prophets may be spared or slain. Jeremiah was protected, but Urijah was killed. Earthly outcome is not the measure of faithfulness.
Jeremiah 26 teaches that God may use faithful supporters to protect His servants. Ahikam’s hand was with Jeremiah, and God used that support to spare his life.
Summary
Jeremiah 26 begins in the early reign of Jehoiakim. The LORD commands Jeremiah to stand in the court of the LORD’s house and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship there. He must speak all the words God commands and diminish not a word. The purpose is that the people may listen, turn from evil, and that God may relent from the calamity planned because of their evil doings.
Jeremiah’s message is that if Judah will not listen to the LORD, walk in His law, and heed His servants the prophets, then God will make the temple like Shiloh and Jerusalem a curse to all nations. The priests, prophets, and people hear him, seize him, and declare that he must die because he prophesied against the temple and city.
The princes of Judah come from the king’s house and sit at the new gate of the LORD’s house to hear the matter. The priests and prophets accuse Jeremiah of deserving death. Jeremiah responds with courage, saying the LORD sent him to speak these words. He again calls them to amend their ways and obey the LORD. He places himself in their hands but warns that killing him will bring innocent blood upon them, the city, and its inhabitants, because the LORD truly sent him.
The princes and people decide Jeremiah is not worthy of death because he spoke in the name of the LORD. Certain elders then recall Micah of Moresheth, who prophesied destruction against Jerusalem in Hezekiah’s day. Hezekiah did not kill Micah, but feared the LORD and sought His favor, and the LORD relented from the disaster. The elders warn that killing Jeremiah would bring great evil against themselves.
The chapter also remembers Urijah son of Shemaiah, who prophesied similarly to Jeremiah. Jehoiakim sought to kill him, and though Urijah fled to Egypt, the king brought him back and killed him with the sword, casting his body into the graves of the common people. Finally, Ahikam son of Shaphan supports Jeremiah, preventing him from being given into the hand of the people to be put to death.
