In the period circa 560 B.C. there “they shall perish”. The inference is that Babylon also shall perish when its time has come. This is consistent with Jeremiah’s point of view; for though he counseled submission to the yoke of Babylon, he also recognized that there would come a time when Babylon would pass away. They were built not on righteousness but upon power. Jeremiah’s scroll being thrown into the stream is symbolic of the word of the Lord. As the word of the Lord sank to oblivion in the flow of the Euphrates, so Babylon would sink in the endless flow of the river of time. Jeremiah ends with the release of Jehoiachin from prison. He had come to merit the esteem of kings, and after thirty-seven years in prison he was given a seat about the seats of kings. In the tragedy of Jeremiah he emerges as a symbol of promise. He is a symbol of the growth of the exiles toward that knowledge of Yahweh which will empower their return. Yet he is also the king who became a captive; but who as captive eventually took captive the admiring king.
In the period circa 560 B.C. there “they shall perish”. The inference is that Babylon also shall perish when its time has come. This is consistent with Jeremiah’s point of view; for though he counseled submission to the yoke of Babylon, he also recognized that there would come a time when Babylon would pass away. They were built not on righteousness but upon power. Jeremiah’s scroll being thrown into the stream is symbolic of the word of the Lord. As the word of the Lord sank to oblivion in the flow of the Euphrates, so Babylon would sink in the endless flow of the river of time. Jeremiah ends with the release of Jehoiachin from prison. He had come to merit the esteem of kings, and after thirty-seven years in prison he was given a seat about the seats of kings. In the tragedy of Jeremiah he emerges as a symbol of promise. He is a symbol of the growth of the exiles toward that knowledge of Yahweh which will empower their return. Yet he is also the king who became a captive; but who as captive eventually took captive the admiring king.
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