In these four chapters, there are some of the greatest of the utterances of Jeremiah as he looked towards the future, beyond the judgement which he saw falling on his people in Judah and Jerusalem. The histori¬cal background of these utterances may be dated as 588 B.C., a year of increasing danger and crisis for Judah. In 589 B.C., Zedekiah had attempted to rebel against Babylonian control of Judah and brought the ruthless retaliation of the Babylonian ruler against the country. The Babylonian armies entered Judah and by 588 B.C. controlled most of it. Jerusalem was surrounded and besieged, and the Babylonians were prepared to wait until the inhabitants of Jerusalem surrendered through exhaustion and starvation. Zedekiah, advised by his court officials, continued to resist, and the more they resisted the more determined were the Babylonians to crush Judah. We may ask if acceptance of Babylonian control, instead of resistance, would have resulted in mercy from the Babylonians. There is evidence that it would have had this result.

The young king Jehoiachin, who was taken prisoner to Babylon in 587 B.C. after surrendering without resistance to the Babylonians, lived for many years in Babylon (Jeremiah 52:31-34), and was released from prison in his later days. The Biblical account is confirmed by an official document found by archaeologists in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar listing the provision of food to various persons including 'J ehoiachin king of Judah' and his sons. The amounts of food indicated are generous. The Babylonians were interested in controlling a large empire for the wealth, power and prestige it gave them; they preferred to loot a country rather than destroy it. The policy followed by King Zedekiah was there-fore disastrous and this was understood by Jeremiah, who repeatedly told the king and the people to accept the control of Babylon over Judah and to surrender Jerusalem without offering resistance. His message was not only rejected but caused such anger amongst the court officials that his life was in serious danger as he was considered to be a traitor. Against this background of great danger, Jeremiah speaks of hope and performs actions signifying hope.