NOTES for Jer 26:1-24
There is fear of God, and pain for the country too - no wonder the prophet's speeches bring division into the ranks of the Judean officials. From their point of view, his preaching again lacks patriotism: once again religious ideas displace every universal human value, such as love for the homeland, respect for the authorities, and reverence for the holiness of the Temple.
God inevitably, sooner or later, sets Himself over against all the earthly values of human life, because they too often try to take His place - and those who respect these values and live by them have to make their difficult choice between love for something important and meaningful to them, and faithfulness to the One from whom all true values of heaven and earth take their origin.