Transcript Old Testament Survey: Book of Jeremiah

Old Testament Survey:
Book of Jeremiah
Background
• One hundred thirty-five years later, Judah followed
in Israel footsteps into spiritual adultery.
• Jeremiah worked in the capital of Jerusalem.
• Jeremiah was contemporary with Daniel, Ezekiel,
Habakkuk, and Zephaniah.
• He was selected to be a prophet when he was
young (1:6).
• Lived in Anathoth, north of Jerusalem.
• Known as the “weeping prophet.”
Background
• Jeremiah began his work during King Josiah’s reign.
• King Josiah sought to reform the religious corruption of
his day.
• Forcible repression of the idolatrous and heathen rites
• As soon as King Josiah died, his reforms were
removed, and the nation returned to idolatry.
• For 18 years, Jeremiah prophesied unhampered during
King Josiah’s rule.
• After Josiah’s death, many sought to put Jeremiah to
death.
Background
• While not written in chronological order,
the book does have three main divisions
that correspond to the reigns of three
notable kings under whom Jeremiah
prophesied.
– First period under Josiah (20 years)
– Second period under Jehoiakim (11 years)
– Third period under Zedekiah (14 years)
Background
• His message did not change; he called for
Judah to leave false worship and
immorality and renew allegiance to God.
• Judah’s attitudes were hard—they felt no
shame for their conduct.
– Jeremiah 6:13-16
• Priests and prophets were responsible for
leading Judah into sin.
– Jeremiah 5:30,31
Background
Jeremiah lived about 100 years after Isaiah.
His ministry began in 626 BC.
It lasted 60 years, until Jerusalem fell in 586 BC.
He saw Assyria’s world power fall to Babylon and
also saw Jerusalem fall to Babylon.
• Jeremiah tried to save Judah from Babylon.
• He prophesied until King Nebuchadnezzar
destroyed Jerusalem and blinded king Zedekiah.
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Keys to the Book
• Key words
– “Forsake” or
“Forsaken” (24)
– “Backslider” or
“Backsliding” (13)
– “Return” (47)
• Key Verses:
– “Then the LORD said to
me, ‘Backsliding Israel has
shown herself more
righteous than treacherous
Judah. Go and proclaim
these words toward the
north, and say: 'Return,
backsliding Israel,' says the
LORD; 'I will not cause My
anger to fall on you. For I
am merciful,' says the
LORD; 'I will not remain
angry forever.” (3:11,12)
Keys to the Book
• Key Verses
– “We lie down in our
shame, and our
reproach covers us. For
we have sinned against
the LORD our God, We
and our fathers, from
our youth even to this
day, and have not
obeyed the voice of the
LORD our God.“ (3:25)
• Key Verses:
– “An astonishing and
horrible thing Has been
committed in the land:
The prophets prophesy
falsely, and the priests
rule by their own power;
and My people love to
have it so. But what will
you do in the end?”
(5:30,31)
Keys to the Book
• Key Verses
– “But this is what I
commanded them, saying,
'Obey My voice, and I will be
your God, and you shall be
My people. And walk in all the
ways that I have commanded
you, that it may be well with
you.‘ Yet they did not obey or
incline their ear, but followed
the counsels and the dictates
of their evil hearts, and went
backward and not forward.“
(7:23,24)
• Key Verses:
– “The harvest is past, The
summer is ended, and we
are not saved! For the
hurt of the daughter of my
people I am hurt. I am
mourning; astonishment
has taken hold of me. Is
there no balm in Gilead;
is there no physician
there? Why then is there
no recovery for the health
of the daughter of my
people?” (8:20-22)
Message
• Jeremiah prophesied in Judah, with a message for
Judah.
• A heartbroken prophet with a heartbreaking
message
• For 40 years, Jeremiah prophesied of the doom that
was coming.
• He foretold and witnessed Jerusalem’s fall.
• He foretold that, after 70 years of captivity, a
remnant would return.
Message
• First, denunciation. Despite all that God had done
for Judah, they had forsaken Him.
• Second, note of visitation. Sin must be punished,
and God would visit His wrath upon them.
• Third, a note of invitation. Dearly beloved by the
Lord, and could yet amend their ways.
• Finally, consolation. Beyond rebellion, there will be
repentance. Judah returned from Babylonian
captivity.
Jeremiah’s Appeal
• To his generation, and all generations
• A timeless call for men not to trust in
themselves, but in God.
• Not to glory in wisdom or wealth, but to
glory in the knowledge of God
• To forsake evil and return to God
• His plea—”amend your ways!” (26:13)
Great Lessons from Jeremiah
• God’s call of Jeremiah and his commission
to Judah and the nations
– (1:4-10)
• The broken cisterns—”forsaken me, the
fountain of living waters.”
– (2:11-13)
• Prophet and priest dealing falsely
– (5:30,31; 6:13,14)
• Unashamed of their conduct
– (6:15; 8:12)
Great Lessons from Jeremiah
• Amend your ways!
– (7:3-5; 18:11; 26:13)
• The folly of trusting lying words
– (7:4-8)
• The potter and the clay—Israel in God’s
hands
– (18:1-11)
• The potter’s broken vessel
– (19:1-15)
Great Lessons from Jeremiah
• False pastors and shepherds
– (23:1-4; 50:6)
• The Branch
– (23:5-8)
• The promised return of the faithful remnant
after 70 years of captivity
– (29:10-14)
• The new covenant
– (31:31-34)
Great Lessons from Jeremiah
• Divine inspiration of the scriptures
– (1:9; 18:2)
• The mutilation and restoration of God’s
word
– (36:21-24, 27-32)
• God’s people then and now
– (24:7; 31:33)
• Trusted in their own footsteps
– (10:23)
The Problem of Sin
• Sought wisdom from other sources
– (2:13)
• False leadership
– (5:30,31)
• Given over to covetousness
– (6:13)
• Imaginations of their evil hearts
– (3:17; 7:24; 11:8; 16:12;18:12)
The Problem of Sin
• The people rose up early to sin
– (Zephaniah 3:7)
• Do evil with both hands and you will perish
– (Micah 7:2,3)
• Had not obeyed the Lord’s voice
– (3:25)
• Worship was merely a ritual
– (7:4-7)
• Truth vanished from their lives
– (7:28)
Tragic Results of Sin
• The marred girdle
– (13:9,10)
• The potter’s power over the clay and
the broken vessel
– (18:1-11; 19:1-15)
• Good and bad figs
– (24:1-10)
• Jeremiah wearing the yoke around his
neck
– (27:8)
Jeremiah’s Prayers
• Acknowledging his limitations
– (1:6)
• Had he deceived the people?
– (4:10)
• Wondering about the way of the wicked
– (12:1-4)
• Admitting Israel’s sins
– (14:7-8)
Jeremiah’s Prayers
• Sought revenge against his persecutors
– (14:7,8,21)
• Israel’s hope—forsake sin and be
ashamed
– (17:13-18)
• Shall evil be recompensed with good?
– (18:19-23)
• Would not speak because the people held
him in derision
– (20:7-9)
More Good Lessons
• God’s judgment
on Judah
– Jeremiah pled for
them to repent and
return to the Lord—
but they refused!
– “But if they do not obey, I will
utterly pluck up and destroy
that nation, says the LORD.”
(12:17)
– “Yet they did not obey or incline
their ear, but followed the
counsels and the dictates of
their evil hearts, and went
backward and not forward.”
(7:24)
– “For though you wash yourself
with lye, and use much soap,
yet your iniquity is marked
before Me…” (2:22)
More Good Lessons
• Cause of their
downfall
– Rejected His
pleading and
obeyed men rather
than God!
– “…Because they have not
heeded My words, nor My law,
but rejected it.” (6:19)
– “Behold, you trust in lying words
that cannot profit.” (7:8)
– “…Let my eyes flow with tears
night and day, and let them not
cease; for the virgin daughter of
my people Has been broken
with a mighty stroke, with a very
severe blow.” (14:17)
More Good Lessons
• The New
Covenant
– The New
Covenant would
be different from
the one God
made with Israel.
– “Behold, the days are coming,
says the LORD, when I will
make a new covenant with the
house of Israel and with the
house of Judah... But this is the
covenant that I will make with
the house of Israel after those
days, says the LORD: I will put
My law in their minds, and write
it on their hearts; and I will be
their God, and they shall be My
people.” (31:31,33}