Transcript Jeremiah The Weeping Prophet - Washington University Bible

Jeremiah
The Weeping Prophet
By Luke Kim
Presentation Outline
Introduction
 Backgrounds: kings, nations, prophets
 Prophecies
 Fulfillments of Prophecies
 Jeremiah – The Man
 God in Jeremiah
 Conclusion
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Outline of the Book
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The Call of Jeremiah (1)
Prophecies to Jerusalem and Judah (2-35)
Warnings and Exhortations to Judah
Promises of Restoration
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The Sufferings of Jeremiah (36~38)
The Fall of Jerusalem
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Prophecies to Foreign Nations (46~51)
Historical Appendix (52)
Introduction
“’This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will put my law in
their minds and write it on their hearts I will be their God,
and they will be my people’” (31:33)
Author: Jeremiah (“Yahweh lays a foundation.”)
 Date: 626 BC ~ sometime after 586
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Written, destroyed (by King Jehoiakim), rewritten and
edited in a state of constant turmoil and danger
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Theme: The Judgment of God
Kings
Josiah (640-609) Jeremiah came in the 13th yr of his reign
 Jehoahaz (609)
 Jehoiakim (~597): A puppet king under Egypt and Babylon.
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Revolted against Nebu. Died in captivity.
Burned the scroll of God’s word. (36)
Jehoiachin (597) A political prisoner in Babylon for 37 yrs
 Zedekiah (~587)
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Jeremiah pleaded to submit to Babylon. Caused a famine. (32:36)
Imprisoned Jeremiah. Jeremiah prophesies 70 yrs of exile (25).
His sons were slain and his own eyes were put out.
Carried in chains to Babylon.
Invasions
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Josiah (640-609)
Jehoahaz (609)
Jehoiakim (~597)
Babylon becomes a super power nation.
Babylon’s 1st invasion (606) – Daniel…
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Jehoiachin (597)
Babylon’s 2nd invasion (598)
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Zedekiah (~587)
Babylon’s 3rd invasion (588)
The Fall of Jerusalem (586) – Jeremiah…
Prophets
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Contemporary Prophets
Beginning: Nahum, Zephaniah, and Habakkuk
End: Daniel and Ezekiel
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There were false prophets (i.e.:Hananiah in 28)
Preached good things to the people (14, 23, 30-34)
Prophesied lies in God’s name.
People loved to hear them.
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Prophets were persecuted and killed.
I.e.) Uriah prophesied against the people of Judah and fled in fear
to Egypt. But he was caught in Egypt and brought back. The king
Jehoiakim had him struck down with a sword.(26)
Prophecies
“The word of the Lord came to me…”
Prophecies (1)
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Judah’s Forsaking God / Idolatry  God forsakes them.
Coming Destruction
Warnings  Repentance
The Broken Covenant
Drought, Famine, Sword, and Captivity
Messages about Egypt, the Philistines, Moab, Ammon,
Edom, Damascus, Kedar, Hazor, Elam, and Babylon (4651)
Judah In Prophecies
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Idolatry: sacrifices to other gods (7:18), idols
inside the temple (7,32)
Sacrificed their own children!!! (7:31)
Not One Is Upright (5:1)
Godless and Lying Priests & Prophets (23)
“’Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.” (8:11)
Use their power unjustly (23:10)
Prophesied by Baal and led people astray (23:25)

False security: Jerusalem and the Temple = An
magical inviolability = Safety
Judah In Prophecies (cont.)
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Kings, priests, and his people refused to accept
Jeremiah’s message.
“They made their faces harder than stone and refused to
repent” (5:3)
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“A wild donkey sniffing the wind in her craving -- in her
heat…” (2:24)
An unfaithful wife (3:20)
Well fed lusty horses (5:7-9)
A shameless prostitute (3:1, 6-8, 13:27)
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Prophecies (2)
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Promises of the Messiah
“’when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch,’”
(23:5)
“I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s
line;” (33:15)
“The LORD Our Righteousness” (23,33)

Restoration & Deliverance (30,33)
Fulfillments
Fulfillments of Prophecies
As a result…
 Jerusalem was besieged by Babylonian
army (588-586)
 By the sword, famine and plague the city
of Jerusalem was destroyed.
 The fall of Jerusalem (586)
 Judah went into captivity. (3,023 people
including King Zedekiah)
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Fulfillments of Prophecies
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Restoration & Deliverance
 Zerubbabel
(538 BC)
 Ezra
(457)
 Nehemiah (445)

The temple was rebuilt. (515)
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Eventually by the Messiah (Righteous
Branch)
Jeremiah
Jeremiah – The Man
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Seventy years after the death of Isaiah
A native of Anathoth, from a priest’s family
A priest and prophet
When he was very young, God called him.(1:5,6)
Ordained by God
1:17~19 imply how hard his life of mission would be.
Single (16:2)
Forty years with great faithfulness
626 BC ~ sometime after 586
Jeremiah – His Struggles
 No
prophet wrote much about his own
agony except Jeremiah. (12, 20)
“O Lord , you deceived me, and I was deceived; you
overpowered me and prevailed.” (20:7)
“Cursed be the day I was born!” (20:14)
 But
“You are always righteous, O Lord” (12)
“But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior” (20:11)
Jeremiah – His Sufferings

Threatened and persecuted by people
“Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord or you will
die by our hands” (11:21)
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Social rejection, Betrayed by his own relatives
Mocked and ridiculed by people.
Accused of treason, beaten, and imprisoned
Thrown into a muddy cistern, sank in the mud,
and left starving for dead
(Stoned to death in Egypt  tradition)
Jeremiah = We
 called
when we were very young.
 kingdom of priests – Bible teachers
 carrying unpopular messages.
 rejected and ignored many times.
 struggle with sheep
God In Jeremiah
“Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all the faithless live at ease?” (12)
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Creator of all things (10:12-16; 51:15-19)
Omnipotent (32:27; 48:15; 51:57)
Omnipresent (23:24)
Sovereign Deliverer (20:11, 32:17-25)
Lord of the Nations (5:15; 18:7-10; 25:17-28; 4651): The Potter and the Clay(18)
Conclusion (What I learned)
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People like good things to hear. They deceive
themselves having false security. (military power & economy)
How terrible idolatry is! It brings God’s wrath!
Importance to accept the messages of warning and
repentance
Having spiritual insight about my life and the world.
Jeremiah’s life of mission
- used wholly as God’s instrument.
- delivered messages from God to his people faithfully.
- Obedience to the will of God until he died.

God’s yearning heart toward Judah.
“Obey me and I will be your God and you will be my people” (7:23)
Appendix
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More regular Order
1-20; 22; 23; 25; 26; 35; 36; 45; 24; 29; 30;
31; 27; 28; 21; 34; 37; 32; 33;38; 39; 4044; 46-52.
References

Books
 The
Bible
 Jeremiah. The Chokmah Synthetic Commentary
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Websites
 http://www.gospelcom.net/eword/comments/jeremiah/
 http://www.stpetersnottingham.org/bible/jeremiah.htm
 http://www.suffering.net/servjer.htm
 http://fly.hiwaay.net/~wgann/walk_ot/jeremiah.htm
Q&A