Jeremiah

Book of Jeremiah

Notes.. .

. ..Introduction. By Jeremiah to encourage God’s people in Judah to turn from their sin and turn back to God. People include the last five kings of Judah who are Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoichin, and Zedekiah, and others such as Baruch, Ebed-Melech, Nebuchadnezzar and Rechabites. Places include Jerusalem, Ramah, and Egypt.
. ..Themes. Sin, Punishment, God is Lord of All, New Hearts, and Faithful Service.
. ..Outline. “Jeremiah began his prophetic ministry in the 13th year of the reign of Josiah, the king of Judah; which was somewhere around c. 626 BC. He continued until sometime after he was forcibly carried off to Egypt which was probably about c. 586–584 BC. Jeremiah’s ministry began a few years before Josiah’s reform and ended shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem, Judah, and temple of Solomon. Jeremiah thus witnessed the last rivalry of Judean independence and Judah’s swift demise after its last good king Josiah” (William Seay 2019, L10 32:25–33:13).
. ..Application. “God’s message through Jeremiah came to Judah in her most desperate hour yet many in Judah did not recognize the seriousness of their position. If we were to take seriously God’s instruction through Jeremiah the church and individual believers would avoid the spiritual blindness and bankruptcy which doomed Judah” (Seay 2019, L10 40:43–41:07).
. ..Timeline. Jeremiah becomes a prophet in 627. King Josiah was killed in battle in 609. Ezekiel was taken captive in 605. Ezekiel begins to prophesize in Babylon in 593. Judah falls, Jerusalem is destroyed, and Jeremiah’s ministry ends in 586.

Introduction. 27:45 – The purpose was to encourage God’s people to turn from their sin and turn back to God. The author was Jeremiah. It was written to Judah the southern kingdom and Judah’s capital, Jerusalem. The key people are the last five kings of Judah. Jeremiah ministered under these last five kings. These kings were Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoichin, and Zedekiah. Other notable people include Baruch, Ebed-Melech, Nebuchadnezzar and Rechabites. The key places are Jerusalem, Ramah, and Egypt.

Themes. 29:45 – There are five theological themes. (i) Sin. King Josiah’s reprimation [or reformation] failed because the peoples’ repentance was shallow. They continued in their selfishness and worship of idols. All the leaders rejected God’s law and will for the people. Jeremiah listed all their sins, predicts God’s judgement, and begged for repentance. (ii) Punishment. Because of sin, Jerusalem was destroyed. The temple was ruined, and the people were captured and carried off to Babylon. The people were responsible for their destruction and captivity because they refused to listen to God’s message. (iii) God is Lord of All. God is the righteous Creator. He is accountable to no one but Himself. He wisely and lovingly directs all creation to fulfill His plan and He brings events to pass according to His timetable. He is Lord over all the world. (iv) New Hearts. Jeremiah predicted that after the destruction of a nation, God will send a new shepherd, the messiah. He will lead them to a new future, a new covenant and a new day of hope. He will accomplish this by changing their sinful hearts into hearts of love for God. (v) Faithful Service. Jeremiah served God directly for 40 years. During that time, the people ignored, rejected, and persecuted him. Jeremiah’s preaching was unsuccessful by human standards, yet he did not fail in his task. He remained faithful to God.

Outline. 32:15 – Jeremiah began his prophetic ministry in the 13th year of the reign of Josiah, the king of Judah; which was somewhere around c. 626 BC. He continued until sometime after he was forcibly carried off to Egypt which was probably about c. 586 – 584 BC. Jeremiah’s ministry began a few years before Josiah’s reform and ended shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem, Judah, and temple of Solomon. Jeremiah thus witnessed the last rivalry of Judean independence and Judah’s swift demise after its last good king Josiah.

Judah, after the death of her last great king Josiah somewhere around c. 609 BC, faced three religious options which were also tied up with the political realities of the time. (i) Continue on the course of unswerving and exclusive faithfulness to the God of Israel on which Josiah’s reform has sent them. (ii) They could continue to worship their own god at the same time of incorporating the worship of other gods alongside the temple rituals as had been the practice before Josiah’s reform. (iii) They could abandon the worship of their own god altogether and give themselves over completely to the gods of Canaan, Egypt, and Mesopotamia. Judah from her kings and other leaders down to the poorest of the land chose the second option which they undoubtedly regarded as the wisest and safest sensible middle ground. We know that in Judah that the people worshiped the sun, moon, constellations, and, particularly, the various signs of the Zodiac. They also worshiped all the hosts of heaven; meaning, primarily, the planets. Besides this astrological worship, the Judeans were involved in the worship of the more specifically Canaanite deities like Baal, the earth goddess, both in his universalized and local manifestations, Moloch, the god of the Amorites, and Chemosh, the god of the Moabites.

Why did the Judeans of Jeremiah’s day virtually bring the worship of all the gods of their neighbors into the various tracings into the temple of Israel’s God and mix them up with worship of their own? A part of the reason was political power. Judah did not have it and two of her neighbors did. Usually, in the ancient near east a vassal king was expected to acknowledge the gods of his overlord, yet the rule of an outside power is not the whole answer. We see from the records of early Judean kings that some of them decided to be faithful to the God of Israel in the face of their overlord’s demands and God had honored them for it. Judah’s last kings knew all of this, but the great majority of Judah’s people returned to those gods after Josiah’s death ended his reform. With people and leaders alike, the reform had been only skin deep; something to be tolerated because the king directed it. Any Judean who knew much about the world knew that his own country could not match those great centers of civilization in any significant area of their achievement. If the Judean’s devotion to the God of Israel was not firm, total, and unshakable they were likely to conclude that the God of their fathers was no match for the gods of their neighbors. In a polytheistic world, the easy and obvious solution, the right solution, was to incorporate the worship of their neighbors gods alongside and into the worship of Judah’s God. The sophistication and learning of Judah’s neighbors were even more effective than their political domination in inciting Judah to compromise their devotion to God.

Within religious compromise in Judah only a few persons remained completely faithful to God alone. Jeremiah was one of the few. His faithfulness by himself might not have brought in trouble but Jeremiah was commissioned by God to deliver a very unpopular message. (i) His first unwelcomed point was that Judah’s unfaithfulness was sin and would be punished. (ii) His second point was labeled treasonous in an increasingly independent minded nation. God intended to use the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar to punish Judah. Her only chance of survival as a nation lay in submission to the great empire. God’s rule of judgement revoked intrigue with Egypt in attempt to throw off the Babylonian yoke to bring only disaster. So, needless to say, Jeremiah’s message earned him the animosity of most Judeans. Furthermore, God had told him ahead of time that H/his message would be rejected and he H/himself would be persecuted; but, nevertheless of continued rejected, both the message he knew was from God and of himself as God’s prophet was at times was such a burden to Jeremiah that he quit proclaiming God’s message for a time, for a while, and even cursed the day of his birth. Jeremiah, the man and his message, stood as a beacon of faithfulness in the midst of a nation which did not consider its ways to be evil and did not think that God would punish. Jeremiah’s only immediate result was to leave his people without excuse for their unfaithfulness to the example of his own faithfulness.

Five practical theological teachings that we gleam from Jeremiah’s prophetic ministry which are (i) The sovereignty of God. (ii) The faithfulness of God. (iii) The necessity of faithfulness in God’s people. (iv) The grace of God. (v) God’s promise of a new covenant.

Application. 40:35 – God’s message through Jeremiah came to Judah in her most desperate hour yet many in Judah did not recognize the seriousness of their position. If we were to take seriously God’s instruction through Jeremiah the church and individual believers would avoid the spiritual blindness and bankruptcy which doomed Judah. Jeremiah (i) teaches us to take our new covenant relationship with God seriously. (ii) To believe God. (iii) Trust God. (iv) To take our relationships with fellow believers seriously. (v) Take our agreements seriously. (vi) Be mindful to recognize and apply God’s corrections. (vii) Live in joyful expectation of God’s final restoration of His people and His creation.

Timeline. 41:55 – Jeremiah becomes a prophet in c. 627 BC. King Josiah was killed in battle in c. 609 BC. Ezekiel was taken captive in c. 605 BC. Ezekiel begins to prophesize in Babylon in c. 593 BC. Judah falls, Jerusalem is destroyed, and Jeremiah’s ministry ends in c. 586 BC.

Ref.

Seay, William. 2019. Old Testament Theology [MP3]. Andersonville Theological Seminary (ATS). Camilla, GA: ATS

All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16).

Agere Sequitur Esse