FEED 210/213 Mentoring Through The Old Testament/Major Prophets SESSION 7C: JEREMIAH Dr P. Marshall Bartley Christian Church: 15 Aug 201

Learning objectives  Be able to explain where Jeremiah sits into the history of the OT and the OT canon  Describe the man Jeremiah, and how he relates to his God, his people and his world  Identify key themes in the Book of Jeremiah and what these tell us about God and His purposes  Develop applications from Jeremiah on how to live as a child of God in a broken world

Introduction The destruction of Jerusalem with its Temple was as significant for God’s people, deeply affecting:  Their relationship to God  Their personal identities and relationship to one another  Their relationship to the nations  Their relationship to the earth (created order)

Introduction  The destruction of Jerusalem and exile were a catastrophe that almost destroyed God’s people ... instead it transformed them, foreshadowing the transformation we identify as the cross, resurrection and Pentecost  Jeremiah was God’s faithful prophet calling the nation to repentance: before and after the destruction of Jerusalem

Introduction Why we should FEED on the Book of Jeremiah:  To know God better  To follow him faithfully (not the crowd)  To be a prophetic witness to society  To “fill out” popular conceptions of Jeremiah  To “appreciate” many wonderful passages

Great passages in Jeremiah  Jeremiah 29:11

Great passages in Jeremiah  Jeremiah 6:16

Great passages in Jeremiah  Jeremiah 31:31-32a

Great passages in Jeremiah  Jeremiah 31:33

Great passages in Jeremiah

 Jeremiah 18:3-4

Great passages in Jeremiah  Jeremiah 23:29

Great passages in Jeremiah  Jeremiah 29:7

Great passages in Jeremiah  Do you agree?

Outline – text & context  Jeremiah 6:16 (full)

Outline Introduction (ch.1) Prophecies of judgment against Jerusalem (chs.2-25) Narratives holding out hope for the future (chs.26-36) Narratives regarding the fall of Jerusalem (chs.37-45) Prophecies of judgment against the nations (chs.46-51) Epilogue (ch.52)

Outline Ch.1 - The call of Jeremiah 2:1-6:30 – Poetic pronouncements of judgment and calls to repent 7:1-10:25 – The people’s falseness in worship 11:1-20:18 – Falseness in the covenant; Jeremiah and God wrestle over the people’s sin 21:1-24:10 – The failure of Judah’s kings and priests 25:1-38 – God’s judgment on all the nations 26:1-29:32 – Foreshadowings of Babylonian supremacy 30:1-33:26 – The ‘Book of Consolation’ 34:1-36:32 – King and people refuse the word of Jeremiah

Outline 37:1-39:18 – Up to the fall of Judah 40:1-45:5 – The fate of those who were left 46:1-51:64 – Oracles against the nations Ch. 52:1-34 – Further account of the fall of Jerusalem; the temple destroyed

Outline – Jer 1: The word of the L ORD came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?” “I see the branch of an almond tree,” I replied. 12 The L ORD said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching [a] to see that my word is fulfilled.”a Footnotes: Jeremiah 1:12Jeremiah 1:12 The Hebrew for watching sounds like the Hebrew for almond tree.

Outline – Jer 1: The word of the L ORD came to me again: “What do you see?” “I see a pot that is boiling,” I answered. “It is tilting toward us from the north.” 14 The L ORD said to me, “From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land.

Author & Dates – Jer 36:4-8 “So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and while Jeremiah dictated all the words the LORD had spoken to him, Baruch wrote them on the scroll. Then Jeremiah told Baruch, ‘... So you go to the house of the LORD on a day of fasting and read to the people from the scroll the words of the LORD that you wrote as I dictated. Read them to all the people of Judah...’ Baruch son of Neriah did everything Jeremiah the prophet told him to do; at the Lord’s temple he read the words of the Lord from the scroll.”

Author & Dates – Jer 1:2-3 “ 2 The word of the L ORD came to Jeremiah in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah [627BC], 3 and through the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, down to the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah [587BC], when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.”

The world of Jeremiah

Some key themes in Jeremiah  Sin  Repentance, Judgment & Hope  Jeremiah and Moses  Suffering  Covenant (old & new)  The Messiah  Jeremiah & the NT

More key themes in Jeremiah  Jeremiah the man  Jeremiah & his God  Living with misunderstanding, rejection & persecution  Life & ministry as “failure”  Importance of a true friend What might Jeremiah think?

Summary From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. 11 They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. “Peace, peace,” they say, when there is no peace. (Jer 8:10b-11) 14 “However, the days are coming,” declares the L ORD, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the L ORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ 15 but it will be said, ‘As surely as the L ORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ For I will restore them to the land I gave their ancestors. (Jer 16:14-15)

Jeremiah the man 4 The word of the L ORD came to me, saying, 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” 6 “Alas, Sovereign L ORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.” 7 But the L ORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the L ORD. (Jer 1:4-8)

Jeremiah the man 1 Then the word of the L ORD came to me: 2 “You must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place.” 3 For this is what the L ORD says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers: 4 “They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like dung lying on the ground. They will perish by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.” (Jer 16:1-4)

Jeremiah’s “Confessions” 5 “If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble [a] in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan? 6 Your relatives, members of your own family — even they have betrayed you; they have raised a loud cry against you. Do not trust them, though they speak well of you.” (Jer 12:5-6)a

Jeremiah’s “Confessions” 7 You deceived me, L ORD, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. 8 Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the L ORD has brought me insult and reproach all day long. 9 But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot. (Jer 20:7-9)

Sin, Judgment & Repentance 1 “If you, Israel, will return, then return to me,” declares the L ORD. “If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray, 2 and if in a truthful, just and righteous way you swear, ‘As surely as the L ORD lives,’ then the nations will invoke blessings by him and in him they will boast.” 3 This is what the L ORD says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem: “Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns. 4 Circumcise yourselves to the L ORD, circumcise your hearts, you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or my wrath will flare up and burn like fire because of the evil you have done— burn with no one to quench it. (Jer 4:1-4)

The Covenant & True Worship 22 For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, 23 but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you. 24 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. 25 From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets.” (Jer 7:22-25)

The Covenant & True Worship 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the L ORD : 2 “Stand at the gate of the L ORD ’s house and there proclaim this message: “‘Hear the word of the L ORD, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the L ORD. 3 This is what the L ORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. 4 Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the L ORD, the temple of the L ORD, the temple of the L ORD !” 5 If you really change your ways and your actions... 7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever. 8 But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.” (Jer 7:1-8)

The Covenant & True Worship 5 If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, 6 if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you live in this place... 9 “‘Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things? 11 Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord.” (Jer 7:-11)

Judgment & 70 Years of Captivity 17 So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand and made all the nations to whom he sent me drink it: 18 Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a ruin and an object of horror and scorn, a curse—as they are today; 18 Pharaoh king of Egypt all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the foreign people who live in the wilderness; 25 all the kings of Zimri, Elam and Media; 26 and all the kings of the north, near and far, one after the other—all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. And after all of them, the king of Sheshak [c] will drink it too. (Jer 25:17-26)c c. Jeremiah 25:26 Sheshak is a cryptogram for BabylonJeremiah 25:26

Judgment & 70 Years of Captivity  Jeremiah 29:11

Judgment & 70 Years of Captivity  Jeremiah 29:7

Hope in Jeremiah A Coming Ideal Davidic King: 5 “The days are coming,” declares the L ORD, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The L ORD Our Righteous Savior.” (Jer 23:5-6)

Hope in Jeremiah 8 “‘In that day,’ declares the L ORD Almighty, ‘I will break the yoke off their necks and will tear off their bonds; no longer will foreigners enslave them. 9 Instead, they will serve the L ORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. (Jer 30:8-9) The Book of Comfort: Jeremiah 30-33

Hope in Jeremiah 31 “The days are coming,” declares the L ORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the L ORD. A new covenant with God’s people: Jer 31:31-34

Hope in Jeremiah 33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the L ORD. “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. 34 No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the L ORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the L ORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” A new covenant with God’s people: Jer 31:31-34

Jeremiah in the New Testament 7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8 But God found fault with the people and said [a] :a “The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 8: 8-12 = Jer 31: By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear. A new covenant with God’s people: Hebrews 8:7-13

Conclusion from Jeremiah The covenant is fulfilled in those who are united to Jesus Christ. Forgiveness is the result of the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus and God has given the Holy Spirit to enable obedience to the commandments “written on their hearts” by the Holy Spirit. Yet we have not yet attained what is described in Jeremiah, for the kingdom of God has come but not in its fullness.