Jeremiah - Chapters 2-19

Jeremiah was a prophet during the decline of Assyria and the rise of Babylon. He delivered a message of judgment to the people of Judah because of their sins. The people had forsaken the Lord and followed idols. Despite the impending judgment, there was still a message of grace from the Lord. The religious leaders preached peace, but everything was not okay. Jeremiah was commanded to proclaim the message of judgment at the temple. The covenant with the Lord was broken, and disaster was coming. Jeremiah faced rejection from his own people, but the Lord assured him of his presence and protection. The people of Judah were compared to a ruined linen belt, completely useless. Drought, famine, and sword were coming. Even if Moses and Samuel were present, they could not stop the judgment. King Manasseh's evil idolatry provoked the Lord to anger. I am Julie Callio, your host, and thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to tune in with me today. If by chance you want to contact me, you can do that at vab.bc.pc at gmail.com. Jeremiah was a prophet during the decline of Assyria and the rise and power of Babylon. In the beginning of Jeremiah, we learned his ministry started during the 13th year of the reign of Josiah. We learned in 2 Kings 22 verse 3 that it was in the 18th year of Josiah's reign that he began the project of repairing the temple of the Lord, which was when they found the law of the Lord in the temple, which brought about a reformation in Jerusalem. The king took away all the idols of the land and the people who led in that idolatry and reinstated the Passover. He had the people to commit to the covenant of the Lord, yet one of the things Dr. Bett said in class was that he believed the reformation was more in the heart of the king than the people, because as soon as he died, the people returned to their old ways. Chapter 1 tells us of Jeremiah's calling, and chapters 2 through 19 give us the message of judgment on Judah from the Lord. It seems that every scholar divides up this book differently, partly because this book is not written in chronological order, so I am following Dr. Bett's division this time. Last year, in July of 2023, I divided it into 8 sections, and this year I will combine more to give more of an overview of the book. Jeremiah's message, which he received from the Lord, is that judgment was coming to Jerusalem and Judah because of their sin. Some of the various verses in this section that show that are, chapter 2 verse 13, My people have committed two sins, they have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. In other words, it is the Lord who provides us with living water. This reminds me of Jesus with the woman at the well in John 4, when he asked the woman for water, and she was stunned because he spoke to her, a woman and a Samaritan, and he responded to her in verse 10, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that ask you for a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water. The idols the Jews had made, they were like bowls to hold water, but they were broken, and could not provide what they needed. Only the Lord could do that. Chapter 3 verse 6 of Jeremiah, During the reign of King Josiah, the Lord said to me, Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill, and under every spreading tree, and has committed adultery there. See, the Lord made a covenant with his people, which came through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses in the law, Joshua and the judges, and it continued through King David and his descendants. That covenant was like a marriage contract. The Lord was their husband, but the Jews were unfaithful to him. Since the people were unfaithful, the Lord declared, Tell this to the nations, proclaim it to Jerusalem, a besieging army is coming from a distant land, raising a war cry against the cities of Judah. Chapter 4 verse 16, Chapter 5 verse 15, O house of Israel, declares the Lord, I am bringing a distant nation against you, an ancient and enduring nation, a people whose language you do not know, whose speech you do not understand. Yet in the midst of this message of judgment, there is, as usual, a message of grace. Chapter 5 verses 18 and 19, Yet even in those days, declares the Lord, I will not destroy you completely. And when the people ask, Why is the Lord our God done all this to us? You will tell them, As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your own land, so now you will serve foreigners in a land not your own. We also learned that the religious leaders of their day were preaching peace, peace, as if everything was okay, but everything was not okay. Chapter 6 verse 14 and chapter 8 verse 11, which is why they did not like Jeremiah very much. Verse 16 of chapter 6 says, This is what the Lord says, Stand at the crossroads and look, ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, We will not walk in it. Starting in chapter 7, Jeremiah was commanded to go to the temple and proclaim this same message of judgment. And in verse 11, the Lord says, Has this house, which bears my name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching, declares the Lord. It's interesting in the gospel of John chapter 2 verses 13 through 16, before Jesus cleansed the temple, it says in verse 14, In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle. He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. Jesus was also watching them make the temple into a den of robbers. Verses 23 and 24 are key verses of the book. But I gave them this command, Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you. But they did not listen or pay attention. Instead they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. The people were not willing to live in truth. Chapter 7 verse 28. In chapter 8 verse 21, we see the Lord's heart. It says, Since my people are crushed, I am crushed. I mourn and horror grips me. In chapter 9 verses 13 and 14, we again see why the Lord allowed this to happen. The Lord said, It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them, and they have not obeyed me or followed my law. Instead they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts. They have followed the Baals as their fathers taught them. Chapter 9 verse 25 and 26 read, The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh, Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all who live in the desert in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart. For the Jews the act of bodily circumcision was a sign of their covenant with the Lord. The Jews, the people of Judah and all Israel, even though their physical body was circumcised, their hearts were far from him. This is what the apostle Paul is talking about in his letter to the Gentile city of Colossae in chapter 2 verse 11. In him you are also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with the circumcision done by the hands of men, but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. God's salvation is for everyone who believes, Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or free, and it is not through circumcision of the flesh, it is through faith in Jesus Christ. Chapter 10 compares God with idols, and then it tells the people to get ready to leave their land, verse 17. Chapter 11 again says the covenant is broken, and verse 17 again explains why. The Lord Almighty, who planted you, has decreed disaster for you, because the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done evil and provoked me to anger by burning incense to Baal. As I shared earlier, the other religious people did not appreciate Jeremiah's declaration of upcoming judgment, so at the end of chapter 11, in verses 21-23 it says, Therefore this is what the Lord says about the men of Anathoth, who were seeking your life, and saying, Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will die by our hands. Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says, I will punish them, their young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters by famine. Not even a remnant will be left to them, because I will bring disaster on the men of Anathoth in the year of their punishment. We learned in chapter 1 verse 1 that Jeremiah was from Anathoth, and his own people rejected him. This reminds me that Jesus also was rejected by his own people of Nazareth in Luke chapter 4. Yet also in Jeremiah's call in chapter 1, the Lord said two times in verses 9 and 19, Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you, and will rescue you, declares the Lord. In chapter 12 of Jeremiah, he does cry out to the Lord and asks why? The Lord responded by letting him know he would take care of them. Chapter 13 verses 1 through 11 was an object lesson of a linen belt that Jeremiah was to bury and then dig up, and it became ruined and completely useless. This was a picture image of the people of Judah. Verse 10, These wicked people who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts, and go after other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt, completely useless. Destruction was coming, and it was all because of their sins. Chapter 14 says there will be drought, famine, and sword coming. And chapter 15 verse 1, Then the Lord said to me, Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence. Let them go. Both Moses and Samuel were known for interceding for the people and pleading mercy for the people of the Lord, but even if they were here at this time, they could not stop what was coming. Verse 4 says, I will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth, because of what Manasseh, son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem. This story is found in 2 Kings chapter 21, and his evil idolatry was greater than the pagan nations, and greater than King Ahab from Israel. 2 Kings chapter 2 verse 6 says, He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, provoking him to anger. King Manasseh was before Josiah and the revitalization that happened under his reign, but in 2 Kings chapter 23 verse 26, after Josiah's reign, it says, Nevertheless the Lord did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger, which burned against Judah, because of all that Manasseh had done to provoke him to anger. Chapter 16, the day of disaster is coming, which leads to chapter 17, but then we have a glimmer of hope in chapter 17 verses 7 and 8. But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the waters, that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes. Its leaves are always green. It has no worries in the year of drought, and never fails to bear fruit. Ladies, when we trust in the Lord, he provides for us with all we need, even in difficult times. In chapter 17 verse 19, the Lord tells Jeremiah to go and stand at the gate of the people, through which the kings of Judah go in and out, stand also at the other gates of Jerusalem. He was to declare to the people, to honor the Lord by keeping the Sabbath. Then in chapter 18, the Lord sent Jeremiah to the house of the potter, and the Lord reminded him that God is the potter, and we are the clay. Then we find that the people in Jerusalem are going to attack him. And again, Jeremiah cries out to the Lord in verse 23, it says, but you know, O Lord, all their plots to kill me. Do not forgive their crimes, or blot out their sin from your sight. Let them be overthrown before you. Deal with them in the time of your anger. This is called an imprecatory prayer or song, and the Psalms are full of these types of prayers. And ladies, it is okay to pray them, otherwise they would not be in the Bible. But notice that Jeremiah does not take vengeance. He places their fate into the Lord's hands. In response, in chapter 19, the Lord tells Jeremiah to buy a clay jar from the potter and take it before the elders and priests, proclaim the judgments that the Lord will be bringing to the people, and then break the jar in front of them. He then said, this is what the Lord Almighty says, I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter's jar is smashed and cannot be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more. In other words, the graveyard will be full. And then the Lord continued to say that the city of Jerusalem will be like the graveyard. Chapter 19 ends with Jeremiah going back to the Lord's temple at the Lord's command. And verse 15 says, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel says, listen, I am going to bring on this city and the villages around it every disaster I pronounced against them because they were stiff necked and would not listen to my words. Ladies, it's clear that the Lord told them what was coming, but they would not believe. They would not live in truth. They would not acknowledge the Lord. We also see that there is a time when the Lord has had enough and judgment is coming. But for those who turn to the Lord and place their trust in him, he will be with them and protect them. That doesn't mean hard times won't come. But those who believed in the Lord while in exile to Babylon, the Lord was with them and the Lord spoke to them. So ladies, are you stiff necked and unwilling to listen to the Lord or are you willing to humble yourself before the Lord and obey like Jeremiah did? It goes so much better for us when we obey. Until next time and thanks so very much for listening.