Jeremiah - Chapters 20-29

This transcription is a summary of a Bible study class discussing the book of Jeremiah. The speaker provides an overview of the book and its structure, highlighting the repetition and non-chronological order. The speaker also explains the historical context of the book, including the downfall of the northern tribes of Israel and the reigns of various kings. The main focus is on Jeremiah's prophecies and his experiences of persecution. The speaker references specific chapters and events in the book, including Jeremiah's prayer, Zedekiah's rebellion, and the vision of the figs. Overall, the transcription provides a brief summary of the main points covered in the Bible study class. I'm Julie Callio, your host, and thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to tune in with me today. By chance you want to contact me, you can do that at vab.bc.pc at gmail.com. Today we are covering chapters 20-29 of Jeremiah. This year I am doing more of an overview of this book with fewer lessons, and last year in July 2023 I did 8 lessons. This book is divided up in a weird fashion, and it seems that every commentator or scholar divides it up differently, starting in this section it does not go in chronological order, but the writers bop back and forth between various kings when Jeremiah was alive. We find in chapter 36 that a man named Baruch was Jeremiah's scribe, one thing that my ESV study bible said in its introduction. The Hebrew version of this book may be shaped as it is because Baruch and Jeremiah wrote it piecemeal in the midst of their turbulent lives. They preserved each part and Baruch collected the pieces in an order intended to stress God's covenantal relationship with Israel in the midst of trying times. There is repetition because the whole of the parts was preserved, thus this book reads more like what political prisoners and refugees write than what persons writing in settled places and times produce. When reading it, it reminds me of a movie that gives flashbacks of previous times to emphasize the present time. This year I am following Dr. Betts divisions of sections from Old Testament class, which means that so far in chapter 1 we covered Jeremiah's call. Section 2 was chapters 2-19 which covered the message of judgment on Judah, and today we will cover chapters 20-29, the section of persecution that Jeremiah went through. Before we hop into our section for today, let's do a quick review of where we are in scripture. In 722 BC, the northern ten tribes of Israel were demolished by Assyria. A little while later they tried to take Judah and Jerusalem, but because they blasphemed the Lord, and because King Hezekiah of Judah humbled himself before the Lord, and prayed and sought the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord attacked Assyria and they ran home. After King Hezekiah, there were a few kings that did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and the worst was King Manasseh, who was worse than the pagan nations, and worse than the worst king of Israel, Ahab of the ten northern tribes. And the Lord declared through his prophets that a nation from the north was coming who would destroy Judah and Jerusalem, and it was said that King Manasseh shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end, plus he caused Judah to commit sin, 2 Kings chapter 21 verse 16. The last good king of Israel was Josiah, and it was during his reign that Jeremiah was called by the Lord. Jeremiah chapter 1 verses 2 and 3 say, The word of the Lord came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Ammon king of Judah, 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, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile. There was reform under King Josiah, but 2 Kings chapter 23 verse 26 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. King Josiah was killed by Pharaoh Necho of Egypt, so the people put his son Jehoahaz as king, but Pharaoh Necho exiled him to Egypt where he died, made Judah pay him taxes, and Necho placed Jehoiakim as king. In the year 605 Assyria was destroyed by Babylon at the battle of Carchemish, and the new king of Babylon was Nebuchadnezzar. He invaded the land of Judah, made them pay him taxes, and he took exiles to Babylon, and in that group went Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. We have covered so far this year chapters 1 and 2 of Daniel, where these four men did not want to defile their bodies with the king's choicest of foods, and after the test of ten days these men were brighter and healthier than the rest. Then in chapter 2 King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream about a statue, and he asked his wise men to not just interpret the dream, but tell him what his dream was, and thankfully because Daniel asked for time, he and his three friends prayed, and the Lord revealed the dream to Daniel. All their lives were saved, and Daniel became ruler over the entire province of Babylon over the king's men, and his three friends were appointed as administrators over the province of Babylon. While the Lord was blessing these four men in Babylon, because of their faithfulness to the Lord, in Judah the people were not being faithful to the Lord. When Jehoiakim died, his son Jehoiakim, who was just 18 years old, became king, Nebuchadnezzar's men came again to Judah and Jerusalem. They laid siege on it, and the king surrendered to them. The king, his family, his soldiers, and his leading men, plus others, were taken in exile to Babylon. In this group was the prophet Ezekiel. They also took all the treasuries from the temple of the Lord and from the royal palace. Nebuchadnezzar placed Zedekiah as the next king, and we ended our section of 2 Kings chapter 24 with the last verse. Now Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon, and ladies, we know that is not good. Now to Jeremiah, who was a prophet of the Lord in Jerusalem and Judah, and his message was Babylon is coming, and surrender, because this is the Lord's doing. But the people did not like it. In chapter 20 of Jeremiah, he was beaten and put in stocks because of his prophecy. Verses 7-18 are Jeremiah's prayer unto the Lord, and I just love it, because it shows the range of emotion in a believer's life. How many pastors do you know that if they knew they would be arrested or beaten because of their message, would still preach it? Jeremiah cries out that the Lord had deceived him because of how poorly they treated him. And then verse 9 says, But if I say, I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name, his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am wary of holding it in. Indeed I cannot. Oh ladies, have you ever felt this bubbling up in your soul that you just have to say something? You have to stand up for truth, and if you don't, you're going to burst. Oh I have, and Jeremiah did too. I've heard it said that the most miserable person in the world is a Christian who is living in disobedience to the Lord, because it burns in their soul. Jeremiah couldn't hold it in, no matter the circumstances. This prayer then goes into praise, because the Lord alone can rescue. Remember that at the end of 2 Kings 24, Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon, usually that means he stopped paying them tribute money. So Nebuchadnezzar came back for a third time and laid siege on Jerusalem, meaning no one in or out, and no food or water in or out. Chapter 21 of Jeremiah, King Zedekiah asks Jeremiah's wisdom, and he says, Surrender! But the king would not have it. Chapter 22, the Lord directs Jeremiah to go to the palace and proclaim his message. Chapter 23, is a message to the religious shepherds, who were to tend the Lord's people, but instead they scattered them and drove them away from the Lord, and the religious leaders will be punished. Verse 5, gives a glimmer of hope that the Lord will bring a righteous branch from the line of David, and in those days Judah and Israel will be saved. We know that is a reference to Jesus. Chapter 24 is a vision that Jeremiah received from the Lord, of two baskets of figs, and those who were exiled to Babylon were the good figs, but those who refused to surrender to the Lord and to Babylon became the rotten figs that were so bad they could not be eaten but thrown away. With regards to the good figs in exile, the Lord says in verses 6 and 7, My eyes will watch over them for their good, I will bring them back to this land, I will build them up and not tear them down, I will plant them and not uproot them, I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord, they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their heart. Chapter 25, the Lord explained that the exiles will be away for 70 years, and then the Lord says He is bringing the cup of His wrath upon the city that bears His name. In chapter 26, again the people did not like the message, so Jeremiah's life is threatened. The priests, the prophets, and all who heard him said, You must die, yet Jeremiah still cried out for the people to reform their ways and obey the Lord, but if they don't, and if they kill me, verse 15 says, be assured, however, that if you put me to death, you will bring the guilt of innocent blood on yourselves, and on this city, and on those who live in it, for in truth the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing. Here there were some elders who stepped up and reminded the people of Micah, the minor prophet, who declared the same thing, and Uriah the prophet said the same thing against this city, plus a man named Ahiakim, son of Shaphan, who was the secretary of King Hezekiah, who helped find the word of the Lord, in 2 Kings chapter 22 verses 12-13, stood up for Jeremiah, so they did not kill him. In chapter 27 it says that early in the year of the reign of Zedekiah, before it was under siege, Jeremiah had sent word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon, through invoice, and told them that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon was coming, and for those who bow down to him they will be saved, but for those who fight against him they will be banished and perished. This reminds me that in chapter 1 of his calling the Lord told Jeremiah that he was appointed as a prophet to the nations, verse 5, then back in Jeremiah 27 verse 12 it says I gave the same message to Zedekiah king of Judah, and ladies we know he did not listen. Chapter 28 is a story of a false prophet Hananiah, and in the Old Testament the way to know if someone was a true prophet was what he said came true, and at Jeremiah's prediction Hananiah died as the Lord said. In chapter 29 Jeremiah sent a letter to the surviving elders, priests, prophets, and the other exiles to tell them that they will be in exile for 70 years, so they were told to build homes there and to settle down, get married, and verse 7 says also seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile, pray to the Lord for it because if it prospers you too will prosper. Verse 11 is one of my favorite childhood verses, and then through verse 14 are great verses too, for I know I know I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future, then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you, you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you declares the Lord and will bring you back from captivity, I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you declares the Lord and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile. This makes me think of the children of Israel wandering in the wilderness with Moses, Ray Van Der Laan pointed out in his video series that the world may know that every time the people talked about their time in the wilderness it was wandering but every time the Lord spoke about those times it was the Lord leading through the wilderness, the Lord is clear that he banished his people into all the nations but he will bring them back. We also know the reason for it was their sinfulness against the Lord and this was their punishment but as we read the prophets at the same time we see there were also faithful people who were also in exile just like Caleb and Joshua were faithful but they had to wander for 40 years with the unfaithful before they could enter the promised land. We know the Lord blessed Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Babylon, we will read about Ezekiel here soon and we see that the Lord is at work even when we don't understand. While they are away the Lord is working on them and in them and he will quote give them a heart to know me that I am the Lord. Ladies do you have a heart to know the Lord? If not ask him for one and he would love to give it to you. Let's not be like the poor figs that were so bad they could not be eaten, let's not be like King Zedekiah instead let's be like the faithful prophets who feared and loved the Lord. Until next time and thank you so very much for listening.