Jeremiah - Chapters 30-31

In this transcription, Julie Callio discusses chapters 30 and 31 of the book of Jeremiah. She explains that Jeremiah was a prophet who delivered a message of hope and restoration to the Jews in Judah as Babylon was rising to power. The main message was that Babylon would conquer Judah, and surrendering to them would lead to life while fighting against them would lead to death. This was because Judah's sin had become worse than the surrounding nations and the northern tribes of Israel. Julie also mentions the exile of the Jews to Babylon, the last king of Judah, Zedekiah, and Jeremiah's letter to the exiles. She highlights the themes of restoration and rebuilding in these chapters, emphasizing God's promise to gather his people back to Judah. Julie connects this to the concept of being uprooted and rebuilt in our own lives, and the importance of knowing God's word and being led by the Holy Spirit. She concludes by reminding listeners of God's everlasting love and I'm Julie Callio, your host, and thanks so very 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. Today we're looking at chapters 30 and 31 of Jeremiah, which Dr. Betts, my Old Testament professor, called the section of hope, a message of restoration. Jeremiah was a prophet of the Lord to the kings of Judah as the nation of Babylon was rising to power. The main message to the Jews in Judah was that Babylon is coming, and it was the Lord's will, and if they surrender to them, they will live, but if they fight against them, they will die. The reason the Lord allowed Jerusalem and Judah to be brought down was because of their sin, which had become so bad, especially during the reign of King Manasseh, that their behavior was worse than the nations surrounding them, and worse than the northern ten tribes of Israel, whom the Lord allowed to be destroyed by Assyria in 722 BC. Babylon defeated Assyria at the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BC, and it was during this year that King Nebuchadnezzar took his first set of exiles, which included Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. When Nebuchadnezzar came in 597 BC, took King Jehoiakim to Babylon, along with many leaders and much gold and treasuries from the temple and the palace. Included in this exile was Ezekiel. The last king of Judah was Zedekiah, and his reign was from 597 to 586 BC. The people of Judah, and especially the religious leaders and the kings, did not like Jeremiah's message, and so he was persecuted at various times for it. In chapter 29 of Jeremiah, he wrote a letter to the exiles that were in Babylon, and it said that the time of the exile would be 70 years, and while they were there in exile, they should build houses, settle down, and pray to the Lord for the place where they lived, quote, because if it prospers, you too will prosper, verse 7. After the 70 years, the Lord would gather back his people to Judah. This brings us to chapter 30, which begins, this is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their forefathers to possess, says the Lord, verses 1 through 3. The rest of chapter 30 is in poetic format, and the main point is, verse 15, the Lord says they are hurting in exile because of their great guilt and many sins, that is why the Lord has done this, and then verse 17a says, but I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the Lord, and then verse 22 says, so you will be my people and I will be your God, then chapter 31 starts, at that time, declares the Lord, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they will be my people, as a reminder, the patriarch that bears the name of Israel was Jacob, and he had 12 sons, and from these 12 sons became the 12 tribes of Israel, Joseph, the son that was sold into slavery by his brothers, the Lord took him to Egypt in order to spare all their lives because a famine was coming, Jacob and his family all moved to Egypt because of the famine, and because Joseph was there, and while there, before Jacob died, he blessed his two grandsons, Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, as if they were his sons, so when it came time for the nation of Israel to enter the promised land, the Levites did not receive land because their job was to take care of the tabernacle and the things of the Lord, so they got cities scattered throughout the nation of Israel, and instead of Joseph having one section, his two sons each received land, that was the nation of Israel, but after King Solomon, the nation split, with Judah and Benjamin being the southern two tribes called Judah, and the other ten tribes rebelled and called themselves Israel, when Assyria wiped out Israel, they are described as the lost ten tribes, plus Assyria brought in people of other nations to live in the land, which brought about a mixed breed, which is why in the New Testament, the Jews despised the Samaritans, which was at one time the capital, since Judah had the temple and the lineage and promise of King David, they stayed together better, because it was a big deal to be of the tribe of the King, another New Testament note, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which was a city of David in Judah, in this verse the Lord declares that he will be the God of all the clans of Israel, from wherever they come from, and then verses three and four read, the Lord appeared to us in the past, us saying, I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have drawn you with loving kindness, I will build you up again, and you will be rebuilt, oh virgin Israel, again you will take up your tambourines and go out to dance with the joyful, this chapter is also written in poetic form, and the Lord calls this group who will come back to Jerusalem and Judah as quote the remnant of Israel, verse seven, when they come back it will be with singing joy and hope, Jeremiah must have received this message in a dream, because verse 26 says, at this I awoke and looked around, my sleep had been pleasant to me, sometimes Jeremiah is referred to as the weeping prophet, because he cries and cries out to the Lord, especially when he is persecuted for his message, but also he wrote the small book called Lamentations, after Jerusalem and the temple was destroyed, here he received a bit of good news in the midst of his struggles, verse 28 of chapter 31 is a theme throughout this book, and it says, the days are coming declares the Lord, when I will plant the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the offspring of men and of animals, just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant declares the Lord, we see this concept of the Lord tearing down Judah and Jerusalem and then rebuilding it in chapter 1 verse 10, chapter 12 verse 17, chapter 18 verses 7 through 9, chapter 24 verse 6, chapter 31 verse 4, here in chapter 31 verse 7, chapter 28 and then chapter 33 verse 7 and 42 verse 10, ladies sometimes we have to be uprooted from our homes, sometimes we have to be torn down because of our pride, sometimes we have to be overthrown because we want to do things our ways instead of God's ways, and there are times when disaster comes our way that we feel we are destroyed, I have been there and done that numerous times, that's one of the reasons why I like that Jeremiah is called a weeping prophet, I can't count the number of times I have crumpled to the floor before the Lord, weeping and sometimes wailing, but please remember that in the midst of that the Lord loves you with an everlasting love, he is drawing you unto his steadfast love and covenantal love, he is making us better and more like him, then we find in chapter 31 some amazing verses 31 through 34, the time is coming declares the Lord when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, it will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers 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, 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, no longer will a man teach his neighbor or a man his brother saying know the Lord, because they will all know me from the least of them to the greatest declares the Lord, for I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more, ladies this is what Jesus did when he came and died on the cross for us, in the gospel of John he writes a lot about the Holy Spirit as the other comforter that Jesus will send in his name and in chapter 14 verses 15-17 Jesus says to his disciples if you love me you will obey what I command and I will ask the father and he will give you another counselor to be with you forever, the spirit of truth, the world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him but you know him for he lives with you and will be in you, ladies when we understand that we all are sinners and that sin separates us from God and when we confess that sin and by faith trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior we are forgiven of our wickedness and the Lord will remember our sins no more we are saved and the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ lives within us and the Lord God Almighty is transforming our minds and our hearts to become like him and we know the Lord and he knows us, that is our hope and it is through faith in Jesus that we can be restored no matter where we are living, no matter even if we feel we are in exile and not at home the Lord will be with us, guide us and heal us, plus the apostle John wrote in his first letter chapter 2 verse 27 as for you the anointing you receive from him remains in you and you do not need anyone to teach you but as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real not counterfeit just as it has taught you remain in him, ladies we live in an age where people in authority have led people astray and that is why it is so important for you to know the Bible which is one of the main ways the Holy Spirit speaks to us do not take my word for it, do not take your pastor or spiritual leaders word for things without checking it out in scripture and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you into all truth because that is what he does and that is who he is, the Spirit of Truth. If you have heard his voice today the Lord is drawing you to himself because he loves you with that everlasting love, Dr. Betts said there is nothing you can do to have the Lord love you more and there is nothing you can do to have him love you less, the question is how are you loving him? Please, please don't harden your heart, instead let's be women who love him back and show him that by obeying.