Search The Scriptures —Study 13 — Jeremiah 19 and 20

Study 13 From the Book of Jeremiah is: Jeremiah 19: and 20

1.     Reflect on Jeremiah’s courage, and what it must have cost him to deliver the message of 19:1-13.  What was his immediate reward? See 19:14 – 20:6.

2.     The strain and tension caused the prophet to break out into a more bitter lament than he had yet uttered (20:7-18).  In the midst of it his faith triumphed in the assurance of God’s protection, and he was able even to sing His praise (20:11-13).  Then once more waves of sorrow swept over him.  In the light of this passage, try to enter into the loneliness, hardship and suffering of Jeremiah’s life. Note especially verse 9. Do we know anything of this almost irresistible constraint to speak God’s word, even when we are daunted by the costliness of speaking? Cf. Acts 5:27-29.

Notes

1.     19:5, 6, 11b. See 7:31 – 33 and Note on 7:32.

2.     19:13. ‘Defiled’: i.,e., by dead bodies

3.     20:16. ‘The cities’: i.,e., Sodom and Gomorrah; see Gn. 19:24, 25.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 12 — Jeremiah 17:19 – 18:23

Study 12  From the Book of Jeremiah is: Jeremiah 17:19 – 18:23

1.     The issue between God and His people turned on the question of obedience.  How was it brought in 17: 19-27 to a single test?  In your Christian obedience are there test issues of this kind, which, although possibly not themselves the most important subject, are the heart of the question of obedience at the time?

2.     To Jeremiah the condition of the people made the destruction of the kingdom inevitable; yet the destruction seemed to involve the failure of God’s purposes. How does the illustration of the potter throw light upon this problem (18:1-12)? What other lessons about God does it teach? Cf. Rom. 9:20, 21.

3.     How does 18:13-23 reveal the costliness for Jeremiah of being a more faithful spokesman of the Lord? Cf. Mt. 10:24, 25, 28-33.

Notes

1.     17:26. ‘The Shephelah’: i.e., the lowlands, of Palestine between the coastal plain and the higher central hills.

2.     18:14. The Hebrew is uncertain, but the meaning is clear. The snows of Lebanon remain, and its streams do not run dry:  but God’s people have failed.

3.     18:18. ‘The law shall not perish…’ : the people refused to believe that the present order of things would be destroyed.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 11 — Jeremiah 16:1 – 17:18

Study 11 From the Book of Jeremiah is: Jeremiah 16: 1 – 17: 18

1.     Consider how hard it must have been for a man of Jeremiah’s affectionate and sympathetic nature to obey the commands of 16:2, 5 and 8. Why did God lay this burden upon him?  What other trials that Jeremiah had to bear are referred to in 17:14-18?

2.     How does the passage illustrate Jeremiah’s oft-repeated statement concerning God’s dealings with His people: ‘I will not make a full end of you’? See 4:27; 5:10, 18; 30:11; 48:28.  Cf. Ps. 94:14; Rom 11:1-5.

3.     Contrast, clause by clause, 17:5 and 6 with 17:7 and 8. How do verses 9:13 reinforce the certainty of curse or blessing? Examine yourself in the light of this contrast. Cf. Ps. 146.

Notes

1.     16:6, 7. Mourning customs.  Cf. Am. 8:10; 2 Sa. 12:17; Pr. 31:6b.

2.     17:1, 2. ‘The tablet of their heart’: i.e., their inmost being. ‘The horns of their altars’:  an allusion to their polluted idolatrous sacrifices (cf. Lv. 4:7, 30; and with verse 2, cf. 2:20) ‘Asherim’: probably wooden images of the Canaanite godless, Asherab.

3.     17:15 Cf. 2 Pet. 3:3 – 4.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 10 — Jeremiah 14 and 15

Study 10  From the Book of Jeremiah is: Jeremiah 14 and 15

These two chapters consist of a kind of colloquy between Jeremiah and God. The prophet is driven to prayer by a time of drought (14:1-6)

1.     What pleas of the people does the prophet present before God in 14:7-9, and what does God answer (14:10-12) tell us of the people’s confession? Cf. 3:10; 15:6, 7; Is. 59:1, 2. What further pleas does Jeremiah urge in his second and third prayers (14:13 and 19:22)? What are God’s answers in each case?

2.     The prophet, ceasing to pray for the people, breaks into a lament (15:10) and prays for himself (15:15-18). Observe carefully God’s answer, especially in verses 19-21. How well did Jeremiah know himself? What new element is added in verse 19? Have you ever had a comparable answer to prayer? Cf 2 Tim. 2:19-21.

Notes

1.     14:2; 15:7. ‘Gates’: i.e., cities.

2.     14:7, 21. ‘For thy name’s sake’: God’s name is ‘His nature as revealed in the covenant, which  is the ultimate ground of prayer’ (Cunliffe-Jones). Cf. Ex. 33:19; 34:5-7.

3.     15:1 Cf. Ps. 99:6-8. Moses (e.g., Ex. 32:11-14, 30-32) and Samuel (e.g., 1 Sa. 7:8, 9) were outstanding in intercession of their people.

4.     15:4. See 2 Ki. 21:1-5, 16.

5.     15:11. The Hebrew is very difficult, and rsv, av, all differ considerably from each other.

6.     15:12. A reference to the Chaldeans.  There is no hope of breaking their power.

7.     15:19.  The tone is severe. Jeremiah must return to a more undivided allegiance. For ‘stand before’. Cf.. verse 1 and Note 3 above, and 18:20.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 9 — Jeremiah 13

Study 9 From the Book of Jeremiah is: Jeremiah 13

1.     What is the purpose of the incident of the waistcloth? Which is a truer description of you, verse 10 or verse 11?

2.     Consider the images used to describe the coming judgment and their usefulness for preaching today.  See Notes below; and cf. Pss. 1:4; 60:3; Is. 8:22; 51:17; Mi. 3:6, 7; Jn. 12:35; 2 Thes. 2:11, 12.

3.     Verse 23. What answer does the New Testament give to this question? See Rom. 5:6; 2 Cor. 5:17.

Notes

1.     Verses 13, 14. ‘Drunkenness’ is used in a figurative sense to describe mental fear and bewilderment, when men in their panic turn against each other.

2.     Verse 16. ‘Give glory to the Lord’: a Hebrew expression for confession of sin, recognizing God’s holiness, and turning from sin to obedience. Cf. jos. 7:19; Mal. 2:2; Jn. 9:24.

3.     Verse 18: i.e., Jehoiachin and his mother Nehushta (2 Ki. 24:8, 9). Queen mothers regularly wielded great influence at court.

4.     Verse 19. ‘The Negeb’ is the area of Palestine south of Beersheba.

5.     . Verse 21. Another. Translation reads ‘he’, God, instead of ‘they’ (driver). Cf. Dt. 28:13, 44; La. 1:5.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 8 — Jeremiah 11 and 12

Study 8 From the Book of Jeremiah is: Jeremiah 11 and 12

These chapters fall into three sections: 11:1-17, Judah’s stubborn idolatry and breaking of the covenant; 11:18 – 12:6, a complaint of the prophet because of plots against his life and God’s answer to his questionings; and 12:7-17, which seems to refer to the attacks of surrounding peoples (see 2 Ki. 24:1. 2), and closes with a remarkable promise to these nations on condition of their turning from idols to worship the Lord.

1.     What were the constituent elements of ‘this covenant’ (11:2)? What was God’s part and what the people’s Cf. 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1.

2.     What did Jeremiah do with his perplexities, and what answer did he receive? Can we come with his confidence? Note 12: 5 and 6 in particular.  What does this answer of God imply? Cf. Heb. 12:3,4.

3.     Jeremiah is often described as a Christ-like figure.  As you read the book chapter by chapter, note the similarities. With 11:21 and 12:6 cf. Mk. 3:21; Lk. 4:24, 29; 21:16.

Notes

1.     11:15. See note on 7:22, 23.

2.     12:13. ‘They i.e., the people of Judah.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 7 — Jeremiah 9:23 – 10:25

Study 7 From the Book of Jeremiah is: Jeremiah 9:23 – 10:25

1.     9:23, 24.  What is better than wisdom, power and wealth? Cf. also 1 Cor.1:26-31; Phil. 3:8-11. What do you set most store by in the normal course of life?

2.     Set down, on the one hand, the characteristics here mentioned of the idols of the heathen, and on the other, the character of the living God.

3.     What are the implications of 10:23, 24? Have you learnt to live by them?  See 30:11 and cf. Pr. 3:5-7, 11, 12.

Notes

1.     9:25, 26. All these nations practiced circumcision, and Judah, despise the fact that her circumcision was ordained to mark a unique relationship with God, takes her place here between Egypt and Edom because her spiritually uncircumcised state (cf. 4:4; Rom. 2:28, 29) has rendered her physical circumcision no more meaningful than theirs.

2.     10:11. Probably originally a reader’s marginal comment, in response the denunciation of idols.

3.     10:17. ‘Bundle’: a few hastily gathered possessions for immediate fight.

4.     10:21. ‘Shepherds’: see 2:8 and mg.; 3:15.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 6 — Jeremiah 8:4 – 9:22

Study 6 From the Book of Jeremiah is: Jeremiah 8:4 – 9:22

Further exposure of the moral and spiritual plight of the people, and descriptions of the coming judgment. Jeremiah’s heart is almost broken.

  1.     What specific charges does God level against His people in these chapters? Are there any traces of these faults in your own life?

  2.     Consider the evidence this passage gives of the effects of sin upon a nation’s morale and prosperity.  See, e.g., 8:14, 15:20; 9:5, 6.

3.     Compare 8:11 with Jeremiah’s anguish. What modern counterparts to the former must we beware of? Are we ready to sorrow for others like Jeremiah, and to keep on pleading with them as he did? See 25:3

Notes

1.     8:4-7. The sin of Judah runs counter to the pattern of nature.  Cf. Is. 1:3.

2.     8:20. Probably a proverbial saying expressing the thought that it is too late.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 5 — Jeremiah 7:1 – 8:3

Study 5 From the Book of Jeremiah is: Jeremiah 7:1 – 8:3

It is thought by many that this is the address given by Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, as described in 26:1-9.

1.     How does this passage show the uselessness of outward worship when separated from the daily practice of godliness? What was lacking in the people of Jerusalem? Are your worship and your life all of a piece?  Cf. Mt. 5:23, 24.

2.     In what ways may we in our day act in a spirit similar to that rebuked in 7: 10? What is involved in a Christina’s being ‘delivered’ or ‘saved’? Cf. Col. 1:13; Tit. 2:14; Mt. 7:21-23

3.     How does this section illustrate our Lord’s warning in Lk. 8:18?

Notes

1.     7:4, 8. Confidence in the Temple itself as a protection was a delusion. Cf. 1 Sa. 4:3-11

2.     7:10b. ‘Thinking you are now quite safe -safe to go on with all these abominable practices’

3.     7:12. Shiloh was probably destroyed around the time of the disaster recorded in 1 Sa. 4.

4.     7:18. ‘The queen of heaven’: probably Ashtoreth, a goddess widely worshipped in the Semitic world.

5.     7:22, 23. Such a categorical statement (‘not this…but that…’) is a Hebrew idiom to express where the real emphasis falls.  The essence of the covenant made at the exodus was, on Israel’s side obedience (11:6, 7). God did not commission sacrifice for its own sake—or for His own sake—but to be the expression and embodiment of heart-devotion and ethical obedience. Cf. 6:19, 20; 11:15; 1 sa. 15:22;  Is. 1:10-17. Where these were absent, mere external ritual was worse than nothing. Hence in 7:21 the people are bidden to eat the meat of the burnt offerings, which were wholly offered to God, as well as their proper portions of the other sacrifices.  Emptied of all spiritual significance, it was now merely meat, and might as well be eaten. But in the worship of a purified people, sacrifices would again have their rightful place.  See 17:24-26; 33:18.

6.     7:32. ‘The valley of the son of Hinmon’: a valley on the south side of Jerusalem, where the city refuse was cast.  The day will come, says the prophet, when the slain will be so many that they will have to be buried even in this unclean pot.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 4 — Jeremiah 5 and 6

Study 4  From the Book of Jeremiah is: Jeremiah 5 and 6

Further indictments of Judah (5:1-5 -all classes are alike corrupt), warnings of coming judgment, and depictions of the invasion and its effects.

   1.     Make a list of the main sins charged against  the people.  Are we in danger  of any of these sins? Note especially Judah’s response to God’s word and messengers.

   2.     Was judgment inevitable? Was God not willing to pardon? What are we taught here about the ‘kindness and severity of God’s (Rom. 11:22)?  Cf. Rom. 4:4, 5.

Notes

1.     6:1. Tekoa and Beth-Haccheram were a few miles south of Jerusalem. The ‘signal’ (i.e., a beacon; cf. Jdg. 20:38) would alert the south, or perhaps guide the refugees from Jerusalem.

2.     6:3. ‘Shepherds with their flocks’ here means kings and their armies.

3.     6:16. ‘By the roads’: i.e., Judah must return to the cross-roads to regain the right path.  Cf. 18:15.

4.     6:27-30. Jeremiah’s work is described as that of a tester of silver.  But, no pure silver results from the process of refining. Cf. 9:7.

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