Search The Scriptures —Study 23 — Jeremiah 34

Study 23 From the Book of Jeremiah is: Jeremiah 34

Two incidents that occurred during the siege of Jerusalem at the end of Zedekiah’s reign.

1.     Nebuchadrezzar doubtless thought that he, with his numerous and powerful force (verse 1), was master of the situation.  But, who is revealed here as the controlling power, deciding the fate of cities and kings? Cf. Is. 40:15, 17, 21-24; Lk. 3:1, 2.

2.     Why was the failure to go through with the freeing of the slaves so severely condemned? Cf. @c. 5:4, 5; Mt. 7:21; 21:28-31a; Lk. 9:62. With verse 17, cf. 22:16. Do I owe some promised obedience which has not yet been performed.

Notes

1.     Verses 2-5. Cf. 32:3-5; 52:11.

2.     Verse 14. Cf. Dt. 15:12-15.

3.     Verse 17. ‘Liberty to the sword’: i.e., freedom to be destroyed by conquest.

4.     Verses 18, 19. The ceremony of the covenant of repentance (verse 15) included the participants’ passing between the parts of a calf which had been cut in two (cf. Gn. 15:7-18). By such ritual, they asked to be put to death in a similar violent manner, if they failed to keep their promise. See verse 20.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 22 — Jeremiah 32 and 33

Study 22 From the Book of Jeremiah is: Jeremiah 32 and 33

1.     What was Jeremiah’s response to God’s command to purchase land (a) immediately (32:9-12) and (b) subsequently (32: 16-25)?  What has this to teach us when faced by perplexities of Christian obedience? What was God’s answer to Jeremiah’s prayer? What was the significance of his being commanded to buy land at such a time?

2.     What blessings are promised in chapter 33? Which of them are for us also under the new covenant? E.g., with 33:3, cf. Eph. 1:17-19a; 1 Cor. 2:9, 10.

Note. 33:1. ‘The court of the guard’: Jeremiah’s friends would be able to visit him, but he would not go outside the court.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 21 — Jeremiah 31: 27- 40

Study 21 From the Book of Jeremiah is: Jeremiah 31: 27 – 40

1.     Verses 31-34. If Israel has broken the covenant between herself and the Lord, how can there be any future blessing for her? What is God’s answer to this question? Note the four occurrences of ‘says the Lord’, and the repeated use of ‘I’. Cf. Jn. 15:5c.

2.     What four features of the new covenant are set forth in 31:33, 34? With verse 33, cf. Ex. 31:18; 2 Cor.3:6; and with verse 34 contrast Ex. 20:19. See Heb. 8:3-13 and 10:14-22 for the fulfilment in Christ.

3.     Verses 35-40. How do these verses show the certainty and completeness of the restoration? See Note on verses 39, 40. Cf. 33:20-22.

Notes

1.     Verse 28. Cf. 1:10-12.

2.     Verses 29, 30. It appears likely that among the exiles, the proverb of verse 29 was being quoted as if they, the innocent, were suffering for their parents ’sins. Part of the new order will be the certain accountability of every individual to God personally.

3.     Verse 34. The writer to the Hebrews, in quoting this passage, follow the Lxx. See Heb. 8:9.

4.     Verse 34. The word ‘know’ is used here not of intellectual knowledge, but of personal intimacy.

5.     Verses 39, 40. The localities Gareb are not now known. The ‘valley of the dead bodies’ is the valley of Hinmon. The meaning is that in the new city all shall be holy.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 20 — Jeremiah 30:1- 31:26

Study 20 From the Book of Jeremiah is: Jeremiah 30:1 – 31: 26

This passage forms part of a group of prophecies. It was a time of darkness and despair and Jeremiah himself apparently derived much comfort from the message (31:26).

1.     This passage falls into sections which are all variants of the one theme, that after judgment will come restoration. See 30:1-3, 4-11, 12:22, 23, 24; 31:1-9, 10-14, 15-20, 21-22, 23-25. What are the blessings promised?

2.     To what extent have these blessings been fulfilled? Observe that they are spoken of northern Israel as well as of Judah (30:4; 31:1). Cf. Rom. 11:25-27.

3.     Meditate on the greatness of the blessings here promised as fully realized only in Christ.  Cf. Jn. 7:37, 38; 15:9-11; 16:27.

Notes

1.     30:14. ‘All your lovers’: i.e., the nations with whom Israel has sought alliance. Cf., verse 17b.

2.     31:2. ‘The wilderness’: here denoting the place of exile.

3.     31:15. ‘Rachel is weeping for her children’: a graphic picture of the sorrows of the exile. Rachel, the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, is depicted weeping in her grave, which was near Ramah, as the exiles pass by. Cf. 40:1; also Mt. 2:17, 18.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 19 — Jeremiah 29

Study 19 From the Book of Jeremiah is: Jeremiah 29

Those who had been carried into exile in the first captivity under Jehoiachin (2 Ki. 24:14-16) were being made restless by prophets who prophesied falsely that they would soon be set free. Jeremiah therefore wrote a letter to them declaring that the exile would last seventy years.

1.     What as revealed to Jeremiah, were the Lord’s thoughts (a) towards the exiles in Babylon, and (b) towards Zedekiah and those who remained in Jerusalem? With verse 17, cf. Chapter 24.

2.     Verses 10-14. What is God’s doing and what man’s in the promised restoration?  Note the divine initiative and sovereignty throughout this chapter, and indeed throughout the book.  Note also how its benefits are to be enjoyed.

3.     What three prophets are mentioned by name by Jeremiah? What accusations did he bring against them, and what judgment did he pronounce upon them?

Notes

1.     Verse 24. ‘Shemaiah’: that he, too was a prophet is seen from verse 31.

2.     Verse 25. ‘Zephaniah’: probably the same as the Zephaniah who in 52:24 is called ‘the second priest’. i.e., second to the high priest. Cf. 21:1

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Search The Scriptures —Study 18 — Jeremiah 27 and 28

Study 18 From the Book of Jeremiah is: Jeremiah 27 and 28

Five kings of surrounding nation seek Zedekiah’s co-operation in an attempt to throw off the yoke of Babylon. Jeremiah opposes the plan.

1.     What means did Jeremiah use to impress upon the five kings the futility of resistance to Babylon? Notice the claim which God made for Himself in His message to these heathen rulers (27:4-7).

2.     What did Jeremiah condemn in the propaganda of the prophets’?

3.     In chapter 28 we have a leading prophet of the time attacking Jeremiah, and we can consider the two men at close range in what respects did they resemble each other, and in what respects did they differ?  Ponder Jeremiah’s now unwavering courage in predicting passive acceptance of Babylonian control in the face of prominent religious opposition. What ought we to learn from this?

Note. 27:16-22. Only a part of the vessels of the Temple had at this time been carried off to Babylon.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 17 — Jeremiah 26

Study 17 From the Book of Jeremiah is: Jeremiah 26

Jehoiakim was a very different king from Josiah.  At the beginning of his reign, therefore, God sent Jeremiah to warn the people against being led astray into further disobedience to Him.

1.     What reason does God give for sending His servant on this dangerous mission? See verse 3 and cf. 2 Ch. 36:15; 2 Pet. 3:9; Lk. 13:34, 35.

2.     Note the points of resemblance between Jeremiah and Jesus (see Study 8, Question 3; and Mt. 16:14) e.g., cf. Mt 24:1, 2; 26:61; 27:4, 24, 25. Consider also the experiences of Jeremiah and Uriah in the light of what Jesus foretold for His disciples. Cf. Jn. 15:18-20; 16:33; 1 Pet. 4:12, 13.

Notes

1.     Verses 4-6. It seems probable that this brief summary of Jeremiah’s words is given more fully in chapter 7.

2.     Verse 18.  ‘Micah of Moresheth’: see Mi. 1:1, 14.

3.     Verse 24. ‘Ahikam the son of Shaphan’: one of those sent by King Josiah to consult the prophetess Huldah (2 Ki. 22:12, 13), and the father of Gedaliah, who was made governor after the fall of Jerusalem (40:5, 6).

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Search The Scriptures —Study 48 — Matthew 28:1-20

Study 48  From the Book of Matthew is: Matthew  28:1-20

With this lesson, we end the book of Matthew and will go back once again to the book of Jeremiah starting with Jeremiah 26.

1.     Note the foremost place taken by women disciples in the story of the resurrection appearances.  Why should this be (cf. Jn. 14:21)? Contrast the effect of the news of the resurrection on the disciples with the response of Christ’s enemies recorded in verses 11:15. How does this prove the truth of Lk. 16:30, 31?

2.     Verses 18-20. Note the fourfold repetition of the word ‘all’ in Christ’s final commission. What is the threefold task given to the Christian church? Are we obeying, as we ought to do, in the light of (a) Christ’s authority, and (b) the promise of His presence?

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Search The Scriptures —Study 47 — Matthew 27:51-66

Study 47 From the Book of Matthew is: Matthew 27:51-66

1.     What is the significance of the torn curtain of the Temple (verse 51)? Cf. Heb. 9:8; 10:19-23.  How are the manifestations recorded in verses 52, 53 linked with these truths?

2.     What made Joseph of Arimathea (and Nicodemus, Jn. 19:39) come out into the open at this late stage? Is it not at first sight strange that they should now publicly associate themselves with Christ?  What, in the purposes of God, did such a burial demonstrate and make possible?

Note. Verse 62. ‘Next day, that is, after the day of Preparation’: it looks as if, in their concern to safeguard the tom, the Jewish leaders even broke their own sacred sabbath laws.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 46 — Matthew 27:32 - 50

Study 46 From the Book of Matthew is: Matthew 27:32 – 50

1. What were the real sufferings of Christ?  In what way are physical, mental and spiritual sufferings here indicated?

1.     What, if any, truth is there in the taunt of verses 41-43? Why did God not intervene? What is the meaning behind Christ’s own sense of desertion in verse 46? Can you hold this truth with that contained in 2 Cor. 5:19. ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself’? See also 2 Cor. 5:21.

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