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Taught by
Annette ArmstrongVerse 13 The LORD speaks to Jeremiah a second time, asking him to look at a vision.
Jeremiah describes the vision as a boiling pot.
The pot is facing away from the north.
The face would be looking towards Judah from the north.
The boiling contents of the pot are going to be poured on Judah from the north.
Verse 14 The LORD clearly says what is coming is evil and will come from the north.
Verse 15 The LORD is the one calling the families of the kingdoms of the north.
They will establish control over Jerusalem.
They will establish control over all the cities of Judah.
Here is the overall prophesy Jeremiah has been called to give the people of Judah.
Those nations to the north of Judah are going to be given control of all their cities including the capital of Jerusalem.
The powerful nations to the north of Judah at this time were Assyria and Babylon.
Assyria had begun to grow in dominance in the last half of the 700’s B.C.
This was the nation the LORD used to disperse the nation of Israel around 722–721 B.C.
Assyria was the nation of power which also made them a target of many enemies. Those who were unhappy they had been conquered as well as those who wanted what Assyria had.
This is a continual state of tension throughout history.
The most notable enemy of Assyria at this time in history was Babylon.
They successfully conquered, Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria in about 612 B.C. and this seems to be what finally led to the eventual downfall of Assyria.
Nothing happens in a complete vacuum and with a clean linear line of the beginning and end of ancient kingdoms, just as happens throughout history including our modern time.
As Assyria was losing power and control of areas they once ruled, Babylon is stepping into these places and taking control of them over time.
To complicate the political scene there was still the powerful nation of Egypt to the south of Judah. They were not the leading power as they had been earlier in history but they were hoping for a comeback.
When Assyria became concerned about the potential power of Babylon they reached out to Egypt in hopes the two could through working together defeat Babylon.
This back-and-forth power struggle between the South and the North left the land of Israel vulnerable to attack at different times by one side or the other.
Israel’s location also made them a target as the trade routes ran through their territory.
Jereremiah 1:15 then is the LORD clearly informing Judah He is bringing about His words through a kingdom that will come from the north. When there were nations who lived to the east of the Promised land they still navigated their armies to come from north down on Israel as the dessert was too difficult to navigate an army through.
This conquering kingdom will ‘set each one his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem’ The city gate is where the decisions of a city were often decided with the oversight of the king of that city. To control the city gate is to control the city.
The control will be thorough as they also control all the walls. The walls would be the defense of the city and this is under the king who sits in the gate.
This will be true for all the cities of Judah.
Verse 16 The LORD is declaring this is because of His judgments against Judah.
The reason for the judgment is because of their wickedness.
Their wickedness is defined as forsaking Him, turning their back on Him.
How they turned on Him was to sacrifice to other gods.
They also worshiped what they created.
Verse 17 The LORD speaks to Jeremiah telling him to gird up your loins and arise.
To gird up your loins in this day meant a man was going to run or do physical labor so they would pull the long fabric of their clothing up and tuck it in their belt.
The work Jeremiah was going to engage in was to speak to those the LORD was going to send him to.
Jeremiah was not to turn away from them. (Dismayed can mean cower)
Verse 18 The LORD gives Jeremiah several pictures to demonstrate how He will protect him from those receiving the words.
Those listed are the kings, princes, priests and all the people.
There is no one left out who these messages won’t be for.
Verse 19 The LORD tells Jeremiah those he gives the messages to will be violent towards him.
The LORD reassures Jeremiah they will not destroy him because the LORD will deliver him.
The LORD brings the first message to Jeremiah to be delivered.
Verse 1-2 The first message is to be proclaimed in Jerusalem.
These are the LORD’s words.
The LORD begins with words of remembrance.
The LORD uses the term betrothal as a time when words and promises were spoken from the LORD through Moses to the people and the response of the people back to the LORD.
The word betrothal harkens to the relationship between men and women that begins in an engagement time followed by a committed marriage.
I remember when as a young nation you committed to me in the wilderness. Ex. 19:7-8, 24:6-8
If the covenant was broken the consequences are given in Deut. 28:15-68.
A specific section relevant to what Jeremiah is to prophesy is Deut. 28:62-63.
The LORD knew His people would do what they had promised they would not do and that the consequences He had warned them about would need to take place.
Verse 2 the LORD is communicating Israel was not perfect in the wilderness wandering but overall they stayed faithful to following Him through the wilderness to the Promised Land.
Verse 3 The LORD says He saw Israel as Holy, His first people
Israel was His harvest, they were His people
What belongs to Him does not belong to any other.
When someone takes from His people they are seen as trying to eat or take what is His.
Those who do this act are seen by the LORD as guilty of wrong to the LORD and His people.
Evil will come upon them, meaning they will be judged.
The LORD did exactly as is declared in Jer. 2:3.
Verse 4 The LORD makes it clear He is speaking to all of Israel, all tribes, with His words.
Verse 5 The LORD allows the audience to think about the motivation of why the tribes left Him.
He had done no wrong to His people yet they sought empty and then received empty, the adorer becomes like the object they adore.
The reference to the people walking after something might be how the people walked after those who offered them something. They sold themselves out.
Verse 6 The LORD again points to all the miracles done for the tribes of Israel that seem to have lost their impact on the people. They should have never stopped being impressed and wanting to worship this God of miracles.
The LORD’s people forgot to be grateful for what He had already accomplished for them.
This is common in men as we often have a short memory about what God has done for us in this life as well as losing focus on what He has done for our eternal life.
Verse 7 The LORD brought His people into the Promised Land yet they only defiled it. The next thing the LORD says is, ‘My inheritance’, this is not speaking of the land as He has already addressed that, He is speaking of something additional here. In verse three it is clear the people are His harvest, it is the people who have been made an abomination.
Verse 8 The priests did not direct the people back to the LORD.
Those priests who should have known the law did not know the LORD.
The priests were the men who had been set aside to know the law and to teach the law to the people.
The LORD says through Jeremiah the men who had the ultimate responsibility to know and teach the law did not even know the LORD.
This did not mean they did not know the law, it means they did not understand the law and they did not know the LORD that gave them the law.
The kings likewise transgressed against the LORD.
This was king Ahab of the northern kingdom of Israel.
These verses also demonstrate how the prophets also failed to speak of the LORD as they sought their words from Baal.
What follows is the narrative of Elijah and the LORD sending fire from heaven in a miraculous event.
Judah was also guilty of worship of the Baals.
The word ‘Baals’ in 1Kings 18 is used in the plural.
In 2Kings 21 the altars were created for both Baal and Asherah.
The worship of ‘Baal’ was applied to the worship of all the deities’ by the Canaanite people, who surrounded and lived among the nation of Israel. This took on the hierarchy of ‘lord’ or ‘master’.
Usually, the motive of the worship was to guarantee a productive crop and could also include requests for protection from natural disasters.
Jer. 2:8 summarizes how those who should have lead the people failed the LORD and the people.
Jer. 2:1-8 is a short history given by the LORD from the birth of His people through to the present time.
How the LORD currently sees Judah is given next.
Verse 9 The LORD is not done with His people as He says He is going to contend with them.
This is a legal term used of a plaintiff presenting his case in court.
7378. byîr rib or rub [936b]; a prim. root; to strive, contend:—argue(2), complain(2), contend(24), contended(7), contends(1), dispute(1), ever strive(1), filed(1), find fault(1), have a quarrel(1), judge(1), plead(10), plead a case(2), plead vigorously(1), pleaded(1), pleads(1), quarrel(2), quarreled(3), quarrels(1), reprimanded(2), strive(1).
The LORD is next presenting evidence to support His case or indictment of His people.
This will result in consequences for the decedents of the people.
Verse 10 Observe from Kittim (Cypress to the West) to Kedar (far North) and see if this happened with any other people.
Verse 11 There is not another nation that worshipped a god and then changed to worship another god that was not a god known to the people before.
The pagans don’t even forsake their worthless gods. The pagans were known to add gods to be included in their worship but they did not forsake their gods, they were too afraid to do so.
Yet this is specifically what happened for the people who had been set aside and honored by the LORD. The LORD’s people did not add other gods to their worship as much as forsook their God.
This does not make sense even in the world of logical thinking. This is unheard of.
This is what the LORD’s people are guilty of.
Verse 12 Those of the heavens are witness to these events. They are appalled and shudder.
Isaiah declares this same message:
Jer. 2:13 This verse contains a perfect picture of what has happened to Israel.
There is a freshwater fountain to receive life-giving water from, this is what the LORD is for His people.
The people have turned their backs on this fountain and instead worked to build something to put water in to store it. A cistern is usually chipped out of stone. The stored water is not fresh, it is not life-giving, so it is not superior to what the people had in the fountain. Secondly the hand-hewn cistern breaks and can’t store even the putrid water.
From the logical mind, this makes no sense, it is insanity.
Yet how much does this speak to man’s heart throughout history?
What God has freely provided through His grace, that being the gift of salvation through faith, many men still desire to achieve by their own works or by adding their works to the process.
Paul contends with this throughout the letters he penned to the church. Gal. 2:15-16, Eph. 2:8-9.
It seems man has an innate desire to have something to do before his deity to contribute in some way. In man’s sinful heart, there is a need to participate in his future destiny.
Men fight the concept of God’s free gift of salvation when they tie their works together in any way to what God has completed and sovereignly bestows upon men.
Not only do we share in the sin of desiring to contribute to our salvation we also tend to trade God out of our lives and fill it with other things.
We can worship other people, like our children or others who are important to us yet we are not to put any person above our connection to God.
We can worship things including money, work, houses, cars, our bodies etc…
Yet God calls us to sacrifice it all and follow Him. Romans 12:1-2, Eph. 6:13-15.
We live in evil times and it can be tempting to fall prey to putting things above God.
We can even do this in a self-righteous way as it is easy to compare ourselves to others who are far worse they we are.
Our comparison of righteousness is only found in Jesus.
What does God need to remove from your life as He calls you to be like Jesus?
As believers we are God’s children. Following after Him should be the focus of our hearts and minds, everyday.
Our human nature is to forget what God has done previously for us. God wants us to remember all He has done for us.
Above all we have the gift of His Son. That is our focus in the midst of all circumstances.
This teaching is provided by a contributing Bible teacher who is not employed by Verse By Verse Ministry International. The Biblical perspectives beliefs and views of contributing teachers may differ, at times, from the Biblical perspectives this ministry holds.