Jeremiah - Lesson 1B-2A

• Chapter 1 began by establishing that Jeremiah was called by the LORD as a prophet in the days of the last few kings of Judah before their exile from Jerusalem.

Jer. 1:13 The word of the LORD came to me a second time saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.”
Jer. 1:14 Then the LORD said to me, “Out of the north the evil will break forth on all the inhabitants of the land.
Jer. 1:15 “For, behold, I am calling all the families of the kingdoms of the north,” declares the LORD; “and they will come and they will set each one his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its walls round about and against all the cities of Judah.
Jer. 1:16 “I will pronounce My judgments on them concerning all their wickedness, whereby they have forsaken Me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands.
Jer. 1:17 “Now, gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all which I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, or I will dismay you before them.
Jer. 1:18 “Now behold, I have made you today as a fortified city and as a pillar of iron and as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests and to the people of the land.
Jer. 1:19 “They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.

• Verse 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.

Jer. 2:1 Now the word of the LORD came to me saying,
Jer. 2:2  “Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD,
“I remember concerning you the devotion of your youth,
The love of your betrothals,
Your following after Me in the wilderness,
Through a land not sown.
Jer. 2:3  “Israel was holy to the LORD,
The first of His harvest.
All who ate of it became guilty;
Evil came upon them,” declares the LORD.’”
Jer. 2:4 Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.
Jer. 2:5  Thus says the LORD,
“What injustice did your fathers find in Me,
That they went far from Me
And walked after emptiness and became empty?
Jer. 2:6  “They did not say, ‘Where is the LORD
Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
Who led us through the wilderness,
Through a land of deserts and of pits,
Through a land of drought and of deep darkness,
Through a land that no one crossed
And where no man dwelt?’
Jer. 2:7  “I brought you into the fruitful land
To eat its fruit and its good things.
But you came and defiled My land,
And My inheritance you made an abomination.
Jer. 2:8  “The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’
And those who handle the law did not know Me;
The rulers also transgressed against Me,
And the prophets prophesied by Baal
And walked after things that did not profit.

• 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

Ex. 19:7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which the LORD had commanded him.
Ex. 19:8 All the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do!” And Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD.

Ex. 24:6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
Ex. 24:7 Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!”
Ex. 24:8 So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

• 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.

Deut. 28:62 “Then you shall be left few in number, whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, because you did not obey the LORD your God.
Deut. 28:63 “It shall come about that as the LORD delighted over you to prosper you, and multiply you, so the LORD will delight over you to make you perish and destroy you; and you will be torn from the land where you are entering to possess it.

• 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.

Num. 21:1 When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, then he fought against Israel and took some of them captive.
Num. 21:2 So Israel made a vow to the LORD and said, “If You will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.”
Num. 21:3 The LORD heard the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites; then they utterly destroyed them and their cities. Thus the name of the place was called Hormah.

Num. 21:21 Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying,
Num. 21:22 “Let me pass through your land. We will not turn off into field or vineyard; we will not drink water from wells. We will go by the king’s highway until we have passed through your border.”
Num. 21:23 But Sihon would not permit Israel to pass through his border. So Sihon gathered all his people and went out against Israel in the wilderness, and came to Jahaz and fought against Israel.
Num. 21:24 Then Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the sons of Ammon; for the border of the sons of Ammon was Jazer.
Num. 21:25 Israel took all these cities and Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all her villages.

Num. 21:33 Then they turned and went up by the way of Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan went out with all his people, for battle at Edrei.
Num. 21:34 But the LORD said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have given him into your hand, and all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.”
Num. 21:35 So they killed him and his sons and all his people, until there was no remnant left him; and they possessed his land.

• 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.

Lev. 10:8 The LORD then spoke to Aaron, saying,
Lev. 10:9 “Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you will not die — it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations —
Lev. 10:10 and so as to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean,
Lev. 10:11 and so as to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them through Moses.”

• 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.

1Kings 18:17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is this you, you troubler of Israel?”
1Kings 18:18 He said, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, because you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and you have followed the Baals.

• 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.

2Kings 21:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hephzibah.
2Kings 21:2 He did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD dispossessed before the sons of Israel.
2Kings 21:3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.

• 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.

Jer. 2:9 “Therefore I will yet contend with you,” declares the LORD,
“And with your sons’ sons I will contend.
Jer. 2:10  “For cross to the coastlands of Kittim and see,
And send to Kedar and observe closely
And see if there has been such a thing as this!
Jer. 2:11  “Has a nation changed gods
When they were not gods?
But My people have changed their glory
For that which does not profit.
Jer. 2:12  “Be appalled, O heavens, at this,
And shudder, be very desolate,” declares the LORD.
Jer. 2:13  “For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me,
The fountain of living waters,
To hew for themselves cisterns,
Broken cisterns
That can hold no water.

• 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:

Is. 1:1  The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem, which he saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Is. 1:2  Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth;
For the LORD speaks,
“Sons I have reared and brought up,
But they have revolted against Me.

• 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.

Gal. 2:15 “We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles;
Gal. 2:16 nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.

Eph. 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
Eph. 2:9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

• 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.

Rom. 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
Rom. 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Eph. 6:13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
Eph. 6:14 Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,
Eph. 6:15 and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE;

• 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?