Jeremiah - Lesson 31B

• Chapters 1-23 Review:

  • The LORD called Jeremiah as a prophet to the nations during the last five kings of Judah.

  • The LORD’s warning to His people is to stop worshipping false gods or He will judge them by destruction and exile using a nation from the North, Babylon.

  • The judgment will include the destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem.

    • The people are to repent from their evil ways; the leaders are specifically called out for their rejection of the LORD’s covenant and the shedding of innocent blood; the false prophets are called out for misleading the people to believe the LORD would not bring judgment on them.

    • Jeremiah is reviled by the leaders and the people of Judah, but the LORD will protect him.

  • The LORD promises there will not be a complete destruction of His people, as He will provide a Messiah and will bring His people back into the Promised Land in a future time, never to be removed.

  • The words of the LORD are always fulfilled as He is sovereign over His creation.

• Chapters 24-29 Review:

  • Good figs are used to represent the Jews who go into exile and will ultimately be those who become the Jews brought back into the land at a future time. The bad figs represent those who rebel against the judgment the LORD has brought on them through Nebuchadnezzar to last for seventy years.

  • Hypocrisy and false teaching and prophecy plague the LORD’s people justifying the LORD’s judgment on them.

    • Jeremiah continues to experience persecution for bringing the LORD’s truth to His people like planning to stay for a long time in Babylon and calling out false prophets. Some of the false prophets are dealt with immediately.

• Chapter 30 Review:

  • The LORD speaks of a future for Judah and Israel that includes first a time of Jacob’s distress followed by a time of regathering and fortunes in the Promised Land. This is an overview of the Tribulation for Israel followed by the Millennial Kingdom ruled by the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

• Chapter 31 introduction

  • The LORD directs words of future promises to His people; beginning with regathering them to their land, ransoming them, and their joy-filled life with Him.

Jer. 31:15 Thus says the LORD,
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
Lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
She refuses to be comforted for her children,
Because they are no more.”
Jer. 31:16  Thus says the LORD,
“Restrain your voice from weeping
And your eyes from tears;
For your work will be rewarded,” declares the LORD,
“And they will return from the land of the enemy.
Jer. 31:17 “There is hope for your future,” declares the LORD,
“And your children will return to their own territory.

• Verse 15 The LORD says there will be lamentations and bitter weeping in Ramah as Rachel weeps over the loss of her children.

  • Rachel is the one identified as weeping.

  • Rachel is a reference to one of Jacob’s wives in Gen.

Gen. 35:16 Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and she suffered severe labor.
Gen. 35:17 When she was in severe labor the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for now you have another son.”
Gen. 35:18 It came about as her soul was departing (for she died), that she named him Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin.
Gen. 35:19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).
Gen. 35:20 Jacob set up a pillar over her grave; that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day.

• Rachel is the mother of both Joseph and Benjamin.

  • Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Mannasah are the larger tribes of what becomes the northern kingdom of Israel.

  • The tribes of Judah and Benjamin make up the two tribes of the southern kingdom of Judah.

  • These are the tribes represented in the Jews living in the land during Jeremiah’s prophesy.

    • Rachel is weeping over a time when the children, ‘are no more.’

    • The children are dead.

• The scriptures also give insight into the prophetic fulfillment in Matt. 2:16-18.

Matt. 2:16 Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi.
Matt. 2:17 Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:
Matt. 2:18 “A VOICE WAS HEARD IN RAMAH,
WEEPING AND GREAT MOURNING,
RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN;
AND SHE REFUSED TO BE COMFORTED,
BECAUSE THEY WERE NO MORE.”

• The time when only children will be singled out for death is demonstrated when Herod issues the orders to have all the male children killed in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, after the magi leave without coming back to him.

  • The extent of Herod’s call to kill all the male children two and under extends beyond Bethlehem described as, ‘all its vicinity’. There is no way to know how far out from Bethlehem the slaughter of the baby boys took place; it could mean all the way north in Ramah.

  • There are some who say these words could apply to the children taken away in exile by the Assyrians or the Babylonians because of what is said in the next couple of verses. However in both of these instances the children did not die but were taken into captivity, they did not cease to exist.

    • These verse may demonstrate the picture of a rock being thrown over a body of water as it skips along the surface.

    • The places where each scriptures is speaking about are separated by time in history; they are not necessarily sequential.

  • The context may be thematic in presentation not done for chronology.

• Jer. 31:16 The LORD says to restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears.

  • The voice can be referenced back to the previous verse to be the voice heard in Ramah and Rachel’s tears.

  • Those who have a voice and have eyes with tears will also have a work that will be rewarded.

  • Those who had their children taken away through Herod still carry on bringing another generation of children up to know the Jewish ways and their laws.

    • The people of the land continue to be a separate people.

    • This is the main theme or topic of emphasis.

• The LORD is promising that no matter the circumstances the nation of Israel finds itself in they are to know the LORD has a plan for them as a separate people.

  • These people who lose their sons to Herod’s anger will also experience a dispersion by the Romans and the destruction of their temple and the city of Jerusalem in another generation.

  • The promise is that those who have been dispersed will know that at a future time their descendants will return from the land of the enemy.

• Verse 17 The focus of the LORD is their hope in the future.

  • It will be a distinct people, a set apart people, a Jewish people who will return to their own territory.

  • The focus is on the future promise of a nation of Judah living in the Promised Land.

Jer. 31:18 “I have surely heard Ephraim grieving,
‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised,
Like an untrained calf;
Bring me back that I may be restored,
For You are the LORD my God.
Jer. 31:19 ‘For after I turned back, I repented;
And after I was instructed, I smote on my thigh;
I was ashamed and also humiliated
Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’
Jer. 31:20 “Is Ephraim My dear son?
Is he a delightful child?
Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him,
I certainly still remember him;
Therefore My heart yearns for him;
I will surely have mercy on him,” declares the LORD.

• Verse 18 The LORD now says He has heard Ephraim grieving.

  • The reference to Ephraim moves the focus to the northern ten tribes known as the nation of Israel.

  • This is demonstrated in Jer. 7:15.

Jer. 7:15 “I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, all the offspring of Ephraim.

• In context the LORD has told Judah He was going to cast them out of the land in the same way He had cast out Israel, here described as all your brothers, all the offspring of Ephraim.

  • Jer. 31:18 These tribes, now referred to as Ephraim, recognize their chastisement and desire to be brought back into restoration with the LORD.

  • They now ask to be brought back and restored because they acknowledge, “You are the LORD my God.”

    • They are part of the group who will receive faith detailed in Romans 11:26.

Rom. 11:26  and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written,
“THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION,
HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.”

• Jer. 31:19 They have turned back to the LORD.

  • In turning back to the LORD they have repented.

  • They received instruction from the LORD which cause them to, “smote on my thigh”.

    • The action of striking the thigh is seen as a sign of deep remorse or mourning.

    • A similar reference is given in Ezek. 21:11-12.

Ezek. 21:11 “It is given to be polished, that it may be handled; the sword is sharpened and polished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.
Ezek. 21:12 “Cry out and wail, son of man; for it is against My people, it is against all the officials of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with My people, therefore strike your thigh.

• Jer. 31:19 These people have understood the severity of their sin before the LORD and display mourning over their sin.

  • They have been ashamed and humiliated because of what they did in their youth.

  • This is a common picture used of the differing stages of relationship the nation had with the LORD.

    • Ephraim as the representation of the northern tribes known as Israel in her youth had chased after and worshipped foreign gods with no repentance and judgment fell on them. (Jer. 2)

  • They are still dispersed to this day.

  • The world does not know what individuals make up these tribes, but the LORD does.

• Just as there were many over the centuries who did not understand how the promises of the Old Testament could be fulfilled to a literal nation of Israel because there had not been such a nation for thousands of years, the LORD knew how and when He planned to bring a nation of His people Israel back into existence.

  • The word of the LORD will always be fulfilled in perfection and those who read the scriptures need to have faith His words will be fulfilled in perfection even when we do not know how it is possible.   

  • These promises to Ephraim are still waiting for their fulfillment in the future.

• Verse 20 The LORD recognized Ephraim as His son even though He has spoken against him; meaning the LORD called out judgment against Ephraim and still the LORD says His heart yearns for him and He will have mercy on him.

  • This picture of restoration for Ephraim, representing Israel is demonstrated in Ezek. 37:15-23

Ezek. 37:15 The word of the LORD came again to me saying,
Ezek. 37:16 “And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.’
Ezek. 37:17 “Then join them for yourself one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.
Ezek. 37:18 “When the sons of your people speak to you saying, ‘Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?’
Ezek. 37:19 say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.”’
Ezek. 37:20 “The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.
Ezek. 37:21 “Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;
Ezek. 37:22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms.
Ezek. 37:23 “They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God.

• Verse 19 The stick of Joseph and the stick of Judah will be one.

  • Verse 21 The sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, He will gather them into their own land.

  • Verse 22 One nation, in the land, one king.

  • Verse 23 He will cleanse them.

• In keeping the context remember the beginning verses of chapter thirty-one were focused on the redemption the LORD provides for Israel discussed in light of Romans eleven and the salvation poured out at the end of the Tribulation; followed by the promises concerning the life of joy and provision for His people during the Millennial Kingdom.

  • The chapter then moves to when Judah experiences pain as the Messiah is born in her midst and the killing of her children; this is followed by a promise of regathering into the land (skipping the details about Judah’s removal from the land.) The next progression is how the LORD is going to bring Ephraim (Israel-ten tribes) into the glorious events leading to their inclusion in the Millennial Kingdom.

Jer. 31:21“Set up for yourself roadmarks,
Place for yourself guideposts;
Direct your mind to the highway,
The way by which you went.
Return, O virgin of Israel,
Return to these your cities.
Jer. 31:22 “How long will you go here and there,
O faithless daughter?
For the LORD has created a new thing in the earth —
A woman will encompass a man.”
Jer. 31:23 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Once again they will speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities when I restore their fortunes,
‘The LORD bless you, O abode of righteousness,
O holy hill!’
Jer. 31:24 “Judah and all its cities will dwell together in it, the farmer and they who go about with flocks.
Jer. 31:25 “For I satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone who languishes.”
Jer. 31:26 At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.

• Verse 21 The call to the LORD’s people is for her to set up road marks and guideposts as they consider the highway which was their path by which they were lead from the Promised Land.

  • Their path of sin in denying worship to the only true God and seeking after and worshipping false gods.

    • Now as a virgin Israel cleansed from her sin, she will return to her cities.

    • The reference to Israel as a virgin is in contrast to the harlotry demonstrated earlier in Jer. 2:20

Jer. 2:20 “For long ago I broke your yoke
And tore off your bonds;
But you said, ‘I will not serve!’
For on every high hill
And under every green tree
You have lain down as a harlot.

• This reminds Israel of when the LORD broke off her yoke and bonds of slavery to serve Him when He brought Israel out of Egypt.

  • Israel chose not to serve the LORD by seeking to worship other gods on every high hill and under every green tree where the LORD says she lay as a harlot.

• Jer. 31: 21 The LORD now tells Israel to return to Him as a virgin.

  • Israel will be forgiven of her sins of worshipping other gods and rejecting the LORD.

  • The ultimate rejection of the LORD happens when they deny Jesus as their Messiah, in John 1:9-11.

John 1:9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.
John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
John 1:11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.

• The leaders of Israel specifically rejected the claims of Jesus being their Messiah culminating in their crying out for His crucifixion. John 19:5-6.

John 19:5 Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold, the Man!”
John 19:6 So when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.”

• There will be a national recognition of this great sin. Zech. 12:10-14

Zech. 12:10  “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.
Zech. 12:11 “In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
Zech. 12:12 “The land will mourn, every family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves;
Zech. 12:13 the family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves;
Zech. 12:14 all the families that remain, every family by itself and their wives by themselves.

• Now cleansed from her sin and rejection Israel will be brought back to her land.

  • Jer. 31:22 The question the LORD asks Israel is how long will they wander about, here and there, in a faithless state.

    • There is no need for these wanderings as the LORD has created a new thing in the earth.

    • This new thing is described as “A woman will encompass a man”.

    • This is new, not experienced before.

  • Keeping the thoughts in context is key as we begin with the word woman.

  • This verse has the LORD speaking to Israel.

  • The LORD is speaking about her past tendency to wander.

    • The woman is Israel.

    • Encompass can mean to surround or encircle.

    • The scriptures provide this same picture of Israel encompassing the LORD in Psa. 7:6-7.

Psa. 7:6  Arise, O LORD, in Your anger;
Lift up Yourself against the rage of my adversaries,
And arouse Yourself for me; You have appointed judgment.
Psa. 7:7  Let the assembly of the peoples encompass You,
And over them return on high.

• Verse 6 David asks the LORD to be his avenger.

  • David identifies the LORD as appointing judgment.

  • The Tribulation time will be the culmination of the LORD’s judgments on Israel and the world.

• Verse 7 David says after judgment let the assembly of the peoples encompass You.

  • Israel will encompass the LORD and He will rule over them.

  • In Psalms David identifies it is the LORD the people will encompass.

• Jer. 31:22 In Jeremiah, a man is described that will be encompassed by a woman.

  • The LORD is represented as a man. This is what is new.

  • The concept of the LORD being a man was not what the people were expecting. John 1:14, 10:29-33.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 10:29 “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.”
John 10:31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him.
John 10:32 Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?”
John 10:33 The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.”

• John describes Jesus becoming flesh and also declareing that, “I and the Father are one.”

  • The Jews could not comprehend that Jesus was a man and claiming to be God.

  • This is who Jesus was and is.

  • This was new and had not been seen in creation.

• Jer. 31:22 In Jeremiah that is the same message communicated as Israel is the assembly of the peoples.

  • Israel will live securely in their land, completely surrounding the city of Jerusalem where their king and Messiah Jesus will be ruling and reigning.

  • This is displayed in the next verse.

• Verse 23 The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel says when the people live in the land restored, meaning during the Millennial Kingdom, this is what they will say:

  • The LORD bless you;

  • O abode of righteousness.

    • The place where righteousness will reign.

    • The place from where Jesus Christ the Messiah will reign.

    • The perfected temple of the Millennial Kingdom.

  • O holy hill.

    • The only one who can be on God’s holy hill is a righteous person. Psa. 15:0-5

Psa. 15:0 A Psalm of David.
Psa. 15:1 O LORD, who may abide in Your tent?
Who may dwell on Your holy hill?
Psa. 15:2  He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness,
And speaks truth in his heart.
Psa. 15:3  He does not slander with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
Psa. 15:4  In whose eyes a reprobate is despised,
But who honors those who fear the LORD;
He swears to his own hurt and does not change;
Psa. 15:5  He does not put out his money at interest,
Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things will never be shaken.

• The righteous abode will be on the holy hill.

  • The new temple will be in the new city of Jerusalem in the Millennial Kingdom.

    • The Promise Land will all be a righteous land.

    • All of this is with a focus during the Millennial Kingdom.

  • Jer. 31:24 The righteous kingdom will include all the cities and the farmlands.

• Verse 25 The LORD will provide for everyone no one will be weary or go without.

  • Verse 26 Jeremiah awakens after receiving this message from the LORD and he is refreshed.

  • This gives the added insight that Jeremiah was receiving the words from the LORD in a state of receiving a dream.

Jer. 31:27 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast.
Jer. 31:28 “As I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to overthrow, to destroy and to bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the LORD.
Jer. 31:29 “In those days they will not say again,
‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
Jer. 31:30 “But everyone will die for his own iniquity; each man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be set on edge.

• Verse 27 The LORD speaks of more days in the future when He will sow for the house of Israel and the house of Judah. The emphasis is on all of Israel receiving the blessing of the LORD.

  • The LORD will bless the seed of both man and beast.

  • The reproduction of both will be supernaturally blessed.

• Verse 28 The LORD says He was present to oversee the judgements and disasters brought on Israel and now He will oversee the blessing being poured out on Israel.

• Verse 29 The LORD speaks again declaring, “In those days”

  • The days of the Millennial Kingdom He has been speaking about.

  • There will not be a time to speak of fathers doing something wrong and their descendants suffering the consequences.

  • The fathers eat sour grapes and it’s the children’s teeth set on edge or feeling the result.

    • This had been true for the nation of Israel as the forefathers declared a commitment to a covenant with the LORD with blessings and curses.

    • All the nation had to keep the covenant to be granted the blessings and if even one broke the covenant all the nation suffered for this breach.

• Verse 30 During this future time, in those days, those of Israel will be held accountable for their own sin not for previous generations sins.

  • This will be explored in greater detail in the next lesson looking at the new covenant discussion.

  • The LORD reminds Israel not to lose the focus of being a people called out to be His people no matter their circumstances for as long as the LORD waits to redeem them.

    • Christians have the same mandate to stay faithful to the calling set before us no matter the circumstances we find ourselves in. 2Cor. 4:13-18

2Cor. 4:13 But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I BELIEVED, THEREFORE I SPOKE,” we also believe, therefore we also speak,
2Cor. 4:14 knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you.
2Cor. 4:15 For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.
2Cor. 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.
2Cor. 4:17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,
2Cor. 4:18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.  

• Be reminded:

  • Verse 16 Outer man decaying

  • Verse 18 Are not to focus on seen things as they are temporal.

• Be reminded and embrace:

  • Verse 16 Our inner man is being renewed day by day.

  • Verse 17 Producing an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.

  • Verse 18 Focus on the things that are not seen as they are eternal.