Jeremiah - Lesson 42-43

• 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.

• 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.

• Chapters 30-33 Review:

  • These chapters are often referred to as the Book of Consolation as they are filled with promises for the LORD’s people.

  • Promises of the LORD’s people being regathered and brought back to a specific land as a nation to live in safety with hearts of flesh and not stone, served by priests, ruled by a king and living in prosperity. All of this is possible because Jesus their Messiah has redeemed them and will be their King.

• Chapters 34-36 Review:

  • The Jewish leaders profane the name of the LORD when they renege on a covenant to release Hebrew servants.

  • The obedience of the Rechabites to the words of their father is contrasted to the disobedience of the LORD’s people to His repeated words.

  • Jeremiah’s scroll is burned by King Jehoiakim.

    • The LORD is not fooled by a fast called by His people.

• Chapters 37 & 38 Review:

  • Jeremiah is arrested and imprisoned, finally ending up in a cistern destined for death; he is rescued by a servant of the king.

  • Zedekiah seeks a new word from the LORD, not wishing to believe what he had already been told: that he needs to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar or he, his family, Jerusalem and the people will be destroyed.

• Chapters 39 & 40 Review:

  • Jerusalem falls, King Zedekiah runs but is captured and taken into exile, and Jeremiah is protected and chooses to go to Gedaliah the governor over Judah. The plot against Gedaliah is revealed.

• Chapter 41 Review:

  • Ishmael the son of Nethaniah kills Gedaliah, the Jews with him and all the Chaldeans at Mizpah and seventy pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem. The remnant from Mizpah are taken to Ammon and are rescued by Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders with him.

Jer. 42:1 Then all the commanders of the forces, Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people both small and great approached
Jer. 42:2 and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our petition come before you, and pray for us to the LORD your God, that is for all this remnant; because we are left but a few out of many, as your own eyes now see us,
Jer. 42:3 that the LORD your God may tell us the way in which we should walk and the thing that we should do.”

• Verses 1-2 The remaining remnant of people from Judah and those who had rescued them from Ishmael come to Jeremiah, recognizing he is a prophet; this was clear now as many of the prophecies spoken of by Jeremiah had come to pass.

  • They ask Jeremiah to pray to the LORD your God; they do not recognize the LORD as their God.

  • They acknowledge they are the small remainder of many who had been left in the land, as Jeremiah would be an eye witness to this.

• Verse 3 This remnant asks that Jeremiah’s God would tell them what they should do next.

Jer. 42:4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I am going to pray to the LORD your God in accordance with your words; and I will tell you the whole message which the LORD will answer you. I will not keep back a word from you.”
Jer. 42:5 Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with the whole message with which the LORD your God will send you to us.
Jer. 42:6 “Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will listen to the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us when we listen to the voice of the LORD our God.”

• Verse 4 Jeremiah tells the people he has heard their request, and he will pray to “the LORD your God.” Jeremiah is reminding the people that His God is their God.

  • After clarifying he will be praying to “the LORD your God”; he assures them he will bring back the whole message from the LORD.

• Verse 5 The response from the people opens with a declaration that they will acknowledge the LORD to be a true and faithful witness against them if they do not proceed in accordance to the message Jeremiah brings back from the LORD, His God.

  • They do not identify the LORD as their God here.

• Verse 6 The people commit themselves to listen to the voice of “the LORD our God”, whether what He replies with is pleasant or unpleasant.

  • The people will listen to the LORD so that it may go well for them.

Jer. 42:7 Now at the end of ten days the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah.
Jer. 42:8 Then he called for Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, and for all the people both small and great,
Jer. 42:9 and said to them, “Thus says the LORD the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition before Him:
Jer. 42:10 ‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I will relent concerning the calamity that I have inflicted on you.
Jer. 42:11 ‘Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are now fearing; do not be afraid of him,’ declares the LORD, ‘for I am with you to save you and deliver you from his hand.
Jer. 42:12 ‘I will also show you compassion, so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your own soil.

• Verse 7 The LORD brought an answer to Jeremiah at the end of ten days.

  • Verse 8 Jeremiah calls all the people together to receive the word from the LORD.

  • Verse 9 Jeremiah begins with identifying the response was from the LORD the God of Israel, the God the people had asked Jeremiah to inquire of for them.

  • Verse 10 The LORD’s response was that if the people stay in Judah, then He would build them and not tear them down, He will plant them in Judah and not remove them.

    • The LORD will relent from the calamityHe was bringing on the people of Judah.

    • This calamity was on full display throughout Judah and especially could be seen displayed in the remains of Jerusalem; and the significant numbers of His people now exiled in Babylon.

• Verse 11 The people were not to be afraid of the king of Babylon.

  • The LORD clearly identifies they are afraid of the king of Babylon currently. This was understandable, humanly speaking, as the reputation of the Babylonian army was their brutal dealings with those they conquered.

  • The LORD says He will save them from the king of Babylon; this is what the LORD’s people should have faith in.

• Verse 12 The LORD says His compassion for this people will be demonstrated in His ability to have the king of Babylon extend compassion to them, by restoring them to their own land.

  • This is what the people need to have faith in.

  • The LORD is completely in control of what Nebuchadnezzar has the power to do.

  • The LORD can cause him to have compassion or to bring His judgement.

Jer. 42:13 ‘But if you are going to say, “We will not stay in this land,” so as not to listen to the voice of the LORD your God,
Jer. 42:14 saying, “No, but we will go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the sound of a trumpet or hunger for bread, and we will stay there”;
Jer. 42:15 then in that case listen to the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “If you really set your mind to enter Egypt and go in to reside there,
Jer. 42:16 then the sword, which you are afraid of, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are anxious, will follow closely after you there in Egypt, and you will die there.
Jer. 42:17 “So all the men who set their mind to go to Egypt to reside there will die by the sword, by famine and by pestilence; and they will have no survivors or refugees from the calamity that I am going to bring on them.”’”

• Verse 13 Then the LORD says if the response from the people is to say they will not stay in the land they will be demonstrating they do not desire to listen to the voice of the LORD their God.

• Verse 14 This hard heart will lead them to leave Judah and go to Egypt.

  • The reason they will desire to go to Egypt is they are convinced that there they will not see war or hear war (sound of a trumpet), or feel war (hunger).

• Verses 15-16 The LORD warns the remnant if they make the decision to go to Egypt then the very world of war they are afraid of will follow them in Egypt.

  • The famine they are afraid of will follow them to Egypt and they will die there.

• Verse 17 The inevitable outcome to all those who decide to leave for Egypt, to live there, will be death by sword, famine and pestilence.

  • The LORD underscores the extent of the destruction He will bring; by promising there will not be a survivor left in the land or a person who will be able to leave Egypt and come back to Judah.

  • Now that the destruction of Jerusalem is complete and the majority of His people have been taken into exile to Babylon the word of the LORD in regards to His judgment of His people has been carried out.   

Jer. 42:18 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “As My anger and wrath have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so My wrath will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. And you will become a curse, an object of horror, an imprecation and a reproach; and you will see this place no more.”
Jer. 42:19 The LORD has spoken to you, O remnant of Judah, “Do not go into Egypt!” You should clearly understand that today I have testified against you.
Jer. 42:20 For you have only deceived yourselves; for it is you who sent me to the LORD your God, saying, “Pray for us to the LORD our God; and whatever the LORD our God says, tell us so, and we will do it.”
Jer. 42:21 So I have told you today, but you have not obeyed the LORD your God, even in whatever He has sent me to tell you.
Jer. 42:22 Therefore you should now clearly understand that you will die by the sword, by famine and by pestilence, in the place where you wish to go to reside.

• Verse 18 Jeremiah again identifies the words he is speaking are coming from the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel.

  • The LORD says to look at what happened in Jerusalem and know this same wrath will be poured out on them when they enter Egypt.

  • The LORD says when they enter Egypt, not if, they will decide to go to Egypt.

• Verse 19 Now Jeremiah emphatically speaks to the remnant of Judah saying, “Do not go into Egypt”.

  • Jeremiah says because it is the LORD who has spoken to them, he is now a witness against them, should they deny what the word of the LORD is to them.

• Verse 20 Jeremiah says, “You have deceived yourselves by even requesting I take this question to the LORD your God.

  • You have arrogantly sent me to pray to the LORD and declaring you will do whatever He says you are to do; yet you now expose your hearts as you only wanted a confirmation of leaving Judah and going to live in Egypt.”

• Verse 21 Jeremiah says he has given the people the answer to their request in the word from the LORD today.

  • The truth is you have not obeyed the LORD your God in heeding all the previous warnings He sent to you through me.

    • This was clearly demonstrated in Jer. 37:1-3

Jer. 37:1 Now Zedekiah the son of Josiah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had made king in the land of Judah, reigned as king in place of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim.
Jer. 37:2 But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the LORD which He spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.
Jer. 37:3 Yet King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Please pray to the LORD our God on our behalf.”

• Verse 2 No one listened to the words of the LORD which was clearly spoken through Jeremiah.

  • Verse 3 The hard-hearted men still send a priest to ask Jeremiah to pray to the LORD on their behalf. They are only going through the motions of seeking to know the LORD’s will.

    • They would only like to have the LORD confirm their already determined will.

• Jer. 42:22 Jeremiah says the answer from the LORD can’t be unknown; they are to ‘clearly understand’ what the answer is, you will die if you go to the place you wish to reside.

  • Their desire was for the dream offered in their minds of the “good life” in Egypt.

Jer. 43:1 But as soon as Jeremiah, whom the LORD their God had sent, had finished telling all the people all the words of the LORD their God — that is, all these words —
Jer. 43:2 Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, ‘You are not to enter Egypt to reside there’;
Jer. 43:3 but Baruch the son of Neriah is inciting you against us to give us over into the hand of the Chaldeans, so they will put us to death or exile us to Babylon.”

• Verses 1-2 Jeremiah identifies the answer is revealed from the LORD their God.

  • This is the God Jeremiah had been sent to by all the leaders and the people.

  • The immediate response from the leaders, who Jeremiah describes as arrogant, is to accuse Jeremiah of lying.

    • They specifically say. “The LORD our God has not sent you to say, ‘you are not to enter Egypt to live there.”’

• Verse 3 These arrogant men have already said they knew Jeremiah was a prophet from the LORD.

  • These men said they would obey the voice of the LORD when Jeremiah brought the word to them.

  • These men already knew the previous word of the LORD had been to leave Judah and that was what they thought the message would continue to be.

    • They did not want to go to Babylon in exile; they desired to go to Egypt on their terms.

  • It is now revealed their plan is to discredit Jeremiah before the people and that is to say it was Baruch the son of Neriah who was inciting Jeremiah against them.

    • These men say Baruch is behind a plan to surrender to the Chaldeans so they can put us to death or exile us.

Jer. 43:4 So Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces, and all the people, did not obey the voice of the LORD to stay in the land of Judah.
Jer. 43:5 But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took the entire remnant of Judah who had returned from all the nations to which they had been driven away, in order to reside in the land of Judah —
Jer. 43:6 the men, the women, the children, the king’s daughters and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, together with Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah —
Jer. 43:7 and they entered the land of Egypt (for they did not obey the voice of the LORD) and went in as far as Tahpanhes.

• Verse 4 The leaders and the people do not obey the voice of the LORD to stay in Judah.

  • Verse 5 The leaders and their forces take the entire remnant; specifically including all those who had come back from the nations they sought refuge in outside of Judah.

    • Everyone is being forced to leave Judah.

    • The desire is to not come under the yoke of the Chaldeans, either in Judah or in exile to Babylon.

• Verse 6 The list of people includes the men, women, children, the king’s daughters and every person that had been left with Gedaliah; individually naming Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah.

  • Verse 7 All the leaders take all the people to Egypt as far as Tahpanhes.

    • Tahpanhes is located in the northern part of Egypt along the road leading through Judah.

    • This may be the entry place for the people of Judah to make a request to settle in the land of Egypt.

    • They were asking to enter as a friend and not a foe.

  • This was a direct violation of the word of the LORD.

  • This is about nine hundred years after the LORD had rescued His people from the land of Egypt, chronicled in Exodus.

Jer. 43:8 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,
Jer. 43:9 “Take some large stones in your hands and hide them in the mortar in the brick terrace which is at the entrance of Pharaoh’s palace in Tahpanhes, in the sight of some of the Jews;
Jer. 43:10 and say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am going to send and get Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and I am going to set his throne right over these stones that I have hidden; and he will spread his canopy over them.
Jer. 43:11 “He will also come and strike the land of Egypt; those who are meant for death will be given over to death, and those for captivity to captivity, and those for the sword to the sword.
Jer. 43:12 “And I shall set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he will burn them and take them captive. So he will wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself with his garment, and he will depart from there safely.
Jer. 43:13 “He will also shatter the obelisks of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt; and the temples of the gods of Egypt he will burn with fire.”’”

• Verse 8 The word of the LORD comes to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes.

  • Verse 9 Jeremiah is instructed to take some large stones that he can carry in his hands and he is to hide them.

    • They are to be hidden in some mortar in the brick terrace located at the entrance of Pharaoh’s palace in Tahpanhes.

    • This was to be done with some Jews as witnesses.

• Verse 10 The LORD first tells Jeremiah to identify this word is from the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel.

  • When the name of God the LORD includes the description of being LORD of hosts, this identifies His power over the spiritual realm.

• Next, Jeremiah is to tell them He is going to send Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, identified as His servant, to set his throne right over the stones Jeremiah has just hidden.

  • There he will also spread his canopy over them.

  • This is the location Nebuchadnezzar will set up his headquarters while in Egypt.

    • This prophetic determination is confirmed by Ezekiel in Ezek. 29:18-20.

Ezek. 29:18 “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre; every head was made bald and every shoulder was rubbed bare. But he and his army had no wages from Tyre for the labor that he had performed against it.”
Ezek. 29:19 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he will carry off her wealth and capture her spoil and seize her plunder; and it will be wages for his army.
Ezek. 29:20 “I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor which he performed, because they acted for Me,” declares the Lord GOD.

• Verse  18 Nebuchadnezzar defeated Tyre but there was no spoil to be gained from this victory.

  • Verse 19 The LORD is going to give Egypt and the wealth accumulated there to Nebuchadnezzar as payment to the Chaldean army.

  • Verse 20 The LORD is rewarding Nebuchadnezzar because they have acted for the LORD.

    • This does not mean they knew they were acting for the LORD.

• Jer. 43:11 Nebuchadnezzar will come against Egypt and will strike it.

  • The king the people are actually afraid of and fleeing from, by going to Egypt, will in fact be the king who will come after them in Egypt.

    • Those who are meant to die will die.

    • Those meant to be taken captive will indeed be taken captive.

    • Those who were to die by the sword will die by the sword.

    • These outcomes have already been decided by the LORD.

• Verse 12 Next the LORD will set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt.

  • The temples will be burnt while the worshippers will be taken captive.

  • Nebuchadnezzar will wrap himself with the land of Egypt.

  • The comparison used is of a shepherd wrapping himself in a garment.

    • He owns it and he uses it for his purposes.

    • When Nebuchadnezzar is done with Egypt he will leave in safety, like discarding the used garment.

• Verse 13 Nebuchadnezzar will shatter the obelisks of Heliopolis, that is in the land of Egypt.

  • It is repeated that the temples of the gods of Egypt will be burnt with fire.

    • An obelisk is a large stone standing as a testament to a god.

    • They were often engraved with praises for the god they were to honor.

  • There is one still standing in Cairo that is about sixty-eight feet tall, engraved with praises for Ra the sun god.

    • Heliopolis was a city identified with the religious practices of worship for the sun god Ra.

    • It is thought the obelisks were considered sacred and their shape was to be a representation of a ray from the sun.

• This underscores the need to be in constant communication with the LORD to know His will in our lives. We do not have a static relationship with an impersonal God but a very personal relationship with a God who knows us intimately and will lead us to know His will.

  • This is why it is important to seek to know the will of God in every part of our lives through study of His word and prayer. This was the example set by Jesus.

Luke 22:39 And He came out and proceeded as was His custom to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him.
Luke 22:40 When He arrived at the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
Luke 22:41 And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray,
Luke 22:42 saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
Luke 22:43 Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.
Luke 22:44 And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.
Luke 22:45 When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow,
Luke 22:46 and said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

• Verse 40 Jesus tells His disciples to pray that they will not enter into temptation.

  • Verse 42 Jesus prays to the Father asking Him to remove this cup from Him; the coming events of the crucifixion.

    • Jesus says His desire is to do the will of the Father.

• Verse 46 Jesus tells his disciples again to pray in order to not enter into temptation.

  • The temptation the disciples were to avoid was to do their will above the Father’s will, as Jesus demonstrates what is to be done and that is seeking the Father’s will above our own will.

  • The power to achieve doing the Father’s will can only be achieved through prayer.

    • Paul displays this heart of seeking after the Father’s will above human desire in Phil. 2:3-8

Phil. 2:3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
Phil. 2:4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
Phil. 2:5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
Phil. 2:6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
Phil. 2:7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
Phil. 2:8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

• Verse 3 We are not to seek after anything with a selfish or conceited heart.

  • We are to be humble, demonstrated in regarding others needs above our own needs.

• Verse 5 Christ Jesus is the example of this lived out.

  • Verses 6-7 Jesus as God removed any barrier to become in form and likeness like as a man.

  • Verse 8 Jesus when he was in appearance as a man, humbled Himself; this humility was demonstrated in His obedience to the will of the Father by being put to death on the cross.

    • In Luke we see the prayer of Jesus to do the will of the Father and in Philippians we see the result of the obedience to the Father’s will.

• We need to be in constant prayer to know the will of the Father.

  • The will of the Father will often be contrary to our human will, this is the temptation we need to pray against.

  • When the Father clarifies His will, the only thing left for the believer to do is be obedient to His revealed will.