This week, we shall continue the study of the book of Jeremiah in the
Old Testament.
Following the use of a belt and wineskins to foretell the punishment of Judah and Jerusalem, the Lord now asks the prophet to use himself as an object lesson to the people.
16:1-9—Prophet as Object Lesson
(1) What did the Lord ask Jeremiah not to do in v. 2?
a. What horrible fate awaits the entire families in Judah (i.e. children, mothers and fathers)? (vv. 3-4)
b. Will you get married at a time like this?
c. What will his action do to the people?
(2) What did the Lord ask Jeremiah not to do in v. 5?
a. How widespread will death occur? (v. 6)
b. What kind of disaster is being depicted with no funeral or funeral meal for the dead because people die without being buried?
c. What is the cause of such a tragedy? (v. 5b)
d. What will his action do to the people who expect him to come and comfort them?
(3) What did the Lord ask Jeremiah not to do in v. 8?
a. What will his action do to the people who invite him to the feast?
16:10-18—Amazing Responses by Both People and the Lord
(4) Should the people even ask why? (v. 10) Why then would they ask?
(5) In what ways have they behaved more wickedly than their ancestors? (v. 12)
(6) As much as they have behaved more wickedly than their ancestors, how will the Lord show mercy to them as He once did to their ancestors? (vv. 14-15)
(7) “But now”, i.e. before restoration, they will have to face God’s punishment: What analogies does the Lord use to depict His relentless pursuit of destruction? (vv. 16-18)
16:19-21—A Song of Praise
(8) The praise by the Prophet (vv. 19-20)
a. After a series of complaints by the prophet, how does the prophet respond to these messages of solemn condemnation and future restoration? (v. 19)
b. Where does he find his strength from? (vv. 19-20)
(9) The assurance by the Lord (v. 21)
a. What is meant by “this time”?
b. How will even the nations know that His name is the Lord? What does it mean to know that His name is the Lord?
(10) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
After his song of praise is again an account of the prophet’s continued struggle under immense persecution, beginning with this:
17:1-8—Judah’s Deep-rooted Sinfulness and Unavoidable Fate
(1) How does the Lord describe the deep-rootedness of Judah’s sin? (v. 1)
(2) How does it speak to your own sinfulness?
(3) To talk about its deep-rootedness in the hearts is expected, but what does it mean to be engraved or inscribed on the horns of their altars? How detestable is their sin? (v. 2)
(4) Their punishment has
been foretold over and over again. What might be the emphases here (vv.
3-4) with words like the following?
a. "My mountain" and "inheritance I gave you”
b. "Your wealth and all your treasures" plus "high places"
c. All these will be plundered
d. They will be enslaved in a foreign land
(5) Trust in man and trust in God are being contrasted (vv. 5-8)
a. Is trusting in man or self necessarily a turning away from the Lord? (v. 5) Why or why not?
b. What does the Lord use to describe the futility of trusting man?
c. In contrast, what does the Lord use to describe the fruitfulness of trusting in Him?
d. What does the Lord expect Judah to do at this point with this message?
e. What does the Lord expect you to do with this message?
17:9-11—The Heart of Man
(6) How true is the statement in v. 9?
(7) How may you apply it to your own heart?
(8) What in particular does the Lord warn Judah against in following the desire of their wicked heart? (v. 11)
17:12-18—The Continued Struggle of Jeremiah
(9) Given the stubbornness of Judah’s sin already
described above (vv. 1-4), consider the following:
a. What has Judah really forsaken according to vv. 12-13?
b. How deserving is their punishment? (v. 13)
(10) While giving praise to the Lord (vv. 12-13), what is the greatest challenge he is facing? (v. 15)
(11) How has he faced this challenge? (v. 16)
(12) What does he ask the Lord to do for him? (vv. 14, 17)
(13) What does he ask the Lord to do to his persecutors? (v. 18)
(14) Does the Lord give him any immediate reply? Why or why not?
(15) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
17:19-27—Urging Them to Keep the Sabbath as Holy
(1) How important is the command concerning Sabbath? (Exod. 20:8-11; 31:12-17)
(2) What is the ultimate purpose of instituting Sabbath?
(3) How did the people break this command concerning Sabbath? (17:21-22)
(4) If they are not carrying a load for work or trade, why would they carry a load out of the house and especially through the gates of Jerusalem (See Neh. 13:19-22 for carrying a load ready for the day after Sabbath.)
(5) Even at this stage of their rebellion, what does the Lord promise if they keep their Sabbath as holy? (17:24-26) Why?
(6) Of all their sins, why is God so concerned about keeping Sabbath holy?
(7) What does it represent if they choose to keep Sabbath as holy?
18:1-12—The Lord is the Potter, We the Clay
(8) Another object lesson that the Lord wants the prophet to understand first-hand was how a potter shapes and reshapes clay “as seemed best to him” (v. 4)
a. Since God is the Potter and Israel is the clay in His hand (v. 6), what does it mean to Israel?
b. God is not just the Potter of Israel, but of all nations: What principles does the Lord make clear in His dealing with all nations? (vv. 7-8)
c. How then would you define God’s relenting and how it is different from man’s relenting? (see 1 Sam. 15:29 as well)
(9) What is the message that God wants Jeremiah to deliver to the people of Judah? (v. 11)
(10) Why would the people reply saying, “It’s no use”? What do they mean? (v. 12)
(11) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) Why does the Lord call them “Virgin Israel”? (v. 13)
(2) What is the point of comparing them to the snow and water flowing from Lebanon? (v. 14)
(3) How have the people forgotten the Lord? (v. 15)
(4) Has idol worship ushered them into a better life’s journey? (v. 15b)
(5) What will their judgment be? (vv. 16-17)
(6) Will God help them in their disaster? Why or why not? (v. 17b)
18:18—The People’s Response to the Message: Remember that Jeremiah was preaching these messages at all the gates of Jerusalem for all to hear.
(7) Is Jeremiah the only priest and prophet at the time?
(8) Why do the people think that they would not suffer spiritually without Jeremiah?
(9) What do they plan to do?
18:19-23—Jeremiah’s Prayer for Vindication
(10) Given how he interceded on their behalf before, for what would you expect the prophet to pray?
(11) It was exactly because of his previous intercession that the prophet is now impelled to pray for judgment:
a. What kind of judgment did he pray for? (18:21-22)
b. What else did Jeremiah ask to the Lord to do that was far more serious than famine, sword and death? (18:23)
c. Should he? Why or why not?
(12) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Now the message of destruction is delivered in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and with the breaking of a clay jar:
(1) As much as Jeremiah was hated and people plotted to kill him, what does the fact that the elders and the priests were willing to follow him to the Valley of Ben Hinnom mean, knowing that his message would yet be another condemnation of the people, including themselves? (19:1-2)
(2) What might be the significance of delivering the
message at the Valley of Ben Hinnom given the following?
a. What previous kings of Judah had done at this valley (2 Chr. 28:3; 33:6)
b. What Josiah did to this place during his reformation (2 Ki. 23:10) and
c. What they have now resumed doing (Jer. 19:5)
(3) What is the implication of changing the name of the "Valley of Topheth” (the meaning of its name is not certain) to the "Valley of Slaughter"? (19:6)
(4) How similar will this devastation be to the time of Elisha in Samaria? (Jer. 19:9; 2 Ki. 6:26ff)
(5) How detestable is their apostasy that deserves such a severe punishment? (19:4-5)
(6) The elders and the priests have heard similar messages of destruction before: How might the standing in this valley and the watching of the breaking of the jar to pieces affect their hearing of this message?
(7) Josiah had previously defiled this valley as part of his reformation. How fitting then is the filling of it with dead bodies too many for burial as the punishment of their sins, especially in reviving the sacrifice of children in this place to Baal? (19:11-13)
(8) Why should this message be repeated also in the court of the Lord’s temple? (vv. 14-15)
(9) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
20:1-6—Jeremiah and Pashhur
(1) Where did the Lord ask Jeremiah to repeat his prophecy spoken at the Valley of Ben Hinnom through the breaking of a clay jar? (19:14)
(2) What was the result of his faithful preaching? (20:2)
(3) Who was Pashhur? Why did he beat Jeremiah up and put him in prison? (see end of 20:6)
(4) Did he have the right or authority to do this to Jeremiah?
(5) Why did he release Jeremiah only after one day? (v. 3)
(6) Did it work?
(7) The message to Pashhur (vv. 3b-6)
a. To what did the Lord change his name? (see Note below)
b. What will Pashhur’s destiny be? (vv. 4-6)
c. What is the reason for his punishment? (v. 6b)
20:7-18—Jeremiah’s Complaint: In understanding this complaint in the form of a poem, we need to “regard them as spiritual struggles, separated by an interval of time, through which the prophet must successively pass” (K&D, 198).
(8) His sufferings (vv. 7-10)
a. Why did he blame God for deceiving (or persuading) and overpowering him? (v. 7)
b. How did he describe the results of his obedience in speaking the word of God? (vv. 7-8)
c. Did he ever think of stopping preaching or prophesying? (v. 9)
d. Could he? Why or why not?
e. What were the threats he had heard? (v. 10)
f. From whom?
(9) Song of confidence, praise and curse (vv. 11-18)
a. What did Jeremiah think of that has caused him to have confidence in God? (vv. 11-12)
b. With this confidence, what did he resolve to do and ask for? (v. 12)
c. With this confidence, he also burst into a song of praise, but quickly followed by a most lengthy and bitter curse of his birth (vv. 13-18).
- Is it psychologically inconceivable?
- Why or why not?
- What does it tell you about the potentially devastating power of suffering, especially suffering that appears to be “unending”?
(10) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Note:
There are “no sufficient grounds for assuming that Jeremiah turned the original name upside down (i.e. opposite) in an etymological or philological reference. The new name given by Jeremiah to Pashur is meant to intimate the man’s destiny” (K&D, 194).
The messages in this large section (from chapters 21-33) differ from those of the previous section in that most of the predictions bear the dates of the particular utterances and description of the occasions. Roughly, they can be divided into two groups, with ch. 21-29 concerning the judgment executed by Nebuchadnezzar and ch. 30-33 concern the restoration of Israel and Judah.
21:1-2—Jerusalem Under Siege
(1) Read 2 Kings 25:1-2 and 2 Chronicles 36:11-12 regarding the historical background of this incident.
(2) Should Zedekiah and the people be surprised by the attack of Nebuchadnezzar from the north? Why or why not? (You may want to refresh your memory with some of the prophecies foretold by Jeremiah from the time of Josiah till then — e.g. 1:13-15; 4:6; 6:1, 22; 10:22; 13:20; 15:12)
(3) Given these numerous prophecies, why would the king even bother to inquire of the Lord?
a. What answer did he expect from the Lord?
b. What answer do you think he will get from the Lord?
21:3-7—The Lord’s Answer (Part I)
(4) What will happen to their defensive force which seeks to break the siege? (v. 4)
(5) Why? Who is their real enemy? (v. 5)
(6) What will happen to both men and beast inside the city? (v. 6)
(7) What will happen to those who survive the plague, sword and famine? (v. 7)
(8) How was this prophecy fulfilled? (see 2 Ki. 25:3-7)
21:8-14—The Lord’s Answer (Part II)
(9) Although the first part of the Lord’s answer is total hopelessness, the Lord gives them a way out:
a. What is it?
b. Why should Zedekiah take the option to stay alive? Why not?
(10) Is the destruction of Jerusalem a foregone conclusion at this stage? Why? (v. 10)
(11) What if they heed the command of v. 12?
a. Why is the sin of injustice being highlighted?
b. If they genuinely repent, is it too late? Why or why not?
(12) Why might they still be confident of a victory? (v. 13)
(13) What will their fate be? (v. 14)
(14) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?