October
22nd Jeremiah
1 A. The Call of Jeremiah The Lord speaks to Jeremiah
1:
The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in
Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: 2:
To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of
Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3:
It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of
Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of
Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in
the fifth month. 4:
Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 5:
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest
forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a
prophet unto the nations. 6:
Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
7:
But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go
to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou
shalt speak. 8:
Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee,
saith the LORD. 9:
Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD
said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. 10:
See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms,
to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to
build, and to plant. 11:
Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what
seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. 12:
Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my
word to perform it. 13:
And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What
seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is
toward the north. 14:
Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break
forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. 15:
For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north,
saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his
throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the
walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah. 16:
And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their
wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other
gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands. 17:
Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all
that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound
thee before them. 18:
For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron
pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of
Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and
against the people of the land. 19:
And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against
thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.
Jeremiah
2 B. Prophesies to Judah & Jerusalem Israel must repent
1:
Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2:
Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I
remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine
espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land
that was not sown. 3:
Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his
increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon
them, saith the LORD. 4:
Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families
of the house of Israel: 5:
Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me,
that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are
become vain? 6:
Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the
land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of
deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of
death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man
dwelt? 7:
And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof
and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land,
and made mine heritage an abomination. 8:
The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law
knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the
prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not
profit. 9:
Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your
children's children will I plead. 10:
For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and
consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing. 11:
Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my
people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. 12:
Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye
very desolate, saith the LORD. 13:
For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the
fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken
cisterns, that can hold no water. 14:
Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled? 15:
The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land
waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant. 16:
Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy
head. 17:
Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken
the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way? 18:
And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters
of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the
waters of the river? 19:
Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall
reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and
bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is
not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts. 20:
For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou
saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under
every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot. 21:
Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then
art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?
22:
For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet
thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD. 23:
How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim?
see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift
dromedary traversing her ways; 24:
A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her
pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek
her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her. 25:
Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but
thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and
after them will I go. 26:
As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel
ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and
their prophets, 27:
Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast
brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not
their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise,
and save us. 28:
But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if
they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the
number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah. 29:
Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me,
saith the LORD. 30:
In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction:
your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
31:
O generation, see ye the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness
unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, We are
lords; we will come no more unto thee? 32:
Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people
have forgotten me days without number. 33:
Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also
taught the wicked ones thy ways. 34:
Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor
innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these.
35:
Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn
from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have
not sinned. 36:
Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be
ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria. 37:
Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head:
for the LORD hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not
prosper in them.
Jeremiah
3 Unfaithfulness to the Lord
1:
They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become
another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be
greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers;
yet return again to me, saith the LORD. 2:
Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not
been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in
the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms
and with thy wickedness. 3:
Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no
latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be
ashamed. 4:
Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the
guide of my youth? 5:
Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end?
Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest. 6:
The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou
seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon
every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played
the harlot. 7:
And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me.
But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8:
And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel
committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of
divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and
played the harlot also. 9:
And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she
defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
10:
And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned
unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD. 11:
And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified
herself more than treacherous Judah. 12:
Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou
backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger
to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not
keep anger for ever. 13:
Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against
the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under
every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
14:
Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto
you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I
will bring you to Zion: 15:
And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed
you with knowledge and understanding. 16:
And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the
land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark
of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither
shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall
that be done any more. 17:
At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and
all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD,
to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination
of their evil heart. 18:
In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel,
and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land
that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers. 19:
But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a
pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said,
Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me. 20:
Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye
dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD. 21:
A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of
the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they
have forgotten the LORD their God. 22:
Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.
Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God. 23:
Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the
multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of
Israel. 24:
For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth;
their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25:
We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have
sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth
even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our
God.
Jeremiah
began his ministry about 60 years after the death of Isaiah and he
prophesies for about 41 years. Zephaniah and Habakkuk were is fellow
prophets in his earlier ministry and Daniel in his latter ministry.
When the children of Judah were taken away by the Babylonians
Jeremiah remained with the poor and in this way the poor inherited
the earth. Later the poor left for Egypt followed by Jeremiah, were
he died. (2 Kings 24v14) In his book Jeremiah records a number of
visions in which he sees the Babylonian captivity, the return after
70years, the world wide-dispersion of the Jews and the final
re-gathering again, the millennial kingdom, the judgment of God on
the Gentiles and the remnant who will remain faithful to the Lord.
Jeremiah introduces himself in the first three verses telling us that
he came from the priestly line, but lived in Anathoth in the portion
of Benjamin. And he says that he writes the word of the Lord that
came to him in the time of the kings Josiah, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah.
When the Lord first spoke to Jeremiah he told him that he knew him
and ordained him a prophet before he was born. Jeremiah is
overwhelmed by this but the Lord encourages him telling him not to be
afraid of the faces of men. Then the Lord touched his mouth saying l
have put my words in your mouth. His first vision is of a rod of an
almond tree. Then he sees a boiling pot facing north. Then the Lord
tells him of the coming of a people from the north who will come to
destroy Jerusalem. He tells him not to be afraid to tell the people
this prophecy and that he will protect him completely. In Ch 2
Jeremiah records the word of the Lord to Judah. The message is that
the Lord remembers their early days when they were faithful to the
Lord but he now sees great evil that has come on the hearts of all
the people. The Lord calls on the heavens to witness that Judah has
committed two evils they have forsaken the Lord and they have
hollowed out broken cisterns (Holes in rock for holding water) that
can store no water. The Lord gives a long description of their
backslidings. Judah pleads innocence and faithfulness yet they are
full of murder and wickedness. In Ch 3 Jeremiah records the message
that Judah is full of the grossest sexual immorality - the whole land
is polluted. The Lord has responded with withholding the spring and
autumn rains. Then the Lord comes to Jeremiah again with the message
Return unto the Lord your God. (This is substantially the same
message of John the Baptist, Christ and his Apostles) The Lord
promises that he will send Pastors who will feed them with knowledge
and understanding. The Lord also promises a full spiritual
restoration based on a full confession and repentance.
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