Jeremiah 40-44

They had their minds made up to go to Egypt…

GOD’S Will
a determination, a choice (Strong’s)
what one wishes or has determined shall be done (Thayer’s)
objectively of the will of GOD (Vine’s)

My Will
subjectively of the will of man (Vine’s)

GOD would have me take my will and conform it to His (Matthew 26:39; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42)

The Lamentations of Jeremiah

Lamentations 3:31-32; ASV

31 For the Lord will not cast off for ever.

32 For though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesss.

Lamentations is a five-poem dirge, a funeral song written for the fallen city of Jerusalem (4:11-13).

Jeremiah writes his lament in acrostic or alphabetical fashion.

Beginning each chapter with the first letter A (aleph) he progresses verse by verse through the Hebrew alphabet, literally weeping from A to Z.

The Purpose of Lamentations: To teach people that to disobey GOD is to invite disaster, and to show that GOD suffers when His people suffer.

Man of Sorrows

The weeping prophet Jeremiah is a type of Christ, the Prophet who wept over the same city six centuries later (Matthew 23:37-38).

Like Christ, Jeremiah identified himself personally with the plight of Jerusalem and with human suffering caused by sin.

Lamentations also includes elements that typify Christ’s life and ministry as the man of sorrows who was acquainted with grief, afflicted, despised and derided by His enemies (1:12; 2:15-16; 3:14, 19, 30).

Until the Land had Enjoyed Her Sabbaths

2 Chronicles 36:20-21; ASV

20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:

21 to fulfil the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths: (for) as long as it lay desolate it kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.

Listen to this lesson by Phil Roberts.  You'll be glad you did.

 http://www.antiochchurchofchrist.org/robertsyear.htm

The Song Remains the Same

Zedekiah sought out Jeremiah when the Babylonians began the siege of Jerusalem in 588 BC (see Jeremiah 21.  Sometime later, before the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC, Zedekiah sought out Jeremiah again and asked him if there was any word from Jehovah.  Jeremiah said, "There is."  Then he said to Zedekiah, "You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon!" (Jeremiah 37:17; NKJV).

Jehovah's message to Zedekiah remained the same.

Jehovah's message to us remains the same too:  "Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven" (Psalm 119:89; NKJV).

Hidden in My Heart

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children." (Hosea 4:6; NKJV)

Jehovah Rules in the Kingdoms of Earth

1.  Civil government is established by Jehovah and is a minister of Jehovah (ROM 13:1-7).

2.  Jehovah is the sovereign ruler of the kingdoms of men (DAN 2:21, 37; 4:17, 25, 32; 5:21).

3.  Jesus is the ruler of the kings of the Earth, the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings! (REV 1:5; 19:16).

THE LORD OUR RIGHTOUSNESS

Jeremiah 23:5-6; NKJV

5 "Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD,
"That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness;
A King shall reign and prosper,
And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
6 In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel will dwell safely;
Now this is His name by which He will be called:

THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.


Though the house of David had fallen (Amos 9:11), the prophets spoke of a time when a Davidic king would again rule Israel (Ezekiel 37:22-25; Hosea 3:5; Micah 4:1-8).


The family tree had been cut down, but a branch would grow from the stump (Isaiah 11:1; 53:2).


When John the Baptist announced that the kingdom was at hand, he was telling Israel that the time had come for Jehovah to again rule Israel through a son of David!  (see Luke 1:32-33; Mark 11:9-10)

Jehovah Will Restore

Jeremiah 33:10-11; NKJV

10 "Thus says the LORD: 'Again there shall be heard in this place — of which you say, "It is desolate, without man and without beast" — in the cities of Judah, in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, 11 the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who will say:

"Praise the LORD of hosts,
For the LORD is good,
For His mercy endures forever" —

and of those who will bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause the captives of the land to return as at the first,' says the LORD.
Jehovah will cause the captives to return to the land.  Nothing else.  He is punishing them; He will restore them: "For His mercy endures forever" (Jeremiah 33:11).

The Way of Life and the Way of Death

"Now you shall say to this people, 'Thus says the LORD: "Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.  He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out and defects to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be as a prize to him.  For I have set My face against this city for adversity and not for good," says the LORD.  "It shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire."' (Jeremiah 21:8-10; NKJV)

At the time the way of life would be to surrender to the Babylonians.  Zedekiah chose not to surrender.  Therefore, he chose the way of death.

ž“…life and good, death and evil.” (Deuteronomy 30:15-20)
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ž“…destruction…life…” (Matthew 7:13-14)
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ž“I am the way, the truth, and the life…” (John 14:6)
ž

The Judgment of Jerusalem Begins

Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Son of man, write down the name of the day, this very day — the king of Babylon started his siege against Jerusalem this very day." (Ezekiel 24:1-2; NKJV)

Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem from January 588 BC to July 586 BC.  Jerusalem fell on July 19, and the city and temple were burned on August 15 (The Open Bible, p. 1120).

"I, the LORD, have spoken it;
It shall come to pass, and I will do it;
I will not hold back,
Nor will I spare,
Nor will I relent;
According to your ways
And according to your deeds
They will judge you,"
Says the Lord GOD.
 
Ezekiel 24:14; NKJV

Two Harlot Sisters

Oholah ("Her Tent") - Israel (Ezekiel 23:4-10)

Oholibah ("My Tent")  - Jerusalem (Ezekiel 23:4, 11-35)

Israel and Judah committed harlotry.  Jehovah put Samaria away.  He is about to put Jerusalem away.

"and ye shall know that I am the Lord Jehovah." (Ezekiel 23:40; ASV)

Hidden in My Heart

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children." (Hosea 4:6; NKJV)

"When I Provide You an Atonement"

Atonement - Ezekiel 16:63

Hebrew – kaphar – a primitive root; to cover (specifically with bitumen); figuratively, to expiate or condone, to placate or cancel: KJV - appease, make (an atonement, cleanse, disannul, forgive, be merciful, pacify, pardon, purge (away), put off, (make) reconcile (-liation). (Strong’s)

To cover, to purge, to make an atonement, to make reconciliation, to cover over with pitch (Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon).

Ezekiel 16:60-63; NKJV

60 "Nevertheless I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.

61 Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed, when you receive your older and your younger sisters; for I will give them to you for daughters, but not because of My covenant with you.

62 And I will establish My covenant with you. Then you shall know that I am the Lord,

63 that you may remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth anymore because of your shame, when I provide you an atonement for all you have done," says the Lord GOD.'"

These Three Men

Question:  What did Noah, Daniel and Job all have in common?

Answer:  Persistent faithfulness (see Ezekiel 12:13)

Ezekiel 14:14-20; ASV

14 though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord Jehovah.

15 If I cause evil beasts to pass through the land, and they ravage it, and it be made desolate, so that no man may pass through because of the beasts;

16 though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only should be delivered, but the land should be desolate.

17 Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off from it man and beast;

18 though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only should be delivered themselves.

19 Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my wrath upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast;

20 though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, they should deliver neither son nor daughter; they should but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.

Ezekiel 8-11

1.  The glory will depart (Ezekiel 8-11)ž

 

2.  The glory will return (Ezekiel 43:1-5; 44:4)ž

 

3.  The glory fills the Temple (Ephesians 2:19-22)

 

Ephesians 2:19-22; NKJV

19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
 
20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,
 
21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,

22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Ezekiel's Vision of Jehovah

Ezekiel 1:4-28 describes Ezekiel's vision of the glory of Jehovah coming in judgment.

Ezekiel looked into the storm and saw Jehovah...

There is not a storm that He cannot see us through...

2 Corinthians 12:9-10; NKJV

9 And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 

10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Cyrus and Christ

Jehovah delivered the Jews from Babylonian captivity through Cyrus.

Jeremiah 51:36-40; NKJV

36 Therefore thus says the LORD:

"Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance for you.
I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry.
 
37 Babylon shall become a heap,
A dwelling place for jackals,
An astonishment and a hissing,
Without an inhabitant.
 
38 They shall roar together like lions,
They shall growl like lions' whelps.
 
39 In their excitement I will prepare their feasts;
I will make them drunk,
That they may rejoice,
And sleep a perpetual sleep
And not awake," says the Lord.
 
40 "I will bring them down
Like lambs to the slaughter,
Like rams with male goats.

Jehovah delivers us from the bondage of sin and death through Christ.

Hebrews 2:14-15; NKJV

14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 

15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Judgment Against Babylon

Jeremiah 50-51 was written during the 4th year of Zedekiah (594/93 BC)

Seriah (Baruch’s brother) was to read this prophecy in Babylon and then throw it into the Euphrates River (51:59-64) symbolizing the complete destruction of the Babylonian empire.

Babylon comes to symbolize the Anti-GOD system that seeks to rule the world (see Revelation 14:8; 16:19; 17:5; 18:2, 10, 21).

Hidden in My Heart

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children." (Hosea 4:6; NKJV)

The Sign of Two Baskets of Figs

Jeremiah 24:1-10 takes place around 597 BC (see Ezekiel 1:1-2).

1. Good Figs - The Captives

2. Bad Figs - The People Left in the Land

The future of Jehovah’s people lies with the exiles (see Ezekiel 11:14-21).

Jeremiah 22:24-30

Christ And Coniah by David Padfield

Jeremiah had condemned king Coniah as a "despised, broken idol" (Jer. 22:24-30). Coniah (also called Jeconiah) was to be cast out of the land and brought into captivity. We are further informed that he was a "man who shall not prosper in his days; for none of his descendants shall prosper, sitting on the throne of David, and ruling anymore in Judah" (Jer. 22:30). Notice this carefully: Coniah would never have a descendent of his sitting on the throne of David and ruling in Judah.
We need to notice the genealogy of this man. Jehoiakim begot Coniah (1 Chron. 3:16; Jer. 22:24). Coniah (Jeconiah) begot Shealtiel (1 Chron. 3:17; Matt. 1:12). Christ is a descendant of Shealtiel (Matt. 1:12).

Therefore, since Christ is a descendant of Coniah, He cannot sit on the throne of David and rule in Judah! Yet, this is the very heart of modern premillennialism! The truth is that Christ is on the throne of David -- but not in the land of Judah. He is on the throne of David in heaven where He must reign "till He has put all enemies under His feet" (1 Cor. 15:25).

 http://www.padfield.com/2000/throne.html

Jehovah Judges the Nations

The Nations of Jeremiah 46-49

1.Egypt (46:1-28)
2.Philistia (47)
3.Moab (48)
4.Ammon (49:1-6)
5.Edom (49:7-22)
6.Damascus (49:23-27)
7.Kedar & Hazor (49:28-33)
8.Elam (49:34-39)

1. Jehovah is the sovereign ruler of the kingdoms of men (DAN 2:21, 37; 4:17, 25, 32; 5:21).

2. He takes no delight in judging individuals or nations for their sins (EZE 18:23, 32, 33:11)

"Of the Sons of Judah"

“…of the sons of Judah…” (Daniel 1:6; NKJV) 

Their Jewish Names

Daniel – God is my judge

Hananiah – Jehovah has been graciousž

Mishael – Who is what God is?ž

Azariah – Jehovah has helped 

Their Babylonian Names

Belteshazzar – Bel protect his life

Shadrach – command of Aku (moon god)

Meshach – Who is what Aku is?ž

Abed-Nego – servant of Nego/Nebo

Remember their Jewish names to the glory of Jehovah!

Baruch

Jeremiah 45:1-5; NKJV

45 The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the instruction of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, 

2 "Thus says theLORD, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: 

3 'You said, "Woe is me now! For the Lord has added grief to my sorrow. I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest."'

4 "Thus you shall say to him, 'Thus says the LORD: "Behold, what I have built I will break down, and what I have planted I will pluck up, that is, this whole land. 

5 And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I will bring adversity on all flesh," says the LORD. "But I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go."'"

Baruch's Story

Son of Neriah (32:12)
Brother of Seraiah (51:59, 61; 52:24)
Scribe to Jeremiah (605 BC – 36; 45)
Read Jeremiah's words publicly on a day of fasting, then read them to the officials of the king's court (36)
Suffered Discouragement in 605 BC (45)
Received the Purchase Deed to Jeremiah’s Field (587 BC - 32:12-16)
Taken to Egypt (43)

Baruch's Blessing

1.  He helped a prophet write the word of Jehovah.

2.  Jehovah spoke to Him:
–Don’t put your hope in the future of Judah
–Your life will be spared

Jeremiah 25:1-14

Who:  Jehovah, Jeremiah, the people of Jerusalem and Judah

What:  The word of Jehovah concerning the Babylonian captivity

When:  The 4th year of King Jehoiakim's reign (606/605 BC)

Where:  Jerusalem, Judah

Why:  To remind those still in Jerusalem who watched Daniel and others led out of Judah to Babylon that they have not listened, that Nebuchadnezzar is just getting started, the captivity is going to last for 70 years, and then Babylon will punished for their sin.

1 Peter 4:17-19; NKJV
17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? 

18 Now

"If the righteous one is scarcely saved,
Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?" 

19 Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.

Hidden in My Heart

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.  Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children."  (Hosea 4:6; NKJV)

"O My Servant Jacob"

Jeremiah 46:27-28; NKJV
 
27 'But do not fear, O My servant Jacob,
And do not be dismayed, O Israel!
For behold, I will save you from afar,
And your offspring from the land of their captivity;
Jacob shall return, have rest and be at ease;
No one shall make him afraid.
 
28 Do not fear, O Jacob My servant," says the LORD,
"For I am with you;
For I will make a complete end of all the nations
To which I have driven you,
But I will not make a complete end of you.
I will rightly correct you,
For I will not leave you wholly unpunished."

No matter how dark the day, Jehovah always gives His people the bright light of His promises…

“And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place…” (2 Peter 1:19-22; NKJV)

Jeremiah Laments Josiah's Death

2 Chronicles 35:20-27; NKJV

20 After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates; and Josiah went out against him. 21 But he sent messengers to him, saying, "What have I to do with you, king of Judah? I have not come against you this day, but against the house with which I have war; for God commanded me to make haste. Refrain from meddling with God, who is with me, lest He destroy you." 22 Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself so that he might fight with him, and did not heed the words of Necho from the mouth of God. So he came to fight in the Valley of Megiddo.

23 And the archers shot King Josiah; and the king said to his servants, "Take me away, for I am severely wounded." 24 His servants therefore took him out of that chariot and put him in the second chariot that he had, and they brought him to Jerusalem. So he died, and was buried in one of the tombs of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

25 Jeremiah also lamented for Josiah. And to this day all the singing men and the singing women speak of Josiah in their lamentations. They made it a custom in Israel; and indeed they are written in the Laments.

26 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his goodness, according to what was written in the Law of the Lord, 27 and his deeds from first to last, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

Destroys idolatry (2 K 23:4, 20, 24; 2 CHRON 34:33)

Observes the Passover (2 K 23:21-23; 2 CHRON 35:1-19)

Slain in battle (2 K 28-30; 2 CHRON 35:20-27)

Lamented by Jeremiah (2 CHRON 35:25; JER 22)

Ancestor of Christ (MATT 1:10-11)

The Restoration Principle

The Restoration Principle:  "Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” (2 Kings 23:21; NKJV)

Restoration (2 Kings 23)
1.  Reading the Word of GOD (2)
2.  Making a commitment (3)
3.  Casting out items of false worship (4)
4.  Putting down false teachers (5)
5.  Casting out idols (6)
6.  Putting away immorality (7)
7.  Following the pattern of worship (21)

Like a Burning Fire

Jeremiah 20:7-9; ASV

7 O Jehovah, thou hast persuaded me, and I was persuaded; thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am become a laughing-stock all the day, every one mocketh me.

8 For as often as I speak, I cry out; I cry, Violence and destruction! because the word of Jehovah is made a reproach unto me, and a derision, all the day.

9 And if I say, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name, then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with forbearing, and I cannot (contain).

—Three Kinds of Preachers:
1.The first has to say something.
2.The second has something to say.
3.The third has something to say and has to say it.