09/21/2024 – Day 090 – Jeremiah – Chapters 1 – 6 – Part 1 of ? / An Introduction to the 10 week Saturday study and fellowship through this book.
In our ten week Saturday study of Jeremiah, we have had seven previous posts in our two previous Semikkah7 read through the Bible in a year cycles, with the following post dates if you want to call them on a search: 08/22/2020 ; 08/30/2020; 05/08/2022. You can also bring them up with a filter of “Day 090”. But either way, you need to log in to use these tools.. If you need an account set up, please contact me at semikkah7@protonmail.com.
I am repeating this introduction posted on 08/22/2020:
I am sending an email invitation behind this post so I will try to minimize duplication. Indeed, the marching orders are “just obey” but I may be sensing why the Lord has been incessantly tugging at my shoulder to stay engaged with this blog that no one seems very interested in. My invitation to you is to join in a special extended group fellowship of Jeremiah that may go outside of our ten week Saturday starting today.
All scripture is “God breathed”, why this particular book? Perhaps we are called within the body of Christ to step into the prophet Jeremiah’s shoes. Ok, another why is that? Perhaps it would, with prayer connect,us to where God is calling us, for Jerusalem and the surviving Judah of 636 b.c is strikingly similar to America of 2020. How Lord do we walk in your light, amidst an evil world? We are all one body, but we all need to be engaged in the battle against the world’s evil going forward. (the days of being on our heels are over!, thank God! If we stay in that position, we are about to get run over.)
My father used to tell his WW2 age colleagues and warriors alike , that “they had it easy because their life was hard in their youth, what with the great depression. And then, Pearl Harbor dropped soon after high school graduation. But after 1945, it was all seemingly ‘gravy'”. And he would tell us kids, that he felt sorry for us. We had the reverse situation: “No one in history, time or place, seemed to have an easier path to opportunity and and ‘easy win’,”so to speak. But he added, ” I sense it will turn more difficult when you are old and you may even have to face severe hardship that you have not been accustomed to.” (or, “we will be ‘soft’ “) Funny side note, I remember reading a while back that the World War I generation combat veterans were in general, questioning the ability of their sons to fight and overcome evil in WW2. (who would become by popular historical acclaim: “the greatest generation” ) With God , all things are possible… Soli Deo Gloria!
So, I would like to suggest a question for even perhaps an ongoing discussion throughout this study as we progress: Is God being unfair by calling us for these times? Or , is this a paradox, an unbelievable opportunity to suffer and serve Him, to His glory? (am I giving away my answer? lol) I will offer up questions for discussion for just the first lesson in part 2 of 2 coming tomorrow. Again, you can post a comment on any particular reading anytime. The prayer is that we will have a blog of christian warriors that are seeking to build themselves us as God’s impregnable force for good during these evil times. It will happen, a little more each day, one step at a time. But, we do not have the luxury of unlimited time. The prayer is asking for the impossible. But with God, all things are possible! But, we have to make a decision with eternal consequences, where do we stand in this battle? We grew up in a day, where you could comfortably sit in the middle, even playing the field on both sides. Isn’t that evil by definition? Those days are coming to an end as well at a very quick pace now. As the angel told the main character played by Nicholas Cage in “Family Man” at a pivotal point in the film, “You have a new deal now , baby!” (better remove the “old deal” from your mind now!)
Jeremiah 6: 13 – 15: “Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them, Everyone is given to covetousness; And from the prophet even to the priest, Everyone deals falsely. They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly. Saying ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed; Nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time I punish them, They shall be cast down,’ says the Lord.” We are in the shoes of Jeremiah indeed and we will see this in our study: a society so evil , that good is now called evil and evil is called good. “Doesn’t this sound like a description of America today? If you sense this and wonder why so many people others you are “completely clueless” , that should tell you something. (see Luke 12:48) That in itself is God’s call to action.
Let me start with an introduction to God’s Word and the book of Jeremiah: Having knowledge of the history and the context of the times is important. Please reference 2 Kings 21-25 and 2 Chronicles 33 – 36, that both span the lifetime of Jeremiah. These are our assigned readings on Day #213 and Day # 311, respectively.
If you can join us one day a week for Jeremiah, I find it takes about 20 minutes just for a single day’s reading on average. To enrich your study, prayer and reflection, I would recommend a supporting commentary, with one of three following examples:
- “Be Decisive (Jeremiah): Taking a Stand For the Truth by Warren Wiersbe // ISBN reference #: 978-1-4347-0093-3
- “Christ Centered Exposition: (by three co-authors as I recall)// ISBN reference #: 978-0805496567
- “Thru the Bible Vol 24: The Prophets (Jeremiah / Lamentations) Paperback 1997 by Dr. J. Vernon McGee. (Jim note: I remember over a decade ago coming home, as I usually did late at night on a long commute listening to J. Vernon. I much enjoyed it and was thankful for it. I think he had even at that time, gone home to be with his Lord.) // ISBN reference #: 978-0785205111.
I would recommend going over the summary and the reader critiques on Amazon. The ISBN #s on a search will take you directly to the book on amazon.com (another story , I detest using Amazon, but in some things, it sadly is all we have)
Jeremiah – God’s Final Effort to Save Jerusalem
(Jim’s note: Thanks again to my Halley’s Bible Handbook, starting at pg 307.)
“Jeremiah lived about a hundred years after Isaiah. Isaiah had saved Jerusalem from Assyria. (Jim: God did!) Jeremiah tried to save it from Babylon, but failed. He was whispering to me over a decade ago. The call is getting more emphatic, time is running out. I have been assigned as one of “the watchmen” all along. (for those of you who read the Bible, you know what I am talking about) Take a look at Jeremiah 1:5, I was born for this time. The good news is I am not as alone as Jeremiah was.
Jeremiah was called to the prophetic office (626 b.c._ Jerusalem was partly destroyed (606); further devastated (597); finally burned and desolated (586). Jeremiah lived through these terrible forty years, ‘the close of the monarchy,’ ‘the death agony of the nation’; a pathetic, lonely figure, God’s last measure to the Holy City which had become hopelessly and fanatically attached to Idols; carelessly crying that if they would repent God would save them from Babylon. Thus, as Assyria had been the background of Isaiah’s ministry, so Babylon was the background of Jeremiah’s ministry.
The Internal Situation
The Northern Kingdom had fallen, and much of Judah. They had suffered reverse after reverse, till Jerusalem alone was left. Still they ignored the continued warnings of the prophets, and grew harder and harder in their Idolatry and wickedness. The hour of doom was about to strike.
The International Situation
A three-cornered contest for world supremacy was on: Assyria, Babylon, and Egypt. For 300 years Assyria, the North Euphrates valley, Ninevah its capital, had ruled the world; but now was growing weak. Babylon , in the South Euphrates valley, was becoming powerful. Egypt, in the Nile Valley, which 1000 years before had been a world-power, and had declined, was again becoming ambitious. Babylon won, about the middle of Jeremiah’s ministry. It broke the power of Assyria (607 B.C.); and 2 years later crushed Egypt, in the battle of Carchemish (605 B.C>); and for 70 years ruled the world, same 70 years as Jews’ Captivity.
Jeremiah’s Message (Jim: That would be God’s message)
From the outset, 20 years before the issue was settled, Jeremiah increasingly insisted that Babylon would be the victor. All through his incessant and bitter complaints over Judah’s wickidness these ideas are ever recurring:
- Judah is going to be destroyed by victorious Babylon.
- If Judah will turn from her wickedness, somehow God will save her from destruction at the hands of Babylon.
- Later, when there seemed no longer any hope of Judah’s repentence: if, only as a matter of political expedience, Judah will submit to Babylon, she shall be spared.
- Judah, destroyed, shall recover, and yet dominate the world. (Jim: Millenial – 1000 year reign – premillenialsim.)
- Babylon, destroyer of Judah, shall herself be destroyed, never to rise again.
Jeremiah’s Boldness
Jeremiah unceasingly advised Jerusalem to surrendur to the king of Babylon, so much that his enemies accused him of being a traitor. Nebuchadnezzar, rewarded him for thus advising his people, not only by sparing his life, but by offering him any honor that he would accept, even a worthy place in the Babylonian court (39:12) Yet Jeremiah cried aloud, over and over, that the king of Babylon was committing a heinous crime in destroying the Lord’s people, and for that, Babylon, in time, would be desolated, and lie forever so. (see Chapters 50, 51)
Contemporary Prophets
Jeremiah was leader in the brilliant constellation of prophets clustered around the destruction of Jerusalem. Ezekiel, a fellow priest, somewhat younger than Jeremiah, preaching in Babylon, among the captives, the same things, that Jeremiah was preaching in Jerusalem.
Prayers indeed! Soli Deo Gloria! From this point forward, in the breath of this life remaining , “How then shall we live?”.