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JeremiahSurvey of the Old Testament: The ProphetsFall 2005 |
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Like all the prophets, Jeremiah's call for repentance doesn't just show God's judgment. He also shows the hope of a restored Israel. Chapters 30-33 contain the bulk of Jeremiah's prediction of the hope for Israel. God will bring Israel back to the Promised Land, and they will return to the Lord.
Even after the captivity began, the false prophets would not accept Jeremiah's warnings. The false prophets believed the captivity would be short lived. But Jeremiah, in a letter to the captives, tells them to settle in, for the captivity will last for 70 years (29:10). A false prophet in Babylon named Shemaiah the Nehelamite wrote back to the priests asking them why they did not deal with this pretender. Jeremiah's response is to proclaim that Shemaiah is not a prophet of God and will be killed.
The people struggled with the idea of a condemning God. They desired to hear the message of peace and prosperity. They were a religious people, and the religious leaders were teaching them that things were okay. Jeremiah threatened this arrangement.
We must be careful that as a church we are not teaching the comfortable things. We can be teaching religious things, and good things, and be compromising the truth. We can be teaching things that do not make people uncomfortable and in the process be compromising the truth.
As much as it troubled him, Jeremiah continued in his preaching of the truth. He never let popular opinion change his message, although he kept his approach fresh and accessible to anyone. The result of compromised truth was devastating to Judah .
One of the most quoted verses in Jeremiah is a promise that God has a purpose for us. Jeremiah 29:11 is used to comfort us that God really wants what is best for us and will bring us to a time of prosperity and hope.
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD , "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)
But the context of this verse is rarely discussed. This verse comes in the midst of the letter which Jeremiah sent to the exilesYes, God has plans to prosper His people. Yes, there is a hope and future. But it's a distant future, and in the meantime, settle into your captivity.
We should be careful not to pull this verse out of its context, for while God indeed wants what is best for us, and there will be a time where we will prosper, that may not be in the short run. It may be that God wants us to dwell in exile for awhile before that happens.
But God will indeed restore Israel. But such restoration means that the old covenant that the Lord had made with Israel is going to have to be reworked. The old covenant had been broken and it depended too much on Israel to keep its part. This new covenant would not rely on Israel's faithfulness to the Law. This new covenant would not require obedience to the Law at all. For, in the new covenant, the Law would be written on the very heart of His people.
"But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (Jeremiah 31:33 NASB)
God would change the heart of His people and they will know their God. Furthermore, this new covenant includes provision for the forgiveness of sins (31:34).
With Jeremiah's prediction of restoration, the question must be asked, “what will keep Israel from falling into sin again?” What is to prevent Israel from breaking the covenant again? It's the new covenant that will prevent this. The new covenant where God indwells the people, where they know Him, and where God forgives them.
This passage is quoted again in Hebrews 8, where the writer says that Jesus is the fulfillment of this prophecy. Indeed, the proclamation by Jesus in the Last Supper declares that he is bringing a “new covenant.” Certainly, then, the hope stated here is partially fulfilled in the covenant given to the church. Our covenant is not one of laws, but of the Spirit. The Law of God isn't written, but dwells within us in the form of the Holy Spirit. We don't need prophets and teachers to tell us the Law. The Spirit himself teaches us. As a result, the Lord is our God and we are His people.
To confirm that this restoration will take place, Jeremiah gives a object lesson. His relative offers to sell him land. This real estate transaction is taking place in the 10 th year of King Zedekiah. The army of Babylon has been laying siege to Jerusalem for over a year at this point. Jeremiah himself is in prison for his treacherous prophecies. The nation has been overtaken and Jerusalem is about to be destroyed. Buying real estate at this point would not be the smartest investment.
But God tells Jeremiah to go ahead and buy the land. For some day, God will restore Judah and people will again buy and sell land and conduct commerce and dwell back in the Promised Land (32:15). Yes, God will hand Judah into the hands of the Babylonians (32:26-29). But nothing is too difficult for God, and some day bring them back to this land (32:37). God will make a new covenant which will not be broken (32:40) and once again fields will be bought and sold (32:43-44).
An integral part to the restoration of Israel is a restoration of the throne of David. With the deposition of Zedekiah by Babylon, the reign of the Davidic kings comes to an end. But in the future a king in the lineage of David would rise up (33:15). This king will be just and righteous (23:5, 33:15) and under His reign Jerusalem will live in peace and safety (23:6, 33:16). In the meantime, lest Zedekiah take this as a promise that he is this righteous branch, Jeremiah reminds him that if he fails to obey the covenant, that the Davidic covenant will be broken as far as Zedekiah is concerned (33:19-27).
In case Zedekiah didn't understand this, Jeremiah makes his condemnation of Zedekiah more explicit in chapters 34-38. Jeremiah tells Zedekiah that Babylon will destroy the city and he will be captured and delivered into the King of Babylon's hand.
Zedekiah had rebelled against Babylon and was counting on Egypt to rise up and defend him in his rebellion. In this context, Jeremiah's prophecies seemed to be treasonous (Jeremiah 37:13-14). Now the politicians were not as accepting of Jeremiah's views. He was imprisoned on the charge of treason. Nonetheless, King Zedekiah secretly went to Jeremiah for advice. His advice shows us why they considered him treasonous:
(Jeremiah 38:17-18 NASB) "Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "Thus says the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, 'If you will indeed go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will survive. [18] 'But if you will not go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given over to the hand of the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and you yourself will not escape from their hand.'""
Jeremiah was asking the people to accept God's punishment. Babylon was God's agent. Yet the King, as well as other political leaders in Jerusalem still held on to the idea that they could escape Babylonian invasion and that Jeremiah's prophecy was disloyal to the King.
Jeremiah was concerned with why Zedekiah was coming to him for advice. In 38:15, the prophet asks the King, “If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.” In verse 20, Jeremiah begs the King to heed the advice. But Zedekiah rejects the truth for the advice of the princes in Jerusalem.
The real tragedy is that Zedekiah sought advice from God, and then rejected it. We must be careful that we do not act as Zedekiah. As we seek God's truth through the Word, obedience is critical. Otherwise we area as foolish as King Zedekiah himself. James 1:23-25 addresses this same concept in a New Testament setting.
Jeremiah faces this again after the fall of Jerusalem. The remnant asks Jeremiah what to do. They promise, “whatever it is... we will obey the voice of the LORD our God.” (42:6). Jeremiah warns them not to go to Egypt. But when confronted with the truth, the people decide to disregard his advice and head to Egypt (43:1-3). Furthermore, Jeremiah himself is kidnapped and hauled off to Egypt with them.
The final seven chapters of the book are judgments to the various nations around Judah. These pronouncements do not fit chronologically at the end of his ministry as one would think by its placement in the book. It is likely that these chapters are a collection of Jeremiah's prophecies to other nations that were given throughout his ministry. These messages were probably given to Judah in order to demonstrate that God's judgment will be against all who sin against him, Judah included.
But these messages also served as source of hope for Judah. For even their enemy, Babylon, would some day have to face judgment. The final judgment against Babylon would in fact be written down and delivered to Babylon (51:59). Jeremiah sent Seraiah to Babylon with this scroll and he was to read the scroll to those in Babylon (51:63) and then take the scroll and throw it into the Euphrates river as an object lesson of the judgment coming to Babylon.
Jeremiah 51:64 ends by saying, “thus far the words of Jeremiah.” This gives evidence that the book was compiled and edited within the lifetime of Jeremiah, and that the editor expected that there might be more words from Jeremiah. The bible doesn't tell us anything of Jeremiah's death.
Chapter 52, then seems to have been added on later as a historical epilogue. The book ends with this epilogue describing Jerusalem's fall and the release of King Jehoiachin. Most likely this chapter was written by someone after Jeremiah to tie the book into the history of Israel.
Feinberg, Charles L. “Jeremiah.” Expositor's Bible Commentary . Frank E. Gaebelein, ed. Grand Rapids MI : Zondervan, 1998.
Stedman, Ray C. “Jeremiah: A Profile in Courage.” Adventuring through the Bible . Available from the Official Ray C. Stedman Library. http://www.raystedman.org/adventure/0224.html . Accessed November 16, 2005.
Yancey, Philip. The Bible Jesus Read. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999.
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