Weekly Reading and Bible Study. [Picture This: The Absence of Action]

Transcription

1 Monday Reading Jeremiah 16 Weekly Reading and Bible Study [Picture This: The Absence of Action] Jeremiah : Symbolic With-holding In the first eighteen verses of Jeremiah 16, God commands Jeremiah to abstain from marriage, funeral meals, and feasts. These actions of abstinence symbolize the severity of the coming judgement : In Ancient Near Eastern culture large families were considered a blessing while a lack of offspring was considered a curse. Within this context, God commands Jeremiah to remain unmarried and celibate. Jeremiah s actions symbolize the severity of the coming judgement upon Judah. Thompson writes, That he abstained from marriage and children was a powerful sign that the end of Judah was at hand. People would die in the land before many days were past. Jeremiah, who never had a wife or children, was as those who would be married and had produced children but would lose them in all the calamity that would befall Judah : Jeremiah s childlessness represented the brutal fate of Judah s children as well as presenting a tangible picture of hopelessness for the next generation. 16.3: deadly disease The people were promised to be saved from deadly disease if they obeyed God; however, their disobedience resulted in diseases coming upon them. 12 If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the LORD your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers. 13 He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land your grain, new wine and oil the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land that he swore to your forefathers to give you. 14 You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor any of your livestock without young. 15 The LORD will keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all who hate you. 16 You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God gives over to you. Do not look on them with pity and do not serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you. Deuteronomy 7: : Funeral meal in Israel it was customary to provide a meal to those who came to the funeral. Jeremiah is banned from participating in this, and all, mourning rituals. 16.5: Blessing...love...pity In Hebrew these words are shalom, hesed, and rahmim. Each word represents Yahweh s profound love for his people. But now all these have been withdrawn. Hesed Hesed, translated as love, is a rich and meaningful word used to describe God s covenant love and faithfulness to his people. For God to take ways his love means he has withdrawn his hesed, his covenant love and faithfulness, from the people. It is one of the most terrifying things that can be imagined--yahweh, the God of the covenant, is no longer their God (see Hosea 1.6-9) 16.8: Jeremiah is also forbidden to enter a house where people are feasting. The Spirit of the Reformation Bible has this note, Yet a third prohibition was given, symbolizing the fact that Judah was not in a time in her history when she should have been celebrating : Israel and Judah continually misunderstand their faithlessness. Another example of their blindness to sin is found in the book of Malachi. In Malachi they are very confused

2 about God s actions towards them. God says they have wearied him, they wonder how; God says they have robbed him, they wonder how; God says they have spoken against him, they wonder how. (see Malachi ). From Malachi and Jeremiah one can observe that Israel struggles to see her sin and respond rightly to God in repentance : God points out to both generational guilt and the guilt of the present generation. In other places (e.g. Nehemiah 1) we find a sense of corporate guilt and responsibility that needs to be dealt with by the community : throw you out of this land God will send them into exile : In the midst of the news of terrible punishment God makes a promise to return the people to the land. God s act to bring the people back from exile will be so great that people will refer to Him as the God who brought the Israelites back from exile : Although vs are a proclamation of hope for the future, Judah faces destruction in the present. The nations (fisherman and hunters) will prey on the people and take them into exile : repay them double Let my persecutors be put ot shame, but keep me from shame; let them be terrified, but keep me from terror. Bring on them the day of disaster; destroy them with double destruction. Jeremiah 17:18 NIV 2Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD s hand double for all her sins. Isaiah 40.2 NIV New Testament Connections Christ s work inaugurates the conversion of the nations promised by the prophets. In Acts God sends Paul to the Gentiles (see Acts ), and in the book of Revelation the picture of every nation turning to God can be seen in its fullness 9 After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." Revelation 7:9-10 NIV Jeremiah : The Nations Know God s Name 16.19: Jeremiah declares the day when the nations will see that their god s are false and turn to Yahweh. The conversion of the nations is a common theme in the prophets (e.g. Isaiah 2, Zechariah 14) : The theme idols being human creations and not gods is again declared by Jeremiah : This verse foreshadows the promises of the new covenant No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." Jeremiah NIV God often tells us prophets to do things that illustrate his point (Ezekiel builds a siege works, Hosea marries a prostitute, Jeremiah does not marry etc.). Why does God not simply speak his word, why does he have to illustrate it? How much of an illustration of God s word is Jesus and his life and death?

3 Does the death of Jesus on the cross forgive only the sins of individuals, or does it also bring about the forgiveness for the sins of a community? Is is necessary for there to be forgiveness for a community? What difference would such forgiveness make? Tuesday Reading Jeremiah 17 [Picture This: Engraved Sin, Wisdom?,Confession, and Sabbath] Jeremiah : Engraved Sin 17.1: engraved with an iron tool...on the tablets of their hearts This picture illustrates how deep the sin of Judah has gone; it has become engraved on their hearts. The Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible comments, this recalls tablets for writing laws Judah s sin had become so great that it had reached the hearts of Gods people. By contrast, in the law, rather than sin would be written on the hearts of God s people when the restoration from exile occurred : These verses again reflect Judah s extreme sin and the covenant curses that will come upon the people because of the sin engraved on their hearts. Jeremiah : Collection of Wise Sayings 17.5: Trusts The word for trusts reflects the idea of putting your hope in another. The Bible repeatedly warns against putting your hope in rulers and powerful nations as a means of salvation from coming disaster. The Psalmist in Psalm 73 says, 23 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 27 Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. 28 But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds. Psalm 73: : Picture This: A bush in the wastelands. This bush is a very specific kind of tree called the arar tree. The arar tree s fruit looks tempting and even feels like it is filled with water, but when opened it is empty inside. 17.7: To be blessed is to be a person who has found joy in life. Compare these verses with the beginning of Psalm 1 1 Blessed is the man who does not sit in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers Psalm NIV New Testament Connections Like the third seed/ground of Jesus parable in Matthew 13, this person bears no fruit. (As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. Matthew esv). Notice in Jesus parable that this person is putting their trust/hope in riches which makes them as unfruitful for God as putting one s hope in man. 17.9: In the Old Testament the heart is more than the seat of ones emotions, it is the deepest part of a person that includes mind, will, and emotions. In some ways, it is possible to understand this verse as, People at the core of their being are deceitful above all things, and desperately sick, who can understand them? 1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. Psalm NIV

4 17.10: This verse answers the question who can understand them? Only God can understand and know what s going on in the heart and mind of a person, and there is nothing that is/can be hidden from Him. New Testament Connections In the New Testament Paul declares that God knows him better than Paul knows himself. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. 1 Corinthians : God is against those who have gained their wealth by injustice. The corollary of this is that God celebrates when people have gained wealth by just means--which means it is possible to be Godly and wealthy (but notice the words to the wealthy in 1 Timothy ; especially as it relates to our God s warning through Jeremiah about where we put our hope). Jeremiah : Jeremiah s Fourth Lament/Confession 17.12: A glorious throne refers to the kingship of the LORD. Compare Jeremiah with Psalm The LORD reigns let the nations tremble he sits enthroned between the cherubim let the earth shake. Psalm 99.1 NIV 17.13: The hope of Israel Only God, not his house (see notes on Jer. 7) can save Israel : Written in the dust refers to a person who is condemned to death for rejecting God-the spring of living water : This verse is used the Amidah (standing prayer) that is prayed daily by orthodox Jews : Where is the word of the LORD? Jeremiah is being persecuted for his faithfulness in speaking God s word, but his scoffers are mocking him asking where is the word of the LORD? The people don t believe that God s word is being spoken through Jeremiah because they don t see it coming true : Although Jeremiah prophesies about the coming disaster, he does not eagerly await the coming destruction : Jeremiah prays against those who are persecuting him. Jeremiah : Keep the Sabbath A sermon on the importance of keeping the Sabbath (Shabbat). The Sabbath is so important because it is one of the fundamental signs of being in covenant with God. 17:19-20: God commands Jeremiah to stand at the gates of the temple and the city-important places filled with people-- and preach a sermon to them : bear a burden is not just carrying something, it is to carry out commerce. It seems as though the Sabbath had become a day in which the people carried out a lot of commerce within the city : God s promise of blessing or curse is dependent on whether or not the people keep the sabbath. In the days of Nehemiah (after the return from the exile) the people break the Sabbath (Nehemiah ). Nehemiah s reaction is swift to end this breaking of an important covenant sign. During the period of the Maccabees keeping the Sabbath was so important that many died rather than fighting on the Sabbath. In Jesus day it was believed keeping the Sabbath was one of the important things that had to be done before Messiah would come. This is one of the reasons that some Pharisees and Synagogue rulers are so upset with Jesus healing on the Sabbath, they saw it as breaking the Sabbath and so keeping the Messiah from coming. What are the evidences in your life that you trust in God, rather than trusting (finding your hope in) man?

5 Is the Sabbath still a fundamental sign of the covenant? Wednesday Reading Jeremiah 18 [Picture This: The Potter] Jeremiah 18-20:18 focuses on the theme of God the Potter. Jeremiah : Jeremiah at the Potter s House : Picture This: God commands Jeremiah to go the potter s house, and Jeremiah obeys. God will use the picture of potter at his wheel to communicate His message. 18.4: The question is, Why is the vessel spoiled in the potter s hands? If it is merely a problem that the potter messed up he could remake the same pot; however, the problem seems to be in the quality of the clay. The clay will not allow him to make it into his original vessel, so he has to make it into something else : God compares Judah to the clay in the potter s hands. He refers to Judah as the House of Israel which reminds Judah of the election of Israel : The meaning of the potter illustration is this: If the Lord announces his intention to punish or bless a nation, that purpose may be revoked by the nation s response. Judgments and blessings may be reversed, lessened or postponed the potter s (God s) change of intentions based on repentance does not contradict the immutability of his divine decrees. This passage does not speak of eternal, divine decrees but of Gods providential interactions with historical events that take place necessarily, freely, or contingently. God s intent to destroy or to bless is part of his eternal plan; the repentance or rebellion of the people and the providential change of divine intention is also included in the immutable plan of God. (Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible) 18.11: preparing a disaster NIV is better translated shaping a disaster esv. The Hebrew word for preparing/shaping has the same root as shaping in verse 4. As God was shaping his people, now he is shaping a disaster against them because they refused to be shaped by him : The people reject any notion of repentance that would have God shape them : God again laments a people who have abandoned him. Leaving him is as unthinkable as not having snow on the slopes of the highest mountains in Lebanon. This is comparable to the Rocky Mountains not being snowcapped : The east wind represents God s powerful judgment : When God s face is turned towards someone, He is blessing them; conversely, when God turns his face away from someone, He is removing His blessing. 22 The LORD said to Moses, 23 "Tell Aaron and his sons, 'This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: 24 "The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you 26 the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." '27 "So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them." Numbers NIV

6 Jeremiah : Jeremiah s Fifth Confession/Lament 18.18: There is another plot against Jeremiah. The people believe that they will lose nothing if they dispose of Jeremiah because there are others who are priests and prophets who are proclaiming a different true message : dug a pit is a reference to hunters who used pits to trap their game and symbolizes the murderous intention of Jeremiah s accusers : famine...sword death is a common trilogy which refers to judgement : Jeremiah s lamentations usually include a cry for the destruction of those who pursue him. Are you open to God shaping you? How does he most often seek to do so? Thursday Reading Jeremiah 19 [Picture This: A Broken Pot] Jeremiah : Symbolic Action...Breaking a Jar 19.1: Clay Jar The clay jar was a specific type of jar/flask. It had a large belly and a small neck. If this jar was broken it was useless and could not be repaired. The vessel resembled the one in the picture on the right. 19.1: Elders The elders were given authority to rule over the people on the basis of their age and experience. In the Hebrew, the word elder comes before both people and priests so we read of the elders of the priests. This is the only place in the Bible where elders of the priests are mentioned. It indicates that among the priestly class that those who were older and wiser carried more weight in decision making than those who were younger. 19.2:The valley of Ben Hinnom was known for Baal worship during the days of King Manasseh. After Manasseh s reign, Josiah sought to desecrate the area so that it would never be used for Baal worship again. He desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech. 2 Kings NIV Eventually the valley of Ben Hinnom became a garbage pit that had a constant fire burning and a horrible smell. This area became known as gehenna and represented Hell. 19.2: Potsherd Gate The location of this gate is unknown. In the Ancient World a gate was given its name not based on what lay outside the gate or what it lead to, not what was directly inside of the gate. When God had Jeremiah bring the elders to the potsherd gate he brought them to a place where there were many useless, broken pots. Jeremiah s (God s) illustration is set against the backdrop of hundreds of broken pots. 19.3: make the ears...tingle The judgement of the people will be very public. Verse 3 has several parallels to 2 Kings 12, 10 The LORD said through his servants the prophets: 11 "Manasseh king of Judah has committed these detestable sins. He has done more evil than the Amorites who preceded him and has led Judah into sin with his idols. 12 Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 2 Kings NIV 19.4: This place is Topheth, the Valley of Ben Hinnom : The slaughter in the Valley of Ben Hinnom will no longer be of the innocents, but of those who have sinned against God. Furthermore, the people s bodies will remain in the open for birds and beasts to feed upon. To be torn apart by animals after birth was considered to be a curse in the Ancient Near East. 19.8: Whistle Jerusalem s destruction would be so terrible that people would whistle at the city whenever they saw it. To whistle at destruction was common and occurs elsewhere

7 in the OT (Lamentations 2.15, 16; 1 Kings 9.8, Ezekiel 27.36; Zephaniah 2:15) 19.9: Eat one another s flesh This verse refers to cannibalism that will occur during the siege of Jerusalem. The historian Josephus mentions that this also happened during the Roman siege of Jerusalem more than 600 years later (70 AD) 19.11:cannot be repaired Just like the shattered jar, Judah and Jerusalem would be destroyed beyond repair : like Topheth During Josiah s reign he defiled Topheth (10 He desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley Then break the jar while those of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice his son or daughter in [b] the fire to Molech. 2 Kings NIV). who go with you are watching Just as Josiah defiled the valley of Ben Hinnom, God will defile the city and those who live within her. Moreover, the places where people made sacrifices to the gods would be defiled : Jeremiah announces publicly what he has told the elders. Why do you suppose that the people saw a burning garbage pit as a good picture of hell? How might God defile the land today as he punishes idolatry in the 21st century? Friday Reading Jeremiah 20 [Picture This: Opposition and Lament] Jeremiah : Jeremiah Faces Further Opposition 20.1: Pashur Pashur was a common name with Egyptian connections. It means portion of the god. In Jeremiah s day there was a large Egyptian influence in Judah as well as a strong dependence on Egypt for protection. It is ironic that a temple ruler is named for an Egyptian god. This irony illuminates the unfaithfulness of Judah, 20.2: Apparently Pashur is responsible for keeping order on the temple mount. Jeremiah was disturbing this order by prophesying about the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. In response to Jeremiah s prophesies, Pashur beat Jeremiah and put him in stocks. 20.2: The Benjamin Gate faced north toward the land of Benjamin Jeremiah s home tribe. 20.3: Immediately after his release, Jeremiah renames Pashur Magor-Missabib which means terror all around and was used to describe the enemy from the north in Jer Pashur s renaming symbolized his stance as an enemy of God s word : Thompson writes, Jeremiah now makes more explicit the meaning of the new name, Yahweh will make Pashur a terror to himself and to all his allies. His new name amounted to a curse upon him. He would be caught up in the terror which would descend on all Judah. He and his political allies would all suffer. He would see many fall by the sword and many handed over the king of Babylon for deportation. 20.6: The exact content of Pashur s false prophesy is unknown, but it was most likely similar to all the false prophesy of the day which denied judgement and proclaimed peace : Jeremiah s six and seventh complaints/laments The movement between anger and hope reflects the pattern of Psalm 42 with a significant difference, namely, Psalm 42 ends on a hopeful note, Jeremiah 20 ends in despair. 20.7: Deceived The word deceived is also used for seducing a man or a woman. The word seduce means to attract someone (often by less than honorable means) into a foolhardy

8 venture. Jeremiah is accusing God of seducing him into this foolhardy venture of being a prophet. 20.7: Overpowered The word overpowered is a word that is related to rape. Jeremiah is complaining that he longs to stop what is happening to him (see verse 9) but God has overpowered him. 20.9: The compulsion to speak was so strong within Jeremiah that he could not physically resist the need to speak the message : Jeremiah has called Pashur terror on every side, now people mock Jeremiah s contention and Jeremiah himself because of this message : report him is better interpreted denounce him If Jeremiah is denounced (as he will be later on in the book) the result can be arrest, punishment, even death for treason. The charge of treason stems from his causing the people to lose heart by his words in the face of an enemy : After his complaints against God Jeremiah speaks words of assurance about God being a dread warrior who is on his side. With God on his side he can be assured of victory and the punishment of his foes : Jeremiah laments ever being born. This is a powerful statement about wishing to be stillborn because God has called him to be a prophet even before he was born. In chapter one we read, 4 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah is lamenting his call to be God s prophet. Is Jeremiah fickle in verses speaking first of the pain of serving God, the rejoicing in the greatness of God and then wishing he was never born? What do you learn from Jeremiah s complaints? Job also laments the day of his birth. 1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 He said: 3 "May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, 'A boy is born!'4 That day may it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine upon it. 5 May darkness and deep shadow claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it; may blackness overwhelm its light Job Why do you think Jesus accepts what is about to happen to him, while Jeremiah wishes he had never been born? (Remember the words of the writer of Hebrews that Jesus is like us in every way except that he did not sin, so Jesus is as fully human as Jeremiah.) New Testament Connections Read John Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.) 11Jesus commanded Peter, "Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?"