Jeremiah/Lamentations

Jeremiah/Lamentations

Finding the Context:

The original readers of the book of Jeremiah would have been the people of Judah. Parts were written to the king before they were sent into exile warning them to surrender to Babylon (29; 36, 38:17-23). The people would have had the opportunity to read it while they were in Babylon under captivity and see that Jeremiah’s prophecies of restoration would also come true (30:2,3). Jeremiah is the author of this book but his scribe Baruch aided him by writing it all down (1:1; 29:1; 30:2; 36:1,2,32; 51:60, 64b). We know that Jeremiah was a Levite who was from Anathoth (1:1; 2 Kings 2:26).  Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet because he had a deep broken heart over his people. You can see this from the book of Lamentations, which he wrote. These books were written because the people of Judah were stubbornly practicing idolatry and had departed from the Lord (1:16-3:22; 7:26, 31-32; 8:19; 17:1,2; 18:12; 19:5; 44:16-19). There is also a theme throughout the book of false prophecy. You frequently see false prophets declaring peace through out the book in the name of the Lord when He is not the one who has sent them (7:1-11; 14:14-16; 23:11-40). The main purpose of the book is to call the people to turn back to God (3:13-22; 4:1-4; 7:23; 11:1-8; 31:16-22). They are also told to submit to Babylon and remain in exile for seventy years. It is only after this time that God will restore his people (29).

Theme Tracing:

1.     What does this book show about the character and nature of God?

God is not a respecter of persons. Rather, He loves to use everyone who is willing to follow Him and He also will judge those who do not obey not matter there status or position (1:4-9; 34:19). You also see that He is a God who is willing to be merciful. He loves to show mercy to people who have sinned and then turn back to Him  (18:1-8; 26:3; 30:11). God is also a God who knows everything and always makes righteous judgments (11:20). We may not always understand why God does things the way that He does but in reality, His ways are always just.

2.     What does this book show about God’s redemptive plan for mankind?

In 32:36-44, God promises to bring His people back from captivity. He also says that He will make a new covenant with them giving them “one heart and purpose: to worship Him forever”. God’s desire is to restore what they had before but also to give them an even better covenant than they had before. You also see this in 33:12-22 where the Messiah is promised to His people. God says that He will only break this covenant with His servant David if the people can break God’s covenant that created the night to follow the day.

Application Questions:

1.     Personal Application

I find it interesting that during this time God tells the people that it is better for them to be in exile in Babylon than it is for them to remain in the land (29). God tells the people in exile to plan to stay there, set up shop and settle in. He also promises that He will eventually bring them back and bless them, were as the people that remain in the land and don’t go into exile suffer and are scattered. Similarly, God tells King Zedekiah that if he walks contrary to his fear and surrenders to Babylon, His life will be spared. But if he does what he feels is the safest choice and refuses to surrender he will die (38:17-23). Sometimes, the safest place, the place where I find true life, and the place where God’s blessing resides is the hardest, most scary, most unfamiliar place. It often feels uncomfortable. Sometimes, I find that fear wells up in me and I feel like Zedekiah, “I’m afraid…”  I can go through all of the, “If I do this…what if….”s but God’s ways are higher than mine and even when I don’t understand everything, all that is required is that I trust him and step out in obedience. He hasn’t failed me so far and I believe He is capable of maintaining His track record. Great is His faithfulness! 

2.     Point of Passion

Throughout the book of Jeremiah, you see an amazing contrast between the faithfulness of Jeremiah and the unfaithfulness of a multitude of false prophets. During this time there were a great number of prophets prophesying what the people wanted to hear: peace. One such example is the story of the prophet Hananiah (28) who predicts that the people will be brought back after only two years of living in Babylon. God judges him for causing the people to believe lies in in His name and he dies two months later. The land was full of prophets like Hananiah during this time prophesying peace in the name of the Lord. Then you have Jeremiah who is the prophet that the Lord has actually sent. He is faithfully obedient to God speaking what God has said despite the fact that it is not a popular, happy message. In return He is hated for it. In fact he went into his ministry knowing that people would hate him for the message he would bring (1:19; 11:18-23; 15:15-21; 20:1,7-10; 26:7-24; 38:4-6; 43:4-7). Yet he remained faithful to do what the Lord had told him. What kind of spiritual leaders are we? How do we respond when faced with a choice of  choosing between obeying God and doing the most unpopular thing that will bring us persecution or doing what we want and what everyone else wants? Do we convey God’s messages the way that He wants them conveyed? Do we speak the truth that God asks us to speak or do we “water down” the message or simply change the message so that we and everyone else are more comfortable? If we long to be leaders and prophets who reform society and change the world for God, then most likely there is going to come a point where the message you bring is going to bring you ridicule, rejection, cast you into pits and may even cost you your life? Are you willing to go there? Jeremiah never got to see his ministry be a “success”. He never got to see the restoration of his people. All he saw was their destruction. Not only that, he was hated by the very people he was trying to help. Are you willing to proclaim the message even if you never “see success” and are only given persecution and rejection for doing what’s right? If you are willing to do this, then you will have found true success for true success is obedience to God no matter the outcome.