Old Testament Lesson 42 (Jeremiah 1-3; 7; 16-18; 20–21; 26; 32; 34–38)
October 9–15
The Confusing Book of Jeremiah
The book of Jeremiah is one of the most mixed-up books in the Bible. One Old Testament scholar, Dr. Adam Clarke, believes that the sheets of an early manuscript were accidentally shuffled and then bound together in that unfortunate arrangement. He suggests that respect for the sanctity of holy writ subsequently forbade the rearrangement of the sheets in their correct order. Following is a possibly correct chronological order of the chapters.
Chp Est. Date B.C. Principal Topic
1 626 Jeremiah receives his calling.
2 626-620 The Lord’s controversy with Judah.
3 626-620 Gathering of Israel in the Latter Days.
4 626-620 Jerusalem’s coming desolation.
5 620 Jeremiah rejected as he commences his ministry.
6 609 No peace, the Babylonians are on their way.
22 609 Weep for Jehoahaz, cursed is Jehoiakim.
7 608 The abominations of idolatry.
8 608 Bitterness of the coming desolation.
9 608 O that my head were water, and mine eyes fountain of tears.
10 607 Learn not the ways of the heathen.
11 607 Jeremiah’s fellow townsmen seek his life.
12 607 Jeremiah’s family turn against him.
13 607 Message to Jehoiakim and his queen.
17 607 Hallow the Sabbath day and be saved.
18 607 Plot to kill Jeremiah.
26 607 Jeremiah is saved but Urijah is killed.
19 607 Ye shall eat the flesh of your children.
20 607 Pashur abuses Jeremiah.
35 607 Jeremiah’s visit to the Rechabites.
14 605 The great drouth.
15 605 Not even Moses or Samuel could save Judah now.
16 605 Jeremiah forbidden to marry during time when a curse is on the land.
25 605 All heathen nations to imbibe in the cup of war.
36 605 Jehoiakim burns Jeremiah’s scroll but the prophet dictates another.
45 605 The Lord comforts Jeremiah’s scribe.
46 604 Defeat of Egypt predicted.
23 598 Denunciation of apostate prophets.
24 598 Vision of the two baskets of figs.
29 597 Jeremiah’s letters to the captives.
27 595 Jeremiah wears bonds and a yoke.
28 595 Hananiah publicly challenges Jeremiah and dies.
30 588 Latter-day glory of Judah.
31 588 Latter-day restoration of Israel.
33 588 Glory of Jerusalem when the Messiah comes.
21 588 Zedekiah seeks a revelation through Jeremiah as war threatens.
34 588 Zedekiah will be taken to Babylon as a captive.
37 588 Jeremiah is imprisoned for treason.
32 588 Jeremiah buys a field while in prison.
38 587 Jeremiah rescued from dungeon by negro servant of the king.
39 587 Jerusalem falls.
40 587 Jeremiah joins remnant at Mizpah.
41 587 Gedaliah assassinated at Mizpah.
42 587 Mizpah leaders reject Jeremiah’s advice.
43 587 Mizpah remnant goes to Egypt.
44 584-571 Idolatrous Jews in Egypt to be completely destroyed.
47 584-571 Prophetic warning to the Philistines.
48 584-571 Prophetic warning to the Moabites.
49 584-571 Prophetic warning to the other nations bordering Israel.
50 584-571 Coming fall of Babylon.
51 584-571 Total desolation coming to Babylon.
52 584-571 Summary of the fall of Judah.
The Setting of Jeremiah
● Jeremiah 1:1–3 Jeremiah ministered from the time of King Josiah till the Jewish captivity in Babylon.
— He was a Levite from Anathoth in Benjamin, northeast of Jerusalem.
— He was the son of Hilkiah from a priestly family.
— It is likely that this family descended from Abiathar—a descendant of Eli, the custodian of the ark of the covenant at Shiloh in the time of Samuel—who served as high priest in the last years of David’s reign.
— Jeremiah received his call as a youth in 627 BC, in the 13th year of the reign of Josiah.
— His ministry lasted 40 years, through the reigns of Judah’s last five kings—Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiachin, and until the 11th year of the reign of Zedekiah (587 BC).
— He was the leading prophet in Jerusalem, serving with Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Lehi, Ezekiel and the younger Daniel.
— He was called to labor among a people for whom there was no hope.
— He predicted and then lived through the Fall of Judah to Babylon.
— He is one of the few prophets who saw his major prophecies come to pass.
Sydney B. Sperry said:
“With the exception of Josiah, all of the kings of Judah during Jeremiah’s ministry were unworthy men under whom the country suffered severely. Even during the reign of an earlier king, the wicked Manasseh, the Baal cult was restored among the Jews, and there was introduced the worship of the heavenly planets in accordance with the dictates of the Assyro-Babylonian religion. Jeremiah therefore found idolatry, hill-worship, and heathen religious practices rampant among his people. Heathen idols stood in the temple [Jeremiah 32:34], children were sacrificed to Baal-Moloch (7:31; 19:5; 32:35), and Baal was especially invoked as the usual heathen deity. The worship of the ‘queen of Heaven’ ought also to be mentioned. (7:18; 44:19) The corruption of the nation’s religious worship was, of course, accompanied by all manner of immorality and unrighteousness, against which the prophet had continually to testify. The poor were forgotten. Jeremiah was surrounded on all sides by almost total apostasy . . .
“‘He was surrounded by plenty of prophets, but they were the smooth, easy-going, popular, professional preachers whose words awakened no conscience, and who assured the people that the nation was safe in the protecting care of God. This was a true message in Isaiah’s day, but that time was long since past, and Jerusalem was destined for captivity. Thus Jeremiah was doomed to preach an unwelcome message, while the false prophets persuaded the people that he was unpatriotic, uninspired, and pessimistic. (14:13, 14) (Dr. H. L. Willett).'”
(endnote: 1)
JEREMIAH’S PROPHETIC CALL
Foreordained in the Premortal World
● Jeremiah 1:4–5 Jeremiah was foreordained to his calling.
— “I knew thee” means more than a casual acquaintance (v. 5). The Hebrew word yada, which is translated “knew,” connotes a very personal, intimate relationship.
— Abraham 3:22–23 Abraham was also chosen as a prophet before his birth.
— The Prophet Joseph Smith said: “Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very purpose in the Grand Council of heaven before this world was. I suppose that I was ordained to this very office in that Grand council.”
(endnote: 2)
Jeremiah’s Reaction to His Call
● Jeremiah 1:6–9 The Lord prepared Jeremiah for his calling.
— vv. 6–9 Jeremiah’s fears about his call.
— Moses 6:31 Enoch had similar fears.
— Exodus 4:10 Moses had similar fears.
— Judges 6:15 Gideon had similar fears.
The Nature of Jeremiah’s Mission
● Jeremiah 1:10 “I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to . . . root out, pull down, destroy, and throw down, build and plant.”
● Jeremiah may seem like a stern, harsh man as you read his scorching denunciations of the Jewish people, but he was not. His motivation was love and he mourned for his people.
● Jeremiah 1:17–19 Arise and Speak. Jeremiah was told to stand stout and strong, to brace himself, and to declare the Lord’s word without fear of man—to stand firm against the onslaught that would come upon him.
— v. 17 The idiom “gird up your loins” means “gather up the long robe under the belt or sash and get ready for action.”
Jeremiah’s Three Visions
● Jeremiah 1:11–16 “What Seest Thou?” — Three metaphoric visions of what is coming to Judah.
— First Vision — A branch of an almond tree. Aaron’s rod was also an almond branch. An almond branch was chosen because it is the first tree to bud in spring.
— Second Vision — A “seething pot.” This symbolizes the disaster and pain which, like the contents of a boiling cauldron, would overwhelm Judah.
— Third Vision — The burning of incense. Incense is a symbol of prayer (Revelation 5:8; 8:3). The people were seeking help and guidance from the false gods rather than from the Lord.
JEREMIAH’S STERN MESSAGE
A Succession of Kings
● King Josiah attempted to reform Judah but was limited in his results.
● Jeremiah rejoiced in what the king was trying to accomplish and supported his reforms.
● He greatly mourned the death of Josiah in 609 BC when that king of Judah was unexpectedly killed while trying to stop the passage of Pharaoh Necho II at Meggido.
● King Jehoahaz was Josiah’s son, who reigned for only three months.
● Jeremiah 22:10 Jeremiah predicted he would never return, and he didn’t. He was deported to Egypt where he died. (2 Kings 23:34).
● King Jehoiakim was also Josiah’s son, and he was very wicked.
● Jeremiah 22:18–19 The prophet said that he would go to his grave unmourned. He also said he would be thrown beyond the gates of Jerusalem with about as much ceremony as “the burial of an ass.”
● Jeremiah 22:24–30 He also said that the king’s son and his mother would be dragged off to another country and die there and that he would leave no heir.
● All of these things came to pass with painful exactness.
Jeremiah’s Message to Judah
● Jeremiah 2; 10; JST Jeremiah 2:24 Judah was warned to follow the living God and turn from worshiping idols made by men.
● Jeremiah 3:1–11 Judah and Israel had been defiled the land by their wickedness.
● Jeremiah 3:20–4:2; 4:14; 7:1–7 The Lord would defer his anger and bless them if they would return to him.
● Jeremiah 4:3–6:30; 7:8—9:26; 11:1–17 Jeremiah repeatedly rebuked the inhabitants of Judah for their sins, and prophesied that judgments, destruction, and captivity would come upon them if they did not repent (see also Jeremiah 11:1–17; 12:7–13; 14:1–15:9; 16:1–13; 17:1–13).
The Sins of Judah
● Jeremiah 2:1–19 Forsaking the waters of life.
● The evils committed by Judah are told in figurative terms:
— They have forsaken the fountain of living water (Jehovah), and
— v. 13 They have hewn out broken cisterns (gods) which can hold no water (life).
— President Brigham Young said: “Unless we believe the Gospel of Christ and obey its ordinances we have no promise of the life to come. If we ever attain to that it will be only by complying with the terms that Jesus has laid down. We cannot build and plan for ourselves; if we do we shall be like the Jews of old, who, as the prophet says, “have hewn out cisterns that will hold no water.” We must submit to the ordinances of the house of God.”
(endnote: 3)
— v. 19 We are punished by as well as for our transgressions.
— vv. 20–37 The rest of Judah’s sins are listed by Jeremiah, using figurative language.
● Jeremiah 19:14–15 He stood in the court of the temple, predicting destruction.
● Jeremiah 20:1–6 Jeremiah was then abused by Pashur, overseer of the temple.
— Pashur had Jeremiah beaten and placed in stocks.
— Jeremiah used it as a further opportunity to teach.
— Jeremiah gave Pashur a new name.
— Pashur, in Hebrew, means “free.”
— Magormissabib means “fear on every side.”
● Jeremiah 20:7–9 The great stress of Jeremiah’s calling.
— v. 7 “Deceived” means literally “enticed” or “persuaded.”
— v. 9 The power that helped the prophet to continue at such great personal cost was “as a burning fire shut up in [his] bones.”
● Jeremiah 20:14–18 Jeremiah’s despair over the lonely ministry he was given.
— Note: Some scholars believe these verses originally were meant to precede verses 7–13 because the tenor of the lament changes in verses 11–13, in which Jeremiah began to praise the Lord.
JUDAH REJECTS JEREMIAH’S MESSAGE
Jeremiah Faces Much Opposition
● Jeremiah 11:21–23 The people of Anathoth (his home town) sought to destroy him.
● Jeremiah 12:6 Even Jeremiah’s family dealt treacherously with him.
● Jeremiah 20:1–2 Wicked priests opposed Jeremiah.
● Jeremiah 26:8–9 Mobs took Jeremiah and brought accusations against him.
● Jeremiah 36:26 The king sought to take Jeremiah and his scribe Baruch.
● Jeremiah 38:4–6 Princes cast Jeremiah into a dungeon.
Jeremiah Complains to the Lord
● Jeremiah 12:1–4 Jeremiah asks the Lord why the wicked prosper.
● Jeremiah 12:5 “How canst thou contend with horses?” The Lord gave a vivid answer that advises him to be thankful that things are not yet worse.
— “If the smallest evils to which thou art exposed cause thee to make so many bitter complaints, how wilt thou feel when, in the course of thy prophetic ministry, thou shalt be exposed to much greater, from enemies much more powerful? . . . If thou have sunk under small difficulties, what wilt thou do when great ones come?”
(endnote: 4)
Jeremiah Pleads with the Lord for Judah
● Jeremiah 14:1–9, 19–22 The Lord brought a serious drought upon Judah.
— v. 4 Not only mankind, but the land itself mourned and pined away, with all the creatures that live on it, where the ground is said to be dismayed along with the tillers of it.
(endnote: 5)
— v. 22 The Lord has power to cause rain, or to withhold rain from the earth, and he has given this power to his prophets.
● Jeremiah 14:10–18 “The . . . prophet [offered] urgent prayer on behalf of his people . . . But the Lord rejects all intercession, and gives the people notice, for their apostasy from Him, of their coming destruction by sword, famine, and pestilence.”
(endnote: 6)
● Jeremiah 15:1–9 “I Am Weary with Repenting.” The Lord rejects Jeremiah’s pleas for mercy upon Judah. Plainly, they had reached the point at which the Lord would no longer forgive them.
The Lord Promises to Protect Jeremiah
● Jeremiah 15:10–21 Jeremiah then began to plead for himself.
— v. 14 Even Jeremiah himself would be carried “into a land which [he] knowest not.”
— v. 15 Jeremiah’s testimony —“For I Am Called By Thy Name.”
— v. 17 Jeremiah protests that he had been faithful, even if Judah had not. “I sat not in the assembly of the mockers”.
— v. 21 The Lord sustained his prophet: “I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked.”
● Jeremiah 16:1–12 Things the Lord told Jeremiah NOT to do. He was not to marry or father children He was not to lament those in Judah who died by the sword or famine.
— v. 8 He was not to feast or eat with friends in Jerusalem, since feasting was a sign of celebration and eating together a symbol of fellowship. He was commanded to explain very clearly to the people the reasons for his actions as well as the reasons for their coming punishment.
● Jeremiah 17:14–18; 18:18–23; 20:7–9 Jeremiah petitioned the Lord to overthrow his persecutors.
● Jeremiah 18:18 “Smite him.” The people entered into a conspiracy to punish the prophet for the evil he had prophesied against them.
— The phrase “let us smite him with the tongue” is better rendered “smite him on the tongue.” Punishment for lying in some countries in the Middle East, even to this day, is administered by slapping the sinner on the mouth with a strong piece of leather, such as the sole of a shoe.
— Jeremiah 18:19–23 “I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked.”
— Jeremiah was not taken into Babylon.
— He went into Egypt and probably died there a few years later.
JEREMIAH IS ATTACKED AND IMPRISONED
Jeremiah’s Suffering for the Lord’s Sake
● Jeremiah 26 Jeremiah nearly loses his life.
— vv. 1–2 The Lord commands Jeremiah to call Judah to repentance publicly.
— vv. 8–11 The people reacted with violence, accusing him of treason.
— vv. 12–14 Jeremiah’s response was brave—do with me what you will, but repent.
The Great Siege of Jerusalem
● Jeremiah 37–39 By this time it should have been obvious that Jeremiah’s prophecies were coming to pass. Twice Nebuchadnezzar had come and with impunity had humbled Judah.
— But Zedekiah was no wiser than his brother, Jehoiakim, or his nephew, Jehoiachin. He too began to look for ways to break the Babylonian yoke.
— Ignoring the repeated warnings of Jeremiah, he rebelled, and once again the Babylonians came against Jerusalem.
● Jeremiah 21:1–2 Zedekiah had ignored Jeremiah’s advice, but sought him when the siege started.
● Jeremiah 21:3–10 The Lord says, “I myself will fight against you.”
● Jeremiah 21:11–14 Jeremiah prophesied of the impending downfall of Judah.
● Jeremiah 34:1–3 Zedekiah will see Nebuchadnezzar with his eyes and be taken in Babylon.
● Jeremiah 34:8–22 The Lord denounced Zedekiah and Judah for re-enslaving freed servants.
— v. 9 This is the first time the word “Jew” appears in the Old Testament. It is used here in the general sense of “being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess.”
● Jeremiah 37:5–7 A temporary respite. At this point an army of the pharaoh moved north to meet Nebuchadnezzar’s forces, and he temporarily pulled away from Jerusalem to meet the threat from the south.
— The hopes of the Jews soared, but again Jeremiah dashed them to pieces. He prophesied that the Egyptian army would return to Egypt and that the siege would be reimposed.
● Jeremiah 37:8–10 Jerusalem will be burned with fire. So helpless will Judah be, according to Jeremiah, that even if the entire Chaldean army were wounded in the battle with Egypt, they would still succeed in destroying Jerusalem.
● Jeremiah 37:11–15 Jeremiah’s counsel to surrender was not welcome. He was viewed as a traitor.
● Jeremiah is thrust into prison. During the time that the siege was lifted, Jeremiah decided to return to the land of Benjamin to visit his hometown. The Jewish leaders seized this opportunity to make their move. Accusing him of fleeing to join the Chaldeans, they had him arrested, beaten, and imprisoned.
● Jeremiah 37:16–17; 37:18–21 Zedekiah asked Jeremiah secretly if there were any further word from the Lord, showing his weak and vacillating character. Jeremiah remained in prison.
● Jeremiah 32:1–5 Zedekiah resented Jeremiah’s negative prophesies.
— v. 1 This prophecy was given after the Babylonian siege had already started and just one year before the destruction of Jerusalem.
— vv. 2–3; 1 Nephi 7:14 The fact that Jeremiah was imprisoned was verified by Nephi, who lived in Jerusalem at the same time as Jeremiah.
● Jeremiah 32:6–44 Jeremiah was commanded to purchase a field in Anathoth as a sign that Judah would return from captivity.
— Jeremiah purchased his cousin’s estate because he had the right as next of kin (Leviticus 25:25; Ruth 4).
— vv. 11–12 He then sealed the evidence of the purchase in a jar.
— v. 15 This was evidence of his faith in God’s promise that Judah would one day be restored and possessed.
— vv. 26–44 The rest of chapter 32 is the Lord’s reassurance to Jeremiah that men would eventually return from Babylon to inhabit the land.
— v. 40 Jeremiah prophesied of the return and redemption of Israel in the last days.
● Jeremiah 38:1–6 Jewish leaders demanded Jeremiah’s death for preaching surrender; Zedekiah responded weakly, “Behold, he is in your hand,” and they cast him into a dungeon.
● Jeremiah 38:7–13 An Ethiopian servant secretly helped Jeremiah escape from the dungeon after Jeremiah’s friends pleaded for his life and Zedekiah relented.
● Jeremiah 38:14–19 When things continued to go bad, Zedekiah again asked Jeremiah for advice. The advice was to surrender to the Babylonians.
— Zedekiah replied that he was afraid to surrender to Babylon.
— His reasons were ludicrous—the captives would mock him.
● Jeremiah 37:24–28 Jeremiah remained in prison until the day of Jerusalem’s destruction.
FOOTNOTES
1: The Voice of Israel’s Prophets, 153.
2: History of the Church, 6:364.
3: In Journal of Discourses, 13:213.
4: Clarke, Commentary, 4:287.
5: Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, 10 vols. [1996], 8:1:244.
6: Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, 8:1:242–243.
