Day #225

Sermon - Audio
Jeremiah 18-22 - Audio
Jeremiah 18-22 - Reading

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Jeremiah 18
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.

Jeremiah 19

• 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’ (God’s) illustration is set against the backdrop of hundreds of broken pots.
• 19.6-7: 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.

Jeremiah 20

• 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.
• 20.3: 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. 6.25. Pashur’s renaming symbolized his stance as an enemy of God’s word.
• 20.7-18: 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.

Jeremiah 21

• “A message for King Zedekiah [ chapter 21 ]. This oracle of judgment was given at the time when Babylon was besieging Jerusalem. Weak-willed Zedekiah wanted to know: would the Lord save his holy city (vv. 1–2)? No, because the Lord himself was bringing this judgment against Jerusalem. Nevertheless, there was one way to survive the onslaught. If Zedekiah would surrender to the Babylonians, the lives of his people would be spared (albeit as captives of war). God was giving the king and his people one final opportunity to listen to his prophet Jeremiah and repent of their many sins before being utterly destroyed.” The Literary Study Bible
• 21.8: The NIV makes is sound as if the life and death that God is setting before the people has to do with either staying in the city or leaving it, but this translation misses an important link back to Deuteronomy. God said in the book of Deuteronomy, 15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” A better translation of verse 8 is, “Behold, I set before you the way of life and death.” esv The point is that the people have rejected the right way and now the only way left before them is death- they may have their lives if they leave the city, but they will not have life unless they return to God.

Jeremiah 22

• Jeremiah 22 continues to address the failures of Judah’s kings. Chapter 22 begins with a general statement to the line of David and then specifically addresses Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Jehoiachim.
• 22.2: As God begins his words against the kings of David’s line he uses his covenant name (NIV LORD, Hebrew Yahweh) to remind them of who he is and who they are supposed to be.
• 22.10: The lament refers to King Jehoahaz (also called Shallum, see verse 11) the dead king is King Josiah killed in battle in 609 BC.
• 22.13-16: Jeremiah is now addressing King Jehoiakim who followed Jehoahaz as king. The fall into idolatry has resulted in the king leading with injustice and unrighteousness.
• 22.24: signet ring The Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible comments, “such a ring represented its owner; its rejection is shocking. The promise of a renewal of the Davidic Kingdom would later be extended in the same language--then to Zerubbabel, the descendant of Jehoiachin (Hag 2:23).