Chs.

Introduction

2:1-11

- the sin of the people

- God's warning coming to them again and again

- the refusal of the people to listen

A. Find Out:

1. To whom was Jeremiah to speak this word? v.2

2. What did the Lord say He remembered? v.2,3

3. To whom does He now address this? v.4

4. How does He say they have strayed? v.5

5. Against whom does He specifically speak? v.8

6. What have they done? v.11

B. Think:

1. What had Israel once been like?

2. What were they like now?

3. Who was to blame?

C. Comment:

     In this first prophecy that the Lord gives to Jeremiah to speak out, He calls the people, first of all, to remember what they had been like when He had first called them to be a nation: they had followed Him closely out of Egypt ; they had known God's provision in protection against enemies. Then He asks them what HE had done wrong! Had He failed them? Had He done wrong that they should have left Him and gone after idols? The answer, of course, is no! They in their foolishness had had turned away from Him and worshipped things made with their own hands.

      It is clear that the prophets, the priests and the leaders had all turned away from the Lord, all who should have known better. There is no excuse for these people who should have looked to their past and remembered the mighty acts of the Lord in days gone by. So, the Lord asks, has there ever been any other nation in history that as changed its gods? Certainly not! Which makes it doubly bad that Israel should have turned away from the One True God. Jeremiah's prophecies are constantly calls by the Lord for the people to come back to Him. He reminds them of their glorious past and calls them back into the relationship they once had.   

D. Application:

1. Think back to all the Lord has done for you.

2. Thank Him for His love that calls and calls us again and again.

Chapter: Jer 2

Passage: Jer 2:12-19

A. Find Out:    

1. What is the first sin of the people? v.13a

2. How does Gods describe Himself? v.13b

3. What is the sin of the people that follows on from that? v.13c

4. But what condition were they in? v.13d

5. How is Israel described? v.14-16

6. Who had they turned to for help? v.18

B. Think:

1. What does this passage indicate the Lord was supposed to be to Israel ?

2. Why, according to this passage, wasn't He?

3. What, therefore, was the state of Israel at this time?

C. Comment:

      In these important verses God identifies the two basic sins of all men, that have been committed now by Israel :

      First, the people have TURNED AWAY FROM GOD. That is ALWAYS the first sin that any person commits. If they hadn't turned away from God they would not have gone on to sin in some other way. Man's sin is always first of all “godlessness” (see it in Rom 1:18), of turning away from their Creator.

     Second, they have not only given up trusting in God, they have “dug their own cistern”, (cisterns were large holes cut in the ground to collect water) i.e. TURNED TO THEIR OWN RESOURCES, turned to their own ways; they now rely on their own ideas, their own activities. We should also note that God refers to Himself as “the spring of living water”. Water is necessary for life and therefore the Lord says HE is the source of all life and these people have turned from Him and sought other means of “providing for life”. If people will not rely upon God then they are only left with relying on their own efforts, and they are always inadequate! The second sin of every person is that of unrighteousness, of doing it “my way”, which is wrong!

D. Application:

1. Affirm afresh today that the Lord will be your source of life.

2. Reject all imitation supplies of life.

  

 

Chapter: Jer 3

Passage: Jer 3:6-13    

A. Find Out:

1. During whose reign was this? v.6

2. What had Israel done? v.6

3. What had the Lord thought would happen? v.7

4. What had he done with Israel ? v.8

5. What had Judah done? v.7c,8b,10

6. What did the Lord feel about this? v.11

B. Think:

1. What had been Israel 's sin?

2. What had been Judah 's sin?

3. Why was Judah 's sin worse that Israel 's

C. Comment:

     We need to remember some history here. Almost exactly a hundred years before, the northern kingdom (referred to as “ Israel ” based in Samaria ) had fallen by God's judgement (see 1 Kings17) i.e. God had “divorced” Israel because of their idolatry. Now the Lord speaks against the southern kingdom (referred to as “ Judah ”, based in Jerusalem ) for having gone the same way.

     Josiah had become king at the age of 8 and after 8 years had started to seek the Lord (see 2 Chron 34:1-8), and in the next 10 years had gone on to purify the land. It was a long job and Jeremiah's words would have spoken into that situation.

     The main point that the Lord now makes is that Judah is more guilty than Israel . Israel turned to idols and was removed for its sin. Israel 's activity was certainly faith-less. Judah, on the other hand, had watched all that had happened to Israel and should have understood, but instead they wilfully went their own way and did the same things Israel had done. That made them purposefully unfaithful. Knowledge brings greater responsibility and therefore greater condemnation when there is no repentance, that is why Peter says judgement starts with the house of God, for WE should know! (see 1 Pet 4:17)

D. Application:

1. We should know, by the word and the Spirit. No excuses!

2. Our responsibility is therefore very high. Beware!

Chapter: Jer 5/6

Passage: Jer 5:1,2, 6:1-8,13-15  

A. Find Out:

1. Who did the Lord look for in Jerusalem ? 5:1

2. Where would the judgement come from? 6:1

3. What would actually happen? v.6

4. What was the present state of Jerusalem ? v.v.7

5. What do they rely upon? v.14

6. What didn't they know how to do? v.15

B. Think:

1. What was the state of the PEOPLE of Jerusalem ?

2. What was the state of the leaders?

3. How does the Lord say He will deal with them if no repentance?

C. Comment:

     Again and again within these early prophecies in Jeremiah comes a warning against Jerusalem , the “capital” of Judah . It is here that kings and leaders sit. Here is the central focus of the nation and it is here that the greatest responsibility lies.

     As the Lord looks on Jerusalem He says there is NO-one in the city who is honest, and wickedness, violence and oppression abound, and greed and deceit are rife. As the Lord looks on His people, He sees hardness of heart and there is no shame in them for the things they do. No one knows how to blush any more, their consciences have been seared so that they accept as normal all the wrong things they are doing.

    The Lord warns this people that they have a false sense of security, believing that peace will continue. He warns them, if they do not repent He will bring a people from the north who will lay siege to Jerusalem and overcome it. This was to happen shortly (see 2 Kings 24:10) because they would not repent, but there is still yet time for them to repent and avert this disaster.

D. Application:

1. Ask the Lord to help our eyes to be open to the true state of our own

    land - so we may act and pray for it.

2. Ask the Lord to help you be an intercessor and a righteous witness for

    your own land when godlessness is over so much of the earth.

Chapter: Jer 7

Passage: Jer 7:1-11

A. Find Out:

1. Where was Jeremiah to stand? v.2a

2. Why would people be coming? v.2b

3. What was he to call them to do? v.3

4. What were they relying upon? v.4

5. What 4 things were they to do? v.5-7

6. What were they doing? v.9,10

B. Think:

1. How would you summarise what these people were doing?

2. Who were these people?

3. I what were they trusting?

C. Comment:

    In this next instruction from the Lord, Jeremiah is to go specifically to the temple in Jerusalem to speak to the religious people who were coming to worship, the people whose hearts should have been the most open to hear and respond to the Lord. His call is basically to put their lives right.

     These people had a show of religion but things were very wrong in their lives. They were relying on the fact that the temple was God's special building and they believed that nothing could ever happen to it, so as long as they went to it, everything would be all right. They had yet to learn that God was more concerned with the truth and with righteousness than He was with a building.

     It's very easy for any of us, as Christians, to know that there are things wrong with our lives, but do nothing about it because we believe “it will be all right” (Satan's lie in Gen 3:4). The Bible tells us that Jesus' death will not avail for us if we deliberately sin, and God disciplines those He loves and He will NOT therefore, just let the situation carry on, but will bring correction (Read Heb 12:10). God loves us so much that He won't let us carry on and get away with it!

D. Application:

1. Ask the Lord to help you face wrongs He wants you to deal with.

2. Thank Him that even though He disciplines, He still loves us and

     corrects us for our own good (even if it doesn't feel like it!).

Chapter: Jer 7

Passage: Jer 7:12-19

A. Find Out:

1. What place were they to remember ? v.12

2. What had God done again and again ? v.13

3. What was the Lord going to do? v.14,15

4. Why? v.12c, 13c

5. What were they NOT to do? v.16

6. What were they now doing? v.18,19

B. Think :

1. What sin were they committing now?

2. What had happened at Shiloh ?

3. Why were they to remember that now?

C. Comment :

     In continuing to challenge the people about their superstitious belief about the Temple , the Lord goes on to remind them what had happened at Shiloh where the Ark of God had first been housed in a tabernacle in Joshua's days. Then in Eli's day, while Samuel was a young boy, God had allowed the Philistines to carry it away. The fact that it was a "holy place" didn't protect it while the people were sinning against God.

     So the Lord reminds them of this and says the same will happen here in respect of the Temple. In the years to come the Temple was completely destroyed when the Babylonians came as God's judgement. Even the Temple was not a place of refuge when the people went on rejecting God. There is no place of safety for those who continually reject God and refuse to hear Him, however "religious" they might be! The fact that the people were still doing "religious things", such as praying was not going to help them.

    Some people often think that religious observance will save them: it won't! Only trusting in Jesus' death on Calvary and allowing Him to be Lord of our lives will save us. We pray and read the Bible and meet with the church BECAUSE we are saved not as a means to saving us.

D. Application?

1. Thank the Lord that He so clearly warned the people.

2. Thank Him that He does not bring judgement until He has warned and

     warned again His people.

RECAP - "Jeremiah's Main Message" -   Jeremiah 2,5,5,6,7,21,22

SUMMARY :  

In these 8 studies we have seen:

- the first prophecy asking what the Lord had done wrong

- the two sins of turning from God and turning to self reliance

- Israel condemned as faithless and Judah condemned as unfaithful

- Jerusalem condemned for its wickedness, violence, greed, oppression and

   deceit

- the religious people relying on the presence of the temple for their safety,

   while continuing to sin

- the Lord reminding them of Shiloh 's destruction

- Zedekiah sounding spiritual but being rejected

- the surrounding nations being told to submit to Babylonian rule

COMMENT :

     Jeremiah's message is strong and clear: the nation is sinning and unless it turns away from those sins it will be destroyed. That message applied to kings, religious people and non-religious people alike. They are all included.

     Because God sees they will not turn wholeheartedly to Him, He is going to put them all under Babylon 's rule, they and the surrounding nations.

LESSONS :

1. God calls and calls his people again and again before He acts in discipline or judgement

2. The Lord alone is to be our source of Life

3. We have knowledge of the Lord through the Word & through the Spirit & that brings

     responsibility

4. We are to pray for our own nation

5. The Lord wants us to be wholehearted in our following Him

6. The Lord is faithful to His word.

PRAY :

1. Pray again for your nation

2. Surrender your whole life wholeheartedly to Him that none of these

     condemnations could apply to you