JEREMIAH 40 YEARS OF PROPHECY LESSON 1 CLASS

JEREMIAH – 40 YEARS OF PROPHECY LESSON 1: CLASS INTRODUCTION

CLASS OBJECTIVES • Give examples of how God moves in the Nations and in Time to accomplish His will • See Jeremiah as a real person in history, and how God developed his faith • See how idolatry betrays our relationship with God • See God’s mercy displayed, even in judgement

HOW TO PREPARE FOR CLASS • Read the entire book of Jeremiah at least once. • Read the introductory material in the lesson handout (pages 2 -10) • Read the specific chapters and verses for the upcoming class • Answer the questions in the lesson handout • Participate in the class discussion!

OUTLINE OF JEREMIAH • Part I: Chapter 1 • Jeremiah’s call • Part II: Chapter 2 -20 • Speeches and Prophecies during rule of Josiah • Part III: Chapters 21 -39 • Prophecies of Specific Events during rule of Jehoiakim & Zedekiah • Part IV: Chapters 40 -45 • Judah After the Fall of Jerusalem • Part V: Chapters 46 -51 • The Lord’s Word Against Foreign Nations • Historical Appendix: Chapter 52 • The Fall of Jerusalem

DATING OF JEREMIAH’S PROPHECIES 645 635 1 -6 11 -13 18 -20 615 JEHOIACHIN ZEDEKIAH 600 26 25 14 -17 23 -24 595 585 Nineveh falls 22: 1 -23 605 590 GEDALIAH 7 -10 35 36: 1 -8 45: 1 -49: 33 36 JEHOIAKIM 610 Book of Law found 2 625 620 JEHOAHAZ Josiah begins reforms Josiah purges idolatry Jeremiah Called 630 -3 JOSIAH EVENTS 640 : 9 KINGS Of JUDAH 29 -31 49: 34 -39 22: 24 -30 21 First Deportation, Daniel & Ezekiel taken Second Deportation 50 -51 27 -28 Destruction of Jerusalem, Final 32 -34 37 38 -44 Deportation 580 575 570 565 560 52 Jehoiachin released & fed at kings table

OLD TESTAMENT TIMELINE

Prophets Daniel 606 to 536 BC 620 Josiah Kings 1 st Captives 610 600 592 to 570 BC Judah Falls 590 Jehoiakim Jehoiachin 630 Jehoahaz Zephaniah Jeremiah 627 - 586 Nahum Ezekiel 2 nd Captives Habakkuk Zedekiah 580 PROPHETS IN JUDAH After the Fall of Israel

NEO-ASSYRIAN EMPIRE Dominant from 911 -612 BC Ashurbanipal, King from 669 -627 Judgement, Is 10: 12, Nah 2: 83: 19

Jeremiah NEO-BABYLONIAN EMPIRE Dominant from 626 -539 BC

THE CALL OF JEREMIAH • Jer 1: 1 -3 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, (2) to whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. (3) It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month. • Jer 1: 17 -19 "Therefore prepare yourself and arise, And speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before their faces, Lest I dismay you before them. (18) For behold, I have made you this day A fortified city and an iron pillar, And bronze walls against the whole land—Against the kings of Judah, Against its princes, Against its priests, And against the people of the land. (19) They will fight against you, But they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you, " says the LORD, "to deliver you. "

And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Jeremiah, what do you see? " And I said, "I see an almond branch. " Then the LORD said to me, "You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it. " (1: 11 -12) • Almond tree is first tree to bud in spring • Play on words • shaqed (almond) • shoged (watching) ALMOND BRANCH

BOILING POT Jer 1: 13 -14 And the word of the LORD came to me the second time, saying, "What do you see? " And I said, "I see a boiling pot, and it is facing away from the north. " (14) Then the LORD said to me: "Out of the north calamity shall break forth On all the inhabitants of the land.

• How did Jeremiah know that God had chosen him? • How was Jeremiah “appointed over nations”? • Did God have the right to “know”, “appoint”, and “command” Jeremiah without asking? • What two types of message would Jeremiah bring? • Would Jeremiah have conflicts? Would he be able to overcome them? QUESTIONS

THE CHARGES AGAINST JUDAH • God reminds them of His goodness to them • Brought them out of Egypt, through the desert • Brought them to the promised land • A thing that has never been seen before • A Nation changes its gods, the Glory of God for worthless idols • The nation committed 2 evils: Forsaking God, serving worthless idols • A series of illustrations to make the point: • Broke your yokes and bonds, but you still played the harlot with idols on every hill • Planted a high quality seed, but they turned into an alien vine • You wash with lye and much soap, but God still sees your iniquity • A swift camel breaking loose in her ways • A donkey in heat, sniffing the wind and looking for partners • A thief is ashamed when he is found out, so Israel is ashamed • They say to tree and rock “You are my Father”, but turn their back on God Deu 4: 15 -20 "Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, (16) lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure: the likeness of male or female, (17) the likeness of any animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, (18) the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth. (19) And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the LORD your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage. (20) But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be His people, an inheritance, as you are this day.

AND YET, …MERCY • Jer 3: 1 "They say, 'If a man divorces his wife, And she goes from him And becomes another man's, May he return to her again? ' Would not that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the harlot with many lovers; Yet return to Me, " says the LORD. • Despite the Idolatry and sin, God invites them to return to Him.

• How does God illustrate his relationship with his people as a marriage? Is this a common illustration? • In this illustration of a marriage, what is Idolatry? • Has God given them any commandments about idolatry in their past? • Is idolatry a problem for us in America today? What might we put in priority over our service to God? • What can we learn from the history of Israel that is recorded in scripture? Are we doomed to repeat history? QUESTIONS

THANK YOU