Jeremiah: Profile of Courage

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JeremiahProfile of Courage

• Chapters 34-35
• Broken Covenants

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Jeremiah - Spring 2013
Week Topic
Mar 6 Dark Prophecies Introduction and Jeremiah 1-6
Mar 13 Dark Prophecies Jeremiah 1-6 continued
Mar 20 False Worship Jeremiah 7-10
Mar 27 Broken Promises, Shattered Pride Jeremiah 11-15
Apr 3 Sin Carved on the Heart Jeremiah 16-17
Apr 10 The Potter, Pot, and Fire Jeremiah 18-20
Apr 17 A Scattered Flock Jeremiah 21-24
Apr 24 Gods Law on the Heart Jeremiah 25-33
May 1 Broken Covenants Jeremiah 34-35
May 8 Gods Indestructible Word Jeremiah 36-38
May 15 Judgment and Justice Jeremiah 39-45
May 22 Gods Justice Among Nations Jeremiah 46-52
May 29 Summary of Jeremiah
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Todays Objectives

• Review last weeks lesson, including historical
  setting
• Learn how God reacted when the people of
  Jerusalem went back on a covenant to release
  Hebrew slaves
• See how God used a nomadic family to highlight
  the faithlessness of Judah
• Appreciate the necessity of keeping promises

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Review of Chapters 25-33

• Examined Jeremiahs prophecy of seventy years of
  exile
• Saw how Jeremiah handled confrontation with a
  false prophet
• Learned the characteristics of the new covenant
• Appreciated the necessity of change for spiritual
  growth

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Date of Chapters 34-35

• Chapter 34
• when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his
  army, and all the kingdoms of the earth that were
  under his dominion, and all the peoples, were
  fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the
  cities thereof..
• When?
• Siege of Jerusalem prior to exile, perhaps 587
  B.C.
• Chapter 35
• The word which came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah
  in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king
  of Judah, saying
• When?
• Probably 606 B.C., prior to Nebuchadnezzar's
  first attack

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Last Five Kings of Judah
Name Father Reign (B.C.) What happened?
Josiah Ammon 640-608 Killed at Megiddo
Jehoahaz Josiah (4) 608 Pharaoh Necho II carried him into exile
Jehoiakim Josiah (2) 608-597 Rebelled against Babylon and killed
Jehoiachin Jehoiakim 597 Exiled to Babylon
Zedekiah Josiah (3) 597-586 Sons killed, blinded, then exiled to Babylon
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Nebuchadnezzar's Attacks on Jerusalem Nebuchadnezzar's Attacks on Jerusalem Nebuchadnezzar's Attacks on Jerusalem
Date Extent Result
605 B.C. Quick strike Sons of noble families deported for civil service (including Daniel)
597 B.C. Major Attack King Jehoiachin deposed leading families and skilled workers deported (Ezekiel included)
588-586 B.C. Total Destruction City and temple destroyed King Zedekiah blinded all but the poor deported
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Key People

• Jeremiah
• Served the last five kings of Judah
• Confidant of King Josiah (639-608 B.C.), King
  Jehoiakim (608-597 B.C.), and King Zedekiah
  (597-586 B.C.)
• Member of a priestly family and was from Anathoth
• May have descended from Abiathar, a distrusted
  priest
• Fled to Egypt with Beruch upon destruction of
  Jerusalem
• King Jehoiakim
• King of Judah, 608-597 B.C., corrupt and wicked
• Carried off in first Babylonian captivity (2 Ch
  366)
• Nebuchadnezzar
• Babylonian King from 605-652 B.C.
• Military commander that defeated Egypt in 605
  B.C.
• Conquered Judah and destroyed Jerusalem in 586
  B.C.

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Key People

• King Zedekiah
• Gained the throne at age 21
• Last king of Judah
• Sent into exile
• His sons were killed and then he was blinded
• Rechabites
• Belong to the Kenites, connected with Midianites
• Nomadic
• Adhered to the law of Jehonadab (tribe father)
• Forbidden to drink wine, live in cities, plant
  vineyards or sow seeds
• Pharaoh Hophra
• Egyptian Pharaoh who assisted King Zedekiah and
  took in Jeremiah

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(No Transcript)
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A Change of Mind (341-7) pg 1 of 2

• Siege of Jerusalem
• 18 months (early 587 B.C. to mid-586 B.C.)
• Cities around Jerusalem already taken
• Jeremiahs message from God to King Zedekiah
• Parallel of earlier warnings
• Jerusalem would be defeated
• Significant detail added, City would be burned
• King Zedekiahs deportation
• However, the King would not die violently in
  warfare
• Death would be peaceful with a royal burial

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A Change of Mind (341-7) pg 2 of 2

• Two fortified cities still held out against
  Babylon
• Lachish
• Azekah
• Cities that King Rehoboam fortified around 970
  B.C. as part of 15 defensive positions
  surrounding Jerusalem
• Archaeological evidence
• Clay remnants from Lachish found in the 1930s
• Called ostraca
• Ostraca revealed communication between field
  commanders around Lachish during the Babylonian
  siege

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30 miles
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(No Transcript)
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Punishment for Covenant Breakers (348-22) pg 1
of 3

• King Zedekiah arranges freedom for Hebrew Slaves
• Why?
• Violation of Gods law
• Owners reducing the number of mouths to feed
• Freed slaves may want to help protect the city
• Slave owners agree to a formal covenant
• Guarantee slaves there freedom
• False hopes raised due to Egyptian military
  assistance
• Later disregard of the covenant

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Punishment for Covenant Breakers (348-22) pg 2
of 3

• Bargaining with God
• Decisions made for God when under difficult
  circumstances
• Temptation to make promises during hard times
• Eccl 52-5
• Law of Moses regarding Hebrew slavery
• Lev 2539-42, Deut 1512-15
• Every seventh year slaves to be freed
• Servants sold years of service
• Master never technically owned a Hebrew slave,
  although in practice they were treated as such

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Punishment for Covenant Breakers (348-22) pg 3
of 3

• God regarded the decision to free slaves as an
  act of repentance
• God saw the vow as something that could not be
  broken
• Retracting the covenant profaned the name of God
• God promises them a more unattractive freedom
  to die horrible deaths
• God promises Zedekiah that he would be captured
  by Nebuchadnezzar and lay waste to Judah

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The Faithfulness of the Recabites (351-11) pg 1
of 2

• Jeremiah meets with the Recabites
• Initial Babylonian incursions into Judah
• Forced many rural families to move to Jerusalem
  for protection
• Recabites were among the tribes that made the
  move
• Jeremiah was to offer them wine to drink in the
  temple built by Solomon
• Object lesson about faithfulness
• Offering of wine to the Recabites
• What did they say/do?

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(No Transcript)
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The Faithfulness of the Recabites (351-11) pg 2
of 2

• Jonadab the son of Recab
• 250 years prior to Jeremiah (about 850 B.C.)
• After death of King Ahab (Northern Kingdom)
• Assisted Jehu in removing Baal worship,
  exterminating priests of Baal
• In his zeal, imposed numerous rules upon all of
  his decendents
• Remain nomadic
• Not live in houses
• Not plant crops or tend vineyards
• Drink wine
• Live as herders

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Reward for Covenant Keepers (3512-19)

• God instructs Jeremiah to use the Recabite
  example
• God commends the Recabites for their allegiance
  to tradition of a respected ancestor
• People of Judah, by contrast, had been disloyal
  and disobedient to God
• People of Recabite honored a single message,
  Judah had disobeyed many
• Clear point
• People of Judah and Jerusalem had been faithless
  to the covenant made with God at Mt. Sinai
• On the other hand, the Recabites set the example.
  

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Review

• Review last weeks lesson, including historical
  setting
• Learn how God reacted when the people of
  Jerusalem went back on a covenant to release
  Hebrew slaves
• See how God used a nomadic family to highlight
  the faithlessness of Judah
• Appreciate the necessity of keeping promises
• Next week Chapters 36-38, The Indestructible
  Word of God