Zedekiah, whose name means righteousness of Yahweh, was the last king on the throne of Judah before its destruction by the Babylonians in 586 b.c. At first he seemed to have been willing to obey the words of Jeremiah and submit to the Babylonians. However, this attitude did not last. Read Jeremiah 37:1-10. What was … Continue reading –>
Though Jeremiah might have felt very much alone at times, he wasn’t. God had raised up Ezekiel, a contemporary, among the captives in Babylon, in order to comfort and to warn the exiles as well as to confirm what the Lord had been speaking through Jeremiah all these long and hard years. Through his ministry, … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: Ezekiel 8:1-18, Rom. 1:22-25, Jer. 37:1-10, Jer. 38:1-6, Jer. 29:1-14, Dan. 9:2. Memory Text: Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper (Jeremiah 29:7, NIV). Within a few … Continue reading –>
Treating the wounds was nearly as painful as the burns themselves. Every day nurses removed the bandages and soaked the burns in salt water. Then they gently scraped the burns to remove the dead skin. This would help prevent infection. The nurses taught Mrs. Banda how to wash the wounds and apply the medicine. She … Continue reading –>
As we have seen, people want to believe good news, not bad. They wanted to believe, for instance, in Hananiah’s message, not Jeremiah’s. Today the same thing happens as well. Many still insist, for instance, that our world will only improve over time. Yet, even an atheist like Terry Eagleton sees just how farcical that … Continue reading –>
Hear now, Hananiah; The Lord hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie (Jer. 28:15). The answer about who was right, whether Jeremiah or Hananiah, came soon enough. Jeremiah 28:16-17 tells the fate of the false prophet, which was just what the true prophet had said it would be. … Continue reading –>
The battle between the prophets wasn’t just one of words, but of deeds as well. In obedience to the command of God, Jeremiah put the wooden yoke around his neck; this was an overt symbol of the message that he had carried to the people. What was the prophetic symbolism of Hananiah’s act? Jer. 28:1-11. … Continue reading –>
Bad news is bad news, and often we don’t want to hear it, or we want to rationalize it away. Such was the case here in Judah with Jeremiah and the yoke that he bore, an unmistakable message of warning to the people. The amazement of the assembled council of nations knew no bounds when … Continue reading –>
Read Jeremiah 27:1-18. What is the message of the Lord to the people? Why would this seem treasonous to many who heard it? The yoke Jeremiah had to put on his body was an unmistakable sign of the humiliation that the nation suffered; it’s what we call a military occupation. (In Deuteronomy 28:48 and 1 … Continue reading –>
No question, Jeremiah’s lot in life wasn’t an easy one (he would be the first to admit it too!). Things, though, were even harder than we might have imagined. Read Jeremiah 16:1-13. What was the Lord’s message to Jeremiah here? However harsh, in what ways would it have been a blessing to the prophet? (Compare … Continue reading –>
