Read Jeremiah 31:31-34. What do these texts mean both in their immediate context and in ours today? Jeremiah uttered these words amid the greatest crisis the people had yet faced: the coming Babylonian invasion, when the nation was threatened with all but certain extinction. Here again, however, as in other places, the Lord offered them … Continue reading –>
How was the covenant made between Israel and God at Mount Sinai? Exodus 24:1-18 Moses and some leaders went to Mount Sinai. These leaders included Aaron and his two sons, who represented the priests; and the 70 elders and leaders, who represented the nation. The men accompanying Moses had to stop from afar, but Moses was … Continue reading –>
Read Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis 15:1-5, Genesis 17:1-14. What do these texts tell us about what the Lord intended to do through the covenant He made with Abraham? The Abrahamic covenant of grace is fundamental to the entire course of salvation history. That’s why Paul used it to help explain the plan of salvation as it … Continue reading –>
We look at how bad the world is today; that is, we see all the evil in it, and yet God still bears with us. Thus, we can only imagine just how bad things must have been in order for the Lord to destroy the whole world with a flood. God had given men His … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: Gen. 9:1-17; Gen. 12:1-3; Gal. 3:6-9, Gal. 3:15-18; Exodus 24:1-18; Jer. 31:31-34; 1 Cor. 11:24-26. Memory Text: ‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah’ (Jeremiah 31:31, NIV). Although the Bible speaks of covenants … Continue reading –>
Heat waves danced above the burning sands. A tiny, black Bushman strode purposefully eastward across the vast Kalahari Desert, glancing frequently at a small gray cloud in the sky ahead. Sekoba was obeying instructions given to him in a dream. An angel had directed him to look for a man named William, who would teach … Continue reading –>
We are in continual danger of getting above the simplicity of the gospel. There is an intense desire on the part of many to startle the world with something original, that shall lift the people into a state of spiritual ecstasy, and change the present order of experience. There is certainly great need of a … Continue reading –>
Jeremiah’s prophecies should have had a double effect on the thinking of the captives: on the one hand they should not believe what the false prophets were saying, and on the other hand they should not be dispirited. He asked his captive countrymen to pray for Babylon. This request might have surprised those who had … Continue reading –>
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart (Jer. 29:13, NIV). What has been your own experience with this promise? What does with all your heart mean? The Lord knows the beginning from the end. Even while people in Jerusalem were still fighting the Babylonians, still hoping that … Continue reading –>
The siege of Jerusalem began in earnest in January, 588 b.c., and lasted until the late summer of 586 b.c. Jerusalem had been able to hold out for more than two years before Jeremiah’s prophetic words were fulfilled, and the Babylonian troops broke through the wall and destroyed the city. Starvation was so bad inside … Continue reading –>
