Book of JeremiahOld Testament Workshop Morrison Heights Baptist Church February 9, 2020

Prophecy

anyone who speaks God’s words anyone who claims to speak for God

*READ Exodus 7:1-2.

“To see the prophets as primarily predicters of future events is to miss their primary function, which was to speak for God to their own contemporaries.” Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth

God determined the CONTENT of the message. God determined the TENSE of the message.

Definition: Prophet

Prophecy

“I will raise up a prophet from “I did not send these prophets, but among their countrymen.” (DT 18:18a) they ran.” (JER. 23:21a)

“I will put my words in his mouth, “I did not speak to them, but they and he shall speak to them all that prophesied.” (JER. 23:21b)

I command him.” (DT 18:18b)

“Let him who has my word speak “When a prophet speaks in the word in truth. What does straw name of the Lord, if the thing does have in common with grain? Is not not come about or come true, that my word like fire? declares the is the thing which the Lord has not Lord” (JER. 23:28-29a) spoken.” (DT 18:22a)

Biblical Qualifications: Prophet

PROPHET FALSE PROPHET

Overview of Jeremiah one of the three “major” prophets

Isaiah

Ezekiel

one of four seventh-century prophets

NahumZephaniah Habakkuk

one of four books that the prophet may have authored

1-2 Kings

Lamentations

13:17

9:1

“Weeping Prophet”

Historical Context612

J

U

D

A

H

700

W

O

R

L

D

609

Babylon

605

Nebuchadnezzar

Assyrian Empire

663

While acknowledging Assyria’s greatest victory, the

sacking of Thebes (663) in Egypt, Nahum predicted

the Fall of Nineveh (612).

627

Call of Jeremiah

609

Habakkuk

Nahum

Death of Josiah

687

Death of Hezekiah

Reign of Manasseh: 687-642

Daniel600

640

Josiah becomes

king

Jeremiah

Zephaniah

622Law Book

Found

Biographical Data

Father: Hilkiah (1:1)a priest living in Anathoth, the hometown of Abiathar (1 Kg. 2:26-27) and his descendants; linked to Aaron through Ithamar

Calling (1:4-19)“in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth

year of his reign” (c. 627 BC)

Location and Time: 7th Century Judah (Southern Kingdom) coinciding with Judah’s last five kings

Family of Orientation

Ministry

Biographical Data

NONE “The word of the Lord also came to me saying, ‘You shall not take a

wife for yourself nor have sons or daughters in this place. For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters born in this place, and concerning their mothers who bear them, and their fathers who beget them in this land: ‘They will die of deadly diseases, they will not be lamented or buried.’” (16:1-4a)

Last Known Address: Egypt SEE Jeremiah 40-44.

Family of Procreation

Death

Summary of Ministry“I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” (1:10)

Tough Talk during Troublesome Times = Difficult Ministry

beaten and put in stocks (20:1-6)ridiculed by the public (20:10)threatened by the priests, prophets, and public (26:1-15)assaulted by a false prophet (27:1-28:17) disrespected by King Jehoiakim (36:1-26)beaten and jailed (37:11-21) dropped into a cistern filled with mud (38:1-13)

“Man of Sorrow”

disregarded and taken to Egypt against his will (42:1-43:7)

Outline of JeremiahThe book as is defies outlining.

“A basic difficulty in analyzing the contents of Jeremiah’s prophecy is their lack of consistent chronological order.” La Sor, Hubbard, and Bush, Old Testament Survey

“The book is a blend of poetry and prose, and these assume many different forms. . . . There are sudden shifts in time and types of material, and that the material seems to be in much disarray.” James Leo Green, The Broadman Bible Commentary

“The prose oracles are sometimes proclaimed in the first person and at other times in the third person.” R. K. Harrison, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries

“The book’s arrangement is not unlike that of a snowball: It is a collection of materials brought together by a movement of repeating the prophet’s words and re-presenting his life.”J. Andrew Dearman, The NIV Application Commentary

Outline of Jeremiah

FIRST DIVISION Prophecies against Jerusalem and JudahChapters 1-25

SECOND DIVISION Biographical Narratives about JeremiahChapters 26-45 mostly prose

THIRD DIVISION Prophecies Against the Foreign Nations Chapters 46-51

HISTORICAL APPENDIXChapter 52

The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible

Outline of Jeremiah

Josiah (640-609)1:1-10:25; 18:1-20:18

Jehoiakim (609-598)11:1-13:14; 14:1-17:27; 22:1-23:40; 25:1-26:24; 35:1-36:32; 45:1-48:47

Jehoiachin (598) 31:15-27

Zedekiah (598-586) 21:1-22:30; 24:1-10; 27:1-34:22; 37:1-39:18; 49:1-51:64

Chronological Rearrangement

R. K. Harrison, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries

Highlights of the Book

“‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.’” (1:5)

7:1-8:3 (content); 26:1-24 (reaction) quoted by Jesus when he clashed with the money-changers (Mt. 21:10-17; Mk. 11:15-18; Lk. 19:45-46)

11:18-12:6; 15:10-12, 15-21; 17:9-10, 14-18; 18:18-23; 20:7-12, 14-18a series of Jeremiah’s prayers in the form of laments or complaints provide insight into the inner life of the prophet (i.e., fears, doubt) Compare to the Book of Habakkuk.

Call to Ministry

Temple Sermon

Confessions

Highlights of the Book

Visit to the Potter’s House SEE also Isaiah 29:16; 45:9; 64:8; Romans 9:20-24.

23:5-6; 33:14-26

Two Baskets of Figs

Letter to the Exiles

18:1-12

Messiah

24:1-10

29:1-23

“‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare

and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” (29:11)

Highlights of the Book

31:31-34; 32:36-44; 33:19-26; 50:4-5 SEE also 3:16.

chapters 46-51

SEE also Isaiah 13-23; Ezekiel 25-32; Joel 3; Amos 1-2; Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum, Zephaniah 2:1-3:11.

Jeremiah 52:1-27, 31-33 = 2 Kings 24:18-25:21, 27-30

The Nations

Appendix

New Covenant

SEE Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:14-23;

1 Corinthians 11:23-25; 2 Corinthians 3; Hebrews 8-9; 12:18-24.