Jeremiah Symbolic Acts

Lesson #6 for November 7, 2015

Scriptures: [Genesis 4:3-7; Numbers 21:1-9; Isaiah 29:16; Romans 9:18-21; Jeremiah 13:1-11; 19; Hebrews 5:14][i].

1.    This lesson focuses on Jeremiah’s use of symbols. A symbol is a pointer to an idea. The Bible is full of symbols. Symbols can have a powerful effect on our understanding of an issue.

2.    Think of the earthly sanctuary, beginning with the tent constructed at the foot of Mount Sinai. How many symbols were included in the sanctuary service, buildings, and rituals?

The significance of the Jewish economy is not yet fully comprehended. Truths vast and profound are shadowed forth in its rites and symbols. The gospel is the key that unlocks its mysteries. Through a knowledge of the plan of redemption, its truths are opened to the understanding.—Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 133.1.

3.    Consider also the impressive symbols used by Daniel in Daniel 2, 7, 8, and 9-11. And what about all the symbols the book of Revelation? It is easier to remember a “picture.”

4.    Jesus Himself used parables and symbols at times to avoid being arrested. The meaning may have been quite clear; but, each person had to interpret the story or symbol for himself. Therefore, the Jewish leaders could not accuse Jesus of saying something bad about them. But, sometimes, Jesus apparently used parables and symbols to hide His intended meaning. (See Matthew 13:13; 21:45ii.)

5.    Read Genesis 4:3-7. In this very early story in Scripture, we learn about the contrast between disobedience and obedience; the difference between doing things our way and doing things God’s way. Do you think the meaning of those two sacrifices was clear in the minds of Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel? Is it obvious to you? What was wrong with Cain’s offering? The vegetables were just picked! They don’t teach us anything about sin leading to death! The Lamb clearly had to be killed and had to die.

6.    Read [Numbers 21:4-9; Deuteronomy 8:15]iii. God had protected the children of Israel from the poisonous snakes that were common in the desert in that part of the world. But, when they began to complain about His guidance and leading, He temporarily removed His protection, and many of them were bitten. At some point, should parents take away the protection they provide for their children? He then instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it up on a pole. Those who had faith enough to look at the bronze serpent were healed, recognizing that the bronze serpent itself could not do anything for them. What was that bronze serpent supposed to symbolize? To Christians familiar with the story of the crucifixion of Christ, it is a symbol of that crucifixion. But, what did it mean to the Jews in Moses’s day? (John 3:14-15; 12:32)iv

The Israelites saved their lives by looking upon the uplifted serpent. That look implied faith. They lived because they believed God’s word, and trusted in the means provided for their recovery.—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 431.1.

7.    They actually preserved that bronze snake and worshiped it for 700 years! (2 Kings 18:4[v])

8. Turning now to the sanctuary service itself, what is the most important lesson that we can learn from that sandbox illustration? Is it “substitutionary atonement”? What are the implications of substitutionary atonement? Atonement originally meant “at-one-ment.”

Contrasting Meanings of the Sanctuary Service

Substitutionary Atonement

Sin Leads to Death

If I have enough lambs, I can keep on sinning.

If I keep on sinning, I will die in my sins.

Sins are transferred to the animal, and I do not need to worry about them any more.

Sins are transferred only symbolically. It is not possible to really make an animal guilty of my sins.

My sins are transferred by the priest into the tent or tabernacle.

God has a plan for my life - to help me stop sinning, leaving my sins behind and becoming more like Him.

My sins are carried by the scapegoat into an unknown land.

God wants to separate me from my sins permanently, not just symbolically.

My focus is on dealing with my sins.

My focus is on Jesus Christ so that I can crowd out my sins and forget about them.

Because the people were afraid of God, they begged Moses to stand as an intercessor between them and God. (Exodus 20:18-20)

God’s original plan was for each of us to be priest and not need someone else to represent us before God. (Exodus 19:5-6)

9.    There are many lessons to be learned from the sanctuary and its services. Having recently come out of slavery, the children of Israel were probably only thinking in very concrete terms. Shouldn’t we be able to comprehend at a higher level than they did? To them, the sanctuary service meant God had made a way to take care of their sins.

10.    There are even lives of biblical heroes in the Old Testament that were a kind of prophecy about the coming Messiah. For example, think of Moses and Joseph. In Daniel’s prophecies, we have the exact time spelled out for the coming, the ministry, and the death of Jesus as well as the time when the gospel would be spread to Gentiles in addition to Jews.

11.    Read Jeremiah 18:1-10vi. What are we supposed to learn from this important visible parable? It should be clear to all of us that God created us in the beginning. (Genesis 2:7vii) And just as God molded us from clods of clay in the beginning, Jeremiah observed that the potter could do whatever he wanted to with the clay in his hands. But, that clay was to represent us! Does our behavior have its rewards? Isn’t it clear that sin leads to death? And that righteousness leads to life?

12.    Read Isaiah 29:16viii. When a potter works with fresh clay, who is in charge? Does the clay have a right to ask the potter, “Why are you making me like this?” See also Isaiah 45:9ix.

13.    A number of Bible writers recognized the symbolism of a potter with his clay. See [Isaiah 64:8; Romans 9:18-21. Romans 9:10-29][x] has posed much difficulty for interpreters. Read superficially, it might suggest that we have no freedom whatsoever, but rather, are merely malleable clay in the hands of God. However, understood in the light of Hebrew history, it is clear that God intended even from the beginning of His call to Abraham that the Hebrew people would be the means of spreading the gospel to the entire world. He never intended for the Jews to consider it some kind of private property!

14.    Jeremiah 18 goes on to say that while the potter can make the clay into almost anything he chooses, human beings have basically two choices when they respond to God’s will. They can accept God’s guidance, and He will care for them, bless them, and make them prosper. Or, on the other hand, they can reject His guidance, and they are choosing destruction for themselves. What does God need to do to convince us that sin is selfdestructive?

15.    Does the story of the potter and the clay teach us about the ultimate sovereignty of God? Doesn’t it seem like that? But, then Jeremiah went on to say that we may respond or we may choose not to respond. Is that a part of God’s ultimate sovereignty? Does God’s ultimate sovereignty eliminate human freedom? In Romans 1-8-before talking about the potter and clay-Paul had already described how God runs His universe and saves people. But, some of the Jewish Christians were unhappy that Paul was apparently offering Gentiles salvation without first having to become fully Jews.

16.    God has blessed us by showing us the only correct way to live our lives. God has designed His universe to run on love, selflessness, and trust. If we choose to operate contrary to those principles, we are the losers.

17.    If the main emphasis in the Bible is God’s sovereignty, the questions should be: “Why hasn’t He exercised it long ago? Why is He allowing sin, evil, suffering, and warfare to go on and on? Why are we still on this sinful planet?” Does that sound like He is sovereign?

18.    The Devil does not doubt God’s power; (James 2:19xi) but, it is not God’s power that is in question, anyway. What matters is who is telling us the truth. What lessons are we supposed to learn about the great controversy from our study of Scripture?

Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents (Jeremiah 19:4, KJV). Compare Deuteronomy 13:1-3xii.

19.    Are we tempted to worship other gods instead of Jehovah? What are the most important things in our lives? Instead of trusting exclusively on God, do we depend on our 401(k)s? Our bank accounts? Our nice homes? Our new cars?

20.    In Jeremiah’s day, the children of Israel had turned to other gods by burning incense even in the temple grounds to those other gods; they had gone to the extent of offering their own children in sacrifice to heathen gods. As recorded in Deuteronomy, God had warned them what the results would be. How far had they departed from God’s original plan for them? See Exodus 19:5-6. Instead of being excellent examples to those around them, showing the advantages of living a Godlike life, the children of Israel were becoming like the pagans as fast as they could!

21.    How different are Seventh-day Adventists from their neighbors and associates in the world today? Are we becoming more like them? Or, are we representing God to them? How many of us have had the opportunity of actually witnessing for the truth to another human soul, bringing him closer to God? Here is what the children of Israel were doing.

They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind. (Jeremiah 19:5, KJV) Compare Jeremiah 7:31xiii.

22.    Why would someone offer his child as a sacrifice? In many of the ancient pagan religions, it was regarded as the ultimate sacrifice. But, to God such a sacrifice was forbidden. (Deuteronomy 18:10xiv) God reminded Jeremiah that He had never had such an idea! But, what about Abraham offering Isaac? Did God ever intend for Abraham to offer Isaac? God just wanted to show the onlooking universe that Abraham-despite having persuaded his wife on two different occasions to lie about their relationship, and after taking Hagar as a secondary wife and fathering Ishmael-still was God’s devoted and faithful follower. Abraham was willing even to offer the most important thing in his life if God asked for it. It was a lesson to the entire universe. (See Patriarchs and Prophets 153-154.) Even some sinful human beings are repulsed by the idea of human sacrifices. So, what effect must it have on the holy angels and on God? Had the children of Israel really become so blinded by the cultures around them that they could not see how evil that was? Are we being blinded by the prevailing culture around us? Or, are we in tune with God and His Word?

23.    Read Jeremiah 19:1-15xv. God through Jeremiah next took on the responsibility of gathering witnesses, proclaiming a message of doom to the people of Jerusalem, and then shattering a clay jar into small pieces. Clay jars were used for almost everything in ancient times. They were used for storage, for cooking, for transportation, etc. But, a shattered clay jar is almost useless. Jeremiah called some of the leaders from Jerusalem to the Potsherd Gate and told them that Judea and Jerusalem were becoming as useless as a smashed clay pot. What impact did that acted-out parable have? Is there any possibility of repairing a smashed clay pot? Virtually none. What was God trying to say to them? Was He suggesting that all of His efforts over hundreds of years to get them to be true witnesses for Him to the world had failed? Could that illustration ever apply to us today? How many of us are actually carrying out the mission God intends for us to carry out?

24.    Read Jeremiah 13:1-11xvi. In this parable Jeremiah was to get a loincloth. A loincloth is generally something similar to a pair of shorts, even a kind of underwear. Jeremiah was to take those shorts and wear them and take them to the Euphrates River which was four months travel away and bury them along the banks of the river. Later, he was to go back and to uncover them only to find that they were then useless rags.

25.    And what was all that supposed to mean? God’s original plan, of course, was for the children of Israel to remain very close to Him in all their activities just as underwear are worn close to the body. (Jeremiah 13:11; Deuteronomy 4:5-8)xvii

26.    What is supposed to be our response to God’s actions? Are we supposed to understand everything He does? (Isaiah 55:8xviii) But, compare Isaiah 1:18xix. Isn’t it God’s plan for us to spend the rest of eternity learning more and more about His behavior and His actions? So, understanding God’s character, His behavior, and His love may be the most important thing we can do in life! We are going to spend the rest of eternity studying God’s behavior. Shouldn’t we get started with that task now?

27.    In the fields of philosophy and logic, there are many conundrums which have no possible answers. If you were to ask someone if God can do anything, his initial response would probably be, “Yes.” But, can God make a rock so large that He cannot move it? That is just one of many internally contradictory questions that could be asked.

28.    Of course, to human beings the greatest conundrum of all is the existence of sin. If we do not understand the story of the great controversy from the point of Satan’s rebellion in heaven to his final destruction after the third coming, it is very likely that we will be confused.

To many minds the origin of sin and the reason for its existence are a source of great perplexity. They see the work of evil, with its terrible results of woe and desolation, and they question how all this can exist under the sovereignty of One who is infinite in wisdom, in power, and in love. Here is a mystery of which they find no explanation. And in their uncertainty and doubt they are blinded to truths plainly revealed in God’s word and essential to salvation.—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 492.1.

29.    Do you have problems in your thinking when you consider God’s absolute sovereignty and the question of the origin of evil? If God is absolutely sovereign, shouldn’t He have prevented evil? Why didn’t He? (See the handout entitled “Love” on our website, www.theox.org.)

30.    What are the advantages and disadvantages of using symbols? Symbols can be powerful ways to teach lessons. But, as we mentioned in the case of Jesus earlier, they can also be misunderstood.

31.    Do we have a clear understanding of how bad things had become in Jerusalem and in Judea in Jeremiah’s day? What would have led them to offer their own children as sacrifices to a pagan god? What would have led God to finally step back and allow them to be conquered by the Babylonians?

32.    How well do we understand the extent of our own sins today? Might God have to do something remarkable in dealing with us?

33.    As we approach the end of time, do we need to be more blunt in telling things like they are instead of using symbols? Using physical symbols makes more profound impressions on visually-oriented people.

34.    We are more than 170 years past the Great Disappointment in 1844. Sometime soon, probation will close, and there will be no changing after that. Everyone will have made up his own mind about God; God does not preemptively judge us until we have been given that opportunity.

35.    Do you think the people of Jerusalem really understood the symbols of the smashed clay pot and the rotten linen shorts?

36.    The bronze serpent that Moses made following God’s instruction recorded in Numbers 21 can be a challenge for us to understand. Of course, Christians have compared it to Christ’s crucifixion. But, throughout Scripture from Genesis 3 to Revelation 12:9, serpents and dragons have been symbols of Satan.

37.    We know that Satan has been doing everything possible down through history to imitate Christ and make it appear that he is the true Christ. In the case of the ancient Israelites, the snakes were an ever-present evil; but, God protected them until they began complaining once again about God’s plans and His leadings. See Deuteronomy 8:15xx.

38.    The ancient pagans sometimes had insight enough to believe that their idols were merely symbols of their gods. When talking about symbols, do we need to remember the second commandment? Why is it that some large Christian groups have chosen to leave out the second commandment when teaching about the Ten Commandments?

39.    Unfortunately, as we mentioned earlier, the children of Israel preserved the bronze snake that Moses had put together, and it was being worshiped as an idol in Hezekiah’s day 700 years later! (See 2 Kings 18:4xxi.)

40.    In our times, it might seem that our lives are dominated by sound bites, symbols, abstract images, etc.

41.    Review again the history of the children of Israel from the time of Moses to the time of Jeremiah. There was a partial conquest of Canaan in the days of Joshua, and then there were the crazy times of the judges. That was followed by the united monarchy including Saul’s apostasy, David’s success in bringing the nation together, and then his adultery, and Solomon’s idolatry. Then, the divided monarchy, and almost nonstop deterioration with bad kings and only a few exceptions down to the point of Assyrian captivity of the northern tribes, and finally, Babylonian exile for Judah. Think of all the attempts God made through prophets, judges, priests, kings, men, and women in different kinds of positions to remind them of His role and what His plan was for them.

42.    Look at the following list of symbols used by Jeremiah at different times in his ministry: [Jeremiah 13:1-9; 19:1-15; 27:1-15; 28:10-17; 32:1-15; 42:8-13; 51:59-64]xxii. In these passages we have the stories of the potter’s broken vessel, the linen belt, the yoke which Jeremiah wore on his neck, the field he purchased in Anathoth, the large stones that were to be buried in the brick pavement in Tahpanhes in Egypt, and finally, the scroll that contained a prophecy about Babylon’s doom.

43.    Often, those prophecies involved some important thing that the prophet himself had to do.

44.    Symbols may play a big part in our lives. What symbols are important in our church lives today? Do we spend time thinking about the latter rain? The sealing? The time of trouble? The second coming? Or, do we try to put those things out of our minds? What symbols would you like to see have a more prominent role in the church today?

i-Genesis 4:3-7

3 After some time Cain brought some of his harvest and gave it as an offering to the LORD. 4 Then Abel brought the first lamb born to one of his sheep, killed it, and gave the best parts of it as an offering. The LORD was pleased with Abel and his offering, 5 but he rejected Cain and his offering. Cain became furious, and he scowled in anger. 6 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why that scowl on your face? 7 If you had done the right thing, you would be smiling;[a] but because you have done evil, sin is crouching at your door. It wants to rule you, but you must overcome it.”

Numbers 21:1-9; Victory over the Canaanites

21 When the Canaanite king of Arad in the southern part of Canaan heard that the Israelites were coming by way of Atharim, he attacked them and captured some of them. 2 Then the Israelites made a vow to the LORD: “If you will let us conquer these people, we will unconditionally dedicate[a] them and their cities to you and will destroy them.” 3 The LORD heard them and helped them conquer the Canaanites. So the Israelites completely destroyed them and their cities, and named the place Hormah.[b]

The Snake Made of Bronze

4 The Israelites left Mount Hor by the road that leads to the Gulf of Aqaba, in order to go around the territory of Edom. But on the way the people lost their patience 5 and spoke against God and Moses. They complained, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We can't stand any more of this miserable food!” 6 Then the LORD sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many Israelites were bitten and died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Now pray to the LORD to take these snakes away.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 Then the LORD told Moses to make a metal snake and put it on a pole, so that anyone who was bitten could look at it and be healed. 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole. Anyone who had been bitten would look at the bronze snake and be healed.

Footnotes:

1. Numbers 21:2 Anything dedicated in this way belonged completely to the Lord and could not be used; it had to be destroyed.

2. Numbers 21:3 This name in Hebrew means “destruction.”

Isaiah 29:16

16 They turn everything upside down. Which is more important, the potter or the clay? Can something you have made say, “You didn't make me”? Or can it say, “You don't know what you are doing”?

Romans 9:18-21

18 So then, God has mercy on anyone he wishes, and he makes stubborn anyone he wishes.

God's Anger and Mercy

19 But one of you will say to me, “If this is so, how can God find fault with anyone? Who can resist God's will?” 20 But who are you, my friend, to talk back to God? A clay pot does not ask the man who made it, “Why did you make me like this?” 21 After all, the man who makes the pots has the right to use the clay as he wishes, and to make two pots from the same lump of clay, one for special occasions and the other for ordinary use.

Jeremiah 13:1-11 The Linen Shorts

13 The LORD told me to go and buy myself some linen shorts and to put them on; but he told me not to put them in water. 2 So I bought them and put them on. 3 Then the LORD spoke to me again and said, 4 “Go to the Euphrates River and hide the shorts in a hole in the rocks.” 5 So I went and hid them near the Euphrates.

6 Some time later the LORD told me to go back to the Euphrates and get the shorts. 7 So I went back, and when I found the place where I had hidden them, I saw that they were ruined and were no longer any good.

8 Then the LORD spoke to me again. He said, 9 “This is how I will destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 These evil people have refused to obey me. They have been as stubborn and wicked as ever, and have worshiped and served other gods. So then, they will become like these shorts that are no longer any good. 11 Just as shorts fit tightly around the waist, so I intended all the people of Israel and Judah to hold tightly to me. I did this so that they would be my people and would bring praise and honor to my name; but they would not obey me.”

19;

19 The towns of southern Judah are under siege; no one can get through to them. All the people of Judah have been taken away into exile.”

Hebrews 5:14

14 Solid food, on the other hand, is for adults, who through practice are able to distinguish between good and evil.

ii-Matthew 13:13;

13 The reason I use parables in talking to them is that they look, but do not see, and they listen, but do not hear or understand.

21:45

45 The chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus' parables and knew that he was talking about them,

iii-Numbers 21:4-9; The Snake Made of Bronze

4 The Israelites left Mount Hor by the road that leads to the Gulf of Aqaba, in order to go around the territory of Edom. But on the way the people lost their patience 5 and spoke against God and Moses. They complained, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We can't stand any more of this miserable food!” 6 Then the LORD sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many Israelites were bitten and died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Now pray to the LORD to take these snakes away.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 Then the LORD told Moses to make a metal snake and put it on a pole, so that anyone who was bitten could look at it and be healed. 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole. Anyone who had been bitten would look at the bronze snake and be healed.

Deuteronomy 8:15

15 He led you through that vast and terrifying desert where there were poisonous snakes and scorpions. In that dry and waterless land he made water flow out of solid rock for you.

iv-John 3:14-15;

14 As Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the desert, in the same way the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

12:32

32 When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to me.”

v-2 Kings 18:4

4 He destroyed the pagan places of worship, broke the stone pillars, and cut down the images of the goddess Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze snake that Moses had made, which was called Nehushtan. Up to that time the people of Israel had burned incense in its honor.

vi-Jeremiah 18:1-10Jeremiah at the Potter's House

18 The LORD said to me, 2 “Go down to the potter's house, where I will give you my message.” 3 So I went there and saw the potter working at his wheel. 4 Whenever a piece of pottery turned out imperfect, he would take the clay and make it into something else.

5 Then the LORD said to me, 6 “Don't I have the right to do with you people of Israel what the potter did with the clay? You are in my hands just like clay in the potter's hands. 7 If at any time I say that I am going to uproot, break down, or destroy any nation or kingdom, 8 but then that nation turns from its evil, I will not do what I said I would. 9 On the other hand, if I say that I am going to plant or build up any nation or kingdom, 10 but then that nation disobeys me and does evil, I will not do what I said I would.

vii-Genesis 2:7

7 Then the LORD God took some soil from the ground and formed a man[a] out of it; he breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live.

viii-Isaiah 29:16

16 They turn everything upside down. Which is more important, the potter or the clay? Can something you have made say, “You didn't make me”? Or can it say, “You don't know what you are doing”?

ix-Isaiah 45:9The LORD of Creation and History

9 Does a clay pot dare argue with its maker,

a pot that is like all the others?

Does the clay ask the potter what he is doing?

Does the pot complain that its maker has no skill?

x-Isaiah 64:8;

8 But you are our father, LORD. We are like clay, and you are like the potter. You created us,

Romans 9:18-21;God's Anger and Mercy

19 But one of you will say to me, “If this is so, how can God find fault with anyone? Who can resist God's will?” 20 But who are you, my friend, to talk back to God? A clay pot does not ask the man who made it, “Why did you make me like this?” 21 After all, the man who makes the pots has the right to use the clay as he wishes, and to make two pots from the same lump of clay, one for special occasions and the other for ordinary use.

Romans 9:10-2910 And this is not all. For Rebecca's two sons had the same father, our ancestor Isaac. 11-12 But in order that the choice of one son might be completely the result of God's own purpose, God said to her, “The older will serve the younger.” He said this before they were born, before they had done anything either good or bad; so God's choice was based on his call, and not on anything they had done. 13 As the scripture says, “I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.”

14 Shall we say, then, that God is unjust? Not at all. 15 For he said to Moses, “I will have mercy on anyone I wish; I will take pity on anyone I wish.” 16 So then, everything depends, not on what we humans want or do, but only on God's mercy. 17 For the scripture says to the king of Egypt, “I made you king in order to use you to show my power and to spread my fame over the whole world.” 18 So then, God has mercy on anyone he wishes, and he makes stubborn anyone he wishes.

God's Anger and Mercy

19 But one of you will say to me, “If this is so, how can God find fault with anyone? Who can resist God's will?” 20 But who are you, my friend, to talk back to God? A clay pot does not ask the man who made it, “Why did you make me like this?” 21 After all, the man who makes the pots has the right to use the clay as he wishes, and to make two pots from the same lump of clay, one for special occasions and the other for ordinary use.

22 And the same is true of what God has done. He wanted to show his anger and to make his power known. But he was very patient in enduring those who were the objects of his anger, who were doomed to destruction. 23 And he also wanted to reveal his abundant glory, which was poured out on us who are the objects of his mercy, those of us whom he has prepared to receive his glory. 24 For we are the people he called, not only from among the Jews but also from among the Gentiles. 25 This is what he says in the book of Hosea:

“The people who were not mine

I will call ‘My People.’

The nation that I did not love

I will call ‘My Beloved.’

26 And in the very place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’

there they will be called the children of the living God.”

27 And Isaiah exclaims about Israel: “Even if the people of Israel are as many as the grains of sand by the sea, yet only a few of them will be saved; 28 for the Lord will quickly settle his full account with the world.” 29 It is as Isaiah had said before, “If the Lord Almighty had not left us some descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.”

xi-James 2:19

19 Do you believe that there is only one God? Good! The demons also believe—and tremble with fear.

xii-Deuteronomy 13:1-3

13 “Prophets or interpreters of dreams may promise a miracle or a wonder, 2 in order to lead you to worship and serve gods that you have not worshiped before. Even if what they promise comes true, 3 do not pay any attention to them. The LORD your God is using them to test you, to see if you love the LORD with all your heart.

xiii-Jeremiah 7:31

31 In Hinnom Valley they have built an altar called Topheth, so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters in the fire. I did not command them to do this—it did not even enter my mind.

xiv-Deuteronomy 18:10

10 Don't sacrifice your children in the fires on your altars; and don't let your people practice divination or look for omens or use spells

xv-Jeremiah 19:1-15The Broken Jar

19 The LORD told me to go and buy a clay jar. He also told me to take some of the elders of the people and some of the older priests, 2 and to go through Potsherd Gate out to Hinnom Valley. There I was to proclaim the message that he would give me. 3 The LORD told me to say, “Kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem, listen to what I, the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, have to say. I am going to bring such a disaster on this place that everyone who hears about it will be stunned. 4 I am going to do this because the people have abandoned me and defiled this place by offering sacrifices here to other gods—gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah have known anything about. They have filled this place with the blood of innocent people, 5 and they have built altars for Baal in order to burn their children in the fire as sacrifices. I never commanded them to do this; it never even entered my mind. 6 So then, the time will come when this place will no longer be called Topheth or Hinnom Valley. Instead, it will be known as Slaughter Valley. 7 In this place I will frustrate all the plans of the people of Judah and Jerusalem. I will let their enemies triumph over them and kill them in battle. I will give their corpses to the birds and the wild animals as food. 8 I will bring such terrible destruction on this city that everyone who passes by will be shocked and amazed. 9 The enemy will surround the city and try to kill its people. The siege will be so terrible that the people inside the city will eat one another and even their own children.”

10 Then the LORD told me to break the jar in front of those who had gone with me 11 and to tell them that the LORD Almighty had said, “I will break this people and this city, and it will be like this broken clay jar that cannot be put together again. People will bury their dead even in Topheth because there will be nowhere else to bury them. 12 I promise that I will make this city and its inhabitants like Topheth. 13 The houses of Jerusalem, the houses of the kings of Judah, and indeed all the houses on whose roofs incense has been burned to the stars and where wine has been poured out as an offering to other gods—they will all be as unclean as Topheth.”

14 Then I left Topheth, where the LORD had sent me to proclaim his message. I went and stood in the court of the Temple and told all the people 15 that the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, had said, “I am going to bring on this city and on every nearby town all the punishment that I said I would, because you are stubborn and will not listen to what I say.”

xvi-Jeremiah 13:1-11The Linen Shorts

13 The LORD told me to go and buy myself some linen shorts and to put them on; but he told me not to put them in water. 2 So I bought them and put them on. 3 Then the LORD spoke to me again and said, 4 “Go to the Euphrates River and hide the shorts in a hole in the rocks.” 5 So I went and hid them near the Euphrates.

6 Some time later the LORD told me to go back to the Euphrates and get the shorts. 7 So I went back, and when I found the place where I had hidden them, I saw that they were ruined and were no longer any good.

8 Then the LORD spoke to me again. He said, 9 “This is how I will destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 These evil people have refused to obey me. They have been as stubborn and wicked as ever, and have worshiped and served other gods. So then, they will become like these shorts that are no longer any good. 11 Just as shorts fit tightly around the waist, so I intended all the people of Israel and Judah to hold tightly to me. I did this so that they would be my people and would bring praise and honor to my name; but they would not obey me.”

xvii-Jeremiah 13:11

11 Just as shorts fit tightly around the waist, so I intended all the people of Israel and Judah to hold tightly to me. I did this so that they would be my people and would bring praise and honor to my name; but they would not obey me.”

Deuteronomy 4:5-8

5 “I have taught you all the laws, as the LORD my God told me to do. Obey them in the land that you are about to invade and occupy. 6 Obey them faithfully, and this will show the people of other nations how wise you are. When they hear of all these laws, they will say, ‘What wisdom and understanding this great nation has!’

7 “No other nation, no matter how great, has a god who is so near when they need him as the LORD our God is to us. He answers us whenever we call for help. 8 No other nation, no matter how great, has laws so just as those that I have taught you today.

xviii-Isaiah 55:8(GNT)

8 “My thoughts,” says the LORD, “are not like yours,

and my ways are different from yours.

xix-Isaiah 1:18

18 The LORD says, “Now, let's settle the matter. You are stained red with sin, but I will wash you as clean as snow.[a] Although your stains are deep red, you will be as white as wool.[b]

Footnotes:

1. Isaiah 1:18 sin, but … snow; or sin; do you think I will wash you as clean as snow?

2. Isaiah 1:18 Although your … wool; or Your stains are deep red; do you think you will be as white as wool?

xx-Deuteronomy 8:15

15 He led you through that vast and terrifying desert where there were poisonous snakes and scorpions. In that dry and waterless land he made water flow out of solid rock for you.

xxi-2 Kings 18:4

4 He destroyed the pagan places of worship, broke the stone pillars, and cut down the images of the goddess Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze snake that Moses had made, which was called Nehushtan. Up to that time the people of Israel had burned incense in its honor.

xxii-Jeremiah 13:1-9; The Linen Shorts

13 The LORD told me to go and buy myself some linen shorts and to put them on; but he told me not to put them in water. 2 So I bought them and put them on. 3 Then the LORD spoke to me again and said, 4 “Go to the Euphrates River and hide the shorts in a hole in the rocks.” 5 So I went and hid them near the Euphrates.

6 Some time later the LORD told me to go back to the Euphrates and get the shorts. 7 So I went back, and when I found the place where I had hidden them, I saw that they were ruined and were no longer any good.

8 Then the LORD spoke to me again. He said, 9 “This is how I will destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.

19:1-15; The Broken Jar

19 The LORD told me to go and buy a clay jar. He also told me to take some of the elders of the people and some of the older priests, 2 and to go through Potsherd Gate out to Hinnom Valley. There I was to proclaim the message that he would give me. 3 The LORD told me to say, “Kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem, listen to what I, the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, have to say. I am going to bring such a disaster on this place that everyone who hears about it will be stunned. 4 I am going to do this because the people have abandoned me and defiled this place by offering sacrifices here to other gods—gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah have known anything about. They have filled this place with the blood of innocent people, 5 and they have built altars for Baal in order to burn their children in the fire as sacrifices. I never commanded them to do this; it never even entered my mind. 6 So then, the time will come when this place will no longer be called Topheth or Hinnom Valley. Instead, it will be known as Slaughter Valley. 7 In this place I will frustrate all the plans of the people of Judah and Jerusalem. I will let their enemies triumph over them and kill them in battle. I will give their corpses to the birds and the wild animals as food. 8 I will bring such terrible destruction on this city that everyone who passes by will be shocked and amazed. 9 The enemy will surround the city and try to kill its people. The siege will be so terrible that the people inside the city will eat one another and even their own children.”

10 Then the LORD told me to break the jar in front of those who had gone with me 11 and to tell them that the LORD Almighty had said, “I will break this people and this city, and it will be like this broken clay jar that cannot be put together again. People will bury their dead even in Topheth because there will be nowhere else to bury them. 12 I promise that I will make this city and its inhabitants like Topheth. 13 The houses of Jerusalem, the houses of the kings of Judah, and indeed all the houses on whose roofs incense has been burned to the stars and where wine has been poured out as an offering to other gods—they will all be as unclean as Topheth.”

14 Then I left Topheth, where the LORD had sent me to proclaim his message. I went and stood in the court of the Temple and told all the people 15 that the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, had said, “I am going to bring on this city and on every nearby town all the punishment that I said I would, because you are stubborn and will not listen to what I say.”

27:1-15; Jeremiah Wears an Ox Yoke

27 Soon after Josiah's son Zedekiah became king of Judah, the LORD told me 2 to make myself a yoke out of leather straps and wooden crossbars and to put it on my neck. 3 Then the LORD told me to send a message[a] to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon through their ambassadors who had come to Jerusalem to see King Zedekiah. 4 The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, told me to command them to tell their kings that the LORD had said: 5 “By my great power and strength I created the world, human beings, and all the animals that live on the earth; and I give it to anyone I choose. 6 I am the one who has placed all these nations under the power of my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, and I have made even the wild animals serve him. 7 All nations will serve him, and they will serve his son and his grandson until the time comes for his own nation to fall. Then his nation will serve powerful nations and great kings.

8 “But if any nation or kingdom will not submit to his rule, then I will punish that nation by war, starvation, and disease until I have let Nebuchadnezzar destroy it completely. 9 Do not listen to your prophets or to those who claim they can predict the future, either by dreams or by calling up the spirits of the dead or by magic. They all tell you not to submit to the king of Babylonia. 10 They are deceiving you and will cause you to be taken far away from your country. I will drive you out, and you will be destroyed. 11 But if any nation submits to the king of Babylonia and serves him, then I will let it stay on in its own land, to farm it and live there. I, the LORD, have spoken.”

12 I said the same thing to King Zedekiah of Judah, “Submit to the king of Babylonia. Serve him and his people, and you will live. 13 Why should you and your people die in war or of starvation or disease? That is what the LORD has said will happen to any nation that does not submit to the king of Babylonia. 14 Do not listen to the prophets who tell you not to surrender to him. They are deceiving you. 15 The LORD himself has said that he did not send them and that they are lying to you in his name. And so he will drive you out, and you will be killed, you and the prophets who are telling you these lies.”

28:10-17; 10 Then Hananiah took the yoke off my neck, broke it in pieces, 11 and said in the presence of all the people, “The LORD has said that this is how he will break the yoke that King Nebuchadnezzar has put on the neck of all the nations; and he will do this within two years.” Then I left.

12 Some time after this the LORD told me 13 to go and tell Hananiah: “The LORD has said that you may be able to break a wooden yoke, but he[a] will replace it with an iron yoke. 14 The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, has said that he will put an iron yoke on all these nations and that they will serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. The LORD has said that he will make even the wild animals serve Nebuchadnezzar.”

15 Then I told Hananiah this, and added, “Listen, Hananiah! The LORD did not send you, and you are making these people believe a lie. 16 And so the LORD himself says that he is going to get rid of you. Before this year is over you will die because you have told the people to rebel against the LORD.”

17 And Hananiah died in the seventh month of that same year.

Footnotes:

1. Jeremiah 28:13 One ancient translation he; Hebrew you.

32:1-15; Jeremiah Buys a Field

32 The LORD spoke to me in the tenth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah, which was also the eighteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. 2 At that time the army of the king of Babylonia was attacking Jerusalem, and I was locked up in the courtyard of the royal palace. 3 King Zedekiah had imprisoned me there and had accused me of announcing that the LORD had said, “I am going to let the king of Babylonia capture this city, 4 and King Zedekiah will not escape. He will be handed over to the king of Babylonia; he will see him face-to-face and will speak to him in person. 5 Zedekiah will be taken to Babylonia, and he will remain there until I deal with him. Even if he fights the Babylonians, he will not be successful. I, the LORD, have spoken.”

6 The LORD told me 7 that Hanamel, my uncle Shallum's son, would come to me with the request to buy his field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin, because I was his nearest relative and had the right to buy it for myself. 8 Then, just as the LORD had said, Hanamel came to me there in the courtyard and asked me to buy the field. So I knew that the LORD had really spoken to me. 9 I bought the field from Hanamel and weighed out the money to him; the price came to seventeen pieces of silver. 10 I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed, and weighed out the money on scales. 11 Then I took both copies of the deed of purchase—the sealed copy containing the contract and its conditions, and the open copy— 12 and gave them to Baruch, the son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah. I gave them to him in the presence of Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed of purchase and of the people who were sitting in the courtyard. 13 Before them all I said to Baruch, 14 “The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, has ordered you to take these deeds, both the sealed deed of purchase and the open copy, and to place them in a clay jar, so that they may be preserved for years to come. 15 The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, has said that houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”

42:8-13;

8 so I called together Johanan, all the army leaders who were with him, and all the other people. 9 I said to them, “The LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me with your request has said, 10 ‘If you are willing to go on living in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not pull you up. The destruction I brought on you has caused me great sorrow. 11 Stop being afraid of the king of Babylonia. I am with you, and I will rescue you from his power. 12 Because I am merciful, I will make him have mercy on you and let you go back home. I, the LORD, have spoken.’

13-15 “But you people who are left in Judah must not disobey the LORD your God and refuse to live in this land. You must not say, ‘No, we will go and live in Egypt, where we won't face war any more or hear the call to battle or go hungry.’ If you say this, then the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says, ‘If you are determined to go and live in Egypt,

51:59-64Jeremiah's Message Is Sent to Babylonia

59 King Zedekiah's personal attendant was Seraiah, the son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah. In the fourth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah, Seraiah was going to Babylonia with him, and I gave him some instructions. 60 I wrote in a book an account of all the destruction that would come on Babylonia, as well as all these other things about Babylonia. 61 I told Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, be sure to read aloud to the people everything that is written here. 62 Then pray, ‘LORD, you have said that you would destroy this place, so that there would be no living creatures in it, neither people nor animals, and it would be like a desert forever.’ 63 Seraiah, when you finish reading this book to the people, then tie it to a rock and throw it into the Euphrates River 64 and say, ‘This is what will happen to Babylonia—it will sink and never rise again because of the destruction that the LORD is going to bring on it.’”[a]

The words of Jeremiah end here.

Footnotes:

1. Jeremiah 51:64 One ancient translation on it; Hebrew on it and they will become tired out.

Table of Contents

i

ii

iii

iv

v

vi

vii

viii

ix

x

xi

xii

xiii

xiv

xv

xvi

xvii

xviii

xix

xx

xxi

xxii

i-

ii-

iii-

iv-

v-

vi-

vii-

viii-

ix-

x-

xi-

xii-

xiii-

xiv-

xv-

xvi-

xvii-

xviii-

xix-

xx-

xxi-

xxii-