A Study in the Book of Jeremiah E-Book

Dr. Brian J. Bailey

• Herausgeber: Zion Christian Publishers
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

The Book of Jeremiah is a revelation of the heart and feelings of a tender, loving God reaching out to a backslidden people. Dr. Brian Bailey’s commentary shows the Lord as the Potter who is forming us as clay upon His potter’s wheel. We can be encouraged by the message of Jeremiah in that that the Lord desires to give hope to those who have become discouraged over their past mistakes by reforming them into a chosen vessel, made beautiful for the house of the Master.

Leseprobe

THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH

In the Potter’s House

“The Book of Jeremiah”

 © 2000 Brian J. Bailey

Version 1.1

Front Cover Design:

© 2006 Zion Fellowship, Inc.

All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles or reviews.

All Scripture quotations in this book are taken from the

King James Version Bible unless otherwise stated.

Published by Zion Christian Publishers

Published as an e-book on September 2017

in the United States of America

E-book ISBN 1-59665-692-1

Zion Christian Publishers

A Zion Fellowship ® Ministry

P.O. Box 70

Waverly, New York 14892

Phone: [phone]

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Editorial team: Stephen Brogan, Elizabeth Humphreys, Sarah Humphreys, David Kropf, Justin and Sarah Kropf,  Hannah Schrock, Caroline Tham, and Suzanne Ying.

We wish to extend our thanks to these dear ones for without their many hours of invaluable assistance, this book would not have been possible. We are truly grateful for their diligence, creativity, and excellence in the compilation of this book for the glory of God. 

PREFACE

The prophet Jeremiah, more than any other man, had a heart as tender as any woman’s. His heart was like a fragile, exquisitely etched vase of Dresden china. Jeremiah’s many sufferings made him a man of deep and profound compassion; yet he also possessed fearless courage. God made him like an iron pillar to stand against his many adversaries (Jer. 1:10).

In the prophet Jeremiah we see the meekness and humility of the compassionate Jesus, as well as the courage of the Messiah who overturned the tables of the money lenders and rebuked the religious leaders of His day. God said to Jeremiah, “I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way” (Jer. 6:27). Jeremiah was also the weeping prophet whose yielded lips declared the tender pleadings of Jehovah to an erring and rebellious people.

The book of Jeremiah is a study and revelation of the heart and feelings of a tender, loving God reaching out to a backslidden people who were bent upon their own destruction. Jeremiah was rejected by his own generation, but has since been revered by countless generations. The book of Jeremiah also shows us the tremendous battle for the souls of mankind that takes place in our times. Before the Second Coming of Christ, that battle will intensify even more. My prayer is that this book will be a blessing to you.

Brian J. Bailey, Ph. D., D.D.

INTRODUCTION

Jeremiah was one of the four major prophets of Israel. The other three were Isaiah, who preceded him by about 100 years, and Daniel and Ezekiel, Jeremiah’s contemporaries who prophesied while in Babylonian captivity. Jeremiah was their elder in the sense that he commenced his ministry in the thirteenth year of Josiah, king of Judah, while their ministries commenced in the first and second captivities, respectively, during the reigns of Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin.

The book of Jeremiah is not assembled in chronological order as is Ezekiel, nor is it arranged topically. We have chosen in this commentary to follow the format compiled by the scribes of ancient days.

Apart from historical references that help in understanding the background to the prophecies, the book of Jeremiah has many excellent literary accounts of topics that have had a lasting impact upon the people of Israel and also on the Church of Jesus Christ. These topics are noted in our outline of the contents of the book of Jeremiah for those who want to refer to these time-honoured stories and allegories.

OUTLINE

I. The Call of Jeremiah (chapter 1)

A. Introduction (1:1-6)

B. The Call Defined (1:7-10)

C. The Two Signs (1:11-16)

  1. The Rod of an Almond Tree (1:11-12)

  2. The Seething Pot (1:13-16)

D. Jeremiah Strengthened Against His Foes (1:17-19)

II. Prophecies Concerning Judah (chapters 2–45)

A. The 12 Prophetic Utterances of Condemnation (2:1–25:38)

  1. The Wilful Sinning of Judah (2:1–3:5)

  2. Judah will be Judged (3:6–6:30)

  3. Judah’s Hypocritical Worship (7:1–10:25)

  4. Judah Breaks the Covenant (11:1–12:17)

  5. The Promised Restoration of Israel (13:1-27)

  6. Intercession for Judah (14:1–15:21)

  7. Judah’s Restoration Promised (16:1–17:27)

  8. The Potter’s House (18:1–20:18)

  9. Against the Kings of Judah (21:1–23:8)

  10. Against the False Prophets (23:9-40)

  11. The Baskets of Figs (24:1-10)

  12. The 70-Year Captivity (25:1-38)

B. The Battles of Jeremiah (26:1–29:32)

  1. Jeremiah’s Life is Threatened (26:1-24)

  2. The Nations to be Handed Over to Babylonian Captivity (27:1-22)

  3. The Conflict with the False Prophet Hananiah (28:1-17)

  4. Letters to the Exiles (29:1-23)

  5. The Letters of Another False Prophet (29:24-32)

C. The Future Restoration of Israel (30:1–33:26)

  1. The Restoration to the Land (30:1-24)

  2. The Restoration of the Nation (31:1-40)

  3. The Rebuilding of Jerusalem (32:1-44)

  4. The Reaffirmation of God’s Covenant with Israel (33:1-26)

D. The Fall of Jerusalem (34:1–45:5)

1. Prophecies Before the Fall of Jerusalem (34:1–36:32)

  2. Events Before the Fall of Jerusalem (37:1–38:28)

  3. Events During the Fall of Jerusalem (39:1-18)

  4. Jeremiah’s Ministry after the Fall of Jerusalem (40:1–44:30)

  5. God’s Personal Message for Baruch the Scribe (45:1-5)

III. Prophecies Against Foreign Nations (Chapters 46:1–51:64)

A. Egypt (46:1-28)

B. Philistia (47:1-7)

C. Moab (48:1-47)

D. Ammon (49:1-6)

E. Edom (49:7-22)

F. Damascus (49:23-27)

G. Kedar and Hazor (49:28-33)

H. Elam (49:34-39)

I. Babylon (50:1–51:64)

IV. Historical Notes (52:1-34)

A. The Capture of Jerusalem (52:1-11)

B. The Destruction of Jerusalem (52:12-23)

C. The Exiles go to Babylon (52:24-30)

D. Jehoiachin is Favoured (52:31-34)

Topical Subjects Highlighted

1. The Call From the Womb (1:5)

PART 1

The Call of Jeremiah

1:1-19

A. Introduction (1:1-6)

B. The Call Defined (1:7-10)

C. The Two Signs (1:11-16)

Introduction (1:1-6)

1:1-3 -“The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.”

At the beginning of his ministry, Jeremiah prophesied at the same time as Zephaniah. We are told that Jeremiah was called during the thirteenth year of the reign of King Josiah of Judah. In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah, the Lord gave the greatest revival that Israel had ever known (2 Chr. 35:18-19). This revival was led by three young men: Jeremiah (approximately 27 years old), Josiah (26 years old), and Zephaniah, who was probably a few years younger.

The revival of Josiah has great significance for our days since this revival preceded the siege of Jerusalem and its consequent fall to the Babylonians. There are three great sieges of Jerusalem recorded in Holy Scripture, each preceded by a very significant revival:

1. The Assyrian siege in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign followed the revival in the first year of Hezekiah’s reign.

2. The three principal sieges of the Babylonians (terminated by the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.) came almost 40 years after the revival in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign.

3. The siege of Jerusalem under Titus in A.D. 70 (terminated by the pillage and destruction of the Temple) came after the Early Church revival and the ministries of John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The siege of Jerusalem in the last days (Zech. 12) will culminate with the Second Coming of the Lord. However, we may state with Scriptural authority that the last siege of Jerusalem will be preceded by a worldwide revival so that all the types and anti-types are fulfilled.

It is worthy of note that all these revivals mentioned were led by relatively young men: Hezekiah and Josiah were 26 years old and John and Christ were 30 years old. Therefore, expect God to use many young men and women during revival in these last days.

The Ministry of Jeremiah

Jeremiah’s ministry can be divided into three main parts:

1. 627-605 B.C. - Jeremiah prophesied during the time that Judah was threatened by Assyria and Egypt.

2. 605-586 B.C. - Jeremiah prophesied while Jerusalem was being surrounded and besieged by the Babylonians.

3. 586-576 B.C. - Jeremiah ministered firstly in Jerusalem  and then in Egypt. Tradition states that he was stoned to death in Egypt by the Jews who took him there.

1:4-6 - “Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.”

The call of the Lord to Jeremiah has a deep theological significance, especially for the days in which we are living. When he was in his mother’s womb the Lord knew him and ordained him as a prophet to the nations. This is very similar to the words of the Apostle Paul in Galatians 1:15, “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace.”

We need to understand that each one of us was a living soul when conceived, as King David states in Psalm 139:13: “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.” Therefore, it is the Lord who forms us in our mother’s womb. For this reason, we may clearly state that abortion is the murder of an unborn child.

Another aspect of Jeremiah’s call in the womb is that it illustrates the truth spoken of in Romans 8:29-30: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”

In His foreknowledge of how we will respond to His call, God selects people before birth for the work and ministry that He desires them to perform. God called Paul a chosen vessel in Acts 9:15-16: “But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.”

As we have read, the call of the Lord was given to Jeremiah when he was in his mother’s womb. According to Jewish tradition, Jeremiah was about 21 years old when God called him to the ministry. The Lord told Jeremiah that he had been ordained to be a prophet. Jeremiah responded, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child” (Jer. 1:6). Jeremiah’s response is similar to the response of many servants of God when they receive their divine call from the Majesty on high. At the burning bush, Moses gave a similar response, and remember, he was 80 years old at the time (Ex. 4:10).

I well remember feeling overwhelmed when God called me to the ministry. I felt that there were many other people who were far more capable than I was. While I was meditating on this during a service conducted by a faculty member of the Bible school that I had attended, that minister said in a prophecy, “Of all the millions that call upon My name, do I not choose with care those whom I call into My service?”

It was as though the Lord was reading the very thoughts and intents of my heart at that very moment, which, in fact, He was. I then asked the Lord to lead me on into His plan and purposes for my life. Today, after nearly 50 years in the ministry, I am still filled with amazement and deep gratitude that the Lord deigned to choose someone so unworthy as myself for the ministry.

The Call Defined (1:7-10)

1:7-9 -“But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.”

When the Lord calls people to the ministry, He equips them with the necessary tools. God gave Jeremiah the assurance that He would deliver him from his strong enemies. Since the messenger must have the message, the Lord touched Jeremiah’s mouth and put His words in his mouth. When we preach the Word of God before people, we are ministering as the oracles of God (1 Pet. 4:11).

We should seek the Lord for the promise of Isaiah 59:21: “As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.”

Then the Lord gave His prophet Jeremiah authority over the nations. The words that he would pronounce over nations would bind them and come to pass, for both evil and good. The purpose of Jeremiah’s prophecies was to remove evil from Israel and replace it with the fruit of righteousness.

1:10 -“See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.”

The methods Jeremiah was to use in removing this evil are described by the following four phrases:

1. To root out, speaking of pulling out all the weeds that are in the ground of our hearts, such as false doctrines and the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21).

2. To pull down, speaking of bringing down the middle wall of separation between man and God (Eph. 2:14). It also refers to abolishing the enmity in our minds that comes from practicing wicked works, as seen in Colossians 1:21: “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled.”

3. To destroy, so that the enemies of God would never rise again. Not only those enemies who are external to us, but the spiritual bondages that bring us into captivity against our wills.

4. To throw down, which spiritually can refer to casting down every wicked imagination and evil thought, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:5: “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

The two phrases that follow were used to cause Israel to become fruitful again:

1. To build, which speaks of the construction of a physical building, can refer to building up the Church (Eph. 2:20 21) and building ourselves up in the most holy faith. Jude 1:20 says, “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.” Not only must we tear down and break all the bondages of sin in our lives, but we must also be built up in Christ.

2. To plant, which refers to our hearts as the garden of the Lord, planted by Him. Just as Jeremiah was told to plant, we should plant the Word of God in our hearts and in the hearts of others so that it will grow in us and bring forth the peaceable fruits of righteousness (Gal. 5:22-23, 1 Cor. 3:8-9).

The Two Signs (1:11-16)

In verses 11-16, Jeremiah was given two signs by the Lord: the rod of an almond tree (1:11-12) and the seething pot (1:13 16).

1. The Rod of an Almond Tree (1:11-12)

1:11-12- “Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.”

The Lord first gave Jeremiah a vision of an almond tree rod, which is the first tree to bud in the year. God was saying that what He would declare through Jeremiah would soon come to pass. Not only would the words of Jeremiah quickly come to pass, but also all the words that the prophets throughout Israel’s history had declared. In particular, the curses that Moses declared upon Israel, should they turn against God, were going to come to pass (Deut. 28:49).

God said He would hasten to perform it. This statement should be viewed in the context of the whole time period of Israel’s sojourn in the Land of Promise. The Lord spoke this to Jeremiah in the thirteenth year of Josiah’s reign. Josiah still had another 18 years to reign. Josiah was followed by four kings: Jehoahaz (3 months), Jehoiakim (11 years), Jehoiachin (3 months), and Zedekiah (11 years). Jehoahaz was also called Shallum and Jehoiachin was also called Jeconiah.

Even though God spoke to Jeremiah that He would hasten to judge Israel, the judgment did not take place for about another 41 years, when Jerusalem was finally destroyed in 586 B.C. Incidentally, the prophet Jeremiah would have been in his sixties when the fall of Jerusalem took place.

2. The Seething Pot (1:13-16)

1:13-14 –“And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north. Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.” This boiling pot, which is a symbol of trouble, was placed toward the north. This sign signified that Israel was going to experience some very troublous and tempestuous times, since nearly all of Israel’s enemies were located to the north.

1:15-16 –“For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah. And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.”

Then the Lord declares, in essence, that the prophecy of Moses in Deuteronomy 28:49 would come to pass. Moses declared that this judgment would come upon Israel if the children of Israel did not serve the Lord with gladness. The need to serve the Lord with a joyful heart is often expressed in Scripture (Joel 1:12). God was going to bring all the nations of the north against Jerusalem. “The kingdoms of the north” refers to Babylon and all its satellites.

Jeremiah Strengthened Against His Foes (1:17-19)

1:17 -“Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.” A prophet and minister of the Gospel is God’s voice to His people. Therefore, we must ever be faithful to deliver the whole counsel of God. Similar to His charge to Joshua (Josh. 1:5-9), God told Jeremiah not to fear the faces of those to whom he would deliver the Lord’s message. The fear of people is a snare (Prov. 29:25). If we are not faithful in delivering the pure, unadulterated and undiluted message of God, the Lord will put us to shame before His people.

1:18-19 -“For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.” God faithfully equips His servants for the work that He entrusts to their care. God said He would make Jeremiah like a pillar of iron that no one would be able to prevail against. Certainly, Jeremiah was going to experience the promise of Isaiah 54:17: “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.”

PART 2

Prophecies concerning Judah

2:1-45:5

A. The 12 Prophetic Utterances of Condemnation (2:1–25:38)

B. The Battles of Jeremiah (26:1–29:32)

C. The Future Restoration of Israel (30:1–33:26)

The 12 Prophetic Utterances of Condemnation (2:1–25:38)

In Jeremiah 2:1 to 25:38, there are 12 prophetic utterances of condemnation:

1. The Wilful Sinning of Judah (2:1–3:5)

2. Judah Will be Judged (3:6–6:30)

3. Judah’s Hypocritical Worship (7:1–10:25)

4. Judah Breaks the Covenant (11:1–12:17)

5. The Promised Restoration of Israel (13:1-27)

6. Intercession for Judah (14:1–15:21)

7. Judah’s Restoration Promised (16:1–17:27)

8. The Potter’s House (18:1–20:18)

9. Against the Kings of Judah (21:1–23:8)

10. Against the False Prophets (23:9-40)

11. The Baskets of Figs (24:1-10)

12. The Seventy-Year Captivity (25:1-38)

The First Prophetic Utterance – The Wilful Sinning of Judah (2:1–3:5)

In Jeremiah 2:1 to Jeremiah 3:5, we see the first of 12 prophetic utterances against Judah. The first prophetic utterance speaks of the wilful sinning of Judah.

The Love of Israel’s Espousals (2:1-4)

2:1-4 -“Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD. Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.”

The Lord soliloquises reminiscently concerning Israel’s initial relationship with Him when they journeyed through the wilderness under Moses toward the Promised Land. They were a holy people and all who attacked them touched the apple of His eye. Israel sought the Lord’s presence, even as a young bride ever desires her bridegroom’s company. Sadly, the Israelites failed to keep their first love.

It is so important, dear ones, that we always nourish and rekindle the love of our espousals with our spouses. So many marriages have fallen apart because of a lack of love. So many couples fall in love and get married, but then fall out of love because they do not nurture their love for one another. Invest in your marriage and you will reap the countless benefits.

We see in Revelation 2:4 that the believers of the Ephesian Church were severely rebuked by the Lord because they had left Him and had neglected their first love. How we need to cry out to the Lord, even as King David did, “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation” (Ps. 51:12). Joy flows from a heart of love. Let us ever rejoice greatly in our dear and beloved Lord so that we have an ever-increasing love relationship with Him.

Israel Forsook the Lord (2:5-8)

2:5-7 -“Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain? Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt? And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.”

Israel forsook the Lord. The children of Israel no longer sought the Lord as in the times of the wilderness journey. They did not rehearse all of those wonderful events when the elders gathered at the gates of the cities.

2:8 -“The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.” The ministers in Jeremiah’s time did not know the Lord in a personal way. They had not personally experienced His salvation. The priests did not know the Lord; the pastors did not walk uprightly; and the prophets were under deluding spirits. Such is the fate of the church that loses its first love for the Lord.

How true this is of denominations and fellowships throughout Church history that were started by revival fires. Only a few years after their founder died, they reverted to religious professionalism, with their ministers so often not knowing the Lord personally. Just 16 years after the death of John Wesley, the Methodist movement was forbidding open-air meetings—a prime means of all the Wesleyan revivals. For that reason, the Primitive Methodists rose up to bring the movement back to its original goals.

We see this same problem in the New Testament Church. The Lord rebuked the Ephesian Church, which had experienced great revival, because they had left their first love (Rev. 2:4). We must always remember that the Lord desires us to have an intimate relationship with Him more than He desires to use us in the ministry. Our first calling is to love Him with all our hearts.

The Lord Pleads with Three Generations (2:9-13)

2:9-12 -“Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children’s children will I plead. For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing. Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.”

The Lord invited the Israelites to go over the sea to the heathen island of Cyprus and to the wilderness of Kedar. Kedar, the second son of Ishmael, was Abraham’s grandson (Gen. 25:13, 1 Chr. 1:29). It is believed that the nomadic descendants of Kedar lived east of Egypt and south of Israel (Gen. 25:18). God challenged this generation of Israelites to observe that the heathen people did not change their gods. Yet Israel had not remained faithful to the one and only true God, Jehovah.

The Fountain of Living Waters

2:13 -“For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”  This is one of the key verses in the book of Jeremiah. Here the Lord speaks of the two principal evils or sins that the Israelites had committed. First of all, they had forsaken the Lord, who is the Fountain of Living Waters. Secondly, they had turned to cisterns or substitutes for the Fountain of Living Waters. However, these man-made cisterns were broken and could not hold any water. In essence, the Lord is saying that these “broken cisterns,” which were substitutes for Him, could not satisfy them.

Although Israel had many naturally occurring fountains and springs, many Israelites built cisterns so that they would have water during times of drought. However, these cisterns were relatively fragile and could easily break in that earthquake-prone region of the world.  This is a lesson for all of us. Many people reject Christ, “the Fountain of Living Waters” who alone can satisfy, and search for satisfaction in basically four pursuits:

1. Human love – The pursuit of human love is epitomised by the woman at the well who had been married to five husbands and was currently living with a man who was not her husband (Jn. 4:16-18). She was seeking satisfaction from human love, but never found it until she met Jesus. Only the love of Christ can fulfil us.

2. Sport – Proverbs 21:17 says, “He that loveth pleasure [or sport] shall be a poor man.” Those who play professional sports are among the highest paid of all professions. Why? Because they absorb the time and thoughts of multitudes of people and take them away from the pursuit of God.

Sporting events on Sundays keep many people out of church. It is no coincidence that they are on Sundays either; it is all a part of Satan’s plan to draw people away from the Lord. Many of the greatest sports heroes of all time ended their lives in complete misery and solitude. Why? Because sport cannot satisfy the innermost needs of our heart.

When I was a young man, I played semi-professional soccer in England. One day while I was watching a soccer match, sitting in the midst of thousands of fans, the Lord spoke to me, “What are you doing here?” The Lord made it very clear to me that I had to quit playing semi-professional soccer if I wanted to fulfil His calling upon my life.

3. Money – Ecclesiastes 5:10 says, “He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver.” In fact, the love of money is the root of all evil (1 Tim. 6:10). Many people spend their whole lives trying to become wealthy. When they finally become rich, they realise that they are miserable, because money cannot satisfy us.

4. Power or position – Many people think that power or a certain position will make them happy, but these cannot satisfy us either. Consider the parable of Jotham in Judges 9. In this parable, there were four trees: the olive tree, the fig tree, the vine, and the bramble. Three of the trees bore fruit: the olive tree, the fig tree, and the vine. Only the bramble that did not bear fruit was willing to be made ruler. Why? Simply because the others would have had to forsake all their fatness, sweetness, and joy to be placed in the position of power.

Human love, sports, money, and power can never satisfy the deepest desires and longing of our heart. Only Christ—who is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, and power (1 Cor. 1:24, 30)—can satisfy our souls. I think most people strive for at least one of these four things, if not all four, during their lifetime.

King Solomon, who tried everything under the sun, declared at the end of his life that all of these worldly pursuits are “vanity.” Solomon, who early in his life had an intimate relationship with the Lord, stopped drinking from the Fountain of Living Waters and turned to “broken cisterns” that could not satisfy him. He tried to find satisfaction in human love, having at one time 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Ki. 11:3), but not even the love of 1,000 women could satisfy him.

He became the wealthiest man of his time (2 Chr. 9:22), he had great power, and held the highest position in Israel. And yet none of these things ever satisfied him because he had forsaken the Lord. Solomon had left his first love and the things of this life could not replace the Lord. You see, there are no substitutes for the Lord that can satisfy us. They are all “broken cisterns.” Therefore, let us learn from the tragic life of Solomon that human love, sports, money, and power and position cannot satisfy us. May we always drink only from the Fountain of Living Waters—the Lord Jesus Christ.

Another important lesson here regarding the broken cisterns, which the Israelites used to store rain water, is that we cannot store up former blessings and we cannot live on yesterday’s experience. In the wilderness, the Lord gave the children of Israel clear instructions that they were not to keep yesterday’s manna, which was sent from heaven. Why? Because we have to eat something fresh every day. This is especially true in our Christian lives. We cannot live on yesterday’s experience with God. Some people are “camp meeting Christians.” In other words, they meet with God at a seminar or a camp meeting and they renew their commitment to Christ, but then they go several months without meeting with God until the next seminar or special crusade. We need to drink from the Fountain of Living Waters each and every day, beloved!

Israel Is Leading the Life of a Slave (2:14-19)

2:14 -“Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled?” Israel is the Lord’s firstborn. The Lord said to Pharaoh in Exodus 4:22-23: “... Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, ‘Let my son go, so he may worship me.’ But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son” (NIV). Why was Israel, God’s firstborn, spoiled by the invasion of heathen nations? Because of the Israelites’ disobedience.

2:15 -“The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant.” The “young lions” represent the Assyrians who invaded Israel and wasted the land, taking the northern ten tribes into captivity. The Israelites brought all of this judgment upon themselves by their terrible wickedness and disobedience to God.

2:16-17 -“Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head. Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way?” Noph and Tahapanes are the two former capitals of Egypt. Noph, a Hebrew word, is actually the city of Memphis (Isa. 19:13; Jer. 2:16, 44:1; Ezek. 30:13, 16).

Memphis was the ancient capital of Egypt located south of modern-day Cairo on the western bank of the Nile. There remains little, architecturally, to attest to the glory and grandeur once enjoyed by the city. As the Moslems began to build Cairo, they raided the buildings of Memphis for material, even dismantling the temple of Ptah, which probably was the largest and most opulent structure in the city.

Tahapanes was a city in the Nile Delta on the eastern border of Egypt (Jer. 2:16). This city has been identified with Daphnai. Thus Noph (Memphis) was the capital of the ancient lower (northern) Egypt while Tahapanes was the Egyptian border fortress about 27 miles south of modern Port Said.

Verse 16 states that “the children of Noph and Tahapanes,” in other words, the Egyptians, “have broken the crown” of Israel’s head. The NIV version says, “Also, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have shaved the crown of your head.” Figuratively speaking, the Egyptians shaved (or closely cropped) Israel’s head. This can refer to the invasion by Shishak during the reign of Rehoboam or the invasion by Pharaoh Necho during the reign of Josiah, who was slain by Necho at Megiddo.

We must remember that Jeremiah is not written chronologically. Certainly, both kings shamed Israel by “shaving its hair.” Israel was dominated by Pharaoh Necho, who killed Josiah and then made Josiah’s son Shallum (renamed Jehoahaz) king of Judah. Necho later replaced Jehoahaz with Eliakim (renamed Jehoiakim). Thus to a certain extent we could say that the Egyptians had indeed broken the head that bore the crown of Israel.

2:18 -“And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?” God asks the Israelites why they were drinking from the waters of the Egyptians and the Assyrians. In essence, He was asking them why they were turning to heathen nations for help when they should have turned to Almighty God for help. Sihor, also called Shihor, means “pool of a god.” The waters of Sihor formed the border of land of Israel (Josh. 13:3). It can also refer to a branch of the Nile River inside Egypt.

The Israelites were looking to the Assyrians for help just as they had in the past under Ahaz, king of Judah, instead of turning to the Lord. Still, as in the time of Ahaz, the Assyrian alliance only brought harm to Judah, becoming a bitter experience for them. Second Chronicles 28:20-21 says: “Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came to him, but he gave him trouble instead of help. Ahaz took some of the things from the temple of the LORD and from the royal palace and from the princes and presented them to the king of Assyria, but that did not help him” (NIV).

So often, if we turn to the world for help instead of to the Lord, we have only sorrowful experiences and end up in a far worse condition than before. Let us learn from Israel’s mistakes and always look to the Lord for help.

2:19 -“Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.” Why did Israel forsake the Lord? One reason is that they had lost the fear of the Lord. They no longer feared God. Consequently, they turned against Him and did not fear any retribution. Proverbs 8:13 says, “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil ...” It is the fear of God that keeps us from sinning.

Israel’s Yoke of Bondage (2:20-25)

2:20 -“For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.” The Lord now reminds Israel that He has in times past broken the yokes and bondages of foreign powers that ruled over Israel because of the Israelites’ disobedience. Mercifully, when Israel repented, God delivered His people. Yet upon each occasion, though they professed love for Him, they quickly returned to their old sinful ways like a dog that returns to its vomit (2 Pet. 2:22).

2:21-22 -“Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD.” The Lord asks Israel what went wrong. God planted Israel as a noble vine, as a right seed (Ps. 80:8-15), but then it degenerated into a strange, corrupt vine that produced sour grapes. Israel should have produced good fruit, but did not because of disobedience. Israel’s sin was marked before the Lord.

2:23-25- “How canst thou say, ‘I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim?’  see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways; A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her. Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, ‘There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.’”

God brings to remembrance His people’s idolatry and witchcraft in worshipping Baalim. “Baalim” is the Hebrew plural of “Baal.” He likens Israel to a dromedary (female camel) being unfaithful to its companion at mating time. He also likens Israel to a wild ass that has not known the restraining yoke of a master and therefore goes headstrong in her own ways. Thus, Israel, looking at her past, concludes that there is no hope for her in the Lord because she has been unfaithful to Him, following heathen nations and strange gods.

Idolatrous Israel Rebuked (2:26-37)

2:26-30 -“As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us. But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah. Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the LORD. In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.”

Like a thief who is caught stealing, the Israelites were ashamed when the Lord reprimanded them. They had abased themselves by calling a block of wood their father and a stone their mother. The Lord challenges them to call upon these gods in the time of trouble to see if they can save them. God chastised their children (referring to past invasions by the Assyrians), but unfortunately they did not learn their lesson.

Moreover, the Israelites killed the prophets that God sent to them with their own swords. This could refer to Isaiah, who was slain by Manasseh, as well as the prophet Zechariah who was killed by Joash. King Joash forgot all the kindness shown to him by Zechariah’s father, Jehoiada the priest, and ordered his men to stone Zechariah (2 Chr. 24:20-21).

2:31 -“O generation, see ye the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, We are lords; we will come no more unto thee?” Once again the Lord pleads with His people, asking them if He has been darkness to them and a wilderness instead of being like a very fruitful field that supplied all of their needs in abundance.

The Israelites, in their self-sufficiency, were saying that they were lords and had no need to bow down or come to the only true Lord for help. Sadly, when God in His graciousness blesses His people, they often feel that it is by their own wisdom that they have achieved their successes and do not give the Lord the credit He deserves.

2:32-34 -“Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number. Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways. Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these.”

Using the illustration of women who are attached to their clothes, the Lord asks, “Can a woman forget what is in her wardrobe?” Never! Yet sadly, the children of Israel had forgotten the Lord throughout the years. The Lord then indicts Israel for her wickedness. His people committed fornication and adultery, including spiritual adultery by worshipping and loving other gods. Even the worst of women could learn additional wickedness from Israel. Furthermore, they had killed the innocent.

2:35 -“Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned.” However, in spite of all their sins, the children of Israel were claiming that they had done nothing wrong. They were blind to their sin. Proverbs 30:12 accurately describes the spiritual condition of Israel at this time: “There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.”

2:36-37 -“Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria. Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head: for the LORD hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them.” Therefore, the Lord will plead with them to show them how wicked they are. God warns them that they continually show their instability and unfaithfulness by changing their minds about which nations they hold in high regard. He says that even as Assyria refused to help them in the time of Ahaz, Egypt will not help them either at this time.

This could possibly refer to the reign of Jehoiakim, when Babylon was Israel’s principal enemy. However, Holy Scripture does not give clear historical evidence in this matter. Thus the Lord is saying that instead of being succoured by the Egyptians, they will become their prisoners. Their hands would be tied above their heads by the Egyptians, which, according to tradition, was a practice of both the Assyrians and the Egyptians.

Israel’s Harlotry (3:1-5)

The theme of God’s complaint is that Israel had committed adultery with many lovers. Jeremiah chapter 3 begins with a quotation from Deuteronomy 24:1-4: “If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man, and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies, then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the LORD. Do not bring sin upon the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance” (NIV).

3:1 -“They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.”

A divorced woman who remarried could not divorce her second husband and return to her first husband, for in so doing she would render the whole land unclean. Yet God invites unfaithful Israel to return unto Him. How reminiscent this is of the pathos of the life of Hosea, who was commanded by God to take back his adulterous wife.

3:2 -“Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.” There were idols on top of every hill and mountain in Israel called the “high places.” The land was filled with idols and idol worship and also immorality. The Lord likens His people to the Arabians who assemble in bands waiting to pounce upon those who pass by. In a similar fashion, the adulterous Israelites were always poised to commit their heinous sins. Certainly, the land had been defiled by their sins.

Even today, many cities and countries are governed by idols that are placed in a place of prominence, like on a hill or mountain, so everyone can see them and worship them. Idols are the habitation of evil spirits, and these spirits govern those who inhabit the cities, towns, and villages that they overlook. People who worship idols come under religious bondage and often take upon themselves the nature of the evil spirit that inhabits the idol they worship. It is for this reason that Josiah the faithful king went throughout his kingdom and broke in pieces all the idols in the land that had been erected during the reign of King Manasseh.

3:3 - “Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore’s forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.” God said that He would withhold the showers of rain and the latter rain that were so essential for Israel, an agricultural nation, to exist and prosper. We should remember in our days that the Lord controls the weather, which He often uses to plead with sinful nations. Unfortunately, just like a prostitute, Israel had no shame. Proverbs 30:20 says, “This is the way of an adulteress: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong’” (NIV).

3:4 –“Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?” Nevertheless, remembering that Israel is God’s firstborn, the Heavenly Father continually desires to have a father-son relationship with Israel. God wanted Israel to return to Him, just like a son returns to his father whom he loves. This is something that the Word of God constantly emphasises—the Lord created us to love Him. He wants to have a loving relationship with us. Therefore, let us never substitute the Lord with anything in our lives, including the ministry or our families. God must always come first in our lives!

3:5 -“Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.” Israel was looking to the past. They were hoping that because they called upon God as their Father in the past, that He would remember those days and not be angry with them. However, their wicked ways were such that His anger could not be turned away from them. Let us be warned that we can cross a line from whence there is no turning back—only a certain fearful judgment.

The Second Prophetic Utterance – Judah Will Be Judged (3:6–6:30)

We now come to the Second Prophetic Utterance found in Jeremiah 3:6 to 6:30. It speaks of the judgment that was going to come upon Judah.

Backsliding Israel and Treacherous Judah (3:6-11)

3:6-11 - “The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot. And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD. And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.”

As occurs somewhat frequently in Jeremiah, we are told when the word of the Lord came to the prophet. In this case it was early in the prophet’s ministry during the reign of Josiah. The Lord likens Israel and Judah to two sisters. One (Israel) had done wickedly and had been openly punished by being deported to other nations. The other (Judah), in spite of seeing the judgments of God upon her sister (Israel), did not hearken to God’s warnings. Instead, she continued in her wicked ways, albeit giving lip service to God. Because of this, God says that backsliding Israel is more justified than her treacherous sister Judah.

Israel Is Offered Restoration (3:12-15)

3:12-14 -“Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion.”

God told Jeremiah to proclaim the message of repentance toward the north—to Israel in their captivity. Israel was taken into captivity among the northern nations after the fall of Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom, in 722 B.C. God’s condition was that Israel had to acknowledge her sinful past when she committed idolatry and adultery under all the trees of the land.

Israel was taken into captivity because the Israelites refused to obey the voice of the Lord, but the Lord pleads with them to come back to Him. If they will return to Him, God promises to take one from each of their cities and two of them from a clan and bring them to Mount Zion.

Here we see the tremendous privilege and value that the Lord places upon going to Zion. The qualifications are such that only a very few will qualify. The privilege of abiding in spiritual Zion is also held out to believers in the Church Age (Heb. 12:22). Thus, we need to walk in humility that we may, by His grace, be counted worthy to ascend unto the Lord’s holy hill (see Psalm 15 and 24).