In Jeremiah 38, we talked about how doing the right thing sometimes leads to punishment. But what about the people doing the punishing? When Babylon destroys our city or we get thrown into a cistern of mud, what happens to the guys doing the destroying or throwing? Will the bad guys get what’s coming to them? And, is it okay to want that to happen?
15 Jeremiah 38:1-13 Why do I get punished for doing the right thing?
Sometimes we despair over our sinfulness and turn the Lord for mercy (Psalm 130). But other times, we do the right thing and are punished for it. That’s the situation we find in Jeremiah 38:1-13. Jeremiah has spoken the message that the Lord asked him to speak and others are seeking to kill him for it.
Jeremiah in the New Testament
Quotations and allusions to the Old Testament book of Jeremiah found in the New Testament.
14 Jeremiah 36:1-32 What’s so special about the Bible?
You don’t pick up a cookbook looking for the same things you would find in history textbook or vice versa. You expect a different kind of experience from a “beach read” and a suspense-thriller or from a travel guide and a self-help book. What do you expect from the Bible? What kind of book do you think it is? What do you hope to gain from reading it? Jeremiah 36:1-32 records a story about Scripture and reveals part of the process of how it was written down. In looking at why God instructs Jeremiah to write down His words, we’re going to answer, “What’s so special about the Bible?”
13 Jeremiah 32:1-15 Is hope for real?
With the Babylonian army threatening their border, Jerusalem was a place with little to no hope. How could that hope be for real? To teach His people that hope is real, the Lord told Jeremiah to do something crazy. In fact it was perhaps the most ridiculous move anyone could take – unless hope is true.
12 Jeremiah 31:31-34 What good is faith?
Jeremiah warns the people of Judah that God is about to let the Babylonians conquer Jerusalem and deport them because they have disobeyed God. That raises the question, “If God really is going to let our city be destroyed and send us into exile, what good is believing in Him? What good is faith?” In Jeremiah 31:31-34, God tells Jeremiah to reveal more about His plan and show His people where faith will eventually lead them.
11 Jeremiah 29:1-14 What’s there to do in Babylon?
Jeremiah 29:1-14 is addressed to people from Jerusalem who have already been deported to Babylon but before Jerusalem itself has been completely destroyed. These people want to escape. They want the exile to end and they want to get back home. Jeremiah writes the letter in this chapter to set them straight. Surprisingly, he doesn’t tell them how to escape; instead he tells them how to endure. What do we do while we await the not-yet? What’s there to do in Babylon?
10 Jeremiah 23:9-33 Who should we listen to?
We live in a world of a million conflicting voices today. You can be constantly updated with tweets, texts, alerts and notifications. Which voice has authority? Which voice can be trusted? In Jeremiah 23:9-33, God addresses this issue of these different voices, criticizing those prophets who claim to speak for Him, but really don’t. In 23:1-8, the Lord called out Judah ’s political leaders; in this section He calls out her spiritual leaders.
09 Jeremiah 23:1-8 Who will help us out of this mess?
Today’s leaders promise hope and change only to deliver corruption and scandal. We elect bright promising outsiders who go to Washington and immediately become insiders. They cease fighting for the ideals they promised in the campaign and start fighting to keep themselves in power. Who can make things right? Who will help us out of this mess?
Jeremiah: Questions Jeremiah Answered
The book of Jeremiah is about both political and personal crisis. Part of the message which the Lord told Jeremiah to deliver to the nation of Judah was that they were headed for the kind of disaster that no Israelite would ever believe God could allow to happen to His chosen people. And yet another part of the message God gave Jeremiah was that God was working in the midst of this unthinkable disaster to accomplish something wonderful.
