The Major Prophets: Jeremiah Part 2 "Obedient in Suffering, Faithful to the End"

During the death throes of Judah, a small remnant of Yahweh remained in Jerusalem. Most of the people of Jerusalem had been taken captive and deported to Babylon in the first two attacks of the rising Babylonian empire along with Ezekiel and Daniel. The remnant of believers that remained in the city included Jeremiah, and his scribe Baruch. As we learned in Part 1, Jeremiah was committed to Yahweh and unwavering in his mission! How strong his faith must have been! His calling as a prophet in these days was not easy. Oh, how he suffered for the truth over and over!

In Part 2, we watch Jeremiah continue to speak the voice of the Lord, even as the city of Jerusalem is destroyed around him. In a sense, he was definitely on the front lines! He and Baruch were like anointed war correspondents. What happens next to Jeremiah? Don't miss the end of his incredible story! Thank you, once again, to Rachelle Ann Shader, my daughter in law, for reading Hannah. Remember, Hannah is a fictional character, the sister of Jeremiah. But the rest of the characters are very real! Click Here for the notes for this lesson!

Scriptures: Jeremiah 31-46

Questions:

1. What new thing did you learn about Jeremiah from watching this lesson? Why do you think this book of the Bible is rarely taught?

2. Brainstorm a list of the character traits Jeremiah possessed. How is he a character that we can emulate in a time of trouble?

3. How did the remnant with Jeremiah focus on the goodness of God instead of giving way to fear? How can we?

4. Why do you think God left Jeremiah in Judah instead of taking him to Babylon like the others?

5. The people finally came to Jeremiah for help from Yahweh. But they really did not want to hear his answer. Have you ever seen this happen in your life today?

6. Jeremiah's final prophecy was met with the words, "We will not listen to you." We have also been "turned off" by our culture today. Why do you think they had become so hard hearted toward God? Why won't people listen to us today?

7. What is your biggest take away from studying Jeremiah?

Don't miss this excellent 5 minute video about the final fall of Jerusalem. (Jehucal)

Watch this short clip of the discovery of the seal of Gemaryahu, the son of Shaphan the scribe during the time of Jeremiah.

Here is a 4 minute clip from the bible movie, Jeremiah!

(Text of the Video)

Jeremiah, Part 2

Because we knew the end was near, the last 11 years in Judah under King Zedekiah were difficult. It was 597 BC. Jeremiah had prophesied the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem. The Babylonians were coming back, and the city would be totally destroyed. Yet, we knew that God still loved us. At that time, I did not want to leave my brother, Jeremiah, so I decided to let go and simply trust Yahweh for my life. My name is Hannah, which means “favored.” God had assured us that his thoughts toward us, his true followers, were for good and not for evil, to give us a future and a hope. Many of us knew we needed to surrender to Babylon when the opportunity came again. But how? And when? The army of Judah had the city locked down. The gates were shut. The army of Babylon was coming! How could we possibly keep our minds upon the goodness of God and not give way to fear?

God instructed Jeremiah at this point to be careful to record all of the words he had prophesied so far, and write them in a book! Comforting news, since this was a sign that we truly would return to the land in seventy years! From this time forward, God began to reveal to Jeremiah more and more about Israel’s bright future. There was so much! In the last days, God would multiply us, and not diminish us. There would be a great tribulation, a “Time of Jacob’s Trouble,” but we would be saved out

of it! He would make a new covenant with us! Every one of us would know the Lord… and he would remove all of our sin from us. What a glorious thought! His law would be written in our minds and on our hearts! (31:31-34) We would have a coming Messiah, and he will sit on David’s throne, ruling us in peace! It was almost too much to comprehend. Daily, we focused on the promises of God given to Jeremiah, and the other prophets, too.

Even though Jeremiah prophesied that an attack from the Chaldeans was imminent, God instructed him to redeem, or purchase back, a family property located in Anathoth, in Benjamin! Everyone thought he was crazy! But God was demonstrating, once again, with actions, and not with words, that he intended for our families to return here. Outside the city walls of Jerusalem, the Chaldeans were building a siege mound. They had Jerusalem surrounded. Even then, no one gave heed to Jeremiah’s words. They were lulled into thinking that the Egyptians would come and save them! At first, an army from Egypt did make an attempt to help, but they retreated, and once again the Chaldeans had us surrounded. During this break in the battle, Jeremiah wanted to go see the land he had purchased. I warned him not to go… but it was too late! Jeremiah was arrested by the captain of the guard! They accused him of defecting!

Jeremiah was beaten and put in the dungeon. The princes of Judah, who really held the power, were demanding that he be put to death. Oh how the few of us that were left in Jerusalem prayed for him! Gedaliah, a family friend of ours, had graciously taken me into his household and we all cried out to Yahweh. Amazingly, King Zedekiah secretly had Jeremiah brought to him and had him returned to the court of the prison, instead of the dungeon. He commanded the guards to give him one piece of bread every day, until the bread in the city was gone. But the conniving princes arrested Jeremiah a second time. This time, they were allowed to do with Jeremiah as they wished. The princes lowered him by a rope down into a miry cistern. They intended to take his life. But Praise Be to God! Yahweh had his almighty hand on Jeremiah. The Ethiopian eunuch of King Zedekiah, Ebed Melech, was a secret Yahweh follower! He revealed the plot of the princes to the king, and once again, Jeremiah was saved! (Jeremiah 37-38)

King Zedekiah, a weak and fearful man, was truly no match for the evil princes under him. Time and again he would secretly call for Jeremiah, but the timid king never really listened to a word Jeremiah said. Two years after the Chaldeans began the final siege of Jerusalem, they penetrated the city (39:1-2). By then, many of the people had died of starvation or disease. There was not a morsel of food left in the city. We watched the gruesome sight of mothers and fathers eating their children, and then dying themselves. Thankfully, Gedaliah had stored up enough food for the siege, and while we were often hungry, we were not starving either. The rest of the inhabitants who had not surrendered previously, were killed by the army, or taken into captivity.

In the midst of the hysteria, King Zedekiah and his men of war tried to escape by night, by the way of the King’s garden. They made it as far as Jericho, but were captured by the Chaldeans and taken to King Nebuchadnesser in Riblah, at our Northern border. I did not see it myself, but I heard later, that Zedekiah’s sons were killed before his eyes, and then, the Chaldeans blinded him and took him to Babylon. If he had only listened to Yahweh! Back in Jerusalem, the homes and buildings were being set on fire and the walls broken down. I watched as they took the bronze pillars and the carts, and any remaining utensils or vessels found in the temple before they destroyed it. We feared for our own lives, and the life of my brother Jeremiah. I had no news of our other brothers and their wives, either.

Because of his letters to the survivors in Babylon, Chaldean spies, and the goodness of Yahweh, King Nebuchadnezzer had heard of Jeremiah. He knew Jeremiah had warned King Zedekiah and the royal court that the king of Babylon was Yahweh’s agent to punish His people. He also knew that Jeremiah had told the people to put themselves “under King Nebuchadnezzar's yoke.” We heard later that he gave orders to Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, to look after Jeremiah when they entered Jerusalem and do him no harm! So, miraculously, Jeremiah was freed from the court of the prison, and, guess what? He released him to Gedaliah, the son of Shaphan, that he should take him home! To me! To us! And do you remember the Ethiopian that helped save Jeremiah? Yahweh protected him, too! Because he trusted in Yahweh! (39:16-18)

So, in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, in 586 BC, the city was taken. The Chaldeans burned the king’s house and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. Most of the remaining people had died of starvation, disease or the sword. Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried away captive to Babylon the remnant of the people who survived the attack and those who had defected to him.

However, the Babylonians decided to allow a few of the poorest people, along with Gedaliah and his household to remain in the land. Nebuzaradan had chosen Gedaliah to stay on as governor, so Jeremiah, Baruch and I decided to stay in the land as well. He set up a new “capital” of the now Babylonian-controlled province in Mizpah. Jerusalem was gone. Gradually, more and more of the people of Israel who had fled to Moab, Ammon, and Edom, for safety, began to return and settle under the leadership of Gedaliah. He assured them that if they would submit to the rule of the Babylonians, they would be safe. They were welcome to harvest the abandoned fields of their brothers, and they moved into the houses and farms that were now deserted.

Things appeared to be calmer now, peaceful, in a sense, as we mourned the loss of so much--our brethren, our great city, our temple, and most importantly the presence and favor of our great God. Jeremiah, Baruch and I returned to Anathoth, to our lands, and my brother wrote on a scroll his Lamentations over the death of Judah and Jerusalem. His heart, and God’s heart were broken.

Yet, the appearance of rest and safety was now fleeing… Now that most of the Chaldeans had returned to Babylon, bands of local raiders were on the rise. Johanan and all the captains of our meager makeshift forces had learned that the king of Ammon had hired a man named Ishmael, of the royal line of Judah, to murder Gedaliah! But our dear friend Gedaliah, refused to believe it. He was a good man, a trusting man, but not a shrewd one. He foolishly met with Ishmael and his men when they arrived in Mizpah. While breaking bread together, the unthinkable happened. Ismael and his men struck Gedaliah with the sword, killing him and the rest of the Jewish and Chaldean guards in Mizpah who were the men of war. He took captive the civilians found in Mizpah, including King Zedekiah’s daughters and planned to return to Ammon.

In the meantime, when Johanan heard of the evil that Ismael had done, he gathered the remaining captains of the fighting men, and rallied a force to retrieve the captives. They caught up to Ismael near the pool of Gibeon, and although Ismael and eight others escaped to Ammon, they were able to free the women, children and eunuchs whom Ismael had captured. At that time, Johanan and his men became fearful of the Chaldeans and did not know where to turn. Where should they take all these people? What should they do?

Johanan and his men escorted the group of the remnant of Judah to a small town near Bethlehem. Then he went looking for Jeremiah. Isn’t it interesting how people seek Yahweh, when all else fails? They were completely undone. What would the Chaldeans do when they found out that Gedaliah had been murdered? Johanan formed a plan to escape to Egypt, but wanted Yahweh to confirm his plans, and help to convince the small remnant that was left that Egypt was their only alternative. They found us-- Jeremiah, Baruch, and I, and came to us with a request. ‘ Please pray for us! Pray that the Lord, your God, may show us the way in which we should walk and the thing we should do.” On the surface this seemed like a wonderful prayer, one that we all should continually pray. 42:3 I looked over at my brother and wondered what was going through his mind. His face reflected his disbelief, but he agreed to pray for them. His eyebrows went even higher when they pledged to obey the voice of the Lord, whatever he told them to do.

Ten days went by without a word from the Lord. Finally, Jeremiah called Johanan, the other captains of the forces, and all the remnant of the people to reveal God’s answer. But he gave them an answer they did not want to hear. In reality, they had already made up their own minds what they were going to do, just like Jeremiah thought. Yahweh told them, “Stay in the land. No matter what happens, I will protect you here. But if you go to Egypt, all that you fear here, will follow you there. You will die there of the sword, famine and pestilence.” 42:17.

Jeremiah also added his two cents worth… I imagine he had been through too much to hold back now. “Do not go to Egypt! Jeremiah yelled. You are hypocrites! You did not listen to the words of the Lord before, and you have no intention to obey them now! Know for certain, you will die in Egypt!

My brother was never one to hold anything back that the Lord wanted him to say, and I could see we were in trouble again. Johanan and some of the other leaders immediately accused Jeremiah of lying! And even worse, they accused him of devising a plot with Baruch to turn them over to the Chaldeans! They forced us, along with all the others, to go to Egypt. The very place God told them NOT to go! They took men, women and children, the king’s daughters… all of the Israelites that had returned to Judah from the neighboring countries, including Jeremiah, Baruch, and myself, and led us back to Egypt. How ironic. Back to the very country Moses had delivered us from. Nothing good could come out of this. We settled in Tahpanhes.

Jeremiah was not done yet, speaking for the Lord. Yahweh asked him to gather some large stones. He was to hide them in the sight of the men of Judah, in the clay in the brick courtyard which is at the entrance to Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes. 43:9 Then he was to say to them, “Thus says the Lord, Nebuchadnezzer is coming to Egypt! He is my servant, and I will set his throne over these stones! He will spread his royal pavilion over them. And when he comes, he will deliver to death, those appointed for death, and take some into captivity.” Again, Jeremiah was scorned and ignored, but Baruch and I knew the truth.

After a period of time living in Egypt, the small contingent of Israelites from Judah settled in to daily life. But Yahweh was angry. They had disobeyed his voice and disregarded his plan--his plan to leave a remnant in Judah. Because of their willfulness, they had removed man and woman, child and infant out of Judah, leaving none to remain. They had even taken Jeremiah, Baruch, myself and the others with them. Further, they continued to provoke (44:7-8) Yahweh to wrath with the works of their hands, by burning incense to other Gods. When he challenged them, they claimed that when they had worshipped the Queen of Heaven back in Jerusalem things had gone well for them. They had food, they had prosperity! But when they stopped, the hard time began in Jerusalem. Their hardened hearts toward Yahweh had blinded their eyes and reason. They were no longer able to think clearly or perceive the truth.

Jeremiah’s final words to the remnant of Judah now living in Egypt spoke of Yahweh’s final heartache. “Behold, I have sworn by My great name, says the Lord, that My name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt… I will watch over them for adversity and not for good. A few of you, those who still love me, who lift up their soul to me, I am going to allow to return to escape to Judah. The rest of you I will punish in this place. I am bringing the pestilence, the sword, and famine until there is an end to you. And just so you know I am God, I am telling you this ahead of time. I am giving Pharoah Hopra, king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies. Just like I gave King Zedekiah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzer, so I will give Pharoah over to the Babylonians to death.

Their sad response to Yahweh’s final words to Jeremiah and to him were these. “We will not listen to you.”

By now, Jeremiah’s health and stamina were beginning to fade. It was not long after that that Yahweh took him home. But not in a way I would have chosen. He was stoned to death by his own people. Yahweh’s mercy and grace allowed his mission on this earth to be completed.

Baruch, who had been told years ago that Yahweh would preserve his life, a few others, and myself, carefully gathered up all the words that my brother had written. We slipped out into the night, following the voice of Yahweh leading us back to the land of Judah with the precious scrolls.Jeremiah’s words from God most high were ringing in our ears, “ Do not fear, my servant Jacob. For behold, I will save you from afar, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return, have rest and be at ease. For I am with you…” Jeremiah 46:27-28

When we arrived in Anathoth, Baruch and I were careful to compile all of Jeremiah’s scrolls and seal them in an earthen vessel. We also made copies of them and sent them off to Ezekiel and Daniel in Babylon. The precious words of Yahweh, now in an earthen vessel waiting for the return of the exiles, would one day be written in our minds and our hearts. In the meantime, we rested with our fathers, knowing that God had given us a future and a hope.