Today’s passage: Jeremiah 32:1-44

Helpful thoughts:

• Jeremiah was arrested by the king of Judah for prophesying the truth.  The good news of the false prophets was preferred.
• Verses 16-25 contain Jeremiah’s appeal and question, the rest of the chapter contains God’s response.
  • Jeremiah knew what was coming and wondered why he should buy the field.
  • The purchase served as a picture of God’s fulfilled promises to come.
• God’s heart for His people will result in their repentance.  This is His gift to His people.
  • He will do it with all His heart and soul! (Verse 41)

Questions to consider:

1. When did Jeremiah obey God’s command, before or after he got the explanation?  Why was it right for Jeremiah to obey in this way?  What do we know about God that makes obeying Him entirely logical?
2. What do we learn about the love of God in this chapter?  What was His response to the sins of Judah?  What is His desire for His children?  What does He intend to do about it?
3. How do these truths about God’s heart for Israel help us to grow in our understanding of the fear of God?  How can God’s grace encourage us all the more to pursue holiness?

Today’s passage: Jeremiah 31:31-40

Helpful thoughts:

• Here are some New Testament scriptures to look up for more information on the New Covenant:
  • Romans 11:1-27
  • Luke 22:20
  • 1 Corinthians 11:25
  • Hebrews 8:7-13, 9:15, 10:14-17, 12:24, 13:20
• In order for man to follow God fully, we need a “heart” transplant.  God promises this to us in verse 33.  We will know the truth, no more confusion.  We will always want to do what is right.
• Verses 38-40 describe the still future city limits of Jerusalem.

Questions to consider:

1. What did man do with the old covenant?  If it were up to man’s performance, what would we do with any new covenants?  Upon whom is the burden placed to uphold the New Covenant?  How will He do it?
2. In what way(s) are we already enjoying the benefits of the New Covenant?  In what way(s) is the New Covenant yet to be enjoyed to its full extent?
3. How does thinking about that day when God makes everything right help us to persevere and grow in the here and now?  What kind of perspective can it give us?

Today’s passage: Jeremiah 31:1-30

Helpful thoughts:

• The beginning of verse 1, “At that time” let’s us know this chapter continues God’s proclamations from chapter 30.
• Matthew would later refer to verse 15 in response to Herod’s murder of the male children in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:17-18).
• Ephraim was used to refer to the northern 10 tribes of Israel by this time.

Questions to consider:

1. How does knowing that God is the shepherd who does not lose His sheep (Verse 10) give us a right perspective on who’s really in charge and responsible to keep things on track?
2. Which attribute of God does He say is truly satisfying to our souls (Verse 14)?  What kinds of things do we often look to for satisfaction?  Why is this attribute of God (And…God Himself) superior to all other contenders?
3. How does God’s perfect goodness also qualify Him to give us perfect truth in revelation and make Him a perfect judge?  What confidence does His goodness give us in knowing that Christ truly and sufficiently paid the penalty of our sin?

Today’s passage: Jeremiah 29:1-32

Helpful thoughts:

• Even in exile, the Jewish people would continue to receive false prophecies.
  • Jeremiah even tells then not to believe their dreams.  People can dream dreams that seem prophetic.  Having a dream does not mean that the Lord sent it.
• Jeremiah 29:11 is part of a letter written to Israel during their exile about their return to the promised land.
  • The promise of this verse has implication for the future as well, but people have often taken this verse too far in modern times.  It is not a verse that promises us peace and prosperity every day.
• God’s words and plans show He is still very much in control in a time where the Jews would have felt like He wasn’t.

Questions to consider:

1. What do you think Nebuchadnezzar’s first response would have been to verse 4?  Whom would he have credited with defeating Judah?  How would the culmination of the prophecies of verses 21-23 have given him reason to believe (If he remembered this letter)?
2. What does God do with false prophets?  If people have a desire to prophesy like an Old Testament prophet today, why should they think twice about it?  How does Ephesians 2:19-21 help us understand the extent of the timeframe for the ministry of prophets (and apostles)?
3. Jeremiah 29:11 is a great verse!  What is it’s true meaning and right interpretation (Think: the Gospel and the fulfillment of all God’s promises in the future for His kingdom)?  In what way would it be encouraging to a Christian today?  Why is the real meaning of 29:11 even better than how people have misused it?

Today’s passage: Jeremiah 28:1-17

Helpful thoughts:

• This chapter contains the account of Jeremiah’s interactions with one of Jerusalem’s false prophets.
  • Hananiah prophesies a different message then that of Jeremiah.
  • Jeremiah wishes Hananiah’s prophecy was true, but then reminds him that false prophets will be found out.
  • God reveals Hananiah to be a false prophet through the ministry of Jeremiah…and through his death within the year.

Questions to consider:

1. What was the theme of Hananiah’s “prophecy?”  Why would it had sounded delightful to the people?
2. Why would Hananiah’s false prophecy have brought bars or a yoke of iron?  Besides wishful thinking, what was the great evil of Hananiah’s actions and also the evil of the people’s desire to hear things that sounded better to them than the truth?
3. Is there ever anything that is actually better than what God is doing?  What makes us think otherwise?  When we decide our version of “truth” sounds better, what have we actually given to ourselves?  What have we said to God?  What room is left for the truth of the Gospel?

Today’s passage: Jeremiah 27:1-22

Helpful thoughts:

• Think of verse 5 as God saying to the kings of these nations, “Let me introduce Myself.”
  • These kings may have never even considered the idea of obeying the God of Israel.  Whether they had realized it or not, He is God, and they must answer to Him.
• The point of this prophecy and command from God was this: If these nations surrendered, they would remain in their land.  If they struggled and fought against Babylon, they would be destroyed.
• The vessels Jeremiah speaks of in verses 21-22 will come back to Israel in Ezra 5:13-15.

Questions to consider:

1. If these kings thought the God of Israel only cared about Israel, what did they just learn?  Over what people does God rightfully execute His sovereignty?
2. Did these nations have to agree to follow God before He had this authority?  Why is God the Lord of all?  Who determined that?  What role do people have in making that decision?
3. What does this truth about the sovereignty of God teach us about the judgment and even about something like how we read the Bible?  When a person reads a Bible (Christian or non-Christian), do we look in its words to find out if God is up to our standard or do we learn and here the truth from our rightful master?

Today’s passage: Jeremiah 26:1-24

Helpful thoughts:

• The events of chapter 26 happen before chapters 24 and 25.
• Jeremiah spoke God’s word to the priests, prophets and all the people in the house of the Lord, and they seized him and threatened him.
• The argument of the elders was like this; Since God didn’t destroy us after treating Micah well, and since we killed Urijah, maybe if we don’t kill Jeremiah, God won’t bring this judgment to pass.
  • There isn’t any indication of repentance like that which occurred during the ministry of Micah.  All they seemed to think was that letting prophets live brought favor and killing prophets made God mad.  They were treating God the same way they treated all the false gods.

Questions to consider:

1. Where would you expect a crowd to seize a person communicating God’s word?  What warning can we receive by the fact this occurred inside the Temple by people who had come to “worship” God?
2. What are some ways we might think today, if we do this or that, God will have to show me favor?  Does God work blessings in our lives through a bartering system?
3. Why do we walk in righteousness and love for God and our neighbors?  What is our motivation?  How does looking to Jesus truly bring repentance?

Today’s passage: Jeremiah 25:1-38

Helpful thoughts:

• This message had been the theme of Jeremiah’s preaching and prophesying for 23 years.
• In verses 11-12, God gives the length of time for the Babylonian Exile.  Daniel would later be reading these words and pray to God for the end of the exile (Daniel 9:1-2).
• Every nation, every person in the world is responsible to God.  It isn’t only Israel, or the Church who are responsible to follow Him.

Questions to consider:

1. Where would Jeremiah need to find his strength to persevere and be faithful in his ministry for 23 plus years when the people around him did not respond to God’s word?  Does a flood of positive feedback or negative feedback from people always give us an accurate view of ministry “success”?  By what should we measure our preaching/teaching/ministry?
2. Why might it be easy to see other people who do not believe as if they live in another reality or a separate bubble?  Is the grass truly greener on the “other side” (Psalm 73)?  If a person becomes an atheist, does that make him no longer responsible to God simply because he sees things that way?  Who gets to define reality?
3. Since all nations and all people will be judged, what do all people need to hear and believe to be saved from the wrath to come?  What has God done in love to reconcile people to Himself?