Today’s passage: Jeremiah 7:1-27

Helpful thoughts:

• The people of Judah had come to use their ritualistic worship in Jerusalem as justification for sin.
• Jesus called the Temple a den of thieves again in Matthew 21:12-13.
• God had allowed the Philistines to defeat Israel at Shiloh in 1 Samuel 4.  The same was about to happen to Jerusalem.
• The “Queen of Heaven” was called Ishtar, Ashtoreth, or Astarte by different nations.  She was supposed to be the wife of Baal or Molech.  Worship of this false goddess consisted of prostitution.
  • Yet, Jeremiah shows this worship to be done as a family affair (Verses 18-19).

Questions to consider:

1. Where did Jeremiah preach this message?  What did it sound like the Jews were doing in the Temple?  What were they doing at home?  Is the Christian life just for the church house?  How much of your life does the Lord of Hosts own?
2. How are sins passed down from generation to generation?  Do we teach our kids certain sins with instruction or by example?  What can parents learn from this?  Who is our hope for our children’s rescue?
3. False gods were always created and revered because they gave people what they wanted.  Is that how the true God works?  Is it possible to worship the true God falsely?  Why do you worship God?  Do you come to him because He agrees with you or do you come to Him to learn from Him and learn to agree with Him?

Today’s passage: Jeremiah 6:1-30

Helpful thoughts:

• Remember, the people God is talking about in verse 10 are the people who identified as God’s people.
• Prophesying or teaching that there is peace when people are still in rebellion against God is sin.
  • In our culture, we have come to value peace of mind over peace with God.  We should not have the ability to enjoy peace of mind if we are not right with God.
• The imported frankincense in verse 20 would have been seen as extravagant worship by the people.  They spared no expense to express outward forms of worship.  But that attempt to impress only stings all the more when there is a lack of submissiveness.
  • God did not want imported spices.  He wanted sackcloth and ashes.  He wanted repentance.
• Verse 27 refers to Jeremiah and his role as God’s prophet to the people.

Questions to consider:

1. What kind of peace do you value most?  Why is it tempting to try to simply turn down the volume of life and conflicts around us and just settle for that?  What kind of peace truly blesses our lives and the lives of others most?
2. What is the reality of Jeremiah’s restated assignment in verse 27 tell us about expectations for our efforts in ministering the truth to others?  How will different people respond?
3. What was true even of Jeremiah?  Was he without fault?  What is our ultimate hope and who is our true PEACEMAKER? (Colossians 1:15-20)

Today’s passage: Jeremiah 5:1-31

Helpful thoughts:

• Verse 2 is a striking follow-up to verse 1.  The people of Jerusalem thought they were godly, yet not one of them was repentant.
  • We can be blind to our blindness.  The temptation is to read these verses and look down on the people of Jerusalem at the time.  What we need to do is ask God to reveal the truth of our own hearts to us.  He know us better than we do.
  • This chapter may be more applicable for the church today than we would want to admit.
• The people of Judah saw themselves as experts of God’s Word, and then when God’s Word came to them to tell them to repent, they rejected the words.  (Verse 12)
• Verse 28 reminds us of Asaph’s complaint in Psalm 73 (Verse 4).  Asaph complained because the wicked had grown fat and sleek (Signs of prosperity).  In Jeremiah 5, God calls the people of Judah fat and sleek.
  • God’s rebuke?  They had prosperity and they hoarded it for themselves instead of using it to love others.

Questions to consider:

1. What came upon the people of Judah as a result of their willful blindness?  (Verse 29)
2. What should we be doing right now as Christians (And as the First Baptist Church) in our community?  How are we doing?  If we need to repent, what would that look like?
3. If God uses the word to reveal something to your heart, what must you do?  If we are convicted and we turn and carry on without change, what are we saying/doing?

Today’s passage: Jeremiah 4:1-31

Helpful thoughts:

• Chapter 4 begins with a continuation of God’s call for Israel’s repentance.
• Repentance is a matter of the heart (The inner man) before it ever becomes evident in our actions.
• The idea of judgment against Jerusalem was bewildering to Jeremiah, but it was coming.
  • Verse 23 brings to memory Genesis 1:2.  God took was was formless and void and filled it with purpose.  Now Judah would see the undoing of it’s purpose.

Questions to consider:

1. In awaiting judgment, what should have been shocking to the Jews?  Why should they have lamented?
2. Would we typically be more prone to lament the downfall of our country militarily or the downfall of our country righteously?  Would we be more prone to lament the consequences of our sin or the sin itself?
3. What do we know now about the future of Jerusalem?  Would it remain formless and void?  What is God going to do? (Revelation 21:1-4)

Today’s passage: Jeremiah 3:6-25

Helpful thoughts:

• In this illustration of marriage, Israel had left her groom (God) for false gods made of stone and wood.  This is spiritual adultery.
  • God hates divorce, but according to the Old Testament law, it could be seen an act of mercy when adultery is involved (Leviticus 20:10, Matthew 5:32).
• God is merciful and calls for the repentance of Israel.  But, reconciliation was only possible if Israel confessed and repented (Verse 13).
• Their repentance is guaranteed (In God’s sovereignty) and depicted in the latter portion of the chapter.
  • Verses 16 and 17 teach us that this time of Israel’s repentance will be after the second coming of Christ.  They will not speak of the Ark (Where God’s presence resided) anymore because God will be with His people.

Questions to consider:

1. How does the illustration of marriage help us to understand marriage in this life and how does it help us to understand our relationship with God?  How does sin in marriage and the reality of divorce in this world make it harder?  What kind of “husband” is the Lord?
2. Why is the first portion of verse 13 so important in helping us know how to be reconciled together?  When have we truly made peace with others?  If two people are at odds with each other, how many of them have to be involved to truly make things right?
3. In order for Israel to return and be healed (Verse 22), what has to happen to their hearts (End of verse 17)?  What would Israel (And all of us) continue to do if God had not intervened graciously in our lives?

Today’s passage: Jeremiah 2:1-3:5

Helpful thoughts:

• Today, Jeremiah gets his first assignment.
  • God is going to set up court.  Israel and Judah are guilty.
• Christians, God is your glory! (Verse 11) He is the most important and the best thing about you.
  • We are prone to go to other things to find our joy and satisfaction, but they never work (Verse 13).  The Samaritan woman in John 4 kept searching for what she wanted in men, but Jesus offered her living water.  The men were just broken cisterns.  Jesus is a well that springs up for eternity.
• Verses 35-36 depict a people who are deep in sin and yet see themselves as innocent.  The only way this can happen is if the people are ignorant of the law or if they have decided what parts matter and what parts don’t.
  • A people who decide to follow their own hearts and decide for themselves what is right and wrong will always be a people who find themselves innocent of any wrong-doing.

Questions to consider:

1. Why do you think the other world religions are tolerated (Even commended) when Christianity is rejected?  Why are other view points “tolerated” but Christianity unacceptable? (Verse 11)
2. What would you say are the most common “broken cisterns” of our culture?  Do you have any broken cisterns in your life?  What would it look like for you to reject those false hopes and turn to the Lord?
3. If I think my own opinion and my own feelings of right and wrong are what I should live by, what will my attitude be toward God if He should judge me as a sinner?  What would a sinner need to realize before they would even ask to be saved?

Today’s passage: Jeremiah 1:1-19

Helpful thoughts:

• Anathoth is a town just three miles north of Jerusalem.
• Jeremiah’s time of ministry spanned from the reign of King Josiah into the Babylonian exile.
• God did not change Jeremiah’s mind by telling Jeremiah how great and important Jeremiah was.  God told Jeremiah he should serve because of how great and important God is.
  • God has not called us to be so awesome that people become Christians.  He has called us to point people to His awesomeness.

Questions to consider:

1. What does God’s knowledge of Jeremiah (Verse 5) tell us about the sovereignty of God?  What does it also tell us about the sanctity of life, including in the womb?
2. What did Jeremiah feel disqualified him from service?  On whose characteristics was he focusing? Why was the ministry of Jeremiah acceptable/qualified?  On whose characteristics did the ministry depend?
3. What message was God specifically giving Jeremiah to share?  How did God say the people of Judah would respond?  Was it going to look like Jeremiah was on the right side or the wrong side from the perspective of the people?  What can we learn from this?