Bible Study

Jeremiah
Judgment and Restoration
by Joe Morecraft, ID
Pait II: Introduction
The "Confessions" of Jeremiah
- --- - INTRODUCTION
The book of Jeremiah is unique be-
cause of a group of passages known as
Jeremiah's "Confessions," consisting of
prayers, monologues, dialogues, and
with God. They are found in 4:19-
21; 5:3-5; 8:18-9:1; 11:18-23; 12:1-6;
15:10-21; 17:14-18; 18:18-23; 20:7-18.
All of them reveal something of the
heart and inner struggles of Jeremiah, a
man held captive by the word of the
Lord. It is because of these confessions
that he has been called "the weeping
prophet."
Theodore Laetsch explains the true
reason for these confessions and for the
prophet's intense weeping:
"That name (the weeping prophet)
creates the impression that he . was an
effeminate person, lacking manly
strength of character, .... always ready
to shed tears on the slightest occasion.
It is true that Jeremiah was of a warm-
hearted; sympathetic nature. He did shed
tears when he saw the ever-increasing
wickedness and stubborn self-hardening
. of his people, whose salvation he so
fervently desired, or when he
that the horrible judgments of the just
God were . drawing ever closer and
fmally saw them poured out like a
devastating flood on people and coun-
try. Yet by the grace of God he became
a tower of strength, a real man's man,
one of God's outstanding heroes. Not
once did he break down in public.
Facing his people he was invariably the
man of God, the messenger of the
Lord's mercy, calling to repentance the
nation he loved with a love as tender as
that of a as sincere as that of a
faithful friend, sticking closer than a
brother.
:His love of his people, however,
did not interfere with his sense of duty,
his love and obedience toward God.
Unsparingly he pronounced God's judg-
ments upon the impenitent without
spect of persons. Like walls of brass he
stood firm against . frenzied prophets,
fanatic priests, frantic people, furious
kings. Calmly he faced this pack of
snarling wolves ready to murder him.
Neither defamation, nor persecution,
nor imprisonment, nor threats of death
kept him from speaJdng whatever God
commanded binl. Only when alone with
himself and his God did he give voice
to his agonized feelings, his doubts and
fears, his heartaches and gnawing grief,
his bitterness and his maledictions. And
from every battle he rose more than a
conqueror by the grace and power of
him who was the Lord, his Strength,
his Fortress, and his Refuge in the day
of .affliction, because this Lord was
Jehovah, his Righteousness."
EXPOSITION
I. (4:19-22) The Broken Heart of
Jeremiah
A. Jeremiah's deep anguish of heart
B. Jerentiah's knowledge of Goming
judgment
C. Jeremiah's reason for anguish:
the horrible devastation of the church
D. Jehovah's reason for his judg-
ment: the guilty ignorance and inexcus-
able evil-of the church
ll. (8:18-9:6) The Passionate Grief
or Jeremiah
A. (8: 18 -19) The nature and cause of
Jeremiah's grief
1. His grief is incurable
2. His grief is caused by
thoughts of the captivity of the church
B. (8:19b) The cause of
ment: the idolatrous rejection of their
true King and the worship of false gods
"Such an invasion of Yahweh's
territory, such an encroachment of his
sole sovereignty over Israel, and such a
rejection of his covenant with Israel
could have but one outcome, the opera-
tion of the curses of the covenant and
the" alienation of . y iihweh from his.
people." -J. A. Thompson .
C. (8:20-21) The hopelessness of
Judah's condition
1. The brokenness of the church
breaks Jeremiah
2. The church is without healer
or healing
D. (9:1-2) The Unbearable Anguish
of Jeremiah
Although he is deeply saddened
at the plight and sin of Judah, because
of his love for the church, he is not
driven to despair. Unlike Judah. who
turns from God in their distress,
rniah runs to the loving heart of his
God, his Comforter a:ild his Joy.
E. (9:3-6) The Justification of
Judah's Destruction
ill. (12:3-6) The Humble Com
plaint of Jeremiah
A. (12:1-2) The Problem:
Why do the wicked prosper, while the
righteous are oppressed?
1. the context of the complaint:
Jehovah is righteous, i.e., be is always
just artd he never acts out of accord with
his holy character revealed iil his iaw.
2. The complication of the situa-
tion: In verse 2, Jeremiah says that God
himself causes the wicked to prosper.
3. Those whom God prospers .
speak of God with great familiarity, yet
their knowledge of God goes no farther
than their mouths. It has not penetrated
their inner life.
B. (12:3-4) The Source of Jere-
miah's Comfort: the Searcher of all
hearts knows Jeremiah's heart
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Jeremiah's questions remained
unanswered; but where he does not un-
derstand God he trusts him to act justly.
C. (12:5-13) The Answer of
Jehovah
1. (12:5-6) Worse is yet to
come, so prepare yourself
2. (12:7-13) Worsening calamity
results from worsening degeneration
IV. (15:15-21) The Earnest Prayer
for Vindication of God's Pro-
phet
A. (15:15-18) The Petition for Ven-
geance
1. Jeremiah constantly comes
boldly before God's throne of grace in
prayer because he is confident that God
"knows" (understands and loves) him
perfectly.
2. The enemies against whom
Jeremiah is praying are not his ene-
mies, ultimately; they are God's ene-
mies. "The persecutors who would seek
to harm Jeremiah were really seeking to
harm God's spokesman and therefore to
harm God. The hour called for a display
of Yahweh's sovereignty over those
who persecuted his servant. It is not a
case of a petty vendetta waged against
Jeremiah's persecutors, but rather a
display of Yahweh's positive action to
restrain the evildoers and to enable his
servant to continue the task to which
Yahweh had called him.'' -Thompson
3. God's "words" (vs. 16) were
"found" by Jeremiah, having been
sovereignly placed there by God him-
self. Jeremiah did not question them.
He digested and proclaimed them, and in
his suffering, they became the joy and
delight of his heart.
B. (15:19-21) The Answer of
Jehovah
1. (15:19) God calls upon Jere-
miah to repent, after Jeremiah had been
calling Judah to repent. The bitterness
of Jeremiah's experience had almost
closed his mouth and brought him close
to abandoning his divine mi ssion. God
calls upon him to "tum back" to God
and to renew his trust in Him. God says-
"If you utter what is precious without
uttering what is worthless, you will be
my spokesman." This was a rebuke for
questioning God's character.
2. (15:20-21) God reaffums his
promise to Jeremiah .that he would be
invincible in his divine calling.
a. This renewed promise
motivated Jeremiah to persevere in his
mission for years with renewed vigor.
b. This promise contains
three significant O.T. verbs of deliver-
ance:
(1). "save" (hosia),
which word stresses bringing out of
those under oppression into freedom.
(2). "deliver" (hissil),
which word pictures the activity of
someone who snatches his prey from
the grasp of a powerful captor.
(3). "redeem" (pada)
1
which word is used in reference to libera-
tion from the possession of another by
the giving up of a ransom.
V. (17:12-18) The Prayer for
Healing and Comfort in the
Service of God
A. (17:12-13) The Focus of Jere-
miah's Faith: The Throne of God
Jeremiah's confessions must al-
ways be seen in the context of Jere-
miah's utmost faith in the glory,
sovereignty and salvation of Jehovah.
He is confident that there is no hope in
life or death if someone forsakes God,
who is "fountain of living water."
B. (17:14-15) The First Petition:
Divine Healing
1. Whatever faithfulness there is
in Jeremiah, he recognizes that he owes
it to God. If he is to remain faithful to
Him, the Lord must heal and save him
from his sins. All pnlise fer any good
in Jeremiah gees to God, not to Jere-
miah!
2. Jeremiah wants God to show
his hand, because of the scoffers who
are demanding some evidence that Jere-
miah's prophecies are from God. The
prolonged unfulfilment of his prophecy
exposed him to ridicule and filled him
with confusion.
C. (17:16) The Proof of Jeremiah's
Faithfulness
1. He did not try to avoid being
God's prophet
2. He did not allow his own
wishes to stir himself up to want the
church ruined. He spoke judgment be-
cause God gave him the message.
., 3. He calls God to witness his
sincerity.
4. Here are three marks of a true
. prophet
a. Obedience to the call of
God
b. Restrain from venting
one's own spite
c. Sincerity in doing the
work assigned
D. (17:17-18) The Second Petition:
Vindication
1. Jeremiah is asking God not to
cause him consternation by not ful-
filling his threats prophesied by Jere-
miah. He wants God to fulfil his word,
and in so doing to be a refuge to him.
2. He is asking for his perse-
cutors to be brought to shame, proven
guilty and filled with terror, by causing
the prophesied day of disaster to fall on
them and break them completely.
VI. (18:18-23) The Imprecatory
Prayer of Jeremiah
A. The Righmess of this Prayer
Jeremiah was too deeply identi-
fied with God and with disgust for the
offense against God by the church's
breach of covenant, not to give expres-
sion to judgment and righteous indigna-
tion. The important thing for Jeremiah
was that the people had rejected, not
him, but Jehovah, and that filled him
with grief and anger.
B. The Point of this Prayer
Le.t God be faithful to his word
and fulfil his threats, 4:6-31; 9:17:22;
14: 15-18; 15:2-9, which his faithful
prophet proclaimed boldly, even against
fierce persecution and his own sub-
jective feelings.
C. The Christ-likeness of this
Prayer
This prayer not to forgive the
sin of hardened apostates echoes the
Lord's refusal to forgive, 7:16;
14:10,112; 15: 1,6; 16:5. Compare
these curses in the N.T. by Jesus, Matt.
23:13-36; by Paul, I Cor. 16:22; Gal.
1:8-9; and by John, I John 5:16.
D. (18:23) The Paradox of the Pro-
phet
Although Jeremiah often pleads
in behalf of the declining church and
The Counsel of Chalcedon, January, 1 ) ~ - -------- ------------------Page 15
asks God to tum away his anger from
them, here he can pray imprecatory
prayers upon them, because, as closely
as he feels to Judah, he is infinitely
more bound to and identified with the
purposes of the God he loves and
serves.
VII. (20:7-18) The Inner Struggle
of Jeremiah
A. (20:7-10) The Antagonist of
J erenriah; the Lord of hosts
1. This section presents us with
Jeremiah's struggle with God and his
sense of God's overpowering mastery of
hi1n which compels him to prophesy.
2. Alarie with his God lie breaks
dowil completely. His prophetic office
is an ip.tolerable burden. He makes the
unfounded charge that God has deceived
him. It is Jeremiah the sinner speaking
here, chafing under the constant opposi-
tion and derision of the curse of God's
law. Notice: before man Jeremiah is
strong; before God he bares his heart
totally, without fear that God, his
Savior, will reject him. He . does not
have to play games with God.
3. The word of the Lord, and
Jeremiah's call to preach it, not only
brings him joy and delight, but it also
brings him indescribable pain and pres-
sure. When the preaching of the word
causes Jeremiah to be looked 1,1pon with
reptoach all day long, . that word and that
call set his heart and soul on fire, so
that even if it causes him pain, he must
speak what God has given him to
spel!k.
B. (20:11-13) The Protagonist of
Jeremiah: the Lord of hosts
1. Here we see it is Jeremiah's
strong conviction that God is with him
and thathe will punish his persecutors.
2. (20:11) Jeremiah's God is his
mighty, conquering Champion, Warrior
and Defender, who strikes horror in the
souls of his enemies, who reject the pro-
phetic word. In this verse God is called
both warrior and cyrant
3. (20:12) Jeremiah's God is the
One who sees and tries the hearts of
men. There is no escape from his pene-
trating gaze and evaluation. Therefore
he can be trusted to judge those who op-
pose him.
4. Jeremiah "committed his
cause .to .Yahweh. Jeremiah's accusers
were bent on collecting evidence against
him. When the trial came, Yahweh
would be Jeremiah's defendant." ' -
Thompson
5. (20:13) As Jeremiah thought
on these things his attitude changes to
an inner experience of calm and renewed
confidence in the Lord.
6. (20:13) The "poor" or"needy
ones'' does not have a sociological
meaning. It refers to the godly person
who is poor in the sense that he is the
client of . Jehovah, dependent on the
Lord for the support of his life. 'In the
face of persecution, it is not wealth but
spiritual strength that a person needs.
The "poor" receive 'that sttength from
God, who delivers them from their
adversaries, Psa. 22:24f; 35:9f; 35:27f;
140:12f.
C. (20:14-18) The Cries ofDespair
1. At this point Jeremiah
"plumbed the depths of bitterness and
despair, revealing a depth of misery and
agony surpassing any other cry of
anguish recorded among his lamenta-
tions." -Thompson
2. Who . can understand the
human heart? (Jer. 17:9) Only God!
"From the summit of joyous trust that
heart plunges suddenly, . unexpectedly,
unexplainably, into the deepest abyss of
black despair." -Laetsch
3. With this despondent cry the
chapter ends. "While the prQphet's wail
of bitter disappointment and dissatisfac-
tion with God and his dreadful curse
still rjngs in our elU's, he drops the cur-
tain. He has given us not merely a brief
glimpse, but a long look into tbe
depths of deceitf!llness and wickedness
and rebellion, of depravity of the.human
heart, that heart which by nature even
the child of God still carries in his
bosom and which remains our heart to
our dying day." -Thompson
4. The Lord, however; did not
reject his servant, Jeremiah. "Nowhere
in the life of J ererniah does the grace
and long-suffering of God with his
erring children appear in fuller measure
and in a more glorious light than here.
And there are few passages in the Bible
where the contrast between . the be-
liever's sinfulness and God's magnani-
mous, magnificent grace is brought out
in sharper lines than here. And in
reeording these facts Jeremiah again
shows his masterful pen, his powerful
skill in using every means at his com-
mand to magnify the grace of his Lord
Jehovah, the God of the Covenant" -
Thompson
CONCLUSION
1. Until the idolatry, apostasy, and
adultery of America, and the devastation
the judgment of God will bring on us,
(unless we repent), breaks our hearts
and drives us to God and to the spread
of his word, as it did Jeremiah's, we can
expect no revival and reformation in our
land. We can expect the same type . of
judgmentJudahexperiencedforherhard-
ness of heart.
2. Jeremiah's constant reiteration of
threats of divine judgment and his con-
stant denunciation of national sins
against God, in the absence of im-
mediate fulfillment, made him a con
stant target for reproach. WHAT EF-
FECTWILLALONG-1ERM SWDY
OF JEREMIAH HAVE ON YOU?
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Page .16 ---------------------------The Counsel of Chalcedon, January, 1988 .
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