Old Testament Week 24: Jeremiah, Lamentations

1) Introduction. a) [SLIDE 2] Jeremiah 1:1112 is evidence that God loves bad puns.
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Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. 12 Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it. (KJV Jeremiah 1:1112.)

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The word of the LORD came to me, saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, I see a branch of an almond tree. 12Then the LORD said to me, You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it. (NRSV Jeremiah 1:1112.)

i) [2.1] This passage involves a wordplay in Hebrew: (1) Almond tree in Hebrew is (shah-ked). (2) Watching over (KJV hasten) in Hebrew is ( show-ked). ii) This would be comparable to President Monson having a vision of a wristwatch, and then the Lord telling him, This means Im watching over the Church! (Groan.) iii) This is the kind of stuff that passes for witty repartee in the Old Testament. b) [SLIDE 3] Background. i) Weve spent quite a bit of time in the last few weeks talking about the fall of Judah to the Babylonians in the early 6th century B.C. Lets recap briefly: (1) [3.1] After the religious reforms of King Josiah (c. 621 B.C.), Judah fell into great wickedness. She had a string of short-lived kings, all of whom were unrighteous. (2) The powerful kingdom of Assyria fell to the Babylonians in 612 B.C. There was power vacuum at this point that Egypt and Judah decided to take advantage of by reasserting their independence. The Babylonians put down these rebellions by defeating Egypt in 605 and Judah in 602. (3) Five years later, Judah rebelled again, and the Babylonians besieged Jerusalem, plundered the Temple, and [3.2] deported many of the elite and skilled Jews to Babylon. The Babylonians installed Zedekiah the king of Judah as a puppet ruler. (a) It was at this time that the Book of Mormon prophet Lehi1 was called and began his ministry (1 Nephi 1:4). Lehi and many other prophets preached repentance to Judah, but the people mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets (2 Chronicles 36:1516). Nephi1 recorded that the people of Jerusalem tried to kill his father, Lehi, because truly testified of their wickedness and their abominations (1 Nephi 1:1820). (4) The people of Judah rebelled a third time in 589 B.C. and, after an 18-month siege, the Babylonians destroyed the Temple and [3.3] deported most of the remaining Jews to Babylon. Some Jews remained in Jerusalem; [3.4] some escaped to Egypt.

2014, Mike Parker

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Hurricane Utah Adult Religion Class

Old Testament: Jeremiah, Lamentations

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ii) Jeremiahs ministry took place during this tumultuous time. He witnessed firsthand the decline and fall of his people. The book that bears his name is a witness against the wickedness of foreign nations and his own people, and a record of his own experience an eyewitness to the fall of Judah and Jerusalem. 2) [SLIDE 4] Who was Jeremiah? a) He was the son of a priest of Anathoth in the land of Benjamin (1:1), just two or three miles north of Jerusalem.1 b) He was called as a prophet at age 13 (627 B.C.),2 and began his ministry at age 19, in the same year that King Josiah began his reforms (621 B.C.). i) This puts him in class of prophets who were called at a very young age, including Samuel, Mormon2, and Joseph Smith. c) Jeremiah considered Josiah a righteous king (22:1516), although its uncertain if he supported Josiahs religious reformation. d) His ministry lasted 40 years, and ended after he and his scribe, Baruch, were taken to Egypt a few years after the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in 587 B.C.3 e) Many of his oracles involved metaphor, where the Lord commanded Jeremiah to look at or do something, which thing the Lord would then compare to his relationship with Israel. f) Some of Jeremiahs writings were on the brass plates that Nephi1 took from Laban (1 Nephi 5:13),4 so we know that his prophecies were already being circulated and considered authoritative by 600 B.C.5 g) In addition to the book that bears his name, he is traditionally considered to be the author of the book of Lamentations, was well as the historical books of 1 and 2 Kings. i) Lamentations is a collection of five laments of mourning, in moving poetry, reflecting on the suffering and dislocation that resulted from the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple and the exile that followed. ii) The five chapters are five separate poems. None of them mention the Babylonians, but instead ascribe the responsibility for the disaster to God as a consequence of Judahs sins. iii) Although their author of Lamentations is not named in the book, ancient tradition6 ascribes it to Jeremiah, and so the book is placed after his own in English Bibles. 7
1 This line of priests had been exiled by Solomon because they supported Adonijah, Solomons rival for the throne following Davids death (1 Kings 2:2627). 2 He was born in or about 640 B.C., the same year Josiah began his reign, and was called in the thirteenth year of Josiah (Jeremiah 1:2; 25:3), which means he was thirteen years old at the time. 3 After the Babylonian exile of 587, Jeremiah chose to stay in Jerusalem and help the people who were left behind. After Gedaliah, the Jewish territorial governor installed by Nebuchadnezzar, was assassinated in 582/81, Jeremiah was forced to go into exile in Egypt, after which he disappeared from history. 4 Unlike Isaiah, there are no lengthy quotes from Jeremiah in the Book of Mormon; however, there are occasional allusions to his prophecies (e.g., compare 2 Nephi 28:31a with Jeremiah 17:5). Helaman 8:1320 lists Jeremiah alongside six other Old World prophets (Moses, Abraham, Zenos, Zenock, Ezias, and Isaiah) who prophesied that the Son of God would come among men; this may refer to Jeremiahs prophecies of the true branch of the line of David (Jeremiah 23:58; 33:14 16), or it may be a separate prophecy that is not contained in the Biblical book of Jeremiah, but was on the brass plates and has been lost to history. 5 The phrasing of Jeremiah 1:13 indicates that his writings were compiled into a single book after they were written, possibly by Jeremiah himself or by a later scribe. It would appear, then, that the prophecies of Jeremiah on the brass plates were not identical in form or content to the book of Jeremiah in our Bible.

2014, Mike Parker

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For personal use only. Not a Church publication.

Hurricane Utah Adult Religion Class

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(1) Because of the difference in writing style between Jeremiah and Lamentations, and among the Lamentations themselves, modern scholars ascribe each chapter to a separate, anonymous author. h) [SLIDE 5] Jeremiahs writings reflect a lifetime of the same kind of rejection recorded by Lehi. i) King Jehoiakim had Jeremiahs prophecies read aloud and then burned the scroll on which they were written (Jeremiah 36). ii) Likewise, King Zedekiah sought out Jeremiah on several occasions to determine the word of the Lord, but ultimately rejected what Jeremiah told him. iii) Because Jeremiah prophesied that Babylon would capture Jerusalem, he was branded as an enemy sympathizer, charged with treason, imprisoned and thrown into a cistern to die.8 (Jeremiah 3738.) iv) He was much like the prophet Mormon2, who also spent his life crying repentance to an unrepentant people, only to witness and lament their destruction.9 v) Jeremiahs central message was that Judah deserved to be punished. Had her people repented, punishment could have been averted; however, with the passing of time and the hardening of hearts, their captivity became inevitable. i) One final note on the structure of the book of Jeremiah: His prophecies and historical accounts were not assembled in chronological order, which makes it very hard to follow his train of thought. i) The second page of the handout for this lesson has an outline of the structure of the book, along with a conjectural order of the chapters if they were to be rearranged in chronological order. 3) [SLIDE 6] Jeremiah 1:45 is possibly the best-known passage in the book for Latter-day Saints. a) All the way back in lesson 1 we discussed the premortal existence.10 The idea that human beings existed as spirits before they were born is something that is almost completely absent from the Bible, with the exception of a few hints here and there. This passage is one of the few evidences of an ancient understanding of this doctrine. b) This passage indicates something important: Not only did God know Jeremiah before he was born, he also set him apart (KJV sanctified) and ordained him as a prophet.

6 This tradition was in place at least by the late 2nd century B.C. The Septuagint (the Greek version of the Old Testament completed around that time) includes a preface to Lamentations that is not found in the Hebrew version: After Israel was taken captive and Jerusalem was laid waste, Jeremiah sat weeping and gave this lament over Jerusalem (http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/36-lam-nets.pdf , spelling standardized). 7 In the Jewish canon, Lamentations is part of the Ketuvim (Writings), and is part of a group known as the Five Megillot (Scrolls), which includes the Song of Solomon, Ruth, Ecclesiastes, and Esther. These five books are publicly recited on specific holy days throughout the year. Lamentations is read on Tishah beav on the 9th of Av (in July or August), which is a public day of mourning and fasting, commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples. 8 Nephi1 mentions Jeremiahs imprisonment (1 Nephi 7:14). Critics of the Book of Mormon have claimed that Nephis report is anachronistic, since Jeremiah would not have been in prison when Lehi1 left Jerusalem. But the account in the book of Jeremiah describes two separate times he was imprisoned (37:1, 15; 38:16, 13, 28), and its also possible that he was imprisoned another time, but it was not recorded. The content of the book of Jeremiah is also not in chronological order. John A. Tvedtnes, Jeremiah in Prison? (http://www.bookofmormonresearch.org/book-of-mormon-criticisms/jeremiah-in-prison). 9 Compare Jeremiah 8:189:1 with Mormon 6:1618. 10 See lesson 1 (http://bit.ly/ldsarcot01n).

2014, Mike Parker

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i) This is confirmed by the Book of Mormon, which teaches that all those who hold the priesthood in this life were called and prepared from the foundation of the world (Alma 13:3; see 13:16 for context). ii) [SLIDE 7] Joseph Smith taught:
Every man11 who has a calling to minister to the Inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very purpose in the grand Council of Heaven before this world wasI suppose that I was ordained to this very office in that grand Council.12

4) [SLIDE 8] Jeremiah 1:68, 1719. Jeremiahs hesitancy to accept his calling and his claim that he was too young has become a recurring theme in our study this year. Prophet after prophet either initially refused the call or claimed an exemption because of his youth and the Lord always refused to accept their excuses, telling them that he would make them equal to the task. 5) [SLIDE 9] Jeremiah 2:11, 13, 2728. a) This year weve discussed a lot about the ancient worship of false gods and how that applies in our modern world. What new angles on this subject does Jeremiah explore? i) Only God is the fountain of living waters that can provide the fresh, cool streams of peace and everlasting life.13 ii) The alternative is merely a broken cistern (a pit dug to collect rainwater): It looks large, impressive, and useful, but in fact it is only a false hope that will not save us in our time of need. b) Weve already discussed materialism as an alternative to God. What other false gods do we find today (or, for that matter, in all ages)? i) Intellectualism. In the West, faith and religious belief are on the decline. Europe is now commonly regarded as post-Christian. The United States is still more religious than other western nations, but faith is in rapid decline, especially among young people.14 Religion and faith are openly attacked and ridiculed on the Internet, in film and television, and in print.15 Atheism and secular humanism are on the rise. (1) The Book of Mormon prophet Jacob2 warned of those who, because they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves (2 Nephi 9:28).

I would also include women in this statement. Joseph Smith, 12 May 1844. Words of Joseph Smith 367, spelling and punctuation modernized (http://bit.ly/wjs367368). Cf. History of the Church 6:364 (http://byustudies.byu.edu/hc/6/18.html#364); Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith 365 (http://scriptures.byu.edu/stpjs.html#365). 13 Compare Jeremiah 17:13; John 4:1011; 1 Nephi 11:25; D&C 63:23. 14 The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey undertaken by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life indicates 1.6% of Americans self-identifying as atheist, 2.4% as agnostic, and 12.1% as nothing in particular, for a cumulative total of 16.1% (or 1 in 6) Americans claiming no religious faith (http://religions.pewforum.org/affiliations). 15 There has been a recent flood of books advocating atheism and the rejection of God and religion. Among them are The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, Letter to a Christian Nation and The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason by Sam Harris, and god Is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens (lowercase god in the title intentional). All of these books have been bestsellers at Amazon.com and on the New York Times Bestseller list. For reviews of and responses to these books, see http://en.fairmormon.org/Atheism
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2014, Mike Parker

http://bit.ly/ldsarc

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Hurricane Utah Adult Religion Class

Old Testament: Jeremiah, Lamentations

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ii) Politics. There are many in the United Stateson both sides of the political spectrumwho see salvation in their political philosophy. Political policies have become matters of life and death, people who dont believe politically as we do are castigated or shunned, and some political leaders reach near-messianic status.16 Instead of listening to other points of view and incorporating those things which are good and right, there is a tendency among many to adopt a religious fundamentalist approach. Like all man-made institutions, political parties are imperfect: Principles compatible with the gospel may be found in various political parties,17 along with positions and platforms that are contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ. iii) As Jeremiah counseled:
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Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:

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But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD. (KJV Jeremiah 9:2324.)

The Lord says, Wise people should not boast that they are wise. Powerful people should not boast that they are powerful. Rich people should not boast that they are rich. 24 If people want to boast, they should boast about this: They should boast that they understand and know me. They should boast that they know and understand that I, the Lord, act out of faithfulness, fairness, and justice in the earth and that I desire people to do these things, says the Lord. (NET Jeremiah 9:2324.)

6) [SLIDE 10] Jeremiah 15:1. Moses and Samuel successfully interceded on behalf of Israel (Exodus 32:1114; 1 Samuel 7:59), but Judah was too far gone for Jeremiah to successfully plead for them.
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Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth. (KJV Jeremiah 15:1.)

Then the LORD said to me, Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for these people, I would not feel pity for them! Get them away from me! Tell them to go away! (NET Jeremiah 15:1.)

a) Is it possible to cut ourselves off from the Lord completely, to the point that he cant reach us?

16 Lest you think Im referring to the meme of the 2008 U.S. Presidential election of then-candidate Barack Obama as a messiah, let me unequivocally state that figures of all political parties have achieved godlike status at one point or another. When this happens, their followers refuse to question or criticize them (even if they privately disagree with them), and defend them at all costs against the opposition. 17 First Presidency letter on political participation, 22 September 2008 (http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/firstpresidency-issues-letter-on-political-participation).

2014, Mike Parker

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For personal use only. Not a Church publication.

Hurricane Utah Adult Religion Class

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i) Five passages in the scriptures tell us that the Spirit of the Lord will not always strive with man.18 ii) [SLIDE 11] Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin:
As with all gifts, [the] gift [of the Holy Ghost] must be received and accepted to be enjoyed. When priesthood hands were laid upon your head to confirm you a member of the Church, you heard the words, Receive the Holy Ghost. This did not mean that the Holy Ghost unconditionally became your constant companion. Scriptures warn us that the Spirit of the Lord will not always strive with man. When we are confirmed, we are given the right to the companionship of the Holy Ghost, but it is a right that we must continue to earn through obedience and worthiness. We cannot take this gift for granted.19

7) [SLIDE 12] Jeremiah 18:110. The potters wheel. a) Jeremiah 18:14. The Lord told Jeremiah to go to the local potters shop. At the potters, Jeremiah saw him throwing pottery on the wheel.
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The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 Arise, and go down to the potters house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 3 Then I went down to the potters house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. (KJV Jeremiah 18:14.)

The LORD said to Jeremiah:

Go down at once to the potters house. I will speak to you further there.
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So I went down to the potters house and found him working at his wheel.
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Now and then there would be something wrong with the pot he was molding from the clay with his hands. So he would rework the clay into another kind of pot as he saw fit. (NET Jeremiah 18:14.)

i) [SLIDE 13] A potters wheel is a flat disc like a table (known as a wheel), with a shaft descending to the floor that connects to a second disc near the ground. The lower disc is attached to a foot pedal; as the potter pumps the pedal, the wheel turns. ii) The potter takes a lump of clay and, with wetted hands, slowly shapes the clay into pots, bowls, cups, and other vessels. Formed pottery is then placed into a kiln to be hardened and finished. iii) From time to time the pot being worked on will become irregularly shaped, or have some other defect. When this happens the potter will rework the clay so that the finished product is to his liking.

18 Genesis 6:3 (=Moses 8:17); 2 Nephi 26:11; Ether 2:15; D&C 1:33. Websters 1828 English dictionary defines strive as to make efforts; to use exertions; to endeavor with earnestness; to labor hard; applicable to exertions of body or mind (https://archive.org/stream/americandictiona02websrich#page/n681, emphasis in the original). 19 Joseph B. Wirthlin, The Unspeakable Gift, General Conference, April 2003 (https://www.lds.org/generalconference/2003/04/the-unspeakable-gift).

2014, Mike Parker

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For personal use only. Not a Church publication.

Hurricane Utah Adult Religion Class

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b) [SLIDE 14] Jeremiah 18:510.

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Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potters hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
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Then the LORD said to me,

At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; 8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent20 of the evil that I thought to do unto them. 9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; 10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.

I, the LORD, say: O nation of Israel, can I not deal with you as this potter deals with the clay? In my hands, you, O nation of Israel, are just like the clay in this potters hand. 7 There are times, Jeremiah, when I threaten to uproot, tear down, and destroy a nation or kingdom. 8 But if that nation I threatened stops doing wrong, I will cancel the destruction I intended to do to it.
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And there are times when I promise to build up and establish a nation or kingdom.
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But if that nation does what displeases me and does not obey me, then I will cancel the good I promised to do to it.

i) We are clay in the hands of the potter, and we have two choices: Resist the potters work, or allow him to mold us. (1) Scripture chain:
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Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? (KJV Isaiah 45:9.)
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One who argues with his creator is in grave danger, one who is like a mere shard among the other shards on the ground! The clay should not say to the potter, What in the world are you doing? Your work lacks skill! (NET Isaiah 45:9.)

And wo unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord! And their works are in the dark; and they say: Who seeth us, and who knoweth us? And they also say: Surely, your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potters clay.21 But behold, I will show unto them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that I know all their works. For shall the work say of him that made it, he made me not? Or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, he had no understanding? (2 Nephi 27:27; cf. Isaiah 29:1516.)

Notice LDS footnote 8b: God does not repent; he relents (changes his course), because the person or nation repented. The difficult phrasing of Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay is dependent on the KJV rendering of Isaiah 29:16a. A clearer translation would be, You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay? (NRSV).
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2014, Mike Parker

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For personal use only. Not a Church publication.

Hurricane Utah Adult Religion Class

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But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. 21If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the masters use, and prepared unto every good work. (KJV 2 Timothy 2:2021.)

In a large house there are utensils not only of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for special use, some for ordinary. 21All who cleanse themselves of the things I have mentioned will become special utensils, dedicated and useful to the owner of the house, ready for every good work. (NET 2 Timothy 2:2021.)

ii) [SLIDE 15] President Heber C. Kimball:

There are many vessels that are destroyed after they have been moulded and shaped. Why? Because they are not contented with the shape the potter has given them, but straightaway put themselves into a shape to please themselves; therefore they are beyond understanding what God designs, and they destroy themselves by the power of their own agency. [These people] have to go through a great many modellings and shapes, thenhave to be glazed and burned; and even in the burning, some vessels crack.22

8) [SLIDE 16] Jeremiah 20:79. In this passage, Jeremiah described the personal predicament he was in as the Lords chosen prophet.
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O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.
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For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach23 unto me, and a derision, daily.
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Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. (KJV Jeremiah 20:79.)

O LORD, you have enticed me, and I was enticed; you have overpowered me, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughing-stock all day long; everyone mocks me. 8 For whenever I speak, I must cry out, I must shout, Violence and destruction! For the word of the LORD has become for me a reproach23 and derision all day long. 9 If I say, I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name, then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot. (NRSV Jeremiah 20:79.)

a) What does this passage say to us as teachers of the gospel? What kind of spiritual experience should we be seeking? How should that affect our teaching?

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Stanley B. Kimball, Heber C. Kimball: Mormon Patriarch and Pioneer, 270. Reproach means disgrace, scorn. http://bit.ly/ldsarc For personal use only. Not a Church publication.

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b) [SLIDE 17] Elder Jeffrey R. Holland:

Satan is certainly not subtle in his teachings; why should we be? Whether we are instructing our children at home or standing before an audience in church, let us never make our faith difficult to detect. Rememberwe are to be teachers come from God. Never sow seeds of doubt. Avoid self-serving performance and vanity. Prepare lessons well. Give scripturally based sermons. Teach the revealed doctrine. Bear heartfelt testimony. Pray and practice and try to improve. In our administrative meetings let us both instruct and edify as the revelations say, that even in these our teaching may ultimately be from on high. The Church will be the better for it, and so will you, for as Paul said to the Romans, Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? (Romans 2:21.) [SLIDE 18] A memorable account of the power of such teaching comes from the life of the prophet Jeremiah. This great man felt the way most teachers or speakers or Church officers feel when calledinexperienced, inadequate, frightened. Ah, Lord, he cried, behold, I cannot speak: for I am [but] a child. But the Lord reassured him: Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee. Therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them. (Jeremiah 1:6, 8, 17.) [SLIDE 19] So speak unto them he did, but initially not with much success. Things went from bad to worse until finally he was imprisoned and made a laughingstock among the people. Angry that he had been so mistreated and maligned, Jeremiah vowed, in effect, never to teach another lesson, whether that be to an investigator, Primary child, new convert, orheaven forbidthe 15-year-olds. I will not make mention of [the Lord], nor speak any more in his name, the discouraged prophet said. But then came the turning point of Jeremiahs life. Something had been happening with every testimony he had borne, every scripture he had read, every truth he had taught. Something had been happening that he hadnt counted on. Even as he vowed to close his mouth and walk away from the Lords work, he found that he could not. Why? Because his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. [SLIDE 20] That is what happens in the gospel to both the teacher and the taught. It is what happened to Nephi and Lehi when, the book of Helaman says, the Holy Spirit of God did come down from heaven, and did enter into their hearts, and they were filled as if with fire, and they could speak forth marvelous words. (Helaman 5:45.)24

9) [SLIDE 21] Jeremiah 31. a) Jeremiahs prophecies were not all negative. Scattered among his warnings and dire predictions and lamentations are messages of hope for a future restoration of scattered Israel. One of these messages can be found in chapter 31. b) In 31:222, the Lord promised that the northern kingdom of Israel will be restored and will join Judah in worshipping the Lord:

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conference/1998/04/a-teacher-come-from-god).

Jeffrey R. Holland, A Teacher Come from God, General Conference, April 1998 (https://www.lds.org/generalhttp://bit.ly/ldsarc For personal use only. Not a Church publication.

2014, Mike Parker

Hurricane Utah Adult Religion Class

8Behold,

Old Testament: Jeremiah, Lamentations

8See,

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I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither.

9They

shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. (KJV Jeremiah 31:89.)

I am going to bring them from the land of the north, and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here. 9With weeping they shall come, and with consolations I will lead them back, I will let them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble; for I have become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. (NRSV Jeremiah 31:89.)

i) This passage describes the power of the Lord: He is able to restore even those who would not normally be fit to travel. It depicts the returning exiles as humble and repentant. ii) The Lord also reminded Jeremiah of the prominence held by the tribe of Ephraim (the leading tribe of the northern kingdom, by whose name that kingdom was called): Ephraim, Josephs second son, was given the birthright blessing over his brother, Manasseh; the Lord has not forgotten this, and promised to fulfill that blessing to the descendants of Ephraim. c) In 31:2330, the Lord promised that the southern kingdom of Judah will be restored and repopulated. No longer will the people suffer because of the sins of their ancestors. d) After Israel and Judah are restored and reunited as a single people, the Lord then promised that he would establish a new covenant with them:
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Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: 33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

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Indeed, a time is coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.
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It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I delivered them from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them, says the LORD.
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But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel after I plant them back in the land, says the LORD. I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts and minds. I will be their God and they will be my people

2014, Mike Parker

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For personal use only. Not a Church publication.

Hurricane Utah Adult Religion Class

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Old Testament: Jeremiah, Lamentations

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Week 24, Page 11

And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (KJV Jeremiah 31:3134.)

People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me, says the LORD. For I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done. (NET Jeremiah 31:3134.)

i) The features of this new covenant include: (1) Not only will it replace the one given to Moses when Israel was at Mount Sinai, it will be superior to it (31:32). (2) It will not be built around a visible symbol, like the tablets given to Moses, but will be written in the hearts and minds of the people (31:33). (a) The apostle Paul described it as written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart (2 Corinthians 3:3b; cf. Ezekiel 11:1920). (b) Throughout the prophecies of Jeremiah, he described the people of Judah as having hearts that were stubborn (3:17; 7:24; 9:14; 11:8; 13:10; 16:12; 18:12; 23:17), uncircumcised (4:4; 9:26), and desperately wicked (4:4; 17:9). With the new covenant, the Lord will remove the foreskin of their heart and give them a circumcised heart, or take away their stony heart and give them a new heart. (3) All people of all classes in society will know the Lord (in a covenant sense, meaning they will obey his commandments), and he will completely blot out their sins (31:34). ii) When Jesus administered the sacrament for the first time to his apostles at the Last Supper, he declared that the cup represented my blood of the new covenant [KJV testament], which is shed for many for the remission of sins (Matthew 26:28; cf. Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25). iii) The author of the New Testament book of Hebrews argued that Christs priesthood was superior to the priesthood of Aaron, and that Christ is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises (Hebrews 8:613). iv) This new covenant, which began with Christ, will find its complete fulfillment in the last days. v) [SLIDE 22] Joseph Smith taught:
The time has at last arrived when the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has set his hand again the second time to recover the remnants of his people, which have been left from Assyria, and from Egypt, andfrom the islands of the sea, and with them to bring in the fulness of the Gentiles, and establish that covenant with them, which was promised when their sins should be taken away [as described in Jeremiah 31]. This covenant has never been established with the house of Israel, nor with the house of Judah, for it requires two parties to make a covenant, and those two parties must be agreed, or no covenant can be made.

2014, Mike Parker

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For personal use only. Not a Church publication.

Hurricane Utah Adult Religion Class

Old Testament: Jeremiah, Lamentations

Week 24, Page 12

[SLIDE 23]Christ, in the days of His flesh, proposed to make a covenant with them, but they rejected Him and His proposals, and in consequence thereof, they were broken off, and no covenant was made with them at that time. But their unbelief has not rendered the promise of God of none effect: no, for there was another day limited in David, which was the day of His power; and then His people, Israel, should be a willing people;and He would write His law in their hearts, and print it in their thoughts; their sins and their iniquities He would remember no more.25

10) [SLIDE 24] Jeremiahs revelations and prophecies are not easy to read. Overall, he is not an optimistic, hopeful prophet, although there are some hints of that scattered throughout his book. a) By and large, his book is a warningto the people of his day, and to usto forsake wickedness, injustice, and false gods, and turn our lives to the Lord so that he might bless us. 11) [SLIDE 25] Next week: a) Ezekiel.

25 Joseph Smith, letter to Noah C. Saxton, ed., American Revivalist, and Rochester Observer, written from Kirtland, Ohio, 4 January 1833. Joseph Smith Letterbook 1, 1415 (http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/letter-to-noah-c-saxton-4january-1833); .spelling, punctuation, and paragraphing from HC 1:313 (http://byustudies.byu.edu/hc/1/24.html#313); cf. TPJS 1415 (http://scriptures.byu.edu/stpjs.html#14). HC (followed by TPJS) mistakenly refers to the recipient of the letter as N. E. Seaton.

2014, Mike Parker

http://bit.ly/ldsarc

For personal use only. Not a Church publication.