Jeremiah is not in chronological order, but seems to be organized by themes. Here is an outline along with suggested dates.

God Watches and Warns : Jeremiah 1-10

1 - When God Gets Serious - With You 625 B.C.

2 Reasons for Wrath 625 B.C.

3-4:4 Plea for the Faithless & Unfaithful 625 B.C.

4:5-31 Disaster Descends 625 B.C.

5 The Absence of the Upright 625 B.C.

6 The Attack of Terror 625 B.C.

7-9 The Temple Gate Sermon 606 B.C.

10 Explanations and Lessons 606 B.C.

Broken Covenant, Ruined People : Jeremiah 11-19

11-12 Jeremiah and the men of Anathoth 620 B.C.

13 Jeremiah and the ruined shorts 598 B.C.

14-17 God’s Judgment of the Drought 605 B.C.

18-19 The Potter’s House and the Earthen Flask: Religion Gone to Pot 605 B.C.

Reactions of Man and God : Jeremiah 20-29

20-22 Different Kinds of Evil 605 B.C., 597 B.C. 608 B.C., 598 B.C.

23 The Righteous Branch and Bad Prophets 597 B.C.

24 When the People Do Not Give a Fig 597 B.C.

25-29 Seventy Years in Babylon and Bad Prophets 604 B.C., 608 B.C., 593 B.C.

Some scholars would end this section after chapter 25, and 26 would be Jeremiah’s dealing with others.

The Book of Consolation : Jeremiah 30-33

30-31 The Future Promise 596 B.C.

32 The Field of Dreams 586 B.C.

33 Promise of Restoration 586 B.C.

The Book of Personal Memoirs : Jeremiah 34-45

34 The False Freedom of Sin 586 B.C.

35 The Recabite Response 604 B.C.

36 Jehoiakim burns God’s warning scroll 603-604 B.C.

37 Jeremiah warns against trusting in Egypt and he is then imprisoned. 586 B.C.

38 Jeremiah thrown into a cistern 585 B.C.

39-44 The 587 Fall of Jerusalem 585 B.C.

45 Message to Baruch 604 B.C.

The Book of Foreign Oracles: News for Nine Nations : Jeremiah 46-51

46 About Egypt 604 B.C.

47 About the Philistines 604 B.C.

48 About Moab 604 B.C.

49 About Five Other Nations 604 B.C., 595 B.C.

50-51 About Babylon 590 B.C.

Review of the Destruction of Jerusalem 587 B.C. : Jeremiah 52

The estimated dates are from The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1126.

Jeremiah 1 – When God Gets Serious, with you

Memory verse: Jeremiah 1:18a “Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land….”

1. In Jer 1:1, was Jeremiah's father Hilkiah the high priest, who found the Torah in 2 Ki 22:?

2. In Jer 1:2-3, what is significant about the time Jeremiah prophesied?

3. Does Jer 1:5 show that Jeremiah was made a prophet before his birth?

4. In Jer 1:5, does this show that Jeremiah was a person between conception and birth?

5. In Jer 1:6, how can telling God you cannot do something be good?

6. In Jer 1:6, how can telling God you cannot do something be bad?

7. In Jer 1:8 and Jer 1:19, do you think Jeremiah would feel comforted or disturbed about these verses?

8. In Jer 1:9 and Isa 6:6-8, why did God need to have these prophets’ mouths touched?

9. In Jer 1:9, Isa 6:6-8, and Jms 3:5-12, how might you need to have God touch your mouth?

10. In Jer 1:9-10, how did this define Jeremiah’s ministry?

11. In Jer 1:10, should a believer be more of a builder or more of a destroyer?

12. In Jer 1:11-12, what is the connection here with the almond tree?

13. In Jer 1:13-16, what is the point of the boiling pot?

14. In Jer 1:17-19, what was God’s command, promise, and warning given to Jeremiah here?

Jeremiah 2 –From Honeymoon to Betrayal

1. In Jer 2:2-3, why did God remember the Israelites in the wilderness as devoted and loving Him, since most of them rebelled?

2. In Jer 2:5; 8:19; 10:3, and Jon 2:8, can worshipping idols be an imperfect way to worship the True God?

3. In Jer 2:5-8, how did a faithful people fall so far and betray their God?

4. In Jer 2:9-12, why is God “bringing charges” here?

5. In Jer 2:11,19,21, why does a predominantly godly/Christian nation turn away from God?

6. In Jer 2:13, in this metaphor, what exactly is wrong with having your own cistern (well)?

7. How does Jer 2:13 summarize the charges against God’s people back then?

8. In Jer 2:16, where were Noph and Tahpanes?

9. In Jer 2:20-25, what is God saying about these metaphors of the prostitute, the dromedary camel and the donkey?

10. In Jer 2:22, what is God saying about washing yourself with soap here?

11. In Jer 2:26, what is the one word here that you never hear in the news today about wrongdoing?

12. In Jer 2:26, how many thieves are cleverer than they think, and how many are less clever than they think?

13. In Jer 2:31-33, why is God saying Judah was forgetful?

14. What is Jer 2:36-37 say about their fickleness?

Jeremiah 3 – A Halfway Marriage

1. In Jer 3:1-2, how can God’s people prostitute themselves with many lovers, both then and today?

2. In Jer 3:2, what is the point of the “Arab in the Desert”?

3. In Jer 3:7, how were Israel and Judah like two sisters?

4. In Jer 3:11, why was Israel more righteous than Judah?

5. In Jer 3:12-14 and Hos 14:1-4, can someone who showed belief and Christ, and later leaves the faith, ever come back?

6. In Jer 3:14, why are just one or two mentioned to return?

7. In Jer 3:15, what is the promise about their leaders here?

8. In Jer 3:15-22, what is interesting about this literary style?

9. In Jer 3:20a, what is curious about this phrase?

10. In Jer 3:15-17, how can Christian symbols today have a positive use?

11. In Jer 3:15-17, how can Christian symbols today have a negative use?

12. In Jer 3:15-17, why would the Ark of the Covenant not be missed?

13. In Jer 3:16, what happened to the Ark of the Covenant?

14. In Jer 3:22, how does God cure people of backsliding?

Jeremiah 4 – If you will return … almost the last chance

1. In Jer 4:3 what does it mean to break up the unplowed (fallow) ground, and how should we do so today?

2. In Jer 4:4, why did God tell them to wash the evil from their heart, since washing would not help in Jer 2:22?

3. In Jer 4:4, what does the Bible say about God’s wrath?

A: Here is some of what the Bible says.

Slow to anger. Ex 34:6; Num 14:18; Neh 9:17; Ps 86:15; Ps 103:8; Ps 145:8; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2; Nahum 1:3; 2 Peter 3:9

Not be slow to repay those who hate him. Dt 7:10

Fierce wrath/anger. Jer 6:4; 1 Sam 28:18; Lam 1:12

Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath. Mt 3:7; Lk 3:7

All without Jesus remain as objects of God's wrath. Rom 2:5-6;John 3:36; 5:9; 9:22; Eph 2:3;1Th1:10; Jn 3:36

Lord’s wrath remains upon him. Jn 3:36

Rom 2:5 storing up wrath

God bears with patience objects of His wrath. Rom 9:22

We are by nature objects of wrath. Eph 2:3

Rescues us from the coming wrath. 1 Th 1:10

God did not appoint us to suffer wrath. 1 Th 5:9

Save us from the wrath of the Lamb! Rev 6:16

The winepress of God’s wrath. Rev 14:19-20; 19:15; Isa 63:1-4; Lam 1:15; Joel 3:13

He has poured out His wrath like fire. Lam 2:4; Ps 50:3-6; Dt 29:20; 2 Sam 6:8

For the Son’s wrath can flare up in a moment. Ps 2:12

Stiff-necked after many rebukes will be destroyed suddenly. Prov 29:1

Drinking the wine of wrath. Job 21:20; Rev 16:19; 14:10; Jer 25:15; 51:7

God setting aside His wrath and fierce anger. Ps 85:3

“For my own sake I delay my wrath” Isa 48:9

Even God's wrath brings Him praise. Ps 76:10; Ex 9:16;~10:1-2;14-15; Jdg 5; Rom 9:17~Ex10:1-2

God does not delight in the death of the wicked, but rather desires that they turn from their wickedness and live. Ezek 18:23,32;33:11; 2 Pet 3:9; 1 Tim2:5; Mt 18:14

God is not slow in keeping His promises, but patient, not wanting any to perish. 2 Pet 3:9

4. In Jer 4:5-13, what threats is God making here?

5. In Jer 4:6 and Jer 11:11, how does God bring evil?

6. In Jer 4:6-7, could these invaders be the Scythians?

7. In Jer 4:9, how do the hearts of the political and religious leaders fail?

8. In Jer 4:10, who preached peace to these people?

9. In Jer 4:10, why does Jeremiah mention that “the sword touches the throat” here?

10. In Jer 4:11-12, how is God’s judgment going to be like a scorching wind?

11. In Jer 4:15 and Jer 8:16, what is the significance of armies from the region of Dan?

12. In Jer 4:19, could a faithful obedient believer ever have an uncontrolled panic attack?

13. In Jer 4:22, 8:16, how were the people of Judah foolish and like little kids without any sense?

14. In Jer 4:30-31, how do some people, like Judah, totally misread the situation today?

Jeremiah 5 – When you can’t find even one

1. In Jer 5:1, how does this “divine scavenger hunt” compare to Abraham’s pleading for Sodom and Gomorrah in Gen 18:20-33?

2. In Jer 5:1 and Gen 18:26-33, do these passages relate to Jer 15:1 and Ezek 14:14?

3. In Jer 5:2-3; 6:13, are there different degrees of dishonesty?

4. In Jer 5:4-5, what was the point of distinguishing between the poor and the great?

5. In Jer 5:10, the people were so far from God; so why didn’t God want to destroy them completely?

6. In Jer 5:12,20-22, how do many so-called Christians today not take God seriously?

7. In Jer 5:14, how were Jeremiah’s words like fire and the people like wood?

8. In Jer 5:15, could this ancient nations be the Scythians?

9. In Jer 5:21, how do people have eyes that see not and ears that hear not?

10. In Jer 5:22, what is the point of the sand?

11. In Jer 5:25, how do people’s sins keep good things from them?

12: In Jer 5:26-27, what is the point of fowlers catching birds?

13. In Jer 5:27, how are their houses full of deceit as a cage is full of birds?

14. In Jer 5:31f, why is this a good verse for counseling?

Jeremiah 6 – When you tell God you won’t listen, run for your life!

1. In Jer 6:1, what is the structure of this chapter?

2. In Jer 6:1, what is the point about fleeing from Jerusalem instead of to Jerusalem?

3. In Jer 6:1, why is Beth-Haccarem specifically mentioned here?

4. In Jer 6:3-4, who are the shepherds here?

5. In Jer 6:10, why is it wrong that they did not delight in the word of the Lord?

6. In Jer 6:13, what is so wrong with covetousness?

7. In Jer 6:14, Ezek 13:10, in what ways can people today say “peace, peace when there is no peace”?

8. In Jer 6:15, what are some ways today people can be lulled into having no shame about anything?

9. In Jer 6:17 and Ezek 33:1-20, what is a watchman?

10. In Jer 6:17, what were the consequences of them telling God, “we won’t listen”?

11. In Jer 6:17, what are some ways people today tell God, “we won’t listen”?

12. In Jer 6:20, 7:22-23, why did God not like their sacrifices here?

13. In Jer 6:27, how does God sometimes use Christians to test other people?

14. In Jer 6:30, how were some people’s lives like “scum silver” or the waste after silver refining?

Jeremiah 7 – When the balloon of religiousness is punctured

1. In Jer 7:1, when was this temple sermon given?

2. In Jer 7:4,8,10, what are some religious things people trust in today?

3. In Jer 7:12, when was Shiloh destroyed?

4. In Jer 7:16, Jer 11:14, and Jer 14:11, when should we not pray for something or somebody?

5. In Jer 7:22-23 is a day here just 24 hours?

6. In Jer 7:22-24, how did God not command them concerning burnt offerings?

7. In Jer 7:25, how did God daily send them visions?

8. In Jer 7:29, what was the point of Jeremiah prophesying the people would cut off their hair?

9. In Jer 7:30-31, what was so bad about Topheth?

10. In Jer 7:30-31, why did God command human sacrifice at Topheth? (An atheist mentioned this)

11. In Jer 7:31, what are things that do not enter God’s mind?

12. In Jer 7:33-34, Dt 28:26; and Isa 18:6 what is bad about having a body unburied and food for the birds and beasts?

Jeremiah 8 – When saying “I’m sorry” won’t escape destruction

1. In Jer 8:1-3, what is the point of the Babylonians digging up the dead?

2. In Jer 8:2, what is the point of the sun, moon, stars, and planets here?

3. In Jer 8:6-8, when do people do evil things fully and deliberately ignoring the consequences?

4. In Jer 8:7, what is the message of the analogy of the birds?

5. Even Jer 8:8 says that lying scribes [allegedly] corrupted the scriptures, so how can you trust the Bible?

6. In Jer 8:13, what is the significance of no grapes on the vine?

7. In Jer 8:13 and Hab 3:17, what is the significance of no figs on the fig tree?

8. In Jer 8:17, why does God send vipers, or poisonous snakes, here?

9. In Jer 8:20, what is the point of the harvest being over?

10. In Jer 8:22, what is the significance of no balm in Gilead?

Jeremiah 9-10 – What else can God do?

1. In Jer 9:1 and Jer 13:17, what are some of the reasons for Jeremiah’s weeping?

2. In Jer 9:1-11, what is unusual about this passage?

3. In Jer 9:3,8, what is the point of the metaphor of the bow and arrow?

4. Is Jer 9:6 speaking to godly people or ungodly people living in the midst of deception?

5. In Jer 9:7, why do the options of God Almighty seem limited here?

6. In Jer 9:15 and Jer 23:5, what is the significance of wormwood?

7. In Jer 9:15 and Jer 2:13, what is like poisoned water today?

8. In Jer 9:23, why should people not glory in their own wisdom, power or strength?

9. In Jer 10:1-5, why did Jeremiah, Isaiah, and other prophets need to preach against idolatry so many times?

10. Since Jer 10:2-5 condemned wood cut from the forest, handled by a craftsman, and decorated with gold and silver, are Christmas trees OK?

11. In Jer 10:5, how is an idol like an ineffective scarecrow?

12. In Jer 10:11, why is this verse in Aramaic?

13. In Jer 10:17, what does it mean, allegorically, to “live under siege”?

Jeremiah 11:1-13:11 – Serving God can be just plain tough

1. In Jer 11:1-4, what is the covenant to which Jeremiah is referring?

2. In Jer 11:21-23, were the men of Anathoth not wanting Jeremiah to stay there because Jeremiah's unpopularity might spread to Anathoth, as the skeptical Asimov's Guide to the Bible p.563 says?

3. In Jer 12:1, do the wicked prosper, or does evil pursue and kill the wicked as Prov 13:21 and Ps 34:21 show?

4. In Jer 12:1-6, do Jeremiah’s times of depression show him to be unspiritual?

5. In Jer 12:5, what is God telling Jeremiah about foot soldiers and horses?

6. In Jer 12:8, how did God’s inheritance roar like a lion against Him?

7. In Jer 13:1-11, what was the point of the “role-play” of the linen shorts (or girdle)?

8. In Jer 13:1-7, was this belt buried at the Euphrates River or the Wadi Farah?

9. In Jer 13:10, how do people walk in imagination after their heart?

10. In Jer 13:11, why would God fill them with darkness?

Jeremiah 13:12-14:17 – Do not pray for some things

1. In Jer 13:12-14, why would Jeremiah say every wine jar should be filled with wine?

2. In Jer 13:14, what is the significance of the pots being smashed against each other?

3. In Jer 13:16, what is the point of the darkness and gloom on the mountains?

4. In Jer 13:23, what does Jeremiah mean by the color of skin or fur?

5. In Jer 14:1, what is the significance of droughts in Israel?

6. In Jer 14:4 what is this calling the ground?

7. In Jer 14:8 why is God asking if the Lord is just travelling though?

8. In Jer 14:10, why do some people greatly love to wander, while others do not?

9. In Jer 14:11, when should we not pray for something or someone?

10. In Jer 14:14 and Jer 28:9, why did God permit false prophets to prophesy lies in God’s name?

11. In Jer 14:17, why did Jeremiah cry so much?

Jeremiah 15 – Jeremiah loses heart

1. In Jer 15:1, since Moses and Samuel could not persuade God to relent, why did God look for someone to stand in the gap in Ezek 13:5 and Ezek 22:31?

2. In Jer 15:4, why would God punish Judah for the actions of Manasseh, since Manasseh was already dead, and before he died he also repented in 2 Chr 33:12-20?

3. In Jer 15:6, does God repent?

4. In Jer 15:6 how can God get weary, since Isa 40:28 says He does not get weary?

5. In Jer 15:10, why did Jeremiah regret his birth?

6. In Jer 15:10, what can you say to someone who regrets ever being born?

7. In Jer 15:10, how should you respond when others curse and revile you for your speaking about your faith?

8. In Jer 15:19, who is God telling to repent here?

9. In Jer 15:20, what is the significance of a bronze wall here?

Jeremiah 16 – When Words alone are not enough

1. In Jer 16:1-4, why did God tell Jeremiah not ot have a wife or children?

2. In Jer 16:5,8 why was Jeremiah told not to go into a house of mourning or a house of feasting?

3. In Jer 16:7, what does this say about breaking bread?

4. In Jer 16:10-13, what was the specific sin that was highlighted here?

5. In Jer 16:5, why does God take away His peace from some people?

6. In Jer 16:6, how did men make themselves bald in mourning?

7. In Jer 16:10, what is important about this verse?

8. In Jer 16:12, what is the “imagination of the heart”?

9. In Jer 16:18, why would God pay them back double for their sin?

10. In Jer 16:19f-20, why do some people prefer useless idols to the Living God?

Jeremiah 17 – The iron stylus and the diamond tip

1. In Jer 17:1, how was their sin written with a diamond-tipped iron pen?

2. In Jer 17:1, how is some sin engraved upon a heart with an iron stylus or diamond-tipped pen?

3. In Jer 17:5, how do some trust in people, instead of in God?

4. Why is Jer 17:5-8 almost the opposite of Ps 1?

5. In Jer 17:6-7 what is point of the bush in heath in the desert?

6. In Jer 17:9, how is the human heart deceitful above all things?

7. In Jer 17:10, will God hear a person's thoughts if the thoughts are never spoken out loud?

8. In Jer 17:11, how does a partridge hatch eggs it did not lay?

9. In Jer 17:19-23, what is the point of loads on the Sabbath Day?

Jeremiah 18-19 – When two clay pots assume God’s message is not true

1. In Jer 18:1-13, what were the main lessons God was teaching here?

2. In Jer 18:6, how were God’s people like soft clay?

3. In Jer 18:6, since God’s people were like soft clay, why was their wound incurable in Jer 30:12,15?

4. In Jer 18:11, how does the trip to the potter relate to Judah?

5. In Jer 18:13-17, what is the point of the contrast with the waters of Lebanon?

6. In Jer 18:18-23, what were they planning to do to Jeremiah?

7. In Jer 18:20, how did they “dig a pit for his soul” and how do some people do similar today?

8. In Jer 19:1, what was the point of Jeremiah smashing the pot?

9. In Jer 19:5, Jer 7:31; and Jer 32:35, what does it mean about the infant sacrifices not entering God’s mind?

10. In Jer 19:6, how did God cause this to happen?

11. In Jer 19:10-11, how would Jeremiah’s hearers interpret the pot being broken?

12. In Jer 19:10, why was this pot broken instead of reformed?

Jeremiah 20-21 – When you are Thinking of Quitting

1. In Jer 20:1, what was the position of Pashhur the chief overseer?

2. In Jer 20:7, why did Jeremiah think God deceived/misled him?

3. In Jer 20:9, why was Jeremiah not capable of not prophesying?

4. In Jer 20:11-15, what should we do when we are despairing and depressed?

5. In Jer 20:14, was Jeremiah wrong to curse his mother here?

6. In Jer 20:14-18, what is interesting about this passage?

7. In Jer 21:1-4, were they wrong to ask Jeremiah to enquire of God for them?

8. In Jer 21:8-10, why were the king and officials so against Jeremiah?

9. In Jer 21:10 and Jer 44:11, how does God set His face against a city for evil?

10. In Jer 21:11-14, what do you do when God gives you a message that is the opposite of what you want to hear?

Jeremiah 22 – Woe to evil political rulers

1. In Jer 22:3 what are two kinds of commands given to rulers in this verse?

2. In Jer 22:11, who was King Shallum?

3. In Jer 22:13, what are other examples of people legally taking something without paying for it, when they can get away with it?

4. In Jer 22:13-15, Jeremiah rebuked Jehoiakim for building a luxurious new palace. Why do some people build or buy fancy things when they are on the edge of disaster?

5. In Jer 22:15, which righteous king is this?

6. In Jer 22:19, 36:30, was Jehoiakim’s body thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem and left outside, eventually being buried like a donkey, or did Jehoiakim “rest with his fathers” like 2 Kings 24:6 says?

7. In Jer 22:24; 2 Ki 24:8-9, who was Coniah?

8. In Jer 22:24, why is a signet ring important?

9. In Jer 22:30, should this say “childless” or “without honor”?

10. In Jer 22:30, should this be translated as “childless” or “as if childless”?

11. In Jer 22:30, how was Coniah (Jehoiachin) as if childless, since he had a son named Shealtiel in Mt 1:12?

Jeremiah 23 – Woe to evil religious shepherds

1. In Jer 23:1-2, why does God sometimes allow worthless shepherds for His people?

2. In Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15; Isa 4:2; Zech 3:8; 6:12, who is the righteous branch?

3. In Jer 23:9, how was Jeremiah similar to a drunken man?

4. In Jer 23:15-17,25-34 what was the message of the false prophets?

5. In Jer 23:24, how does God fill heaven and earth?

6. In Jer 23:25,32, does God ever speak in dreams?

7. In Jer 23:28, is it OK to give our own opinions on religious matters?

8. In Jer 23:33-40, why were the people asking Jeremiah about the burden/word of the Lord?

9. In Jer 23:34, why does God have a special punishment for false prophets?

10. In Jer 23:39, why is God’s punishment here to utterly forget them?

Jeremiah 24-25 – What kind of fig are you?

1. In Jer 24:1, why were the ones who were exiled for their sin the good figs, and the ones who were not exiled the bad figs?

2. In Jer 24:2-4, was Jeremiah a bad fig, since he chose not to go into exile in Jeremiah 40:4-6?

3. In Jer 24:5-6, what are some ways people can bear up under consequences of their actions vs. seek to escape it?

4. In 25:1, when was the four year of Jehoiakim’s reign and the first year of Nebuchadnezzar’s?

5. Why was Jer 25:1-38 placed here?

6. In Jer 25:6, what does this say about worshipping the work of your hands, i.e., other gods?

7. In Jer 25:9, how could a cruel idol-worshipper like Nebuchadnezzar be God’s servant?

8. In Jer 25:11-12, why would God make them serve the king of Babylon for 70 years (605-536 B.C.), and not 60 or 80?

9. In Jer 25:11, when was this 70-year period fulfilled?

10. In Jer 25:14-29, how would nations drink the cup of God’s wrath?

11. In Jer 25:25, where is the land of Zimri?

12. In Jer 25:26 and Jer 51:41, how do we know that Sheshach is Babylon?

13. In Jer 25:27-29, why will God bring a sword upon all of the earth?

14. In Jer 25:30 and Isa 42:13, is it ill-befitting that God should “roar”, as the Muslim Ahmad Deedat claims?

Jeremiah 26-27 – The Ungodly will be under the Yoke

1. In Jer 26:3, why did God say, “perhaps they might repent”, since God knows all?

2. In Jer 26:13, would Jeremiah’s prophecy have been false if they had repented?

3. In Jer 26:20-23, why did God let evil men kill the godly prophet Uriah/Urijah, yet spare Jeremiah?

4. In Jer 27:1-11, was the king here Jehoiakim, or Zedekiah?

5. In Jer 27:3, did Jeremiah literally make a yoke for each king and send it to him?

6. In Jer 27:6, why is the king’s name spelled Nebuchadrezzar here, and Nebuchadnezzar elsewhere?

7. In Jer 27:14-18, how do you handle competing messages?

8. In Jer 27:14-18, what are some lying prophetic voices today?

9. In Jer 27:16, why were the temple items important?

10. In Jer 27:21-22, when was this prophecy of God visiting these vessels fulfilled?

Jeremiah 28-29 – To follow God, turn your back on Him, or a third choice

1. In Jer 28:1, why does it say the “beginning of Zedekiah’s reign, while Jer 18:1 says the “fourth year”?

2. In Jer 28:6, why would Jeremiah say “Amen” to the word of Hananiah the false prophet?

3. In Jer 28:9, why would an honest and Almighty God permit any false prophets to prophesy lies in His name?

4. In Jer 28:9, why would so many false prophets to prophesy lies in His name?

5. In Jer 28:15, since then what are some ways people trust in lies?

6. In Jer 29:4-7, are there times when Christians, even obedient ones, have to bar up in a hostile land?

7. In Jer 29:10, when exactly did this 70-year exile occur?

8. In Jer 29:13, do people ever seek God, or does no one seek God, as Rom 3:11 says?

9. In Jer 29:21,24, why did God allow three false prophets with the exiles in Babylon?

10. In Jer 29:30, why did God’s people tolerate a leader that taught rebellion against God?

Jeremiah 1 – When God Gets Serious, with you – Some brief answers

Memory verse: Jeremiah 1:18a “Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land….”

1. In Jer 1:1, was Jeremiah's father Hilkiah the high priest, who found the book of the law in 2 Ki 22:8?

A: Very likely not. Despite what Clement of Alexandria, Jerome, and some rabbis thought, it is very unlikely because Jeremiah was a priest from the village of Anathoth, not Jerusalem. Abiathar was the priest exiled to Anathoth in David’s time, and the high priests were from the line of Zadok, not Anathoth.

See The Believer's Bible Commentary p.995, the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.38, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1123,1129, and The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.358-359 for more info.

2. In Jer 1:2-3, what is significant about the time Jeremiah prophesied?

A: Spiritually, Jeremiah lived in varied times. He started his prophetic career when the good king Josiah reigned. After that, the kings were bad, though in differing degrees.

Militarily, Jeremiah saw the Babylonians besiege Jerusalem for 30 months and exile the Jews.

Jeremiah was a man with a message. His timeless message was as much for the Jews in exile and those who later returned as it was for the people of his own time.

3. Does Jer 1:5 show that Jeremiah was made a prophet before his birth?

A: It does not say Jeremiah was “made” a prophet. Rather, God appointed that Jeremiah would be a prophet, not only before his birth, but even before he was formed in the womb. Actually God ordained who prophets would be before the world we even created.

4. In Jer 1:5, does this show that Jeremiah was a person between conception and birth?

A: No. While it is tempting to say yes, actually the last half of Jeremiah 1:5 does not show that Jeremiah was a person then any more than the first half of Jeremiah 1:5 shows that Jeremiah existed as a person prior to conception.

5. In Jer 1:6, how can telling God you cannot do something be good?

A: Jeremiah was terrified, and he was actually correct here. Being 15 to 20 years old Jeremiah knew he had no experience and was ill-equipped. On his own power, Jeremiah was not capable of doing this, and it is good to recognize our own human limitations. Sometimes the people who are ill-equipped, and they know it such that they must rely on God, are the people God seeks to use.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1130 and The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.363 for more info.

6. In Jer 1:6, how can telling God you cannot do something be bad?

A: It is only bad if you say that you cannot do it on your own ability, therefore you cannot do it at all. This assumes God is unwilling or unable to empower you to do His will. Instead of asking God, “How can I do this?”, a better question is: “What is your will for me to do, with your spirit empowering me?”

See Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.26 and The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.848 for more info.

7. In Jer 1:8 and Jer 1:19, do you think Jeremiah would feel comforted or disturbed about these verses?

A: Did Jeremiah feel comfort in God’s promise to save him from harm? Or was Jeremiah wondering how he would get into situations where he would need to be rescued from harm? It is comforting to know that God will always be there. However, it might make Jeremiah pause to know that God’s intervention would be necessary to rescue him.

Today, if it appears to us that everything we can do for God is easy to do within our own power, then our vision is too shortsighted. God does not work primarily for our ease, comfort, or even earthly happiness (just ask Job). God works primarily for His glory; but we do have the promise of great happiness, - in heaven.

8. In Jer 1:9 and Isa 6:6-8, why did God need to have these prophets’ mouths touched?

A: There are at least four possible reasons.

Cleansing: Their mouths would need to be cleansed of unhelpful, proud, or self-promoting speech.

God’s message: God put His words in them for them to speak.

God’s inerrant message: Combining the first two reasons, God not only gave them His message, but God ensured that when they were speaking as prophets, they would not say anything was from God that was not really from God.

Passion: God not only gave them the content to say, but God gave them His heart in determining how to say it.

9. In Jer 1:9, Isa 6:6-8, and Jms 3:5-12, what are some ways you might need to have God touch your mouth?

A: Like Jeremiah, we should not think that on our own, we will say the right things, not mix God’s truth with error, and saying the truth the proper way in love. There are three distinct parts. First we need to stop saying evil, mean, or otherwise ungodly things God does not want us to speak. This is regardless of how funny it might be, how good we think we might feel getting back at someone, or how much we want to say them. Second, we need to speak only godly, helpful things for building up others. Third, we need to speak less and not dilute our godly words with things that may not be so bad, but aren’t really helpful either.

10. In Jer 1:9-10, how did this define Jeremiah’s ministry?

A: God appointed Jeremiah such that God’s words spoken through Jeremiah would destroy many kingdoms and also build up God’s people. Jeremiah was given some powerful words!

Many times a Christian will be given a verse that will be a dominate motif in their life, or God’s special purpose for them.

11. In Jer 1:10, should a believer be more of a builder or more of a destroyer?

A: Jeremiah was commanded to be both a destroyer and then a builder. In western culture we want to be only builders. But we can’t sow the seed to grow a crop if the soil is covered in concrete. Sometimes we have to be a destroyer first and then we can be a builder.

See Light Beyond the Darkness – A Study of Jeremiah p.8 for more info.

12. In Jer 1:11-12, what is the connection here with the almond tree?

A: Almond trees are native to the Mideast and Anathoth had almond orchards. The words for almond and watching are shaqed and shaqad. The almond tree could be considered the “watchful tree”, because it “watched for spring” in that it blossomed in January towards the end of winter, before the other trees in Palestine that all blossomed in spring. In other words, this is a pun. Many times in the Bible God uses puns, such as in Micah 1:10-15. However, these are not used for humor but to drive home a point and make it easier to remember.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1131, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.385, Light Beyond the Darkness – A Study of Jeremiah p.9, the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.42, The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.848, the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.999, Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.27, and The Tony Evan’s Bible Commentary p.682 for more info.

13. In Jer 1:13-16, what is the point of the boiling pot?

A: You do not want scalding water poured on you, and there was an obvious, visible disaster that was poised to happen.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1131, The Tony Evan’s Bible Commentary p.682, and The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.385 for more info.

14. In Jer 1:17-19, what was God’s command, promise, and warning give to Jeremiah here?

A: Regardless, God is telling Jeremiah “I don’t want to hear you complain any more about your inabilities since I have not only prepared you, but also enabled you. You don’t have to wonder if it will be a tough fight with those who oppose you; - it will be. So put on your big boy pants and get to work!”

Instead of just praying for easy lives of safety, pray for the faith, hope, and love for you and your family to be effectively used by God to glorify Him.

See The Tony Evan’s Bible Commentary p.683, Light Beyond the Darkness – A Study of Jeremiah p.11, and the New International Bible Commentary p.768 for more info.

Jeremiah 2 –From Honeymoon to Betrayal – some brief answers

1. In Jer 2:2-3, why did God remember the Israelites in the wilderness as devoted and loving Him, since most of them rebelled?

A: God was remembering those who were devoted and sensitive to God. Jeremiah 2:2-3 does not mention coming out of Egypt. God likely meant the desert-born Israelites who did not rebel after the report of the ten spies. Jeremiah 2:1-3 is the explanatory background for the oracles after this to a wayward and insensitive people

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.387-388, the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.522, The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.849, and the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.49-50,51 for more info.

2. In Jer 2:5; 8:19; 10:3, and Jon 2:8, can worshipping idols be an imperfect way to worship the True God?

A: Not at all! It is an abomination to God.

1. Idols are acknowledged as created (Romans 1:20-26).

2. It disobeys two of God’s ten commandments (Exodus 20:3-4, Deuteronomy 5:6-7).

3. Idols were distressing to Paul (Acts 17:16).

4. 1 Corinthians 10:20 says that sacrifices to idols are actually sacrifices to demons.

Most unfortunately C.S. Lewis taught this false teaching in the last book of the series The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: The Last Battle p.163-165.

3. In Jer 2:5-8, how did a faithful people fall so far and betray their God?

A: Over time, as they continued to take things for granted, the object of their devotion was gradually changed from God to idols. Despite God providing for them, and bringing them into a good land, the Israelites were not satisfied, saying it is not enough. So they turned to idols. The idols did not help them, any more than the idols helped the Canaanites before them, or the Egyptians who opposed them. But the idols offered illusory promises of helping them.

Beyond this, Jeremiah gives a four-part answer: in the people and their parents (2:5-7), in the priests (2:8a), the political leaders (2:8b), and in the prophets (2:8c), i.e. prophets of Baal. On one hand, you could blame their religious leaders, their priests and prophets, for turning them away. You could also blame the government leaders, who allowed the false prophets to flourish. But on the other hand, the sin lay with the people themselves, who were dissatisfied with God and were open to following other options.

See Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.30, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1132, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.683, and The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.388-389 for more info.

4. In Jer 2:9-12, why is God “bringing charges” here?

A: The purpose of a human court is supposed to be to find out the truth of the charges and set any punishment. God uses this metaphor as He brings to light the evil they have done, and why the impending punishment is appropriate. He even points out that other people’s have not changed their gods, only Israel. The thought here is similar to an earlier prophecy in Isaiah 3:13-15.

A person does not have the guilt of their parents according to Ezekiel 18. However, if a person follows in the footsteps of their parents, including the same sins, then they have the same guilt.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1132, Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.31, and The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.390 for more info.

5. In Jer 2:11,19,21, why does a predominantly godly/Christian nation turn away from God?

A: Remember, nations do not go to Heaven, people do. Often the issue is not individuals turning away from God en masse, but parents losing the next generation, due to other enticements, their own shortcomings, or other factors. Of course, no one comes to God without God’s grace, but as God desires that all come to Him, the responsibility of someone not coming to God is his or her own.

6. In Jer 2:13, in this metaphor, what exactly is wrong with having your own cistern (well)?

A: Palestine has a west and dry season, and it is important to store some of the abundance in the wet season for the dry season. Archaeologists have found numerous cisterns. A cistern is a pit or container that can hold a large amount of rainwater. However, if the cistern develops a crack or a hole, or if part of the cistern is material water can drain through, then the cistern is useless, no matter how large it is.

They gave up the fresh spring for the stale cistern water, and the cistern was not usable at that. After a few months the stagnant water in the cistern would look brownish and tasted like the dirt or plaster holding it. You would give up fresh spring water for this?

Everybody feels the need for water. If they turn away from living waters then they will seek out their own water. In a similar way, if they turn away from the Living God, they will seek out idols to fill the void. 1 John 2:16 says that we have at least three classes of temptations: the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.

Likewise the reason many people turn away from God is that they think the soon to be dry cistern they have found is a better alternative.

See 735 Baffling Bible Questions Answered p.174, The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.849, Light beyond the Darkness – A Study of Jeremiah p.13, Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.31-32, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.391, and The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1132 for more info.

7. How does Jer 2:13 summarize the charges against God’s people back then?

A: Like many people today, they only did two things wrong. In their words, actions, and hearts, They turned away from God and what was right, and they turned to their own substitutes and things that were wrong.

8. In Jer 2:16, where were Noph and Tahpanes?

A: These were two prominent Egyptian cities; Tahpanes was the city the Greeks called Daphnai/Daphne. The NIV Study Bible p.1122 and the skeptical Asimov's Guide to the Bible p.559 say that the ruins of Tahpanes are under the mound called Tel Defneh/Defenneh just south of Lake Menzaleh in the eastern Nile Delta region.

Noph is known to us today as the ruins of the ancient capital city of Memphis. Originally the name Memphis meant “enduring and beautiful”. It is about 20 miles (32 km) south of Cairo. It is in lower (northern) Egypt, but close to upper (southern) Egypt.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.391, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis,_Egypt, the New International Bible Commentary p.768 and the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.523 for more info.

9. In Jer 2:20-25, what is God saying about these metaphors of the prostitute, the dromedary camel and the donkey?

A: God is bringing to light that they are committing spiritual adultery. You can’t have love if you are just following the money, or following your lust. The prostitute sets her affection on whoever has money. But if you appear to love every man who has money, you really love no one, except yourself and money, your idol. Similarly if a person just follows their lust, they are not really loving anybody.

According to the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.67 the wild, untamable donkey was a symbol of the boundless love of freedom.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1133 and The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.393-394 for more info.

10. In Jer 2:22, what is God saying about washing yourself with soap here?

A: In ancient times they made a form of soap using lye (very alkaline, like dilute Drano) boiled with animal fat. If you did not use enough animal fat then it could be more effective than soap today, if you don’t mind the caustic dissolving the outer layer of your skin. But God is saying that no matter how you wash yourselves with soap on the outside, you cannot get rid of your sinful desires on the inside.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.393-394 for more info.

11. In Jer 2:26, what is the one word here that you never hear in the news today about wrongdoing?

A: Given the previous section about a prostitute, camel, and wild donkey, plus the caught thief here, the point God is highlighting is the shame of sin. Judah will be put to shame, by Egypt just like they were by Assyria.

Today in the news, no matter what scandal your hear about, or what massive frauds have occurred, the news never mentions the word “shame”. You hear that it is wrong, they should be sued or go to jail, but they don’t ever seem to say the wrong-doers are “shameful”. It seems our society has lost all sense of shame. It might have been getting that way in Jeremiah’s time too.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.394 and the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.70 for more info.

12. In Jer 2:26, how many thieves are cleverer than they think, and how many are less clever than they think?

A: It is always the second way. Few thieves think they are going to get caught and it turns out they are not; they would not have tried to steal if that was the case. On the other hand, most thieves that are caught thought they were clever enough not to get caught. What is true for stealing here is true of sin in general.

See Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.33 for more info.

13. In Jer 2:31-33, why is God saying Judah was forgetful?

A: God is not saying there is a physical problem with their memory. Rather, they are not remembering, or rather choosing not to remember their past relationship with God. Today people can “forget” things they have not forgotten. Rather, they willingly choose to ignore what was done for them in the past, when it is convenient for them to do so.

14. What is Jer 2:36-37 say about their fickleness?

A: First Judah “loved” Assyria, and then they “loved” Assyria’s enemy Egypt. The only consistent factor was that they “loved” what seemed to be the winner at the time. They neglected to consider that both Assyria (whose mascot was the lion Jeremiah 2:15) and Egypt (whose mascot was the crocodile) could see through that.

When people act fickle in their loyalty today, there can be an underlying, consistent factor. It might be that they are trying to follow what appears to be the most successful for them now, not considering how the people they claim to be loyal to will treat them since they can see through their vacillating unfaithfulness.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1133 for more info.

Jeremiah 3 – A Halfway Marriage – some brief answers

1. In Jer 3:1-2, how can God’s people prostitute themselves with many lovers, both then and today?

A: They were comfortable being called God’s people, but they were also comfortable worshipping other gods, and engaging in wicked practices. A man would not be impressed with a potential wife who insisted that she had to still see other men after marriage. If a husband asks his wife if she was unfaithful with another man, and she responds with “which one” that is not a good sign. But that is what Judah did. If a wife is unfaithful, then there is a divorce, and then she marries someone else, the husband cannot go back to her again according to Deuteronomy 24:1-4. But what about when Israel has not just committed spiritual adultery with Baal, but now she is even married to Baal? In some respects, being God’s people is similar to being spiritually married to God. But the people took it as a marriage only when convenient. A problem is that when forgiveness is free, sometimes people can be prone to take it for granted. Some people are moral, nice, and appear loving, only when convenient. Character means commitment to stay the course, even when something better appearing comes around.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1134, the New International Bible Commentary p.769, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.683-684, the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.523, Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.35, The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.849, the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1000, and the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.79 for more info.

2. In Jer 3:2, what is the point of the “Arab in the Desert”?

A: Even in ancient time Arab bedouins were known for ambushing travelers according to Diodorus Siculus’ Bibliotheca Historica 2.48 (60-30 B.C.) and Pliny the Elder’s Natural History 6.28 (-77 A.D.).

See the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.80 for more info.

3. In Jer 3:7, how were Israel and Judah like two sisters?

A: They had common parentage; but there is also more than that. They knew each other very well, and the path that one of them would take the other would likely follow. Of course, nothing says that sisters necessarily get along.

See the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.97-98 for more info.

4. In Jer 3:11, why was Israel more righteous than Judah?

A: A key word in this chapter is “faithless”. While Israel was worse, in the sense of completely turning away from God, at least they were honest about it, and did not follow God in pretense, as Judah did. If you are going to commit to turning away from God, at least don’t hypocritically pretend to be faithful to God. As Jeremiah 3:13, Israel was faithless, similar to a woman leaving her husband. Judah was unfaithful, like a woman cheating on her husband. Also, Judah had the additional advantage of being able to learn from the example of Israel, but sadly they did not.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.400, Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.35-36, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1136, and The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.684 for more info.

5. In Jer 3:12-14 and Hos 14:1-4, can someone who showed belief and Christ, and later leaves the faith, ever come back?

A: Yes, I have known a number of cases where a person was an evangelical Christians, left and became a ______, and later repented and came back to Christ.
I have personally seen “blank” filled in with Mormon, Muslim, and skeptic.

Jeremiah 3:12-14 and Hosea 14:1-4 are not pleas to those who have no knowledge of God. As pleas to those who know about God, they are not so much pleas to come to God as pleas to come back to God. See 1001 Bible Questions Answered p.436-437 for more info.

6. In Jer 3:14, why are just one or two mentioned to return?

A: The thought here is that even if only one or two return from a family or a village, God will restore even those few. Don’t ever think that so many people turn away from God there is no point for me to follow him either.

See the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.91 for more info.

7. In Jer 3:15, what is the promise about their leaders here?

A: Shepherds after God’s own heart does not mean leaders who never make mistakes and don’t have any shortcomings. But rather, like David, they have God’s heart to glorify Him, and God’s heart for the people. They will feed the people with knowledge and wisdom.

See the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.92 for more info.

8. In Jer 3:15-22, what is interesting about this literary style?

A: The first part of the chapter is accusatory about what Judah has done. But in Jeremiah 3:15-19 there is an abrupt change to a pleasant image, about the good things in store for them, even now, if they return and repent. But then Jeremiah 3:20-22 is a very abrupt change about what Judah will become if she does not change.

God is basically asking which of the futures will you have: Jeremiah 3:15-19 or Jeremiah 3:20-22? The ball is in your court, Judah.

9. In Jer 3:20a, what is curious about this phrase?

A: You might expect it to say a woman treacherously leaves her husband, but no it says treacherously leave her lover. She was already treacherous towards her husband, but now she would be treacherous towards her lover too. It is amazing is easily people assume that if someone is treacherous towards someone else, they won’t be treacherous towards them.

10. In Jer 3:15-17, how can Christian symbols today have a positive use?

A: They can be a reminder to pray and to continue practicing the presence of God. It can be an encouragement to see others that are believers, too.

11. In Jer 3:15-17, how can Christian symbols today have a negative use?

A: They can have a bad use if:

1. People think they contain any magic.

2. People think using a symbol will make God more pleased with them.

3. They pray to it, or worship or venerate the symbol instead of God.

12. In Jer 3:16, why would the Ark of the Covenant not be missed?

A: There are two reasons.

1. Those who turned away from God would not miss anything related to the worship of God.

2. In New Testament times, believers have the Holy Spirit inside of them. They do not need the ark of God’s presence, as one could think of us having the ark of God’s presence inside our hearts.

13. In Jer 3:16, what happened to the Ark of the Covenant?

A: First two observations, and then two possible answers.

The Babylonians took all the gold and furnishings they found in Solomon's Temple.

The ark appeared in Heaven in John's vision in Revelation 11:19.

Answers: Either there was only one ark, and God carried it up to Heaven (perhaps as God's glory left the Temple in Ezekiel 10), or the earthly ark was a copy of the Heavenly one, as many items in earthly worship were copies of Heavenly things according to Hebrews 8:5.

14. In Jer 3:22, how does God cure people of backsliding?

A: In extreme cases, God cures backsliding by death, as He did for Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11. In most cases, it appears God gives us all a responsibility to examine ourselves (2 Corinthians 13:5) persevere (Hebrews 10:23,26) and to watch and test others, especially leaders (Revelation 2:2,20; Matthew 7:15-20; 2 Corinthians 11:2-6,13-5).

Jeremiah 4 – If you will return … almost the last chance – some brief answers

1. In Jer 4:3 what does it mean to break up the unplowed (fallow) ground, and how should we do so today?

A: Land was extremely valuable back then. With effort, farmland would return a good crop, and the land would be available for the same each and every year after that. But if the land is not planted, then no crop and there is no benefit to having the land that year.

Metaphorically we might have time, gifts, and skills that theoretically would be useful in God’s service, but they are not useful because we are not choosing to put them into action. “Like clouds and wind without rain is the man who boasts of gifts never given.” Proverbs 25:14 (Berean Bible)

However, as the rest of this verse shows, even if you do decide to sow on the uncultivated ground, it still might not do any good. If you sow on the hard ground without breaking it up first, the seeds do not grow but are just eaten by birds as Jesus said in the parable of the soils (Mark 4:3-20). Also, if this ground is filled with thorns they choke out the good plants. So step 1 is to desire to sow on the unplowed ground, step 2 ot use the plow of repentance and obedience to break up the hard ground, and finally in step 3 you sow.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.405, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1135, the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.524, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.684, and The MacArthur Study Bible p.850 for more info.

2. In Jer 4:4, why did God tell them to wash the evil from their heart, since washing would not help in Jer 2:22?

A: Jeremiah 2:22 says they would use soda, but they needed to clean up their actions in Jeremiah 2:23-28 They were not clean on the inside, and they had the responsibility to “circumcise their hearts” and ask God to change them. See When Critics Ask p.275 for more info.

3. In Jer 4:4, what does the Bible say about God’s wrath?

A: Here is some of what the Bible says.

God is slow to anger. Ex 34:6; Num 14:18; Neh 9:17; Ps 86:15; Ps 103:8; Ps 145:8; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2; Nahum 1:3; 2 Peter 3:9

God will not be slow to repay those who hate him. Dt 7:10

Fierce wrath/anger. Jer 6:4; 1 Sam 28:18; Lam 1:12

Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath. Mt 3:7; Lk 3:7

All without Jesus remain as objects of God's wrath. Rom 2:5-6;John 3:36; 5:9; 9:22; Eph 2:3;1Th1:10; Jn 3:36

Lord’s wrath remains upon him. Jn 3:36

Some people are storing up God’s wrath. Rom 2:5

God bears with patience objects of His wrath. Rom 9:22

We are by nature objects of wrath. Eph 2:3

Jesus rescues us from the coming wrath. 1 Th 1:10

God did not appoint us to suffer wrath. 1 Th 5:9

Save us from the wrath of the Lamb! Rev 6:16

The winepress of God’s wrath. Rev 14:19-20; 19:15; Isa 63:1-4; Lam 1:15; Joel 3:13

He has poured out His wrath like fire. Lam 2:4; Ps 50:3-6; Dt 29:20; 2 Sam 6:8

For the Son’s wrath can flare up in a moment. Ps 2:12

People who are stiff-necked after many rebukes will be destroyed suddenly. Prov 29:1

Drinking the wine of wrath. Job 21:20; Rev 16:19; 14:10; Jer 25:15; 51:7

God setting aside His wrath and fierce anger. Ps 85:3

“For my own sake I delay my wrath” Isa 48:9

Even God's wrath brings Him praise. Ps 76:10; Ex 9:16;~10:1-2;14-15; Jdg 5; Rom 9:17~Ex10:1-2

God does not delight in the death of the wicked, but rather desires that they turn from their wickedness and live. Ezek 18:23,32;33:11; 2 Pet 3:9; 1 Tim2:5; Mt 18:14

God is not slow in keeping His promises, but patient, not wanting any to perish. 2 Pet 3:9

4. In Jer 4:5-13, what threats is God making here?

A: If they do not repent, God is promising to send that Babylonians as a lion, a hot dry wind, clouds, a whirlwind, and eagles.

See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1001 for more info.

5. In Jer 4:6 and Jer 11:11, how does God bring evil?

A: God causes evil in the sense of the “physical evil” of catastrophes, but He does not do moral evil. However, this does not completely answer all the issues this verse raises.

Even knowing how evil the Babylonians were, God deliberately planned that they would come to power and conquer Judah. The Bible shows both that God never does evil Himself, but God even uses evil people and demons as He wishes, as a part of His ultimate plan. See the discussion on Habakkuk 1:13 for more on God not only permitting, but also using the moral evil of others.

6. In Jer 4:6-7, could these invaders be the Scythians?

A: No. While the Scythians were attacking Anatolia and the Medes in Iran, and they went down the Philistine Coast to plunder a Philistine temple in Ashkelon according to Herodotus’ History book 1 p.104-106. However, there is no record that they fought against Judah. The Scythians had cavalry, no chariots in Jeremiah 4:13 and they did not know how to do city sieges in Jeremiahs 4:16. It also says it is the Babylonians in Jeremiah 20:4.

See the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.105-107 (footnotes), Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.38-39, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.406, and The MacArthur Study Bible p.850 for more info.

7. In Jer 4:9, how do the hearts of the political and religious leaders fail?

A: The immediate context is the prophecy that they will shudder with fear as an invading army spells their impending doom. We can read a firsthand account of this in the Lachish Letters we have preserved right before Lachish fell around 588 B.C.

But in another sense, their hearts failed long before this when they turned away from God and their hearts refused to repent.

See the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.525, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.407, and The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1135 for more info.

8. In Jer 4:10, who preached peace to these people?

A: There is no record that Jeremiah himself every preached that the rebellious people will have peace. But Jeremiah is lamenting because God allowed the people to heard peace preached to them by prophets claiming to bring a message from God. These were false prophets, but the people chose to believe the false prophets. Even today, there are many people, who all claim to be Christians saying many different things.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1136, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.407, and New International Bible Commentary p.769 for more info.

9. In Jer 4:10, why does Jeremiah mention that “the sword touches the throat” here?

A: Throat (and what comes out of it) is a synonym for breath, as it is in Ugaritic literature. Throat is also mentioned in Isaiah 5:14. Jeremiah is poetic here; he is saying the sword will be pressed against the very same throats that uttered these false prophecies.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.407 for more info.

10. In Jer 4:11-12, how is God’s judgment going to be like a scorching wind?

A: Wind was often a good and useful thing; it brought moisture in the dew. A farmer could throw up a mixture of good wheat and chaff, and the light breeze would blow the chaff away. – but not this wind. This was a very strong dry wind from the desert. Imagine trying to separate wheat from chaff in a desert sandstorm. This would blow away the wheat as well as the chaff. A whirlwind could be a desert “dust devil” all the way up to a tornado. In Jeremiah 4:13, the God’s judgment again evildoers is not to provide discipline and correction, but rather to ruin.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1136, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.407, the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.110, and The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.684-685 for more info.

11. In Jer 4:15 and Jer 8:16, what is the significance of armies from the region of Dan?

A: Dan was the northernmost tribe, and an invasion from the north would pass through Dan first.

In addition, dispensationalists see this as implying the Antichrist will be a Jew descended from the tribe of Dan. However, the only other support for this is that Dan is not mentioned as one of the 12 tribes the 144,000 comes from in Revelation 7:5-8. This interpretation of Jeremiah 4:15; 8:16 goes all the way back to Irenaeus of Lyons (wrote 182-188 A.D.) in Against Heresies book 3 chapter 30.

12. In Jer 4:19, could a faithful obedient believer ever have an uncontrolled panic attack?

A: Yes, it sounds like Jeremiah did in Jeremiah 4:19. He was panicked not because he was not looking to God, but rather because he was looking to god and Jeremiah a panicked about what God showed him. It should have been the people of Judah who were panicking, not just Jeremiah.

See Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.38-39 for more info.

13. In Jer 4:22, 8:16, how were the people of Judah foolish and like little kids without any sense?

A: Hebrew does not have a word for fool; it actually has five words (including a slothful person). The word for fool here, ‘ewil, is not for a naïve simple fool, and it is not for a hardened unredeemable fool. It is sort of in between, a morally evil fool without common sense. They were smart in knowing all about evil, but not very smart in knowing about the good.

Little children have no sense of how important danger might be. They might be afraid of lightning they can hear, but not of an invading army that cannot yet see. Little kids have no perspective of history based on the past. They have little experience to judge things.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1136, the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.116, and The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.409 for more info.

14. In Jer 4:30-31, how do some people, like Judah, totally misread the situation today?

A: Women would use makeup with antimony to make their eyes look larger with dark “eyeshadow” to try to look more attractive. She thinks looking attractive and desirable will help her win over those she considers her lovers. In fact, they do desire her; they desire to destroy her. Sometimes in a difficult situation a person takes certain actions to try to help, but the actions have the opposite effect. But when a person is not following God, often they cannot even tell up from down.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.411, the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.525 and The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1137 for more info.

Jeremiah 5 – When you can’t find even one – some brief answers

1. In Jer 5:1, how does this “divine scavenger hunt” compare to Abraham’s pleading for Sodom and Gomorrah in Gen 18:20-33?

A: God did not see even ten righteous people among the pagan towns of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is sad that in this time, Jeremiah could not find even one righteous man walking the streets of this city of the Lord. God is asking the question: “then why should I forgive you?” in Jeremiah 5:7.

This does not just mean that a lot of evil occurred. Rather, evil was so normalized that a whole generation grew up being taught that “everybody does it” for things that God said were evil and no one should do. For example, Jeremiah 5:3,6,7 says that everybody was dishonest, swears by pagan gods, go to prostitute’s houses and their neighbor’s houses to commit adultery. To top it off, Jeremiah 5:31 says that the people loved it this way.

But contrary to that, 1 Peter 1:14 says, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written: “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (NASB 2020)

See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1001, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1137, The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.851, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.685-686, and Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.43 for more info.

2. In Jer 5:1 and Gen 18:26-33, do these passages relate to Jer 15:1 and Ezek 14:14?

A: No. Jeremiah 15:1 and Ezekiel 14:14 says that not even men as righteous as Moses, Samuel, Noah, Daniel, and Job would be righteous enough to save another.

In Jeremiah 5:1, Jeremiah is not looking for some one to give righteousness to another, but rather seeing if he can find enough honest people so that God would not destroy everyone in the city. Similarly, in Genesis 18:26-33 Abraham pleads with God to spare Sodom if he can find ten to fifty righteous people.

Thus, God would avert or postpone the destruction if he found enough godly people, but a godly person cannot save another, because none of us are God, and none of us are sinlessly perfect.

3. In Jer 5:2-3; 6:13, are there different degrees of dishonesty?

A: Yes. Some people believe the slogan “honesty is the best policy”. It is OK to keep secrets sometimes, but Christians should not lie but be known for having words that can be trusted. Christians are to tell the truth, even when it hurts. The only qualification is that we are to speak the truth in love in Ephesians 4:15. Other people might be generally honest, but they will lie when they can have an advantage in doing so.

Jeremiah 5:2 specifically mentions people who swear falsely by God’s name, contrary to Leviticus 19:12.

But there is another level, and I have met at least two people who were like this. When you can be honest or dishonest about anything, they would choose dishonesty, even if there is very little advantage in doing so. The people around them don’t say anything, except perhaps think it is funny, so they keep on doing it. It is not that they tell lies. Rather, their very inner being is a productive “lie-factory” and they normalize lying as what you have to do to get by in business and in life. If someone is that way, and they have lied to others, but you have not seen them lie to you yet, that just means you have not observed them very thoroughly. Don’t trust people like that at all.

See the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Bible vol.8 part 1 p.121 for more info.

4. In Jer 5:4-5, what was the point of distinguishing between the poor and the great?

A: Sometimes there are very different social and cultural dynamics between the poor and wealthy. The poor are often less educated, and they are more concerned about daily necessities than the rich. The rich have more education and more time to ponder things. Jeremiah saw that the poor had all abandoned God to pursue their own selfish ends. Jeremiah thought that that was just the poor; the rich would be different. Jeremiah reports that he was mistaken though; the rich and poor here were all the same in abandoning God.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1137 for more info.

5. In Jer 5:10, the people were so far from God; so why didn’t God want to destroy them completely?

A: There are many once powerful, but now lost and forgotten nations: the Elamites, Minni, Mitanni/Hurrians, Pechenegs, Sarmatians, Scythians, and Urartu. The people of Israel and Judah were deserving of going the way of other once powerful but now lost and forgotten nations. But God promised Abraham that he would a lasting nation with descendents as the stars of the sky. God keeps His promises, even when people break theirs. See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.414 for more info.

6. In Jer 5:12,20-22, how do many so-called Christians today not take God seriously?

A: They did not make any changes in their lives based on what the prophets said. We want enough of God to make us feel cozy and comfortable, but not enough to challenge us. We want God to help us in this life, but we don’t want to serve Him. We even want to give God gifts (like Cain), but not give Him our love and obedience. We want God to lead us to heaven, but we refuse to follow Him now. Som some people are halfway serious about God, but that really Is not being any more serious about God than about a vending machine.

One frequent characteristic of the New Age Movement is a desire for spirituality without any obligation or responsibility.

See Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.44,46 and The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.414 for more info.

7. In Jer 5:14, how were Jeremiah’s words like fire and the people like wood?

A: God would fulfill the words of judgment He spoke through Jeremiah. This would lead to the destruction of the Israelites, such that only a remnant would be left.

8. In Jer 5:15, could this ancient nations be the Scythians?

A: No, because according to the Greek historian Herodotus History book 4 ch.5 the Scythians said that theirs is the youngest of nations. Rather, this nations would be the Babylonians, who reached dominate about 1500 B.C., and came from Amorites plus Sumerians who were about 1,500 years before Abraham.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.416 for more info.

9. In Jer 5:21, how do people have eyes that see not and ears that hear not?

A: Physically, blind and deaf people still have eyes and ears. people with vision have both the ability to see and the responsibility not to bump into others and use their sight wisely. Likewise, the people had both the ability and responsibility to choose right over wrong and follow God.

They were ignorant. Sometimes ignorance is a valid excuse for unintentional things, but not here. This was willful ignorance.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1137 for more info.

10. In Jer 5:22, what is the point of the sand?

A: There are two points actually. First, why sand? A handful of sand cannot stop anything, but less water. But have a bit more sand and you can make a sandbag to defend against flooding. But a whole lot of sand, on a beach with dunes, can stop the flow of seawater. Second, God has the power to stop even the raging sea, and God can even do it by the unlikeliest of means: sand.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.417 for more info.

11. In Jer 5:25, how do people’s sins keep good things from them?

A: God does not give them the blessings or the good things they would otherwise receive, for at least four of reasons.

Discipline for a believer, to get their attention

Example for others

Punishment and just consequences for a reprobate unbeliever.

Protection from the sins they would commit if they had the resources of more material blessings.

12: In Jer 5:26-27, what is the point of fowlers catching birds?

A: Instead of killing birds for food, these fowlers catch birds to imprison them as pets. They would have a cage with tame birds, and when the wild birds would come into or near the tame birds, they could be caught. In a similar way, we can be deceived into entering a spiritually dangerous place by seeing people already there who seem to be doing OK.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.418 for more info.

13. In Jer 5:27, how are their houses full of deceit as a cage is full of birds?

A: In verse 26, the birds represent those caught by deceit. A cage holds a bird-catchers work, livelihood, and in what he takes pride. Are there any “trophies” or things you take pride in that are not good?

14. In Jer 5:31f, why is this a good verse for counseling?

A: Chuck Swindoll, in counseling many situations where a marriage partner was unfaithful to another, was struck by one common denominator; they did not fully consider the future repercussions of their actions. Besides recalling the past history, and looking at the present situation, a key part of making wise decisions is foreseeing (as best we can) what the consequences will be, or the consequences when someone is caught. And then they can ask themselves; is it worth taking the chance?

Jeremiah 6 – When you tell God you won’t listen, run for your life! – some brief answers

1. In Jer 6:1, what is the structure of this chapter?

A: This chapter have five related focal points, each one starting with This is what the Lord says. These are in verses 6, 9, 16, 21,22.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.419 for more info.

2. In Jer 6:1, what is the point about fleeing from Jerusalem instead of to Jerusalem?

A: Fleeing to Jerusalem would seems to make more sense. Jerusalem was high up on a mountain, with strong walls, and hard to capture. But Jeremiah is prophesying that the role of Jerusalem, as well as their confidence, will change. It will change from becoming a shelter to becoming a trap. People from Benjamin, north of Jerusalem, should flee through Jerusalem as far as Tekoa, about 12 miles south of Jerusalem. Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Tekoa for a straight line, north to south. Tekoa is the last town before the desert begins.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1138, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.419, and Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.45 for more info.

3. In Jer 6:1, why is Beth-Haccarem specifically mentioned here?

A: This small village was on the highest hill between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. A watch fire on the hill could signal when Jerusalem has fallen. Tekoa was twelve miles south of Jerusalem and the verses says they should flee Jerusalem and retreat to there.

See the New International Bible Commentary p.770 and The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1138 for more info.

4. In Jer 6:3-4, who are the shepherds here?

A: These are attacking commanders who have Judah and Jerusalem in their sights.

See The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.851 for more info.

5. In Jer 6:10, why is it wrong that they did not delight in the word of the Lord?

A: Psalm 119 shows the attitude and feeling they (and we) are supposed to have toward God’s word. For many, God’s word is either offensive, because it tells them not to do things they want to do, and it reminds them of their guilt and future punishment. For others, God’s knowledge and commands are irrelevant to people who do not want to know God or obey him. See also the discussion on Jeremiah 6:27 for more info.

Isaiah 61:10-11 shows one reason we can delight in the Lord is because of our hope in God's promise of what He is going to do.

6. In Jer 6:13, what is so wrong with covetousness?

A: Besides the fact that it is displeasing and disobedient to God (Exodus 20:17 and Deuteronomy 6:21), it is harmful to us, too. Jealousy of others can eat away at a person’s happiness. Discontent at what they do not have can rob people of the simple joys of what they do have.

7. In Jer 6:14, Ezek 13:10, in what ways can people today say “peace, peace when there is no peace”?

A: Sometimes a candidate’s only lure is “vote for me and I will make life better for you.” But what about being just towards all and kindness to those who suffer catastrophe? Do we care at all about anyone else? I’m OK You’re OK is the title of a well-known pop psychology book. In response, one T-shirt a Christian wore showed Christ in agony on the cross and the words, “If I‘m OK and you’re OK, who did this?” If you want to say that people are OK without God, just realize that your teaching is diametrically opposed to God’s Word.

There is a common, deep-felt desire for people who claim to speak with spiritual authority saying you are OK just as you are, and there is no need to change anything. Unfortunately, I have heard the message to “take it easy” even in a couple of Christian songs. God loves us where we are, but God loves us too much to keep us where we are. Instead of saying that Jesus already won the fight, so we don’t need to fight, because we are saved by the love of God we should say with Paul, “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:6-7), or “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession before many witnesses.” (1 Timothy 6:12), and “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize. Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable. Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air. No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27) Quotes are from the Berean Bible.

John White wrote a good book about the Christian Life called “the Fight”. See also The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.852 for more info.

8. In Jer 6:15, what are some ways today people can be lulled into having no shame about anything?

A: Like the proverbial story of the frog in the gradually oiling water never jumping out, people can gradually be desensitized and become more and more accustomed to accepting more and more. They often have nobody to hold them accountable. This also happens to criminals who commit a little fraud and get away with it, and then commit more and more fraud until they are stopped by the law.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.422 for more info.

9. In Jer 6:17 and Ezek 33:1-20, what is a watchman?

A: A watchman would stand guard on the city wall and warn when an enemy was approaching. Jeremiah and Ezekiel served as watchmen for spiritual dangers attacking God’s people.

10. In Jer 6:17, what were the consequences of them telling God, “we won’t listen”?

A: Their sacrifices to God would be unacceptable. God would not listen to their prayers or cries for help. The abandoned God, so God would abandon them.

See The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.686 for more info.

11. In Jer 6:17, what are some ways people today tell God, “we won’t listen”?

A: One way is for people can consciously and deliberately tell God and others they refuse to do things God’s way. A quieter way to rebel is to not tell anybody anything, but just refuse to do what God says.

12. In Jer 6:20, 7:22-23, why did God not like their sacrifices here?

A: Wicked people who sacrifice to God, but deliberately still choose to continue in their wickedness should not think God is pleased with their sacrifice. See the discussion on Isaiah 1:11-17 for more info.

13. In Jer 6:27, how does God sometimes use believers to test other people?

A: As we share the Gospel, people will respond, one way or another. 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 says that to some we smell of life, and to others we smell of death. 2 Peter 2:20-22 says that it would have been better for a person not to have known the way of truth, then to know it and turn their back to it.

14. In Jer 6:30, how were some people’s lives like “scum silver” or the waste after silver refining?

A: Silver in nature is usually mixed with lead. When you heat up the mixture to a liquid, the lead oxidizes and the other material besides the silver stays with the lead. Only pure silver is left. But this verse refers to the waste that is left after silver is refined. It still has small quantities of silver in it, but it is not available. This valuable metal, diluted in this form, is worthless to others. As people reject worthless highly diluted silver, so God will reject them and their “diluted” obedience.

See Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.47, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.425, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.686, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1139, and the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.526 for more info.

Jeremiah 7 – When the balloon of religiousness is punctured – some brief answers

1. In Jer 7:1, when was this temple sermon given?

A: This sermon, before a 300 year-old gate might have been given shortly after Josiah died in battle in 608 B.C., based on Jeremiah 26:1-2,12-15, except that Jeremiah 26 might be a similar but different sermon. However, Jeremiah might have spoken similar things on several occasions during his long ministry..

See The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.852, the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.527, The NIV Study Bible p.1132, and The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.426 for more info.

2. In Jer 7:4,8,10, what are some religious things people trust in today?

A: Jeremiah was dashing their false hope; sometimes, for the benefit of the person, we need to dash a person’s false hopes today. Some trust in idols or sacred books of false religions. However, within some Christian churches, people devote their lives to venerating icons, or Mary and other saints., sort of like a magic charm One time when the defenders of Constantinople withstood a siege, they attributed it to carrying around an image of the Virgin Mary.

Within the false religion of Islam, some groups devote themselves to tombs of Shi’ite “saints” and other sacred objects, so they combine both errors.

Within Christianity, some even trust in God’s word, yet do not follow God, as the Pharisees in John 5:39-40.

People were treating the temple like robbers treated their hideouts. They could go forth and do evil things, knowing they could always retreat to their hideout for safety.

Jesus quoted this verse of Jeremiah when he drove out the moneychangers in Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17; and Luke 19:46.

See the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.156, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.428, the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1003, and The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.687 for more info.

3. In Jer 7:12, when was Shiloh destroyed?

A: Shiloh, 18 miles north of Jerusalem, was where the tabernacle and ark were kept until the time of Saul. However the Philistines totally destroyed Shiloh after the battle of Aphek when Eli’s two sons were killed in 1 Samuel 4:1-11. (The ark and tabernacle were not destroyed then according to 1 Chronicles 221:29; 2 Chronicles 1:3,5.) The destruction of the city of Shiloh was around 1050 B.C.. Shiloh was not rebuilt until around 300 B.C., long after Jeremiah’s time.

So if they had a city holding the ark, and God allowed it to be destroyed when the people lapsed into idolatry, then why should they think that Jerusalem will be spared when the people again lapse into idolatry?

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.429, the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.157, the New International bible Commentary p.771, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.687, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1139-1140, and the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.527 for more info.

4. In Jer 7:16, Jer 11:14, and Jer 14:11, when should we not pray for something or somebody?

A: Normally we should pray for everyone, including other Christians (Philippians 1:4,19; Acts 9:40), the lost (Acts 7:60; Romans 10:1; Acts 25:29), and even our enemies (Luke 6:27-28; Matthew 5:43-44). However, God specifically told Jeremiah not to pray for these people, because they would not turn and their wound was incurable. When you pray that a wicked people have peace, prosperity, and contentment, without repentance, you are essentially praying that God not discipline them or bring them back to Himself. In New Testament times, we are not told to pray for those committing a sin that leads unto death (1 John 5:16-17), which is interpreted to be blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:31-32).

See The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.852, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.430, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1140, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.687, Light beyond the Darkness – a study of Jeremiah p.31, Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.49-50, and the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1005 for more info.

5. In Jer 7:22-23 is a day here just 24 hours?

A: No, the Hebrew word for “day” here, yom, can mean a space of time as well as a 24-hour day, according to Strong's Concordance. The context of Jeremiah means the time period when they came out of Egypt, which certainly would include Mt. Sinai.

6. In Jer 7:22-24, how did God not command them concerning burnt offerings?

A: Everyone understood that sacrifices were a part of the Mosaic Law. However, the people seemed to forget that God did not speak to them only about offerings, but about more fundamentally obeying Him. If you are performing a ritual that God said to do, but you are not doing it out of obedience to Him, it should be no surprise that God does not want us to do that until we want to obey Him. If someone will not obey God, more sacrifices will not make up for it.

Even today, God does not want our meaningless offerings, only our sincere ones. Furthermore, Jesus gave the example in Matthew 5:23-24 that if someone is about to offer a gift, but they remember that their brother has something against them, leave the gift, reconcile with the brother, and then offer the gift.

See the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.161 and The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.431 for more info.

7. In Jer 7:25, how did God daily send them visions?

A: This means that day after day, God sent them prophets with his message.

8. In Jer 7:29, what was the point of Jeremiah prophesying the people would cut off their hair?

A: First what is not the answer, and then the answer.

Not the answer: When a victorious army captured people to make as slaves, they often cut off their hari as a sign of domination that they could do whatever they wanted with them. However, in Jeremiah 7:29 they would be cutting off their own hair.

The answer: This is a prophecy that they would cut off their own hair, including beards, as a sign of mourning, both for the fall of the country and the deaths and enslavement of the people. Cutting off your hair was a sign of morning in Job 1:20; Isaiah 15:2-3; Jeremiah 48:36-38; and Ezekiel 7:18. People also shaved their head when they were ceremonially unclean.

Ezekiel 5:1-4 also uses a metaphor of cutting off of Ezekiel’s hair. Here is represented what would happen to the people. With both Jeremiah and Ezekiel we can see this is a mourning of God abandoning is disobedient, unrepentant people.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1140, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.433, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.687, and The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.853 for more info.

9. In Jer 7:30-31, what was so bad about Topheth?

A: Toph was the Hebrew word for “drum”, and so Topheth was a place where drums could be heard on occasion. Hinnom is the same place as Topheth. Topheth was a grassy area where Canaanites and ungodly Israelites practiced child sacrifice by burning little kids to death. Phoenicians and Carthaginians also practiced this. This cruel, ugly practice close by the temple at Jerusalem is not much different from today, where abortion clinics and churches are in the same city. Parents trying to improve their own safety and own well-being and the horrible cost of their children.

See Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.51, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1140, 735 Baffling Bible Questions Answered p.175, The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.860, and the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.527 for more info.

10. In Jer 7:30-31, why did God command human sacrifice at Topheth? (An atheist mentioned this)

A: It is an error to think that God commanded this. A reading of Jeremiah 7, that is not careless, shows God is rebuking Israel because they followed the idolatrous Canaanite practice of infant sacrifice.

11. In Jer 7:31, what are things that do not enter God’s mind?

A: This means that God did not desire this. It never came into God’s mind for God to command this. See the discussion on Jeremiah 19:5 for the answer.

12. In Jer 7:33-34, Dt 28:26; and Isa 18:6 what is bad about having a body unburied and food for the birds and beasts?

A: The state of our body after death has no effect on anything; look at the things the Roman pagans did to Christian martyrs. But this is a humiliation, that there were not even any family members who could safely bury the bodies.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.433 and the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.170 for more info.

Jeremiah 8 – When saying “I’m sorry” won’t escape destruction – some brief answers

1. In Jer 8:1-3, what is the point of the Babylonians digging up the dead?

A: Even the honor of the dead would not escape. The main point of people doing this is to disrespect the bones of the Israelites kings, leaders, priests, and prophets and indirectly to belittle the ancestry of the captive or soon-to-be-captive Israelites. The king of Moab burned the bones of the king of Edom in Amos 2:1. A secondary point would be to collect any treasures that might have been buried with them.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1140, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.434, the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1002-1003, the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.170, The MacArthur bible Commentary p.853, and The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.687 for more info.

2. In Jer 8:2, what is the point of the sun, moon, stars, and planets here?

A: The people refused to give up worshipping the heavenly bodies. As the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.528 says, the picture is that when they are killed, their bones will be scattered on the ground, such that the things they had worshipped will look coldly and helplessly on.

3. In Jer 8:6-8, when do people do evil things fully and deliberately ignoring the consequences?

A: In this time, the people of Judah appeared to love their idols more than themselves, regardless of the consequences. They could not picture themselves renouncing their idols, regardless of the cost. Today people can love something, such as pleasure, or what they are told is patriotism, not only more than themselves, but even more than God. They can even love their religion more than knowing the true God.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.435 for more info.

4. In Jer 8:7, what is the message of the analogy of the birds?

A: Even simple birds see the seasons, and they know when to leave off what they are doing and migrate? But God’s people are not even as wise as birds? They don’t see that God judgment coming and know to stop what they are doing.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1141 and the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.171 for more info.

5. Even Jer 8:8 says that lying scribes [allegedly] corrupted the scriptures, so how can you trust the Bible?

A: Jeremiah 8:8 does not say all our Bibles are corrupted. It only says that some lying scribes handled the law of the LORD falsely. As an aside, though some liberal scholars claim there was no written law at this time, they are wrong because there had to be a written law for the scribes to copy it. This verse could also means that commentaries written on God’s word did not honestly interpret it. If somebody made a few changed or corrupt copies of a book, and people recognized it, that does that mean that the true text of the book is lost. Muslims sometimes try to use Jeremiah 8:l8 to claim that all Bibles were corrupted, but false scribes corrupting a few scribes does not mean all copies were corrupted. If that were true, then what would that say about the Qur’an? Here are three examples of changes in the Qur’an.

Ibn Shanabudh was a Muslim scribe who wrote a copy of the Qur’an that had variants. “It is said that he [Ibn Shanabudh] confessed all of this [variation]. Then he was moved to repentance and used his handwriting in contrition, so that he wrote: ‘Thus saith Muhammed ibn Ahmad ibn Ayyub [Ibn Shanabudh]: I used to read expressions differing from the version of ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan…” [Since ‘Uthman threatened those who had different versions, this confession likely had an element of coercion in it.] The Fihrist p.72. Now a Muslim might argue that since his changes were recognized right away, and they did not become an official part of the Qur’an, his attempts did nothing to corrupt the Qur’an, - and the Muslim would be correct. That is exactly the same point with the lying scribes caught by Jeremiah.

On the other hand, a Muslim might argue that people today are not sure of the correct exact words for many Bible manuscript variants. However, we are sure of the meaning, and the situation is the same with the Qur’an.

Suras 1, 113, and 114 were absent in Ibn Mas’ud version (The Fihrist p.57). Ibn Mas’ud was a personal secretary of Mohammed’s. Mohammed told other people to learn the Qur’an from Ibn Mas’ud and three others. (Bukhari vol.6 book 60 no.521 p.486-487) The omission was not accidental. It is reported that Ibn Mas’ud said, “The two charm-Suras [113, 114] are not of the Book of God!” [www.Answering-islam.org/Quran/Text/distortion.html]

‘Ubai bin Ka’b, one of Mohammed’s secretaries, has extra suras, and omits about 12 suras in the Qur’an today. (The Fihrist p.61 footnotes 43-48) Abu Musa, of Basra, also had a text that was the same as ‘Ubai’s. (Suyuti, Itqan I, p. 65; Ibn Abi Dawud, Masahif, pp. 180-181, also Noeldeke, Geschichte des Qur’an's, pp. 33-38.)

God promised His people that His words would not depart from their mouths in Isaiah 59:21. But it is not the vowels and consonants, mindlessly recited that are important, but rather the meaning that God communicated.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.436 and the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.175 for more info.

6. In Jer 8:13, what is the significance of no grapes on the vine?

A: Grapes are fruit, and this image represents no godly fruit. Fruit can be a legacy of children, personal character, or leading other people to God. Regardless, God was seeing very little fruit among the people of Judah.

Priests and teachers had a calling to teach the people God’s Word. But they were taking their calling lightly and God would judge them for that.

See Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.53 for more info.

7. In Jer 8:13 and Hab 3:17, what is the significance of no figs on the fig tree?

A: Many people see the fig tree as representing the Jewish nation, and this means that they were not bearing fruit for God. This also explains the significance of Jesus cursing the fig tree in Matthew 21:19-21 and Mark 11:13-14,20-21.

8. In Jer 8:17, why does God send vipers, or poisonous snakes, here?

A: The people who were given God’s land refused to obey God. People would still worship God, but that was useless because they did not worship God alone. So God would have poisonous snakes, pother iteral and metaphorically, because they people were so bad they no longer belonged in this land of blessing.

The viper here is probably serpens regulus, called a basilisk, a small but very poisonous snake. The trouble with vipers is that they don’t attack you because you are consciously annoying them. An unlike cobras in India, they cannot be charmed. A snake will strike you even if you don’t know it is there at all. If you defiantly turn your back on back, then watch out for vipers, because Satan, the great serpent, can have his way with oppressing you.

See the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.180 for more info.

9. In Jer 8:20, what is the point of the harvest being over?

A: In Palestine they harvested barley, wheat and spelt in April, May, and June. They harvested figs, grapes, and pomegranates in August and September, and olives in October. But if the crops and fields were destroyed by an invade, even if the invader then left there would be no harvest. Likewise drought would destroy hopes of harvest.

The point God is communicating here is there is a “harvest-time” for repentance such that God will mercifully let you escape many of the consequences of their sins. But at some point harvest-time is over, and regardless of what you subsequently say or do, there is no escape. The scary thing is that here the people disobedience had reached that point.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.438, the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.528, and the New International Bible Commentary p.772 for more info.

10. In Jer 8:22, what is the significance of no balm in Gilead?

A: The town of Gilead was known for a healing balm. However, the balm good for healing infected wounds was inadequate for healing a wicked people.

See the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.181-182 for more info.

Jeremiah 9-10 – What else can God do? – some brief answers

1. In Jer 9:1 and Jer 13:17, what are some of the reasons for Jeremiah’s weeping?

A: Jeremiah cried for his obstinately disobedient people. He wept both because of their hardness toward God, and what would happen to them as a result. He might have also cried for what could have been. See also the discussion on Jeremiah 14:17.

See The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.688 for more info.

2. In Jer 9:1-11, what is unusual about this passage?

A: This is done in the style of a Hebrew chiasm, where each passage has symmetry with another passage.

9:1-2 Weeping for the people

- - 9:3-6 Oracle about the sin

- - 9:7-9 Oracle about punishment for their sin

9:10-11 Weeping for the people

3. In Jer 9:3,8, what is the point of the metaphor of the bow and arrow?

A: According to The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.441 the Hebrew for “to make ready” or to “bend” is literally “to step on”. They would step on their bow to fit an arrow in it, so “to “bend” translates the meaning. An arrow is a single projectile, but a bow, though it cannot pierce anything directly, is the means of shooting many arrows. Similarly, words can pierce and hurt, but an evil person’s tongue is like a bow, shooting word after word.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1141 for more info.

4. Is Jer 9:6 speaking to godly people or ungodly people living in the midst of deception?

A: The Hebrew for “you” is singular, so this refers to Jeremiah, as the NIV footnote says. Jeremiah 9:4-6 tells godly people how to be cautious when they live in the midst of deceit, falsehood, and betrayal. A Christian might naively think that if they have nothing to hide or be ashamed of, they don’t need to use caution in saying anything. God’s Word in Jeremiah 9:4-6 teaches us otherwise though.

5. In Jer 9:7, why do the options of God Almighty seem limited here?

A: “Almighty” correctly describes what God is capable of doing, but God Almighty can choose to refrain from acting. In delegating a part of His sovereignty, by giving them a measure of free will, God gave them the choice of deciding their destiny.

6. In Jer 9:15 and Jer 23:5, what is the significance of wormwood?

A: Wormwood was a very bitter, awful-tasting herb that is good to swallow to get rid of intestinal parasites.

7. In Jer 9:15 and Jer 2:13, what is like poisoned water today?

A: Poisoned water is a bad and deadly thing that masquerades as something pleasant, good, and essential to life. Any teaching of a cult, false religion, or secular humanism, that promises salvation or health, but does not lead to God, is poisoned water.

8. In Jer 9:23, why should people not glory in their own wisdom, power or strength?

A: We think it strange if a small child boasts of how much he knew, how strong he was, or how much money he had. God, angels, and demons might view mankind’s foolish boasting the same way.

9. In Jer 10:1-5, why did Jeremiah, Isaiah, and other prophets need to preach against idolatry so many times?

A: This teaches us something important about fallen human nature. We are more attracted to impressive-looking things we can see than things we do not readily see. People often would rather be with the majority than seek the true God. People are much better at following rituals than asking if they should be following rituals.

See Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.56 for more info.

10. Since Jer 10:2-5 condemned wood cut from the forest, handled by a craftsman, and decorated with gold and silver, are Christmas trees OK?

A: Yes, they are fine, despite what Jehovah’s Witnesses might think, because Jeremiah 10:5 is talking about idols. Jeremiah 10:5 shows that not only trees, but anything is not to be used as an idol or object of worship. Remember, the Israelites themselves cut wood to make booths to celebrate the feast of booths, as God commanded.

The Christmas tree originated in Christian Germany about two thousand years after Jeremiah denounced wooden idols. The Christmas tree came from two Christian symbols found in homes at Christmas time. The first was a “Paradise tree,” an evergreen which was hung with apples which represented the tree of life in the Garden of Eden. The second symbol was a “Christmas pyramid.” This was a triangular shelf holding Christmas figurines and decorated with a star. By about the 16th century these two symbols had been combined into the Christian Christmas tree.

So the Christmas tree is a Christian symbol, and it is fine to have one in your home. On the other hand, the Christmas tree is not essential to Christmas, and Christians may, of course, do without it if they choose to. If you see a Christmas tree in the home of a non-Christian friend or a relative, you might take the opportunity to point to it as the symbol of the fact that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem so that they might have eternal life.

As an aside, Christmas trees are also prevalent in Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. It only in Coptic homes with western influence. It is not in Nestorian churches; they might have olive branches instead.

See the Christian Research Institute web page http://www.equip.org/free/CP9003.htm for more info.

11. In Jer 10:5, how is an idol like an ineffective scarecrow?

A: A scarecrow might look fearsome, but if the birds discover it is not real, it only gives a farmer a false sense of security. Many times idols are made to look scary, either to make people fearful of them, or to give people comfort that they are strong and fearful to other demons. Idols do have power, but it is the power of deception.

12. In Jer 10:11, why is this verse in Aramaic?

A: While Scripture does not give the exact reason, having this verse in a different, yet closely related language, sets off this saying as special. Perhaps this was a saying people were already saying in Aramaic, and Jeremiah was quoting it exactly as the common people were saying it. Also, Ezra 4:8-6:18, Ezra 7:12-26, and Daniel 2:4b-7:28 were written in Aramaic.

13. In Jer 10:17, what does it mean, allegorically, to “live under siege”?

A: They were restricted in going out, they had to watch not only their own movements, but the movements of the enemy. They were in constant uncertainty, in fear of when an attack would come. Today, some live in similar situations.

Jeremiah 11:1-13:11 – Serving God can be just plain tough – some brief answers

1. In Jer 11:1-4, what is the covenant to which Jeremiah is referring?

A: This is the covenant God gave through Moses. The blessings and curses of this covenant are specifically mentioned in Deuteronomy 28. When the law was discovered in the Temple in King Josiah’s time, Josiah made sure the law was followed all his lifetime according to 2 Chronicles 34:33. However, everything reverted back within two to three years after his unfortunate death.

See Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.58 for more info.

2. In Jer 11:21-23, were the men of Anathoth not wanting Jeremiah to stay there because Jeremiah's unpopularity might spread to Anathoth, as the skeptical Asimov's Guide to the Bible p.563 says?

A: Perhaps. Asimov's point is that they did not like Jeremiah either, and if Jeremiah stayed in Anathoth, other Jews might dislike Anathoth because they would mistakenly think the people of Anathoth supported Jeremiah.

Also, there might have been many local sanctuaries manned by priests, and Josiah’s reforms, that all sacrificial worship was to be at the temple, would have cut off a source of support for priests at Anathoth. They would not be happy with Jeremiahs preaching to return to Josiah’s (really God’s) way.

However, regardless of their political considerations, they could simply not want Jeremiah around for the same reason the leaders of Jerusalem did not want Jeremiah around. From their perspective, Jeremiah was negative, an unpredictable influence, and did not fit in with their plans.

See Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.59-60 for more info.

3. In Jer 12:1, do the wicked prosper, or does evil pursue and kill the wicked as Prov 13:21 and Ps 34:21 show?

A: Both occur. Some of the wicked are partially punished in this life; many are not. All will be punished appropriately at the judgment. See When Critics Ask p.276 for more info.

4. In Jer 12:1-6, do Jeremiah’s times of depression show him to be unspiritual?

A: Not at all. In fact, as believers we are typically more sensitive to evil and sin, and more likely to lament that than an unaware non-believer. Believers are not to always strive to be cheerful; rather believers should strive to share God’s heart and concerns. In effect, God could tell Jeremiah that his downcast feelings were only a miniature of what God felt.

See 735 Baffling Bible Questions Answered p.176 and Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.60,61 for complementary answers.

5. In Jer 12:5, what is God telling Jeremiah about foot soldiers and horses?

A: If you are tired running with infantryman, how will you do running against horses. In other words, God is telling Jeremiah that he should not be too concerned about this plot, because a lot worse is going to happen to him.

Something we can learn here about the way God works is that he often first trains us in smaller things before giving us bigger things.

See the New International Bible Commentary p.773, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.458, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1145, The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.855, the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.531, and the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.219,222 for more info.

6. In Jer 12:8, how did God’s inheritance roar like a lion against Him?

A: The people that God rescued out of Egypt not only ignored Him, but they were also against Him and seeking idols.

7. In Jer 13:1-11, what was the point of the “role-play” of the linen shorts (or girdle)?

A: The linen belt (actually shorts hung at the waist and reaching to the knees), was something that was good, clean, and useful. However, unlike leather, linen would spoil easily if it was left dirty and damp. After it was buried in idolatry in a foreign land, the belt was ruined, rotten, and useless. Nevertheless, a few good threads remained.

See the New International Bible Commentary p.773 , The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1145-1146, the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.232-233, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.462, The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.856, and The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.690 for more info.

8. In Jer 13:1-7, was this belt buried at the Euphrates River or the Wadi Farah?

A: The Hebrew word, peratah, can mean “to [the] Euphrates”, or “to Parah/Farah” so it could be either way. The Euphrates River was about 350 miles northeast. The Wadi Farah is just a few miles north of Jerusalem and three miles northeast of Anathoth according to Aquila. Also, there are rocks (mentioned in Jeremiah 13:1-7) as Wadi Farah, and there are no rocks in the middle or lower Euphrates River.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.462, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1146, the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1005-1006, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.690, the Wycliffe Bible Dictionary p.65, the New International Dictionary of the Bible p.46, the New International Bible Commentary p.773-774, and Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.63 for more info.

9. In Jer 13:10, how do people walk in imagination after their heart?

A: The first part of the verse provides the answer. The people refused to hear God's words. They substituted their own false views of security for security in God.

10. In Jer 13:11, why would God fill them with darkness?

A: There is a judicial hardening, which is a stubbornness to follow what is right. There also is a judicial darkening, which is being unable or unwilling to see what is right. See the discussion on Romans 9:18 for more info.

Jeremiah 13:12-14:17 – Do not pray for some things – some brief answers

1. In Jer 13:12-14, why would Jeremiah say every wine jar should be filled with wine?

A: Wine jars were large, about ten gallons. Just as inanimate jars are filled with what they were made to be filled, people are filled with what they want to be filled. For people who habitually get drunk, they basically have chosen to be no different than the wine jars they are using. But while people would normally like the wine they would be drinking, this would be very toxic wine.

On a more positive note, Paul also speaks of us as vessels in 2 Timothy 2:20-21. We are vessels of the Holy Spirit.

See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1006. The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.690, Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.64, the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.234, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1146, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.463, the New International Bible Commentary p.774, and the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.531 for more info.

2. In Jer 13:14, what is the significance of the pots being smashed against each other?

A: The means of destruction of these pots were each other. While Babylon, an external power, militarily destroyed Judah, spiritually they mutually destroyed each other with their encouragement to sin.

See the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.236 for more info.

3. In Jer 13:16, what is the point of the darkness and gloom on the mountains?

A: A mountain can have crevices, steep slopes, and even drop-offs and cliffs. But if you are careful, you can navigate around all these in daytime. But fading light on a mountain slope can be scary because the night comes soon. If you try to travel, the next step you take could be your last. The time for getting off the mountain is up, and the only thing you can do, regardless of the weather, is stay where you are for the night.

See Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.4 for more info.

4. In Jer 13:23, what does Jeremiah mean by the color of skin or fur?

A: Someone can change some things, but other things, like skin color cannot be. The people, due to their persistence in sin, have lost the freedom to do good because they are too accustomed to doing evil.

See Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.65 and The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.466 for more info.

5. In Jer 14:1, what is the significance of droughts in Israel?

A: Droughts (plural here) would make is much harder for them to store up food for the coming siege. Also, having rains and plenty, was a sign of God’s covenant and favor with the Israelites in Deuteronomy 29:23-24, or no rain as sign of disfavor in Leviticus 26:18-19. But now God said He would especially bring drought. Deuteronomy 29:2-324 had been fulfilled in part in the drought under Ahab in 1 Kings 17:1.

Some people might have heard the phrase “whatever does not kill you makes you stronger.” That is not so for some things such as droughts. When a people have a drought, they use up their reserves, and they are less prepared for the next drought.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1147, Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.66, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.468, the New International Bible Commentary p.774, the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1006, and The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.690 for more info.

6. In Jer 14:4 what is this calling the ground?

A: It literally means the ground is cracked as the NASB 95, NIV, and NKJV translate it. But it ultimately means the ground has cracks fro being dry with not rain.

See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1006 for more info.

7. In Jer 14:8 why is God asking if the Lord is just travelling though?

A: Jeremiah, in a moment of doubt, is asking if God is like a stranger just passing through another land. A traveler, or nomad on the move, pitches his tent for one night, and then next day leaves as if he was never there.

See the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.246 for more info.

8. In Jer 14:10, why do some people greatly love to wander, while others do not?

A: Contentment is a gift for which we should be thankful. While God does foreknow who will wander and people are predestined; it is wrong to use that to excuse people of their responsibility to choose not to wander.

People can choose to wander for one or both of these reasons:

Discontent with what God has provided: Some are not happy with what God has given to them.

Enticement of following another path: Some are happy with what God has, but they yield to a temptation to try to get more.

Also, the main motivation to start someone wandering is not necessarily the motivation that keeps them wandering. For example, a smoker might remain a smoker because of an addiction to nicotine. However, nobody takes the first puff because of an addiction to nicotine.

9. In Jer 14:11, when should we not pray for something or someone?

A: In general, we should always pray for people. However, in this case, the people had already made their choice, they were not going to change, and God told Jeremiah there was no point in praying for these people. Jeremiah's message to them primarily was not for their sake, but for the sake of the Jews who remained faithful to God during the exile.

In general, if someone is praying to God, but at the same time they are rejecting God, then they should not expect God to answer their prayers. This can be true even if they ask someone else to pray for them.

See The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.854 for more info.

10. In Jer 14:14 and Jer 28:9, why did God permit false prophets to prophesy lies in God’s name?

A: God permits people to affect others, good or bad, spiritually as well as physically. However, people generally can find the deception if they choose to look, and so they often have a choice on how much a bad influence affects them. When they do not have any opportunity to avoid deception, God is just. God does not punish sin where there is no law (Romans 4:15; 5:12). On the other hand, if people reject the truth they already had, God is under no obligation to give them an opportunity for further truth.

11. In Jer 14:17, why did Jeremiah cry so much?

A: First of all; Jeremiah might have been puzzled. God called him to be a prophet at a young age, a teenager, and in his picture of what life would be like as an honored prophet, he probably had no idea at all that things would turn out this way. We might cry too, for that reason alone, at how different life had become versus what had been expected. At least Jeremiah could pray for that nation; actually no, God told Jeremiah not to do even that.

Jeremiah even saw that he was questioned if he was even competent as a prophet. After all, in Jeremiah 14:14 there were many other prophets too, actually false prophets, who prophesied something very different. Nevertheless, near the end of Jeremiah’s life Jeremiah would finally be vindicated.

But Jeremiah also had a much greater reason to cry. Jeremiah did not just deliver God’s message; he also shared God’s heart. Some see Jeremiah as the supreme patriot, because of his deep love for his people. Even though telling the Jews to surrender to the Babylonians does not look very patriotic on the surface, Jeremiah did not care how things looked, he only cared for God and his people.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1148,1149 for more info.

Jeremiah 15 – Jeremiah loses heart – some brief answers

1. In Jer 15:1, since Moses and Samuel could not persuade God to relent, why did God look for someone to stand in the gap in Ezek 13:5 and Ezek 22:31?

A: These are two different situations. Perhaps an analogy will help here. In battle, if there is a narrow pass or a gap in the wall, defenders take their stand there to protect others. On the other hand, nobody needs to defend that spot if the attackers have already conquered the city. Unlike the naïve, undecided, and children, many of the people Jeremiah spoke to had already decided, in effect, to be the enemy.

There are three points we can conclude.

1. In all situations, people stand before God for their own sins. God could forgive their sin through Jesus' death on the cross, but no sinful man can take our sins upon himself.

2. In most situations we should stand in the gap, pray for others, and be a witness to lead people to God.

3. In a few situations, such as Jeremiah faced, there was no longer any point in praying for these individuals. Jeremiah was still a witness, but a witness of judgment, and his message would be heeded by future generations.

See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1007, the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.532, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.472-473, and The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.691 for more info.

2. In Jer 15:4, why would God punish Judah for the actions of Manasseh, since Manasseh was already dead, and before he died he also repented in 2 Chr 33:12-20?

A: Manasseh committed some horrendous sins, as 2 Kings 21:9-11 and 2 Chronicles 33:9 show. While Manasseh repented, most of the people did not. Since they choose to continue in Manasseh's sin and idolatry, God would punish them for their actions.

There is a lesson to learn here. If someone turns away from the true God, and leads others with him, even if he repents, the ones who followed him are still in sin, unless they repent too. For example, I know an ex-Mormon missionary who after he became a Christian wanted to contact all the people he had previously converted to Mormonism and tell them about the real Jesus instead.

3. In Jer 15:6, does God repent?

A: In one sense no, and in another sense yes. While God foreknew all, and never needs to change His plan, His revealed will and actions to someone can change when their heart changes. God is greater than time, outside of time, and God's plan is changeless. However, God also operates inside of time, and God is responsive to people. See also When Critics Ask p.276 and the discussion on Genesis 20:3-6; Exodus 33:5-6; Dt 20:17; Jonah 3-4; Jonah 3:10; and Jonah 4:1-2 for more info.

4. In Jer 15:6 how can God get weary, since Isa 40:28 says He does not get weary?

A: In Hebrew, the words for weary in Jeremiah 15:6 and Isaiah 40:28 are very different. In Jeremiah 15:6 (la’ah Strong’s 3811) means to tire or be (or make) disgusted – faint, grieve, loathe, etc. The words for faint and weary in Isaiah 40:42 are ye’aph (Strong’s 3287) for fatigued, exhausted, and (yagor Strong’s 3025) which means to fear, but is related to words for exhaustion or being tired. However, it actually is not necessary to know they are different Hebrew words to answer the question.

God always wants people to sincerely call to Him, and God never gets weary. Being Almighty, He never gets physically sick or tired. However, metaphorically God does get sick and tired of people insincerely sacrificing or praying to Him. God is love, but if we think we can ignore the rest of God’s Word after learning that phrase, we miss out on knowing the character of God. It might be a surprise to many that there are “limits”.

People can heap up sins up to the limit in 1 Thessalonians 2:16. Jeremiah 15:6 also refers to God no longer forgiving them or showing compassion. Here are various ways God says we can “weary” Him?

The sins and offenses of people who sacrifice to God burden Him according to Isaiah 43:24.

Hypocritical people’s religious festivals are a burden to God, which He hates according to Isaiah 1:14.

The unbelief of Ahaz in particular and the ruling House of David in general, tried the patience of God in Isaiah 7:14.

When people say good is evil and evil is good, or where is the God of justice, they just weary God with their words in Malachi 2:17.

Honoring God with the lips but their heart being far from Him wearies God in Isaiah 29:13 and Matthew 15:8-9.

5. In Jer 15:10, why did Jeremiah regret his birth?

A: As a teenager called to be a prophet by God, Jeremiah might have had high hopes of everyone listening to him, and seeing the difference he would make immediately. However, as that did not work out that way, and others questioned if Jeremiah was a real prophet at all perhaps Jeremiah started having doubts too. Jeremiah did not choose this fight, God hose Jeremiah. Jeremiah was getting tired of being in a fight that he looked like he was losing and could never win, and might have just wished he had never been in the fight in the first place.

See The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.691-692 for more info.

6. In Jer 15:10, what can you say to someone who regrets ever being born?

A: First and foremost, look to God. God created you for a purpose, and even though it might be hard, God is with you to be successful I your purpose. God also gives you a glorious hope, with Him in Heaven. Second, look outside yourself; at the people who might need you and that you were able to help and protect.

See The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.691-692 for more info.

7. In Jer 15:10, how should you respond when others curse and revile you for your speaking about your faith?

A: Three points to consider in the answer.

1. Carefully notice that they did not persecute Jeremiah because of his faith; they persecuted him because he spoke up about his faith.

2. Jeremiah did not go out of his way to make enemies, but Jeremiah did not alter in the least bit his message for God to placate his enemies, and Jeremiah's enemies came to him.

3. Jesus said in Luke that we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.

8. In Jer 15:19, who is God telling to repent here?

A: God told Jeremiah to repent in this verse. Jeremiahs does not want to fight for God anymore here. Everything around Jeremiah was going to be destroyed because of disobedience to God, and Jeremiah doubted himself and was having a “pity party” just for himself.

God verbally rebuked Jeremiah. Jeremiah essentially asked that God take away Jeremiah’s calling, but God did not; God only renewed it.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1149, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.477-478, Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.69-70, the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.532 and The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.692 for more info.

9. In Jer 15:20, what is the significance of a bronze wall here?

A: Usually a bronze wall was not solid bronze, but rock underneath protected by a bronze surface. The rock give the wall great strength you could not get through bronze. But you could not start to chip away at the rock until you got through the protective coating of bronze first.

God is saying that He will make Jeremiah a bronze wall here. Jeremiah will be attacked, but God is promising that the attackers will not prevail.

See The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.692 for more info.

Jeremiah 16 – When Words alone are not enough – some brief answers

1. In Jer 16:1-4, why did God tell Jeremiah not ot have a wife or children?

A: The Israelites really valued families, and Jeremiah was commanded to do something unusual for his culture. It was sort of assumed that everyone would marry, as Genesis 1:28; 2:18; and Deuteronomy 7:14 imply. This was a sign to Jeremiah’s listeners of how serious this was. This also might have been a blessing (in disguise) to Jeremiah,. He would not have to see his wife and children starving and possibly die. Jeremiah is the only person in the entire Bible who was forbidden to marry.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.478-479, the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1007, the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.267-268, The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.858, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1149-1150, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.692, the New International Bible Commentary p.775, Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.70, and the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.532 for more info.

2. In Jer 16:5,8 why was Jeremiah told not to go into a house of mourning or a house of feasting?

A: There is nothing wrong for a person to go to a house of mourning or feasting. But God specifically told Jeremiah not to illustrate that there won’t be any more houses of feasting after the Babylonians conquer them. God has withdrawn his blessings of favor and peace. There won’t be any elaborate funerals for the dead either, because there will be so many dead. But Jeremiah could tell them to make sure they are enjoying those things now, knowing that soon you will not be able to anymore.

See the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.268, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.479, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1150, the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.532-533, and the New International bible Commentary p.775 for more info.

3. In Jer 16:7, what does this say about breaking bread?

A: Even back in Jeremiah’s time people had the custom of breaking bread for mourning. Jesus had His disciples break bread “in remembrance of Him”.

See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1007 for more info.

4. In Jer 16:10-13, what was the specific sin that was highlighted here?

A: The people did many wrong things in Jeremiah, including keeping slaves that should be free, adultery, deceit, bribery, etc. But when the people asked Jeremiah directly what was the reason for this impending disaster, Jeremiah here answered with only two things. They had following and worshipped other gods, and they have abandoned and stopped obeying the True God. In all of Jeremiah, including Jeremiah 16:18, it never talks about displeasing idols, or ill-advised worship of idols. No, it talks about idols as detestable to God.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1150 sand the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1007-1008 for more info.

5. In Jer 16:5, why does God take away His peace from some people?

A: When people do not desire peace with God, God is under no obligation to give them peace. Indeed, sometimes God uses external strife and intense unrest to bring people to Him.

6. In Jer 16:6, how did men make themselves bald in mourning?

A: This simply means they shaved their heads to express their sorrow.

7. In Jer 16:10, what is important about this verse?

A: Since the people chose not to listen to Jeremiah, this became the most important part of his ministry. Rather than God’s people not understanding why the Babylonians destroyed God’s Holy Temple and almost wiped out the entire Israelite culture, God made sure that they understood both that 1 ) God deliberately planned this, and 2) why God carried this out.

8. In Jer 16:12, what is the “imagination of the heart”?

A: This means the false reasoning of an evil heart. Some version translate this as “stubbornness”, or an “evil heart”, and that is true, but there is more to it than just that. It includes changing your perception, so see not reality so much as what you want to see, or in some cases what you fear seeing. People often think they are better than they really are. It includes changing your thinking to never question why you keep doing certain things. It includes changing your feelings, to desire even things that might be hurtful to yourself.

Our fallen nature, or a sinful heart, is not just some static thing that may be bad but never gets worse. No, apart from God it can be dynamic, growing like a weed, or an infection, taking over more and more as time goes on.

See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1008 for more info.

9. In Jer 16:18, why would God pay them back double for their sin?

A: If they persisted in their sin, hurt others, and lead others astray, God would give them more severe punishment that if they simply sinned once. Interestingly, God called Israel “His land”, not “their land”.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1151 for more info.

10. In Jer 16:19f-20, why do some people prefer useless idols to the Living God?

A: One thing a person can do with a lifeless idol that they cannot do with the True God; they can control them. They can pick which gods they want to follow, which are basically the idols that are going the way they wanted to go anyway.

Jeremiah 17 – The iron stylus and the diamond tip – some brief answers

1. In Jer 17:1, how was their sin written with a diamond-tipped iron pen?

A: Sometimes the name of an idol was indelibly etched in stone at an idol altar. In contrast to future believers having the law in their hearts in Jeremiah 31:33, these people had sin in their hearts. A diamond-tipped pen would be sharp, and the impression of the writing would remain, even if the ink were removed. Diamond-tipped pens without ink also were used to inscribe clay tablets. We still can read the writing on some clay tablets written before Abraham was born.

A second aspect of this is that Jeremiah 17-20 appears to have been spoken before the first Babylonian invasion in 605 B.C. the good king Josiah died in 609 B.C., so even though the nature appeared to have reformed under Josiah, that all went away within four years.

See Light beyond the Darkness – a study of Jeremiah p.34, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1151, The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.8858, the New International bible Commentary p.775, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.483, the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.533, Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.71, and the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.24-275 for more info.

2. In Jer 17:1, how is some sin engraved upon a heart with an iron stylus or diamond-tipped pen?

A: An iron styles is good for carving into clay or stone. A sinful desire that is fulfilled intentionally, and persistent over a long time, is very difficult to eradicate, at least without the miracle-working Holy Spirit. But God does intend for us to have victory in this life. Not that we become sinlessly perfect, but that we are freed, in this life, of sin that binds us.

3. In Jer 17:5, how do some trust in people, instead of in God?

A: They trust in people in at least three ways.

Own self: Some trusted in themselves. For example, the Babylonians had their own strength as their god in Habakkuk 1:11.

Trust in others: Some trusted in the counsel of others, even what it went against what God said.

Trust in humanity in general: The core of the philosophy of humanism is that people are basically good and on the whole can be trusted.

See the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.281 for more info.

4. Why is Jer 17:5-8 almost the opposite of Ps 1?

A: Since Jeremiah undoubtedly studied Psalm 1, this contrast might have been intentional on Jeremiah's part. Regardless, there ultimately are only two ways. God's law will cause you to flourish in the waters of life, and all other ways will cause you to perish in the drought. Choose life.

5. In Jer 17:6-7 what is point of the bush in the desert?

A: A bush can tenuously survive in the desert with sporadic water and salty, infertile soil. One might think it amazing that the bush even survives at all. But when the seasonal rains come to the rest of the land, it does the desert bush no good, if the rain is stopped by the mountains and hills before reaching there. Some people live in spiritual deserts, and some in deserts of their own choosing. Desire to be like a tree planted besides streams of water (Psalm 1:3) and get out of the desert if you can.

6. In Jer 17:9, how is the human heart deceitful above all things?

A: Not only do people have the capacity to deceive others, but people also have a great capacity to completely fool themselves. Your source of will and desire can be compared to a spring. One should keep others from polluting your spring. However, if the spring water washes away the soil over an alkali deposit, the spring can be thought of as self-polluting.

Sometimes movies and society tell us to “follow our heart”. The Bible says otherwise, for emotions are a thermometer, not a thermostat.

In English there is a word “rationalization” to describe one process of trying to justify, to yourself, others, and even God, acts, words, and desires that have no legitimate justification.

See the New International bible Commentary p.775 for more info.

7. In Jer 17:10, will God hear a person's thoughts if the thoughts are never spoken out loud?

A: Yes. Psalm 139:4 says God knows our words even before we speak them. Romans 8:27 says that the spirit intercedes with feelings too deep for words.

8. In Jer 17:11, how does a partridge hatch eggs it did not lay?

A: There are three parts to the answer.

a) There is a species of partridge in Israel, but it is not known to typically sit on eggs besides its own.

b) The Hebrew word here, qore’, might refer to a different bird, called the sand grouse.

c) Regardless, a bird that does not is not very smart, putting a lot of time and energy in raising something that will forsake her for its own species. But isn’t that like some people, who spend their lives amassing wealth, but only for another? Or who spend their time and energy for things that do not help anyone.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.486 for more info.

9. In Jer 17:19-23, what is the point of loads on the Sabbath Day?

A: God commanded them to do no work on the Sabbath. In the pagan world people often worked seven days a week. The Jews had a choice here. They could still partially try to follow God, but when there is a difference between following all of His commands and doing what seems more profitable, which will they choose?

Jeremiah 18-19 – When two clay pots assume God’s message is not true – some brief answers

1. In Jer 18:1-13, what were the main lessons God was teaching here?

A: Before answering the question, first we have to understand something about pottery. In ancient times, pottery not only served the function of our dishes and bowls and pots and pans today, but it served as containers for cosmetic oils, perfumes, grain storage, wine and water storage, and as chamber pots for going to the bathroom. This is why in Jerusalem the “Potsherd Gate” and the “Dung Gate” are two names for the same gate. In ancient times, pots were everywhere we would have containers and toilets today. Being compared to a pot could either be a great compliment or an insult, all depending on the type of pot. Besides clay, perhaps no other illustration could show such a wide difference of destiny. But even for believers, being a pot for noble purposes does not mean you will have an easy time. Pots could be heated in kilns up to 2300 degrees F for 8-12 hours. The potter’s house might have been outside the city on the slopes of the Hinnom Valley, where there was a lot of clay and abundant water.

There are a number of points God is making about both Himself and us.

The potter has a purpose for the clay.

Like a potter, God has the freedom, right, and power to shape and reshape clay as He wishes. He has complete authority.

The clay is for the potter, not the potter for the clay.

Marred clay originally for one use can instead be used for something else.

God can pronounce destruction, but if they repent, He can reshape the pot.

God can announce good, but if they turn to evil, He can reconsider the good He intended to do.

Their destruction will be their own fault because of their stubbornness.

In summary, God is not a frozen stone, but God is reactive to us. (Of course God being reactive at times does not restrict God from being proactive too.)

At this time, God was announcing that Jerusalem was to be destroyed. They were neither to ignore this, nor fatalistically accept this as inevitable, but use this warning as an incentive to change, so that God would relent and the disaster would not occur.

People were formed by God, deformed by sin, and believers are reformed by grace. There are a number of other verses that show how people are metaphorically like clay or pots. They include Job 10:9; 33:6; Isaiah 29:16; 45:9; 64:7-8; Jeremiah 18:1-11; Romans 9:20-21; 2 Corinthians 4:7. Some of this is from a May 7, 2010 sermon by Mark Jones.

See The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.859, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.490,496, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.694, and the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.294-297 for more info.

2. In Jer 18:6, how were God’s people like soft clay?

A: The correct answer is given plainly in Jeremiah 18:7-12. If God announces disaster, and the people repent, God will make the disaster not come. If God announces good things, and the people turn away from God, God will bring disaster. So they should not be stubborn, but at once turn from their evil ways, because it is still not too late.

3. In Jer 18:6, since God’s people were like soft clay, why was their wound incurable in Jer 30:12,15?

A: Their incurability was not due to some lack of ability on God's part, but rather it was their own responsibility that they chose to be incurable, and God respected the decisions they explicitly and implicitly made. No matter how many times you mold soft clay into the desired shape, until it is hardened, under pressure it just will not stay.

4. In Jer 18:11, how does the trip to the potter relate to Judah?

A: As a potter can take a pot originally intended for one purpose, and after a mistake use it for another purpose, God can take the Israelites, who were supposed to follow God and live in the land, and exile them they no longer followed God. In Hebrew the word “devise/plan” is from the same root as “potter”. It is sort of like calling a potter a “molder”, and saying God is “molding” a disaster against you.

See the New International Bible Commentary p.776 for more info.

5. In Jer 18:13-17, what is the point of the contrast with the waters of Lebanon?

A: You can trust and assume that the waters of Lebanon will never run dry, as well as other observations of the constancy of some natural things, but you can’t assume God could depend on his fickle people.

In the New Testament, a person who cannot be counted on to follow God all the time is double-minded. If obeying God depends on how you feel today, if it depends on your circumstances, or if it depends on who you are around, then you yourself are not dependable.

See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.2009 and The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.492-493 for more info.

6. In Jer 18:18-23, what were they planning to do to Jeremiah?

A: Jeremiah 18:18 said they planned to speak against Jeremiah with their words, destroying his reputation and thus his voice to the people. If they charged Jeremiah with treason, and the charges held, Jeremiah could be executed. Jeremiah 18:20 says they were digging a pit for his life. Jeremiah 18:23 speaks for further, deadly schemes against Jeremiah. Later Jeremiah was thrown into a dried up well and left to die. 2 Chronicles 16:7,10 tells of Hanani, a see before Jeremiah’s time who was imprisoned by the evil king Asa of Judah.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.494-495, Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.79 for more info.

7. In Jer 18:20, how did they “dig a pit for his soul” and how do some people do similar today?

A: This means they were digging a pit to throw Jeremiah into in order to kill him. But metaphorically some digs pits to destroys people’s hope, lives, and reputation without physically killing them. Make sure that you don’t unintentionally take away someone’s hope in God or desire to follow Him, either by your words or by your sin.

8. In Jer 19:1, what was the point of Jeremiah smashing the pot?

A: This visual illustration takes a pot (baqbuq in Hebrew), a good thing, useful for holding good liquid, and smashes it. As the Israelites had smashed the lives of infants who could have grown up as God’s people, God will smash them and their nations.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.495-496 and the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.2009-2010 for more info.

9. In Jer 19:5, Jer 7:31; and Jer 32:35, what does it mean about the infant sacrifices not entering God’s mind?

A: Some things God both permits and uses, but does not desire. God permitted infant sacrifice to Baal in Jeremiah 19:5, even though God commanding this “this never entered God’s mind.” God allowed people to be killed who should not have been, in Ezekiel 13:19, and God permits people to encourage the wicked not to turn from evil and be saved in Ezekiel 13:22.

It cannot mean God never knew these happened; otherwise, God would not have spoken these verses. Rather, God is saying that this wicked religious idea both did not originate in God's mind, and God never once desired for this to happen.

Some Christians, especially some (but not all) Calvinists, mistakenly think God is the ultimate cause of everything because God expressly decreed everything that happens. These verses are good to instruct us that while God decrees to permit all that happens, that does not mean God expressly decrees everything that happens. God has a secret counsel or will, but God does not have a secret will in such a way that He wanted these infant sacrifices to happen.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.497 for more info.

10. In Jer 19:6, how did God cause this to happen?

A: Let's simply look at how this was fulfilled. God never commanded these things, and God did not directly cause this. But indirectly, God had the invasion and famine resulting from the siege of the Babylonians be so severe that people did this. But before this happened, God first warned them how severe it would be in Jeremiah 19:9. They could have repented, returned to God, and the disaster would have been averted.

It is more than God just allowing this to happen. God knew this would happen when God sent the Babylonians, and God warned them so that they would turn and He could stop it. But they did not repent, and God chose to have this happen as punishment for their turning away from Him.

11. In Jer 19:10-11, how would Jeremiah’s hearers interpret the pot being broken?

A: Jeremiah broke the pot with his speech starting with “This is what the LORD of armies says, ‘To the same extent I will break this people and this city…”. Egyptians would write the names of their enemies on pots and then break the pots. Even today in the Mideast someone might break a pot next to someone they think wronged them and say they hope he will similarly be broken.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.498 for more info.

12. In Jer 19:10, why was this pot broken instead of reformed?

A: The result of the pots in Jeremiah 18:1-11 and Jeremiah 19:1-10 are totally different. The difference is how pliable and open to change the pot is. Before the clay is fired, the pot can be reshaped. After the pot is baked, then it can only be smashed. The difference is Jeremiah 18:12, where the people by their actions say, “It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will persist in the stubbornness of his evil heart.” Then they plotted against the prophet in Jeremiah 18:18,23. If disobedient people are willing to consider repenting God will treat them one way. But if disobedient people do not want to ever repent, God can treat them a very different way, since these pots have self-chosen to be “unrepairable”. God gave them a time for mercy; but the time for mercy has passed.

Jeremiah 20-21 – When you are Thinking of Quitting – some brief answers

1. In Jer 20:1, what was the position of Pashhur the chief overseer?

A: Pashhur was not the high priest, but rather as the chief overseer he was in charge of the temple police. The name Pashhur is Egyptian, but in Aramaic the name might mean “fruitful on every side” Jeremiah said that God renamed him to Magor-Missabib, which means “terror-on-every-side”, because God is pronouncing that this is what would happen to him. So with his sermons on the broken pots, Jeremiah got the attention of the head of the temple police.

See the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.534, the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1010, The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.860, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.695, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1154, the New International Bible Commentary p.776, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.500-501, and the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.312-314 for more info.

2. In Jer 20:7, why did Jeremiah think God deceived/misled him?

A: No. Jeremiah started to lose heart in Jeremiah 15, and here he is doing it again. Jeremiah regretted his ministry and questioned if he was on the right track. But God did not “mislead” Jeremiah. According to When Critics Ask p.277, the Hebrew word can mean “induced” or “persuaded” as well as deceived. God guided Jeremiah into his ministry without telling Jeremiah everything he would be doing. Jeremiah had the fear that his current lack of success suggested that he was deceived on what God wanted Jeremiah to say. And if Jeremiah was in fact deceived, then he himself would be a decoy deceiving other people too. Sometimes believers falsely equate immediate success (or lack thereof) as confirmation ir disconfirmation that they are in the middle of God’s will.

But then it got personal for Jeremiah. God had not told Jeremiah he would be beaten, and publicly put in stocks for a day, which was both humiliating and very uncomfortable with your body in an unnatural position. Pashhur did this because of the prophet’s preaching in Jeremiah 20:2. However, it would not be the first time a prophet was put in stocks. In 2 Chronicles 16:10, long before Jeremiah’s time, the evil King Asa of Judah put the seer Hanani in prison.

When God called Jeremiah to be a prophet, Jeremiah was never told what all it entailed and what would happen to him. But then when God calls us to a ministry or a certain life, God does not tell us what all is involved either.

Would you still be willing to preach the gospel, if you knew that it meant you would be humiliated?

But even though Jeremiah’s feeling were disappointing here, but Jeremiah still got one thing right. He opened up and shared how he felt with God in prayer.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.502-503, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1154, the New International Bible Commentary p.776-777, the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1010, Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.79,80, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.695, and the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.315-317 for more info.

3. In Jer 20:9, why was Jeremiah not capable of not prophesying?

A: 1 Corinthians 14:32 says that the spirit of the prophets is under the control of the prophets. Nevertheless, while Jeremiah was not out of control, he had a compelling desire to speak God’s word. Given what God had revealed to Him, and given that God touched Jeremiah’s mouth to anoint him, it might have been more difficult for Jeremiah to disobey God and not prophesy than to obey God and speak out, regardless of the cost.

A personal opinion is that Jeremiah was not motivated primarily by a sense of duty, and he certainly was not motivated to speak out by any type of earthly reward or punishment for keeping silent. Rather, he was motivated by concern for God’s people, concern for God’s glory, and above all, Jeremiah spoke because of who God made him to be.

When you are motivated to do something, whether bad or good, examine your motives. When you know you ought to do something, but you just do not have the motivation, examine your motives then too.

Other places where God’s servants said they were compelled to speak for God are Job 32:18-19 (Elihu rebuking Job); Psalm 39:3 (the Psalmist praying to God); 1 Corinthians 9:16-17 (Paul preaching).

See The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.861 and The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1154 for more info.

4. In Jer 20:11-15, what should we do when we are despairing and depressed?

A: As hard as it might seem to do, we should do what the prophet did in Jeremiah 20:11-15, we should still praise God, even in the middle of our circumstances. Jeremiah praised God because Jeremiah knew that God was righting for him. The second thing that Jeremiah did was to keep on continuing to serve God; even when the going got tough.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1154 and The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.695 for more info.

5. In Jer 20:14, was Jeremiah wrong to curse his mother here?

A: While Jeremiah was cursing his birth more than his mother, he was still wrong. Jeremiah’s whole attitude in Jeremiah 20:14-18 was one of self-pity. Jeremiah’s attitude was so bad that he said it would have been better if he had died as a baby in Jeremiah 20:17-18. This section is not telling us what God said, but is accurately and candidly reflecting Jeremiah’s prayer to God in one of his weaker moments. These verses show us that it is good to pray what is on our heart to God, and God will deal with our hearts as is best.

Similarly, 1 Kings 19:4 shows a second example. An exhausted Elijah prayed a prayer that was not good, and 1 Kings 19:5-18 shows how God graciously dealt with Elijah where he was at.

Sometimes God’s faithful servants can go through periods of despair or depression.

See Light beyond the Darkness – a study of Jeremiah p.37 and the New International Bible Commentary p.777 for more info.

6. In Jer 20:14-18, what is interesting about this passage?

A: This is written as a chiasm, a common literary device in Old Testament poetry.

20:14 a curse on the day he was born

- - 20:15-16 A curse on the announcer of his birth

- - 20:17 Anger at the announcer, and at God

20:18 A curse on the day he was born

7. In Jer 21:1-4, were did they ask Jeremiah to enquire of God for them and why were they wrong?

A: The historical context of Jeremiah 20 is about 588 B.C., is over a decade earlier than Jeremiah 21 (609-598 B.C.) under Jehoiakim when the Babylonians were besieging Jerusalem and then they temporarily withdrew when Pharoah Hophra came to fight the Babylonian army. This Pashhur son of Malchijah in Jeremiah 21:1 is a different person from Pashhur sone of Immer more than a decade earlier in Jeremiah 20:1.

Zedekiah had rejected God’s ways. Zedekiah was likely hoping for miraculous deliverance like what happened with King Hezekiah and the Assyrians in 2 Kings 18-19 and Isaiah 36:5-7. However, Jeremiah told Zedekiah’s messengers that this was not going to happen this time. Perhaps these two chapters were placed side by side to show the prophecy in Jeremiah 20 and the fulfillment in Jeremiah 21. Obedient believers are never wrong to ask God for guidance. However, it was wrong for them to ask for guidance since they did not have the courage and integrity to follow it anyway. People have thought of Zedekiah as “more weak than wicked” though he was both. Many times people want guidance to confirm what they have already chosen to do.

This chapter marks a change in tone in the book of Jeremiah. Prior to this were passages telling the Jews to repent and perhaps judgment can be averted. From this point on they are still told to repent, but there is no longer any hope of judgment being averted.

See The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.696, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1155-1156, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.505, the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.535, the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.326, Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.83-84, and Light beyond the Darkness – a study of Jeremiah p.43 for more info.

8. In Jer 21:8-10, why were the king and officials so against Jeremiah?

A: Jeremiah was actually counseling the people to desert the city and surrender to the Babylonians. This would be considered treason against the king.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.508 for more info.

9. In Jer 21:10 and Jer 44:11, how does God set His face against a city for evil?

A: This interesting phrase means God is planning disaster for a city. God did so as punishment for their sins.

10. In Jer 21:11-14, what do you do when God gives you a message that is the opposite of what you want to hear?

A: We need to realize that God is God and we are simply His servants. We need to still praise God for accomplishing His will. We can acknowledge that we wish it that God’s answer was otherwise, but we can choose to draw near to God and look to Him, not the circumstances.

See the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.329 for more info.

Jeremiah 22 – Woe to evil political rulers – some brief answers

1. In Jer 22:3 what are two kinds of commands given to rulers in this verse?

A: The last part of verse 3 says you much not mistreat or do violence to aliens (strangers), orphans, widows, or the innocent. The first part is a command to save one who is oppressed by others.

2. In Jer 22:11, who was King Shallum?

A: This was a nickname for King Jehoahaz. Jeremiah often used nicknames for kings, such as Coniah for Jeconiah. Jehoahaz was only king for three months until Pharaoh Neco deposed him. He should have been more concerned about how long he would last than a fancy palace. Some might have called him King “Shalom” (peace), but “Shallum” means retribution.

Often the people would sing dirges (funeral songs) in honor of their kings after they died. But Jeremiah is telling them to sing dirges for Jehoahaz, who was exiled and was as good as dead to them, because he was going to die in Babylon without ever coming back.

See the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.335-336, The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.861-862, the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.536, the New International Bible Commentary p.777, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.511,515-516, and The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1156 for more info.

3. In Jer 22:13, what are other examples of people legally taking something without paying for it, when they can get away with it?

A: Jehoahaz was building his palace with labor he would not pay for, contrary to Leviticus 19:13; Deuteronomy 24:14-15. He was the king, so whatever he did was legal. Sometimes government leaders try to take things either without paying for them or paying much less than the land or a building is worth. Sometimes wealthy businessmen will take something with a promise to pay, but they had no intention of keeping their promise, and they know they are in a situation where they cannot be successfully sued easily.

God does not want any of His children to be in a situation where they do not pay justly for something; even when they can legally get away with it.

4. In Jer 22:13-15, Jeremiah rebuked Jehoiakim for building a luxurious new palace. Why do some people build or buy fancy things when they are on the edge of disaster?

A: His name was originally Eliakim, but the Egyptian Pharaoh Neco renamed him to Jehoiakim when they placed him on the throne. But halfway through his 11-year reign Jehoiakim became just a vassal of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Then Jehoiakim rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. So Jehoiakim would not feel at all secure about his position. He was evil; he had the godly prophet Uriah extradited from Egypt and put to death. Jehoiakim excelled in covetousness. One reason Jehoiakim probably started building the palace was to distract himself from thinking about his current situation, and to intentionally distract himself about the future. The Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians and Solomon all had beautiful palaces, why shouldn’t he deserve to have one too? – especially since he did not have to pay the laborers! Sometimes people will buy a new car, expensive jewelry, or a new house, thinking I don’t want to think about dealing with the future, so I will just enjoy things for now.

As Derek Kidner says of Jehoiakim: “This man, who gave his mind to trivialities in a time of crisis, and who saw his subjects as only exploitable, was a vulture at laws and a peacock at home.” In The Message of Jeremiah p.87.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.512-513, the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.537, the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.338-339, Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.87, and The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.513 for more info.

5. In Jer 22:15, which righteous king is this?

A: The righteous king is Josiah, according to Jeremiah 22:11.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1157 and the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.340 for more info.

A: Both. 2 Kings 24:6 merely says that Jehoiakim died, not where he was buried or how. The same term, “rested with his fathers” is in 1 Kings 22:40, even though dogs licked up Ahab’s blood in 1 Kings 21:19; 22:30-38.

Jeremiah 22:19 says he will have the burial as honorable as that of a donkey. They probably just hastily put a bunch of rocks over the body. Jeremiah 36:30 says his body would be thrown out. Under the Babylonians disrespectfully threw Jehoiakim’s body outside of Jerusalem for the body to be buried there. We do not know if Jehoiakim was first buried there, or if the Jews first buried him honorably inside Jerusalem, but then the Babylonians had a different idea and dug up the body.

This would not the last king this happened to. The historian Herodotus records that the Persian king Cambyses did up the body of the Egyptian Pharaoh Amasis and cast it out. (History book 3 ch.16).

The Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.340-341 has a different view; it says that a “donkey’s burial does not mean a hasty, dishonorable burial but rather no burial at all.

It was prophesied that Jehoiakim would be killed and his body, rather than being buried with honor, would be thrown over the city’s walls. Josephus says Nebuchadnezzar had this done to Jehoiakim in Antiquities of the Jews book 10 ch.6.3.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.513-514 for more info.

7. In Jer 22:24; 2 Ki 24:8-9, who was Coniah?

A: This was a nickname for King Jehoiachin, whose personal name was Jeconiah. He was only 18 when he became king, and he only reigned for 3 months and 11 days before he was deported to Babylon.

Babylonian tablets found near the Ishtar Gate, called the Weidner Tablets, that lists foreign kings who were prisoners and how much oil and barley he and his party should get. Eventually Jeconiah was released to live in Babylon according to 2 Kings 25:27-30.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.516, the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.537, The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.862, the New International Bible Commentary p.778, and Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.89 for more info.

8. In Jer 22:24, why is a signet ring important?

A: A signet ring would typically be a gold ring and look beautiful. But more importantly it was functional. They did not have cursive writing for signatures back then. Rather, a scroll containing a message or command would be sealed with wax, and the signet ring would be pressed into it showing first that it came from the king, and second, that if they wax seal was unbroken it had not been opened or tampered with.

So a signet ring would not just look good but be useful and important. But in Jehoiachin’s he was worthless.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.516 for more info.

9. In Jer 22:30, should this say “childless” or “without honor”?

A: The Hebrew word here means “childless” or less commonly, “solitary”. The New English Bible (NEB) paraphrased this as “without honor” apparently because the king would not have the honor of having any of his descendants sit on the throne.

The Septuagint translates “outcast” instead of “childless” and “…for there shall none of his seed at all grow up to sit on the throne of David, [or as] a prince yet in Juda.”

10. In Jer 22:30, should this be translated as “childless” or “as if childless”?

A: The Hebrew meaning is often determined by context. The Hebrew word means “childless” or “solitary”; “as/as if” is not present in the Hebrew. Nevertheless, it is accurate to translate “as/as if” because Jeremiah 22:30 affirms that Jehoiachin would have male descendants, but it also says that he is “as childless” because none of his seed will prosper or rule.

As/as if childless is the translation of the NKJV, NIV, and NRSV. (The NASB and KJV do not have “as/as if”.)

11. In Jer 22:30, how was Coniah (Jehoiachin) as if childless, since he had a son named Shealtiel in Mt 1:12?

A: This must have been a surprising prophesy to Jehoiachin, since Jehoiachin already had seven sons, which one would think would be sufficient for at least one male son or descendant to become king. Nevertheless, Jeremiah prophesied that not a single descendant would become king, and here is what happened.

1. Jehoiachin (=Jeconiah) became king when he was 18 years old, succeeding his father Jehoiakim. Jehoiachin had seven sons, according to 1 Chronicles 3:17-18.

2. Jehoiachin only reigned 3 months (2 Kings 24:8), before he was taken to Babylon (2 Kings 24:15). His successor was not a son, but rather his uncle Zedekiah.

3. Shealtiel had a son, named Zerubbabel, who later became governor (not king) under the Persians.

4. Hard Sayings of the Bible p.310 and 735 Baffling Bible Questions Answered p.176 mention a Babylonian tablet found at the Ishtar gate recording that Jehoiachin had seven sons, who all were made eunuchs. It apparently does not say when they were made eunuchs.

5. Hard Sayings of the Bible p.310 shows that Jehoiachin might have adopted one or more sons. Since the genealogy of Joseph in Matthew 1:11-12, being concerned with “legal” descent, says Shealtiel was the son of Jeconiah (Jehoiachin). Luke 3:27 says Shealtiel was the son of Neri.

See also When Critics Ask p.277 and Light beyond the Darkness – a study of Jeremiah p.42,44 for more info.

Jeremiah 23 – Woe to evil religious shepherds – some brief answers

1. In Jer 23:1-2, why does God sometimes allow worthless shepherds for His people?

A: Just as people have free agency to choose to serve God or not, pastors have the freedom to sever God or not. People themselves have the freedom to follow those pastors or follow good ones. The people were supposed to stone leaders who had them follow other gods. They did not do so, and they suffered the consequences.

Today, when a church organization does not purge itself of ungodly consequences, it suffers the consequences, too.

Titus 1:13-14 says, “This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sternly, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of men who have rejected the truth.” (Berean Bible). In 2 Timothy 3:1-3 we are to avoid such people, not follow them.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.517-518 for more info

2. In Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15; Isa 4:2; Zech 3:8; 6:12, who is the righteous branch?

A: This is the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who was descended from David. Zedekiah, or Sidqiyahu in Hebrew, means “my righteousness if Yahweh”. Instead of just the name, the Messiah will really be God’s righteousness.

According to the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.352, a minority of Jewish commentators think the righteous branch here is Jerusalem.

See the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.536, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1158, The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.862, and the New International Bible Commentary p.778 for more info.

3. In Jer 23:9, how was Jeremiah similar to a drunken man?

A: The Bible never says Jeremiah got drunk. Rather, he staggered, as a drunken man staggers, because of the grievous message he was carrying. This metaphor, of someone staggering like a drunken man once they see God’s wrath, is also in Jeremiah 13:13-14; 25:15-16. In Jeremiah’s case, Jeremiah was probably heartbroken because he was despised and mocked, and thrown into stocks for a day. Yet Jeremiah could also clearly see what was coming to the people he loved. And yet, after all his hard work, and what he suffered to deliver the message, his message appeared to him to have almost no effect whatsoever.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.520 and the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.537 for more info.

4. In Jer 23:15-17,25-34 what was the message of the false prophets?

A: These are counterfeits, who falsely claimed to have been given a message by God. The heart of these false prophesies was false hope, and a pronouncement that “you are OK just as you are”. In Jeremiah’s time, as in ours, false prophets prophesy peace and prosperity when God is not bringing that, and they preach compromise instead of sacrificial obedience to God. As Derek Kidner says about bad shepherds, “without justice a nation suffers, but without truth it sickens.”

In Jeremiah 23:30-32 there are three (overlapping) types of false prophets.

Plagiarists simply copy and twist what true prophets said.

Tongue-waggers knowingly make up their own words and call them the words of the Lord.

Dreamers claim legitimacy by saying their prophesies came in dreams.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.522,525, Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.91, the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.358-359,361-362, 735 Baffling Bible Questions Answered p.177, and Light beyond the Darkness – a study of Jeremiah p.49 for more info on false prophets then and now.

5. In Jer 23:24, how does God fill heaven and earth?

A: God is present everywhere, and God sees everything. However, the error called pantheism is wrong, because the Creator is not the same as His Creations, as Romans 1:25 shows.

6. In Jer 23:25,32, does God ever speak in dreams?

A: Yes. In the Bible God spoke in drams in Genesis 37:5 (Joseph), Daneil 2:3 (Daniel), and even Pilate’s wife. But all dreams are not necessarily from God, and if a false prophet who only prophesies peace and turns people from the truth has a dream, or at least claimed he had a dream or vision, we should feel no need to listen to that or follow a dreamer.

See the New International Bible Commentary p.779 and the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.537 for more info.

7. In Jer 23:28, is it OK to give our own opinions on religious matters?

A: The Bible does not speak against giving your opinion, as long as you do not call your opinion God’s word, or place man’s opinion and tradition on the same authority as the Bible (1 Corinthians 4:6; Proverbs 30:5,6). Jeremiah 23:28 is not against speaking dreams, but called those dreams prophecies from God. Jeremiah 23:27 is also against dreams, regardless of whether they are called prophecies or not, that lead people away from God.

8. In Jer 23:33-40, why were the people asking Jeremiah about the burden/word of the Lord?

A: They are actually making fun of Jeremiah according to The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.526 and the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1013. However, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary and The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament do not think this was mocking.

9. In Jer 23:34, why does God have a special punishment for false prophets?

A: Not only are they not following God, but they encourage others to not follow God.

10. In Jer 23:39, why is God’s punishment here to utterly forget them?

A: Forgotten here means that God would not recognize them, or their descendants, as His chosen people.

Jeremiah 24-25 – What kind of fig are you? – some brief answers

1. In Jer 24:1, why were the ones who were exiled for their sin the good figs, and the ones who were not exiled the bad figs?

A: First something about figs, and then the meaning. Early figs ripen at the end of June, before the main fruit season in August. They early figs were highly prized. However, figs have high sugar content, so they can spoil if left out for a long time.

Actually both groups of Jews did evil. Those who were exiled took the discipline for their evil, while those who stayed avoided it. In subsequent times, a remnant of the exiled Israelites returned as the Jews. Those who stayed intermarried with others and the mixed people were called the Samaritans.

While groups did evil, the difference is that the “good figs” took the punishment that God gave them, while the “bad figs” avoided God’s discipline.

See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1013, Light beyond the Darkness – a study of Jeremiah p.47-48, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.527, the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.368, and The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.698 for more info.

2. In Jer 24:2-4, was Jeremiah a bad fig, since he chose not to go into exile in Jeremiah 40:4-6?

A: No. God's command was not a moral law for all time (Otherwise everyone should move to Babylon). Rather, it was a specific directive at that time. Now God's command here applied to the people at that time, not necessarily including Jeremiah.

3. In Jer 24:5-6, what are some ways people can bear up under consequences of their actions vs. seek to escape it?

A: When a woman has a baby out of wedlock, she can choose to murder it by abortion, give it up for adoption, or raise it herself. If she chose to have sexual relations, bearing up under the consequences would be keeping the baby and raising it as best she could, if she has the option to do so. If a man has a child by someone who is not his wife, he can try to persuade the girl to have an abortion, or he can split. But the solution that would be bearing up under the consequences would be to marry the girl (if that is feasible), and if not, at least financially support the girl while she is pregnant and support the child until the child becomes an adult. But when the man or woman seek to escape their responsibility, it makes it harder for the other to bear their weight, as well as the other person’s.

If you did some actions foolishly or rashly, that caused someone to lose their money, or their health, and it is your fault, what should you do? If the court orders you to pay them money you should obey the court. But if the court does not order you to pay them money, you should still pay anyway, not because you have to, but because it is the right thing to do.

If you harmed someone’s reputation because of a false thing you said (regardless of whether you lied or mistaken), you need to work to try to rectify the harm you caused and try as much as possible to restore their name. So if you falsely accused somebody of doing something, you need to own that you were wrong, and come out and tell the truth. Typically whatever scope you had for the lie, (i.e. how many people heard it), should be the same scope that you reach to correct the lie.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1160 for more info.

4. In 25:1, when was the four year of Jehoiakim’s reign and the first year of Nebuchadnezzar’s?

A: We are fairly certain the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign was April 12 (Nisan 1), 605 B.C. to April 2 (Nisan 1) 604 B.C. It was not 365 days, because they used the lunar calendar of 360 days. There were two ways of counting the years of a king. In the first way the first full year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign started April 2, 604 B.C. So they only overlap by one day. It is probably not meant that Jeremiah gave this prophecy on the exact day. There are two explanations.

The Hebrew word ri’soni is not the usual word for the first year of the reign. Perhaps a better translation than “first” is “beginning”.

The beginning of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, not the first full year. Nebuchadnezzar began his reign September 7, 605 B.C. But they would consider that before the start of the first year. To make an analogy today, if a leader came to power in February, his “first year” would be the following January 1st to the next January 1st.

Jeremiah possibly used a fall dating system. Another view is that Jeremiah used September/October as the start of the year. It is not clear why Jeremiah would use a non-Jewish dating system though.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1160-1161 and The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.530-531 for more info.

5. Why was Jer 25:1-38 placed here?

A: While scripture does not say, it is not hard to see a reason. Thirteen messages of judgment, in chapters 2-25 were arranged topically, not chronologically. Chapter 25 was delivered in the reign of Jehoiakim, which was prior to the reign of Jeconiah in chapter 24. But chapter 25 is a fitting conclusion for the chapters of judgement before this.

In the first part, verses 3-11, Jeremiah reminds them that he has preached to them 23 years so far, without them repenting. In the second part, verses 15-29, Jeremiah speaks of the cup of God’s wrath that they will (metaphorically) be given to drink. In the third part, verses 30-38, the judgment will come on the nations around them.

See the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.371-372,380 and The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1160 for more info.

6. In Jer 25:6, what does this say about worshipping the work of your hands, i.e., other gods?

A: It does not see this displeases God, is ill-advised, or merely “disordered”. It says that idolatry “provokes” God to anger. God feels very strongly about this, and we should not take likely anything about worshipping other gods, whether Hindu, Buddhist, the Muslim Allah, or anything else.

7. In Jer 25:9, how could a cruel idol-worshipper like Nebuchadnezzar be God’s servant?

A: Nebuchadnezzar was not one who obeyed God. Nevertheless, consciously or not, He carried out God's plan. God can use people as instruments to carry out His will, regardless of whether they are willing or unwilling. A second example of this is King Cyrus in Isaiah 45:1,4.

Likewise, one interesting description of Satan is the unwilling servant of the Most High God.

8. In Jer 25:11-12, why would God make them serve the king of Babylon for 70 years (605-536 B.C.), and not 60 or 80?

A: First of all 70 years is 70 prophetic/religious years, and a prophetic/religious year is 360 days, not 365.25. The people were not observing the Sabbath year of keeping the land fallow as Leviticus 25:3-5 commanded. 2 Chronicles 36:20-21 says that God exiled them for the number of years they should have kept the Sabbath but did not. 1 70 years * 360 days / 265.25 days = 68.99 regular/solar years. 68.99 * 7 = 483 regular/solar years. 605 B.C. + 483 years = 1088 B.C. This was in Samson’s time right before Saul.

See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1013, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.699, The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.864, and The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1161 for more info.

9. In Jer 25:11, when was this 70-year period fulfilled?

A: Daniel asked when it would be fulfilled in Daniel 9:1-2. The 70 prophetic (360-day) years occurred from about 607 B.C. to 538 B.C. when Cyrus I of Persia allowed the Jews to return home.

The Babylonians invaded Palestine starting in 609 B.C.

Note that the Babylonians did not destroy Jerusalem and exile the Jews until 587 B.C., and 587 – 538 is much less than 70 years. However, Jeremiah 25:11 does NOT specify how long the exile would be. Rather, it only specifies that the Jews would serve the King of Babylon 70 years and that is what happened.

10. In Jer 25:14-29, how would nations drink the cup of God’s wrath?

A: Jeremiah was is prophesying their doom here; Jeremiah did not literally go to each capital city and somehow force the kings to drink. But each of the nations that fought against Israel, and Israel, which disobeyed God would drink from the cup of God’s wrath. Egyptians, Philistines, Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, Elam and Media [future], and Sheshach (code name for Babylon) would drink it. But God also mentions nations that did not fight directly against the Israelites, though they might have sold Israelite slaves: Tyre, Sidon, Dedan, Tema, Buz, Arabia in general, and Zimri (unknown location).

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1161 for more info.

11. In Jer 25:25, where is the land of Zimri?

A: We don’t know where exactly it is. However, Abraham and Keturah, his wife after Sarah passed away, had a son named Zimran, and the people might have come from him. The Greek historian and geographer Ptolemy mentions an otherwise unknown people called Zabrum (History book 6 ch.7, who he said lived between the Arabs and Persians.

See the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.382 for more info.

12. In Jer 25:26 and Jer 51:41, how do we know that Sheshach is Babylon?

A: First of all, there is no known kingdom, in any time period, called Sheshach. Since Jeremiah encouraged support of the Babylonians, this prophecy of the destruction of the king of Babylon was in a code, (cipher) called an atbash. Sheshach (ššk) was a code name for Babylon (bbl), similar to “abcd” being “zyxw” by exchanging with the opposite letter in the alphabet. An atbash was also used in Jeremiah 25:12; 51:1 for the Chaldeans “Leb Kamai”. The New International Bible Commentary p.780, the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.383, The Expositor's Bible Commentary volume 6 p.535, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1162, The New Geneva Study Bible p.1194, the NIV, the NRSV p.687, and the non-Christian Asimov's Guide to the Bible p.565-566 all agree this was a cryptogram for Babylon.

13. In Jer 25:27-29, why will God bring a sword upon all of the earth?

A: God will judge and make war in Revelation 19, and God will bring a sword (or fire) on all the armies of the earth that are surrounding Jerusalem at the end of the Millennium, when the wicked dead are raised in Revelation 20:7-9. However, even in the past God has brought a sword to punish various peoples such as the Assyrians, Babylonians, and even the peoples of Judah and Israel. The word of wicked people is one means God uses to punish others and bring down nations. See 1001 Bible Questions Answered p.21 for more info.

14. In Jer 25:30 and Isa 42:13, is it ill-befitting that God should “roar”, as the Muslim Ahmad Deedat claims?

A: No, who are we to tell God what He can and cannot do? The “roar” in both verses is a battle cry. When Jesus returns in glory He will defeat God’s enemies.

Jeremiah 26-27 – The Ungodly will be under the Yoke – some brief answers

1. In Jer 26:3, why did God say, “perhaps they might repent”, since God knows all?

A: While God knows all, God still gives people genuine opportunities, even though He knows they will turn down His grace. There is a fundamental point to learn here on God's sovereignty. God does know everything that happens. Specifically, scripture says that God not only knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 43), but every single day of a person's life before the person has existed (Ps 139:16). God would know beforehand on any day of these people's lives if they would repent or not. Hypothetically, God could have said “I know they will not repent, so I am not even going to give them any opportunity. God did not do this, as He gave them the opportunity, responsibility, and a time period to repent.

2. In Jer 26:13, would Jeremiah’s prophecy have been false if they had repented?

A: In this case, God knew they would not repent. However, there are other cases, such as Jonah and the Ninevites, and Abraham and Abimelech in Genesis 20:1-13. In these examples, when God declares He will destroy someone because of their sin, and he or she repents, God does not bring on the destruction He threatened.

3. In Jer 26:20-23, why did God let evil men kill the godly prophet Uriah/Urijah, yet spare Jeremiah?

A: Scriptures do not say, but in general, we observe that God sometimes miraculously saves some of His servants, but others die as martyrs. Judah was a vassal of Egypt, and probably had an extradition treaty with them. So Jehoiakim simply sent some men to Egypt to ask Pharaoh to extradite him.

We do not know God's purpose behind everything that happens, but God has permitted our prayers to affect the outcome. Also, in this case there was another person, Ahikam, who protected the prophet in Jeremiah 26:24. Later in Jeremiah 36:12,25, Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn Jeremiah’s scroll.

See The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.865 for more info.

4. In Jer 27:1-11, was the king here Jehoiakim, or Zedekiah?

A: Many Hebrew Masoretic texts say “Jehoiakim”. However, a few other Hebrew Masoretic texts, Syriac, and Arabic say “Zedekiah”. The Septuagint bypasses this problem by omitting this verse.

The correct answer is “Zedekiah”, as that is the one referred to in Jeremiah 27:3,12; 28:1. Also, this time fits Zedekiah, not Jehoiakim, as Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties p.273 says. It and When Critics Ask p.277-278 conjecture that the scribal error came about because Jeremiah 26:1 was copied when Jeremiah 27:1 should have been copied. The NET Bible says that the majority of Hebrew manuscripts have an obviously corrupt reading because the date formula is contradictory with the passage.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1164, The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.865, and the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1014 for more info.

5. In Jer 27:3, did Jeremiah literally make a yoke for each king and send it to him?

A: No, it does not say Jeremiah made a yoke for each king. But God did tell Jeremiah to write down a message for each king and send it to them via the ambassadors in Jerusalem. The ambassadors might have forwarded the message to their kings but we don’t know for sure.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.544 for more info.

6. In Jer 27:6, why is the king’s name spelled Nebuchadrezzar here, and Nebuchadnezzar elsewhere?

A: The Babylonians themselves pronounced it with an “r”. But the Aramaeans (Syrians) and Jews pronounced it with an “n”.

See the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.397 for more info.

7. In Jer 27:14-18, how do you handle competing messages?

A: Jeremiah was hearing a lot of competing messages, contrary to what God had given him to preach. Jeremiah addressed it head on. Not only were they supposed to listen to God, they were to stop listening to lying prophets. There was a special urgency here, because they were two opposite potential choices of action. Either submit to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, or rebel against him. Jeremiah was saying it is very important for their survival that they submit to him.

Messages are not only intended to inform; they are also intended to inspire. You know what you need in life to be happy, because the advertisers tell you. WE have statues and memorials to quite evil people. Look up Christopher Columbus and native Americans some time. Or look up William McKinley and the U.S.-Philippines War.

8. In Jer 27:14-18, what are some lying prophetic voices today?

A: You have news, social media, and political pundits who predict what will happen in the world. As Will Rogers said, “I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.” But more significant than that are people who say to be a good society we need to be immoral, or have transgenderism, or legalizing drugs, or other things.

9. In Jer 27:16, why were the temple items important?

A: These were a symbol that Judah would be independent and have returned what was taken from her. However, Jeremiah prophesied that the Babylonians would never return the temple items; they were still in Babylon in Daneil 1:1-7. Even temple items that were not carried off to Babylon yet would be carried off according to Jeremiah 27:18-22.

See The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.701 for more info.

10. In Jer 27:21-22, when was this prophecy of God visiting these vessels fulfilled?

A: God said in Jeremiah that these temple vessels would be stored (not used) in Babylon until the day God visited them. Then they will be returned to Jerusalem. This came true in Daniel 5:1-5. Belshazzar used the vessels for a feast, and in the middle of the feast God caused a hand to write on the wall. The Persians returned the Temple vessels to God in 536 A.D.

See The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.865-866 for more info.

Jeremiah 28-29 – To follow God, turn your back on Him, or a third choice – some brief answers

1. In Jer 28:1, why does it say the “beginning of Zedekiah’s reign, while Jer 18:1 says the “fourth year”?

A: This obviously meant the fourth year, as the second phrase says. But the Hebrew expression for the first phrase means the first half of his reign, not just the first year. This would be August-September 593 A.D.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1165 and The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.547 for more info.

2. In Jer 28:6, why would Jeremiah say “Amen” to the word of Hananiah the false prophet?

A: Nebuchadnezzar was dealing with a revolt in Babylon itself according to the Babylonian Chronicle, and Psammetichus II of Egypt was fighting Ethiopia, so other prophets said now is the time to rebel.

Here was a prophecy that was purported to be from God. Jeremiah hoped it was true. Rather than argue that Hananiah’s words contradicted Jeremiah’s own prophecy, Jeremiah waited for God to deal with it and tell Jeremiah what to do.

It would not be good for Jeremiah to agree that Hananiah was telling the truth; but that was not the case here because everyone could see they had different messages, because Jeremiah was carrying a yoke; and Hananiah broke it. So Jeremiah is saying, “Amen, he wishes that were true, but that God has the last word”; not Hananiah, or Jeremiah, or anyone else. Then Jeremiah waited for God to speak.

Notice that Jeremiah did not try to persecute Hananiah or harm him in any way. When God spoke to Jeremiah, Jeremiah spoke against Hananiah. Jeremiah let God physically deal with Hananiah, and God killed Hananiah two months later

See Light beyond the Darkness – a study of Jeremiah p.56, the New International Bible Commentary p.781, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.548,550, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1164, the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.408, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.701-702, and the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.539 for more info.

3. In Jer 28:9, why would an honest and Almighty God permit any false prophets to prophesy lies in His name?

A: Some incorrectly think the Jews had a binary choice. They had to choose between either believing God’s prophets, Jeremiah and Uriah (killed early on) in Jerusalem and Ezekiel among the exiles, or else following pagan idols instead. Actually the choice was more complicated than that. They could follow God’s prophets, or turn away and follow idolatrous gods, or what looked like an “in-between choice” where they could follow a number of false prophets.

Jeremiah encouraged them to follow God; so did they. Jeremiah spoke publicly with confidence; so did they. Hananiah used the same opening phrase Jeremiah did. Jeremiah knew what God spoke in the Torah; and very likely so did they. If you lived back then, how could you tell whether to follow Jeremiah, Uriah, and Ezekiel, or Hananiah, Shemaiah, Ahab son of Koliath, Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, and other false prophets and priests?

There were two complementary ways to fell: prophecies and message. Jeremiah, speaking for God, prophesied the Babylonians would destroy Jerusalem and 70 years of captivity. False prophets, also speaking for God, prophesied that Babylonian power would be broken in two years. One of those prophesies will fail, and that is one way to know. God told them these over 800 years earlier in Deuteronomy 18:20-22.

The previous test is necessary but not sufficient. Deuteronomy 13:1-18 says that if the prophet teaches to worship other gods, they are to be put to death. Even if they prophesied things that came true, they are still to be put to death because they prophesied worshipping another god. The false prophets said the basic spiritual status quo was OK. It was fine to worship the true God and other gods also. Jeremiah, Ezekiel (Ezekiel 8:10-12; 14. 16-17), and others preached against mixing the worship of the true God with other religions.

What is not a valid test is how well you like the message. Hananiah’s message was more positive, upbeat, and more in line with what people wanted to hear. Their message was encouraging to people, giving them hope, but it was a baseless hope. Having a more winsome message does not make something any more or less true though.

So whether we like it or not, God allowed (and still allows) deceiving prophets and teachers to come and teach in His name, even though God did not send them. But God makes ways for those who want to discern, how to tell if someone is from God or not.

Within some aspects of Protestant liberal Christianity, there is the view that people who follow Buddha, Hindu gods, Allah in Islam, or other gods can go to heaven too. That is detestable in God’s eyes. In Roman Catholicism there has been worship of the “earth goddess”, or the South American version, Pachamama, That is a detestable message from false representatives of God.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.546, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1166, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.701, the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.540, The MacArthur Bible Commentary p.866, and the New International Bible Commentary p.781-782 for more info.

4. In Jer 28:9, why would so many false prophets to prophesy lies in His name?

A: The book of Jeremiah mentions a group of false prophets, but only speaks specifically of four of them. There were undoubtedly others too. Why would there be so many false prophets and false priests back then? In Jermiah’s time Jermiah wrote to the exiles, but the false prophet Shemiah wrote to the exiles too in Jeremiah 29:31. In the first 300 or so years after the first early church writings, there were over 70 fake books that claimed to be gospels; The Gospel of Pilate, Judas, or pretty much any name you want to pick. In later times you had a lot of groups that claimed to follow Christ but led people to Hell: Sabellians, Bogomils, Amaurians of France, Meister Eckhart, Cathars, Socinians, Munster Anabaptists, etc. In modern times there are various heretical groups like LDS (Mormons), Jehovah’s Witnesses, Unitarian Universalists, Unity School of Christianity, Unificationists (Moonies), Babis, Baha’is, Christian Science, Christadelphians, Jim Jones, Branch Davidians, The Tai-Ping Rebellion by “Jesus’ brother”, Ellen G. White, Worldwide Misson Society Church of God, Church of Scientology, the Aquarian Gospel, Liberation Theology, worship of the earth goddess, Family of God, Herbert W. Armstrong, etc.

One part of the answer is that Satan is not idle but very busy and diligent. He is clever, subtle, and highly intelligent. Apart from God, people can be overwhelmed by lies from the father of lies. Another part of the answer is that , even with all of these many counterfeits that Satan offers forth, each one has signs of failed predictions, or inconsistencies, or falsehood contradicting the Bible, or the character of their leaders, that a discerning person can see if they want to examine their claims of truth.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1167 for more info.

5. In Jer 28:15, since then what are some ways people trust in lies?

A: There are a lot of ways including psychologically, morally, politically, and religiously. Here are just a few examples.

Psychologically people have believed that homosexuality is acceptable. They have believed that transgender surgeries, especially for children, can be good.

Morally they believe that abortion is OK.

Politically they believe that taking money from people unjustly is OK, if there is a law allowing that. They thought that Babylon was their problem. Babylon was not their problem; God was. But if God is your problem, then God is the only solution.

Religiously they believed that you could mix worship of the true God with worship of other gods. Many people still believe that today.

See The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.702 and The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1166 for more info.

6. In Jer 29:4-7, are there times when Christians, even obedient ones, have to bar up in a hostile land?

A: This happens all the time. Christians in countries where they persecute the gospel have to be discreet in sharing God’s Word. They have to weigh everything with their chance of getting caught. These days, with the internet, email, social media, and AI able to scrape those, it is getting harder to hide. Even the Signal app can be hacked by various countries.

7. In Jer 29:10, when exactly did this 70-year exile occur?

A: One must differentiate between the exile of the people and the destruction of Jerusalem.

The people of Judah were exiled in 605/604 B.C. They did not return until 538/537 B.C. You might notice that 605 to 538 B.C. is only 67 of our years, not 70. The length of year used in prophecies in the Bible was the religious year of 360 days. 605 to 538 B.C. is 70 religious years.

The Temple and the city of Jerusalem were not destroyed until March 16, 597 B.C. The Temple was rebuilt about 515 B.C. (The New International Dictionary of the Bible p.994.) In 597 B.C. about 3,000 Jews were exiled with King Jehoiachin, including many false prophets and priests.

Since Zedekiah was taken to Babylon in 587 B.C, and 587-515 = 72 of our years, someone can mistakenly think this was what was meant. However, Jeremiah 29:10 is specifically speaking only of the exile of the people.

See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.6 p.551 for more info.

8. In Jer 29:13, do people ever seek God, or does no one seek God, as Rom 3:11 says?

A: Romans 3:11 shows that no one genuinely seeks God. However, this quote is from David, and David said that he sought God, so this only refers to that fact that it is a part of God’s grace that empowers people to even seek God. God enables people to seek Him. Even so, many still do not seek God.

9. In Jer 29:21,24, why did God allow three false prophets with the exiles in Babylon?

A: The people had to choose whether to believe true prophets like Ezekiel (among the first batch of exiles), Jeremiah (at Jerusalem) and Uriah (who was killed), vs. these false prophets. But God had Jeremiah prophesy against these false prophets; so nobody could be confused that they were all serving God, - unless they willingly wanted to be deceived. Today, people have to choose whether to follow God and the teaching of His church, or false teaching. Our job, like Jeremiah’s is to make sure nobody’s thinks the true Church and false churches are on the same side.

See Light beyond the Darkness – a study of Jeremiah p.58-60 for more info.

10. In Jer 29:30, why did God’s people tolerate a leader that taught rebellion against God?

A: Sometimes teaching rebelliousness can be very subtle, but that was not the case here. It was obvious they were not following God, but the people had to choose between following their religious leaders and following God, and they chose their religious leaders.

A more difficult question is, why do some Christians today tolerate as leaders people who obviously pay no attention to obeying God?

Q: In Jer 30:7, when God gave the Jews trouble, why did He neither bless them here nor destroy them completely?

A: Perhaps an analogy is useful here. Sometimes when a tree you value is diseased, you want to destroy the diseased part by chopping it off, and you diligently try to save the rest of the tree.

Also, Jeremiah 30:11 says that God disciplined Israel. When some Israelites were taken captive, the others might have been more inclined to reconsider their ways.

Q: In Jer 30:12, why was their spiritual wound incurable, and why did Almighty God choose not to cure it?

A: God can do anything, but God does not always choose to do anything. The Israelites chose a life that led them farther and farther from Him, and God chose not to coerce them or override their free agency.

Q: In Jer 30:21, how do people devote themselves to be close to God?

A: There are five aspects of devotion to God.

1. It should be on God's terms, not ours.

2. Obedient service to our Lord. Service means work and sacrifice.

3. It should be to God, and not to anyone else, as Paul mentions in 2 Corinthians 11:3

4. Not just a duty to God, but love for God.

5. It includes spending time with God, and wanting our heart to be like God's heart.

Q: In Jer 31, what is this new covenant here?

A: This is a future and different covenant God would make with His people. The New Covenant came when Christ rose from the dead. The Apostle Peter announced this to everyone in Acts 2:17-39. See 735 Baffling Bible Questions Answered p.178-179 for more info.

Q: In Jer 31:3, how did God have an everlasting love?

A: God has an everlasting love in many ways.

1. God's love for His children never ends.

2. It neither diminishes nor fades.

3. Even before time began, God loved us before we existed.

But God does not have the same love for demons that He has for us, and Romans 9 shows He did not have the same love for Esau that He had for Jacob.

Q: In Jer 31:8, how would the Israelites return from the north country?

A: Because of the desert, a people returning to Canaan from the east could come through Syria, which was directly north of Palestine.

Q: In Jer 31:9, how was Ephraim considered the firstborn?

A: Four points to consider in the answer.

1. Biologically Ephraim was a grandson, not a direct son of Jacob. However, Jacob blessed both sons in Genesis 48:5-6, and declaring that the two sons would be reckoned as his.

2. Manasseh was Jacob's firstborn. However, Jacob took away the right of the firstborn from his biologically firstborn, Reuben, as Genesis 49:3-4 shows.

3. Ephraim was not even Joseph's biologically firstborn son. However, in Genesis 48:13-19, Jacob deliberately gave the blessing of the firstborn to Ephraim, not Manasseh.

4. A lesson we can learn here is that the “right of the firstborn” did not always go with the biologically firstborn.

Q: In Jer 31:9, how can God have two firstborns, since Israel/Jacob was God’s firstborn in Ex 4:22? (The Muslim Ahmad Deedat brought this up.)

A: God does not have any children in a sexual sense. God is making a point with a metaphor here. Jacob, later renamed Israel, was actually the second born son of Jacob and Rebecca. It was Reuben, not Ephraim who was the firstborn of Isaac, but Reuben after illicit sex lost that right. The right was given to Jacob’s son Joseph, and Joseph had twin sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Manasseh was the first born in time, but at the time of birth Ephraim was given the right of the firstborn. Every Jew would know this, and know the point that was being made. Deedat missed this.

Q: In Jer 31:14,25 and Jer 46:10, what does “satiate” mean?

A: This is both an older and a modern word meaning to completely satisfy.

Q: In Jer 31:14, how were the priests satiated with fatness?

A: The priests were so far from being hungry, they were fat.

Q: In Jer 31:15, how did Rachel weep for her children?

A: This poetic cry is an example of a prophecy with a dual fulfillment. Rachel died in this area while giving birth to Benjamin in Genesis 35:16-19. Rachel metaphorically was weeping as the Jewish exiles passed her grave during the Babylonian captivity. Matthew 2:18 also uses this allegory for Herod killing the baby boys of Bethlehem, which is where Rachel was heading when she died.

Q: In Jer 31:15 (KJV), who was “Rahel”?

A: This was a mistranslation of “Rachel”.

Q: In Jer 31:15, was Rachel buried near Bethlehem (Gen 35:19), or on the border of Benjamin at Zelzah (1 Sam 10:2)?

A: As the skeptical Asimov's Guide to the Bible p.560-561 points out, Zelzah was probably an alternate name for Ramah in Benjamin. Rama is 5 miles (8 kilometers) north of Jerusalem.

According to Genesis 35:16-19, Rachel died “on the road” from Bethel to Bethlehem. Bethel is 12 miles (20 kilometers) north of Jerusalem, and Bethlehem is 5 miles (8 kilometers) southwest of Jerusalem. Also, Ephrathah was another name for Bethlehem in Judah, according to Genesis 35:19; 48:7.

Q: In Jer 31:20, how did God consider Ephraim a pleasant child?

A: This is what God chose to remember. God especially remembered all the godly Ephraimites down through the ages. God is angry with sinners, but ultimately God remembers the godly and allegorically forgets the wicked.

Q: In Jer 31:21 (KJV), what is a waymarker?

A: This is a signpost.

Q: In Jer 31:22, what does it mean that a woman will encompass a man?

A: This prophecy must have been a puzzle for the Jews until the time of Christ. Today we understand it referring to the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, that is, a mother bringing a son into the world without the contribution of a man.

Q: In Jer 31:29-30, how does everyone die for his own iniquity?

A: Then and now, people often suffer the consequences of others' sins. However, each person lives or dies eternally for his own sin. While there can be collective guilt for what groups of people choose to do wrong, we do not share guilt for things for which we are innocent.

735 Baffling Bible Questions Answered p.179-180 points out that the false proverb Jeremiah spoke against could has been used by people as a denial of personal responsibility.

Q: In Jer 31:31-34, what new covenant was this?

A: This was the new covenant, which Jesus Christ brought. See Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties p.273-275 for more info.

Q: In Jer 31:34, in future times, how was every one of God’s people to know the Lord?

A: This would occur in New Testament times, after Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit would dwell in the heart of every believer. This is important to show that the idea of the Old Covenant passing away and a New Covenant superseding it is not novel in the New Testament, but was actually prophesied at least as far back as Jeremiah.

See Bible Difficulties and Seeming Contradictions p.230-231,234 for more info.

Q: In Jer 31:37, does this say that every Israelite will go to Heaven?

A: No. Four points to consider in the answer.

God promised He will not cast off all the seed of 1. Israel. Paul emphasizes this in Romans 11:1-5.

2. Even Jews who reject Jesus will die apart from God. Jesus told the Pharisees that if they did not believe in Him, they would indeed die in their sins. (John 8:21,24, also Acts 3:23; Acts 13:45-46,48; Romans 9:1-2; 10:1; 11:23)

3. Even non-Jews can be grafted into Israel (Romans 11:22-24).

4. During the end times, many Jews will come to Christ (Romans 11:24-30; Zechariah 12:10-14).

See the discussion on Romans 9:8-9,27 and Romans 11:13-17,26 for more info.

Q: In Jer 31:38-40, what does this say about the expansion of Jerusalem?

A: Jerusalem was prophesied that in the future it would be much larger than it was at that time. Therefore, this prophecy implies that Jerusalem would not be destroyed forever.

Q: In Jer, what were the main idols the people worshipped?

A: The Jews provoked God with their images and idols in Jeremiah 8:19. Here are some of them.

Queen of Heaven (Ashtarte). Jeremiah 7:18, 44:17-19,25

Heavenly bodies. Jeremiah 8:2

Baals. Jeremiah 9:14

Wood idols Jeremiah 2:27; 10:3-9

Stones. Jeremiah 2:27

As many gods as towns. Jeremiah 11:13

Jeremiah 52 is nearly identical to 2 Kings 24:18-25:30, written after 561 B.C.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1123 for more info.

Jehoiakim was a political chameleon.

See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1127 for more info.

The name Manasseh (Menasi) is on an Assyrian treaty table in 672 B.C., where each vassal king swore to treat the Assyrian god Asshur as his own god. ANET p.288.

See Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.14 for more info.

No attitudes had changed; only opportunities.

Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.17

The prophet Uriah was killed.

Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.18

Josiah the reformer, Jehoiakim the tyrant, and Zedekiah the chameleon.

Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.23

Zedeiah was a puppet; in fact, he was everybody’s puppet.

Derek Kidner’s The Message of Jeremiah p.19

God commanded Jeremiah not to marry. Jeremiah 16:1-4

2 Maccabees 2:4 ff says that when Jerusalem was destroyed Jeremiah hid the ark, the holy fire, and the incense, its altar, and tabernacle, in a cave of the mountain where Moses saw the land. This might be why in Matthew 16:14 some thought Jeremiah will appear before the Messiah comes.

See the Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament vol.8 part 1 p.18 for more info on this theory.

Not living their destiny.

Date	World	Egypt + Sudan	Mideast	% world	China	Indopak+ Afghan.	U.S.
600 B.C.	180 M	4 M	20 M	13 %	47 M	68 M	< 1 M
1 A.D.	260 M	5 M	24 M	11 %	71 M	100 M	< 1 M
1995	5,720 M	88 M	196 M	5 %	1195 M	1,119 M	266 M
2025	8,167 M	182 M	374 M	7 %	1,416 M	1,786 M	374 M

*Epistle of Barnabas* (c.70-130 A.D.)	Hippolytus (222-235/6 A.D.)
*2 Clement* (120-140 A.D.)	Origen (225-254 A.D.)
Shepherd of Hermas (115-155 A.D.) alludes to Jeremiah/Zechariah	*Treatise Against Novatian* (254-256 A.D.)
Justin Martyr (c.138-165 A.D.)	Cyprian of Carthage (c.246-258 A.D.)
Athenagoras (177 A.D.)	Adamantius (c.300 A.D.)
Melito/Meleto of Sardis (170-177/180 A.D.)	Victorinus of Petau (martyred 307 A.D.)
Hegesippus (170-180 A.D.)	Peter of Alexandria (306,285-311 A.D.) alludes to Jer 3:23
Theophilus of Antioch (168-181/188 A.D.)	Methodius (270-311/312 A.D.)
Irenaeus of Lyons (182-188 A.D.)	Lactantius (c.303-c.325 A.D.)
Clement of Alexandria (193-217/220 A.D.)	Eusebius of Caesarea (c.318-325 A.D.)
Tertullian (198-220 A.D.)

Verses quoting from Jeremiah	Verses in Jeremiah
Daniel 9:2	Jeremiah 25:11,12; 29:10
Matthew 2:18	Jeremiah 31:15
Matthew 27:9	Jeremiah 18:2; 19:2,11; 32:6-9
1 Corinthians 1:31	Jeremiah 9:24
2 Corinthians 10:17	Jeremiah 9:24
Hebrews 8:8-12	Jeremiah 31:33-34
Hebrews 10:6	Jeremiah 31:33-34

Dead Sea Scroll 4Q70 (=4QJer(a))	Theodotion the Jew’s OT Translation
Dead Sea Scroll 4Q71 (=4QJer(b))	Vaticanus (=B) (325-350 A.D.)
Dead Sea Scrolls 4Q72 (=4QJer( c))	Sinaiticus (Si) (340-350 A.D.)
Dead Sea Scroll 4Q71a (=4QJer(d))	Alexandrinus (=A) (c.450 A.D.)
Dead Sea Scroll 4Q71b (=4QJer(e))