Unfortunately for Jeremiah, the times and circumstances
called for him to be somewhat of a prophet of gloom and doom for his people. But he also had the opportunity to be a
prophet of hope and happiness. God had
told Jeremiah that 1. Judah would be taken captive, 2. They would be held in
captivity for seventy years, and 3. They would get to return to Judah and have
an opportunity to have restored fellowship with God. As mentioned before, Jeremiah uses a wide
variety of writing styles, depending upon his particular message, his audience,
his mood, and/or the circumstances of the moment. In chapters 30 and 31 Jeremiah is speaking of
the restoration, and he is writing in poetic form. These two chapters plus the next two are
considered Jeremiah’s finest writing and are commonly referred to by theologians
as “Jeremiah’s Book of Consolation”.
Chapters 30 and 31 – The Restoration of
Israel
I would say Jeremiah is in a good mood when he penned this series
of poems. I say that because of the
writing style and the subject which is God’s restoration of Israel back to the
Promised Land. As early as verse 3 we
see God saying not "if", but “when” I will bring them back.
He goes on to say in verse 8 that the bonds of captivity and slavery
will be broken. In the next verse he
says God will save you out of a “distant place”. Additionally in chapter 30 God promises He
will vindicate Israel by punishing their oppressors. God assures them that they will be given a
chance to become God’s special people again.
Chapter 31 is a continuation of God’s assurance of redemption. He promises that “By His Hand”, they will
return. Although you might find chapter
31 a bit lengthy, it does cover quite a bit, and if you like poetry, you should
find the reading enjoyable.
Chapter 32 – A Demonstration of Faith
An interesting chapter.
God instructs Jeremiah to purchase some land. He bought land in his hometown of
Anathoth. One would consider it rather
strange timing since all of Judah was about to be overrun by Babylonians. That was according
to Jeremiah’s own words of prophesy. But
Jeremiah was buying this land to demonstrate faith that God was going to bring
His people back.
Chapter 33 – Continuing the Promise of Restoration
The first twelve verses speak of the restoration in a bit
more detail, being more specific in God actually healing the land when the
Israelites return. He says he will
restore the land to its former glory, replenishing the crops and herds, thus
returning it to its former position of prosperity.
Then in the remaining verses of chapter 33, God speaks through Jeremiah
of picking back up with the covenant between Him and Israel. He goes on to speak of providing a righteous “Branch”
from the Davidic lineage (Christ).
Chapter 34 – Warning to Zedekiah
We have concluded in chapter 33 Jeremiah’s Book of
Consolation. In chapter 34 we skip to a
different time again. Through forty
years, God through Jeremiah warned five kings of Judah. None besides Josiah took him seriously. In the first seven verses of this chapter
Jeremiah tells how he has warned Zedekiah repeatedly. He told him that his fate and the fate of
Judah was sealed. Anything Zedekiah
would choose to do at this point would not change Israel’s destiny. {In 52:8-11 is recorded the tragedy that befell
Zedekiah. He was forced to witness the killing
of his sons. Then Zedekiah’s eyes were
put out by the Babylonians as they were pillaging Jerusalem.}
I’ll end this post with somewhat of an unusual story told in
verses 8-22 in chapter 34. This seems to
come out of the middle of nowhere. Back
in Exodus and Deuteronomy the Mosaic Law provided for the release of fellow
Hebrew slaves. However, apparently this
law had been ignored for quite some time in the land of Judah and Israel. I’m not certain what possessed Zedekiah to do
this so suddenly, but he as king decreed that all manservants and maidservants
were to be set free. {I think Zedekiah
was desperate to do something that might please God. In fact, it did seem to have an impact
because Nebuchadnezzar diverted his troops toward Egypt, giving Jerusalem
relief.} Then in verse 11 we see that the
former slave owners immediately took back their slaves. This made God angry beyond description. He said in verse 16 that this action “profaned”
the name of God. {This little story is
amazing when you think about the audacity of the Israelite leaders and slave
owners, not to mention the king. How God
exercised so much patience is beyond me.
To immediately disobey one of God’s laws upon seeing Nebuchadnezzar diverting
his troops would have been asking for trouble from God Himself, and they got
it.}
Next post – Chapter 35
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