Reading for November 8th

Read Jeremiah 46.13-28. In verse 13: A prose comment identifies the human enemy as Nebuchadneezzar, king of Babylon. In verses 14-25: The battle, however, is really between Apis, the bull-god of Egypt and the God of Israel. In verse 17: Egypt's king is here called Braggart because he boasts about power he never really had. In verses 20-24: Female metaphors describe Egypt's vulnerablity and shame. Egypt's crimes are pride and false claims to power, but the poem assures the exiles that its God rules the nations. In verses 27-28: God addresses Isreal with words of comfort. Israel is to put aside fear. In their exile God will sustain them and punish their enemies. Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 7th

ORACLES AGAINST THE NATIONS In Chs. 46-21: These poems, confirming the survivial of those who wait in obedient faithfulness, consist of a collection of prophetic poems in judgment against Israel's enemies. Their location at the end of the book gives meaning to Jeremiah's title "prophet to the nations" (1.5,10). God's voice in these poems announces that foreign nations had been instruments of divine punishment of Isreal and Judah, but soon tables will turn to create a new future. These oracles address Israel's neighbors first (chs. 46-49) and close with oracles against Babylon (Chs. 50-51). Read Jeremiah 46.1-12. In 461-25: Against Egypt: These poems bring to poetic fulfillment Jeremiah's prophecies to the Judeah remnant that escaped to Egypt (chs. 43-44). Babylon will destroy their safe haven. In verse 2: The date of the first poem in the fourth year of Jehoiakim sets this prophecy in the years when Babylon destroyed Egyptian power in the region. This means that jeremiah's word of the destruction of Egypt came much earlier then the events themselves. For survvors in exile, the date indicates that God's plans have long been in place and there is hope for the future. In verses 3-12: A battle scene, similar to scenes of the cosmic battle with the foe from the north in chs. 4-6 and 8-10, opens the poem, God calls troops to prepare for war. In versees 7-12: The Nile River, famous for its flooding, resembles the rise and fall of Egypt. Egypt cannot possible defend istelf since, in this poetic vision, the enemy is divine. Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 6th

Read Jeremiah 45.1-5. In 45.1-5: Barauch's role. Chapter 45 brings the Barauch account to a close and also concludes Chs. 26-44. In verses 2-3: Barauch utters a lament of sorrow, pain, and weariness that foloows curses upon his own people in ch. 44. In verse 4: God replies through Jeremiah with language used frequently throughout the book, I am going to break down and pluck up the whole land. In verse 5: Suffering cannot be avoided, but Barauch will survive. He will gain his life as a prize of war. With Barauch's lament and divine response to it, the main part of the book ends on a sumber note. Barauch is a weary survivor who is promised only his life. The idealized vision of chs. 30-33 is far from sight. But according to chs. 37-45, Jeremiah, Barauch, Eded-melech, and a remnant survive. Survivors must obey Jeremiah's prophetic meassage as coveyed in this book. Comments or Questions...

Reading for November 5th

Read Jeremiah 44.15-30. Worship of the queen of heaven exemphifies the idolatry of the exiles. Jeremiah had accused the Judean families of worshipping this astral deity in the Temple sermon (7.1-8.3). Here Jeremiah accusses the women as central participants in this worship. When they stopped worshippingthe goddess, their world fell apart. In verse 26: Because of its idolatry, the believing community will disappear in Egypt. They have no future because they turned from God. Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 4th

Read Jeremiah 44.11-14. No Comments

Reading for November 3rd

Read Jeremiah 44.1-10. In 44.1-30: Idolatry. Jeremiah delievers a final prophetic message to Judeans living in Egypt. In verses 1-6: The fall of Judah and Jerusalem was caused by the people's failure to listen. Those who escape to Egypt will suffer a similar fate, if they do not leave idolatry aside. Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 2nd

Read Jeremiah 43.1-13. Johanan, the hero of ch 42, turns insolent and accuses Jeremiah of lying and Baruch of inciting him. Both are forced into Egyptian exile against their will. They escape none of the pain of the exiles in Babylon, for they too leave their homeland as captives. In verses 8-13: Jeremiah direct a symbolic action of burying stones. Nebuchhadnezzar will come and set up his rule there and destroy Egyptian deities. Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 1st

Emigration to Egypt Chs. 42-44: Jeremiah is an ally of Babylon and an opponent of Egypt in the international power struggles that afflict Judah at this time. These chapters reflect anti-Egyptian viewpoints. They accuse survivors who go to Egypt of refusing to listen and engaging in idolatry. Paradoxically, Jeremiah and his scribe Baruch are also forced into exile. Read Jeremiah 42.1-22. Survivors of Ishmael's attack go to Jeremiah to make intercession on their behalf. Should they go to Egypt? They promise to obey his word. In verse 10: Jeremiah replies that they must remain in Judah.. The God will rebuild them after the disaster, for which God has repented. In verses 18-22: There is no escape from Babylon. Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 31st

Read Jeremiah 41.1-18. During the meal, Ishmael and ten men massacre Gedaliah and everyone with him, as well as pilgrims on their way to the Temple. They desecrate their bodies by dumping them into a cistern and take the remaining survivors as hostages. Johanan, one of the Judeans, gathers forces and rescuse the hostages. The bloodbath gives the Judeans reson to fear the Chaldeans and sets off the events narrated in the next chapters. Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 30th

Chaos Chs. 40-41: These chapters describe events inJudah after the invasion. Read Jeremiah 40.1-16. In verses 1-6: The Babylonian captian allows Jeremiah to remain in the land, even though Jeremiah had described those who stayed in Judah as bad figs (ch 24). In verses 7-12: Under Gedaliah's goverment there is peace in the land, and survivors are urged to submit to Babylon. In verses 13-16: A plot against Gedaliah is reported to him, but Gedaliah cannot believe that Ishmael, a member of the royal family, would be capable of such disloyalty. Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 29th

Read Jeremiah 39.1-18. In straightforward prose, this chapter recounts the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem and its consequences for Zedekiah and Jeremiah. The narrative's major interest is not the siege but the king's cowardice, escape, and capture, and Jeremiah's release. In verse 3: Babylonian officals have taken possesion of the city and sit at the gate to govern. In verse 9: After Zedekiah and his family meet a horrible fate, the Babylonian captain distributes occupied land to the poor, perhaps to gain their support. In verses 11-18: Jeremiah gains Babylonian favor and is released to the protection of Gedaliah, the Judean governor appointed by the Babylonians to replace the king. Jeremiah's release has symbolic meaning. He is the model of obedience in captivity, and he returns home as exiles hope to do. In verse 18: Because he trusts, he gains his life as a prize of war. Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 28th

Read Jeremiah 38.14-28. The king again consults with Jeremiah, who proclaims the king capture. In this vision, the king changes places with Jeremiah: The king is stuck in the mud. Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 27th

Read Jeremiah 38.1-13. This story does not flow smoothly from the previous chapter. There Jeremiah was in prison, but here he is preaching freely to the people. In verses 1-6: He urges the people to surrender to Babylon to save their lives as the prize of war (v. 2). The king again allows Jeremiah's imprisonment because he will not offer a hopeful message. Jeremiah sinks into the mudd. In verses 7-13: An African, Ebed-melech, whose name means"servant of the king," dramatically rescues Jeremiah from death. In contrast to the king and his advisers, Ebed-melech shows true obedience. Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 26th

BARUCH'S ACCOUNT Chs. 37-45: Baruch is described as the author of these stories about Jeremiah and other survivors of the Babylonian invasion (45.1). Perhaps these chapters represent the additional words of the second scroll (36.22). The chapters show the exilic audience how to survive suffering brought on by invasion and its aftermath. They describe how the prophetic word was rejected, was fulfilled, and how it created conflict among survivors. Jeremiah himself appears as an example of fidelity. He is imprisioned and rescued twice, escapes with his life, and becomes a model of faithful survival. Prision and release. Chs. 37-39: These chapters are all set during the reign of Zedekiah, who is as unaccepting of the prophetic word as his predecessor Jehoiakim. Read Jeremiah 37.1-21. In ch 37, the king consults with Jeremiah twice, at the beginning and end of the chapter. The consultations frame Jeremiah's imprisonment. This arrangement suggests that the king is attempting to squeeze a favorable word from Jeremiah. In verses 3-10: Zedekiah's hope is that the power struggles between Egypt and Pharaoh will reduce Babylonian power and avert disaster. Jeremiah says no. In verses 11-16: In a series of abusive acts toward the prophet, officals imprison him, as if they can imprision the word. In verses 17-21: Secretly, the king tries to persuade Jeremiah to give him hope but the prophet faithfully repeats his message of doom and escapes with his life. Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 25th

Read Jeremiah 36.20-32. In verses 20-26: In a dramatic scene, the scroll is read to the king, who cuts it up and burns it as it being read. The king's action is a symbolic attempt to destroy the uncontrollable power of the word by making it disappear. In verses 37-32: But the prophetic word acannot be erased;Jeremiah disctates another version and adds more words to it. Jehoiakim, therefor, is responsible for the fall of the nation, for he would not listen. Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 24th

Read Jeremiah 36.1-19. In verse 36.1-32.: Two scrolls. This chapter has many parallels with ch 26, including strong indictments of King Jehoiakin. Baruch, Jeremiah's scribe, continues the prophet's message by writing it and by proclaiming it. In verses 2-8: Baruch is a reliable proclaimer of Jeremiah's message of repentance, written by divine command on a scroll. In verses 9-19: Supporters of Jeremiah hear Baruch's reading of the scroll and send him and Jeremiah into hiding. Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 23rd

Read Jeremiah 35.1-19. The Rechabites, by contrast, are faithful to their traditions. Little is certain about the identity of the Rechabites. In verses 8-10: They refrain from drinking wine and owning houses or land in the tradition of their ancestor, Jonadab son of Rechab. They exemplify true obedience, as shown in 2 Kings 10.15-27, where Jonadab assists King Jehu in purging Baal worship from the land. Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 22nd

A good king and a bad community Chs 34-35: These two chapters contrast the failure of the king and people to obey God's word (ch 34) with exemplary fidelity of a small group of people called Rechabites (ch 35). The former group faces the dire consequences of infeidelity, and the latter group gains a future because of fidelity. Both stories are set during the Babylonian invasion, but the behavior they describe concerns consequences in the exilic present. Read Jeremiah 34.1-22. Jerusalem is under attack. In verses 6-7: Only the fortress cities of Lachish and Azekah have not fallen to the Babylonians. The times are dire. In verses 8-10: Zedekiah proclaims the freedom of Judean slaves, according to the law and God's command (Deut 15.12-14). At first all the people followed, but then they changed their minds, so they will go into slavery. In verses 18-20: They will be cut up like a sacrificial animal in a covenant offering. Comments or Quetions..

Reading for October 21st

Read Jermiah 33.1-26. In 33.1-26: Restoration. The restored relationship between God and the people is illustrated here. In verse 3: God invites Jeremiah to make requests. In verse 6: God assures the people of healing and prosperity. In verses 14-16: God promises to restore the kingship and the priesthood and to reunite the peoples of Israel and Judah. Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 20th

Read Jeremiah 32.26-44. In verses 26-42: God replies to Jeremiah that there is a future. In verse 38: The covenant will be renewed. In verse 42: The one who brought the disater will bring a new future. Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 19th

A Changed future. Chs.32-33: In these two narrative chapters, Jeremiah buys a field and offers prayers that signify a hopeful future for the Exiles. Jeremiah purachases a field during an imprisonmnent that occurs while Babylon is invading Jerusalem. During an invasion, land is worthless. Helped by his companion Baruch (v. 12), Jeremiah redeems the land of his cousin as expected by law, The foolishness of that purchase stands as a promise that life will resume in the land. Jeremiah, captive like the exilic audience, is a model of obedient hopefulness in the face of tragedy. Read Jeremiah 32.1-25. In verses 16-25: Jeremiah's prayer elaborates on the theme of hopefulness, asking God to see the invasion as it occurs. Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 18th

Read Jeremiah 31.31-40. In 31.31-40: New Covenant. The poems about the restored family are followed by a brief but potent claim that there will be a new way of relating within the covenant family. God will make a new covenant with them. God and Israel will live in renewed fidelity. In verse 34: Everyone from the least to the greatest will know God. In verses 35-40: The cosmos itself and the fixed order of creation wll be a sign of the fidelity, and Jerusalem will be rebuilt and never overthrown. Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 17th

Read Jeremiah 31.15-30. In 31.15-30: Rachel's comfort. Rachel (Gen 27-35), perhaps symbolizing God's first wife (3.7-11), weeps for her lost children and receives the breathtaking news that they will return. In verses 18-20: Her son, actually her grandson, repents like the children (3.22-25), and God receives him back. In verses 21-22: God addresses wife Israel and asks how long it will be before she repents. The poem ends with a puzzling claim that God has done anew thing: A woman encompasses a man, perhapsand image of Rachel embracing her returning child. In verses 23-26: The woman may be Jerusalem excompassing the people returning from exile. In verses 27-28: Perhaps wife Rachel encompasses a man sexually to give birth to a new generation. Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 16th

Read Jeremiah 31.1-14. in 31.1-14: Return. All Isareal, both north and south, will be reunited. In verses 3-4: Survivors will return, covenant will be restored, and God will take back wife Israel, now called a virgin, no longer a harlot. She will be like Miriam. leading the dance (Ex 15.20-21). In verse 9: Echoing the children's return (3.22-25), God takes them back and promises to be a father to them. In verses 10-14: Everyone in society will participate in life that will be fertile and joyous on Zion. Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 15th

Read Jeremiah 30.18-24. In verses 18-22: God speaks to Jacob and refers also to Jerusalem, the city that will be rebuilt. Both northern and southern kingdoms are reunited in a poetc ouburst concerning thanksgiving and new life. In verses 23-24: The national tragedy receives a summary interprestation. Divine wrath will one day end, and the audience will understand it in the future. Comments or Questons..

Reading for October 14th

Read Jeremiah 30.12-17. In a poetic movement similar to vv.5-11, this poem also moves unexpectedly from desperation to salvation, but the images shift from panic to woundedness and healing. The one addressed is daughter Zion, God's unafithful wife (2.1-3.25). God now pities her in her abandonment. Comments or Quuestions..

Reading for October 13th

Little book of consolation. In chs. 30-33: These chapters combine poetry (chs. 30-31) and prose (chs.32-33) to depict a harmonious idealized future for Israel and Judah. The placement of these chapters of hope and healing toward the center of the book is puzzling. Stories and poems of accusation and conflict suround them as if to temper the hope the chapters create. This structure may reflect the situation of the exilic audience, for whom escape from captivity remains a distant possibility. The chapters create a vision of what lies ahead, but they do not present a program for escape. Instead, they create unimagined possibilities that may help the community to endure for a new day. Chs. 30-31: Restoration. The poem create a vision of a future nation in which northern and southern kingdoms are restored and reunited in Jerusalem. Some of the poems collected address male Jacob/Israel. Jacob is a name used for the northern kingdom of Israel, and also the name of the ancestor of all twelve tribes (Gen 29-30). Other poems address female figuures representing Judah and Zion, or Rachel, one of Jacob's wives and mother of a northern and southern tribe. These names bring together both northern and southern kingdoms. Read Jeremiah 30.1-11. In verse 2: God's command that Jeremiah write these words in a book makes it possible for Jeremiah to communicate with the exiles even though he is not with them. In verses 5-7: Images of panic and pain describe the distress for Jacob. In verses 8-11: Without explanation, hope replaces terror. God will remove the yoke of servitude from them, restore relationship with them, and raise up a king for them. Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 12th

Read Jeremiah 29.15--32. In verses 21-22: Two false prophets among the exiles, Ahab and Zedekiah, will die like Hananiah under the Deuteronomistic curse (Deut 18.20). In verses 24-32: Shemaiah, one of the exiles, writes to the high priest in Jerusalem that he should silence Jeremiah. Jeremiah curses him as a false prophet, one like Hananiah. Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 11th

Read Jeremiah 29.1-14. In 29.1-32: Letters. From Jerusalem, Jeremiah writes letters to the exiles, and responds to a letter about him. The letters to the exiles presnt Jeremiah as the authority about the exiles' survival. In verse 3: Suporters of Jeremiah serve as couriers. The exiles are not to resist Babylonian rule, but to live there in normal domestic relations and to seek the welfare of the city where they are held captive. In verse 10: After 70 years, probably symbolizing a long time, their relationship with God will be restored, and they will return to their land. Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 10th

Read Jeremiah 28.1-17. The conflict of prophetic messages narrows down to a conflict between two prophets of Judah, Hananiah and Jeremiah. In competing symbolic actions, the two men wear jokes to enact and make concrete the prophetic messages. Jeremiah wears a wooden yoke to signify captivity by Baylon. In verse 10: Hananiah breaks Jeremiah's yoke as an attempt to say the opposite. In verses 12-14: Jeremiah returns latter with an unbreakable iron yoke. In verse 17; Hananiah's death a year later indicates that he was a false prophet preaching his own word, not divine revelation (Deut 18.20). Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 9th

Read Jeremiah 27.12-22. The prophets of Judah also oppose the true word of God in a dispute about the Temple's vessels. These sacred items had been deported to Babylon in 597BCE, and the prophets expected them to be returned to Judah quickly, implying that Babylonian rule will not last long. Comments or Questions..