Reading for July 13th

 Read Jeremiah 13.12-14. In a second symbolic event to occur in the future, God interprets actions to be performed by the people, not by Jeremiah. The filling of wine-jars signifies not feasting, as readers might expect, but drunkenness that is destructive of the people and the land. These verses seem to provide the punishment for the pride named in Jeremiah's symbolic action of hiding the loincloth. This wine-drinking episode points forward to 25.15-29, when all the nations drink from the cup of destruction. Comments or Questions.

Reading for July 12th

 Read Jeremiah 13.1-11. In 13.1-27: The nation's pride. In this chapter Jeremiah performs a symbolic act (vv. 1-11), interprets a symbolic event (vv. 12-14), and in poetry again announces exile (vv. 15-27). The theme of the nation's false pride runs throughout the chapter. In verses 1-11: Jeremiah receives a divine command to purchase a loincloth and hide it in a cleft of the rock (v. 4). The results of his action symbolize his prophetic message. The loincloth is ruined by its exposure to the elements. In verses 8-11: Jeremiah's words explain the action. Judah is supposed to cling to God but instead has been full of pride and has refused to listen; hence, the nation will become to ruin. Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 11th

 Read Jeremiah 12.7-17. In 12.7-17: God's lament. Using the first person pronoun, I, God laments the infidelity of the beloved of my heart. Describe as a wild lion, God's beloved heritage has provoked divine hate, so punishment will follow. In verses 14-17: A prose comment reuses language of plucking up from Jeremiah's call (1.10). God seems to address the exiles directly by promising that those who destroy God's heritage will be plucked from their land and God will pluck the people of Judah from where they are and return them home, if they listen. Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 10th

 Read Jeremiah 11.18-12.6. In 11.18-12.6: Jeremiah's first confession. In verses 18-19: Jeremiah complains that he is under attack from unidentified enemies. He quotes their plots to get rid of him. In verse 20 he appeals to God, the just judge, to take vengeance against them. In verses 21-23: In a prose comment, God promises to punish the enemies, who are identified as people from Jeremiah's own town of Anathoth. But Jeremiah then accuses the just judge of planting and nourishing wickedness. In 12.5-6: The judge replies that things will get worse, even Jeremiah's family will  turn against him. Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 9th

 COVENANT DESTROYED

Chs. 11-20: Like the previous chapters, this section of the book seeks to explain the tragedy that has befallen Judah amd to defend God from the charges of cruelty. It claims that the people brought the catastrophe upon themselves. These chapters continue the poetic accusations of chs. 2-10, but in addition, Jeremiah himself moves into the foreground as a major character in the book. Stories show Jeremiah engaged in symbolic actions (chs 13, 18, 19, 20). Symbolic actions are prophetic activities that express the prophetic message in dramatic behavior. In addition, this section also includes poems called the "confessions' or "laments" of Jeremiah. The confessions portray Jeremiah's sufferings as he tries to be faithful to his prophetic mission. The covenant sermon begins the next ten chapters with a curse whose fulfillment becomes inevitable by ch. 20. No belssings,which usually accompany curses--defeat of Judah--has already occurred and the audience is exile is asking why it happened and if it is reversibile. The sermon interprets their loss of the land as the result of their infidelity. Only obedience to God's voice through this prophetic book can set things right.

Read Jeremiah 11.1-17. In 11.1-17: The covenant curse. In this prose sermon, similar instyle to the Temple sermon (7.1-8.3), Jeremiah announces a curse upon anyone who does not heed the words of the covenant (v. 3). The covenant refers to the relationship of loyalty and love that God made with them at Mount Sinai (Ex 19). This sermon has one point that is presented with great simplicity: To possess the land, the people must obey the covenant. In verse 4: They must listen to my voice. The covenant is a two way relationship, if they obey, then so shall you be my people, and I will be your God. In verse 5: That obedience is the condition of living in the land flowing with milk and honey. In verses 6-13: Otherwise disaster will fall upon them. In verses 14-17: Once again God tells Jeremiah not to intercede for the people because they are so sinful. Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 8th

 Read Jeremiah 10.17-25. In 10.17-25: Exile. These verses shift back tot he time before the Exile, and God announces that the attack, expected throughout chs. 4-10, is about to come (vv. 17-17, 22). In verses 19-20: A second voice, probably that of Jerusalem personified as daughter Zion, laments her fate. She is abandoned and her children gone. In verses 23-25: She admits her sins and asks for divine justice in punishment of both herself and the nations who devour Jacob, another name for Israel. Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 7th

 Read Jeremiah 10.1-16. In 10.1-16: Hymn of praise. These verses contain a hymn that expresses loyalty to the one true God and makes fun of the other gods as worthless idols. The hymn, which seems to follow 9.22, serves as a model of repentance and reconciliation for the exiles surviving the nation's collapse. The poem is similar in subject and worship style to the repentance of the children from the broken family (3.22-25). In verses 2-5: The people should neither become like the nations around them nor adopt their idolatrous customs. In verse 6: Israel's God is the true king of the nations. In verses 8-11: By contrast, the gods of the nations are stupid, human creations. In verses 12-16: Only the God of Israel is the Creator whose wisdom made the world. Israel is God's special inheritance. In this hymn, creation's harmony is reestablished. Comments or Questions..