Reading for August 10th

 Babylon's fall.

Ch. 25: This chapter closes off the first major division of the book by reaching back to ch. 1. At Last, Jeremiah acts as "prophet to the nations" (1.5, 10).

Read Jeremiah 25.1-14. In 25.1-14: Invaders will be punished. In verse 1: A narrator dates the chapter to the rules of the Judahite King Jehoiakim and Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. That date, 605 BCE, indicates that Jeremiah has prophesied the fall of Judah to Babylon well in advance of events. His prophecy of the fall of Babylon will, therefore, prove equally reliable. In verses 3-7: Jeremiah summarizes his carer and the people's refusal to listen to his words. This refusal provoked divine anger. In verses 8-14: God presents the consequences of not listening. In verse 9: The tribes of the north, now identified as Babylon, will be God's agent of destruction. God call the Babylonian king my servant. As divine agents, the Babylonians will destroy life on an international scale. In verse 11: Judah will serve Babylon for 70 years. This number may simply mean "a long time," for Exile lasted only 50 years. In verse 14: After that time God will punish Babylon. Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 9th

 Read Jeremiah 24.1- 10. In 24.1-10: Figs. Jerusalem has been invaded, King Jehoiachin is in captivity, King Zedekiah has been appointed in his place. Jeremiah has a vision of two baskets of figs. One symbolizes survivors in Babylon; the other stands for those who have stayed in Judah or escaped to Egypt. The first basket is good; the second is rotten. The message for the survivors is that to survive they must cooperate with Babylon. Only then will they have a future. Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 8th

 Read Jeremiah 23-40. These prose verses continue to discredit the other prophets who have led the people astray. In verses 33-40: A play on words makes the same attack on the prophets. The word translated burden can also mean "oracle" or "prophetic poem." The prophets who ask for an oracle or message from god learn that they are God's burden. Comment of Questions..

Reading for August 7th

 Read Jeremiah 23.18-22. The true prophet is one who goes before God, in the council of the Lord. These prophets God did not send, and they did not speak God's words; they are false prophets. By implication, only Jeremiah is a true prophet. Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 6th

 Read Jeremiah 23.9-17. In 23.9-40: Prophets. As a group of leaders, the prophets fail to be true to their calling to speak the word of God. In verses 9-11: God laments over their infidelity. In verses 13-14; The prophets of the northern kingdom of Samaria were shocking in their worship of Baal, but the prophets of Judah were even worse, like two cities destroyed for their sinfulness (Gen 19). Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 5th

 Read Jeremiah 23.1-8. In 23.1-8: Restoration. In these prose verses, God promises restoration to kings, portrayed by the traditional figure of the Shepherd. If the readers of the book were already in exile, these promises of future Davidic kingship would not contradict Jeremiah's prophecy of invasion. These events would already have occurred. The audience awaits a new future promised here. The prophecies of doom explain the variety of ways why things have come to this tragic situation. Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 4th

 Read Jeremiah 22.6b-30. In 22.6b-30: Fate of kings and nation. Verse 6 connects all these poems to kings. In verses 7-9: Punishment will come upon them and the city will be destroyed. In verses 10-11: King Josiah and his son Jehoahaz, also known as Shallum, both met tragic fates. Josiah dies in battle (2 Kings 23.28-30), but sadder still is the fate of  Jehoahaz, who is exiled from the land. In verses 13-19: This poem contrasts good King Josiah with his son, the bad king Jehoiakim. Josiah is a true king because he does justice; his son exploits the people for his own benefit. In verses 20-23: These verses address an unidentified female ("you" is feminine in the Hebrew text) who is sent outside Israel to neighboring Lebanon. This location is puzzling, but the woman seems to be God's unfaithful wife, who has refused to listen. In verses 24-30: God promises to hurl into Babylonian exile King Jehoiakim's son, King Jehoiachin, here called Coniah. In verse 30: With him, kingship will end. Comments or Questions..