Reading for August 28th

 A good king and a bad community

In chs. 34-35: These two chapters contrasts the failure of the king and the 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 if infidelity, and the later 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 Questions..

Reading for August 27th

 Read Jeremiah 33.1-26. In 33.1-26: Restoration. The restored relationship between God and the people 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 August 26th

 Read Jeremiah 32.26-42. 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 disaster will bring a new future. Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 25th

 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 purchases a field during an imprisonment 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 his exilic audience, is a model of obedient hopefulness in the face of tragedy.

Read 32.1-25. In verses 16-42: Jeremiah's prayer elaborates on the theme of hopefulness, asking God to see the invasion as it occurs. Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 24th

 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 or creation will be a sign of that fidelity, and Jerusalem will be rebuilt and never overthrown. Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 23rd

 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 a new thing: a woman encompasses a man, perhaps an image of Rachel embracing her returning child. In verses 23-26: The woman maybe Jerusalem encompassing the people returning from exile. In verses 27-28: Perhaps wife Rachel encompasses a man sexually to give birth the a new generation. Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 22nd

 Read Jeremiah 31.1-14. All Israel, 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 loner a harlot. She will be like Miram, leading the dance (Ex 15.20-21). In verse 9: Echoing the children's return (3.2-25), God takes them back and promises to be a father to them. In verses 10-14: Everyone in the society will participate in life that will be fertile and joyous on Zion. Comments or Questions..