Reading for August 20th

 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  unfaithful wife (2.1-3.25). God now pities her in her abandonment. Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 19th

 Little book of consolation

Chs. 30-33: These chapters combine poetry (chs. 30-31) and prose 9chs. (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 surround them as if to temper the hope of these echapters 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 poems create a vision of a future nation in which northern and southern kingdoms are restored and reunited in Jerusalem.Some poems collected address male Jacob/ Israel. Jacob is the name used for the northern kingdom of Israel, and also the name of the ancestor of all the twelve tribes (Den 29-30). Other poems address female figures representing Judah, 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 August 18th

 Read Jeremiah 29.21-32. In verses 21-23: Two false prophets among the exiles, Ahab and Zedekiah, will die like Hananiah under the deuteronomistic curse (Duet 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 like Hananiah. Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 17th

 Read Jeremiah 29.1-20. 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 present Jeremiah as the authority about the exiles' survival. In verse 3: Supporters 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 a symbolizing a longtime, their relationship with God will be restored, and they will return to the land. Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 16th

 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 yokes to enact and make concrete the prophetic messages. Jeremiah wears a wooden yoke to signify captivity by Babylon. In verse 10: Hananiah breaks Jeremiah's yoke as an attempt to say the opposite. In verses 12-14: Jeremiah returns later with an unbreakable iron yoke. In verse 17: Hananiah's death a year later indicates he was a false prophet preaching his own words, not divine revelation (Deut 18.20). Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 15th

 Read Jeremiah 27.12-22. The prophets of Judah also oppose the true word of God in a dispute about the Temple vessels. These sacred items had been deported to Babylon in 997 BCE, and the prophets expect them  to be restored to Judah quickly, implying that Babylonian rule will not last long. Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 14th

 Yokes

In chs. 27-28: Jeremiah's conflict with other prophetic groups is the subject of these two chapters. Three stories increasingly narrow the conflict from an international disagreement to a personal dispute bteween two prophets.

Read Jeremiah 27.1-11. Jeremiah tells the nations that God has placed their lands under the control of Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar, my servant (v. 6). Their prophets have a contrary view. In verse 11: Those who refuse to serve Babylon will be put under the yoke. Comments or Questions..