Reading for June 30th

 Read 7.8-20. In 7.8-8.3: The sermon mpves in a downward spiral of offenses. In 7.9: The people commit crimes and worship Baal, a storm deity, not the God of Israel. In verses 12-15: For these offenses, Jerusalem will become like Shiloh, a shrine in the northern kingdom that was destroyed by the Philistines. The Jerusalem Temple will meet the same fate if the people of Judah do not repent. In verses 16-17: Yet the sins of Judah are so great that God prohibits Jeremiah from interceding on behalf of the people. In verses 18-19: Entire families worship the astral deity called the queen of heaven. Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 29th

The Temple sermon.

Chs. 7-8: This long prose sermon presented by Jeremiah at the Temple in Jerusalem appears to interrupt the poetry of chs. 1-10. The poetry contains multiple images and voices that intrude upon each other and, in chs. 4-6, focus on the cosmic battle. The prose sermon, by contrast, contains only the voice of Jeremiah as the divine spokesperson. The sermon's subject is the hypocrisy and arrogance of the people's worship. Rather than completely changing the subject from the poetry, the Temple sermon focuses attention on one more aspect of the people's sinfulness. The people themselves, not God, should be blamed for the destruction of the nation. Judah and its capital city, Jerusalem, fell to Babylon in the sixth century BCE because their worship was false. The sermon must have been immensely shocking for its original audience. Since the time of David, the king and the Temple had been closely bound  together in the people's thinking. When David came to the throne, God promised that David's son would build the Temple and that David and his throne would be established forever (1 Sam 7.1-7). A century earlier than Jeremiah, the prophet Isaiah had interpreted the promise to David as unconditional assurance of Jerusalem's safety (Isa 36-37). By the time of Jeremiah,the people of judah seemed to think they were safe no matter what they did.

 Read Jeremiah 7.1-7. Standing at the gates of the Temple, Jeremiah tells the people that they must change their ways to dwell in this place (7.3, 7, 10,11). The "place" probably refers to the Temple, the land, and the city. To live there, they must stop their false reliance on the place itself. Instead, they must act justly toward one another. They claim God's protection in the Temple even though, by oppressing weak members of their society, they act as if they are not God's people. The threat to the nation stems notably from the invading foe but also from their own behavior Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 28th

 Read Jeremiah 6.22-30. The attacking army continues to advance against you, O daughter Zion (v. 23). In verse 26: As the symbol of the city there is nothing for her to do but to lament her fate. In verse 27: God speaks to Jeremiah to tell him his role is like one who tests the authenticity of silver. In verse 30: Judah is rejected silver. Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 27th

 Read Jeremiah 6.13-21. In verses 13-15: A refrain that will reappear in 8.10-13 charges the entire community with guilt--from the people to the leaders. everyone is greedy and leaders lie; therefore God is justified in punishing them. In verses 16-21: God assembles the nations and the earth itself as witnesses against them in the covenant lawsuit. Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 26th

Read Jeremiah 5.30-6.12. In 6.1-30: daughter Zion is attacked.  This chapter gathers images of the cosmic battle into a collection of poems from a chorus of speakers. The mythic nature of the battle increases when the text identifies daughter Zion as the object of the attack. A ferocious military nation wages war against Jerusalem, portrayed as a weaken wanton woman, defenseless in the face of her foe. In verse 1: A voice urges the children of Benjamin, one of the tribes of Judah, to flee the city for evil looms out of the north. In verses 4-7: The poem quotes the enemies' shouts as they prepare for attack. They believe they are acting under divine orders against a wicked city. In verses 10-12: Jeremiah laments the people's stubbornness. They are not even capable of hearing the prophet's warning. Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 25th

 Read Jeremiah 5.20-29. God's reluctance to punish is overcome because neither Jacob, the northern kingdom that fell to Assyria in 721 BCE, nor Judah, the southern kingdom that falls to Babylon in 587, sees, hears, or fears the Creator. Unlike the sea and the rains that stay in place and come at the proper times, the people know no boundaries in their wickedness. Comments or Questions..

Reading for June 24th

 Read Jeremiah 5.7-19. In verses 7-11: A question that will be repeated (5.29) addresses an unnamed female. She is probably daughter Zion and God's unfaithful wife (2.1-3.5). God asks if there is a way to pardon her, but she and her children have been adulterous. There is not way to avoid punishment. In verses 12-18: Further accusations of infidelity introduce another announcement of the approaching invader, a mighty nation, superhuman in it capacities. However, a prose comment promises not to completely destroy the nation. If the book's audience is the people in exile, v. 18 speaks to them directly. They are the remnant who remain after the invasion. Comments or Questions..