Bible In One Year Day 252 (Jeremiah 43-44, Judith 15-16, Proverbs 17:17-20)

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Day 252: Queen of Heaven 

Agape Bible Study 
Jeremiah 43-44 

Jeremiah 

Chapter 43:1-7 ~ The Disobedient Remnant of Judah

Jeremiah 43:1-3 ~ The Leaders of the Remnant Reply to Jeremiah's Warning

What do people often do when they make a decision to willfully reject God's word? They make excuses and blame their wrong decisions on someone or something else. The Bible says there is nothing "new under the sun" (Eccl 1:9). People, for good or ill, are the same in every generation of every age. There are the faithful who trust God and are obedient to His commands, and there are the disobedient: those who prefer to go their own way and determine their own destinies apart from God by relying on their own wisdom. There is "nothing new under the sun."

Jeremiah 43:4-7 ~ The Remnant of Judah Leaves for Egypt

It is tragic that none of the people of the remnant of Judah believed enough in Yahweh to fear offending Him. If they had believed, they would never have dared to break their oath in His Divine Name. Like their fathers told Jeremiah in 18:12, they intend to follow their own plan. They belonged to a generation of Judahites who were misled by their fathers and grandfathers in rejecting Yahweh's special covenant that bound them to the One True God. To them, Yahweh was just one of many gods the Judahites worshipped. And so, in a reversal of the Exodus, the remnant of Judah traveled to Egypt, forcing Jeremiah and Baruch to come with them and breaking God command to never go back to Egypt (Dt 17:16b). In this final act of disobedience, the surviving Judaeans brought about the ultimate curse predicted in Chapter 28 of the Book of the Law: Yahweh will send you back to Egypt, either by ship or by a road which I promised you would never see again. And there you will want to offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as serving men and women, but no one will buy you (Dt 28:68). They arrived in Tahpanhes, a town on the Egyptian frontier just south of Lake Menzaleh in the eastern Nile Delta. It was probably the same city later called Daphnai by the Greeks. They left, as Yahweh warned them, never to return.

Chapter 43:8-44:30 Jeremiah's Last Oracles to the Remnant in Egypt

Jeremiah told the Judaean remnant they would suffer because of their refusal to listen to Yahweh's command to stay in Judah and to not return to Egypt, the site of their first liberation in the days of Moses (42:15-2). God allowed them to force Jeremiah and Baruch to go with them so that, as an affectionate Divine Father, He might continue to use His prophet to prevent them from falling into total idolatry and to continue to remind them that He only wants what is best for them (43:6-7).

Jeremiah gave the remnant of Judaeans living in Egypt six last oracles from Yahweh in Chapters 43-44. Each oracle, after the usual short introductory phrase, begins with the words "Yahweh God of Israel (with several slight variations) says this," and the oracles are interrupted by two narratives:

• Oracle #1: Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Egypt is coming (43:10-13).
• Oracle #2: Idol worship was the cause of Judah's destruction (44:2-6).
• Oracle #3: The remnant in Egypt will incur God's wrath due to idol worship and the rejection of God's Laws (44:7-10).
• Oracle #4: The remnant in Egypt will perish (44:11-14).

Narrative #1: Judaean men and women respond to Jeremiah (44:15-19).
Narrative #2: Jeremiah answers the men and women (44:20-23).

• Oracle #5: God accuses the women of the Egyptian remnant of worshipping the goddess Astarte/Ishtar and withdraws His protection from the Egyptian remnant; they will die in their sins (44:25-28).
• Oracle #6: God will give the Judaeans in Egypt a "sign" of the coming final judgment: Pharaoh Hophra will be handed over to his enemies who will kill him (44:30).

 

Jeremiah 43:8-13 ~ Jeremiah's Ninth Object Lesson and Oracle #1

This oracle probably refers to the Babylonian invasion of 582, about the time that the Judaeans refugees arrived in Egypt. Tahpanhes is the Egyptian border town where the Judaeans refugees first arrived in Egypt (43:7). It is on the eastern delta, bordering the Sinai and on the caravan route leading to regions in the north. It may be that the refugees had to wait in this town until Egyptian officials decided to allow them to enter the country.

Chapter 44: Jeremiah's Last Oracles for the Judaeans

In Chapter 44, the six oracles that began in 43:10 continue. Jeremiah gives the last oracles of his prophetic ministry to the Judaeans living as exiles in Egypt. His final oracle contains a "sign" as evidence that what Yahweh has declared in His oracles will come true. The "sign" is the violent death of Hophra, Pharaoh of 26^th Dynasty of Egyptian pharaohs. General Amasis betrayed Hophra who was later executed. Amasis succeeded him as Pharaoh Amasis II of Egypt in 570 BC. Then, as prophesied by Jeremiah in his oracle against Egypt, two years later in 568 B.C., the army of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded Egypt. Tens of thousands Egyptians died while thousands more, primarily the skilled and educated elite including priests and artisans, were taken captive and exiled into Babylonian lands to the east. Some Egyptians escaped into the surrounding desert, among them Pharaoh Amasis. Most of the major temples and tombs of the nation were looted and destroyed from Midgol in the eastern Delta to Syene near Elephantine (500 miles south of Thebes). It was the Egyptian holocaust prophesied by Jeremiah (43:10-13; 44:12-30; 47:13-26) and delivered by the Babylonians as retribution for the Egyptians encouraging Babylonia's vassal states to rebel against the empire.

Jeremiah 44:1-6 ~ Oracle #2

Migdol, Tahpanhes, Noph and the territory of Pathros.
Jeremiah's oracles are for all the Judaeans living throughout Egypt. It is possible that he traveled to these various locations to give his oracles, or the Judaeans from these cities may have come to one location for a festival honoring Astarte/Ishtar, Queen of Heaven.

1. Migdol is a frontier town that is north and east of Tahpanhes on the coastal road from Asia into Egypt.
2. Tahpanhes is a town bordering on the Sinai in Egypt's eastern Delta on the caravan route leading into the Levant and points north. It is the town to which Johanan and the refugees came in 43:7.
3. Noph is another name for Memphis, the Old Kingdom Egyptian capital on the west bank of the Nile River that was later replaced by Thebes and at this period by Sais which is farther to the west.
4. Pathros means "Land of the South" and refers to the territory of Upper (southern) Egypt (Lower Egypt was northern Egypt). The south to north flow of the Nile River determined the designation of the terms Upper and Lower Egypt.

Jeremiah 44:7-10 ~ Oracle #3

Yahweh uses His prophet again in an attempt to reason with the Judaeans living in Egypt.
Question: God asks them what two question in verses 7-8 and 9?
Answer:

1. He asks why they persist in provoking His anger by their acts of idol worship.
2. He asks if they have forgotten the judgment visited on their fathers for their wicked deeds that are now repeated by them and their wives.

They have become a "laughing stock" for other nations because it is widely known that they have abandoned their God and He has punished them with exile. The essence of the question is why they persist on bring evil on themselves (cf. 26:19b; 42:20).

Jeremiah 44:11-14 ~ Oracle #4

This oracle is Yahweh's indictment against the Judaean refugees in Egypt who continue in the same sins as their fathers. The phrase an object of execration means an object of cursing or denouncement.
Question: What is God's judgment against the Judaeans who went to Egypt to avoid war and suffering, who refused His protection, and who are now seeking the protection of false gods?
Answer: They will suffer the same fate as their fathers in Judah and Jerusalem in the same triple judgment of sword, famine and plague.

For none of them will return, except a few refugees.
In His mercy, God holds out hope for a few righteous refugees, probably to include Jeremiah and Baruch.

In this oracle, the Judaeans determination to go to Egypt despite Yahweh's warning is now matched by Yahweh's determination to bring His divine judgment against them: But Yahweh's face is set against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth (Ps 34:16).

Jeremiah 44:15-19 ~ The Judaean Men and Women Respond to Jeremiah
The refugees' initial silence to Yahweh's question in verses 7-8 gives way to a spirited response in verses 15-19 once God delivers the indictment and judgment on the men and their wives in the 4^th oracle. The "Queen of Heaven" is the Assyrian/Babylonian goddess Ishtar, known in the Levant as Ashtart (by the Greeks as Astarte) and worshipped throughout the ancient Near East.

Ashtaroth, the plural form of the goddess's name in Hebrew, became a general term for pagan goddesses. This pagan deity was a goddess of sex, fertility, and war whose worship was originally centered in the ancient Levant among the Canaanites and Phoenicians and later adopted into Egypt. All forms of sexual perversions were associated with her worship.

Jeremiah 44:20-23 ~ Jeremiah Responds to the Crowd of Judaeans

In this narrative, Jeremiah forcefully responds to the Judaean refugees' excuses for making offerings to the "Queen of Heaven." He corrects their error in believing they received blessings from invoking other gods. He tells them the cause of the suffering of their people and the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem was because they worshipped false gods! That their country is now a ruin in verse 22 is a repeat of the same word from God's oracle in verse 6. Perhaps these Judaeans received poor instruction in the Law and inadequate religious formation.

Jeremiah 44:24-28 ~ Oracle #5

Jeremiah addresses the final three oracles to all Judaeans living in Egypt. Notice that the women are singled out for special mention in verse 24, and the text alters between masculine and feminine verbs. It appears the worship of the Queen of Heaven was a family affair. See earlier verses in this section and when God ordered Jeremiah not to continue to intercede for such a sinful people in Jeremiah 7:18, saying, The children collect the wood, the fathers light the fire, the women knead the dough, to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven; and, to spite me, they our libations to alien gods.

Jeremiah 44:29-30 ~ Jeremiah's Sign and Oracle #6

A "sign" has greater significance than its event. It points to a revelation of something in the future. In this case, the "sign" will precede the destruction of the Judaean remnant in Egypt. Jeremiah spoke of Yahweh's signs and wonders in his prayer after he purchased the field in Jeremiah 32:20-21. His purchase was in itself a "sign" that one day Judaeans would return to buy fields and houses in the land of Judah (32:15).

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A Daily Defense 

DAY 252 Three Gods? 

CHALLENGE:  “The doctrine of the Trinity is polytheistic; it teaches that there are three gods.”

DEFENSE: This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the doctrine. 

There is another word for belief in three gods: tritheism. The fact that trinitarianism has a different name indicates it is something different.

Of course, the concept of threeness is involved. The word “Trinity” is derived from the Latin root  trinus (“threefold, triple”) and the suffix –itas, indicating a state or condition. “Trinity” thus indicates that God is threefold, but the question must be asked: Three of what?

The answer is not three gods but three Persons. Trinitarians are very clear on the fact that there is only one God. Thus the Catechism states: “If God is not one, he is not God” (CCC 228), and “the Trinity is One. We do not confess three Gods, but one God in three Persons” (CCC 253).

The phrase “one God in three Persons” is a classic expression of the doctrine of the Trinity, used by Christians all over the world, and both parts of the expression must be taken seriously. One cannot ignore the “one God” part and then rewrite the “three Persons” part to make it “three gods.” That would falsify the concept of the Trinity and replace it with something else—something Christians do not believe. 

Indeed, for a Christian to hold that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three gods would be such an extreme falsification of Christian doctrine that it would constitute heresy. For a Catholic to maintain it obstinately would be the canonical crime of heresy and would result in an automatic excommunication (Code of Canon Law, canons 751, 1364 §1). That’s how serious the Church is about the subject.

In response, a non-trinitarian might say he doesn’t understand how one God can be three Persons, but an informed non-trinitarian can’t in good faith say Christians believe in three gods.

Ultimately, you have to take someone at his word when he says, “That’s not what I believe.” You may not understand what he believes, you may even think it involves a contradiction (which the Trinity doesn’t; see Day 39), but it displays bad faith to continue to assert that someone believes something when he explicitly denies it.

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist 

Bible In One Year Day 251 (Jeremiah 41-42, Judith 12-14, Proverbs 17:13-16)

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Day 251: Judith and Holofernes

Agape Bible Study Jeremiah 41-42

Chapter 41: The Assassination of Gedaliah

Jeremiah 41:1-3 ~ The Murder of the Babylonian Governor and Officers at Mizpah

The seventh month was the month of Tishri in the Jewish calendar (September/October). However, the question is what is the year?

1. Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in July of 587 BC.
2. Summer fruits are harvested in August-September (40:12).
3. The seventh month in 41:1 was the month of Tishri in the Jewish calendar (September/October).
4. The pilgrim feast of Tabernacles/Shelters is from the 15^th to the 21^st of the month of Tishri (September/October) and explains the arrival of the pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem in 41:4-5 (see Ex 23:16; Dt 16:13-16).
5. The events in 41:1-18 could be three months after the fall of Jerusalem or three or four years later.
6. Nebuchadnezzar returned to Judah in 582 BC, perhaps as a response to the murder of his governor and the Babylonian garrison at Mizpah.

Jeremiah 41:4-10 ~ Pilgrims and Prisoners

The "second day" after the killing is the next day according to the way the ancients counted; the day of the killing was day one. The eighty men were pilgrims from important towns in the former Northern Kingdom who were on their way to the site of the ruined Temple in Jerusalem.

The pilgrims were evidently stopping off at Mizpah to show their respect for the governor, and fearing that they were about to discover his treachery, Ishmael decided to kill the pilgrims by first luring them into the town. The pilgrims were probably unharmed.

Question: How did ten pilgrims manage to convince Ishmael to spare them?
Answer: They bribed him by offering their stocks of wheat, barley, oil, and honey.

Chapter 42: The Flight to Egypt

Jeremiah 42:1-6 ~ The Refugees Appeal to Jeremiah to Petition Yahweh
The military leaders and all the people approach Jeremiah and ask him to "petition and intercede" with Yahweh to advise them on what they should do. For the first time, the name Azariah son of Hoshaiah is added to the list of leaders. He is either a brother of Jezaniah or Azariah is a shortened form of his name. Along with Johanan, he leads the Judaean remnant that came to consult Jeremiah (see 43:2)

Jeremiah 42:7-18 ~ Yahweh's Message to the Remnant of Judah

Yahweh does not give Jeremiah His oracle for the remnant of Judah for a period of ten days. This is not the first time Jeremiah waited for an oracle. He waited a day or two for the judgment against his tormentor Hananiah in 28:12, and at least twice Jeremiah waited an unspecified time for Yahweh's word after being told to expect it in 18:1-5 and 32:6-8; but this situation appears to be different. It may have been a literal ten days, but the number ten in the Bible represents divine order, and therefore, it could mean that the delay was for the period of time God ordained. Other delays of ten days in the Bible include:

1. Laban's request that Rebecca remain with her family for ten days before leaving for Canaan to become Isaac's wife; it was a delay that was refused (Gen 24:55-56).
2. There was a ten day delay between the judgment against Nabal and his death ( 1 Sam 25:38 ).
3. The ten day test in which the Babylonian eunuch allowed Daniel and his companions to live on ritually clean vegetables and water instead of Babylonians foods that were ritually unclean for Jews (Dan 1:8-16).

Yahweh's gives Jeremiah two oracles for the remnant of Judah:

• Oracle #1: Stay in Judah and do not go to Egypt (verses 9-14).
• Oracle #2: If you go to Egypt, you will die there (verses 15-18).

Jeremiah 42:19-22 ~ Jeremiah's Warning to Obey the Word of Yahweh

Imagine Jeremiah's shock and anger when he senses that the remnant of Judah is rejecting Yahweh's merciful plan for them. He feels compelled to add his warning to God's oracles, and he accuses them of being insincere in their petition to hear the will of God for their lives. How did Jeremiah know they were not being sincere? Perhaps during the ten days between their petition and the delivery of Jeremiah's oracle he saw that they were already gathering supplies for a journey to Egypt. In verse 22, Jeremiah repeats God's triple judgment of death by sword, famine, and plague in Egypt.

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A Daily Defense 

DAY 251 Assurance of Salvation

CHALLENGE: “Belief in mortal sin denies Catholics assurance of salvation, but God wants us to have it: ‘I write this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life’ (1 John 5:13, emphasis added).”

DEFENSE: We can have assurance of salvation if we fulfill God’s conditions for it, but self-deception and mortal sin are real possibilities.

We must be careful about the term “know.” Knowledge can mean different things. “I know physics,” “I know it’s raining,” “I know John,” and “Adam knew his wife” involve different senses of knowing.

We often say we know something without implying there is no possibility of being wrong. If you ask someone, “Do you know what you had for dinner last night?” he might say, “Yes.” But if you ask, “Do you have an infallible memory so there is absolutely no possibility you are misremembering?” he would likely say, “No.”

Scripture sets forth the conditions for salvation. In fact, 1 John sets out multiple conditions, including keeping the commandments (2:3–5, 5:1–3) and believing in Jesus and loving one another (3:23–24, 4:20–21). If we have fulfilled these conditions then, per 1 John 5:13, we may know that we have salvation in the ordinary sense of the term “know,” but that doesn’t mean there is absolutely no possibility of being wrong.

Paul says: “I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted [Greek, dedikaiōmai, “justified”]. It is the Lord who judges me” (1 Cor. 4:4). If even a figure like Paul refused to pronounce definitively on his own spiritual state, so must we.

The possibility of self-deception is real. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt; who can understand it?” (Jer. 17:9). Thus the New Testament repeatedly warns Christians against self-deception, particularly with regard to sin and its consequences (1 Cor. 6:9–10, 15:33–34; Gal. 6:7–8; Eph. 5:5–6; James 1:22, 26; 1 John 1:8, 3:6–7).

If we fulfill the conditions Scripture lays out for salvation, then we may be assured of and know that we have salvation. But we cannot claim infallible certitude as if there were no possibility of self-deception.

Further, mortal sin is a real possibility, and John goes on to warn against it right after the verse this challenge is based on (1 John 5:16–17; cf. Day 302).

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist 

Bible In One Year Day 250 (Jeremiah 39-40, Judith 10-11, Proverbs 17:9-12)

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Day 250: Final Wave of Exile 

Agape Bible Study 
Jeremiah 39-40 

Chapter 39: The Fall of Jerusalem and Zedekiah's Attempt to Escape

This chapter has only one oracle, and it is a prophecy concerning the fate of the Cushite/Ethiopian eunuch who saved Jeremiah (verses 15-18).

Jeremiah 39:1-3 ~ The Babylonians Invade the City of Jerusalem

The passage begins with a summary of the siege of Jerusalem. The "eleventh" year of Zedekiah is, as the ancients counted, from the first year of his reign in 598 BC counting as year #1. It is now 587 BC, and Zedekiah is 31 years old. Jerusalem's city gates, like the gates of other large, walled cities, were fortified complexes with many rooms where guards had their quarters and where the city rulers heard legal cases in chambers lined with benches. Nebuchadnezzar's princes/generals enter the city and take up positions in the Middle Gate to judge important captives.

The Middle Gate was located in the center of the city's northern wall, and its ruins can still be seen in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. The Babylonians must have entered Jerusalem from the north, as did all Jerusalem's attackers through the centuries, since this was the city's highest elevation and the only side that was unprotected by ravines. 

Jeremiah 39:4-7 ~ King Zedekiah's Failed Escape and Capture

Since the Babylonians entered the city from the north, Zedekiah, his sons, and the men still loyal to him made their escape to the south. They headed toward the city of Jericho, probably intending to cross the Jordan River near there. It was near Jericho that was the crossing Joshua and the children of Israel made coming from the opposite direction when they first entered the Promised Land, and it is near the site where St. John baptized Jesus. The Arabah refers to the rift valley that extends from the Sea of Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba and includes the Jordan River Valley.

Question: What was the judgment carried out against Zedekiah?

Answer:

1. Zedekiah's sons were killed in front of him.
2. All his advisors who misled him were killed.
3. Zedekiah was blinded.
4. He was taken as a captive to Babylon.

Depiction of Jews mourning the exile in Babylon  by Eduard Bendemann 

Jeremiah 39:8-14 ~ The Destruction of the Palace and the Fate of Jeremiah

2 Kings 25:9 and Jeremiah 52:13 record that Nebuchadnezzar's chief minister, Nebuzaradan, arrived in Jerusalem one month after the city fell, and at that time he ordered his soldiers to burn the city to the ground and demolish its walls. The royal palace was the magnificent royal dwelling described in 1 Kings 7:1-12; 10:18-20. The Babylonians looted and destroyed it along with the glorious Temple of Yahweh (1 Kng 6:1-38; 7:13-8:13). Both buildings were built by King Solomon in the 10^th century BC. During the 35 years of Jeremiah's ministry, he repeatedly warned that Jerusalem and its gates would be burned with fire and destroyed (Jer 17:27; 21:10; 32:29; 34:2, 22; 37:8, 10; 38:17-18, 23) and that the house of the king would also be destroyed (Jer 6:5; 17:27; 21:14; 22:7). With the destruction of Jerusalem, the nation that was Israel perished.

Jeremiah 39:15-18 ~ Oracle Concerning the Fate of Edeb-melech

This passage concludes the story of Ebed-melech that began in 38:7-13. Jeremiah's confinement in verse 15 is after Ebed-melech rescued Jeremiah from the cistern and returned him to the custody of the commander of the Palace Guard. Verse 2 is a special oracle for Ebed-melech, warning him of the ruin that is coming but also reassuring him with a word of mercy concerning God's intention to rescue the kind Gentile eunuch.

Question: Yahweh gives His promise to rescue Ebed-melech for what reason?
Answer: It is because he has put his trust in Yahweh.

Chapter 40: Jeremiah's Freedom and Gedaliah Becomes the Governor of Judah

Davidic king Zedekiah of Judah rebelled against Babylonian rule in 589 BC, forming an anti-Babylon coalition with the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon that planned to form an alliance with the Egyptians. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon responded by leading his armies to deal with the rebel kingdoms. His army commanded by General Nebuzaradan besieged Jerusalem. The siege, counting the first and second siege periods, lasted in total for about two and a half years. The final 18 months of the Babylonian siege began on January 15^th, 588 BC. The city fell to the Babylonians and on the 9^th of Ab (July), and the Babylonians burned the city to the ground after removing all the starving inhabitants. The Book of Jeremiah provides a more complete description of the fall of the city in the last chapter of the book (52:1-34).

The Babylonians gathered the Judaean captives, including Jeremiah and Baruch, at Ramah, but they sent King Zedekiah, his sons, and his officials to Nebuchadnezzar's headquarters at Riblah, a town north of Damascus (Syria) on the Orontes River. There the royal officials were executed, the king's sons were murdered in front of their father, and Zedekiah was blinded before he was sent to die in Babylon (2 Kng 25:8-21; Jer 39:8-9; 52:12-27).

King Nebuchadnezzar gave his commanding general, Nebuzaradan, specific instructions to send men to find Jeremiah and to deal kindly with him. After the Babylonian ministers found Jeremiah in the palace Court of the Guard (39:13-14), they transferred him to Ramah where he was kept with other captives from Jerusalem and Judah. Ramah was located about five miles north of Jerusalem. Chapters 40-45 relate the words of God which came to Jeremiah when the Babylonian commander released him at Ramah and the events that followed his release.

Jeremiah 40:1-6 ~ The Babylonian Commander Gives Jeremiah His Freedom

King Nebuchadnezzar's commander, Nebuzaradan, found Jeremiah among the captives on the plain at Ramah and released him. It is interesting that the text describes Nebuzaradan's words to Jeremiah as coming from Yahweh (verse 1a). Yahweh puts into the mouth of the pagan Babylonian general a summary of the oracles Jeremiah preached for the 35 years of his ministry.

Question: The Babylonian general gives Jeremiah what three choices?

Answer:

1. He can come with him back to Babylon where the general will look after him.
2. He does not have to accept the general's offer and is free to go wherever he likes.
3. He can join Gedaliah and the people staying in Judah at Mizpah.

Jeremiah 40:7-12 ~ The Babylonians Appoint Gedaliah the Governor of Judah

This part of the narrative from 40:7-41:18. continues in seven sections that are linked by the repetition of certain phrases that come at the beginning of each section in the Hebrew text:

1. Then ... all the military leaders (40:7)
2. ... and all the military leaders (40:13)
3. And it happened (41:1)
4. And it happened (41:4)
5. And it happened (41:7)
6. ...and all the military leaders (41:11)
7. ...and all the military leaders (41:16)

Jeremiah 40:13-16 ~ Johanan Warns Gedaliah

Johanan son of Kareah, from the first group of officers to come to Mizpah in verse 8, first warns Gedaliah about an assassination plot and then offers to eliminate the threat. Baalis king of the Ammonites was a ruler who continued to hold out against the Babylonians.

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A Daily Defense

DAY 250 Is Christmas Pagan?

CHALLENGE: “Christmas is based on a pagan holiday.”

DEFENSE: There are multiple responses to this challenge.

First, which pagan holiday are we talking about? Sometimes Saturnalia—a Roman festival honoring the god Saturn—is proposed. But Saturnalia was held on December 17 (and later extended through December 23). It wasn’t December 25.

Another proposal is Dies Natalis Solis Invicti (Latin, “The Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun”), but the evidence this was the basis of the dating of Christmas is problematic. The Christian Chronography of A.D. 354 records the “Birthday of the Unconquerable” was celebrated on that date in 354, but the identity of “the Unconquerable” is unclear. Since it’s a Christian document that elsewhere (twice) lists Jesus’ birthday as December 25, it could be the Unconquerable Chris —not the sun—whose birth was celebrated.

Second, correlation is not causation. Even if Christmas and Sol Invictus were both on December 25, Christmas might have been the basis of Sol Invictus, or the reverse, or it might just be a coincidence. If you want to claim the date of Sol Invictus is the basis for the date of Christmas, you need evidence.

Third, that evidence is hard to come by. Even if the Chronology of A.D. 354 refers to Sol Invictus being celebrated on December 25, this is the first reference to the fact, and we know some Christians held that Jesus was born on that date long before 354.

For example, St. Hippolytus of Rome (c. 170–c. 240) stated in his commentary on Daniel that Jesus was born on December 25, and he wrote around a century and a half before 354 (see Jack Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology, 2nd ed., §562). Further, Sol Invictus wasn’t even an official Roman cult until 274, when the Emperor Aurelian made it one.

Fourth, if Christians were subverting Sol Invictus, we should find the Church Fathers saying, “Let’s subvert Sol Invictus by celebrating Christmas instead.” But we don’t. The Fathers who celebrate December 25 sincerely think that’s when Jesus was born (ibid., §§562–567).

Finally, even if Christmas was timed to subvert a pagan holiday, so what? Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, and celebrating the birth of Christ is a good thing. So is subverting paganism. If the early Christians were doing both, big deal!

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist 

Bible In One Year Day 249 (Jeremiah 37-38, Judith 8-9, Proverbs 17:5-8)

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Day 249: Prayer of Judith 

Agape Bible 
Jeremiah 37-38 

Chapter 37: The Princes and Chief Men Imprison Jeremiah

Chapter 37 takes place in 588 BC, when Pharaoh Hophra (ruled from 589 to 569) sent an Egyptian army to come to Zedekiah's aid against the Babylonians. Nebuchadnezzar temporarily lifted the first siege of Jerusalem to take his army to meet the advancing Egyptian threat. In this chapter, Zedekiah receives two short oracles confirming the return of the Babylonian army and the destruction of Jerusalem:

• Oracle #1: The Egyptians marching to Judah's aid will withdraw back to Egypt, and the Babylonians will return to attack and capture Jerusalem (verse 7).
• Oracle #2: The destruction of Jerusalem is inevitable (verses 9-10).

Jeremiah 37:1-5 ~ Zedekiah Consults Jeremiah

The Babylonians besieged Jerusalem and deposed King Jehoiakim for treason in 598 BC. They also deposed his eighteen year old son, Jehoiachin (Coniah), and made Zedekiah king of Judah in his place (2 Kng 24:1-18). However, like his predecessors, Zedekiah did not believe the oracles of Yahweh through His prophet Jeremiah. This passage took place in 588 BC when the Babylonians temporarily broke off the siege of Jerusalem to deal with the Egyptian threat.

Jeremiah 37:6-10 ~ Yahweh's Reply to King Zedekiah

The prophet Ezekiel made the same prophecy about the Egyptians in Ezekiel 17:15-17, which is later supplemented by oracles in Ezekiel 29:1-12; 30:20-26; and 31:1-18. The Egyptians are a weak and worthless ally, a fact that Jeremiah expressed in 2:18-19, 36. It is also a warning given a century earlier by Isaiah in 30:1-7, and the same warning is later remembered in Lamentations 4:17. The prophecy of the Babylonian army's return to the city was already made in 34:21-22.

Jeremiah in Prison 

Jeremiah 37:11-16 ~ The Arrest of Jeremiah

The Babylonian's lifted the siege of Jerusalem, and Jeremiah took the opportunity to travel to his hometown of Anathoth to see about a piece of his property among the people there. It is possible there was a death and the nearest kinsmen needed to determine ownership of the ancestral property or, if it was a Jubilee year when the land returned to the original families, he may have need to see about the division of the property within his family. We have already heard about the issue of the property and the resolution in Jeremiah 32:1-15. The town of Anathoth was north of Jerusalem within the tribal lands of Benjamin; therefore, it is reasonable that Jeremiah should leave the city by the northern Benjamin Gate.

Jeremiah 37:17-21 ~ King Zedekiah Sends for Jeremiah

The Babylonians returned to resume the siege of the city, just as Jeremiah prophesied in 37:8. Zedekiah is a weak king who fears the power of his ministers (38:5); therefore he sends for Jeremiah in secret. It is possible that King Zedekiah now suspects that Jeremiah is a true prophet of Yahweh while the other prophets spoke falsely. You may recall that in 17:15 Jeremiah's enemies taunted him, saying "Where is Yahweh's word? Let it come true then!" Zedekiah could not have missed the fact that Jeremiah's oracles are all coming true and Jeremiah reminds him of this fact (verse 19).

Chapter 38: Jeremiah's Enemies Seek His Death

The year is 587 BC. The princes and royal officials supported Jeremiah in the reign of King Jehoiakim (26:16-24), but the princes and royal officials in power during the reign of King Zedekiah are his enemies and want him executed for sedition against the government. This chapter has three oracles:

• Oracle #1: Yahweh's warning that those who stay in Jerusalem will die and His promise that those who surrender to the Babylonians will live (verse 2).
• Oracle #2: Yahweh's assurance that the Babylonians will capture Jerusalem (verse 3).
• Oracle #3: Yahweh's final oracle to King Zedekiah (verses 17-18).

The third oracle concludes with Jeremiah telling Zedekiah about the vision Yahweh gave him of the king's wives as they are led out of the palace to the Babylonian generals (verses 21-23). His vision is the only poetry passage since the last poetic prophecy of the Messianic Davidic king in 33:15-16.

Jeremiah 38:1-3 ~ Yahweh's Oracle Concerning the Fall of Jerusalem

Jeremiah is still giving Yahweh's oracles in the palace Court of the Guard. There are two short oracles in this passage that are a summary of Yahweh's oracles to the people during the 35 years of Jeremiah's ministry.

Jeremiah 38:4-6 ~ The Royal Officials Conspire Against Jeremiah

Question: What reason do the king's chief ministers give for wanting to execute Jeremiah?
Answer: Jeremiah is preaching sedition and is weakening the resolve of the soldiers and the people to resist the Babylonians.

Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he came to the throne, and it is now a decade later; therefore, Malchiah could not have been Zedekiah's son. This prince was either a younger brother or a royal cousin of the king and an enemy of Jeremiah. The princes and royal officials put Jeremiah into an empty cistern.

Question: In addition to keeping Jeremiah from speaking to the people, what was the darker motive for confining Jeremiah in the empty cistern? See verse 6b, 9, and 38:4.
Answer: Their intention was to leave him to die without water and food.

If he dies of "natural causes," they probably think they will not incur the "blood guilt" of executing Jeremiah. However, Yahweh who sees and knows all, including the evil intentions of every man and woman, knows the evil they planned for Jeremiah. One can only imagine the suffering Jeremiah endured, sinking into the mud, which the historian Flavius Josephus records came up to his neck (Antiquities of the Jews, 10.5.120-121; see the quote at the beginning of this lesson).

Jeremiah 38:7-13 ~ The Eunuch Ebed-melech Saves Jeremiah's Life

Question: What promise did Yahweh make to Jeremiah when He first called him to his prophetic ministry in 1:17-18?
Answer: God promised to make Jeremiah fearless before his enemies, and that He will be with Jeremiah to rescue him.

True to the oath Yahweh made Jeremiah, He sent a very unlikely savior in the person of a Cushite (generally understood to be an Ethiopian), Gentile palace eunuch, and we may not even know his name. Ebed-melech [ebed = servant; melech = king] means "servant [of the] king" or more literally, "king's servant." It is more likely that this is not his name but describes his position within the palace as a eunuch who served in the women's quarters. The Ethiopian eunuch heard about Jeremiah's desperate condition because he worked in the palace. Jeremiah's condition may have been kept a secret from his friends the scribes and the common people.

Jeremiah 38:14-23 ~ Oracle #2: Jeremiah's Last Conversation with the King

Zedekiah summons Jeremiah for what will be their final meeting. There will be one final request and one final answer. The location of the meeting is unknown. It was a private entrance from the palace to the Temple that suited the purpose of a clandestine meeting.

Jeremiah 38:24-28 ~ Zechariah Cautions Jeremiah not to Reveal Their Conversation

After hearing the final oracle, the king's only response is to command Jeremiah not to repeat their private conversation or the oracle. Zedekiah says if the princes/chief men hear about their meeting and demand an account, he is to only tell them that he petitioned the king not to send him back to Jonathan's prison where he would die. This is exactly what he did in verse 27, and without any information to the contrary, the ministers sent him back to the Court of the Guard where Jeremiah stayed until the Babylonians captured the city.

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A Daily Defense 

DAY 249 Paul’s Conversion

CHALLENGE: “Accounts of Paul’s conversion in the New Testament contradict each other.”

DEFENSE: The passages are easily harmonized.

At the time of his conversion, Paul (aka Saul) was traveling to Damascus when a great light from heaven shone around him and Jesus spoke to him. A contradiction is alleged between two verses describing the reaction of the men who were with Paul:

The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing (akouontes) the voice (phōnēs) but seeing no one (Acts 9:7).

Now those who were with me saw the light but did not hear (ēkousan) the voice (phōnēn) of the one who was speaking to me (Acts 22:9).

Both verses have forms of the Greek verb akouō for “hear” and the noun phōnē for “voice.” One seems to say the men with Paul heard the voice and the other that they didn’t.

However, both texts were written by the same author (Luke), who got the information from the same source (Paul). Luke was Paul’s traveling companion (see Day 26; cf. Col. 4:14, 2 Tim. 4:11, Philem. 24), and both accounts are based on Paul’s reminiscences to Luke. Consequently, if the passages can be read in harmony with each other, they should be. And, although it is not obvious from the above English translation, they can. 

The verb akouō doesn’t just mean “hear.” It can also mean “understand.” Further, the noun phōnē doesn’t just mean “voice.” It also means “sound.” These are not controversial translations.

They are found in any standard Greek lexicon. Since the texts were written by the same author, relying on the same source, it is natural and straightforward to read the passages as saying that the men with Paul heard the sound but did not understand what the voice was saying to him.

This would be similar to John 12:28–29—when God speaks from heaven and some bystanders perceive it as thunder—indicating an objective experience only incompletely perceived by those who were not its primary recipients. There is thus no contradiction.

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist 

Bible In One Year Day 248 (Jeremiah 35-36, Judith 6-7, Proverbs 17:1-4)

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Day 248: Cut To The Heart

Agape Bible Study 
Jeremiah 35 - 36 

Chapter 35: The Example of the Rechabites

Chapter 35 takes place near the end of the reign of King Jehoiakim (reigned 609-598 BC) the brother of King Zedekiah. The Babylonians deposed Jehoiakim's son and placed Zedekiah on the throne of Judah in his place in 598 BC (2 Kng 24:17). This chapter can be divided into three oracles Yahweh commands Jeremiah to present:

• Oracle #1 condemns the Judahites and Jerusalemites for their disloyalty (verses 13-16).
• Oracle #2 is a judgment oracle against the Judahites and Jerusalemites (verse 17).
• Oracle #3 is a divine blessing for the nomadic clan of the Rechabites (verses 18-19).

Jeremiah 35:1-5 ~ A Lesson in Obedience

Rechab was the founding father of the Rechabites. They were Gentiles who joined the Israelites during the Exodus wilderness years and came with them into the Promised Land. They believed in Yahweh but considered themselves resident aliens in the land of Israel, living in the desert region of the Negeb in southern Judah (Judg 1:16; Jer 35:7). Biblical tradition identifies the Rechabites with the Kenites (1 Chr 2:55), who were descendants of Moses' father-in-law, Jethro (Ex 3:1; 18:1; Judg 1:16; 4:11). They were known for their unwavering loyalty to Yahweh and their commitment to a nomadic pastoral lifestyle. The lifestyle rules for the clan were laid down by Rechab's son Jehonadab . They rejected all forms of settled culture, including wine cultivation and consumption. In 842 BC, according to 2 Kings 10:15-31, Jehonadab ben Rechab joined Jehu's successful revolt against wicked King Ahab because of his "zeal for Yahweh."

Jeremiah 35:6-11 ~ The Rechabites' Reply to Jeremiah

Question: Why did the Rechabites refuse Jeremiah's invitation to drink wine?

Answer: They were remaining faithful to their ancestral traditions to not drink wine.

Question: What reason did they give for leaving their nomadic life to seek refuge in the city of Jerusalem?
Answer: They only came for refuge because of the marauding Babylonians and their allies.

Jeremiah 35:12-16 ~ Oracle #1: Judahites and Jerusalemites Condemned for Their Disloyalty

Jeremiah 35:11-19 contain oracles for the obedient and the disobedient.
Question: What is the reason the story of Jeremiah and the Rechabites follows the story of the covenant failure of the people of Judah in Chapter 34, and what is God's command concerning Jeremiah's experience with these people?
Answer: God instructs Jeremiah to use the faithfulness of the Rechabites to their vows as an example of their commitment to their traditions to emphasize the charge that Judah has not been faithful to its own traditions in obedience to the Laws of Yahweh.

Jeremiah 35:17 ~ Oracle #2: Judgment Against Disloyal Judah and Jerusalem

The citizens of Judah and Jerusalem have again rejected the opportunity to turn away from their sins and turn back to God. The judgment decreed throughout Jeremiah's ministry will now fall fully upon the people because, Yahweh says, "I spoke to them and they would not listen, called to them and they would not answer" (it is an accusation of covenant failure throughout Israel's history; see for example: Is 6:9-10; Jer 5:21; Mt 13:14-15; Mk 4:12; Jn 12:40; Acts 28:26-27).

Jeremiah 35:18-19 ~ Oracle #3: Yahweh Gives the Rechabites a Divine Blessing

To "stand before Yahweh" usually refers to someone standing before God in prayer or service. God's blessing is that the Rechabites will not die out but will continue to have descendants who are faithful to Yahweh. These verses exempt the Rechabites from the full fury of the coming judgment against the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The Rechabites survived the exile and, after the return, a Rechabite descendant helped to rebuild the Jerusalem Temple (Neh 3:14).

Chapter 36: King Jehoiakim Destroys the Book/Scroll of Jeremiah

 

The events in Chapter 36 took place between 605-604 BC. The "fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim" (36:1), who ruled from 609-598 BC, is calculated by Biblical scholars to be 605 BC. It is a date that brought far-reaching consequences in the ancient Near East:

• It was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign as king of Babylon.
• It was the year the Babylonians defeated the Egyptians and Assyrians at Carchemish and then delivered another defeat to the Assyrian Empire at Hamath, making Babylon the region's superpower.
• It was the year, King Jehoiakim capitulated to the Babylonians and agreed to become Nebuchadnezzar's vassal king of Judah (2 Kng 24:1).
• It was the year Jeremiah received oracles against the nations (Chapter 25), delivering specific judgment for Egypt (Jer 46:2-26).
• It was the year the king and chief priests barred Jeremiah from entering the Temple and when Jeremiah received a divine word to put into writing all oracles and other utterances made over the years (Jer 36:1-2).

Jeremiah 36:1-8 ~ Jeremiah Records all the Words of God in a Book/Scroll

2 "Take a scroll and on it write all the words I have spoken to you about Israel, Judah and all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you, in the time of Josiah, until today.
In 605 BC, at Yahweh's command, Jeremiah dictates to the scribe Baruch all Yahweh's words he has received since he began his ministry in the time of King Josiah. We first heard of Baruch son of Neriah in Chapter 32 when Jeremiah was confined in the Court of the Guard in the palace in the year 587 BC. At that time Jeremiah needed a scribe to write out a document of sale for property God commanded Jeremiah to purchase from his cousin. The events in this chapter took place about 18 years before the land sale; therefore, this may be the first collaboration between Jeremiah and the professional scribe, Baruch. Jeremiah needed a professional scribe who had the professional skills to write the book of oracles in neat lines and columns.

At this time, Jeremiah had been serving as Yahweh's prophet for twenty-three years from the thirteenth year of Josiah to the fourth year of Jehoiakim. Yahweh orders that the scroll of Jeremiah's prophetic ministry with all its fearful warnings and predictions must be read to the assembly of the covenant people during the daily Temple liturgical worship service. It is interesting that the words of Yahweh must include all He spoke "about Israel, Judah and all the nations."

Jeremiah 36:9-10 ~ Baruch Reads the Scroll to the Assembly of Israel/Judah

In the ninth month of the fifth year of the reign of the king, the month of Kislev corresponding to our November/December 604 BC, King Jehoiakim ordered the people to observe a national fast with a ceremony at the Temple. To fulfill Yahweh's command that the book must be read to all the people, Jeremiah sent Baruch to the Temple on the national fast day to read the book of oracles. Baruch read the book in the "upper court at the entry of the New Gate" in the room of the royal scribe Gemariah son of Shaphan. Gemariah's room must have had a balcony that allowed Baruch to have a vantage point from which to be heard by a large crowd of people.

Jeremiah 36:11-20 ~ The Royal Scribes Summon Baruch

Gemariah's son, the royal scribe Micaiah, reports the event of Baruch reading the book of Jeremiah's oracles to the session of the chief palace scribes. The palace scribes then sent for Baruch to read the book to them. They were shocked by what they heard, but as a whole, they were sympathetic to Jeremiah and Baruch. Elnathan was the king's emissary who was sent to Egypt to bring back the prophet Uriah who was later executed for sedition (Jer 26:25), but even he is sympathetic (36:25). They know they must take the book to the King, but they warn Baruch that he and Jeremiah must go into hiding to preserve their lives.

Jeremiah 36:21-26 ~ Elishama Reads the Scroll to King Jehoiakim

It is winter; the month of Kislev corresponding to our November/December, and the king is sitting by a fire. Yahweh's oracles are offensive to the king. He is not moved to repentance and instead, despite the pleading of some of the royal scribes, he destroys the first edition of the Book of Jeremiah by cutting off columns with a scribal knife and throwing the pieces into the fire.

Jeremiah 36:27-32 ~ Yahweh's Oracle to King Jehoiakim and His Command to Re-write the Scroll

Yahweh's judgment oracle for the king is that God will fulfill everything that the king heard in the scroll of Jeremiah.

Question: What personal judgment against Jehoiakim did Yahweh add?
Answer: His personal judgment was:

1. His descendants will not continue as kings of Judah.
2. He will not receive an honorable burial.

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A Daily Defense 

DAY 248 Truth versus Precision

CHALLENGE: “The Bible contains many passages that say something close to the truth but are still not quite accurate.”

DEFENSE: This confuses truth with precision.

Perhaps you’ve seen the Star Trek episode “Errand of Mercy,” where the following exchange occurs:

KIRK: What would you say the odds are on our getting out of here?

SPOCK: Difficult to be precise, Captain. I should say, approximately 7,824.7 to 1.

KIRK: Difficult to be precise? 7,824 to 1?

SPOCK: 7,824.7 to 1.

KIRK: That’s a pretty close approximation.

SPOCK: I endeavor to be accurate.

This illustrates the different levels of precision expected by humans and Vulcans. Something similar occurs when modern audiences read ancient texts. We live in an age in which things are rigorously measured and recorded. But the ancient world was very different. There were few and imprecise measuring tools, no audio or video recorders, and most people could not read or write.

Consequently, the ancients expected a lesser degree of precision than we do. They would have rolled their eyes at us the way we roll our eyes at Mr. Spock and his absurd over-precision.

This has implications for how we read the Bible. We can’t hold its authors to a higher level of precision than they used. They expressed truths according to the level of precision expected in their day, not ours.

Statements of truth regularly involve approximation. When we say the speed of light is 186,000 miles per second or that pi is 3.14, we are expressing truths, but in an approximate manner.

Approximation is so common that scientists even speak of the different “orders of approximation” they use in their work. At some point, it becomes foolish to try to be more precise, and this judgment must be made based on the situation in which we find ourselves.

We must thus respect the circumstances in which the biblical authors wrote and not expect more precision of them than their situation allowed. If we want to charge them with error, then we need to show that they weren’t using the degree of precision expected in the ancient world.

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist 

Bible In One Year Day 247 (Jeremiah 33-34, Judith 3-5, Proverbs 16:29-33)

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Day 247: True Repentance 

Agape Bible Study

Jeremiah 33-34

Chapter 33: "The Branch of David"

The prophecies in this Chapter date from the same period as those in Chapter 32, when Jeremiah was confined in the Court of the Guard in Zedekiah's palace. Of the twenty Davidic kings who ruled Judah during the 400 years between David and the Babylonian captivity, only a few were good men who served Yahweh and were worthy of the title "sons of God" (2 Sam 7:14). 

1. Oracle #1: Judgment and forgiveness for Jerusalem (verses 2b-9)
2. Oracle #2: The return to normal life for the returned exiles (verses 10-11)
3. Oracle #3: The Messianic Branch of the House of David (verses 12-16)
4. Oracle #4: Continuation of descendants for the House of David and the ministerial priesthood (verses 17-18)
5. Oracle #5: The assurance of the eternal nature of the Davidic Covenant and the ministerial priesthood (verses 20-22)
6. Oracle #6: The assurance that God has not rejected Israel (verses 25-26)

The last four oracles concern God's faithfulness to the covenant promises to David, the Aaronic priesthood, and Israel.

Jeremiah 33:1-9 ~ Oracle #1: Another Promise of the Restoration and Unification of Israel

As Jeremiah's captivity in the Court of the Guard continued, God comforted His prophet. In this oracle, God emphasizes His Divine Name, Yahweh, (the name by which God said every generation should invoke Him in Ex 3:15b). Yahweh assures Jeremiah that everything is going according to His divine plan. He has not abandoned His prophet and will continue to confide in him, telling Jeremiah, "Call to me and I will answer you; I will tell you great secrets of which you know nothing."

God tells Jeremiah that the city will fall to the Babylonians with a terrible slaughter in judgment for the people's collective sins. This disaster will happen because God will not intervene on behalf of the city. However, as is always the case with judgment oracles, God follows His dire prophecy with words of hope.
Question: Using the divine "I," in what five ways does God promise to do mighty works to bring about the restoration of the people, physically and spiritually?
Answer:

1. I shall bring them remedy and cure.
2. I shall reveal a new order of peace and loyalty.
3. I shall bring back the captives.
4. I shall cleanse them of their sins.
5. I shall forgive their sins.

Jeremiah 33:10-11 ~ Oracle #2: The Towns and the Fields of Judah will be Repopulated

Despite the people abandoning Yahweh and His covenant that brought about the judgment of the covenant curses outlined in Deuteronomy 28, God will not abandon His people: for Yahweh is good, for his faithful love [hesed] is everlasting.

Jeremiah 33:12-16 ~ Oracle #3: The Institutions of the Messianic Age and the Messianic Prophecy of "The Branch

This oracle of restoration only names the different parts of the land of Judah, listing Judah's territory from the tribal lands of Benjamin that marked the northern border of Judah to the Negeb on the southern border. Then verses 15-16 Yahweh confirms the future coming of the Davidic Messiah. It is a prophecy confirmed as fulfilled in the New Testament Gospels (Mt 1:1-17; 16:18; Mk 1:1; Lk 1:31-33; Jn 1:32-33, 41).

Jeremiah 33:17-18 ~ Oracle #4: Continuation of Descendants for the House of David and the Ministerial Priesthood

Despite the hardships of the exile, Yahweh reaffirms His commitment to the Davidic Covenant and the Aaronic priestly Covenant during the period of Babylonian captivity. When the people return from exile, a Davidic king does not take the throne of Judah, but descendants of Aaron return and take up their duties at Yahweh's altar of sacrifice in the rebuilt Temple. King Cyrus of Persia allows the exiles to return, Then the heads of families of Judah and Benjamin, the priests and the Levites, in fact all whose spirit had been roused by God, prepared to go and rebuild the Temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem ... (Ezra 1:5). The Book of Nehemiah lists the returning families of the priests and Levites in Nehemiah 7:39-43.

Jeremiah 33:19-22 ~ Oracle #5: Assurance of the eternal nature of the Davidic Covenant and the Ministerial Priesthood

The Catechism states concerning this passage: "Thus the revelation of creation is inseparable from the revelation and forging of the covenant of the one God with his People. Creation is revealed as the first step toward this covenant, the first and universal witness to God's all-powerful love. And so, the truth of creation is also expressed with growing vigor in the message of the prophets, the prayer of the psalms and the liturgy, and in the wisdom sayings of the Chosen People (CCC 288). In the creation event, Yahweh laid a foundation and established the natural/physical laws that govern the earth and the cosmos and remain fixed. Every faithful believer can rely with confidence on the continuation of these laws throughout every generation until Christ's return in glory. We should view the physical laws of the universe as a sign and pledge of the unshakeable power and faithfulness of God's covenant relationship with humanity.

Jeremiah 33:23-26 ~ Oracle # 6: The Promise of the Continuation of the Abrahamic and Davidic Covenants

The two families Yahweh rejected are the rulers of Israel in the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. God promised kingship over Israel to the sons of the family of David. When they failed in obedience to the Laws of the Kings (Dt 17:14-20; 1 Kng 10:14, 26-28; 11:1-13), Yahweh humbled them by offering the same promise of kingship to Jeroboam, a prince of Ephraim (1 Kng 11:29-39) who also failed in faith and obedience. However, God's rejection of the failed leadership of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms does not mean He has rejected the Abrahamic or Davidic covenants.

Judith by Trophime Bigot 

Chapter 34: Zedekiah's Covenant and the Liberation of Hebrew Slaves

 

Chapter 34 divides into three oracles Jeremiah is to present to the king and the covenant people:

• Oracle #1 declares the fate of Jerusalem and King Zedekiah (verses 2-5).
• Oracle #2 reaffirms the law concerning the liberation of Hebrew slaves in Exodus 21:2-6; Leviticus 25:39-43 and Deuteronomy 15:12-13 (verses 13-16).
• Oracle #3 is a judgment oracle against the Jerusalemites for their failure to grant freedom to Hebrew slaves that they swore to liberate in Yahweh's name (verses 17-22).

Between oracles 1 and 2 is the episode of Zedechiah's covenant ceremony with the Jerusalemites in which they agreed on oath to liberate all Hebrew slaves.

The first oracle dates to the first Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 588 BC when King Nebuchadnezzar's army was also busy conquering the fortified cities to the south and southeast Jerusalem (34:7). The second and third oracles date to Nebuchadnezzar's temporary break in the siege when he withdrew from Jerusalem to meet the threat of the advancing Egyptian army sent by Pharaoh Hophra (known to Egyptologists by the Greek form of his name, Apries, who reigned from 589-569 BC). The Egyptians sent a military force in at attempt to rescue their ally, King Zedekiah (see 34:21b and 37:5-8). The third oracle ends with a prophecy that Nebuchadnezzar's army will resume the siege of Jerusalem and will conquer the city (see 34:21).

King Zedekiah still had time to send emissaries to submit to Nebuchadnezzar and save the city like his brother King Jehoiakim (reigned 609-598 BC) did in 605 BC (2 Kng 24:1). Unfortunately, he stubbornly refused to listen to Jeremiah's oracles from Yahweh, urging him to surrender to the Babylonians.

 

Jeremiah 34:1-7 ~ Oracle #1: The Fate of Jerusalem and King Zedekiah

In 588 BC, Jerusalem was under attack by Nebuchadnezzar's army. Of all the other towns in Judah, only the two fortified cities of Azekah and Lachish remained defiant in addition to Jerusalem (verse 7). Azekah was about 19 miles south-west of Jerusalem, and Lachish about 12.5 miles south-west of Azekah. An ostracon (potsherd with writing) dating to this period testifies to the resistance of these two cities.

Question: What is the message Yahweh commands Jeremiah to give King Zedekiah?
Answer:

1. The Babylonians will take Jerusalem, and they will burn the city to the ground.
2. Nebuchadnezzar will capture Zedekiah and send him to Babylon.
3. Zedekiah will die in peace and not by the sword.
4. Zedekiah will be properly mourned by his people.

Jeremiah 34:8-11 ~ The Failure to Liberate Hebrew Slaves

This event took place while the Babylonians were still besieging Jerusalem when the situation for Zedekiah and the city was desperate. According to the Law of Moses, all Hebrew male slaves were to receive their freedom at the end of six years of service and the beginning of the seventh. Wives were only included if the male entered his term of slavery when he was married (Ex 21:2-6; Lev 25:39-55; Dt 15:12-13). The Israelites/Judahites were not adhering to this law (Jer 34:13-14) just as they were not observing the Sabbath rest every seventh year (Lev 25:1-7, 18-22) or the laws concerning the Jubilee Year every fifty years when slaves, no matter what the length of service, were released (Lev 25:8-17). Zedekiah, however, decided to liberate all Hebrew slaves, males and females, no matter the length of service, which may suggest this was a Jubilee Year. He made the release of Israelite slaves a covenant agreement for the entire population of Jerusalem and ratified the covenant in an oath-swearing ceremony in Yahweh's name at the Jerusalem Temple (34:15-16).

 Hebrew slaves (34:15); if so it was a gift for which they didn't show their gratitude.

Jeremiah 34:12-16 ~ Oracle #2: Yahweh's Judgment

Oracle 2 is an indictment against the king and the people. The covenant with your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt in verse 13 is the Sinai Covenant. Despite their failure to keep the laws concerning slaves in the past, their action in "cutting a covenant" in a liturgical ceremony and swearing in Yahweh's name to release all their Hebrew slaves pleased Yahweh, and He saw it as an act of national repentance. However, any goodwill generated from their first act was erased by the second act of going back on their sworn oaths and recovering the slaves.

Question: What are the two points in Yahweh's indictment against the citizens of Jerusalem?
Answer:

1. The Judahites and their king were not obedient to the laws concerning slaves in the past.
2. They swore an oath in Yahweh's name in His Temple to free their slaves, but they changed their minds by abandoning their oaths to take back their slaves. The result was that they all sinned by profaning the name of Yahweh.

Jeremiah 34:17-22 ~ Oracle #3: Judgment for Failure to Keep the Vow to Free the Slaves

Oracle 3 is the judgment following the indictment in Oracle 2. The covenant ceremony to release the slaves took place in the Temple because, in addition to the oath, the covenant ceremony had to be ratified by a blood sacrifice. Oath swearing and blood sacrifice followed by a sacred meal are the elements of covenant making (Gen 26:28-31; 31:44, 53-54; Ex 24:5-11; Jos 9:11, 14-15; Ps 50:5). It is because of the necessary blood sacrifice that the literal Biblical term is to "cut a covenant" and not "make a covenant," referring to the sacrifice of the animal.

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A Daily Defense 

DAY 247 Tradition and the Canon of Scripture

CHALLENGE: “Tradition may be valuable in some ways, but it can’t be allowed to play a determinative role with respect to Scripture.”

DEFENSE: It is precisely by Tradition that Scripture itself is determined.

How do we know what belongs in Scripture? Various criteria have been proposed, the most fundamental of which is inspiration, for Paul says, “All scripture is inspired by God” (2 Tim. 3:16).

It’s true that if a book is inspired then it is Scripture, but this is not a practical test, for inspiration is not an objectively verifiable literary property (see Day 229).

Another test is “apostolicity”—that a book was written by an apostle or approved as Scripture by the apostles. The difficulty is that, like inspiration, apostolicity isn’t a detectable literary quality. It must be known by means apart from the text.

The way the early Church determined inspiration when the canon was being recognized was whether a book had been handed down to and read in the churches as apostolic. As Evangelical scholar C.E. Hill notes:

Christian writers often spoke of their Gospels (and other books) as handed down to them. Christian writers of the second century do not speak of choosing the Gospels, or of the criteria they might have created for making such choices. This is not the way they thought. When speaking of the church’s part in the process they instead use words like “receive,” “recognize,” “confess,” “acknowledge,” and their opposites. Just like the faith itself, which had been “received from the apostles and transmitted to its children” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3:1:praef.; cf. 1:10:1), so the Gospels themselves were “handed down to the church by the same apostles (Against Heresies 3:1:praef.; 3:1:1, 2) (Who Chose the Gospels?, 231–32).

The act of handing something down is what tradition is. The Latin verb tradere, from which “tradition” is derived, means “to hand down.” Tradition is thus the means by which we know which books are Scripture, giving it a determinative role.

The teachings handed down from the apostles also were used to identify false scriptures that disagreed with this teaching (see Day 138). Tradition—in the form of apostolic doctrine—thus also played a determinative role in establishing the canon.

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist