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Chapter 3:1-13: The Indictment Continues
Jeremiah 3:1-5 ~ Covenant Marriage Imagery of an Unfaithful Wife
Notice the symbolic imagery Yahweh uses to describe Israel's infidelity in abandoning their true God for the worship of false idols. You can find the same imagery in Ezekiel 16:1-63.
Question: Which of the symbolic images of the prophets and which of the four parts of that imagery does Yahweh use for Israel's rebellion?
Answer: Yahweh uses the imagery of covenant marriage Part II: an adulterous wife.
Question: What did the law of the Sinai Covenant decree concerning divorced wives in Deuteronomy 24:1-4? What was the command of the Law concerning remarriage with a previously divorced wife who had a relationship with another man, and in what way does Yahweh link this law to the behavior of the covenant people in their present relationship with Him?
Answer: The Law forbids remarriage to a previously divorced wife who had been intimate with someone else. Israel/Judah abandoned the covenant, when she became intimate with/worshiped other gods. If Yahweh treated Israel like a divorced and adulterous wife, He should not take her back.
Jeremiah 3:6-10 ~ Yahweh Recounts the Northern Kingdom's Adulterous Crime of Idol Worship
Most of the Book of Jeremiah is written as poetry. However, Jeremiah 3:6-12 is prose and is not written in the usual poetic form of the other oracles. As the time-marker in verse 6 tells us, this oracle dates from the reign of Davidic descendant King Josiah and was probably written in the period following the religious reforms in 622 BC. You can read about those reforms in 2 Kings 23:1-27 and 2 Chronicles 34:3-35:18 and in the Agape Bible study of 2 Kings in Lesson 8.
Josiah began his reforms in circa 628 when he was about 20 years old. He began by purging Jerusalem and Judah of all pagan worship sites and destroying all pagan idols. Next, he advanced into what had been the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The Assyrians had deported the last of the Israelites from the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC, imported five groups of pagan peoples, and made the territory the Assyrian province of Samaria. The Samaritans adopted their own false idea of the worship of Yahweh while they continued to worship their cultural pagan gods (2 Kng 17:24-41). After the death of death of Assyrian King Ashurbanipal, the Assyrian empire began to disintegrate in a series of civil wars and Assyria was no longer able to retain control of the northern territory of the Promised Land. Josiah used these conditions to his advantage by invading the north and extending his religious reforms as far north as the former Galilean territory of Naphtali (2 Chr 34:6-7).
There are a number of time references in the Book of Jeremiah. The first time reference in 1:2 and the second here in 3:6 refers to the reign of King Josiah (640-609 BC). Other time references are:
- King Jehoiakim's reign (609-598 BC): 22:18; 25:1; 26:1; 35:1 and 45:1.
- The reign of Judah's last Davidic king, King Zedekiah (598-587 BC): 21:1; 24:1, 8; 27:3, 12; 28:1; 29:3; 32:1; 34:2; 37:1; 39:1; 49:34; 51:59.
- Egypt after the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC: 43:7, 8; 44:1
Jeremiah 3:11-13 ~ The Exiled Northern Kingdom is Urged to Repent and Return
The oracle returns to the poetic form in verse 12b. Yahweh accuses Judah of being even more sinful and disloyal than the Northern Kingdom that has already suffered the Assyrian conquest and exile.
Chapter 3:14-25
Jeremiah 3:14-18 ~ The New Zion in the Messianic Age
A century earlier the prophet Isaiah wrote: Now I shall lay a stone in Zion, a granite stone, a precious corner-stone, a firm foundation-stone: no one who relies on this will stumble (Is 28:16). We recognize the "corner-stone"/ "stumbling stone" as Jesus Christ, but what is the significance of the reference to "Zion" and how did the Old Covenant people of God understand the reference? In the beginning of God's relationship with Israel, Mount Sinai was the focus of the experience of the covenant formation between Yahweh and Israel. However, when King David conquered Jerusalem in circa 1000 BC and brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, Mount Zion became the focus of liturgical worship as the dwelling place of God: Look, I and the children whom Yahweh has given me shall become signs and portents in Israel on behalf of Yahweh Sabaoth who dwells on Mount Zion (Is 8:18 NJB).
Unlike Mount Sinai, whose location is uncertain, Zion has been a known physical location within the boundaries of the ancient city of Jerusalem. The original location of Mount Zion was probably the ancient city of King David (2 Sam 5:6-9; 1 Kng 8:1; 1 Chr 11:5; 2 Chr 5:2). The entomology of the place-name Zion is allusive but may stem from the Hebrew root snn, found in the derived form sinna meaning "large shield" or "fortress," and therefore likely referred to David's fortress within the ancient city of Jerusalem. However, later the name "Zion" not only designated the Temple on Mount Moriah to the north of the city of David but also the city of Jerusalem itself (Ps 2:6; 9:11; 65:1; 147:12; Is 1:27). It was to "Zion" that Isaiah delivered his announcement of a covenant lawsuit in his lament over Jerusalem a century earlier when he cried out, The faithful city, what a harlot she has become! Zion, one full of fair judgment, where saving justice used to dwell, but now assassins! (Is 1:21).
Nevertheless, Zion's theological significance outweighs its actual location. It is not the physical site that matters but the spiritual revelation of God to His people of the Old Covenant Church (Is 51:16; Ps 149:2). Zion is the spiritual concept that shapes the identity and the future of the covenant people, because tied with Zion is the divine promise of an eternal Davidic dynasty (2 Sam 7:12-17; 1 Chr 17:11-15) which is fulfilled in Jesus the Christ. Jesus is the promised Anointed Prince (Dan 9:25-26), the descendant of David (Ez 34:23; Lk 1:32-33), and the inheritor of God the Father's Kingdom of Heaven on earth that is the New Israel and the new Zion where God is present among His people as the Immanuel, the "God-with-us" (Is 7:14; Mt 28:20). He is the king of the 5th kingdom that is eternal, promised by the prophet Daniel (Dan 2:44-45). He is the Anointed One who will rule all nations of the earth (Dan 7:13-14) and He is the stone, untouched by hand that will break away from the mountain of the old Zion to form the new Israel of the universal Zion that is the New Covenant Church.(1)
Do not miss the significance of loss of the Ark of the Covenant as the focus of worship in verse 16. Since the time the Ark was built by God's command at Mount Sinai, it was the dwelling place of God with His people (Ex 25:10-22). It is a shockingly audacious statement that the time will come when the Ark will no longer be the focus of Yahweh's worship. The Holy of Holies of the Desert Sanctuary and the Temple in Jerusalem were built to contain this most precious shrine. Twice daily, as the people worshiped in the Temple, the congregation turned toward the Holy of Holies as the incense burned on the golden altar of incense in front of the Holy of Holies and, representing the prayers of the people, floated out of the doors of the Sanctuary and ascended into Heaven. Verse 16 suggests that the entire liturgy of worship will change. Initially the Ark of the Covenant, also called the Ark of the Testimony, only contained the tablets of the Ten Commandments, but later the Ark held three objects according to the Letter to the Hebrews 9:1-4:
- It held the tablets of the covenant treaty document of the Ten Commandments, the Word of God (Ex 25:21; 40:20).
- It held Aaron's staff, a dead branch that came back to life as a sign from God to verify the authority of the first High Priest (Num 17:17-26).
- It held a pot of the manna, the bread from Heaven that fed the Israelites on the wilderness journey to the Promised Land (Ex 16:33-34).
The Ark disappeared when the Babylonians invaded Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple (see 2 Mac 2:1-8 for the account of how Jeremiah hid the Ark). The Ark that was the dwelling place of God will not be missed, because in the Messianic Age it will be replaced by a new Ark of the Covenant "The Virgin Mary "she whose womb became the dwelling place of God as she held within her:
- Jesus, the Living Word of God.
- Jesus, the Branch (Messianic title), who died and returned to life as a sign of His divine authority.
- Jesus, who is the Living Bread come down from Heaven.
Seethe chart on Mary, the Ark of the New Covanant
Jesus the Messiah feeds His covenant people in the Eucharist with His glorified Body and Blood on their journey through the wilderness of earthly life to the Promised Land of Heaven. What Jeremiah reveals in this oracle is the first of his messianic prophecies and a promise of the universal Church "the new Zion in the Messianic Age.
| Prophecy | Jeremiah reference | New Testament Fulfillment |
| The Church in the Messianic Age | Jer 3:14-17 | Mt 16:18-19; Acts 2:1-12 |
| The death of Christ, the lamb of sacrifice, and the Eucharist | Jer 11:19* | Jn 1:29; Acts 8:32; 1 Pt 1:19; Rev 5:6, Rev 5:12-13 |
| The Lord our righteousness | Jer 23:5, 6 | Jn 2:19-21; Rom 1:3-4; Eph 2:20-21; 1 Pt 2:5 |
| Will be born a king and descendant of David | Jer 30:9 | Lk 1:32-33; Jn 18:37; Rev 1:5 |
| The massacre of infants | Jer 31:15 | Mt 2:17-18 |
| The Incarnation: "something new on earth" | Jer 31:22b | Mt 1:20; Lk 1:35 |
| A New Covenant | Jer 31:31-33 | Mt 26:27-29; Mk 14:22-24; Lk 22:15-20; 1Cor 11:25; Heb 8:8-12; 10:15-17; 12:24; 13:20 |
| The Gospel of salvation and the forgiveness of sins | Jer 31:34 | Mt 26:26-28; Heb 10:16-18; Jn 2:27 |
| The coming of the Davidic Messiah | Jer 33:15-16 | Mt 1:1-17; 16:18; Mk 1:1; Lk 1:31-33; Jn 1:32-33, 41 |
| Michal E. Hunt Copyright © 2016 | ||
Jeremiah 3:19-4:1a ~ The Poem on Conversion continues
This part of the poem is continued from verse 5. In verse 19, Yahweh recalls how He singled Israel out from among the other nations of the earth, making the Israelites His "firstborn sons" among the world nations (Ex 4:22-23), as He kept His promise to their ancestor Abraham by giving them the Promised Land of Canaan (Gen 15:18-21).
Agape Bible Study
Ezekiel 29-30
Chapter 29: The Prophecies Against Egypt
Yahweh says this: Look, I shall hand Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt, over to his enemies and to those determined to kill him, just as I handed Zedekiah king of Judah over to his enemy Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was determined to kill him.
Jeremiah 44:30
In Chapters 29-32, Ezekiel receives seven oracles predicting Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Egypt and Egypt's loss of power and influence in the region. All the oracles except Oracle 3 begin with a date, and all are announced by the word-formula, "the word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows..." They all end with the announcement formula, "...they will know that I am Lord Yahweh" or "they will know that I am Yahweh" except for the allegory of the Cedar Tree in Oracle 5.
- Oracle 1, December/January 588/87 BC (29:1-16)
- Oracle 2, March/April 571 (29:17-21)
- Oracle 3, (30:1-19)
- Oracle 4, March/April 587 (30:20-26)
- Oracle 5, May/June 587 (31:1-18)
- Oracle 6, February/March 586 (32:1-16)
- Oracle 7, March/April 586 (32:17-32)
King Nebuchadnezzar invaded and plundered Egypt in 572 and again in 568 BC. Egypt never returned to her former glory, fulfilling in a very real sense Ezekiel's prophecy that it would become "the most modest of kingdoms and no longer dominate other nations" (Ez 29:15). The first oracle begins with another date which in our calendar would be December/January 588/87 BC, six months before the fall of Jerusalem and fifteen years before Nebuchadnezzar invaded Egypt.
Ezekiel 29:1-7 ~ Oracle 1 Against Egypt
The first oracle divides into three parts with each part announced by the phrase "the Lord Yahweh says this" (verses 3, 8, 13):
Part 1: Announcement of the charges against Egypt (29:1-7)
Part 2: The judgment against Egypt (29:8-12)
Part 3: The restoration of Egypt (29:13-16)
Ezekiel 29:8-12 ~ Yahweh Judgment Against Egypt
Question: Egypt's judgment is to have "the sword" sent against her. Who is "the sword"? See Ez 21:23-24.
Answer: Yahweh's sword is Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon.
As previously mentioned, Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Tyre lasted thirteen years from 586-573 BC, and it ended in a treaty. An attack by Babylonian troops took place against the Egyptian border in 572 BC with captives taken to Babylon, but it was more a test than a full-scale attack. After Nebuchadnezzar was certain that Tyre could not pose a military threat, he took his army to Egypt a second time in c. 568-67 BC during the reign of Pharaoh Amasis II who ruled from 570-526 BC (Jer 43:12-13).
Ezekiel 29:13-16 ~ Restoration of Egypt
Most scholars connect the name Pathros with an Egyptian expression meaning " Land of the South," evidently referring to Upper Egypt. Unlike the oracles against the other six nations, like Judah, the Egyptian exiles in Babylon will be restored to their land. The Egyptians, however, will not regain their former glory. Therefore, the remnant of Israel that returns to their land will not be seduced into turning to Egypt again in an alliance, nor will they be seduced into worshipping Egypt's false gods.
Ezekiel 29:17-21 ~ Oracle 2 Against Egypt
This is an oracle that is out of sequence from the others and is the last oracle of Ezekiel's prophetic ministry. The second oracle announces that Nebuchadnezzar has already taken his army to Tyre. The siege lasted from 586-573 BC and ended in a treaty. But now, in March/April 571 BC, Yahweh announces as compensation for only a partial success against Tyre (verse 18), that Nebuchadnezzar has permission to plunder Egypt.
Question: Why does Yahweh say He will give the Babylonian king victory over Egypt and its wealth? See verse 20.
Answer: Egypt is Nebuchadnezzar's reward for his action as Yahweh's agent in His judgment of Judah and her neighbors. As Yahweh's agent of divine punishment, he deserves his wages.
Chapter 30: Against Egypt ~ The Day of Yahweh
Chapter 30 has oracles 3 and 4 of Egypt's 7 judgment oracles with each oracle introduced by the phrase: The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows:
Oracle 3: Announcing Yahweh's Day of Judgment for Egypt (30:1-19)
Oracle 4: The defeat and exile of Egypt (30:20-26)
Oracle 3 divides into four parts with each part identified by the repeated phrase Yahweh says this...
Part 1 announces the coming of "the sword" in verses 1-5.
Part 2 announces the extent of territory to suffer destruction verses 6-9.
Part 3 announces the extent of bloodshed within Egypt in verses 10-12.
Part 4 announces the destruction of Egypt's pagan idols in verses 13-19.
Ezekiel 30:1-5 ~ Oracle 3, part 1: The Sword, Yahweh's Day of Judgment for Egypt
The first part of the oracle announces the day Egypt will "drink the cup of Yahweh's wrath." For Yahweh, the God of Israel, said this to me, "Take this cup of the wine of wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it; they will drink and reel and lose their wits, because of the sword I am sending among them. I took the cup from Yahweh's hand and made all the nations to whom Yahweh sent me drink it. Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, its kings and its chief men, to make them a ruin, an object of horror and derision and a curse, as is the case today): Pharaoh king of Egypt, his officials, his chief men and all his people ... (Jer 25:15-19).
4 The sword will come on Egypt... the "sword" is the army of King Nebuchadnezzar. 6 Cush, Put and Lud, all Arabia, Cub and the children of the country of the covenant will fall by the sword with them, refers to Egypt's allies and Judah's refugees living in Egypt: Cush is Nubia, Put is probably Sudan, Lud is probably modern Lybia, and Cub is unknown but considering the other peoples who are mentioned, it is probably another African nation or perhaps an Egyptian name for people descended from the Canaanites since all the name are linked to Ham son of Noah. Arabia refers to the tribal people of the Arabian Desert.
Question: Cush, Put, and Lud are named in the Table of Nations in Genesis Chapter 10. Who are their ancestral fathers? Note that Mizraim is Egypt in the list.
Answer: Cush was the eldest son of Noah's youngest son Ham and the brother of Mizraim/Egypt, Put, and Canaan, ancestor of the Canaanites. Mizraim/Egypt, the second son of Ham, was the father of Lud. Put is Ham's third son and the brother of Mizraim/Egypt, Cush, and Canaan.
Ezekiel 30:6-9 ~ Oracle 3, part 2: The Extent of Territory to Suffer Destruction
The word Migdol in Hebrew means "watchtower" and refers to one of many Egyptian military lookout posts, a string of fortresses defended the Egyptian frontier, especially along Egypt's northern border. A site called "Migdol" was on the route of the Exodus out of Egypt (Ex 14:2). Another Migdol, or perhaps the same one as mentioned in Exodus 14:2, is where the Jewish refugees who fled to Egypt lived after the fall of Jerusalem (Jer 44:1; 46:14; one of four sites).
Ezekiel 30:10-11 ~ Oracle 3, part 3: The Extent of Bloodshed within Egypt
The bloodshed within Egypt at the hands of the Babylonians and their allies will be devastating.
Ezekiel 30:13-19 ~ Oracle 3, part 4: The Destruction of Egypt's Pagan Idols
Not only will the people suffer death but Egypt's false gods will be shown to be powerless, and their temples and images will be destroyed. The oracle names seven Egyptian towns:
- Noph was the Hebrew name for the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis, located near Giza in Lower Egypt (northern). It was Egypt's ancient capital in the early dynastic, Old Kingdom period. The capital was later moved to No (Thebes) in the 16th century BC.
- Pathros means "the southern land" and refers to Upper Egypt.
- Zoan was an Egyptian city in the eastern Nile delta. Numbers 13:22 says that it was built seven years after the city Hebron in Canaan.
- Sin was a city on the eastern-most branch of the Nile.
- No was Egypt's capital in the Middle and New Kingdoms. The Greeks called it Thebes.
- On (Heliopolis to the Greeks), Iunu or Onu ("Pillar City") to the Egyptians was one of the most ancient Egyptian cities and the center of worship for the sun god, Re. Joseph son of Jacob-Israel married the daughter of the high priest of On (Gen 41:45).
- Tahpanhes was a northern border post in Egypt and a prominent city (Jer 2:16). It was one of the cities where the Jewish refugees fled after the assassination of the Babylonian governor of Judah and where they settled (Jer 43:7-9; 44:1). Jeremiah was forced to accompany the refugees to Tahpanhes. At God's command, he buried stones in the ground there as a symbolic threat against Egypt in his prophecy concerning the Babylonian invasion. The stones were to be the foundation for Nebuchadnezzar's throne (Jer 43:9-13).
Ezekiel 30:20-26 ~ Oracle 4 Against Egypt
The date is March/April 587. Jerusalem fell in the eleventh (or twelfth year in the LX) year, in the fourth month, on the ninth day. As we count, it is three months until the siege ends and Jerusalem falls to the Babylonians. Pharaoh's sword arm is broken because his attempt to break the siege of Jerusalem was a failure (Jer 37:5-8). The judgment is defeat and exile for the Egyptians. When the Babylonians disperse and scatter them "among the nations," then they will know that Israel's God is the only true God because their gods couldn't save them and the oracles of Yahweh's prophets came to fulfillment.
DAY 226 Peter’s Denials
CHALLENGE: “The Gospels contradict one another regarding Peter’s three denials: (1) Mark has the cock crowing twice, but the other Gospels only once; (2) the dialogue used by Peter and his accusers differs; and (3) the people making the accusations are different.”
DEFENSE: None of these involve contradictions.
First, roosters crow multiple times at every dawn. Mark 14:72 mentions the second crowing specifically, and the others streamline the account for simplicity (see Day 37).
Second, no transcriptionist was present, and the dialogue is based on Peter and John’s memories (they being the only disciples present). It involves normal paraphrase and reconstruction within the limits of verbal approximation in ancient documents (see Day 258).
Third, although an ancient author would have been within his rights to simply reconstruct the accusations prompting the three denials—which are what would have been principally remembered—the Gospels recount details indicating eyewitnesses’ memories.
Thus all four Gospels state Peter’s first denial occurred after he was accused by a female servant, and John indicates it was the one who kept the door (Matt. 26:69; Mark 14:66–67; Luke 22:56; John 18:17).
Peter’s second denial was prompted by a group accusation. John says “they” made it (John 18:25), while Mark mentions that “the maid” (apparently the first maid) identified Peter “to the bystanders” (Mark 14:69) and Matthew mentions “another maid” spoke “to the bystanders” (Matt. 26:71), one of whom—a man—accused Peter more directly (Luke 22:58).
Peter’s third denial was also prompted by a group, which Matthew and Mark describe as “the bystanders” (Matt. 26:73; Mark 14:70). Luke indicates another person—again a man—accused Peter more directly (Luke 22:59–60), and John indicates it was “one of the servants of the high priest, a kins- man of the man whose ear Peter had cut off” (John 18:26).
Only the first denial is preceded by an accusation by a single person (the door maid), and as the idea begins to spread through the group, the latter two denials are preceded by accusations that at least two of the Gospels say involved groups (Matthew, Mark, and John in the case of the second denial and Matthew and Mark in the case of the third).
We thus see evidence that a real historical event is being recounted in keeping with the literary conventions of the time.
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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