Bible In One Year Day 246 (Jeremiah 32, Judith 1-2, Proverbs 16:25-26)

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Day 246:Rejoice in Doing Good

Agape Bible Study 
Jeremiah 32 

Chapter 32: Additions to the Book of Consolation

 

Chapters 32-33 are additions to Jeremiah's Book of Consolation with the same themes as those in Chapters 30-31:

1. The return of the Israelite and Judahite exiles.
2. The resettlement and restored communal life of the exiles.
3. Promises of a future new covenant for a spiritually restored people.

This section dates to the tenth and last year of the reign of King Zedekiah (reined 597-587 BC) and the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar (reined 605-562 BC). The date according to 32:1 is 587 BC, when the Babylonian siege prophesied in 34:21-22 was resumed (32:2 and 24). This section contains Object Lesson #8 and its related message. The additions to the Book of Consolation are in prose except for the Messianic prophecy in 33:15-16.

After the introduction, there are a series of six oracles in Chapter 32 with Jeremiah's prayer to Yahweh and Yahweh's answer at the center:

• Oracle #1: Judgment on Zedekiah (verses 3b-5)
• Oracle #2: Narrative and command to purchase a field (verses 6-14)
• Oracle #3: Salvation for the nation (verse 15)
• Jeremiah's prayer to Yahweh (verses 16-25)
• Yahweh's answer to Jeremiah's prayer (verses 26-27)
• Oracle #4: Judgment for the nation (verses 28-35)
• Oracle #5: Salvation for the nation and an everlasting covenant (verses 36-41)
• Oracle #6: The people and the land restored (verses 42-44)

Time line:

• The King of Judah rebelled against the Babylonians by refusing to pay the annual tribute and making a treaty with the Egyptians. In 598 BC, the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar besieged the city of Jerusalem, deposed King Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) and initiated a mass deportation of prominent and skilled Jerusalemites into exile in Babylon (2 Kng 24:8-16).
• Nebuchadnezzar made Josiah's youngest, twenty-one year old son, Mattaniah, his vassal King of Judah, changing his name to Zedekiah (2 Kng 24:17-18).
• A decade later, King Zedekiah failed to learn from the former king's mistake. He decided to abandon his allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar by forming a relationship with the Egyptians.
• In December 589 " January 588 BC, at the end of the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, Nebuchadnezzar and his army laid siege to Jerusalem.
• In 588 BC, the siege was temporarily lifted when the Egyptians sent an army to aid their ally, the King of Judah.
• After defeating the Egyptians, Nebuchadnezzar resumed his siege of Jerusalem on the 1^st of Adar (February), 587 BC.
• King Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, and the Babylonian army destroyed the city and Temple on the 9^th of Ab (July/August) in 587 BC.⁽¹⁾

Jeremiah 32:1-5 ~ King Zedekiah Imprisons Jeremiah: Oracle #1

The "word" that came to Jeremiah is the oracle that the king repeats in verses 3b-5. It is the tenth year of Zedekiah's reign when these events take place (Zedekiah ruled eleven years as the ancients counted according to Jer 3:3). The events in this section took place during Jerusalem's darkest hours in the second and final siege of Jerusalem, after Jeremiah's confinement in the Court of the Guard (Jer 37:21), and after the Egyptian army's defeat by Nebuchadnezzar.

The Egyptians coming to Zedekiah's aid forced the Babylonians to temporarily lift their first siege of Jerusalem (Jer 37:5). However, the siege resumed on the 1^st of Adar (February 24), 587 BC, after the Babylonians defeated the Egyptians (Jer 33:2, 24; 34:21-22). 

Jeremiah 32:6-15 ~ Jeremiah Buys a Field as a Symbolic Act and a Sign of Future Prosperity: Object Lesson # 8 and Oracles #2 (verses 6-14) and #3 (verse 15)

The continual attacks of the Babylonian army resulted in the burning of parts of the city and the desolation of the countryside. Amid the peoples' despair, God commands Jeremiah to buy a field of ancestral land in his hometown of Anathoth from his first-cousin in a public ceremony. Jeremiah first learns of his cousin's visit from a "word" from Yahweh which is confirmed when his cousin arrives (verse 8).

The Promised Land belonged to Yahweh and the Israelites were only tenants on the land. If a man fell into financial difficulties, it was the obligation of his nearest relative to purchase his portion of ancestral land (Lev 25:23-28). Such a man was referred to as go'el, or "kinsman redeemer," as Boaz was to Naomi and Ruth in the Book of Ruth. While it was true that the men of the tribe of Levi were not given a portion of the Promised Land after the conquest, they did receive property rights to certain Levitical towns and the right to own associated pasture lands (Lev 25:34; Num 35:1-8; Josh 21:1-8). Ancestral lands had to remain in possession of each allotted tribe (Num 18:23; 36:7; Rt 4:1-12). Jeremiah is acting as his cousin's go'el/kinsman redeemer to keep the ancestral property within the family. Both Anathoth and Jerusalem are located in the ancestral lands allotted to the tribe of Benjamin.

d as a sign that the prophet believes the people will return to claim the land.

Jeremiah 32:16-25 ~ Jeremiah's Prayer

Verses 16-25 are a prayer from Jeremiah to which Yahweh replies in verses 26-44.
Question: What is the theme of Jeremiah's prayer in verses 17-23a?
Answer: His theme is Yahweh's great works, beginning with His work in Creation, His mercy, His judgment, and continuing with a summary of Yahweh's works in Israel's history as well as Israel's unfaithfulness.

1Jeremiah 32:26-37 ~ Yahweh's Response to Jeremiah's Prayer

In His short answer to Jeremiah's prayer, Yahweh reminds Jeremiah that nothing is impossible in His divine plan; even the return of the exiled people of Judah to live in the Promised Land. Yahweh repeats Jeremiah's same statement in 32:17, affirming His complete power over all aspects of life.

Jeremiah 32:28-35 ~ Oracle #4: A Repeat of Yahweh's Judgment

Question: Who are those responsible for the coming destruction? How many different groups of people are named?
Answer: Everyone is responsible:

1. kings
2. chief men/elders
3. priests
4. prophets'
5. people of Judah
6. inhabitants of Jerusalem

Question: Instead of repenting their sins and returning to fellowship with Yahweh, what sins did the people continue to commit because they refused to repent and follow God's laws? "Horrors" refers to images of pagan gods.
Answer:

1. They worshipped pagan gods, even within the Temple.
2. They built pagan altars on high places.
3. They offered their children in sacrifice.

The reasons Yahweh lists for the destruction of Judah, Jerusalem, and the exile are the same reasons for God's divine judgment that Jeremiah has been preaching for the past 35 years. I

Jeremiah 32:36-41 ~ Oracle #5: Yahweh's Promise of a Return to the Land and a Future Eternal Covenant (Messianic Promise).

The two concluding oracles in Chapter 32 parallel the two concluding oracles in Chapter 31:

• The oracle on the New Covenant in 31:31-34 ==> The oracle on the Eternal Covenant in 32:36-41.
• The oracle on the rebuilding of Jerusalem in 31:38-40 ==> The oracle on renewed field purchases in Benjamin and Judah in 32:42-44.

Question: What does the new and eternal covenant make possible for those who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior? See 2 Pt 1:11.
Answer: The new and eternal covenant makes possible our eternal salvation in the eternal Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Prophecy	Jeremiah reference	New Testament Fulfillment
Everlasting Covenant	Jer 32:40; 50:5	Heb 13:20

Jeremiah 32:43-44 ~ Oracle #6: The People and the Land Restored

Yahweh promises that the whole of Judah will be repopulated, with people making land purchases like Jeremiah made in 32:6-15. The key phrase in the final verse, For I shall bring back their captives, Yahweh declares (verse 44) is repeated at the end of Chapter 33 (verse 26).

Judith with the Head of Holophernes, by Cristofano Allori

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A Daily Defense 

DAY 246 The God of the Gaps

CHALLENGE: “Christians use God to explain what currently can’t be explained by science (i.e. ‘the gaps’). But as scientific knowledge grows, what’s left for God shrinks to nothing.”

DEFENSE: Christians understand God as the ultimate explanation for everything, not just things science can’t presently explain.

God causes some things directly and some indirectly, using created things as secondary causes.

“The truth that God is at work in all the actions of his creatures is inseparable from faith in God the Creator. God is the first cause who operates in and through secondary causes” (CCC 308).

Scripture often attributes “actions to God without mentioning any secondary causes. This is not a ‘primitive mode of speech,’ but a profound way of recalling God’s primacy and absolute Lordship over history and the world” (CCC 304).

Science is a valuable tool for understanding secondary causation. By studying the visible, created world, we have gained a better understanding of it, and that continues to grow.

When confronted with a scientifically unexplained phenomenon in the natural world, it would be a mistake to reflexively say, “God must have done it; it’s a miracle.” It may be that further investigation will produce a scientific explanation. If so, science will have increased our understanding of how secondary causation works in God’s plan.

However, some events are genuine miracles that resist scientific explanation. These are examples of God using primary causation.

We cannot assume, without investigation or reflection, which category a phenomenon falls into.

Neither can we assume that either category is empty: We must open-mindedly allow for the possibility of both the scientifically explainable and the miraculous. To assume all events must be scientifically explainable would be just as prejudiced as assuming none are.

Regardless of whether an event is produced by primary or secondary causation, God is its ultimate explanation, at least in the sense that he created the world and allowed the event to occur as part of his providential plan. 

This is not “God of the gaps” thinking because it does not see God as explaining only those things that science can’t presently explain. Neither does it assume that something must be miraculous just because there is no known scientific explanation. It allows the open-minded exploration of both primary and secondary causation.

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