Genesis 3:7, “And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed together fig leaves and made coverings for themselves.” When mankind tried to cloth himself, he chose a very rough leaf that would be very uncomfortable to wear. Our Creator, even in His anger would show His love and compassion by providing soft skins. Genesis 3:21, “And the LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them.”

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BIBLE STUDY --- BOOKS OF THE TANAKH {NEVI’IM}

BOOK OF JEREMIAH

Old Testament prophetic book, second in the canonical order of the Prophets.

AUTHOR

Few doubt that the prophet from Anathoth wrote the book of Jeremiah, yet questions persist concerning some parts, particularly chapter 52. The use of the third person cannot be used to discredit Jeremiah’s authorship, for Jeremiah used the first and third person, and even the second person, in the same context. For example, {32:6-7} reads: “Jeremiah said [third person], ‘The word of Adonai came to me: [first person] … your uncle will come to you [second person]’”. The problem of the passage of time provides the strongest argument against the Jeremian authorship of chapter 52. Jeremiah was born about 657 BC. Evil-Merodach released Jehoiachin {52:31} about 95 years later. Jeremiah 52:33 summarizes the continuation of events beyond this time. The problem of location also argues against Jeremian authorship, for Jeremiah took up residence in Egypt {43:6-7} while Jehoiachin dwelt in Babylon. Note also that Jeremiah concludes his writing with chapter 51, making chapter 52 a true editorial appendix. Since chapter 52 parallels 2 Kings 24:18–25:30, it may be that other portions of Jeremiah that parallel sections of 2 Kings may have been written by someone other than Jeremiah. The following table shows such portions and includes harmonic passages in 2 Chronicles. The first column shows historical {chronological} sequence. The last column provides a brief condensation of content. Baruch served as the secretary for Jeremiah. The relationship between the two men apparently lasted many years; the prophet gave a word of encouragement as he blessed his helper {45:5}. According to the custom of the people, it would have been legitimated for the scribe to write some of the prophet’s messages in his own words. This would not deny inspiration.

AUTHENTICITY

That Jeremiah lived and actually wrote the major part of the book bearing his name is authenticated by numerous references in both biblical and nonbiblical sources {e.g., Daniel 9; Ecclesiasticus 49; Josephus’s Antiquities 10; Talmud: Baba Bathra}. The veracity of the historical sections of Jeremiah has abundant confirmation in contemporary biblical books and in the secular histories preserved in Babylon, Egypt, and Persia. Higher critics sought to discredit the portions of Jeremiah that were omitted by the Septuagint, or to credit passages to a later writer because of style differences {e.g., chapters 30–33} or spelling differences {as found in chapters 27–29} or linguistic problems {as in 10:11, written in Aramaic, but this may be a gloss}. Another reason for discrediting Jeremiah’s authorship is that critics dated some prophecies later than indicated in the context. This results from their requiring that predictive writing follows the record of its fulfilment. None of these reasons is sufficient cause for doubting authenticity. The Hebrew text deserves priority over the Septuagint. Aramaic contact with the Jews became commonplace during this period {cf. Ezra 4–7; Daniel 2–7} and therefore explains the presence of Aramaic. Different styles may be expected from the same writer due to differing circumstances and differing purposes. Baruch may have been inspired to write parts of this book and/or edited what Jeremiah wrote. Prediction preceding fulfilment presents no problem for believers.

THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH AND THE SEPTUAGINT

The special problems of the Septuagint translation of Jeremiah demand attention. The Septuagint translators evidently made an inaccurate translation. About 2,300 Hebrew words are omitted from the Septuagint. After chapter 23, the mistranslation, omissions, and mixed chronological order indicate confusion. However, the Dead Sea Scrolls display texts with both the Hebrew and the Septuagint order, indicating the antiquity of both editions. Both have suffered corruption at the hands of scribes and the ravages of the ages. The Septuagint evidently veers much further from the original, yet it has invaluable clues to help suggest answers to some textual problems. The most evident major shift in the Septuagint consists of the removal of chapters 46–51 of the Hebrew order, and the placement of them in the spot from which 25:13b-14 was removed. These chapters are renumbered 26–31 but are mixed and changed considerably from the order of the Hebrew Masoretic Text.

ORIGIN AND DESTINATION

After beginning his ministry in Anathoth, Jeremiah moved to Jerusalem, where he remained until he was forced to join the disobedient refugees who arrived in Egypt about 584 BC. Until the deportation of Jehoiachin {597 BC}, Jeremiah addressed his messages to the king and the people residing in Judah. Later messages addressed the same group, plus the captives in Babylon {e.g., chapter 29}. After the departure to Egypt, he addressed Jews in that land.

PURPOSE

Part of YHVH’s commission to Jeremiah stated the purpose of Jeremiah’s ministry: “Today I appoint you to stand up against nations and kingdoms. You are to uproot some and tear them down, to destroy and overthrow them. You are to build others up and plant them” {1:10}. The first four parts of the commission required that Jeremiah, appointed as a “chief governor” over nations, should wreck the existing religious and social structures by his preaching against moral and spiritual sin. Doubtless, the physical destruction caused by the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Babylonians was the accoutrement for the truth uttered by the prophet. Jeremiah is consistent in his blasts at moral and religious wickedness, his call to submit to the punishment that YHVH gives through Babylon, and his assurance that such submission will lead to blessing. When Zedekiah asks advice {38:14}, we know what Jeremiah will say. When the captains of the refugees ask if they should go to Egypt, we already know the answer {42:3}. We may also anticipate the obdurate rejection of YHVH’s message on the part of the inquiring people, who apparently want to know YHVH’s will but have no desire to obey it. Nevertheless, part of Jeremiah’s purpose focuses on the most distant future when the new Covenant will supplant the old {31:31-37}, and a transformed people bent on obedience rather than sin will receive YHVH’s promised Kingdom.

TEACHING

National sin brings national punishment. No truth blazes so clearly as this. Gentiles as well as Jews stand under the same judgment, for YHVH is not the YHVH of Israel only. Individuals are not overlooked in divine judgments on nations. YHVH sets before each the way of life and the way of death {21:8} and appeals to each to choose life {27:13}. Jeremiah illustrates human depravity by questioning if people can change their skin colour or leopards their spots {13:23}. The depths of depravity reach beyond man’s ability to measure {17:9-10}. People even love falsehood {5:30-31}. Yet YHVH promises to transform willing subjects who call on Him {33:3} by giving them a “new heart” {24:7; 32:38-41} as the climatic provision of the New Covenant {31:33-35}. The Moshiach, who accomplishes the saving work, is called Adonai our Righteousness, the King, the righteous Branch, the Branch of David {23:5-6; 33:15-16}. A future nation will be made up of individuals who accept this salvation. Passing through the night of tribulation as of travail {30:6-7}, the Jews will understand the true identity of their Moshiach, will believe and receive Him with repentant sorrow, will be cleansed {33:8}, and will be regathered from all countries {32:37} by the Omnipotent YHVH {verse 27}.

OUTLINE AND CONTENT

Though many see no logical order, a careful reading of Jeremiah will reveal a grouping on the basis of content, as suggested by the following outline:

Introduction {1}

Oracles against the Jews {2–25}

History -- Signs and Sufferings of Jeremiah BEFORE the Siege {26–29}

The Book of Hope written during the Siege {30–33}

History -- Signs and Sufferings of Jeremiah AFTER the Siege {34–45}

Oracles against the Nations {46–51}

Conclusion {52}

The prophet opens his ministry with a series of utterances against the sins of Jerusalem {2:1–3:5}, followed by similar messages {through chapter 4}, concluding with words of judgment {chapters 5–6}. The message in the temple gate {chapters 7–10} leads into the proclamation against Covenant breakers {chapters 11–13}. The lamentation over the drought {chapter 14} and subsequent miseries {chapter 15} compares with many similar expressions of grief. Jeremiah did not differ from other prophets in his use of object lessons. The rotted linen waistband {chapter 13}, the broken jug {chapter 19}, figs {chapter 24}, and ox yoke {chapters 27–28} may be supplemented by human object lessons {chapter 35}, and even the prophet himself, whose celibacy {16:1-4}, resistance to sympathetic consolation {16:5-7}, and withdrawal from feasts {16:8-9} all served to illustrate and confirm his message. Places where Jeremiah proclaimed his messages helped bear home his point. He stood in the public gate, where kings came and went, to proclaim that judgment {fire} would come through the gate {17:19, 27; 39:3}. Then he went to the potter’s house {chapter 18}, and then to Hinnom or Topath, which would be called the Valley of Slaughter {chapter 19}. The persecution suffered by Jeremiah first hinted at {1:8}, then predicted {verse 19}, expresses its venom privately from his home village {11:19-23}. The prophet’s kindred join the opposition {12:6}. Public opposition brings beatings and the stocks {20:2-3}. Jeremiah prefers to keep silent rather than to speak and suffer {verse 9}, but he cannot withhold the word that is as fire in his bones. The result: all his familiars reproached, derided, terrorized, and denounced him, then sought his death {verses 7-18}. Jeremiah escaped death at the hands of priests, prophets, and people only because he had a few faithful friends {26:8-24}. When his prophecies began to materialize, hatred mounted. He was beaten and put into a dungeon for many days {37:14-17} on a false charge. Temporary relief at the guardhouse {verse 21} lasted only a few days. Officials clamoured again for his death {38:4} and put him into a cistern, where he sank in the mire {verse 6}. His rescue {verse 10} preserved his life, but his imprisonment at the guardhouse continued {verse 28}. His writings were cut up and burned {36:23}; his words were denied and rejected {43:1-7; 44:16}. The “Book of Hope” {chapters 30–33} does contain some words of judgment {32:28-35}, and other sections of the prophecy have a few bright spots {3:11-18; 16:14-16; 23:2-8; 29:10-14}, but in a volume otherwise dark, these four chapters bring pleasant relief. The climax of hope, as indicated also in the longest New Testament quotation from Jeremiah {see Hebrews 8:8-12}, predicts a New Covenant {31:31-40}. Other prophecies also describe the end of the Mosaic Law and sacrament {e.g., 3:16}, and the New Covenant {32:40; 33:19-26}. Little is known of Jeremiah’s activity or messages from c. 594–589 BC. Zedekiah’s counsellors made clandestine plans for throwing off Babylon’s yoke by alliances with neighbour nations. A traitor may have reported the conspiracy to Babylon {perhaps Edom}. After Babylon attacked, Zedekiah sought a hopeful report from Jeremiah but did not get it. The Recabite faithfulness to the Nazarite vow {chapter 35} dates to the days of Jehoiakim but as an object lesson fits the siege context. Recabites received a human command that they obeyed; Jews received a divine command that they rejected. Recabites will be blessed {35:18-19}; Judah, judged {verses 15-17}. The reading of the scroll to Jehoiakim and his scornful rejection of it {chapter 36} illustrates the prophetic assertion {35:15} that destruction follows the rejection of YHVH’s message given through the prophets. The siege comes into focus in chapter 37 with another inquiry from Zedekiah {the nonchronological chapters 35–36 serve as an illustrative parenthesis}. Jeremiah 37:11 moves forward to the time of the lifting of the siege of 589 BC when Nebuchadnezzar drove Pharaoh Hophra’s army back to Egypt. During the reprieve, Jeremiah sought to attend a meeting of relatives to settle family matters at or near Anathoth. Perhaps the trip involved initiating the purchase that would be made two years later {32:6-15}. However, as he was leaving the city, he was arrested for desertion to the Babylonians and jailed in a dungeon cell until Zedekiah granted him privileged prisoner status. The king’s officers had ample cause for the accusation of sedition: Jeremiah had encouraged desertion {21:9; 38:2}. Traitors deserved death, and this was their verdict against Jeremiah {38:4-5}. The violence of the time encouraged the officers to select a cruel method of execution: let Jeremiah starve and bury himself in the mire at the bottom of an abandoned cistern. A sympathetic Ethiopian, Ebed-melech, made the rescue. Immediately, the unadulterated prophecies of judgment came forth again from Jeremiah’s lips, including a message to the king that reflected Jeremiah’s own recent experience: “[Your friends] have betrayed and misled you. When your feet sank in the mud, they left you to your fate” {38:22}. Jeremiah 39:1–43:7 records history from the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC to the flight into Egypt, including the liberation of Jeremiah {chapter 39}, appointment and assassination of Gedaliah {chapters 40–41}, a warning from YHVH against going to Egypt {chapter 42}, and the obdurate disobedience of the people {43:1-7}. The latest writings of Jeremiah are found in chapter 44. The audience consisted of idolatrous Jews {44:4-6} gathered from various parts of Egypt as far as Aswan {Pathros}. Jeremiah repeated the appeal of former prophets to reject false gods in favour of YHVH, but to no avail {44:15-16}. The message to Baruch {chapter 45}, written about 605 BC, is placed here to round out the main part of the book, which begins with the commission to “break down” and “pluck up” {1:10} and concludes with the same Hebrew words {45:4}. If Baruch had ambition to obtain status in the Judean court like his brother Seraiah {51:59}, he was advised that it would be useless because disaster would come, as the preceding chapters indicate. The oracles against the nations {46–51}, introduced by a title superscription {46:1}, constitute a distinct stylistic division similar to Isaiah 13–23, Ezekiel 25–32, and Amos 1:3–2:16. Some of the prophecies against foreign nations in Jeremiah carry dates that show that they were written at different points during his ministry but were collected together for the book. The prophecy against Egypt opens with a colourful description of Egypt’s expulsion from Carchemish {605 BC} after a short occupancy {Jeremiah 46:1-12}. The second message {verses 13-26} may picture the attack on Egypt in 601 BC when Neco stopped Nebuchadnezzar at the border; the attack in 589 BC when Hophra lost in his attempt to aid Zedekiah; or {most probably} the invasion of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar in 568 BC, when Babylon took advantage of the weakness of Egypt to occupy it. At that time Nebuchadnezzar set up his judgment throne as predicted {43:10} and meted out death sentences to all rebels, including those Jews who might have been implicated in anti-Babylonian conspiracies. The conclusion of the Egypt oracle repeats part of the Book of Hope {46:27-28, cf. 30:10-11}. Messages against Edom, Arabia, Phoenician cities, and Ammon generally condemn pride, cruelty, and idolatry. The oracle against Elam is unique. No other prophet speaks judgment against this people, whose dwelling east of Babylon meant rare contact with Judah. Jeremiah predicted that Elam would be doomed, then restored. Ezekiel counts Elamites among the inhabitants of Sheol {Ezekiel 32:24}. The final judgment indicates the unbiased attitude of the prophet. His messages placed him in an advantageous position with the Babylonians, who treated him with respect and kindness, in contrast to their cruelty to other Jews. But when YHVH spoke against Babylon, Jeremiah uttered YHVH’s Words without respect to his own comfort, just as he had spoken against Egypt when silence would have been logical for self-preservation. Chapter 51 concludes “the words of Jeremiah.” Chapter 52 repeats historical facts previously stated prophetically by Jeremiah, and partially recorded also as history in chapter 39 {cf. 2 Kings 25 and 2 Chronicles 36}. The editor of Jeremiah evidently desired to climax the book with a historical confirmation of Jeremiah’s prophecy, but he included facts beyond those contained elsewhere.

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Thought for Today: Sunday October 26

Unfortunately, worry is an ingrained habit for most of us. But because we are YHVH’s children, He is responsible for our welfare. That is why you should be “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” {1 Peter 5:7}. In other words, let YHVH do the worrying! He says: “I’ll take the burden – don’t give it a thought – leave it to Me” Never forget: YHVH is bigger than your problems. Whatever worries press upon you today, put them in YHVH’s hands – and leave them there.

Just this past week, a double rainbow as we were reading Torah portion: Noah!