THROUGH THE BIBLE (Jeremiah)

By Bishop Elijah H. Hankerson III, BA, MA, DD

LESSON NOTES:

I.                  THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THE ENTIRE BIBLE. If you understand that the Bible is written to show us how humanity was created for God, fell into sin, was reconciled through Christ (who was the product of a family) and God will restore everything through His sacrifice on the Cross; then you have the message of the entire Bible.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 ¹⁷Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. ¹⁸And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. ²⁰Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. ²¹For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

                                           A.                  JESUS AND THE EARLY CHURCH TAUGHT THAT THE ENTIRE OLD TESTAMENT TEACHES ABOUT JESUS. You can preach the Gospel from ANY Old Testament book; just as well as you can the New Testament.

John 5:39-40 ³⁹You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, ⁴⁰yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

Luke 24:44-47 ⁴⁴He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." ⁴⁵Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶He told them, "This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Acts 18:24-28 ²⁴Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. ²⁵He had been instructed in the way of the LORD, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. ²⁶He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. ²⁷When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. ²⁸For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.

Acts 13:13-39

¹³ From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down. ¹⁵ After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have a word of exhortation for the people, please speak.”

¹⁶ Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: “Fellow Israelites and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me! ¹⁷ The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt; with mighty power he led them out of that country; ¹⁸ for about forty years he endured their conduct in the wilderness; ¹⁹ and he overthrew seven nations in Canaan, giving their land to his people as their inheritance. ²⁰ All this took about 450 years.

“After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. ²¹ Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years. ²² After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’

²³ “From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised. ²⁴ Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel. ²⁵ As John was completing his work, he said: ‘Who do you suppose I am? I am not the one you are looking for. But there is one coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’

²⁶ “Fellow children of Abraham and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. ²⁷ The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. ²⁸ Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. ²⁹ When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. ³⁰ But God raised him from the dead, ³¹ and for many days he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people.

³² “We tell you the good news: What God promised our ancestors ³³ he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm:

“‘You are my son;
    today I have become your father.’

³⁴ God raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay. As God has said,

“‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’

³⁵ So it is also stated elsewhere:

“‘You will not let your holy one see decay.’

³⁶ “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. ³⁷ But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.

³⁸ “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. ³⁹ Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.

II.                  THE AUTHOR OF JEREMIAH. While Jeremiah is believed to be the author; Baruch was the one that wrote everything down for the prophet.

Jeremiah 32:1 ¹This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.

Jeremiah 36:8 ⁸Baruch son of Neriah did everything Jeremiah the prophet told him to do; at the LORD's temple he read the words of the LORD from the scroll.

Jeremiah 45:1 ¹When Baruch son of Neriah wrote on a scroll the words Jeremiah the prophet dictated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, Jeremiah said this to Baruch:

III.            JEREMIAH STARTED OFF IN MINISTRY AS A PRIEST AND GOD CALLED HIM TO BE A PROPHET.

Jeremiah 1:1 ¹The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.

                         A.            JEREMIAH’S CALL TO BE PROPHET. Jeremiah’s ministry was very negative. He basically was called to tell the people that the end had come.

 

Jeremiah 1:10-19

¹⁰ See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”

¹¹ The word of the Lord came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?”

“I see the branch of an almond tree,” I replied.

¹² The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.”

¹³ The word of the Lord came to me again: “What do you see?”

“I see a pot that is boiling,” I answered. “It is tilting toward us from the north.”

¹⁴ The Lord said to me, “From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land. ¹⁵ I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms,” declares the Lord.

“Their kings will come and set up their thrones
    in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem;
they will come against all her surrounding walls
    and against all the towns of Judah.
¹⁶ I will pronounce my judgments on my people
    because of their wickedness in forsaking me,
in burning incense to other gods
    and in worshiping what their hands have made.

¹⁷ “Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. ¹⁸ Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. ¹⁹ They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.

                                                 B.            GOD LET JEREMIAH KNOW THAT HIS MINISTRY WOULD BE REJECTED AND NEVER ACCEPTED.

Jeremiah 7:27 ²⁷"When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer.

Jeremiah 15:20 ²⁰I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to rescue and save you," declares the LORD.

IV.            WHAT DOES THE NAME JEREMIAH MEAN AND WHAT IS ITS PURPOSE? His name means “the LORD exalts,” or more specifically “appointed by God.”

                         A.            THE FOCUS OF JEREMIAH’S MINISTRY WAS THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM OF JUDAH. He warned them that judgment was coming for their sins. Eventually his prophecies came to pass and Judah was conquered.

Jeremiah 1:1-3

1 The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. ² The word of the Lord came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, ³ and through the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, down to the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.

                         B.            HOW LONG WAS JEREMIAH IN MINISTRY? He was in ministry for well over 40 years.

V.                  IT WAS A HARD FORTY YEARS FOR JEREMIAH.

                         A.            NO ONE BELIEVED IN THE MESSAGES THAT HE PREACHED.

Jeremiah 17:15-18 ¹⁵They keep saying to me, "Where is the word of the LORD? Let it now be fulfilled!" ¹⁶I have not run away from being your shepherd; you know I have not desired the day of despair. What passes my lips is open before you. ¹⁷Do not be a terror to me; you are my refuge in the day of disaster. ¹⁸Let my persecutors be put to shame, but keep me from shame; let them be terrified, but keep me from terror. Bring on them the day of disaster; destroy them with double destruction.

                         B.            THERE WERE PLOTS AGAINS THIS LIFE.

Jeremiah 18:18-23 ¹⁸They said, "Come, let's make plans against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest will not cease, nor will counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophets. So come, let's attack him with our tongues and pay no attention to anything he says." ¹⁹Listen to me, LORD; hear what my accusers are saying! ²⁰Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember that I stood before you and spoke in their behalf to turn your wrath away from them. ²¹So give their children over to famine; hand them over to the power of the sword. Let their wives be made childless and widows; let their men be put to death, their young men slain by the sword in battle. ²²Let a cry be heard from their houses when you suddenly bring invaders against them, for they have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden snares for my feet. ²³But you, LORD, know all their plots to kill me. Do not forgive their crimes or blot out their sins from your sight. Let them be overthrown before you; deal with them in the time of your anger.

                         C.            HE WAS PLACED IN PRISON.

Jeremiah 32:2 ²The army of the king of Babylon was then besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace of Judah.

Jeremiah 33:1
Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying,

                         D.            HIS ARREST WAS ORDERED.

Jeremiah 36:26 ²⁶Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the LORD had hidden them.

VI.                  WHY WAS IT SO HARD? It was hard because Jeremiah’s message seemed absurd. Judah had sinned. Judgment was coming. Judah was to cooperate with the wicked nation that was going to bring judgment.

                         A.            HERE IS HOW JEREMIAH’S MESSAGE SOUNDED IN MODERN TERMS.[1]

What if some present-day preacher stood in his pulpit and persistently declared that God was on the side of the communists? That God was against America and that he was raising up the communists to be his people and his servants? That God cared nothing for the Declaration of Independence or the American Constitution or the long heritage of religious worship that our nation has had? In fact, that the things we emphasize were an offense to God?

And what if this preacher even advocated that Christians renounce their loyalty to their country and join the Communist Party? And what if the preacher -- subjected to house arrest, or flung into prison, or slapped in the face in public and his writings burned, or half-drowned in a pit of slime -- would not only stubbornly refuse to take back one word of what he had said but would only repeat it again? Well, this is something like the situation that is recorded in the book of Jeremiah. This is exactly what Jeremiah was called to do.

VII.                  JEREMIAH IS PROBABLY THE MOST EXPRESSIVE PROPHET OF HUMAN EMOTION.

                         A.            FEELING INADEQUATE.

Jeremiah 1:4-7 ⁴The word of the LORD came to me, saying, ⁵"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." ⁶"Alas, Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am too young." ⁷But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am too young.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.

                         B.            FEELING DIVINE BETRAYAL.

Jeremiah 20:7-9 ⁷You deceived me, LORD, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. ⁸Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the LORD has brought me insult and reproach all day long. ⁹But if I say, "I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name," his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.

                         C.            FEELING BROKEN.

Jeremiah 15:10 ¹⁰Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth, a man with whom the whole land strives and contends! I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me.

VIII.                  WHY IS JEREMIAH CALLED THE WEEPING PROPHET? Because he was grieved over the condition of his nation.

Jeremiah 9:1-2 ¹Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people. ²Oh, that I had in the desert a lodging place for travelers, so that I might leave my people and go away from them; for they are all adulterers, a crowd of unfaithful people.

IX.                  A HARD MINISTRY. Judah’s last hour is really the theme of this book. God was allowing judgment to purify the nation once and for all of idolatry. The nation had to be pure to produce the Messiah. It worked. While only a remnant was spared; the royal line from Adam, to Noah, to Abraham, Issac and Jacob, to Judah to David, to Solomon all the way to Jesus Christ was secured through this horrendous judgment.

             A.                        GOD’S PEOPLE ARE UNFAITHFUL (Jeremiah 2-10).

Jeremiah 3:1-5 ¹"If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, should he return to her again? Would not the land be completely defiled? But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers- would you now return to me?" declares the LORD. ²"Look up to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been ravished? By the roadside you sat waiting for lovers, sat like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness. ³Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to blush with shame. ⁴Have you not just called to me: 'My Father, my friend from my youth, ⁵will you always be angry? Will your wrath continue forever?' This is how you talk, but you do all the evil you can."

Jeremiah 5:1-2 ¹"Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city. ²Although they say, 'As surely as the LORD lives,' still they are swearing falsely."

Jeremiah 8:4-7 ⁴"Say to them, 'This is what the LORD says: "'When people fall down, do they not get up? When someone turns away, do they not return? ⁵Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return. ⁶I have listened attentively, but they do not say what is right. None of them repent of their wickedness, saying, "What have I done?" Each pursues their own course like a horse charging into battle. ⁷Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons, and the dove, the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration. But my people do not know the requirements of the LORD.

             B.                        GOD’S PEOPLE WILL BE JUDGED (JEREMIAH 11-28).

Jeremiah 14:13-16 ¹³But I said, "Alas, Sovereign LORD! The prophets keep telling them, 'You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.'" ¹⁴Then the LORD said to me, "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds. ¹⁵Therefore this is what the LORD says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, 'No sword or famine will touch this land.' Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine. ¹⁶And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them, their wives, their sons and their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.

Jeremiah 25:30-38 ³⁰"Now prophesy all these words against them and say to them: "'The LORD will roar from on high; he will thunder from his holy dwelling and roar mightily against his land. He will shout like those who tread the grapes, shout against all who live on the earth. ³¹The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth, for the LORD will bring charges against the nations; he will bring judgment on all mankind and put the wicked to the sword,'" declares the LORD. ³²This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Look! Disaster is spreading from nation to nation; a mighty storm is rising from the ends of the earth." ³³At that time those slain by the LORD will be everywhere-from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned or gathered up or buried, but will be like dung lying on the ground. ³⁴Weep and wail, you shepherds; roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock. For your time to be slaughtered has come; you will fall like the best of the rams. ³⁵The shepherds will have nowhere to flee, the leaders of the flock no place to escape. ³⁶Hear the cry of the shepherds, the wailing of the leaders of the flock, for the LORD is destroying their pasture. ³⁷The peaceful meadows will be laid waste because of the fierce anger of the LORD. ³⁸Like a lion he will leave his lair, and their land will become desolate because of the sword of the oppressor and because of the LORD's fierce anger.

             C.                        JUDAH FALLS (JEREMIAH 29-38).

Jeremiah 39:1-10

39 ¹ In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege to it. ² And on the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, the city wall was broken through. ³ Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came and took seats in the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officials of the king of Babylon. ⁴ When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled; they left the city at night by way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the two walls, and headed toward the Arabah.

⁵ But the Babylonian army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They captured him and took him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him. ⁶ There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and also killed all the nobles of Judah. ⁷ Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.

⁸ The Babylonians set fire to the royal palace and the houses of the people and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. ⁹ Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard carried into exile to Babylon the people who remained in the city, along with those who had gone over to him, and the rest of the people. ¹⁰ But Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people, who owned nothing; and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.

             D.                        THE FATE OF JEREMIAH AND HIS INTERNATIONAL PROPHETIC MINISTRY (JEREMIAH 39-52).

Jeremiah 43:4-7 ⁴So Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers and all the people disobeyed the LORD's command to stay in the land of Judah. ⁵Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers led away all the remnant of Judah who had come back to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been scattered. ⁶They also led away all those whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan-the men, the women, the children and the king's daughters. And they took Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah along with them. ⁷So they entered Egypt in disobedience to the LORD and went as far as Tahpanhes.

             E.                        JEREMIAH PROPHECIES REGARDING THE FOLLOWING NATIONS.

·                EGYPT

·                PHILISTIA

·                MOAB

·                AMMON

·                EDOM

·                DAMASCUS

·                KEDAR AND HAZOR

·                ELAM

·                BABYLON

X.                  GOD IS GOING TO RESTORE JUDAH. This is absolutely necessary, if Messiah is going to come.

Jeremiah 29:11 ¹¹For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 31:7-14 ⁷This is what the LORD says: "Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for the foremost of the nations. Make your praises heard, and say, 'LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel.' ⁸See, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor; a great throng will return. ⁹They will come with weeping; they will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble, because I am Israel's father, and Ephraim is my firstborn son. ¹⁰"Hear the word of the LORD, you nations; proclaim it in distant coastlands: 'He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.' ¹¹For the LORD will deliver Jacob and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they. ¹²They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the LORD- the grain, the new wine and the olive oil, the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more. ¹³Then young women will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow. ¹⁴I will satisfy the priests with abundance, and my people will be filled with my bounty," declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 31:31-33 ³¹"The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. ³²It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. ³³"This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

XI.                  JEREMIAH IS DEFINITELY A TYPE OF JESUS CHRIST; IN THAT HE IS TOTALLY REJECTED FOR DOING GOD’S WILL. This is the exact same situation as with Christ. He was rejected so that we could be accepted by God!

Mark 12:10

Have you not even read this Scripture:
‘The stone which the builders rejected,
This became the chief corner stone;

Matthew 8:34

And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region.

Matthew 21:42

Jesus *said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,
‘The stone which the builders rejected,
This became the chief corner stone;
This came about from the Lord,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?

Mark 6:3

Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him.

Luke 4:29

and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff.

Luke 17:25

But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

Luke 23:18

But they cried out all together, saying, “Away with this man, and release for us Barabbas!”

John 1:11

He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.

John 5:43

I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him.

VI.               PRAYER FOR SALVATION. As we close, if you have not received this Jesus pray this simple prayer:

"Father, I know that I have sinned against You. Please forgive me. Wash me clean. I promise to trust in Jesus, Your Son. I believe that He died for me—He took my sin upon Himself when He died on the cross. I believe that He was raised from the dead. I surrender my life to Jesus today.

"Thank You, Father, for Your gift of forgiveness and eternal life. Please help me to live for you. In Jesus' name, Amen."

---

[1] https://www.raystedman.org/bible-overview/adventuring/jeremiah-a-profile-of-courage. (Accessed, May 1, 2020).