Recap

So far in Jeremiah we’ve looked at Jeremiah’s calling and accusations against Judah. The book of Jeremiah is a collection of messages and poems by the prophet Jeremiah, who was a prophet to Judah immediately before their exile. We read as God called Jeremiah to be his mouth pieces to Judah to weed out corruption and idolatry in Judah. The people would not listen to him, but his teachings would serve as a foundation for the people after they’d been exiled.

Jeremiah then started off focus on the people’s relationship with God. God had been the one who led them out of Egypt, but they quickly forgot that. The Israelites instead chose to worship other gods, essentially committing adultery against God. The same thing happened when the nation split into the two kingdoms; Israel in the north and Judah in the south. God pointed out that Deuteronomy made it clear if a man divorces his wife and she goes off with another man, she can’t then return to her first husband.

We read as Jeremiah tried to lead the people to repentance, but they would not listen. He grieved the destruction he knew was coming to Judah, likening it to decreation. Returning the land to its state before God created it. Again, Jeremiah called the people to repent, but God tells Jeremiah not to pray for them. Their opportunity to change has gone. The era of wise men is gone. It's time for the women who mourn to lead.

We saw the first few cracks for Jeremiah. He was being persecuted and sometimes it looked like wicked people are flourishing. God encouraged Jeremiah that punishment was coming. We read as Jeremiah wrestled with his job. He tried to intercede for the people again, but God told him not to. Instead, Jeremiah has to settle with being hated and mocked by the people.

As Babylon came and started taking some people into exile, God warned them that they would be in exile for seventy years. Then he would punish Babylon for its wickedness along with the other nations. Jumping back in time, we read of how, before Babylon came the first time, Jeremiah was preaching in the temple a message of repentance, warning that if the people didn't repent, the temple would be destroyed. The priests came out and want to have him killed. Some royal officials came down, heard Jeremiah's testimony, and declared him innocent. The people back down and, instead, a prophet named Uriah is killed.

Then came messages of hope. God will reunite and restore the nation of Israel. They will rejoice and flourish in their land again. God will make a new covenant with them that he will write on their hearts. As a sign of this hope, God got Jeremiah to buy some land and then to bury the deeds for the land in a jar so that the generation that comes out of exile can dig it up. 

Jeremiah 33-36

God comes to Jeremiah a second time while he is under watch with another message. He invites Jeremiah to seek him and ask him questions, because he will reveal things to Jeremiah that he didn't previously know. God acknowledges the dire situation that Judah is in. They've torn apart their houses to build siege defences against the Babylonians. But there are already so many dead that they are filling the shells of these houses with the dead bodies. There will come a time when God heals the things that are broken and restores the city. God will remove the sin and wickedness from the city and fill it with joy and celebration.

Where Jerusalem will soon be a wasteland with no one in it, God will fill it afresh with life. And in those days, God will restore to the land a king, a descendant of David, who will judge with righteousness and justice. This is to fulfil God's promise he made to David that one of his descendants will reign forever. And so God lays down the challenge. If the people can break God's agreement with the sun and moon, to rise and fall each day and night, then God will break his agreement with David. The point being just as it's impossible to stop the sun, so God will never break his promise to David.

Next, God tells Jeremiah to go speak to Zedekiah. He is to tell Zedekiah that while Jerusalem will fall to the Babylonians, Zedekiah will not be hurt. He will be taken to Babylon and continue to live his life there. A little later Zedekiah declares that all slaves should be freed, and so everyone freed their slaves. But after sometime passed, those who had freed their slaves went out and re-enslaved them. And Zedekiah did nothing to stop this.

God sends Jeremiah to challenge the people. He reminded them that it was God that brought them out of slavery to Egypt and encouraged them to be a people of liberty. And for a moment they were. They had freed their slaves. But then they turned back to their wickedness and re-enslaved those who had been set free, mocking God and his command. So God will not free them when the sword and pestilence come. He will punish all the city’s leaders, its officials, and priests, including king Zedekiah. The Babylonians had temporarily withdrawn, but God will bring them back to destroy the land.

And then we travel back in time again to the reign of Jehoiakim. God tells Jeremiah to invite the Rechabites (descendants of Rechab) into the temple to drink wine. Jeremiah does this only to find that these men have been commanded by their father not to drink wine and not to build houses. So they have been sober and lived in tents all their lives. The only reason they are currently inside the city of Jerusalem is because they figured it was safer while Babylon was attacking.

God then chimes in, holding up these men as examples. These men are committed in obeying the commands that their father has given them. And yet Judah is unwilling to obey any of the commands that God has given them. God will give Judah up for destruction, but he will continue to bless the family of Rechab for their faithfulness.

A little later, God tells Jeremiah to write down everything he has told him about the fate of Judah, Israel and all other nations. So Jeremiah summons his servant Baruch to dictate all of Jeremiah's words as he spoke them out for Baruch. Then, because Jeremiah has been banned from the temple, he sends Baruch to the temple to read everything that is on that scroll.

Baruch waited until all the people were at the temple because it was a day of fasting and then spoke out everything that God has spoken to Jeremiah. One of the king’s officials heard Baruch and decided that the king needed to hear this for himself. He asks Baruch whether the scroll he was reading from was Jeremiah's word exactly, which they were, and then he tells Baruch to hide himself and Jeremiah while he takes this scroll to read before the king.

As the king listened to these words, he demanded the bits he didn't like be cut out and destroyed in fire, until the whole scroll was destroyed. Rather than repenting for his wickedness, Jehoiakim searched for Jeremiah and Baruch to kill them, but they were too well hidden to find. God tells Jeremiah to write another scroll with the same words. He will then punish Jehoiakim for his wickedness. He will remove him and his descendants from the throne, and for a period, there will be no king in Judah.

Psalm 20

This psalm is attributed to king David and falls into the category of royal psalm. It was likely used in a service where the people pray over their king. Some believe this was in special services held just before the king would go out to battle. We see an example of such a service in 2 Chronicles 20.

Psalm 20:1-5- A prayer for the king

Psalm 20:6-8 - Our trust in God

Psalm 20:9 - A prayer for the king

The psalm launches straight into a prayer over someone. As we’ve mentioned already, the ‘you’ is likely the king. In many ways, this is less of a prayer and more of a blessing, as these words are aimed directly to the king and not to God.

The people speak God’s protection over their king, that his presence would follow the king as he leaves the temple and Jerusalem (Zion) to do battle.

As these words are being spoken, the king was likely giving sacrifices to God, so the people ask that these sacrifices be accepted by God. May God bless their leader, granting him success in all he does.

This blessing isn’t just for the king. A victory for the king is a victory for Israel, and so they ask for victory so they, too, can rejoice because God has saved them.

Having prayed for their king, the people focus on God. They recognise that their confidence isn’t in their king. It isn’t in the might of his army. It is in God’s name, for he is the one who saves and strengthens their king.

In the Hebrew, all this is in what is called the perfect tense. This gives it a sense that all these things are already completed. In other words, what they are declaring is a ‘done deal’. Other nations may trust in their armies, but the Israelites trust in God. Other nations will fall, but the Israelites will be saved.

And finally, the people turn directly to God and offer up their prayer. They ask God to save their king. And they echo their opening lines. Just as they ask that God might answer the king when he is in need, they now ask that their king may answer them when they are in need.

This psalm invites God into the needs of the people’s lives. Their situation meant that war was not uncommon. But through it all, they weren’t to trust in their own ability to get through it. They were to seek God’s help and have confidence in his ability to save them.