Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 794. Bible Study: Jeremiah 35 and 36 (What does God essentially want from Us? What do we do with warnings?)

Transcript

794. Bible Study: Jeremiah 35 and 36 (What does God essentially want from Us? What do we do with warnings?) · Faith by annm2705

0:00
Today we're covering chapter 35 of Jeremiah.
0:05
Dear Lord, please be with us as we read through the scripture
0:10
and let the Holy Spirit give us wisdom and insight.
0:13
We ask this in Jesus name, Amen. This is the word that came.
0:21
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord during
0:23
the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah King of Judah.
0:28
Go to the Rechabite family and invite them to come to one of
0:32
the side rooms of the House of the Lord and give them wine to
0:36
drink. So I went.
0:38
So I went to get Jayazzani, son of Jeremiah, the son of
0:45
Habazzaniah and his brothers, and all his sons, the whole
0:49
family of the Rechabites. I brought them into the House of
0:53
the Lord, into the room of the sons of Hanan, son of IG Delia,
0:59
the man of God. It was next to the room of the
1:03
officials which was over that of Messiah, son of Shalom the
1:08
doorkeeper. Then I set bowls of wine and
1:12
some cups before the Rakabites and said to them, Drink some
1:16
wine. But they replied, We do not
1:20
drink wine because our forefather Jehonadab, son of
1:24
Rikab gave us this command. Neither you nor your descendants
1:29
must ever drink wine. Also, you must never build
1:34
houses, sow seed, or plant vineyards.
1:37
You must never have any of these things, but must always live in
1:42
tents. Then you will live a long time
1:45
in the land where you are nomads.
1:48
We have obeyed everything our forefather Jehonidab, son of
1:52
Rakab, commanded us. Neither we, nor our wives, nor
1:57
our sons and daughters have ever drunk wine, or built houses to
2:02
live in, or had vineyards, fields, or crops.
2:05
We have lived in tents and have fully obeyed everything our
2:09
forefather Jehonidab commanded us.
2:12
But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, invaded this land, we
2:17
said, come, we must go to Jerusalem to escape the
2:20
Babylonian and Armenian armies. So we have remained in
2:25
Jerusalem. Then the word of the Lord came
2:29
to Jeremiah, saying, This is what the Lord Almighty, the God
2:34
of Israel says. Go and tell the people of Judah
2:37
and those living in Jerusalem. Will you not learn a lesson and
2:41
obey my words, Declares the Lord.
2:44
Jehonidab son of Ricob ordered his descendants not to drink
2:48
wine, and this command has been kept to this day.
2:52
They do not drink wine because they obey their forefathers
2:56
command. But I have spoken to you again
3:00
and again. Yet you have not obeyed me again
3:04
and again. I sent all my servants, the
3:07
prophets, to you. They said each of you must turn
3:12
from your wicked ways and reform your actions.
3:16
Do not follow other gods to serve them.
3:20
Then you will live in the land I have given you and your
3:24
ancestors. But you have not paid attention
3:27
or listened to me. The descendants of Jehonadeb,
3:30
son of Rakab have carried out the command of their for their
3:35
forefather gave them. But these people have not obeyed
3:39
me. Therefore, this is what the Lord
3:41
God Almighty, the God of Israel, says.
3:44
Listen, I am going to bring on Judah and on everyone living in
3:50
Jerusalem. Every disaster I pronounced
3:53
against them. I spoke to them, but they did
3:57
not listen. I called to them, but they did
4:00
not answer. Then Jeremiah said to the family
4:03
of Recobites, This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel
4:07
says. You have obeyed the command of
4:10
your forefather Jehonidab, and have followed all his
4:14
instructions and have done everything he ordered.
4:17
Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel
4:20
says. Jehonidab, son of Rikub, will
4:23
never fail to have a descendant to serve me.
4:28
And that's the end of chapter 35.
4:31
And so this is a really short one.
4:33
I'll go through the questions and answers and we might cover
4:35
chapter 36 as well. So it says, is this chapter out
4:40
of sequence? It's true that the events of
4:42
chapter 35 occurred before those in chapter 34.
4:46
Jehoa Kim was king from Six O 9 to 598 BC Jehoa Chin was then
4:52
king for three months, and Zedekiah was king from 597 to
4:57
586 BC. Throughout the book of Jeremiah
5:01
the sequence of events is difficult to reconstruct.
5:04
The writers and editors of the Hebrew Scriptures were not as
5:07
concerned about chronology as we are today.
5:11
They were more concerned about the message.
5:13
Sometimes they used events as a literary device by arranging
5:17
narratives with the most important events first or by
5:21
placing the most important event last.
5:25
There is no right or wrong way, just different cultural methods.
5:28
It might help us to view this chapter as a flashback.
5:33
Why did Jahonadab make these unusual rules?
5:37
Some think Jahonadab, who lived nearly 250 years before
5:42
Jeremiah, intended only that his descendants preserve the nomadic
5:46
lifestyle. They were to live in tents, not
5:48
houses. They were to travel with their
5:50
livestock, not plant and care for gardens.
5:53
Perhaps he thought the allure of wine would cause his descendants
5:58
to settle down and plant vineyards.
6:01
Why were the Recabites so faithful to their forefather?
6:06
They probably recognized the wisdom of Jehonadev's consul.
6:10
Their nomadic traditions helped them survive in dry climate,
6:14
where raising crops on scarce rainfall was risky business.
6:18
The lack of water kept them moving, searching for pasture
6:22
for their flocks. As nomads, they lived in tents
6:25
and lacked many typical elements of other societies, so their
6:29
traditions became the primary glue that held them together.
6:33
By contrast, the people of Judah had less respect for God's
6:37
written law than the Reckabites had for human traditions.
6:43
How could God guarantee that Jehonadab's descendants would
6:46
remain faithful? Many of God's promises that seem
6:50
absolute actually have unspoken conditions attached to them.
6:55
The promises are fulfilled when the people obey God.
6:59
With that in mind, it's significant to note that in
7:02
order to worship the Lord, Jehonidab, who is not a Jew, had
7:07
to convert from paganism. The God of Israel was not
7:11
Israel's exclusive property. Still, it's UN.
7:15
It's likely that the fortunes of the recobides were hinged to the
7:22
fortunes of Judah. When Judah was destroyed, the
7:25
recobites were also decimated. But as he had promised Israel,
7:31
God promised the recobites that they too would have a surviving
7:35
remnant. And that's the end of the
7:38
chapter. So in chapter 35, the things
7:41
that stood out to me was just the, the obedience and God's
7:44
consistently coming to call people through other people,
7:50
through his prophets, through the servants, he is going back
7:53
to Judah. And I believe God does the same
7:56
thing to us. He puts people in our paths.
7:59
And when there's somebody, a godly person that is in our path
8:04
and you know, hasn't effect on our life, I believe God has put
8:09
that person there because he does these kinds of things with
8:12
people and, and they could have different purposes.
8:16
They could be encouragement, they could be a warning, they
8:20
could there's just a lot of different things.
8:22
But if it's a godly person, a person who shows the fruit of
8:26
the Spirit that they actually have the Holy Spirit residing
8:29
within them, that's when it's, it's interesting just to see
8:34
what, you know, pay attention to what people say and but also
8:38
make sure that you're looking to how they live, because people
8:42
can call themselves Christians, but not live like a Christian.
8:45
And at that point, they're probably a baby Christian or
8:50
just maybe fooling themselves. But you know, it's like if
8:53
somebody is surrendered to God, then you could you can tell by
8:58
the way they live. And, and it's very important as
9:02
we can see here that God wants us to obey him and turn from
9:08
wicked ways and reform your actions.
9:10
That's what he keeps telling everybody.
9:13
So just things that I noticed in the chapter 35 of Jeremiah.
9:19
So I'll go into chapter 36 and we'll see how far we get.
9:23
So Jehoiah Kim burns Jeremiah scroll.
9:26
In the fourth year of Jehoiah Kim, son of Josiah, king of
9:30
Judah, the word came to Jeremiah from the Lord.
9:33
Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to
9:36
you concerning Israel, Judah, and all the other nations from
9:42
the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiah till now.
9:47
Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan
9:50
to inflict on them, they will each turn from their wicked
9:54
ways. Then I will forgive their
9:57
wickedness and their sin. So I think this is important for
10:00
us too, to pay attention to the verse 3.
10:05
It's perhaps when they hear. So there is something good about
10:09
knowing what is to come, knowing about judgment, knowing in our
10:14
day about the return of Jesus, that there is something that we
10:18
would have. The wrath of God is going to
10:23
come upon all those who are unrepentant.
10:27
God is the same God as he's been in all time.
10:31
He doesn't change. And he is a God of love, but he
10:35
is also a God of justice. And that's where this
10:37
reconciliation comes about, because he will eliminate
10:43
wickedness before his Kingdom is here on earth.
10:47
Wickedness will not live in God's Kingdom.
10:50
And we are in that transitional point.
10:55
The earth, I think, is really just like a testing ground for
10:58
us. And then when the day comes,
11:03
when Jesus returns, there's going to be a transitional
11:06
period and then we'll be final eternity.
11:10
But anyway, there's a consistent message, there's there's a
11:15
warning. And these were all written down
11:17
from these early prophets in the, you know, BC time frame.
11:22
Like almost I think Isaiah was, I don't know if he was the first
11:25
one that was a prophet, but it goes back to like the seven
11:29
hundreds BC. So for thousands of years all of
11:33
us have been warned through the Bible, through the written words
11:36
of Scripture about what will come someday when Jesus returns.
11:42
And This is why God, apparently This is why God tells us these
11:49
things because he says perhaps so he he works all things for
11:55
the good of those who love him. So when He lets us know about
11:59
what's coming, He's hoping that we will listen and we will do
12:06
something about it. So that's what Scripture really,
12:10
what God wants of us for our own good.
12:13
Like He has blessings in store. He has blessings for us.
12:17
I know I just spoke about disasters, but He has blessings
12:20
ultimately in His Kingdom. And that's where He wants us to
12:23
be. He doesn't want us to experience
12:25
the wrath, but if we persist in rebelling against him, we will
12:30
get wrath because God has to be just.
12:35
He has to abide by the laws that he made.
12:40
So here's what he said about the people of Judah.
12:43
He said perhaps when they hear about this, they will turn away.
12:49
They will turn from their wicked ways and then what comes next?
12:53
It says, then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin.
12:58
God Forgives. He is so merciful, like He's.
13:01
It's like having a test coming up and God's giving us all the
13:07
answers, all the clues, and we just have to prepare for the
13:12
test. And that's what He's doing
13:14
today. He is giving us all the
13:16
information that we need to prepare for the return of Jesus
13:22
and, and the same thing holds true today.
13:28
He wants us to turn to him. He wants us to turn away from
13:30
wickedness, from sin, from thing What separates us from God.
13:35
He just wants a loving relationship with us.
13:37
Ultimately, it's it's not about control.
13:40
God's never about control. He gives us free will, He allows
13:44
us to do what we want to do, but He encourages us to do the right
13:50
thing, to do what He calls us to do.
13:53
So going back to Scripture, verse 4.
13:55
So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and while Jeremiah
13:59
dictated all the words the Lord had spoken to him, Baruch wrote
14:04
them on the scroll. Then Jeremiah told Baruch, I am
14:07
restricted. I am not allowed to go to the
14:10
Lord's temple. So you go to the House of the
14:13
Lord on the day of fasting and read to the people from the
14:17
scroll the words of the Lord that you wrote as I dictated.
14:21
Read them to all the people of Judah who come in from their
14:25
towns. Perhaps they will bring their
14:27
petition before the Lord and will each turn from their wicked
14:32
ways. For the anger and the wrath
14:35
pronounced against this people by the Lord are great.
14:39
So Jeremiah is using Baruch to get the message to the people,
14:43
because he can't go to the temple.
14:46
So Baruch son of Niriyad, did everything Jeremiah the prophet
14:50
told him to do at the Lord's temple.
14:53
He read the words of the Lord from the scroll in the ninth
14:56
month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim's son of Josiah, king
15:01
of Judah, a time of fasting before the Lord was proclaimed
15:06
for all the people in Jerusalem and those who had come from the
15:10
towns of Judah. From the room of Gamaria son of
15:16
Shap Han, the secretary, who was in the upper courtyard at the
15:22
entrance of the new gate of the Temple, Baruch read to all the
15:26
people at the Lord's temple the words of Jeremiah from the
15:30
scroll. When Mikaya son of Gemaria, the
15:35
son of Chapin, heard all the words of the Lord from the
15:39
scroll, he went down to the secretary's room in the royal
15:42
palace, where all the officials were sitting.
15:45
Elishima the secretary, Delalia son of Shamaya, Elman son son of
15:54
Akbar, Gamaria son of Chapin, Zedekiah son of Hananiah and all
16:02
the other officials. After Mikaya told them
16:06
everything he had heard Baruch read to the people of the
16:09
scroll. All the officials sent Jehouti
16:13
son of Nathania the son of Shalimaya the son of Cushy to
16:19
say to Baruch, Bring the scroll from which you have read to the
16:24
people and come. So Baruch son of Neriaya went to
16:28
them with the scroll in his hand.
16:29
They said to him, Sit down please and read to us.
16:33
So Baruch read it to them. When they all heard the words,
16:36
they looked at each other in fear and said to Baruch, We must
16:41
report all these words to the king.
16:44
Then they asked Baruch, Tell us, how did you come to write all
16:48
this? Did Jeremiah dictate it?
16:51
Yes, Baruch replied. He dictated all these words to
16:54
me and I wrote them in ink on the scroll.
16:58
Then the official said to Baruch, You and Jeremiah, go and
17:02
hide, don't let anyone know where you are.
17:05
After they put the scroll in the room of Ilishima the secretary,
17:10
they went to the king in the courtyard and reported
17:12
everything to him. The king sent Djehudi to get the
17:16
scroll and Djehudi brought from the room of Ilishima the
17:21
secretary and read it to the king and all the officials
17:24
standing beside him. It was the 9th month when the
17:27
king was sitting in the winter apartment with a fire burning in
17:31
the firepot in front of him. Whenever Djehudi had read 3 or 4
17:38
columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe's
17:43
knife and threw them into the firepot until the entire scroll
17:48
was burned in the fire. The king and all his attendants
17:52
who heard these words showed No Fear nor did they tear their
17:57
clothes. So this is the tearing of the
18:00
clothes is a an act of mourning back in that time.
18:05
And so they had No Fear of God. They weren't mourning.
18:08
They just were throwing away the words that were on the scroll
18:14
back to scripture. Even though El, Nathan, Dilaia
18:22
and Gemaria urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not
18:26
listen to them. Instead, the king commanded
18:29
Jeremiah, a son of the king, Soraya son of Azrael, and Sheila
18:37
Maya son of Abdil, to arrest Baruch.
18:41
The scribe and Jeremiah listen to this though, but the Lord had
18:47
hidden them, so pay attention to that.
18:52
The Lord spoke to Jeremiah, He told Baruch about it.
18:57
Baruch wrote it down, went into the temple because Jeremiah
19:01
couldn't go to give the words. Ultimately, God's trying to save
19:05
the people of Judah. He said over and over again,
19:09
perhaps they will hear these words and turn from their wicked
19:13
ways and repent and I will forgive them.
19:15
That's what God wants. He wants to forgive, but every
19:19
time the word comes about what's going to happen, people just
19:22
ignore and they burn it. The king, the leader of
19:27
everybody is burning it in the fire.
19:28
He doesn't care. He doesn't even have a fear of
19:31
God. Nothing is moving any of these
19:34
people. And so then they are coming
19:37
after Jeremiah because they don't like what he's saying.
19:41
And Baruch, but it says, but the Lord had hidden them.
19:47
That's in verse 26 of chapter 36, the very last line there.
19:52
But the Lord had hidden them. Look at what God can do, you
19:57
know, like people would know, you would think in the city,
20:00
like where to find these people. But the Lord sometimes creates
20:04
confusion among people He protects.
20:07
He may have angels that protect. Somehow God made it to where
20:12
these people didn't find them. So after the king burned the
20:18
scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah's
20:21
dictation, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.
20:24
Take another scroll and write on it all the words that were on
20:28
the first scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah burned
20:33
up. Also tell Jehoiakim, king of
20:36
Judah, This is what the Lord says.
20:40
You burned that scroll and said, why did you write it on?
20:45
Why did you write on it? That the king of Babylon would
20:49
certainly come and destroy this land and wipe it, both man and
20:54
beast. Therefore this is what the Lord
20:58
says about Jehoiah Kim, king of Judah.
21:02
He will have no one to sit on the throne of David.
21:06
His body will be thrown out and exposed to the heat by day and
21:12
the frost by night. I will punish him and his
21:17
children and his descendants, and act and his attendants for
21:23
their wickedness. I will bring on them and those
21:27
living in Jerusalem and the people of Judah, every disaster
21:31
I pronounced against them because they have not listened.
21:38
I think that's really important because they have not listened.
21:44
Are we going to listen to what Scripture says?
21:46
Are we going to listen to the words of warning that the Bible
21:50
gives us about the future? God protects when he will take
21:56
care. He will provide.
21:57
He will do whatever is necessary for faithful people, faithful
22:04
and obedient people. But are we going to listen to
22:07
him? Are we going to remain in our
22:09
rebellion? Are we going to push Him away?
22:11
Are we going to ignore people who talk about him?
22:15
Those are all the things that we can apply in our life today and
22:20
it we can learn from history, learn from this.
22:23
And you can also see that you kind of get what you give.
22:28
Like Jehoiakim was in a very powerful position where he could
22:32
probably sway the people to listen, just like Josiah when he
22:35
found the the law that they had been ignoring for hundreds of
22:41
years, maybe even 1000 years, I don't know how long, but he was
22:44
he found the law in the temple. And then ever there was a great
22:48
reformation where everybody decided to are, I guess, a
22:52
revitalization or a turning to the Lord, whatever you want to
22:56
call it, revival. And all the people were, you
23:00
know, changing their ways after they found what was it written
23:05
in the law. And Josiah, who was the leader,
23:08
encouraged them to do so. Now here it is.
23:11
Jehoiakim, king of Judah is just like he doesn't care.
23:17
He's not moved, he's not worried.
23:19
He's just he's obstinate from God.
23:22
He's unrepentant. He doesn't have, he's just
23:25
ignoring the words. He's, he's just doing nothing
23:31
with it. And he could have probably saved
23:33
a lot of people if he encouraged them to follow what the Lord
23:37
says and to listen to him. But instead he just had this
23:40
very like casual attitude about it.
23:43
Eh, whatever you know, and so God's saying, just wait, what
23:48
you're going to get for that you're, you know, your body's
23:51
going to be exposed to the heat by day and the frost by night.
23:55
And he was going to God is going to punish him because they have
23:59
not listened. So in another part of Scripture,
24:04
it does talk about like Watchmen and people who notice things
24:09
that are in the Bible that are significant to our day, like
24:16
things that are prophetic that are written that seem to be
24:21
occurring today in the world. And there's a lot of people that
24:25
are noticing these things and a lot of people who are wondering,
24:29
are we really in the last days? Like we're, we're in the last
24:33
days, but the last days were started when Jesus died on the
24:37
cross. Those were the beginning of the,
24:39
if you want to call it the end times.
24:41
That was actually the beginning. But are we in the very, very
24:44
like is, are we really close to the time that Jesus is going to
24:48
return? Because these things are being
24:49
set up now, whether these things get set up slowly, gradually,
24:56
and they, you know, it takes another 50 years or so for all
25:01
of this to come into play. It may it that may happen, but
25:06
there's just feels like a really accelerated time right now of
25:13
where prophetic things that were spoken of are unfolding right
25:18
before our eyes. Like just the technology, the
25:21
explosive, how so much in the world is is changing with AI and
25:33
how things that were not possible before are possible now
25:37
because of AI. Like there could be, you know,
25:41
global surveillance on everybody.
25:43
That's the perfect way for a one world governing entity to rule
25:51
the whole world. And that's what we know is in
25:53
the in scripture at at the very end, is that there will be this
25:58
what is called the beast in revelation that will be ruling
26:02
over the whole world. And so these things are coming
26:06
into place. And, and then the whole, the
26:09
mark of the beast too, where you cannot buy or sell without this
26:12
mark. I, I mean, just the way
26:15
technology is in Sweden, they were one of the first people to
26:18
have it where they had an implant, an implant, a chip in
26:21
their hand. You can search it and find that
26:23
this has been years ago now and where they get this implant and
26:28
they can open and unlock things. And, you know, there's, there's,
26:31
they just use their hand because it's implanted in there.
26:34
So that's very similar to the technology that will be able to,
26:40
you know, you could use that kind of technology to just be
26:43
limited in buying or selling. If you don't have this implant,
26:48
you're not going to be able to do it.
26:50
So there's, you know, of course we can't say that's exactly what
26:53
it is because Scripture is prophetic.
26:57
Scripture especially is, is very broad in terms of it's open to
27:05
interpretation. So I'm not saying this is this
27:08
is it, but I'm just saying that a lot of people are noticing,
27:12
wow, this could be used to fulfill that.
27:16
And we just need to be watchful. And more importantly than being
27:21
watchful is, well, I guess that's important too, to warn
27:25
other people, but is to be right with God, to have our
27:29
relationship with God. Everyone's a Sinner.
27:32
Everyone's been in rebellion with God, and it just takes a
27:37
decision from us that we don't want to remain that way anymore.
27:41
And with the help of God, with the help of the Holy Spirit,
27:45
when we ask God for forgiveness, he forgives and he gives us the
27:48
Holy Spirit to help us to be obedient to him essentially.
27:53
And then we live by being guided by the Holy Spirit of God.
27:58
So it's, it's very simple. And it's just a matter of that
28:02
actual surrender, because that's kind of tough for people.
28:06
People don't want to give up their ways of doing things.
28:11
But when you understand that it's really for your good that
28:15
you surrender, that we surrender then, and you know what God has
28:20
planned. I always like to tell people,
28:22
read Revelation, the last two chapters of the Book of
28:25
Revelation, because that tells us what is to come in the
28:29
future. And it's only a small glimpse.
28:32
There's not a whole lot. There's additional information
28:35
within the prophetic books, which we've read some of it, but
28:41
it does talk about the thousand year millennial reign of Christ
28:45
throughout the prophecies from, you know, the BC era.
28:49
And so there is there's a little bit of information about what's
28:52
going to happen when Jesus rules on earth, but there's still a
28:54
lot that is unknown about those time periods.
28:58
But instead of us just living like this is our only existence
29:05
right now. That's not the truth.
29:08
We were created to be eternal beings by God.
29:12
The question is, are we going to live in God's presence or are we
29:16
going to eternally be separated from God's presence?
29:20
And that's what we need to make the that's the decision we need
29:25
to make today. And I wouldn't delay it because
29:29
all sorts of things can happen. Unexpected things happen a lot
29:34
with people and there's, you know, there's a point in time
29:39
where something unexpected could happen.
29:42
So the important, the most important thing is that we are
29:48
right with God. We are reconciled with God, that
29:51
we are obedient to him, that we are willing to do what he says
29:55
we should be doing. That's where we need to be.
29:58
And if we are that we just need to stay in communication with
30:01
him through talking to him regularly and and just be guided
30:07
by him, listen for him, get to know how he speaks.
30:11
Jeremiah had words coming to him, so many words that he had
30:15
to write down on a scroll. Not everybody has that kind of a
30:19
relationship with God, but God could.
30:21
There are some people today who say that they get words from
30:25
God. And I don't know if that's true
30:27
or not, but I guess if we'll just see like if whatever they
30:33
say comes true or what the words are, does it match up with
30:37
Scripture? We have to use the Bible as our
30:39
basis. Somebody who's going to say that
30:42
they had a word from God that contradicts the Bible, we can
30:45
automatically say, no, that's that's not true.
30:50
We're not going to listen to you.
30:52
The Bible clearly said it that if anyone comes to you with a
30:57
message different than what we've shared about Jesus Christ,
31:01
let them be a cursed they and they were it that was under the
31:05
heading of false prophets and that has certainly happened
31:08
today. There's various different
31:10
religions that have come out and they had this revelation.
31:16
Any religion after, you know, I guess 90 AD, that's the last
31:23
book of the Bible that was written.
31:25
Any religion that had this new revelation after 90 AD that says
31:30
something different about the Bible, be weary of it because
31:35
that is what the Bible identifies as a false prophet
31:38
and that can lead you astray. It says even if an Angel comes
31:43
and says anything. So just a word of warning.
31:48
OK, back to verse 32 of chapter 37.
31:52
So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch
31:56
son of Nera. And Jeremiah dictated Baruch
32:01
wrote it on, wrote on it all the words of the scroll that
32:05
Jehoiakim, king of Judah had burned in the fire, and many
32:09
similar words were added to them.
32:12
And that's the end of chapter 36.
32:15
So I will read the questions and answers for that chapter and
32:18
then we'll wrap that up. So in chapter 36, it says, is
32:23
God responsible for disasters? God frequently has used distrust
32:28
or calamity as a means of judgement.
32:31
But God often judges with redemption in mind.
32:35
He wants people in trouble to turn to him for help.
32:40
This does not necessarily mean that God orchestrates disasters.
32:44
Disasters can occur simply as a result of random events.
32:48
Still, even random disasters can be used by God for His purposes.
32:55
What does scribes do in Jeremiah's day?
32:57
Though much is known about scribes from Ezra's time and
33:02
following, information on earlier periods is limited,
33:05
Baruch was apparently Jeremiah's friend and assistant in his
33:09
work. Much of what he did seems to
33:11
have been secretarial or administrative work.
33:14
Baruch remained loyal to Jeremiah even when Jeremiah was
33:18
later forced to go to Egypt. How was Jeremiah restricted?
33:24
The Law of Moses didn't prescribe locking up someone as
33:27
punishment in their migrating nomadic society, some people
33:33
were occasionally banished from the camp or ostracized from the
33:36
community. But when Israel settled down in
33:39
the Promised Land, some things changed.
33:43
Prisons and new restrictions on activities or travel were
33:46
introduced. Perhaps Jeremiah was prevented
33:50
from travelling in certain areas or speaking publicly.
33:54
Other passages clearly tell us that Jeremiah was imprisoned.
34:00
Who proclaimed a fast throughout their commitment to the Lord or
34:06
through their commitment to the Lord or sorry?
34:09
Though their commitment to the Lord had been half hearted at
34:13
best, the people called out to God for help, apparently sensing
34:18
that calamity was imminent. Most likely, the temple priest
34:22
offered of. Most likely, the temple priest
34:26
officially proclaimed a fast with the backing of King
34:30
Jehoiakim. Since judgement came despite
34:33
their pleas to God, their repentance was probably more
34:38
self-serving than genuine. So it is true that God's looking
34:43
for genuine repentance, not with just our words.
34:47
We can say we're sorry, but do we really mean it to God?
34:52
Do we really want God to change our lives, to make us more
34:56
obedient to Him, to make us to guide us into what He created us
35:02
to be, and to be used by God for His purposes?
35:05
Like what? What plan did God have for our
35:07
lives? What did He want us to do?
35:09
Are we open to that? Are we willing to serve Him?
35:12
To serve others? Those are all the kinds of
35:15
questions that we can ask God. So how did all the people fit
35:20
into one room? There were probably not many who
35:24
gathered in the room to hear Baruch.
35:26
The main part of Solomon's temple was not very large.
35:30
Zerubbabel's temple after the exile was about twice as large.
35:34
Herod's was four times as large. We don't know whether Baruch
35:38
spoke from a balcony off Gemeria's room or from a
35:43
platform or lectern, but the impact of the message caused a
35:48
ripple effect effect. Many more heard it second hand
35:52
from those who had heard it from Baruch.
35:56
So how sympathetic were these officials to Jeremiah?
36:00
As in chapter 26, verses 16 through 24, the officials showed
36:06
genuine concern for Jeremiah and Baruch.
36:09
They asked Baruch to sit and read the scroll to them.
36:12
They told Baruch that he and Jeremiah should hide, probably
36:16
because they anticipated the King's response to this
36:19
prophecy. See the fate of Uriah in 26.
36:23
So sometimes when the kings didn't like the prophecies, they
36:26
would kill the people. They also urged the king not to
36:31
burn the scroll. Their ultimate fears were
36:34
realized when the king demanded the arrest of Baruch and
36:38
Jeremiah. What were a winter apartment and
36:43
a fire pot? Winter in Jerusalem can be cold
36:46
enough for snow to fall occasionally.
36:49
Ancient construction lacked adequate heating, so people in
36:53
large houses typically lived in the largest room that was best
36:58
protected from the cold. For heat they burned wood or
37:02
perhaps charcoal and fire pots, which were similar to pot
37:07
bellied stoves but without chimneys.
37:09
Fire pots have been may have been open on top.
37:16
What was a scribe's knife? Besides ink, parchment, and
37:20
quills, large feathers, knives were an essential part of a
37:24
scribe's supplies. Scribes cut the tip of a quill
37:28
at an angle to form a point, then dipped it in the ink to
37:33
write on the parchment. When the point wore down or
37:38
broke, the knife was used to cut a new point on the quill.
37:42
And that's the end of the questions and answers for
37:46
chapter 36. I hope you come back for chapter
37:49
37.