Jeremiah
New Covenant
I. Jeremiah: An Overview
Jeremiah was a prophet in who ministered to during the Jerusalem Judah
time that led up to the Babylonian captivity.
Jeremiah accused the people of and and warned them idolatry injustice
that Babylon was coming.
Jeremiah’s role as a prophet was unique because of its dual nature. He
would:
Be a prophet to and to the Judah Nations.
He would deliver a message that would uproot and tear down.
He would deliver a message that would plant and build up.
The Book of Jeremiah is unique because it is a collection of sermons,
poems, essays and that God called Jeremiah to gather.
In order to complete this task, Jeremiah hires a scribe by the name of
Baruch.
Along with compiling this information, Baruch also gathers and adds other
stories related to Jeremiah.
This unique format makes the book of Jeremiah seem like a quilt with only
the best material stitched into it.
The key ideas that link each of these sermons, poems, or essays together
is God’s and justice grace.
II. Collection 1: Jeremiah 1-24
Judah has broken the and violated the terms of the covenant Torah.
Their is actually idolatry adultery. They are guilty of prostitution,
promiscuity, and unfaithfulness.
Their leaders have abandoned the Torah and is rampant. social injustice
The widows, orphans, and immigrants are being mistreated instead of
being taken care of.
III. Jeremiah 7: An Example
Inside Jerusalem: Worship of God and sacrifice to God is practiced as is
custom.
Outside of Jerusalem: Worship of other gods and even child sacrifice is
practiced.
IV. Collection 2: Jeremiah 25
God’s is filled to overflowing and He is about to pour it out oncup of wrath
Judah.
The new King of Babylon is coming for Judah. He will take them away into
exile.
V. Collection 3: Jeremiah 26-45
Judah’s leaders reject Jeremiah and at one point kidnap him and take him
to Egypt.
Even with all of this rebellion God promises that he won’t forget His people
and will replace the with a old covenant new covenant.
VI. Collection 4: Jeremiah 46-52
God promises to judge the other nations around Judah as well - even
Babylon. Just because they are being used by God does not mean God is
endorsing their behavior.
VII. Jeremiah 31:33 – The New Covenant
“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after
those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within
them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they
will be my people.”
The word “new” in “new covenant” does not mean something that
replaces an old, worn-out predecessor. Like the way a new car replaces an
old car.
The word “new” here means “of a different kind.”
The new or different kind of something in the new covenant is made
possible by a new someone.
Jesus accomplishes the new covenant, the new relationship with God, at
the cost of his blood.
The cup of wrath that Jeremiah describes in Jeremiah 25 is the cup of
wrath that Jesus drank on our behalf.
In incomprehensible and God sovereignly decided to do what love mercy,
we could not: be for us and pay our outstanding debts. faithful
God would, in effect, become both relationship partners. Instead of a
relationship between God and man, it would be a relationship between
God and the God-man, Jesus Christ.
VIII. Jeremiah 29:11 – The plans I Have for You
What does the exile and the new covenant have to do with Jeremiah
29:11?
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. They are plans “
for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah is addressing the nation of This is a promise to a nation Judah.
and not to any one individual.
The “disaster” Jeremiah is referring to is The people of God were exile.
about to go into 70 years of bondage and slavery.
“plans for good…to give you a future and a hope” is about those who
would be born in exile and their return back to Jerusalem once God’s
discipline had been accomplished. He would not leave He people in exile.
For those born in exile the “future hope” was experiencing freedom from
slavery, restoration to their homeland, and the hope promised in the new
covenant.
For Christians, the “future hope” is and the new covenant as well as Jesus
freedom from the bondage of sin in our true home – heaven.
IX. Implications
Our new covenant relationship with God is now as secure as the
faithfulness of the Son.
We are justified in doubting our relationship with God only if we can bring
ourselves to doubt Jesus’ faithfulness.
God is the one who has gone to such lengths to secure His relationship
with us.
Instead of focusing on ourselves we can focus on the joyfully freeing
relationship produced by the new covenant.
Lamentations
Comfort in The Chaos
I. Lamentations: An Overview
We don’t really know who wrote Lamentations, but tradition ascribes it to
Jeremiah.
The situation described in Lamentations fits the circumstances of
Jeremiah’s day.
All of the things God’s people had been trusting in were gone.
Jerusalem, the city of God, was gone.
The the place that symbolized God’s presence among his temple,
people, was gone.
The religious rituals were gone.
Everything was gone. Was God gone too?
In the depths of his anguish, Jeremiah clings to the one truth that gives
him hope: even though we are unfaithful, God is not. God’s love tempers
His and God’s compassion always accompanies His wrath, judgments.
II. Lamentations: The Structure
The five chapters of these laments are arranged according to the Hebrew
alphabet.
The Hebrew alphabet has letters and the number of verses of twenty-two
all five chapters is a multiple of twenty-two.
This orderly arrangement falls apart in the last chapter. Even though there
are still twenty-two verses, there is no arrangement of those verses
according to the Hebrew alphabet.
This structure emphasizes the point that the orderly world has fallen
apart.
The main question of the book is “How?” How could this have happened?
How can we survive?”
III. Lamentations: The Hope for The How
In the middle of the disorder and questions of how Jeremiah states
his hope:
“The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.”
Lamentations 3:22-23
In the midst of darkness and death, Luke sees a similar hope:
“Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is
about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and
in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.”
Luke 1:78-79
Jesus is our sunrise
For the caught in the curse of an endless night.human race:
For : caught in an endless night of sin and you and I
shame, without hope or direction.
IV. Implications
“Because of the Lord’s great love” or, in the words of the New Testament,
“[because] God so loved the world” (John 3:16), we are not abandoned to
the horrible consequences of our sins.
The one who secured our relationship with him forever also preserves and
nurtures that relationship when circumstances try to get us to doubt it.
Just because our eternal future is secure, that does not mean that our
present situation will be trouble-free. So, Jesus has sent his Spirit to
indwell each believer to give us peace and confidence even when our
worlds turn upside down.
We can take comfort in knowing that life can change, but God will not. Life
can be cruel and unfair, but God cannot. Our world may fall to pieces, but
God will still give us peace.
