Please skim through Chapters 31-44 of Jeremiah, then go back and read more closely three or four chapters that seem to you particularly interesting. What do you see in these chapters that shows Jeremiah's message to be a burden. Is there anything here to suggest why that burden is worth bearing?
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Jeremiah--Discussion II
Please skim through Chapters 31-44 of Jeremiah, then go back and read more closely three or four chapters that seem to you particularly interesting. What do you see in these chapters that shows Jeremiah's message to be a burden. Is there anything here to suggest why that burden is worth bearing?
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The way I understand it, one of biggest factors in making Jeremiah's message a burden would be the people refusing to listen to anything he has to say. (As in Chapter 32, Verse 33- "And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.")
ReplyDeleteSecondly, the messages Jeremiah has to relate are not positive, happy prophesies! To me, that means Jeremiah's job is especially burdensome because not only can he not run away from this job or take leave of his responsibility, but it doesn't seem to be doing any good no matter how hard he tries. A front row seat to God's wrath on the people? Sounds greeaaaat. Still, God seems to remind him that while God is angry, there is always a way to redeem the people if the people choose to change their ways. They can always turn back to God and God will stop punishing them (eventually), which seems like a good enough reason to keep bearing the burden.
The way that i see that Jeremiah's messages are burdens is the fact that most of them are not particularly good ones, such as about giving up and about destruction. He is not able to give people a happy message and that makes his job difficult, because people do not want to hear that. However, his messages are worth bearing in that they need to be told. For those who do take something away, they know what is going to happen. Also it gives people a wake up call in that things need to change. When people do not listen or just simply do not care makes Jeremiah's messages really not worth bearing. People may need to hear what he has to say, but if they do not listen then his messages are not of much use. They are still worth bearing in the end.
ReplyDeleteJeremiah was called by God at an early age to carry His message of judgment and destruction to a disbelieving and disobedient people. He faithfully fulfilled his task for more than 40 years, through the reigns of five different kings. I think it would be a terrible burden to have that as a life calling and not be able to ever turn away from it, because he knew he had to be obedient to God even if his audience wasn't. In addition, instead of just being ignored or written off as "crazy," he had to deal with the burden of being actively persecuted throughout his life.
ReplyDeleteDuring the reign of Jehoiakim, God told Jeremiah to take a scroll and write on it all the words that He had spoken to him, saying, "Perhaps the people of Judah will repent when they hear again all the terrible things I have planned for them. Then I will be able to forgive their sins and wrongdoings." (36:3) Jeremiah dictated all the prophecies to Baruch, who wrote them on a scroll. Then Jeremiah told Baruch to take the scroll to the Temple and read it, since he was a prisoner. When Baruch did this, officials were alarmed and said that it should be read to the king; however they told Baruch that he and Jeremiah should both hide. As the scroll was read to King Jehoiakim, he cut off sections and threw them into the fire, until the whole scroll was burned up. Then he sent men to arrest Baruch and Jeremiah; fortunately they were hidden.
When Jeremiah started to leave the city, under the reign of King Zedekiah, he was arrested, accused of defecting to the Babylonians, flogged, imprisoned, and put in a dungeon cell. (Jeremiah 37) He finally had a chance to talk to the king and asked him what crime he had committed. The king relented and had him moved to a prison in the courtyard of the guards rather than the dungeon. Later some officials told the king that Jeremiah must die because he was a traitor and his messages of doom were undermining the morale of the army. The king agreed, saying, "Do as you like. I can't stop you." (38:5) This from a king!!!
The officials took Jeremiah from his cell and threw him into an empty cistern with a thick layer of mud at the bottom, which Jeremiah sank into, leaving him to die of starvation or exposure. Fortunately, Ebed-melech, an Ethiopian eunuch, recognized Jeremiah as a man of God and interceded on his behalf with the king, so the king (who has to be one of the most wishy-washy rulers in history) told him to pull Jeremiah out of the cistern.
Judah's leaders persecuted Jeremiah repeatedly for proclaiming God's messages. In 40 years of faithful ministry, he received no acclaim, no thanks, no friends, and no following. He was beaten, jailed, threatened, and even forced to leave his homeland for Egypt. He bore this burden courageously and faithfully.
This burden was made worth bearing because of God's faithfulness to him. Every once in a while, God would send encouragement to Jeremiah from an unlikely source, as in the case of Ebed-melech. He was also encouraged by the Recabites, whose obedience to God's instructions showed Jeremiah that there were in fact a few people beside himself who still followed God.
Also, God confided in Jeremiah concerning hope for the future. In Chapter 31 and again in Chapter 33, God promises, "Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and stars for light by night ... If this fixed order departs from before me ... then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever." To me that is so very encouraging. Even if I am doubtful that God is actually paying attention to my life, I never doubt that the sun, moon and stars will follow their appointed rounds. I'm sure that made Jeremiah's burden more bearable.
Multiple burden's are presented in these chapters of the book of Jeremiah.
ReplyDeleteFirst Chapter 34: 1-7: The message here seems hard to tell because he's warning of the captivity to come. The chapter goes on to give reason as to why we should bare the burden because the Lord has made a covenant with the kingdom of Israel and though baring the burdens the covenant will be the reward.
Chapter 35:17 "Therefore thus saith the LORD god of hosts, the Fod of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered." It's a very difficult thing to tell people that they are going be punished for their actions and it becomes a very difficult thing for Jeremiah to do. However, the burden is worth baring because he was given the gift of prophecy and ability to share the word of the Lord from his childhood. Its worth baring because in the long run the Lord will bless those who obey and follow the word of the Lord.
Overall a majority of Jeremiah's messages are a burden to share and become difficult for him to do so. However, in the long run they are always worth baring because the Lord has a plan and is going to reward those who do the right thing and go through the struggles they are faced with.
Jeremiah 36--this is a story of God telling Jeremiah to write down everything that I have told you would happen if my people disobeyed me. Baruch wrote down all that Jeremiah could remember. This is a daunting task in it self. To remember every detail that you have foretold about is hard. Baruch then read it in the temple. Reminding everyone of the bad things that will be fall you if you fail to take heed, is not going to be receive as something good. Finally the scroll and its message is read by the king. He proceeds to cut the scroll and burn the paper. God tells Jeremiah to write it again this time with a prediction to King Jehoiakim. Here he tells the king that his family is doomed because of his callus treatment of the previous scroll. Nothing that Jeremiah has to tell the people is great news. The only great news is that if you do what God has told you there is still some hope. In all of this, the best and greatest reason to do this is to help the people of God get on the right track. The saving of people's lives is worth the burden that one must bear.
ReplyDeleteThere are several burdens we see in the book of Jeremiah. One of these burdens occur when God commands Jeremiah to buy a field. This proves to be a burden for Jeremiah because, not only is he confined in a courtyard, but he is also forced to do business with the people that put him there. The burden gets heavier when God asks Jeremiah to write down everything he had every told him. If plunging into the depths of one's memory wasn't hard enough, his scroll was eventually destroyed by Jehoiakim. Afterward, God asks him to write everything down yet again!
ReplyDeleteHowever, despite all of this pessimism, God brings out a gleam of hope in chapter 29 verse 11: "'For 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.'" This tells us that no matter what is happening in our lives, it isn't that God allows bad things to happen, it's that he promises to be there for us when they do happen.
After reading Jeremiah, I found that his message is a great burden to himself. First of all, he has to deal with constantly being singled out. People go to him to hear a message from God. However, they get angry when he says something that they do not want to hear. Furthermore, he has to deal with the burden of watching nations fall apart. A great example of this is in Jeremiah 42-43. They ask Jeremiah to pray to God about them moving to Egypt.God tells them that if they leave and go there, they will die by famine and their lives will greatly change for the worse. They are angered by this and call Jeremiah a lair. Jeremiah is forced to stand by, knowing that their nation would go to ruins. However, this burden is worth bearing. He shows that good will come in the future, especially through his prophecy of the Messiah. Life can be difficult for him, he proves that there will be a light at the end of the tunnel.
ReplyDeleteIn Jeremiah 31-44 I guess knowing rewards are coming is a burden worth carrying. Even though Israel has defied Gods wishes and laws he still cares. Giving them more and more chances. Especially when God will rewrite the agreement he made with pervious people. like Abraham and Moses. It says in 31:33 " Here is the new agreement that I the Lord will make with the people of Israel: I will rewrite my laws on their hearts and minds. I will be their God and they will be my people." How many chances do you give a people that keeps defying you? Maybe it is time to find some people that truly will worship you as a hole. Maybe that's why in 31:41 the Lords said "No longer will they have to teach one another to obey me I the Lord promise that all of them will obey me ordinary people and rulers alike. I will forgive their sins and forget the evil thing they have done. Is this a prelude to Jesus coming and trying to save all of mankind. Israel is lucky that God does not give up on them. They have received plenty of chances and yet he tries to teach them by punishing them they stray and rewarding them when they are good. So knowing what lies ahead the burdens are worth having for Jeremiah.
ReplyDeleteWhat more can I add here? As others had posted, this message is an incredible burden. Comfort hit the nail right on the head when she listed all of his own personal hardships. With all of that, why would a man keep preaching? As they say, every cloud has a silver lining, and the silver lining here is that God is giving His people a chance to redeem themselves. As written in Jeremiah 50:5, "They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces towards it. They will come and bind themselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten." That promise is what makes the burden worth bearing.
ReplyDeleteJeremiah 31:31 "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah." I think that this verse says a lot. The Jewish covenant was very important to the Hebrews and the fact that God would make a new covenant says that what he's having Jeremiah do is very important. God is basically saying I'm going to change the relationship between my people and your the mouthpiece. This had to give Jeremiah some hope that he was doing the right thing.
ReplyDeleteAs I see it Jeremiah is the prophet of many burdens. He is given the task to tell Israel of every impending doom that will come within the next few years. He is the messenger that no one wants to listen too. His burden is not what he carries in the message it is that no one is willing to listen. They think that he is crazy to bring such bad news on such a prosperous time. They think that their sinful way of life is going to work out for them, but it is not. God is not happy and Jeremiah is there to give the message to the people. His burden is that he is going to be hated by the people who should be listening to him about what is coming. He is only there to give advice on what they should do, and stop their sinful ways.
ReplyDelete-Liz Matson
I think the main reason the messages of Jeremiah were a burden was because of how negative they were. They weren't positive messages, but they needed to be said to save the people in the long run. This is why they were worth bearing in my eyes. Jeremiah is saddled with delivering these horrible messages to everyone and knowing that in the future it will be better must have helped a little bit. 32:26-44 explains of all the wrongdoings the people of Israel and Judah had done, but then ends with saying that even that God still had plans to restore their fortunes. That is what makes it worth bearing.
ReplyDeleteI think the biggest burden for Jeremiah was the bad news he was sent to tell people. Nobody like the giver of bad news, and always having that role would be hard. Personally I find it hard to give people bad news myself, as you don't always know how they will react. It is also very hard for a person when they feel they are going through things in life alone. Jeremiah was not married and didn't have anyone to really help him when things got though. I think the true hope or reason this was a burden worth bearing for Jeremiah was that he knew in his heart this is what God was calling him to do. Sometimes just having that hope is enough to make the burden worth it.
ReplyDeleteJeremiah's message becomes a burden in these chapters because of physical resistance he comes by. The people burn Jeremiah's scrolls and imprison him. Here Jeremiah learns of impending captivity by the Babylonians leading to more trouble. All the while the city of Jerusalem is under siege and the near future as well as the distant looks bleak for the Israelites.
ReplyDeleteI believe Jeremiah's burden here is because he has to tell them everything that they aren't doing right in God's eyes because they have been breaking the convents of God. What makes it worse is that they aren't listening to him at all. He is telling them that the Babylonians are coming and will in capture them and that their king will be held captive too in Babylon. Nobody wants to listen to him and they even imprison him for it. God does though say that he will forgive them though if they will turn away from their evil ways several different time like at the beginning of chapter 36. due to Gods several warnings through several other prophets and not acting this harshly he has to now in order for them to stop their evil ways because they didn't take his warnings seriously enough. that would be very burdensome.
ReplyDelete--- Abigail Miiller