Jeremiah 43: Johanan fears Babylon and flees to Egypt with all Jews that remained in the land

 In Jeremiah 43 we read how Johanan opposed Jeremiah words:

1-3 When Jeremiah finished telling all the people the whole Message that their God had sent him to give them—all these words—Azariah son of Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah, backed by all the self-important men, said to Jeremiah, “Liar! Our God never sent you with this message telling us not to go to Egypt and live there. Baruch son of Neriah is behind this. He has turned you against us. He’s playing into the hands of the Babylonians so we’ll either end up being killed or taken off to exile in Babylon.”

Johanan believes in what he wants to believe. For instance: he believed that Gedaliah would be killed, but now, he doesn't believe that the Lord told to stay and not go to Egypt because he had already decided to go to a country that seemed safe. However, the Lord says that this plan will fail. They will meet death, exile and slaughter in Egypt.

10-13 “Then address them: ‘This is what God-of-the-Angel-Armies says: Be on the lookout! I’m sending for and bringing Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon—my servant, mind you!—and he’ll set up his throne on these very stones that I’ve had buried here and he’ll spread out his canopy over them. He’ll come and absolutely smash Egypt, sending each to his assigned fate: death, exile, slaughter. He’ll burn down the temples of Egypt’s gods. He’ll either burn up the gods or haul them off as booty. Like a shepherd who picks lice from his robes, he’ll pick Egypt clean. And then he’ll walk away without a hand being laid on him. He’ll shatter the sacred obelisks at Egypt’s House of the Sun and make a huge bonfire of the temples of Egypt’s gods.’”

Jeremian 42: a case of over precaution

The wise man makes decisions so as not to have bad days, but in some cases, it is foolish to take decisions based on possible dangers that will not come true.
In Jeremiah 42, the few Jews that remained in the land fears the reaction of Babylon when they discover that Gedaliah was killed. So:

1-3 All the army officers, led by Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, accompanied by all the people, small and great, came to Jeremiah the prophet and said, “We have a request. Please listen. Pray to your God for us, what’s left of us. You can see for yourself how few we are! Pray that your God will tell us the way we should go and what we should do.”

4 Jeremiah the prophet said, “I hear your request. And I will pray to your God as you have asked. Whatever God says, I’ll pass on to you. I’ll tell you everything, holding nothing back.”

5-6 They said to Jeremiah, “Let God be our witness, a true and faithful witness against us, if we don’t do everything that your God directs you to tell us. Whether we like it or not, we’ll do it. We’ll obey whatever our God tells us. Yes, count on us. We’ll do it.”

Johanan took a very good decision that everybody should copy: He wanted to listen to the Lord's will.
After 10 days, Jeremiah came with an answer:

9-12 He then spoke: “This is the Message from God, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your prayer. He says, ‘If you are ready to stick it out in this land, I will build you up and not drag you down, I will plant you and not pull you up like a weed. I feel deep compassion on account of the doom I have visited on you. You don’t have to fear the king of Babylon. Your fears are for nothing. I’m on your side, ready to save and deliver you from anything he might do. I’ll pour mercy on you. What’s more, he will show you mercy! He’ll let you come back to your very own land.’

However Jeremiah knew that they would not listen to the message:

13-17 “But do not say, ‘We’re not staying around this place,’ refusing to obey the command of your God and saying instead, ‘No! We’re off to Egypt, where things are peaceful—no wars, no attacking armies, plenty of food. We’re going to live there.’ If what’s left of Judah is headed down that road, then listen to God’s Message. This is what God-of-the-Angel-Armies says: ‘If you have determined to go to Egypt and make that your home, then the very wars you fear will catch up with you in Egypt and the starvation you dread will track you down in Egypt. You’ll die there! Every last one of you who is determined to go to Egypt and make it your home will either be killed, starve, or get sick and die. No survivors, not one! No one will escape the doom that I’ll bring upon you.’

Jeremiah knows that they are determined to go to Egypt, so why did they ask for the Lord's will? Anyway, who do they fear more? The Lord or Babylon? As they fear more Babylon they will make the wrong decision; so we see a case of over precaution. We all fear death, but the fear of the Lord must be greater.

Jeremiah 41: Ishmael was not any Messiah but he wanted the power.

 In Jeremiah 41 we read:

1-3 But in the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, came. He had royal blood in his veins and had been one of the king’s high-ranking officers. He paid a visit to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah with ten of his men. As they were eating together, Ishmael and his ten men jumped to their feet and knocked Gedaliah down and killed him, killed the man the king of Babylon had appointed governor of the land. Ishmael also killed all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah in Mizpah, as well as the Chaldean soldiers who were stationed there.

Ishmael had royal blood and had been one of the Zedekiah's (I suppose) officers beside his connection with Amon (this is a little odd, but perhaps due to some marriage among royal families).  So, Ishmael must have considered very inappropriate that Gedaliah was in power. He and ten other men went to Mizpah and met Gedaliah who offered them a meal, but he was killed there.
Ishmael intercepted a group of 80 men heading to the temple of Jerusalem, carrying grain offerings and incense. They didn't know about the murder and Ishmael invited them to meet Gedaliah. 70 men were murdered in Mizpah, but 10 other men negotiated their lives saying that they had hidden grains to give for their lives. Ishmael had thrown the body of Gedaliah in a cistern, and used the other 70 bodies to hid Gedaliah's body. Besides, Ishmael took Zedekiah's daughters that were entrusted to the care of Gedaliah.

Johanan (who wanted to kill Ishmael in order to save Gedaliah) went with an army to Mizpah. He released Ishmael prisoners, but Ishamael flew to Amon with 8 other men (2 must have been killed). However, Johanan decided to flee to Egypt in order to avoid a retaliation from Babylon. Although he was innocent, he must found difficult to explain in details the situation to Babylon.
This narrative is the reason why Jeremiah went to Egypt as we are reading in next chapters.

Did Jeremiah go to Egypt by his own initiative? Did Jeremiah have free will to choose?

Jeremiah 40: Jeremiah is set free and decided to stay in Jerusalem

 In Jeremiah 40, Jeremiah is set free from Nebuzaradan captain of the bodyguard of Babylon.


2 The captain of the guard took Jeremiah aside and said to him, “Yahweh your Elohim threatened to bring this disaster on this place. 3 He has carried out his threat. Yahweh did as he promised because you Israelites have sinned against him and refused to obey him. That is why this has happened to you. 4 Today I’m removing the chains from your hands. If you would like to come with me to Babylon, come, and I’ll look after you. But if you don’t want to come with me to Babylon, don’t come. The whole land is yours. Go wherever you want.

If a Babylonian captain knows about Jeremiah and the prophecies, we conclude that Jeremiah was very famous in his days. After some 20 years preaching, Jeremiah certainly delivered the Lord's message to whomever wanted to listen.


5 “If you wish to remain, then go back to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon appointed to govern the cities of Judah. Live among the people with him, or go anywhere you want.” The captain of the guard gave Jeremiah some food and a present and let him go. 6 Jeremiah went to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, at Mizpah and lived with him among the people who were left in the land.

The captain told Jeremiah to go to Gedaliah who was apointed by Babylon to govern the cities of Judah. It seems that Gedaliah is Jew but not from David line.

Gedaliah wanted a peaceful govern:

9 Gedaliah, son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, swore an oath to them and their men. He said, “Don’t be afraid to serve the Babylonians. Live in this country, serve the king of Babylon, and you will prosper. 10 I’m going to live in Mizpah and represent you when the Babylonians come to us. Gather grapes, summer fruit, and olive oil, and put them in storage jars. Live in the cities you have taken over.”

A peaceful environment is basic to production:

11 Now, all the Jews who were in Moab, Ammon, Edom, and in all the other countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a few survivors in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, to govern them. 12 So all the Jews returned from all the places where they had been scattered. They came to Judah and to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They gathered a large harvest of grapes and summer fruit.

The Jews accepted Gedaliah as governor, however, the Ammonites has sent Ishmael to kill Gedaliah. Johanan knew about that and wanted to defend Gedaliah:

15 Then Johanan, Kareah’s son, secretly asked Gedaliah at Mizpah, “Let me kill Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son. No one will know about it. Why should he kill you? All the Jews who have gathered around you would scatter. What is left of Judah would disappear.”

But Gedaliah didn't believe in him,

16 Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, told Johanan, Kareah’s son, “Don’t do that! What you are saying about Ishmael is a lie.”

Jeremiah 39: end of the Davidic dinasty

 Jeremiah 39: end of the Davidic dinasty

The first year of Zedekiay was 597B (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zedekiah) , so the 9 years (v39) is 597-9 = 588 BC or 587 BC, due to 10 months. The Babylonian army broke through the walls of Jerusalem:

8-10 Meanwhile, the Babylonians burned down the royal palace, the Temple, and all the homes of the people. They leveled the walls of Jerusalem. Nebuzaradan, commander of the king’s bodyguard, rounded up everyone left in the city, along with those who had surrendered to him, and herded them off to exile in Babylon. He didn’t bother taking the few poor people who had nothing. He left them in the land of Judah to eke out a living as best they could in the vineyards and fields.

Zedekiah was the last king of Davidic dinasty. He didn't trust in Jeremiah's words, but he listened to him. He saved him but kept in prison. So, he seemed like a lot of people says things like: “No creo en brujas, pero que las hay, las hay”. It is very difficult to obey the Lord with this kind of thought.

4-7 When Zedekiah king of Judah and his remaining soldiers saw this, they ran for their lives. They slipped out at night on a path in the king’s garden through the gate between two walls and headed for the wilderness, toward the Jordan Valley. The Babylonian army chased them and caught Zedekiah in the wilderness of Jericho. They seized him and took him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the country of Hamath. Nebuchadnezzar decided his fate. The king of Babylon killed all the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah right before his eyes and then killed all the nobles of Judah. After Zedekiah had seen the slaughter, Nebuchadnezzar blinded him, chained him up, and then took him off to Babylon.

Jeremiah is released from prison and put under the care of Gedaliah - the new assigned governor for the region but with no royal (David) blood.

11-12 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave Nebuzaradan captain of the king’s bodyguard special orders regarding Jeremiah: “Look out for him. Make sure nothing bad happens to him. Give him anything he wants.”

13-14 So Nebuzaradan, chief of the king’s bodyguard, along with Nebushazban the Rabsaris, Nergal-sharezer the Rabmag, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon, sent for Jeremiah, taking him from the courtyard of the royal guards and putting him under the care of Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to be taken home. And so he was able to live with the people.

Ebed-melek, the Ethiopian, is rewarded:

15-18 Earlier, while Jeremiah was still in custody in the courtyard of the royal guards, God’s Message came to him: “Go and speak with Ebed-melek the Ethiopian. Tell him, ‘God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, says, Listen carefully: I will do exactly what I said I would do to this city—bad news, not good news. When it happens, you will be there to see it. But I’ll deliver you on that doomsday. You won’t be handed over to those men whom you have good reason to fear. Yes, I’ll most certainly save you. You won’t be killed. You’ll walk out of there safe and sound because you trusted me.’” God’s Decree.

Jeremiah 38: can a gentile be more reliable than an Jew official?

In Jeremiah 38:

1 Shaphatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashur, Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashur son of Malkijah (...)
8 ... took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malkijah the king’s son that was in the courtyard of the palace guard. They lowered him down with ropes. There wasn’t any water in the cistern, only mud. Jeremiah sank into the mud.

These Jews were afraid that Jeremiah would weak the soldiers morale, so they threw him in a cistern to let him die there. However:

7-9 Ebed-melek the Ethiopian, a court official assigned to the royal palace, heard that they had thrown Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was holding court in the Benjamin Gate, Ebed-melek went immediately from the palace to the king and said, “My master, O king—these men are committing a great crime in what they’re doing, throwing Jeremiah the prophet into the cistern and leaving him there to starve. He’s as good as dead. There isn’t a scrap of bread left in the city.”

Ebed-melek, the Ethiopian, decided to save Jeremiah; so he asked the king to intercede for him.

10 So the king ordered Ebed-melek the Ethiopian, “Get three men and pull Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”

11-12 Ebed-melek got three men and went to the palace wardrobe and got some scraps of old clothing, which they tied together and lowered down with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern. Ebed-melek the Ethiopian called down to Jeremiah, “Put these scraps of old clothing under your armpits and around the ropes.” Jeremiah did what he said.

13 And so they pulled Jeremiah up out of the cistern by the ropes. But he was still confined in the courtyard of the palace guard.
Ebed-melek saved Jeremiah's life. The king had some interest in Jeremiah's prophecies. He went to Jeremiah

The king was interested in Jeremiah's prophecies and meet him in secret. Jeremiah told the king to surrender, but the king replied:

19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “But I’m afraid of the Judeans who have already deserted to the Chaldeans. If they get hold of me, they’ll rough me up good.”

It seems that Zedekiah had enemies that were pro Babylon, but he was also afraid of the Jews who put Jeremiah in the cistern (and were against Babylon):

24-26 Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Don’t let anyone know of this conversation, if you know what’s good for you. If the government officials get wind that I’ve been talking with you, they may come and say, ‘Tell us what went on between you and the king, what you said and what he said. Hold nothing back and we won’t kill you.’ If this happens, tell them, ‘I presented my case to the king so that he wouldn’t send me back to the dungeon of Jonathan to die there.’”

27 And sure enough, all the officials came to Jeremiah and asked him. He responded as the king had instructed. So they quit asking. No one had overheard the conversation.

28 Jeremiah lived in the courtyard of the palace guards until the day that Jerusalem was captured.

Jeremiah 37: Jeremiah is arrested for treason

 Jeremiah 37: Jeremiah is arrested for treason

The Lord speaks through Jeremiah, but, did it make Jeremiah more rich or powerful? In this chapter, Jeremiah is arrested for treason. King Zedekiah ( a puppet king set on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ) is the last king before the Babylonian captivity and Jeremiah has been preaching for two decades to repent and even to surrender to the Babylonian army while false prophets (more nationalistic) were preaching that the Lord would protect his temple, Jerusalem, his people, etc. In this chapter, it was very clear that Jeremiah was right because the Babylonian army is surrounding  Jerusalem. However:

4-5 ... Pharaoh’s army was marching up from Egypt. The Chaldeans fighting against Jerusalem heard that the Egyptians were coming and pulled back.

Although Zedekiah was set by Nebuchadnezzar, he must made some agreement with pharaoh, so pharaoh's army is now marching to Jerusalem. King Zedekiah asks to Jeremiah to pray:

3 However, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the priest, son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Pray for us—pray hard!—to the Master, our God.”

Zedekiah wants to stay in throne, free from the Babylonians; and he wants the blessing of the Lord. Jeremiah replies:

6-10 Then Jeremiah the prophet received this Message from God: “I, the God of Israel, want you to give this Message to the king of Judah, who has just sent you to me to find out what he should do. Tell him, ‘Get this: Pharaoh’s army, which is on its way to help you, isn’t going to stick it out. No sooner will they get here than they’ll leave and go home to Egypt. And then the Babylonians will come back and resume their attack, capture this city and burn it to the ground. I, God, am telling you: Don’t kid yourselves, reassuring one another, “The Babylonians will leave in a few days.” I tell you, they aren’t leaving. Why, even if you defeated the entire attacking Chaldean army and all that was left were a few wounded soldiers in their tents, the wounded would still do the job and burn this city to the ground.’”

During this absence of the Babylonian army surrounding Jerusalem, Jeremiah decided to leave the city:

11-13 When the Chaldean army pulled back from Jerusalem, Jeremiah left Jerusalem to go over to the territory of Benjamin to take care of some personal business. When he got to the Benjamin Gate, the officer on guard there, Irijah son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, grabbed Jeremiah the prophet, accusing him, “You’re deserting to the Chaldeans!”

In fact, Jeremiah's preaching seems in favor of the Babylonians. So, he was arrested when leaving Jerusalem.

14-16 “That’s a lie,” protested Jeremiah. “I wouldn’t think of deserting to the Chaldeans.” But Irijah wouldn’t listen to him. He arrested him and took him to the police. The police were furious with Jeremiah. They beat him up and threw him into jail in the house of Jonathan the secretary of state. (They were using the house for a prison cell.) So Jeremiah entered an underground cell in a cistern turned into a dungeon. He stayed there a long time.

When I was very little and mommy was not converted yet, she told me that good things happens to good people and bad things happens to bad people. The Bible is full of stories that goes against it; in fact, Jesus told in Matthew 5:

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Jeremiah 36: the Lord is insistent.

 In Jeremiah 36 we see how the Lord is like a father that wants repentance so that he doesn't punish his children. In particular, he deals with the stubborn king Jehoiakim. We read:

1 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, Jeremiah received this Message from God:
2 “Get a scroll and write down everything I’ve told you regarding Israel and Judah and all the other nations from the time I first started speaking to you in Josiah’s reign right up to the present day.
3 “Maybe the community of Judah will finally get it, finally understand the catastrophe that I’m planning for them, turn back from their bad lives, and let me forgive their perversity and sin.”

The message was spoken, but now it was to be written in a scroll. It was a long message that began in king Josiah's time.


4 So Jeremiah called in Baruch son of Neriah. Jeremiah dictated and Baruch wrote down on a scroll everything that God had said to him.
5-6 Then Jeremiah told Baruch, “I’m blacklisted. I can’t go into God’s Temple, so you’ll have to go in my place. Go into the Temple and read everything you’ve written at my dictation. Wait for a day of fasting when everyone is there to hear you. And make sure that all the people who come from the Judean villages hear you.

The scroll was to be read by Baruch in the day of fasting when many Jews were gathered in the temple.

7 “Maybe, just maybe, they’ll start praying and God will hear their prayers. Maybe they’ll turn back from their bad lives. This is no light matter. God has certainly let them know how angry he is!”

Jeremiah knew that it was difficult the repentance, but maybe the reading of Lord's words would lead them to repentance. This is very similar to announcing the gospel, maybe they will listen. Baruch did it some months after, in the day of fasting. Some Jewish leaders clearly understood that this was a very important message.

11-12 The moment Micaiah the son of Gemariah heard what was being read from the scroll—God’s Message!—he went straight to the palace and to the chambers of the secretary of state where all the government officials were holding a meeting: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other government officials. 13 Micaiah reported everything he had heard Baruch read from the scroll as the officials listened.

Baruch reads the scroll again to an audience of leaders.
These leaders understood the importance of the message: it was to be addressed to the king, but the king would become furious:

19 The government officials told Baruch, “You need to get out of here. Go into hiding, you and Jeremiah. Don’t let anyone know where you are!”
20-21 The officials went to the court of the palace to report to the king, having put the scroll for safekeeping in the office of Elishama the secretary of state. The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll. He brought it from the office of Elishama the secretary. Jehudi then read it to the king and the officials who were in the king’s service.

In fact, the king Jehoiakim became furious:

22-23 It was December. The king was sitting in his winter quarters in front of a charcoal fire. After Jehudi would read three or four columns, the king would cut them off the scroll with his pocketknife and throw them in the fire. He continued in this way until the entire scroll had been burned up in the fire.

But the Lord is insistent with the king:

27-28 After the king had burned the scroll that Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation, Jeremiah received this Message from God: “Get another blank scroll and do it all over again. Write out everything that was in that first scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned up.
29 “And send this personal message to Jehoiakim king of Judah: ‘God says, You had the gall to burn this scroll and then the nerve to say, “What kind of nonsense is this written here—that the king of Babylon will come and destroy this land and kill everything in it?”
30-31 “‘Well, do you want to know what God says about Jehoiakim king of Judah? This: No descendant of his will ever rule from David’s throne. His corpse will be thrown in the street and left unburied, exposed to the hot sun and the freezing night. I will punish him and his children and the officials in his government for their blatant sin. I’ll let loose on them and everyone in Jerusalem the doomsday disaster of which I warned them but they spit at.’”
32 So Jeremiah went and got another scroll and gave it to Baruch son of Neriah, his secretary. At Jeremiah’s dictation he again wrote down everything that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. There were also generous additions, but of the same kind of thing.

My Lord is very insistent with me and his people. Praise to the Lord.

Jeremiah 35: it is possible to obey a human being. Why is it so difficult to obey the Lord?

 In Jeremiah 35, the Lord uses the Rechabites’ community as an example of obedience. They were not supposed to drink wine. Would they still not be drinking wine?

3-4 So I (Jeremiah, I suppose) went and got Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah (instead of "my son"?), son of Habazziniah, along with all his brothers and sons—the whole community of the Recabites as it turned out—and brought them to God’s Temple and to the meeting room of Hanan son of Igdaliah, a man of God. It was next to the meeting room of the Temple officials and just over the apartment of Maaseiah son of Shallum, who was in charge of Temple affairs.

5 Then I set out chalices and pitchers of wine for the Recabites and said, “A toast! Drink up!”

6-7 But they wouldn’t do it. “We don’t drink wine,” they said. “Our ancestor Jonadab son of Recab commanded us, ‘You are not to drink wine, you or your children, ever. Neither shall you build houses or settle down, planting fields and gardens and vineyards. Don’t own property. Live in tents as nomads so that you will live well and prosper in a wandering life.’

They didn´t drink wine in obedience to Jonadab (who lived in Jehu's time). The Lord didn´t ask to his whole people not to drink wine; but this community embraced it as commandment. Did the Lord approve it? Yes:

12-15 Then Jeremiah received this Message from God: “God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, wants you to go tell the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem that I say, ‘Why won’t you learn your lesson and do what I tell you?’ God’s Decree. ‘The commands of Jonadab son of Recab to his sons have been carried out to the letter. He told them not to drink wine, and they haven’t touched a drop to this very day. They honored and obeyed their ancestor’s command. But look at you! I have gone to a lot of trouble to get your attention, and you’ve ignored me. I sent prophet after prophet to you, all of them my servants, to tell you from early morning to late at night to change your life, make a clean break with your evil past and do what is right, to not take up with every Tom, Dick, and Harry of a god that comes down the pike, but settle down and be faithful in this country I gave your ancestors.

The Lord is almost jeleous that this commnity obeyed their ancestor's command while his people don't obey Him. It is a big contrast: if humans can obey another human, why this difficult to obey the Lord?

In face of this:

17 “So here’s what is going to happen. God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘I will bring calamity down on the heads of the people of Judah and Jerusalem—the very calamity I warned you was coming—because you turned a deaf ear when I spoke, turned your backs when I called.’”

but the Lord will honor that community:

18-19 Then, turning to the Recabite community, Jeremiah said, “And this is what God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, says to you: ‘Because you have done what Jonadab your ancestor told you, obeyed his commands and followed through on his instructions, receive this Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel: There will always be a descendant of Jonadab son of Recab at my service! Always!’”

Jeremiah 34: Judah obeys the Lord under pressure, mas not in normal conditions.

 In Jeremiah 34, Judah obeys the Lord under pressure, mas not in normal conditions. According to the law, Hebrews should set free after 6 years of work; however, as they were not obeying the law:


8 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem, to proclaim [c]release to them: 9 that each person was to set his male servant free and each his female servant, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, so that no one would keep them, his Jewish brother or sister, in bondage.

It seems that the army of Babylon was near Jerusalem (v22).

10 And all the officials and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant that each person was to set his male servant free and each his female servant, so that no one would keep them in bondage any longer; they obeyed, and set them free.

This covenant was established in odd way. They cut a calf in two. The people passed through the two halves of the calf saying that they will fulfill it; otherwise, they will pay with their lives. However, they didn't fulfill:

18 I will give the people who have violated My covenant, who have not fulfilled the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts— 19 the officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the high officials and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf—

Why did they violate this covenant? Because they feared more the army of Babylon than the Lord:

22 Behold, I am going to give a command,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring them back to this city, and they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.’”

They abandoned the covenant as soon as the army of Babylon withdraw.

Thus, the Lord says:

20 I will hand them over to their enemies and to those who seek their lives. And their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the animals of the earth. 21 Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will also hand over to their enemies and to those who seek their lives, and to the army of the king of Babylon which has withdrawn from you.

Jeremiah 33: promises of restauration and the davidic kingdom in middle of the chaos.

 
In Jeremiah 33, the Lord promises restauration when Jeremiah is still in prison (perhaps in the last year before the destruction of Jerusalem). There is a great contrast between what is happening and the promise of restauration. It is almost impossible to believe in restauration because things are only getting worse and worse.

4-5 “This is what God, the God of Israel, has to say about what’s going on in this city, about the homes of both people and kings that have been demolished, about all the ravages of war and the killing by the Chaldeans, and about the streets littered with the dead bodies of those killed because of my raging anger—about all that’s happened because the evil actions in this city have turned my stomach in disgust.

6-9 “But now take another look. I’m going to give this city a thorough renovation, working a true healing inside and out. I’m going to show them life whole, life brimming with blessings. I’ll restore everything that was lost to Judah and Jerusalem. I’ll build everything back as good as new. I’ll scrub them clean from the dirt they’ve done against me. I’ll forgive everything they’ve done wrong, forgive all their rebellions. And Jerusalem will be a center of joy and praise and glory for all the countries on earth. They’ll get reports on all the good I’m doing for her. They’ll be in awe of the blessings I am pouring on her.

10-11 “Yes, God’s Message: ‘You’re going to look at this place, these empty and desolate towns of Judah and streets of Jerusalem, and say, “A wasteland. Unlivable. Not even a dog could live here.” But the time is coming when you’re going to hear laughter and celebration, marriage festivities, people exclaiming, “Thank God-of-the-Angel-Armies. He’s so good! His love never quits,” as they bring thank offerings into God’s Temple. I’ll restore everything that was lost in this land. I’ll make everything as good as new.’ I, God, say so.


The Lord will restore the Davidic Kingdom:

14-18 “‘Watch for this: The time is coming’—God’s Decree—‘when I will keep the promise I made to the families of Israel and Judah. When that time comes, I will make a fresh and true shoot sprout from the David-Tree. He will run this country honestly and fairly. He will set things right. That’s when Judah will be secure and Jerusalem live in safety. The motto for the city will be, “God Has Set Things Right for Us.” God has made it clear that there will always be a descendant of David ruling the people of Israel and that there will always be Levitical priests on hand to offer burnt offerings, present grain offerings, and carry on the sacrificial worship in my honor.’”

As a Christian, it is easy to think that Jesus, a descendant of David, is ruling his people; but it for me, it is not easy to understand the Levitical priests to offer sacrifices.

Jeremiah 32: Hope beyond Jeremiah's death

In Jeremiah 32, Jeremiah is in prison because the king Zedekiah didn't like his preaching. Around  588 BC, it was very clear that Nebuchadnezzar II would destroy Jerusalem because in Jeremiah's words praying to the Lord:

24 Behold, the assault ramps have reached the city to take it; and the city has been handed over to the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword, the famine, and the plague; and what You have spoken has come to pass; and behold, You see it.

In fact, In 587 BC, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Kingdom of Judah, and its capital, Jerusalem. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebuchadnezzar_II).
The Lord says to Jeremiah to buy a property that his cousin Hanamel (his uncle Shallum’s son) would offer him; and indeed it happened in his prison. Jeremiah knows that he is going to loose money, complaining to the Lord:

25 Yet You have said to me, Lord [f]God, “Buy for yourself the field with money and call in witnesses”—although the city has been handed over to the Chaldeans.’”

The Lord wanted to show through this that he would restore the land to his people.

36 “But there is also this Message from me, the God of Israel, to this city of which you have said, ‘In killing and starvation and disease this city will be delivered up to the king of Babylon’:

37-40 “‘Watch for this! I will collect them from all the countries to which I will have driven them in my anger and rage and indignation. Yes, I’ll bring them all back to this place and let them live here in peace. They will be my people, I will be their God. I’ll make them of one mind and heart, always honoring me, so that they can live good and whole lives, they and their children after them. What’s more, I’ll make a covenant with them that will last forever, a covenant to stick with them no matter what, and work for their good. I’ll fill their hearts with a deep respect for me so they’ll not even think of turning away from me.

41 “‘Oh how I’ll rejoice in them! Oh how I’ll delight in doing good things for them! Heart and soul, I’ll plant them in this country and keep them here!’

We Christians understand that we are the people of the Lord, and the Almighty is our God, thus, we are in this new covenant that will last forever. May the Lord fill our hearts with a deep respect for Him so we'll not even think of turning away from Him.

Jeremiah 31: Restauration and the New Covenant

 
In Jeremiah 31 we read about:

. Israel was mourning, suffering, but the remaining will find joy:

6 The time’s coming when watchmen will call out
    from the hilltops of Ephraim:
‘On your feet! Let’s go to Zion,
    go to meet our God!’”

Ephraim/Israel will go to Zion (the temple?) to meet the Lord. Prophecies are very hard to interpret: were they fulfilled or are they going to be fulfilled? Was this prophecy about Ephraim fulfilled?

    
10-14 “Hear this, nations! God’s Message!
    Broadcast this all over the world!
Tell them, ‘The One who scattered Israel
    will gather them together again.
From now on he’ll keep a careful eye on them,
    like a shepherd with his flock.’
I, God, will pay a stiff ransom price for Jacob;
    I’ll free him from the grip of the Babylonian bully.
The people will climb up Zion’s slopes shouting with joy,
    their faces beaming because of God’s bounty—
Grain and wine and oil,
    flocks of sheep, herds of cattle.
Their lives will be like a well-watered garden,
    never again left to dry up.
Young women will dance and be happy,
    young men and old men will join in.
I’ll convert their weeping into laughter,
    lavishing comfort, invading their grief with joy.
I’ll make sure that their priests get three square meals a day
    and that my people have more than enough.’” God’s Decree.

Judah was set free from the Babylonian captivity indeed and Jeremiah didn't see it.

    
. a new covenant will be established:

31-32 “That’s right. The time is coming when I will make a brand-new covenant with Israel and Judah. It won’t be a repeat of the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant even though I did my part as their Master.” God’s Decree.

33-34 “This is the brand-new covenant that I will make with Israel when the time comes. I will put my law within them—write it on their hearts!—and be their God. And they will be my people. They will no longer go around setting up schools to teach each other about God. They’ll know me firsthand, the dull and the bright, the smart and the slow. I’ll wipe the slate clean for each of them. I’ll forget they ever sinned!” God’s Decree.


Christians understand that the new covenant happens through Jesus, the Messiah. Here, we read that the Lord will write the law, His will, in our hearts so that we walk in His ways. This is true thanks to the Holy Spirit living in us.

Jeremiah 30: Restauration with the King

 In Jeremiah 30 we read:

1-2 This is the Message Jeremiah received from God: “God’s Message, the God of Israel: ‘Write everything I tell you in a book.

3 “‘Look. The time is coming when I will turn everything around for my people, both Israel and Judah. I, God, say so. I’ll bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors, and they’ll take up ownership again.’”

The Lord says that He will bring his people (Israel and Judah) back to the Promised Land.

8 ‘It shall come about on that day,’ declares the Lord of armies, ‘that I will break his yoke from [b]their necks and will tear to pieces [c]their restraints; and strangers will no longer make [d]them their slaves. 9 But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.

Was this prophecy fulfilled in Esdras or Neheemiah ages? Although Judah (and Israel) returned to the Promised Land, they were not free. Did they serve the Lord and David their king? No. It will be fulfilled when Jesus return.

The Lord promises restoration with the King:

21 [m]Their leader shall be one of them,
And [n]their ruler will come out from [o]their midst;
And I will bring him near and he shall approach Me;
For [p]who would dare to risk his life to approach Me?’ declares the Lord.
22 ‘You shall be My people,
And I will be your God.’”

Jesus is the One who dared to risk his life to approach the Lord.

Jeremiah 29: Bless Babylon

in chapter 29, Jews were taken to Babylon. Jeremiah sent them a letter saying:

 This is the Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel’s God, to all the exiles I’ve taken from Jerusalem to Babylon:

5 “Build houses and make yourselves at home.

“Put in gardens and eat what grows in that country.

6 “Marry and have children. Encourage your children to marry and have children so that you’ll thrive in that country and not waste away.

7 “Make yourselves at home there and work for the country’s welfare.

“Pray for Babylon’s well-being. If things go well for Babylon, things will go well for you.”

8-9 Yes. Believe it or not, this is the Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel’s God: “Don’t let all those so-called preachers and know-it-alls who are all over the place there take you in with their lies. Don’t pay any attention to the fantasies they keep coming up with to please you. They’re a bunch of liars preaching lies—and claiming I sent them! I never sent them, believe me.” God’s Decree!

Babylon was an evil country, however, the Lord's message to his people was to make Babylon their new home and pray for Babylon’s well-being. That is the message to us today in respect to our evil country. But, Babylon was not the end:

10-11 This is God’s Word on the subject: “As soon as Babylon’s seventy years are up and not a day before, I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.

12 “When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen.

13-14 “When you come looking for me, you’ll find me. “Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” God’s Decree. “I’ll turn things around for you. I’ll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you”—God’s Decree—“bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it.

I am a pilgrim in Brazil. What are my possessions here? My real country is in New Jerusalem.

Interestingly, Shemaiah sent a message to the leaders, specailly the priest, saying in name of the Lord:

26 “The Lord has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to be the overseer of the house of the Lord for every insane person who prophesies, to put him in the stocks and in the iron collar. 27 So now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who prophesies to you, 28 seeing that he has sent word to us in Babylon, saying, ‘[l]The exile will be long; build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their [m]produce’?”’”

Shemaiah spoke in the name of the Lord denying that the Jewish people should make Babylon their new home. It was very tempting to believe in Shemaiah, but the Lord told Jeremiah:

30-32 “Send this Message to the exiles. Tell them what God says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Shemaiah is preaching lies to you. I didn’t send him. He is seducing you into believing lies. So this is God’s verdict: I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his whole family. He’s going to end up with nothing and no one. No one from his family will be around to see any of the good that I am going to do for my people because he has preached rebellion against me.” God’s Decree.

Jeremiah 28: Hananias contradicts Jeremiah

 Chapter 28 continues 27. In chapter 27, Jeremiah preached with a yoke in his neck that countries would be subjugated by the king of Babylon. In chapter 28, Hananiah - son of Azzur, a prophet from Gibeon - said, in the temple of the Lord:

2-4 “This Message is straight from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel: ‘I will most certainly break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Before two years are out I’ll have all the furnishings of God’s Temple back here, all the things that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon plundered and hauled off to Babylon. I’ll also bring back Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the exiles who were taken off to Babylon.’ God’s Decree. ‘Yes, I will break the king of Babylon’s yoke. You’ll no longer be in harness to him.’”

Jeremiah didn't believe in this message because it contradicted what he had already spoken. Jeremiah replied:

5-9 ... The old prophets, the ones before our time, preached judgment against many countries and kingdoms, warning of war and disaster and plague. So any prophet who preaches that everything is just fine and there’s nothing to worry about stands out like a sore thumb. We’ll wait and see. If it happens, it happens—and then we’ll know that God sent him.”

Hananiah had no fear to the Lord, then:

10-11 At that, Hananiah grabbed the yoke from Jeremiah’s shoulders and smashed it. And then he addressed the people: “This is God’s Message: In just this way I will smash the yoke of the king of Babylon and get him off the neck of all the nations—and within two years.”

12-14 Later, sometime after Hananiah had smashed the yoke from off his shoulders, Jeremiah received this Message from God: “Go back to Hananiah and tell him, ‘This is God’s Message: You smashed the wooden yoke-bars; now you’ve got iron yoke-bars. This is a Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel’s own God: I’ve put an iron yoke on all these nations. They’re harnessed to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. They’ll do just what he tells them. Why, I’m even putting him in charge of the wild animals.’”

15-16 So prophet Jeremiah told prophet Hananiah, “Hold it, Hananiah! God never sent you. You’ve talked the whole country into believing a pack of lies! And so God says, ‘You claim to be sent? I’ll send you all right—right off the face of the earth! Before the year is out, you’ll be dead because you instigated sedition against God.’”

17 Prophet Hananiah died that very year, in the seventh month.

I wonder why Hananiah confronted Jeremiah: did he believe in his false message? did he wish to be a prophet as his father was? did he want fame? Whatever was his motives, his end was tragic.

Jeremiah 27: Jeremy in the middle of an assembly of nations

 In Jeremiah 27 we read:

 1-4 Early in the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, Jeremiah received this Message from God: “Make a harness and a yoke and then harness yourself up. Send a message to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon. Send it through their ambassadors who have come to Jerusalem to see Zedekiah king of Judah. Give them this charge to take back to their masters: ‘This is a Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel. Tell your masters:

5-8 “‘I’m the one who made the earth, man and woman, and all the animals in the world. I did it on my own without asking anyone’s help and I hand it out to whomever I will. Here and now I give all these lands over to my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I have made even the wild animals subject to him. All nations will be under him, then his son, and then his grandson. Then his country’s time will be up and the tables will be turned: Babylon will be the underdog servant. But until then, any nation or kingdom that won’t submit to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon must take the yoke of the king of Babylon and harness up. I’ll punish that nation with war and starvation and disease until I’ve got them where I want them.

The ambassadors of Edom, Moab and other nations were gathered in Jerusalem. I suppose that they were discussing how to fight against Babylon. Imagine Jeremiah entering in the assembly with a yoke in his shoulders saying that they should surrender or die, claiming that the Lord of the Universe is supporting Babylon.

9-11 “‘So don’t for a minute listen to all your prophets and spiritualists and fortunetellers, who claim to know the future and who tell you not to give in to the king of Babylon. They’re handing you a line of lies, barefaced lies, that will end up putting you in exile far from home. I myself will drive you out of your lands, and that’ll be the end of you. But the nation that accepts the yoke of the king of Babylon and does what he says, I’ll let that nation stay right where it is, minding its own business.’”

The false prophets along with spiritualists (perhaps aligned with fortunetellers from other countries) were saying that they should not give in. It is common to think that the majority is right, but in this case not.

Jeremiah 26: Jeremiah was almost stoned to death.

 In Jeremiah 26, Jeremiah preaches:

4-6 “Say to them, ‘This is God’s Message: If you refuse to listen to me and live by my teaching that I’ve revealed so plainly to you, and if you continue to refuse to listen to my servants the prophets that I tirelessly keep on sending to you—but you’ve never listened! Why would you start now?—then I’ll make this Temple a pile of ruins like Shiloh, and I’ll make this city nothing but a bad joke worldwide.’”

The reaction was extremely negative:

-9 Everybody there—priests, prophets, and people—heard Jeremiah preaching this Message in the Temple of God. When Jeremiah had finished his sermon, saying everything God had commanded him to say, the priests and prophets and people all grabbed him, yelling, “Death! You’re going to die for this! How dare you preach—and using God’s name!—saying that this Temple will become a heap of rubble like Shiloh and this city be wiped out without a soul left in it!”

All the people mobbed Jeremiah right in the Temple itself.

Jeremiah was confident that his message was from the Lord, so he says:

12-13 Jeremiah spoke next, publicly addressing the officials before the crowd: “God sent me to preach against both this Temple and city everything that’s been reported to you. So do something about it! Change the way you’re living, change your behavior. Listen obediently to the Message of your God. Maybe God will reconsider the disaster he has threatened.

14-15 “As for me, I’m at your mercy—do whatever you think is best. But take warning: If you kill me, you’re killing an innocent man, and you and the city and the people in it will be liable. I didn’t say any of this on my own. God sent me and told me what to say. You’ve been listening to God speak, not Jeremiah.”

Some of the respected leaders thought better:

17-18 Then some of the respected leaders stood up and addressed the crowd: “In the reign of Hezekiah king of Judah, Micah of Moresheth preached to the people of Judah this sermon: This is God-of-the-Angel-Armies’ Message for you:

“‘Because of people like you,
    Zion will be turned back into farmland,
Jerusalem end up as a pile of rubble,
    and instead of the Temple on the mountain,
    a few scraggly scrub pines.’

19 “Did King Hezekiah or anyone else in Judah kill Micah of Moresheth because of that sermon? Didn’t Hezekiah honor him and pray for mercy from God? And then didn’t God call off the disaster he had threatened?

“Friends, we’re at the brink of bringing a terrible calamity upon ourselves.”

After this reflection, Jeremiah was not killed:

24 But in Jeremiah’s case, Ahikam son of Shaphan stepped forward and took his side, preventing the mob from lynching him.)

Jeremiah 25: Does the king of Babylon serve the Lord?

 The chapters of Jeremiah are not organized in a chronological way. This chapter begins with:

1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon),

Thus, as he reigned in 609–598 BC (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehoiakim), it must have been written in 605 BC.

2 Jeremiah the prophet delivered the Message to all the people of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem:

3 From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah right up to the present day—twenty-three years it’s been!—God’s Word has come to me, and from early each morning to late every night I’ve passed it on to you. And you haven’t listened to a word of it!

4-6 Not only that but God also sent a steady stream of prophets to you who were just as persistent as me, and you never listened. They told you, “Turn back—right now, each one of you!—from your evil way of life and bad behavior, and live in the land God gave you and your ancestors, the land he intended to give you forever. Don’t follow the god-fads of the day, taking up and worshiping these no-gods. Don’t make me angry with your god-businesses, making and selling gods—a dangerous business!

Jeremiah began to preach 23 years before, that is -605-23 BC = -628 BC. He preached to people to repent. Even today, people follow the god-fads of the day and worshiping these no-gods (specially using social media, internet, etc.), but Jeremiah warned about the bad consequences of it.

7 “You refused to listen to any of this, and now I am really angry. These god-making businesses of yours are your doom.”

8-11 The verdict of God-of-the-Angel-Armies on all this: “Because you have refused to listen to what I’ve said, I’m stepping in. I’m sending for the armies out of the north headed by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant in this, and I’m setting them on this land and people and even the surrounding countries. I’m devoting the whole works to total destruction—a horror to top all the horrors in history. And I’ll banish every sound of joy—singing, laughter, marriage festivities, genial workmen, candlelit suppers. The whole landscape will be one vast wasteland. These countries will be in subjection to the king of Babylon for seventy years.

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is called servant of the Lord, but does he really worship the Lord? No, even though he is evil, he will serve the Lord.

12-14 “Once the seventy years is up, I’ll punish the king of Babylon and the whole nation of Babylon for their sin. Then they’ll be the wasteland. Everything that I said I’d do to that country, I’ll do—everything that’s written in this book, everything Jeremiah preached against all the godless nations. Many nations and great kings will make slaves of the Babylonians, paying them back for everything they’ve done to others. They won’t get by with anything.” God’s Decree.

The king of Babylon will be punished by the Lord. The Lord is righteous and in his sovereignty, even the evil serves Him.

Jeremiah 24: two destines.

 Jeremiah 24 was written when Zedekiah was king:

1  After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the officials of Judah with the craftsmen and metalworkers from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord.

We read about good figs and bad figs. The good figs are those that surrender to the Babylonians and go to Babylon. The bad figs are those that decide to stay or flee to Egypt. We read about the good figs:

 7 I will also give them a heart to know Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me wholeheartedly.

 We read about the bad figs:

 9 I will make them an object of terror and an evil for all the kingdoms of the earth, as a disgrace and a proverb, a taunt and a curse in all the places where I will scatter them. 10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the plague upon them until they are eliminated from the land which I gave to them and their forefathers.

Interestingly, king Zedekiah is seen as a bad fig:

8 ‘But like the bad figs which cannot be eaten due to rottenness,’ indeed, this is what the Lord says, ‘so will I give up Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and the ones who live in the land of Egypt.

while the book of Jeremiah finishes with:
Jeremiah 52: 33 So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king's table, 34 and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, until the day of his death, as long as he lived.
showing that Jehoiachin found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Jeremias 23: against the false prophets

 Jeremias 23: against  the false prophets

In Jeremiah 23 we read:

1 “Woe to the shepherds who are causing the sheep of My pasture to perish and are scattering them!” declares the Lord. 2 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says concerning the shepherds who are [a]tending My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not been concerned about them; behold, I am going to call you to account for the evil of your deeds,” declares the Lord.

The Lord is against the leaders who are not taking care of His people.

3 “Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will also raise up shepherds over them and they will [b]tend them; and they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.

The Lord will gather his people and raise up shepherds that really care.

5 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“When I will raise up for David a righteous [c]Branch;
And He will reign as king and [d]act wisely
And do justice and righteousness in the land.
6 In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel will live securely;
And this is His name by which He will be called,
‘The Lord Our Righteousness.’

The Lord will raise up the Messiah that will reign wisely and do justice.

10 For the land is full of adulterers;
For the land mourns because of the curse.
The pastures of the wilderness have dried up.
Their course is evil
And their might is not right.
11 “For both prophet and priest are defiled;
Even in My house I have found their wickedness,” declares the Lord.
12 “Therefore their way will be like slippery paths to them,
They will be driven away into the gloom and fall down in it;
For I will bring disaster upon them,
The year of their punishment,” declares the Lord.

Prophet and priest should guide the people to the Lord, but they are defiled, wick. The Lord condemns them.

14 Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing:
The committing of adultery and walking in deceit;
And they strengthen the hands of evildoers,
So that no one has turned back from his wickedness.
All of them have become to Me like Sodom,
And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.

16-17 A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:

“Don’t listen to the sermons of the prophets.
    It’s all hot air. Lies, lies, and more lies.
They make it all up.
    Not a word they speak comes from me.
They preach their ‘Everything Will Turn Out Fine’ sermon
    to congregations with no taste for God,
Their ‘Nothing Bad Will Ever Happen to You’ sermon
    to people who are set in their own ways.

We must discern who is preaching the Lord's word and who is lieing.

25-27 “I know what they’re saying, all these prophets who preach lies using me as their text, saying ‘I had this dream! I had this dream!’ How long do I have to put up with this? Do these prophets give two cents about me as they preach their lies and spew out their grandiose delusions? They swap dreams with one another, feed on each other’s delusive dreams, trying to distract my people from me just as their ancestors were distracted by the no-god Baal.
30-31 “I’ve had it with the ‘prophets’ who get all their sermons secondhand from each other. Yes, I’ve had it with them. They make up stuff and then pretend it’s a real sermon.

32 “Oh yes, I’ve had it with the prophets who preach the lies they dream up, spreading them all over the country, ruining the lives of my people with their cheap and reckless lies.

“I never sent these prophets, never authorized a single one of them. They do nothing for this people—nothing!” God’s Decree.

35-36 “Instead of claiming to know what God says, ask questions of one another, such as ‘How do we understand God in this?’ But don’t go around pretending to know it all, saying ‘God told me this . . . God told me that. . . . ’ I don’t want to hear it anymore. Only the person I authorize speaks for me. Otherwise, my Message gets twisted, the Message of the living God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

37-38 “You can ask the prophets, ‘How did God answer you? What did he tell you?’ But don’t pretend that you know all the answers yourselves and talk like you know it all. I’m telling you: Quit the ‘God told me this . . . God told me that . . . ’ kind of talk.


The false prophet (of false teacher) is eager to show that he received a special revelation from the Lord ( I had a dream! God told me this...). As the false teacher wants to be well seen by people, he says whatever they want to listen. They ruin lives with their lies.

Jeremiah 22: a counter example - Jehoiakim

 In Jeremiah 22, Jeremiah says hard words to a king. At first, it seems to continue Jeremiah 21; in this case, the king would be Zedekiah, but in verse 18 we read:

18 Therefore this is what the Lord says regarding Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

King Jehoiakim lived before Zedekiah, thus chapter 22 must be written before chapter 21.
This chapter shows how king Jehoiakim didn't fear the Lord. Judah was in middle of two powerful countries: Babylon and Egypt. Jehoiakim succeeded his brother Jehoahaz. Both were sons of Josiah, a good king. Jehoahaz was imprisioned by Necho II from Egypt and placed Jehoiakim as king of Judah. We read:

NASB 10 Do not weep for the dead or mourn for him,
But weep deeply for the one who goes away;
For he will never return
Or see his native land.

or:

MSG 10 Don’t weep over dead King Josiah.
    Don’t waste your tears.
Weep for his exiled son:
    He’s gone for good.
    He’ll never see home again.
11-12 For this is God’s Word on Shallum son of Josiah, who succeeded his father as king of Judah: “He’s gone from here, gone for good. He’ll die in the place they’ve taken him to. He’ll never see home again.”


So, Jeremiah must have written this before Jehoahaz/Shallum death in Egypt (in fact, he never returned to Judah), when his brother Jehoiakim was in charge of Judah. Jeremiah writes:

13-17 “Doom to him who builds palaces but bullies people,
    who makes a fine house but destroys lives,
Who cheats his workers
    and won’t pay them for their work,
Who says, ‘I’ll build me an elaborate mansion
    with spacious rooms and fancy windows.
I’ll bring in rare and expensive woods
    and the latest in interior decor.’
So, that makes you a king—
    living in a fancy palace?
Your father got along just fine, didn’t he?
    He did what was right and treated people fairly,
And things went well with him.
    He stuck up for the down-and-out,
And things went well for Judah.
    Isn’t this what it means to know me?”
        God’s Decree!
“But you’re blind and brainless.
    All you think about is yourself,
Taking advantage of the weak,
    bulldozing your way, bullying victims.”


Josiah did what was right and treated people fairly and the Lord rewarded him as things went well with him. However, Jehoiakim was blind and brainless thinking in himself, taking advantage of the weak.

    
18-19 This is God’s epitaph on Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:
    “Doom to this man!
Nobody will shed tears over him,
    ‘Poor, poor brother!’
Nobody will shed tears over him,
    ‘Poor, poor master!’
They’ll give him a donkey’s funeral,
    drag him out of the city and dump him.

The life of Jehoiakim is a warning: "repent and live!".

Jeremiah 21: Pashur asks Jeremiah to pray for God intervention.

In Jeremiah 21 we read:

 1-2 God’s Message to Jeremiah when King Zedekiah sent Pashur son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to him with this request: “Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has waged war against us. Pray to God for us. Ask him for help. Maybe God will intervene with one of his famous miracles and make him leave.”

Pashur was the one who whipped and incarcerated Jeremiah. Now, the king Zedekiah sent him with another priest to ask Jeremiah to pray for salvation from the arm of king Nebuchadnezzar. Perhaps, a more normal Christian would pray for this but:

3-7 But Jeremiah said, “Tell Zedekiah: ‘This is the God of Israel’s Message to you: You can say good-bye to your army, watch morale and weapons flushed down the drain. I’m going to personally lead the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans, against whom you’re fighting so hard, right into the city itself. I’m joining their side and fighting against you, fighting all-out, holding nothing back. And in fierce anger. I’m prepared to wipe out the population of this city, people and animals alike, in a raging epidemic. And then I will personally deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, his princes, and any survivors left in the city who haven’t died from disease, been killed, or starved. I’ll deliver them to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—yes, hand them over to their enemies, who have come to kill them. He’ll kill them ruthlessly, showing no mercy.’

The Lord wants that the people understand that they must surrender to the Chaldeans, otherwise they will die:

8-10 “And then tell the people at large, ‘God’s Message to you is this: Listen carefully. I’m giving you a choice: life or death. Whoever stays in this city will die—either in battle or by starvation or disease. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who have surrounded the city will live. You’ll lose everything—but not your life. I’m determined to see this city destroyed. I’m that angry with this place! God’s Decree. I’m going to give it to the king of Babylon, and he’s going to burn it to the ground.’
 
The Lord wants justice from the king:

11-14 “To the royal house of Judah, listen to God’s Message!
    House of David, listen—God’s Message to you:
‘Start each day by dealing with justice.
    Rescue victims from their exploiters.
Prevent fire—the fire of my anger—
    for once it starts, it can’t be put out.

Jeremiah 20: The prophet praises the Lord after being persecuted

 
Jeremiah 20 begins with him suffering for preaching doom:

1-5 The priest Pashur son of Immer was the senior priest in God’s Temple. He heard Jeremiah preach this sermon. He whipped Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks at the Upper Benjamin Gate of God’s Temple. The next day Pashur came and let him go. Jeremiah told him, “God has a new name for you: not Pashur but Danger-Everywhere, because God says, ‘You’re a danger to yourself and everyone around you. All your friends are going to get killed in battle while you stand there and watch.

Jeremiah prays to the Lord:

7-10 You pushed me into this, God, and I let you do it.
    You were too much for me.
And now I’m a public joke.
    They all poke fun at me.
Every time I open my mouth
    I’m shouting, “Murder!” or “Rape!”
And all I get for my God-warnings
    are insults and contempt.
But if I say, “Forget it!
    No more God-Messages from me!”
The words are fire in my belly,
    a burning in my bones.
I’m worn out trying to hold it in.
    I can’t do it any longer!
Then I hear whispering behind my back:
    “There goes old ‘Danger-Everywhere.’ Shut him up! Report him!”
Old friends watch, hoping I’ll fall flat on my face:
    “One misstep and we’ll have him. We’ll get rid of him for good!”

However, Jeremiah is confidant that the Lord is by his side:

11 But God, a most fierce warrior, is at my side.
    Those who are after me will be sent sprawling—
Slapstick buffoons falling all over themselves,
    a spectacle of humiliation no one will ever forget.

This confidence, makes him praise the Lord:

13 Sing to God! All praise to God!
    He saves the weak from the grip of the wicked.
   

Jeremiah 19: Doom to Valley of Ben-hinnom

 In Jeremiah 19 we read:

1-2 God said to me, “Go, buy a clay pot. Then get a few leaders from the people and a few of the leading priests and go out to the Valley of Ben-hinnom, just outside the Potsherd Gate, and preach there what I tell you.
3-5 “Say, ‘Listen to God’s Word, you kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem! This is the Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel. I’m about to bring doom crashing down on this place. Oh, and will ears ever ring! Doom—because they’ve walked off and left me, and made this place strange by worshiping strange gods, gods never heard of by them, their parents, or the old kings of Judah. Doom—because they have massacred innocent people. Doom—because they’ve built altars to that no-god Baal, and burned their own children alive in the fire as offerings to Baal, an atrocity I never ordered, never so much as hinted at!

6-9 “‘And so it’s payday, and soon’—God’s Decree!—‘this place will no longer be known as Topheth or Valley of Ben-hinnom, but Massacre Meadows. I’m canceling all the plans Judah and Jerusalem had for this place, and I’ll have them killed by their enemies. I’ll stack their dead bodies to be eaten by carrion crows and wild dogs. I’ll turn this city into such a museum of atrocities that anyone coming near will be shocked speechless by the savage brutality. The people will turn into cannibals. Dehumanized by the pressure of the enemy siege, they’ll eat their own children! Yes, they’ll eat one another, family and friends alike.’


The Lord declares doom to the Valley of Ben-Hinnom where strangers gods were worshiped. Children were burned in fire alive as offerings to Baal. The Lord is holy and He wants a holy people. He is punishing the atrocities made on that place.

Jeremiah 18: the potter works his clay, getting rid of what is not good

 In Jeremiah 18 we read:

5-10 Then God’s Message came to me: “Can’t I do just as this potter does, people of Israel?” God’s Decree! “Watch this potter. In the same way that this potter works his clay, I work on you, people of Israel. At any moment I may decide to pull up a people or a country by the roots and get rid of them. But if they repent of their wicked lives, I will think twice and start over with them. At another time I might decide to plant a people or country, but if they don’t cooperate and won’t listen to me, I will think again and give up on the plans I had for them.

11 “So, tell the people of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem my Message: ‘Danger! I’m shaping doom against you, laying plans against you. Turn back from your doomed way of life. Straighten out your lives.’

12 “But they’ll just say, ‘Why should we? What’s the point? We’ll live just the way we’ve always lived, doom or no doom.’”

The Lord asks Israel to repent but they just want to live as always have lived, doom or no doom.

Jeremiah talks against idolatry:

15
For My people have forgotten Me,
They burn incense [e]to worthless gods.
And they [f]have stumbled in their ways,
In the ancient roads,
To walk on paths,
Not on a highway,

However, instead of repentance, they devised plans against Jeremiah. In their opinion, there are other ways to listen to the Law:

18 Then they said, “Come and let’s devise plans against Jeremiah. Certainly the Law is not going to be lost by the priest, nor advice by the wise, nor the divine word by the prophet! Come, and let’s strike at him with our tongue, and let’s pay no attention to any of his words.”

Jeremiah cursed his opponents with the opposite of the Aram blessing:

17
Like an east wind I will scatter them
Before the enemy;
I will [g]show them My back and not My face
In the day of their disaster.’”

Jeremiah 17: don't look your heart, it is deceitful

 In Jeremiah 17 we read:
1-2 “Judah’s sin is engraved
    with a steel chisel,
A steel chisel with a diamond point—
    engraved on their granite hearts,
    engraved on the stone corners of their altars.
The evidence against them is plain to see:
    sex-and-religion altars and sacred sex shrines
Anywhere there’s a grove of trees,
    anywhere there’s an available hill.

The idolatry (with sex shrines) is engraved in Judah. The Lord will punish Judah:

3-4 “I’ll use your mountains as roadside stands
    for giving away everything you have.
All your ‘things’ will serve as reparations
    for your sins all over the country.
You’ll lose your gift of land,
    The inheritance I gave you.
I’ll make you slaves of your enemies
    in a far-off and strange land.
My anger is hot and blazing and fierce,
    and no one will put it out.”

We understand that the Lord removed the idolatry through the Babylonian captivity.
The Lord sets a cursing and a blessing to his people:

5-6 God’s Message:

“Cursed is the strong one
    who depends on mere humans,
Who thinks he can make it on muscle alone
    and sets God aside as dead weight.
He’s like a tumbleweed on the prairie,
    out of touch with the good earth.
He lives rootless and aimless
    in a land where nothing grows.

7-8 “But blessed is the man who trusts me, God,
    the woman who sticks with God.
They’re like trees replanted in Eden,
    putting down roots near the rivers—
Never a worry through the hottest of summers,
    never dropping a leaf,
Serene and calm through droughts,
    bearing fresh fruit every season.

Is this blessing and cursing today? In the New Testament, Jesus sets a blessing and cursing after the Sermon of the Mound in Matthew 7. Certainly that this blessing and cursing is valid to we Christians.
It is so easy to say that we depend on the Lord (and we are to be blessed) when in fact, not, because:

9-10 “The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful,
    a puzzle that no one can figure out.
But I, God, search the heart
    and examine the mind.
I get to the heart of the human.
    I get to the root of things.
I treat them as they really are,
    not as they pretend to be.”

This is one more point to believe that "fear of the Lord" is in fact "fear" and not simply respect. The blessings and cursings must cause some kind of apprehension, fear. We must check: Do I really trust the Lord? It is impossible to believe that I trust in the Lord looking my heart only (because it is deceitful). I need a greater belief: I need Jesus as my Redeemer.

Jeremiah 16: they will know that My name is YHWH

 Christians are called to celebrate a new life with Jesus. In a way, the holy communion is a feast but poor Jeremiah must evict feasts (ex: marriage), mourning and even, he must be alone, with no family:

8 Moreover, you shall not go into a house of feasting to sit with them to eat and drink.” 9 For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, I am going to eliminate from this place, before your eyes and in your time, the voice of rejoicing and the voice of joy, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride.

5 For this is what the Lord says: “Do not enter a house of mourning, or go to mourn or to console them; for I have withdrawn My peace from this people,” declares the Lord, “and My favor and compassion.

1 The word of the Lord also came to me, saying, 2 “You shall not take a wife for yourself nor have sons or daughters in this place.” 3 For this is what the Lord says concerning the sons and daughters born in this place, and concerning their mothers who give birth to them, and their fathers who father them in this land: 4 “They will die of deadly diseases, they will not be mourned or buried; they will be like dung on the surface of the ground. And they will perish by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will become food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth.”

Interestingly, people in Judah would not recognize that deserves punishment:

10 “Now it will happen that, when you tell this people all these words, they will say to you, ‘For what reason has the Lord declared all this great disaster against us? And what is our wrongdoing, or what is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’ 11 Then you are to say to them, ‘It is because your forefathers have abandoned Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and have followed other gods, and served and worshiped them; but they have abandoned Me and have not kept My Law. 12 You too have done evil, even more than your forefathers; for behold, each one of you is following the stubbornness of his own evil heart, without listening to Me. 13 So I will hurl you off this land to the land which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers; and there you will serve other gods day and night, because I will show you no compassion.’


Despite this great punishment, the Lord will restore the land to his people:

14 “Therefore behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 15 but, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had banished them.’ For I will restore them to their own land which I gave to their fathers.

Jeremiah praises the Lord because He is powerful, not compared to any other man made god:

19 Lord, my strength and my stronghold,
And my refuge in the day of distress,
To You the nations will come
From the ends of the earth and say,
“Our fathers have inherited nothing but falsehood,
Futility, and [a]things of no benefit.”
20 Can a person make gods for himself?
But they are not gods!

21 “Therefore behold, I am going to make them know—
This time I will make them know
My [b]power and My might;
And they will know that My name is YHWH.”

Jeremiah 15: Jeremiah is not happy with the Lord and prays about it.

 In Jeremiah 15 we read:

1  Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, My [a]heart would not be [b]with this people. Send them away from My presence and have them go!

The Lord called Jeremiah to call His people to repent or to face doom; however, now, the Lord is so angry that He prophecies about Judah:

8 Their widows will be more numerous before Me
Than the sand of the seas;
I will bring against them, against the mother of a young man,
A destroyer at noon;
I will suddenly bring down on her
Shock and horror.
9 She who gave birth to seven sons withers away;
[d]Her breathing is labored.
Her sun has set while it was still day;
She has been shamed and humiliated.
So I will turn over their survivors to the sword
Before their enemies,” declares the Lord.

Jeremiah prays to the Lord:

5 You know, Lord;
Remember me, take notice of me,
And take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
Do not, in view of Your patience, take me away;
Know that for Your sake I endure reproach.
16 Your words were found and I ate them,
And Your words became a joy to me and the delight of my heart;
For I have been called by Your name,
Lord God of armies.
17 I did not sit in a circle of revelers and celebrate.
Because of Your hand upon me I sat alone,
For You filled me with indignation.
18 Why has my pain been endless
And my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?
Will You indeed be to me like a deceptive stream
With water that is unreliable?

Although Jeremiah delighted in the Lord in the past, now, he is wounded and he sees the Lord as an unreliable stream of water.
The Lord responds:

19 Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
“If you return, then I will restore you—
You will stand before Me;
And if you extract the precious from the worthless,
You will become [e]My spokesman.
They, for their part, may turn to you,
But as for you, you are not to turn to them.
20 Then I will make you to this people
A fortified wall of bronze;
And though they fight against you,
They will not prevail over you;
For I am with you to save you
And rescue you,” declares the Lord.
21 “So I will rescue you from the hand of the wicked,
And I will redeem you from the [f]grasp of the violent.”

The Lord calls Jeremiah to repent (return v19) so that he becomes His spokesman.

Jeremiah 13: let your undergarment rot

 In Jeremiah 13 we read:

1-2 God told me, “Go and buy yourself some linen shorts. Put them on and keep them on. Don’t even take them off to wash them.” So I bought the shorts as God directed and put them on.
3-5 Then God told me, “Take the shorts that you bought and go straight to Perath and hide them there in a crack in the rock.” So I did what God told me and hid them at Perath.
6-7 Next, after quite a long time, God told me, “Go back to Perath and get the linen shorts I told you to hide there.” So I went back to Perath and dug them out of the place where I had hidden them. The shorts by then had rotted and were worthless.


The Lord commands Jeremiah to use an undergarment for some time and then, to hide it in a crack in the rock. After some time, Jeremiah returned and saw how rotted it was.

8-11 God explained, “This is the way I am going to ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem—a wicked bunch of people who won’t obey me, who do only what they want to do, who chase after all kinds of no-gods and worship them. They’re going to turn out as rotten as these old shorts. Just as shorts clothe and protect, so I kept the whole family of Israel under my care”—God’s Decree—“so that everyone could see they were my people, a people I could show off to the world and be proud of. But they refused to do a thing I said.

The shorts are compared to the Lord's people. His people was to "clothe and protect" other nations, but his people doesn't obey the Lord and therefore, the Lord will let them rot as the old shorts.

Jeremiah 14: false prophets have a positve message

 In Jeremiah 14 we read about a severe drought.

4-5  Because the ground is [b]cracked,
For there has been no rain on the land.
The farmers have been put to shame,
They have covered their heads.
5 For even the doe in the field has given birth only to abandon her young,
Because there is no grass.

Would the Lord let his people die because they are sinners? The prophet prays:

7 Though our wrongdoings testify against us,
Lord, act for the sake of Your name!
Our apostasies have indeed been many,
We have sinned against You.
8 Hope of Israel,
Its Savior in time of distress,
Why are You like a stranger in the land,
Or like a traveler who has pitched his tent for the night?
9 Why are You like a confused person,
Like a warrior who cannot save?
Yet You are in our midst, Lord,
And we are called by Your name;
Do not leave us!”

The Lord answers the prophet:

11 So the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for a good outcome on behalf of this people. 12 When they fast, I am not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather, I am going to put an end to them by the sword, famine, and plague.”

Jeremiah argues for Judah. They were misled by false prophets who have a "positive mindset" that are in fact lies.

13 But I said, “Oh, Lord [c]God! Behold, the prophets are telling them, ‘You will not see a sword, nor will you have famine; on the contrary, I will give you lasting peace in this place.’” 14 Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them, nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility, and the deception of their own [d]minds. 15 Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the prophets who are prophesying in My name, although it was not I who sent them—yet they keep saying: ‘There will be no sword or famine in this land’—by sword and famine those prophets shall meet their end! 16 And the people to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and there will be no one to bury them—neither them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters. For I will pour out their own wickedness upon them.

Jeremiah 12: is the Lord righteous with Jeremiah?

 
In Jeremiah 12, Jeremiah doesn't understand why the Lord is righteous, when he compares how the Lord treats him and the wicked:

1 Righteous are You, Lord, when I plead my case with You;
Nevertheless I would discuss matters of justice with You:
Why has the way of the wicked prospered?
Why are all those who deal in treachery at ease?
2 You have planted them, they have also taken root;
They grow, they have also produced fruit.
You are near [a]to their lips
But far from their [b]mind.
3 But You know me, Lord;
You see me
And examine my heart’s attitude toward You.
Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter,
And set them apart for a day of slaughter!

The Lord answers:

5 “If you have run with infantrymen and they have tired you out,
How can you compete with horses?
If you fall down in a land of peace,
How will you do in the thicket by the Jordan?
6 For even your brothers and the household of your father,
Even they have dealt treacherously with you,
Even they have called aloud after you.
Do not believe them, though they say nice things to you.”

7 “I have forsaken My house,
I have abandoned My inheritance;
I have handed the beloved of My soul
Over to her enemies.
8 My inheritance has become to Me
Like a lion in the forest;
She has [e]roared against Me;
Therefore I have come to hate her.

The Lord is asking Jeremiah to have a stronger vision: he doesn't know what is reserved for the wicked, so he shouldn't envy them. Although Jermiah is alone (even his brothers deal trecheurously with him), the Lord is with him, while the Lord has forsaken others.

Jeremiah 11: plot against Jeremiah's life

 In Jeremiah 11 we read:

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 “Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 3 and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: “Cursed is the one who does not obey the words of this covenant 4 which I commanded your forefathers on the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Listen to My voice, and [a]do according to all that I command you; so you shall be My people, and I will be your God,’ 5 in order to confirm the oath which I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.”’” Then I replied, “Amen, Lord.”

The people of the Lord is to be blessed or cursed according to the obedience to the Lord. In Jeremiah, we see the cursing due to disobedience.

Imagine that we are in Judah listening to Jeremiah's preaching:

11 Therefore this is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am bringing disaster on them which they will not be able to escape; though they will cry out to Me, I will not listen to them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they [c]burn incense, but they certainly will not save them in the time of their disaster. 13 For your gods are [d]as many as your cities, Judah; and [e]as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the shameful thing, altars for [f]burning incense to Baal.

Imagine that we are idolaters listening that we broke the convenant and deserve punishment. Certainly, we would be against Jeremiah. The people of Judah devised plots to kill him:

8 Moreover, the Lord made it known to me and I knew it;
Then You showed me their deeds.
19 But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter;
And I did not know that they had devised plots against me, saying,
“Let’s destroy the tree with its [k]fruit,
And let’s cut him off from the land of the living,
So that his name will no longer be remembered.”
20 But, Lord of armies, who judges righteously,
Who puts the [l]feelings and the heart to the test,
Let me see Your vengeance on them,
For to You I have [m]committed my cause.

However, Jeremiah was certain that the Lord was for him:

22 therefore, this is what the Lord of armies says: “Behold, I am going to punish them! The young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters will die by famine; 23 and a remnant will not be left to them, because I will bring disaster on the people of Anathoth—the year of their punishment.”

Jeremiah 10: Correct me Lord and don't lose your temper.

 
In Jeremiah 10, the Lord says:

2 ...
“Do not learn the way of the nations,
And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens,
Although the nations are terrified by them;
3 For the customs of the peoples are futile;
For it is wood cut from the forest,
The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.

It is very common to be worried about the future: lack of money and health. I suppose that in Jeremiah days, astrology (signs of heavens) was very important. Today, we have some kind of astrology by looking time series, prognostics, statistics, etc. The Lord calls his people to trust in Him:

6 There is none like You, Lord;
You are great, and Your name is great in might.
7 Who would not fear You, O King of the nations?
For it is Your due!
For among all the wise men of the nations
And in all their kingdoms,
There is none like You.

Despite, Judah's sins:

16 The Portion of Jacob is not like these (idols);
For He is the [b]Maker of everything,
And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance;
The Lord of armies is His name.

The Lord is the One who provided the Promised Land but:

17 Pick up your bundle from the ground,
You who live under siege!
18 For this is what the Lord says:
“Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land
At this time,
And I will cause them distress,
So that they may [c]be found.”

It shows that to know the Lord is our real blessing and not His blessings (ex: wealth, health) per si.

Jeremiah know that the Lord hates the sin and He will punish Judah. The prophet prays:

23 I know, Lord, that a person’s way is not in himself,
Nor is it in a person who walks to direct his steps.
24 Correct me, Lord, but with justice;
Not with Your anger, or You will [e]bring me to nothing.
25 Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not know You,
And on the families who do not call upon Your name;
For they have devoured Jacob;
They have devoured him and consumed him,
And have laid waste his [f]settlement.

Jeremiah 9: boast in understanding the Lord

 In Jeremiah 9 we read:

5 Everyone deceives his neighbor
And does not speak the truth.
They have taught their tongue to speak lies;
They weary themselves committing wrongdoing.

The Lord will destroy Judah. One reason is that they have taught their tongue to speak lies. Some people say that it is sign of intelligence to lie; the Bible says it needs some learning to lie; however, the one who lies is in constant motion not to be caught, he can't rest.

9 Shall I not punish them for these things?” declares the Lord.
“Shall I not avenge Myself
On a nation such as this?
...
11 I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
A haunt of jackals;
And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.”
...
16 I will also scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them until I have put an end to them.”
...

23 This is what the Lord says: “Let no wise man boast of his wisdom, nor let the mighty man boast of his might, nor a rich man boast of his riches; 24 but let the one who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises [f]mercy, justice, and righteousness on the earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.

Everyone boasts on his own strength because it gives some advantage over others; however the great advantage is to know the Lord that is merciful, just and righteous and He wants his people to be so.

25 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised— 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all those inhabiting the desert who trim the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart.”

Interestingly the Lord is not delighted to see the sign of the covenant (circumcision) without a heart circumcised.

Jeremiah 8: lack of repentance and punishiment

 In Jeremiah 8 we read:

 1-2 “And when the time comes”—God’s Decree!—“I’ll see to it that they dig up the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of the princes and priests and prophets, and yes, even the bones of the common people. They’ll dig them up and spread them out like a congregation at worship before sun, moon, and stars, all those sky gods they’ve been so infatuated with all these years, following their ‘lucky stars’ in doglike devotion. The bones will be left scattered and exposed, to reenter the soil as fertilizer, like manure.

I don´t know what for would the Babylonians profane the graves. The destruction will be so great that even the dead will be disturbed by it.

4-7 “Tell them this, God’s Message:

“‘Do people fall down and not get up?
    Or take the wrong road and then just keep going?
So why does this people go backward,
    and just keep on going—backward!
They stubbornly hold on to their illusions,
    refuse to change direction.
I listened carefully
    but heard not so much as a whisper.
No one expressed one word of regret.
    Not a single “I’m sorry” did I hear.
They just kept at it, blindly and stupidly
    banging their heads against a brick wall.
...

It is expected that the one fall in temptation , repent and return to the Lord; but hte people is living in sin with no regard to the will of the Lord.

8-9 “‘How can you say, “We know the score.
    We’re the proud owners of God’s revelation”?
Look where it’s gotten you—stuck in illusion.
    Your religion experts have taken you for a ride!
Your know-it-alls will be unmasked,
    caught and shown up for what they are.
Look at them! They know everything but God’s Word.
    Do you call that “knowing”?

The religion experts are proud owners of God's revelation, but they don't really know God's word.
The Lord will severely punish his people:

18-22 I drown in grief.
    I’m heartsick.
Oh, listen! Please listen! It’s the cry of my dear people
    reverberating through the country.
Is God no longer in Zion?
    Has the King gone away?
Can you tell me why they flaunt their plaything-gods,
    their silly, imported no-gods before me?
The crops are in, the summer is over,
    but for us nothing’s changed.
    We’re still waiting to be rescued.
    
If the Lord severely punished his people at that time, it is supposed that the Lord punish his people today.

Jeremiah 7: the Lord wants a holy people and will destroy the Temple.

 Jeremiah 7 was written before the destruction of the temple. The Lord says that the temple will be destroyed as Shiloh that was in Ephraim was destroyed:

12 “‘Take a trip down to the place that was once in Shiloh, where I met my people in the early days. Take a look at those ruins, what I did to it because of the evil ways of my people Israel.

13-15 “‘So now, because of the way you have lived and failed to listen, even though time and again I took you aside and talked seriously with you, and because you refused to change when I called you to repent, I’m going to do to this Temple, set aside for my worship, this place you think is going to keep you safe no matter what, this place I gave as a gift to your ancestors and you, the same as I did to Shiloh. And as for you, I’m going to get rid of you, the same as I got rid of those old relatives of yours around Shiloh, your fellow Israelites in that former kingdom to the north.’

Who would believe in this message? The people had some mystic relationship with the temple as the Lord says:

3-7 “‘Clean up your act—the way you live, the things you do—so I can make my home with you in this place. Don’t for a minute believe the lies being spoken here—“This is God’s Temple, God’s Temple, God’s Temple!” Total nonsense! Only if you clean up your act (the way you live, the things you do), only if you do a total spring cleaning on the way you live and treat your neighbors, only if you quit exploiting the street people and orphans and widows, no longer taking advantage of innocent people on this very site and no longer destroying your souls by using this Temple as a front for other gods—only then will I move into your neighborhood. Only then will this country I gave your ancestors be my permanent home, my Temple.

There were false prophets saying that the Temple was a permanent home to the Lord, therefore, the Temple and the people were protected. It is similar to a church full of sins saying that the Lord will keep it alive because it is the house of the Lord.

Imagine how angry were the leaders of Judah when heard Jeremiah saying that the Lord will destroy his Temple and many will die; but despite that, Jeremiah was praying to the Lord for the Jews:

16-18 “And you, Jeremiah, don’t waste your time praying for this people. Don’t offer to make petitions or intercessions. Don’t bother me with them. I’m not listening. Can’t you see what they’re doing in all the villages of Judah and in the Jerusalem streets? Why, they’ve got the children gathering wood while the fathers build fires and the mothers make bread to be offered to ‘the Queen of Heaven’! And as if that weren’t bad enough, they go around pouring out libations to any other gods they come across, just to hurt me.

The Lord rejects religious sacrifices when mixed with sin:

1-23 “The Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel’s God: ‘Go ahead! Put your burnt offerings with all your other sacrificial offerings and make a good meal for yourselves. I sure don’t want them! When I delivered your ancestors out of Egypt, I never said anything to them about wanting burnt offerings and sacrifices as such. But I did say this, commanded this: “Obey me. Do what I say and I will be your God and you will be my people. Live the way I tell you. Do what I command so that your lives will go well.”

This message tells me that the Lord rejects my religious offerings and even my time spent reading the Bible if I don't love the Lord as He is and if it doesn't translate into loving his sons and daughters.