Exegesis on Jeremiah 31:23-40

The prophet Jeremiah lived during the most critical period of Judah's existence. He saw the destruction of Jerusalem. God’s declared that my people have committed two evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. Therefore, I will, I cause to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets in Jerusalem, the voice in gladness and the voice in joy for the land shall become a desert. Jeremiah had continually warned God’s people to mend their ways before it was too late. And when the devastation finally overwhelmed Israel, he was the one who mourned Israel's terrible fate.

The selected chapters of the second half of Jeremiah are drastically different in tone because there is a much bigger presence of hope in them whereas it is all gloom and destruction in the first half of the book. The theme of restoration builds as we move from one prophet to the next, and Jeremiah seems to have the most hope of restoration so far. The image of YHWH being the depressed and righteously angry husband of Israel and Judah continues to appear in Jeremiah, but maybe a stronger depiction of YHWH in these chapters is that of a parent. The author repeatedly describes the steadfast and everlasting love that YHWH has for his people, labeled most often as Ephraim. I find this to be strange since Ephraim represents the strongest tribe

The Book of Ezekiel is and the man himself is in the midst of historical event associated with the demise of Judah and the destruction of Jerusalem (587 B.C.E) Ezekiel, along with other Judahites were taken into exile in Babylon in 597. In effect there were two Judahs one in the land of Judah and one in exile. One king, Jehoiachin was in exile and Zedekiah in Jerusalem. Under Babylonian bonds and rejecting prophetic advice, they refused to pay their tribute. Within a few years, the temple, city walls, and homes of Jerusalem were burned and leveled. More citizens were carried away to Babylon, and those who remained soon fled to Egypt for security. Ezekiel was told to warn God’s people that there were consequences to their lack of fidelity. God cautioned them that refusal to live by the covenant would bring its own discipline. The people did not listen to the Prophet Ezekiel: he was disliked for his words, and alienated for his message. He told the people that God would allow them to live as orphans if they chose to be orphans—to live outside of God’s covenant. After the fall of Jerusalem, the Babylonian general Nebuzaraddan was sent to complete its destruction. Solomon 's Temple was destroyed. Most of the elite were taken into captivity in Babylon. Jerusalem was razed to the ground.

God’s redemption plan in the Old Testament foreshadows His redemption plan in the New Testament. The physical redemption of the Hebrews is that of the spiritual redemption Christians experience through Jesus Christ. Everything in the Old Testament Tabernacle points the Israelites to Jesus Christ, which follows the Order of Melchizedek. These components of revelation inform understanding of God’s progressive revelation of redemption and have an important impact on individual faith.

The Exegetical Task: Some parts of the Bible call for time and patient revision to understand. Some people find help in Bible dictionaries, commentaries and Bible handbooks (Fee/Stuart p189). Fee and Stuart feels that everyone needs to understand both the prophets’ era and the context of a single oracle (Fee/Stuart p190). The words spoken by the prophets at a variety of times and places are written down without any indication as to where one oracle ends and another begins (Fee/Stuart p193). The prophets employed an assortment of literary forms. 3 of the most common are: “The lawsuit”, God is portrayed as the plaintiff, prosecuting attorney and judge against the defendant, Israel (Fee/Stuart p194). The Woe, Woe oracles implicitly or explicitly contain an announcement of distress, the reason for distress and a prediction of doom. “The promise”, This contains an allusion to the future, a mention of radical change and blessing (Fee/Stuart p195). Hermeneutical Suggestions: What is God’s word to us through these inspired oracles, spoken in another time to God’s people? Once we understand what God said to them then, we will hear it again in our own surroundings (Fee/Stuart p199). The prophets’ messages were concentrated on the near rather than the distant future (Fee/Stuart p200). Sometimes the New Testament makes reference to Old Testament passages that don’t seem to refer to what the New Testament says they do

The second prophecy that resurfaced originated in Ezekiel chapter thirty-seven with the fulfillment the Israelites returning to the area they originally lost control over. “Then God said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Listen to what they’re saying: ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone, there’s nothing left of us.’ But God says: I’ll dig up your graves and bring you out alive—O my people! Then I’ll take you straight to the land of Israel. When I dig up graves and bring you out as my people, you’ll realize that I am God. Then I’ll lead you straight back to your land and you’ll realize that I am God. I’ve said it and I’ll do it.” (MSG Bible) Similar to the message provided in the first prophecy, this

Brown, M. L. (2010). Jeremiah. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Jeremiah–Ezekiel (Revised Edition) (Vol. 7, p. 358). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

God then goes on to judge the kings of Egypt and Tyre for viewing themselves as Gods. He holds these kinds accountable for their pride and announces that he will use Babylon to bring them down too. Soon after Ezekiel is visited by a refugee who tells him that the Babylonians have come and Jerusalem has fallen. Ezekiel’s warnings have become a reality. The rest of the book is designed to explore Ezekiel’s vison of hope for Israel, the nations, and then all of creation.

The next section is composed of verses seven through ten. This section is summarized by God commissioning Moses, saving the Israelites from their oppressors in Egypt, and taking them to the good land. The first important verse in this subsection is verse eight. Verse eight reads “so I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites” (BibleGateway). This is important because the idea of covenant promises is now being fulfilled through the Moses.

According to (Baldwin, 1972:90) in this verse several aspects of the invitation to return are noteworthy. (1) God takes the initiative. It is God, not the people, who is credited with “repentance.” God ordinarily rescinds His decree in response to a change in Israel’s conduct. But sometimes the order—and the causality—is reversed. Rather than God retracting His threats in response to the people’s repentance, the people repent in response to God’s nullification of His anger (Heschel, 1962:285-286). (2) The renewal is conditional. The people must respond with wholehearted conversion in order that the covenant may be renewed. Renewal of the covenant depended neither upon the exiles' return to Jerusalem nor upon the reconstruction of the temple.

The oracle in this passage is a clear message that God has spoken to his servant Amos about Israel’s wrong way of living. Amos announces Israel’s punishment and the purpose of his speech is clear: the Yahweh has spoken and the people must listen.

Having two very different perspectives, Jeremiah sees what is happening from the inside whereas Ezekiel is on the outside with the royal family and people from the 1st exile. With the rising power Babylon is having, Jeremiah thinks that Judah must have done something terribly wrong for YHWH to allow such evil to happen to them. He envisioned the Babylon was a punishing

repopulation of Zion: “God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah: they (the servants) will live there and possess it (`h'Wv)rEywI ~v'÷a Wbv.y"ïw> hd"_Why> yrEä[' hnâ !AY©ci [:yviÛAy¬ ~yh’li {a/ yKiÛ ).” Verse 37 continues this hope using the theme of the servants: “The offspring of his servants will inherit it, and those who love his name will dwell there (`Hb'(-WnK.v.yI Amav÷. ybeîh]aow> h'Wl+x'n>yI wyd"b'[]â [r;z).” The servants of God and their offspring will inherit the restored cities of Judah and dwell there. A hope similar to that in Ps 69:36, 37 is found in Isaiah 65:9 (cf. 66:7-14) with vocabulary similar to Ps 69:36, 37: [r:z(< 9a), hd"ÞWhymi (9b), vrEäAy (9b), h'WvårEywI,(9c) hM'v'(-WnK.v.yI yd:Þb'[]w:.(9d). What is unique to Ps 69:36, 37 is that the servants are described as “those who seek God” (Ps 69:33) and “those who love his name” (Ps 69:37). While the

The first half of the book discusses the message and warning from Isaiah that God will punish Israel, Judah, and the surrounding nations for their corrupt behavior, that includes idolatry and immorality (Holy Bible, NIV, 1996). "Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! This is what the Lord says: "The children I raised and cared for have turned against me. Even the animals-the donkey and the ox-know their owner and appreciate his care, but not my people Israel. No matter what I do for them, they still do not understand". "Oh What a sinful nation they are! They are loaded down with a burden of guilt. They are evil and corrupt children who have turned away from the Lord. They have despised the Holy One of Israel, cutting themselves off from his help" (Isaiah 1: 2-4). The second part of the book discusses the message of forgiveness, reassurance, and hope. Hope comes in the form of the impending Messiah. Isaiah explains that the Messiah will be "both a suffering Servant and a sovereign Lord" and will "offer forgiveness to all who turn to him in faith" (Holy Bible, NIV, 1996). "Look, a righteous king is coming! And honest princes will rule under him. He will shelter Israel from the storm and wind. He will refresh her as a river in the desert and as the cool shadow of a large rock in a hot and weary land. Then everyone who can see will be looking for God, and those who can hear will listen to his voice. Even the hotheads among them will be full of sense and understanding. Those who stammer in uncertainty will speak out plainly" (Isaiah 32:

The closest proclamation text is in Isaiah 65:13 which declares, “the LORD God” not just “LORD” as is stated in Isaiah 65:8. Is this significant?