Debriefing Jeremiah

Jeremiah was a dedicated man of God as well as a trustworthy Prophetic voice for his time. God used him mightily! During his ministry and in this book of prophecy we learn much about the heart of God as a God to the nation of Israel, the God of the earth and the God of this individual man Jeremiah.

If you remember Jeremiah had several times of questioning God, questioning the words He gave Jeremiah to speak and even questioning God’s intentions regarding himself as His prophet. It was during this later time of questioning that Jeremiah earned his nickname of “weeping prophet”.

Jeremiah was a national prophet and as such, much of his actual prophecies were more general…meaning not directed so much at individuals as to the nations as a whole. Yet, God, through Jeremiah, treated the nation like an individual…like His wife.

In all that follows, I want you to retain in your thinking what we’ve learned about prophecy. Old Testament prophecy ALWAYS serves a dual purpose, that of revealing events and times AND that of revealing Messiah.

2Peter 1:21, “for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
Rev. 19:10, “And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

Mental Joggers of the prophetic content in Jeremiah:

Why are you cold towards Me? I planted you a nobel vine, but you have become an alien vine.
Warning of coming judgment to leaders
Warning of coming judgment to the people
Judgment is almost here… if you’ll just rid yourselves of your idols I’ll still let you stay in the land.
Ok, exile is guaranteed now, but if you will surrender willingly to Babylon (My judgment) you will go and build houses to dwell in, plant gardens and eat the fruit of it, bear children and prosper for when I bring you out of exile to your own land again.
Prophecies against other nations – Egypt, Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites & Edom.
Babylon will be judged.
I will restore My people.
Behold the days are coming – New Covenant.

Discussion Questions:

Discuss how the heart of God is revealed in what He gave Jeremiah to say.
Discuss what the prophecies of Jeremiah revealed regarding the immediate and long term purposes of God in Israel and the earth.
How was Jesus revealed in the prophecies of Jeremiah?
How was Jesus revealed in the person of Jeremiah?
Finally, discuss how you see the particulars of Jeremiah’s most famous prophecy (written below) as having been fulfilled through and in the New Covenant.

Jeremiah’s most famous prophecy…Jeremiah 31:21-40,

“(21) Set up signposts, Make landmarks; Set your heart toward the highway, The way in which you went. Turn back, O virgin of Israel, Turn back to these your cities.

(22) How long will you gad about, O you backsliding daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the earth— A woman shall encompass a man.”

(23) Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “They shall again use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I bring back their captivity: ‘The LORD bless you, O home of justice, and mountain of holiness!’ (24) And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all its cities together, farmers and those going out with flocks.

(25) For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.” (26) After this I awoke and looked around, and my sleep was sweet to me.

(27) “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. (28) And it shall come to pass, that as I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the LORD. (29) In those days they shall say no more: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ (30) But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

(31) “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— (32) not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. (33) But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (34) No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

(35) Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is His name): (36) “If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the LORD, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever.” (37) Thus says the LORD: “If heaven above can be measured, And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel For all that they have done, says the LORD.

(38) “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that the city shall be built for the LORD—from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. (39) The surveyor’s line shall again extend straight forward over the hill Gareb; then it shall turn toward Goath. (40) And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the LORD. It shall not be plucked up or thrown down anymore forever.”

Blessings!

I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

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Blessings!

Pastor Mark

View posts by Pastor Mark

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!