READ IT! - Introduction to Jeremiah 29-35

Readings for this week

Monday: Jeremiah 29
Tuesday: Jeremiah 30
Wednesday: Jeremiah 31
Thursday: Jeremiah 32
Friday: Jeremiah 33
Saturday: Jeremiah 34
Sunday: Jeremiah 35

Introduction to Jeremiah 29-35

Chapter 29 

Chapter 29 contains a letter that Jeremiah wrote to the people who were exiled by Babylon. Jeremiah told the exiles to settle down and raise families in Babylon because their rescue was far-off. But a guy named Shemaiah told the people they would be delivered very soon and tried to have “that maniac” Jeremiah arrested. God said he would punish Shemaiah for prophesying lies. 

Chapters 30-33 

The next section of the book is made up of oracles of hope. First, we hear about the restoration of Israel. God promised to restore His people from captivity. God promised to plunder the nations who had plundered His people. God promised to restore David’s line. God would turn the mourning and suffering of His people into joy and celebration. Jeremiah also reported that God was making a new covenant with His people. Moses wrote the old covenant on scrolls and stone tablets, and as the people read it, they knew what God expected. But in the new covenant, God would place his law in His people’s hearts to a level He had not done in previous times, and God’s Spirit would guide their lives from within them in a deep, new way. 

As Jerusalem was under siege, God told Jeremiah to buy a field from his cousin Hanamel. God intended Jeremiah’s land purchase to be a sign of hope. One day, Judean land would again have value and God’s people would return and claim it. God offers a promise of restoration:

“If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night no longer come at their appointed time, then my covenant with David my servant—and my covenant with the Levites who are priests ministering before me—can be broken and David will no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne. I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless as the stars in the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore.’” 

Chapters 34-35 

Chapters 34-45 are made up of historical and biographical accounts. First, we read Jeremiah’s teaching on Covenant Faithfulness. First, he addressed the issue of freedom for slaves. As Nebuchadnezzar’s siege began, Zedekiah initiated a half-hearted attempt to win God’s favor by releasing all Hebrew slaves in accordance with the Mosaic Law, but the people soon reversed the king’s decree and took back their slaves. God was displeased and said He would “release” His people to sword, pestilence, and famine.

Next, Jeremiah writes about how the Rekabites remained faithful to the Covenant. As an object lesson, Jeremiah brought the Rekabites into the Temple and told them to drink wine, but they refused. Jeremiah wanted to know why this small group of people was able to follow the command of their ancestor, but Judah was unable to follow the command of God.