←Jeremiah 18→BSB

In This Chapter 4 people 15 places 35 terms 1 theme

People

Israel 5 Jeremiah (Son of Hilkiah) 2 Jacob (Patriarch) Jeshurun (Israel)

Places

    Key Terms

    Word of the Lord 3 Counsel 3 Instruction 2 Forgive 2 Forgive (Wipe Out) 2 Transgression 2 Sin 2 Forgive (Remove Guilt) Forgive (Grant Pardon) Spare (Release) Hand Over Forgiveness (Remove Guilt) Forgiveness (Pardon) Have Mercy To Cover (Forgive) Cover (Figurative) Forgiving To Sin Guilt (State) Sin (Act) Sin (Incur Guilt) Guilty (Responsible) Guilt (Consequence) Guiltiness Trespass (Sin) Sinful Sin (Offense) To Stand Guilty Sin (Guilty) Sin (Wrongdoing) Guilty Considered Guilty Guilty Of Sin Previously Sin Against

    Themes

    The Lord of Nations

    The Potter and the Clay

    ⓘ The Lord involved Jeremiah in a lesson using...

    The Lord involved Jeremiah in a lesson using objects. What Jeremiah saw at the potter's shop symbolized what the Lord planned to do with Judah.
    ⓘ Jeremiah watched the potter shape a clay jar....

    Jeremiah watched the potter shape a clay jar. The potter then crushed it and began again.

    1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2“Go down at once to the potter’s house, and there I will give you My message.”

    3So I went down to the potter’s house and saw him working at the wheel. 4But the vessel that he was shaping from the clay became flawed in his hand; so he formed it into another vessel, as it seemed best for him to do.

    ⓘ The Lord compared himself to this potter. He...

    The Lord compared himself to this potter. He could set high standards and decide to destroy or reshape his creations.

    5Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 6“O house of Israel, declares the LORD, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay? Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.

    ⓘ If a nation or kingdom rejected the one...

    If a nation or kingdom rejected the one true God, God could decide to uproot, tear down, and destroy it (see Jeremiah 1:10). If the nation changed its evil ways, the Lord's anger would ease, and he would not destroy it.

    7At any time I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed. 8But if that nation I warned turns from its evil, then I will relent of the disaster I had planned to bring.

    9And if at another time I announce that I will build up and establish a nation or kingdom, 10and if it does evil in My sight and does not listen to My voice, then I will relent of the good I had intended for it.

    11Now therefore, tell the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, I am planning a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways, and correct your ways and deeds.’

    12But they will reply, ‘It is hopeless. We will follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’”

    ⓘ The Lord said he would scatter his people...

    The Lord said he would scatter his people because they left him.

    13Therefore this is what the LORD says:

    “Inquire among the nations:Who has ever heard things like these?Virgin Israel has done a most terrible thing.
    ⓘ The answer to these two rhetorical questions was...

    • The answer to these two rhetorical questions was “No.” The snow and streams of the mountaintops of Lebanon were always reliable. In contrast, the Lord’s people were not reliable.

    • The ancient highways represented a life of faithfulness to the covenant (Jeremiah 6:16), while the muddy paths symbolized a life of self-serving paganism.
    14Does the snow of Lebanonever leave its rocky slopes?Or do its cool waters flowing from a distanceever run dry?15Yet My people have forgotten Me.They burn incense to worthless idolsthat make them stumble in their ways,leaving the ancient roadsto walk on rutted bypathsinstead of on the highway.
    ⓘ The Lord declared judgment on Judah and Jerusalem....

    • The Lord declared judgment on Judah and Jerusalem.

    • They have made their land a desolation...I will scatter them: Between 605 and 586 BC, Judah and Jerusalem gradually lost their residents.

    • like the east wind: In the summer, a strong hot wind from the east can blow sand and dust from the desert into Judah.

    • I will show them My back: The people would no longer have a covenant relationship with the Lord.
    16They have made their land a desolation,a perpetual object of scorn;all who pass by will be appalledand shake their heads.17I will scatter them before the enemylike the east wind.I will show them My back and not My facein the day of their calamity.”

    Another Plot against Jeremiah

    (Jeremiah 11:18–23)

    ⓘ Jeremiah passionately asked for revenge against those trying...

    Jeremiah passionately asked for revenge against those trying to undermine his work.

    18Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us denounce him and pay no heed to any of his words.”

    ⓘ Jeremiah told the Lord about the unfairness of...

    Jeremiah told the Lord about the unfairness of his enemies' actions against him.
    19Attend to me, O LORD.Hear what my accusers are saying!20Should good be repaid with evil?Yet they have dug a pit for me.Remember how I stood before Youto speak good on their behalf,to turn Your wrath from them.
    ⓘ In his prayer for vengeance, Jeremiah asked God...

    In his prayer for vengeance, Jeremiah asked God to carry out the promised curses on those who broke his covenant (compare Deuteronomy 27:11–26; 28:15–68; see also the “Prayers for Vengeance” Theme Note).
    21Therefore, hand their children over to famine;pour out the power of the sword upon them.Let their wives become childless and widowed;let their husbands be slain by disease,their young men struck down by the sword in battle.22Let a cry be heard from their houseswhen You suddenly bring raiders against them,for they have dug a pit to capture meand have hidden snares for my feet.
    23But You, O LORD, know all their deadly plots against me.Do not wipe out their guiltor blot out their sin from Your sight.Let them be overthrown before You;deal with them in the time of Your anger.