Old Testament

Hurricane UtahAdult Religion Class

Week 24:Jeremiah, Lamentations

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God loves bad puns• Jeremiah 1:11–12.• Hebrew wordplay:

“Almond tree” = Heb. שקד (shah-ked).

“Hasten” (“watching over”) = Heb. שקד (show-ked).

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Babylonian Empire612–539 B.C.

Josiah

Jehoahaz

Jehoiakim

Jehoiachin

Zedekiah

Kings of Judah640–586 B.C.

597& 586

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Biography of Jeremiah• Benjamite of priestly lineage.• Called at age 13 (627 B.C.).

Began ministry at 19 (621 B.C.).Fled to Egypt at 58 (582 B.C.).

• Metaphorical oracles.• Some writings on brass plates

obtained by Nephi1.• Author of Jeremiah, also (per

tradition) 1 & 2 Kings, Lamentations.

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Lifetime of rejection• King Jehoiakim: Read aloud, burned

the scroll (Jeremiah 36).• King Zedekiah: Sought out Jeremiah,

but ultimately rejected his messages.• Charged with treason, imprisoned,

left to die (Jeremiah 37–38.)• Central message: “Judah’s

punishment inevitable.”

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“Before I formed thee in the belly….”

• Jeremiah 1:4–5.• Knew, set apart (KJV “sanctified”),

and ordained.• cf. Alma 13:3.

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“Before I formed thee in the belly….”

“Every man who has a calling to minister to the Inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very purpose in the grand Council of Heaven before this world was—I suppose that I was ordained to this very office in that grand Council.”

—Joseph Smith, 12 May 1844

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Another reluctant prophet

• Jeremiah 1:6–8, 17–19.

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False gods (again!)• Jeremiah 2:11, 13, 27–28.

“Fountain of living waters” vs. a broken cistern.

• Jeremiah 9:23–24.

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“Cast them out of my sight!”

• Jeremiah 15:1.• “My spirit shall not always strive with

man.” Genesis 6:3/Moses 8:17; 2 Nephi 26:11;

Ether 2:15; D&C 1:33.

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Being receptive to the Spirit

“As with all gifts, [the] gift [of the Holy Ghost] must be received and accepted to be enjoyed. When priesthood hands were laid upon your head to confirm you a member of the Church, you heard the words, ‘Receive the Holy Ghost.’ This did not mean that the Holy Ghost unconditionally became your constant companion. Scriptures warn us that the Spirit of the Lord will ‘not always strive with man.’ When we are confirmed, we are given the right to the companionship of the Holy Ghost, but it is a right that we must continue to earn through obedience and worthiness. We cannot take this gift for granted.” —Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, April 2003

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The potter’s wheel• Jeremiah 18:1–4.• Jeremiah 18:5–10.• Scripture chain:

Isaiah 45:9. 2 Nephi 27:27. 2 Timothy 2:20–21.

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The potter’s wheel• Jeremiah 18:1–4.• Jeremiah 18:5–10.• Scripture chain:

Isaiah 45:9. 2 Nephi 27:27. 2 Timothy 2:20–21.

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The potter’s wheel“There are many vessels that are destroyed after they have been moulded and shaped. Why? Because they are not contented with the shape the potter has given them, but straightaway put themselves into a shape to please themselves; therefore they are beyond understanding what God designs, and they destroy themselves by the power of their own agency. [These people] have to go through a great many modellings and shapes, then…have to be glazed and burned; and even in the burning, some vessels crack.”

—President Heber C. Kimball

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“A burning fire…in my bones”

• Jeremiah 20:7–9.

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“A burning fire…in my bones”“Satan is certainly not subtle in his teachings; why

should we be? Whether we are instructing our children at home or standing before an audience in church, let us never make our faith difficult to detect. Remember—we are to be teachers ‘come from God.’ Never sow seeds of doubt. Avoid self-serving performance and vanity. Prepare lessons well. Give scripturally based sermons. Teach the revealed doctrine. Bear heartfelt testimony. Pray and practice and try to improve. In our administrative meetings let us both ‘instruct and edify’ as the revelations say, that even in these our teaching may ultimately be ‘from on high.’ The Church will be the better for it, and so will you, for as Paul said to the Romans, ‘Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself?’

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“A burning fire…in my bones”“A memorable account of the power of such

teaching comes from the life of the prophet Jeremiah. This great man felt the way most teachers or speakers or Church officers feel when called—inexperienced, inadequate, frightened. ‘Ah, Lord,’ he cried, ‘behold, I cannot speak: for I am [but] a child.’“But the Lord reassured him: ‘Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee…. Therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them.’

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“A burning fire…in my bones”“So speak unto them he did, but initially not with

much success. Things went from bad to worse until finally he was imprisoned and made a laughing-stock among the people. Angry that he had been so mistreated and maligned, Jeremiah vowed, in effect, never to teach another lesson, whether that be to an investigator, Primary child, new convert, or—heaven forbid—the 15-year-olds. ‘I will not make mention of [the Lord], nor speak any more in his name,’ the discouraged prophet said. But then came the turning point of Jeremiah’s life. Something had been happening with every testimony he had borne, every scripture he had read, every truth he had taught. Something had been happening that he hadn’t counted on. Even as he vowed to close his mouth and walk away from the Lord’s work, he found that he could not. Why? Because ‘his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.’

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“A burning fire…in my bones”“That is what happens in the gospel to both

the teacher and the taught. It is what happened to Nephi and Lehi when, the book of Helaman says, ‘the Holy Spirit of God did come down from heaven, and did enter into their hearts, and they were filled as if with fire, and they could speak forth marvelous words.”

—Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, April 1998

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Promised restoration• Jeremiah 31:8–9.

The Lord’s power. Prominence of Ephraim, the northern

kingdom.• Jeremiah 31:31–34.

The “new covenant”: 2 Corinthians 3:3; Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 8:6–13.

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A new covenant“The time has at last arrived when the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has set his hand again the second time to recover the remnants of his people, which have been left from Assyria, and from Egypt, and…from the islands of the sea, and with them to bring in the fulness of the Gentiles, and establish that covenant with them, which was promised when their sins should be taken away [as described in Jeremiah 31]. This covenant has never been established with the house of Israel, nor with the house of Judah, for it requires two parties to make a covenant, and those two parties must be agreed, or no covenant can be made.

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A new covenant“Christ, in the days of His flesh, proposed to make a covenant with them, but they rejected Him and His proposals, and in consequence thereof, they were broken off, and no covenant was made with them at that time. But their unbelief has not rendered the promise of God of none effect: no, for there was another day limited in David, which was the day of His power; and then His people, Israel, should be a willing people;—and He would write His law in their hearts, and print it in their thoughts; their sins and their iniquities He would remember no more.” —Joseph Smith, January 1833

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Jeremiah• Not optimistic, not hopeful.• A book of warning.

Next week:Ezekiel