Jeremiah: Week 4 (Good Morning Girls Resources)
This is it! Just 2 weeks left in the book of Jeremiah.ย Keep on going!!! We are almost there.
If you are new here โ all are welcome to join anytime โ there are no enrollments or sign-ups!ย If you are looking to connect with a community of women who share daily about their quiet times โ join us over onย Facebookย . The daily sharing is wonderful there! ๐ค
NOW LETโS GET STARTED!
This Weekโs Bible Reading Plan:
(Facebook Leaders: You can use this as your Facebook Header this week. Just right click and โsave asโ or screen shot it.)
This weekโs Reflection & Discussion Questions
(Leaders: Copy and paste these into your groups. If you do not have a group, use these for a personal time of reflection.)
Week 4
Jeremiah 29 & 30
God made it clear that Judahโs wounds were grievous. There was no medicine or healing that would help. All her allies had abandoned her. She was alone, her sin was great, and it was God who had punished her in this way. If this was the end of the story, it would be tragic, but itโs not. Godโs promise to Judah was one of restoration and healing.
Jeremiah wrote a letter of prophesy to the exiles in Babylon. In this letter, God refutes Hananiahโs false prophesy in chapter 28 that the exiles would return to Jerusalem in two years. Instead, God encouraged them to settle down, build houses, marry, and have children because they were going to be there for seventy years.
The Lord comforts those in exile by letting them know that his thoughts toward them are not for evil and that he has a future and a hope for them. They would call upon him and pray, and he would answer them; they would seek him, and he would be found by them, and would restore them to their homeland.
For those in Christ, God never allows anything into our lives without a purpose. When bad things happen, weโre prone to think that God is against us, or has forgotten us. Jeremiah 29 reminds us that while God sometimes allows negative things into our lives, it is for a purpose. He is not against us. He is for us. If we will seek him, pray to him, and call upon his name, he will hear us. His plans for us are good plans for a hopeful future.
Are you going through a difficult time right now? Is it hard to understand Godโs plans for you? How does Jeremiah 29:11 encourage you today?
Jeremiah 31 & 32
From the days when the children of Israel wandered in the desert, and God gave them the Law, he warned them that if they didnโt obey his commands, they would experience his judgement. Despite the many prophets God sent them, warning them of their sin and calling them to repentance, they continued in their stubborn and sinful ways.
We have seen from chapter one until now that while Godโs plan was for Babylon to defeat Judah and carry her people into captivity, he still offered his people a way of escape. If they would simply turn from their sin and repent, God would forgive them, and they would not have been defeated.
Yet, despite the coming judgement, God already had a plan for their restoration. His love for them is everlasting and his covenant is never-ending. God led Jeremiah to buy his cousinโs field as an object lesson. The deed was drawn up, sealed, placed in a clay jar, and buried to preserve it for the day when God would restore Israel. It would prove the land belonged to Jeremiah and his descendants.
God was going to allow the Babylonians to conquer Judah. Yet, his promise was that he would gather them back to their land and they would belong to him once again. While Jeremiah watches the Babylonian siege grow, knowing that very soon Judah will fall and the people will be carried away, he proclaims that nothing is too hard for God.
What circumstances in your life appear impossible? Is the enemy whispering to you that itโs pointless to trust God? Donโt give up. Less than 100 years later, God used Ezra and Nehemiah to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. He brought his people back to their homeland. Nothing is too hard for him! Share some ways God has done the impossible in your life or in the lives of those around you.
Jeremiah 33 & 34
While Jeremiah is still imprisoned, God comes to Jeremiah again and gives him a further promise for his people. He is not only going to bring them back to Jerusalem, but he will heal them and forgive their sins. He ends Jeremiah 33 by describing an eternal covenant that cannot be broken, a covenant of mercy.
While God did bring the children of Israel back to their homeland in the times of Ezra and Nehemiah, this promise and prophecy was not just describing that fulfillment, but a later fulfillment as well. He describes the Messiah who will come and will cleanse and forgive their sins, bringing them a new covenant of salvation and freedom.
While God planned to physically heal and restore the Israelites to their homeland, he also revealed his plan to spiritually heal and restore them for eternity. I love seeing Christ show up in the Old Testament!
In their time of crisis, God was still telling them that they could call to him, and he would answer them and show them great and mighty things. It is very easy to view life through this physical world, but God wants to improve our spiritual vision, so we see the unseen world as well.
Is there something in your life you do not understand? Ask the Lord to help you see with your spiritual eyes more clearly and understand the things that you do not understand.
Jeremiah 35 & 36
Once again, God, through Jeremiah, uses an object lesson to show the Israelites their rebellion against him. This time, Jeremiah brings the Rechabites to the temple and serves them wine. The Rechabites were a nomadic group of Israelites who did not drink wine or live the modern life of the rest of their people. Even though Jeremiah the prophet offered them wine, they refused to drink it.
God used the Rechabitesโ obedience to their father Jonadab as a lesson to the children of Israel. For decades the Rechabites had remained obedient to their earthly fatherโs command to not drink wine, yet the children of Israel have not remained faithful to almighty God.
Then in Jeremiah 36, God spoke to Jeremiah to write down all the prophesies he had received and put them in a scroll. His scribe took the scroll to the king in place of Jeremiah, because it seems that Jeremiah was likely excommunicated from the temple, due to the prophesies he had delivered. Godโs desire was that perhaps as the scroll was read, the people would repent of their sins.
Instead, as the scroll was read, the king cut it up, threw it into the fire, and burned it. All throughout history, men have tried to destroy Godโs word. They have burned it, banned it, or convinced ordinary people that they were not intelligent enough to understand it. However, just as God simply instructed Jeremiah to rewrite the prophesies, he will not be deterred. His word is everlasting!
God asked the children of Israel, โWill you receive instruction and listen to my words?โ Letโs ask ourselves this same question today.
What is one thing in your life that you know God has been telling you to do that you have not yet done? Make a commitment today to be like the Rechabites, unwaveringly obedient to God and his instruction.
Jeremiah 37 & 38
The book of Jeremiah is not written in chronological order, so now weโre fast-forwarding several years, to when Zedekiah was made king of Judah by Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. An Egyptian army arrived to fight alongside of Judah against Babylon. God warned the king of Judah, through Jeremiah, not to trust in their Egyptian allies, because although it seemed that Babylon had withdrawn, they would be back and would conquer Jerusalem and burn it.
Jeremiah left for the land of Benjamin to claim the property he purchased in chapter 32. As he approached the gate, he was seized, accused of defecting to Babylon, and thrown in prison. After a few days, King Zedekiah got him out and secretly asked if God had a word for him. The word from God was not what he was hoping for, and so he threw Jeremiah back in prison.
In Jeremiah 38, Jeremiah went from prison to being thrown into a cistern. This cistern had deep mud into which Jeremiah sank as they lowered him down. There was no bread left in the city, so he was left there to die, all because he spoke the truth.
Doing Godโs will does not always mean that we will be loved, accepted, and popular; but God does not abandon us. God sent some royal officials to rescue him from the pit. Then, King Zedekiah called Jeremiah to a secret meeting where he asked Jeremiah to tell him the truth. Jeremiah, risking his life, spoke the truth to the king.
Godโs word is not always what people want to hear, but God wants us to be bold, like Jeremiah, and speak his word anyway. As we draw closer to Jesusโ return, it will become less and less acceptable to speak Godโs word, and persecution will rise.
Has doing the right thing cost you more than you expected?ย What has it cost you?ย God promises us that he will never leave us nor forsake us. He is with you, even when you are suffering for his sake. ย Hold tight to his promise that he is with you.
This Weekโs Verses of the Day:
(Leaders: You can use these images in your groups by using right click and โsave asโ or screen shoting them.)
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Hereโs the Printable Bible Bookmark for Jeremiah.
Donโt Miss the Daily Check-Ins on Facebook!
Join us EVERY weekday morning ANYTIME after 7:00amEST on Facebook
to discuss the dayโs reading assignment.
Remember to leave at least 20 minutes for your reading each day.ย I am in prayer for you all and asking God to help us understand his word clearly.
Have a wonderful week in Godโs Word โ Iโll see you back here on the blog this Friday as we go deeper into Godโs Word together!ย Donโt forget to join me every weekday morning out onย Facebook!
Keep walking with the King,
COURTNEY
Did you miss last weekโs new video? Here it is again:
The Jeremiah Journal is available on Amazon!
If youโd like to purchase a printable-digital copy
(so you have it right away) at half the price
click HERE.
Check out my recent book release below:
