Here is a teaching of chapter 21 of the book of Jeremiah. If you want to check out Bible studies of the previous chapters, join our group here. Once you get added into that Facebook group, you can go to the "units" tab and you'll see all of the previous chapters. So if you haven't studied them already, you can print out the study guides that are available for you.
Chapter 21 of Jeremiah:
"The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent him to Pashhur son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah. They said: "Inquire now of the Lord for us because Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is attacking us. Perhaps the Lord will perform wonders for us as in times past so that he will withdraw from us."
Okay. So before I go any further, I did want to point out some things here. First, the book of Jeremiah is not arranged in chronological order. If you had read the last blog about chapter 20 of Jeremiah, the events from chapter 20 and the events from chapter 21 don't really add up and it's because it actually jumped like 20 years in between those two chapters. So the end of chapter 20 it ended in the reign of Jehoiachin, which was the son of Josiah who reigned for 11 years. Now, with chapter 21 of Jeremiah the Babylonian armies were in Judah and Jerusalem had been besieged.
Also, the Pashhur that it speaks about in chapter 21 of Jeremiah is not the same Pashhur as chapter 20 of Jeremiah. This Pashhur in chapter 21 was the son of Malkijah. In chapter 20, the Pashhur was the son of Immer. So these are two completely different Pashhurs here. Now, by the time of chapter 21 of Jeremiah King Zedekiah's reign was almost over, so Nebuchadnezzar had returned for the third time to destroy the city of Jerusalem and carry away the remaining people of Judah. In verse two, whenever they want Jeremiah to ask the Lord if he will perform wonders like he's done in the past and withdraw from them, this was just an attempt to get immunity in the last possible hour that they could. This was a third time Nebuchadnezzar was coming to the city to destroy it and instead of them really repenting, changing their ways, and following God, to begin with, they just wanted Jeremiah to ask God to save them in their time of need, without them having to change their ways.
Verses 3-7 of chapter 21 of Jeremiah:
"But Jeremiah answered them, "tell Zedekiah, 'This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: I am about to turn against you the weapons of war that are in your hands, which you are using to fight the King of Babylon and the Babylonians who are outside the wall besieging you. And I will gather them inside this city. I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm in anger and fury and great wrath. I will strike down those who live in this city- both men and animals- and they will die of a terrible plague. After that, declares the Lord, I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials and the people in this city who survive the plague, sword, and famine, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to their enemies who seek their lives. He will put them to the sword; he will show them no mercy or pity or compassion.'"
So in these verses here, the prophecy of Jeremiah was right to the point. He spoke so plain and boldly, and he was just telling them that their effort is going to be unsuccessful and that the Babylonians were not only going to besiege Jerusalem, but they would also be gathered in the city. Also, it says in these verses here, that Judah is not only going to have to fight the Babylonians but God himself and the only cause of death is not just going to be by sword, but also famine and the plague.
Now I'm going to read verses 8-10:
"Furthermore, tell the people, 'This is what the Lord says: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death. Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; he will escape with his life. I have determined to do this city harm and not good, declares the Lord. It will be given into the hands of the King of Babylon, and he will destroy it with fire.'"
So in these verses here, Jeremiah is speaking to the people of Jerusalem, and he's calling them to make a decision of life or death, which we've seen this several times in the Bible of God calling the people of Jerusalem to make this type of decision. Jeremiah is also telling them that their only hope to survive is to surrender.
I'm going to finish off reading chapter 21 with verses 11-14:
"Moreover, say to the royal house of Judah, 'Hear the word of the Lord; O house of David, this is what the Lord says: 'Administer justice every morning; rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done- burn with no one to quench it. I am against you, Jerusalem, you who live above this Valley on the rocky plateau, declares the Lord- you who say, "Who can come against us? Who can enter our refuge?" I will punish you as your deeds deserve, declares the Lord. I will kinder a fire in your forests that will consume everything around you.'"
So where it says here, "O house of David," God had established the house of David as a Royal line and he had a special interest in them so he spoke to them through Jeremiah. And just like all the previous chapters we've read in Jeremiah, the Lord says here that if they repent, then there's still hope for them but if they don't repent, judgment is going to come on them like fire. Jeremiah still held out hope that there's going to be reformation and that as long as they acknowledge their guilt, they repent, and they truly change their ways, then they will survive. In verses 13-14, God said that he was against those people that felt safe and secure, even though there was judgment coming, and no matter how safe they felt if they didn't repent then judgment was going to come on them and his wrath was going to come upon them.
Jeremiah Chapter 21 Study Guide:
What did Pashhur and Zephaniah want Jeremiah to inquire of the Lord?
How many years had gone by between chapter 20 and chapter 21 of Jeremiah?
Is the Pashhur in chapter 21 of Jeremiah the same Pashhur as in chapter 20?
Who was attacking Judah?
In verses 8-10, what decision did Jeremiah tell the people to make?
What will happen to those who surrender?
Why is the Lord against Jerusalem?
Just like in all the previous chapters, one thing that Jeremiah is constantly telling the people of Judah and Jerusalem is to acknowledge their guilt, repent, and truly change their ways and they continue to just follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and just do whatever it is that they want to do and want God to save them. They only come to him for help whenever their backs are against the wall and that's their only option is to come to God, because they know that the city is going to be destroyed and they're going to be destroyed.
I don't know about you guys, but I definitely don't want to be like the people of Judah and Jerusalem, where I just am constantly rebelling against the Lord and only coming to him whenever it's the last resort. It's so important for us to follow God and ask him to lead us through every situation in life. To ask him for guidance, knowledge, and wisdom to know exactly what it is to do, to study the Bible, know the truth about God's word, and whenever we do make mistakes to acknowledge our guilt, repent, and truly change our ways and follow him, obey him and do what's commanded of us.
I'm going to pray with you guys. So if you would please just close your eyes and pray me:
Lord. I pray that you be with every single person listening to this right now, Lord. I pray that you have your hand over them and protect them. I pray that you open up their eyes, their ears, their heart, their soul, and their spirit to you Lord and that they follow you and lean on you for guidance and support. Lord, I pray that they acknowledge their guilt, repent, and truly change their ways and do what's commanded of them. Lord, I pray that you show your love, wisdom, and knowledge to them and let them know that you're always right here with them, they just have to lean on you, reach out to you, have that relationship with you, study your word and the truth of your word, and ask for that wisdom, knowledge, and understanding to know exactly what it is that they should be doing and how to make an impact in other people's lives. I love you so much Lord, in Jesus's name. Amen.
I love you guys so much.
Never forget to choose faith over fear.
-Lorena Camille (Faith Fuels My Fire)
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Holy Bible. New International Version (NIV)
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