Want to learn more about Jeremiah? Use these Bible Studies for personal devotion, group Bible studies, or teaching a church class. Below are links to the lessons in this 13-part series.
Does God have a plan for your life? Do the actions of
the leaders and the people of your nation make a difference in how
God treats your nation? This week we start a new series of lessons
about a man God called to warn a nation that had turned its back on
God. Let’s dig into our study of Jeremiah and see what we can learn
about difficult jobs!
Let’s review a bit of history. God lead His people out
of Egypt and into the promised land. Their mission? To claim the land
promised to them. They never completely accomplished that task, but
during the years of King David and King Solomon they controlled the
largest area of the promised land. After Solomon’s death, because of
his high tax policies, God’s people split into two nations. The
northern kingdom (ten tribes) was Israel and the southern kingdom
(two tribes) was Judah. Israel existed for about 200 years and then
fell to the Assyrians. Judah continued on for about a 150 years when
it fell to the Babylonians. It was approximately the last 40 years of
Judah’s history when Jeremiah warned the people of the coming
destruction. Let’s jump into our study of the Bible and learn more!
We learned that Jeremiah spent forty years warning
Judah of impending destruction. During that forty years, five kings
ruled Judah. Were they all bad? Why would they ignore God’s warnings?
What lessons can we learn from them? Let’s jump into our study of the
Bible and find out!
How would you compare to the people to whom Jeremiah
was giving his warnings? When you think about what God is saying to
you through the Bible and the inspired words of others, do you take
those “course corrections” seriously, or do you simply do what you
want? Can you trust your judgment? Can you trust yourself to make
good decisions when it comes to changes you should make? Let’s dive
into our study of the Bible and see what we can learn that will make
us more open to the leading of the Holy Spirit!
“No good deed goes unpunished” is an old saying. In our
study this week, it seems that this saying dates back to the time of
Jeremiah! How many times has a religious leader suffered as a result
of doing God’s will? Those involved in evil do not want to be rebuked
or reminded of God’s will. No doubt the extent of the problem
sometimes increases because of a lack of tact and wisdom, but the
main problem is the underlying resistance against light by those who
love the dark (see John 3:19-21). Let’s dive into our study of
Jeremiah and learn more!
Have you considered the way in which God uses symbols?
The entire Old Testament sanctuary service is symbolic of what Jesus
would do for us. Calling Jesus “the Lamb of God who takes away the
sin of the world” (John 1:29), brings to mind the symbolism of the
sacrifice of a lamb for our sins. We introduced the idea last week
that God taught Jeremiah to use symbols in his teachings about what
God wanted the people to learn. This week we dive much more deeply
into the subject. Let’s see what new things we can learn from the
Bible and symbols!
If you are a parent of adult children, was there a time
when you did not know what to do to help your children? I had those
times. If you are a church leader, do you have times when you do not
know what to do to solve church problems? Even as a child, there
were conflicts that I could not resolve in my family. What do we do
in situations like that? The first answer is to turn to God for help!
But, does God, as our heavenly Father, also face situations like
that? Does God have a difficult time solving the problems of His
children because He gives us free-will? Jeremiah continues his
warnings to God’s people in our study this week, but in his warnings
we get some insight in how to resolve what seem to be impossible
problems. Let’s dive into our study of the Bible and learn more!
Solomon says that wise people, just like foolish and
senseless people, die and leave their wealth to others. Psalms 49:10.
We are in life together with all sorts of people who cause all sort
of different things to happen to us. Josiah was God’s man, but his
young life was turbulent, and he was killed at an early age in
battle. How do we make sense of these things? Let’s dig into our
study of the Bible and see what we can learn!
When you are uncertain of God’s will, what do you do?
Pray, right? Study to see if the Bible gives direction, right? Do you
examine yourself in case your personal preferences might be
interfering with your search for God’s will? “I am willing to do
God’s will, as long as God’s will is to do what I want to do!” I’m
certain this has been a problem in my life in the past. While God is
flexible in the paths our lives can take, our greatest blessing comes
from taking the path He has in mind. Our lesson this week
demonstrates that if we truly want to understand God’s will, we can.
Let’s dive into our study of the Bible and learn more!
In Jeremiah 17:9 he says “The heart is deceitful above
all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” We have an
incredible ability to deceive ourselves. Those who reject God have an
argument, they have a reason, for their evil behavior. Jeremiah saw
a people engaged in the most bizarre behavior. On the one hand they
claimed to be following God, and on the other hand they rejected God.
Why not just reject God and drop the pretense? Is this something
that we should be worried about, since we claim to follow God? Let’s
dig into our study of the Bible and learn more!
A “covenant” is a contract, an agreement between two
parties in which both agree to do something on behalf of the other.
Some Christians think that God had a series of poor covenants that He
made with humans. I’m exaggerating, but the theory goes that God kept
suggesting covenants until He got one that would actually work. Our
study this week looks at several covenants. Are they a series of
improved versions, much like improved software? Some suggest that God
has had only one basic covenant with humans. Perhaps the truth is
somewhere in between. One of the interesting discoveries about
Jeremiah is that God has a very important covenant discussion with
him. Let’s dig into our study and learn more about what the Bible
says on the issue of covenants!
Have you experienced a time at work when you gave
advice, it was rejected, and your employer took a course you thought
was wrong? If it turned out your advice was right, what should
happen the next time you give advice to your employer? You would
expect your advice would be followed, right? What if you always gave
the right advice to your employer and your employer always rejected
your advice? How would you feel? Time for a new job, right? I would
be very annoyed and frustrated that no one recognized the wisdom of
my advice. Welcome to Jeremiah’s world! After all of his warnings,
and after his precise predictions, his advice is still rejected.
Let’s dive into our study of the Bible and learn more.
What have we learned from our study of Jeremiah? This
is the last lesson in this series, and like every experience in life,
we need to contemplate what we can learn from it. Let’s dive into our
study of the Bible and solidify in our minds what we have learned!
