Jeremiah 21:1-24:10

MESSAGES IN ZEDEKIAH’S REIGN

These chapters furnish a convenient unit, as they are apparently a group of discourses delivered in Zedekiah’s reign the king of the captivity period.

The first, and one of the most interesting, is that concerning the siege (chap. 21). Note the occasion (Jeremiah 21:1-2) and observe that Pashur was not he of the last lesson. The siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar had begun and the king of Judah hoped the prophet would have some encouraging word from God for him and the nation. But the opposite was the case (Jeremiah 21:3-7). The message to the people (Jeremiah 21:8-10), was the theme Jeremiah had to proclaim for the greater part of his ministry down until the event occurred.

Chapter 22 is chiefly about the previous kings of Judah in Jeremiah’s time. They need not weep for Josiah whom the Lord had taken to Himself (Jeremiah 22:10), but for Shallum (Jeremiah 22:11), another name for Jehoahaz (see margin), the son of Josiah who had been carried to Egypt as we saw in the book of Kings. They should not lament for Jehoiakim, now dead, for he was unworthy of it (Jeremiah 22:13-19). Coniah, the fourth king (Jeremiah 22:24-30), is another name for Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, taken captive by the Babylonians, whose story we were made familiar with in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles.

Chapter 23 contains one of those beautiful messages of the future redemption of Judah and Israel with which we have become acquainted in the Psalms and Isaiah (Jeremiah 23:1-8). Observe the Messianic allusion in Jeremiah 23:5-6. And do not overlook God’s testimony to His own Word that follows, coupled with the judgment pronounced on the false teachers who put their own word instead of it.

Chapter 24, the type of the good figs and the bad, explains itself. The Jews carried into captivity earlier than Zedekiah’s time would have an opportunity to return from Babylon after a while, but those now in the land and to be carried away later would not have such opportunity.

QUESTIONS

1. What is the title of this lesson and why is it given?

2. On what theme is the first discourse?

3. State the circumstances.

4. What four former kings of Judah are referred to?

5. What name is given our Lord Jesus Christ in chapter 23?

6. Can you tell the story of the good and bad figs?