God tells Jeremiah to write all these prophecies on a scroll.

Jeremiah hires Baruch to scribe it all on the scroll.

The scroll is read at the temple, read to the king’s officials, confiscated, read to the king, and burnt.

God tells Jeremiah to write it all again.

Baruch scribes it all again.

Today, we are reading a translation of that copy.

LESSON: When God speaks, listen.

Sometimes your best work ends up going to the fire. Sometimes even better work comes out at the end.

Also remember, God’s work will never be thwarted, halted, or annihilated. It will always survive.

The Rechabites.

First, there is an interesting summary statement about all the prophets in verse 15 of the chapter. There have been a few other times we have seen this statement in Jeremiah. It is a great way to remember the overall message of the book. Sometimes we get bogged down in details and wondering what certain verses mean and what prophecies have or haven’t happened and all the rest of it. This reminds us of the simple message of Jeremiah, and all of the other prophetic books of the Old Testament.

Now, as for the Rechabites, they become a wonderful example to the people of Israel. They will listen to their earthly father, just like the people of Jerusalem need to listen to their Heavenly Father. And for the Rechabites obedience to their earthly father, God makes a tremendous promise to them.

It’s something worth thinking about.

Judgment

Restoration

Repeat

This is the message of the prophets. This is the message of these two chapters, in reverse order.

“This is what the Lord says…”

“…declares the Lord.”

Over and again, we see this refrain, which is an attention grabber. Listen up!

“Who is he who will devote himself to be close to Me?” declares the Lord.

“May it be me,” I say.

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Next chapter: you read this prophecy that goes on for quite a long time, then all the sudden verse 26 jumps out and bites you. What?! Jeremiah was asleep when he received this? How much of it has he been asleep for? A couple verses? The whole chapter? Since the narrative ended?

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Next chapter: the story switches from 1st person to 3rd person. Then, in verse 8, it switches back. These are little things worth noting because it likely means somebody other than Jeremiah added a minute section to the book here.

Overall, these chapters ring of sovereignty. God will do as He pleases. He will orchestrate the events. He will change hearts. He will make sure certain things come to pass in just the right time. This is His universe.

Write in a book.

God told Jeremiah to write all these prophecies down in a book. You don’t usually think of people back then having books, but sure enough they did. For some reason, many people think that books weren’t around until after the printing press made by Gutenburg. Alas, they were around, just not widely distributed to the general public. So, Jeremiah writes these words and records them in a book, as an act of obedience. And behold, here we are centuries, even millenia later, reading the prophecies God gave Jeremiah. What a powerful idea–to record words in a book!

Some words even change history. These words from Jeremiah/God are those types of words.

There is a lot more to consider in this chapter than verse 11. For some reason, people have taken that verse and made it a slogan on graduate gifts, coffee mugs, and decor for the home.

The verse comes in the middle of a letter Jeremiah sends to the exiles in Babylon. They are just starting their exile, and Jeremiah is telling them it’s going to be a long time. Build your homes, settle in, pray for Babylon, because you will be living there 70 years. For 70 years, you’ll be displaced, exiled.

70 years.

BUT…when that’s done, God says He will resume His plans with them.

Shemaiah, on the other hand, was telling the people that the exile would be short-lived. His message sounded a lot more like something you would put on a coffee mug if you know what I mean.

The message of chapter 27 lines up perfectly with the message that the Lord gave to Habakkuk. It is a good thing the Lord doesn’t send confusion. He tells both prophets plainly that the Babylonians will come in, conquer, and become the next world power. Then, when their time has come for judgment, the Lord will wipe the Babylonians out of the picture.

God is just. Though at times, it may not seem like it–He is. God is just, for the long haul. Sometimes we’re simply sitting in the middle of a really long season, waiting for Him to take action.

In chapter 28, however, we see an example of the Lord taking swift action. He executes justice in less than two months in the case of the false prophet named Hananiah. Amazing story.