Sunday Sermon Outline: Jeremiah 38

Jeremiah 38
“Silencing the Prophet”

I.  Conviction and Sentencing vs. 1-6
     “Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying, [2] “Thus says the LORD, ‘He who stays in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own life as booty and stay alive.’ [3] “Thus says the LORD, ‘This city will certainly be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.’” [4] Then the officials said to the king, “Now let this man be put to death, inasmuch as he is discouraging the men of war who are left in this city and all the people, by speaking such words to them; for this man is not seeking the well-being of this people but rather their harm.” [5] So King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your hands; for the king can do nothing against you.” [6] Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchijah the king's son, which was in the court of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud.”


II. Intervention and Rescue vs. 7-13
     “[7] But Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, while he was in the king's palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. Now the king was sitting in the Gate of Benjamin; [8] and Ebed-melech went out from the king's palace and spoke to the king, saying, [9] “My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet whom they have cast into the cistern; and he will die right where he is because of the famine, for there is no more bread in the city.” [10] Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take thirty men from here under your authority and bring up Jeremiah the prophet from the cistern before he dies.”
     [11] So Ebed-melech took the men under his authority and went into the king's palace to a place beneath the storeroom and took from there worn-out clothes and worn-out rags and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah. [12] Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Now put these worn-out clothes and rags under your armpits under the ropes”; and Jeremiah did so. [13] So they pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern, and Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guardhouse.”


III. Questions and Answers vs. 14-23
     “[14] Then King Zedekiah sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance that is in the house of the LORD; and the king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ask you something; do not hide anything from me.” [15] Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not certainly put me to death? Besides, if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.” [16] But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in secret saying, “As the LORD lives, who made this life for us, surely I will not put you to death nor will I give you over to the hand of these men who are seeking your life.”
     [17] Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘If you will indeed go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will survive. [18] ‘But if you will not go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given over to the hand of the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and you yourself will not escape from their hand.’” [19] Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I dread the Jews who have gone over to the Chaldeans, for they may give me over into their hand and they will abuse me.” [20] But Jeremiah said, “They will not give you over. Please obey the LORD in what I am saying to you, that it may go well with you and you may live. [21] “But if you keep refusing to go out, this is the word which the LORD has shown me: [22] ‘Then behold, all of the women who have been left in the palace of the king of Judah are going to be brought out to the officers of the king of Babylon; and those women will say, “Your close friends have misled and overpowered you; While your feet were sunk in the mire, they turned back.” [23] ‘They will also bring out all your wives and your sons to the Chaldeans, and you yourself will not escape from their hand, but will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned with fire.’”


IV. Inquiry and Confinement vs. 24-28
     "[24] Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no man know about these words and you will not die. [25] “But if the officials hear that I have talked with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us now what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us and we will not put you to death,’ [26] then you are to say to them, ‘I was presenting my petition before the king, not to make me return to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” 
     [27] Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him. So he reported to them in accordance with all these words which the king had commanded; and they ceased speaking with him, since the conversation had not been overheard. [28] So Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guardhouse until the day that Jerusalem was captured.” 


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Sunday Sermon Outline: Jeremiah 37

Jeremiah 37
The Temptation to Accommodate

I.  False Hope vs. 1-5
     “Now Zedekiah the son of Josiah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had made king in the land of Judah, reigned as king in place of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim. [2] But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the LORD which He spoke through Jeremiah the prophet. [3] Yet King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Please pray to the LORD our God on our behalf.” [4] Now Jeremiah was still coming in and going out among the people, for they had not yet put him in the prison. [5] Meanwhile, Pharaoh's army had set out from Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who had been besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they lifted the siege from Jerusalem.”


II. Firm Truth vs. 6-10
     “[6] Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, [7] “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘Thus you are to say to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: “Behold, Pharaoh's army which has come out for your assistance is going to return to its own land of Egypt. [8] The Chaldeans will also return and fight against this city, and they will capture it and burn it with fire.’” [9] “Thus says the LORD, ‘Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go. [10] ‘For even if you had defeated the entire army of Chaldeans who were fighting against you, and there were only wounded men left among them, each man in his tent, they would rise up and burn this city with fire.’””


III. Fast Retribution vs. 11-16
     “[11] Now it happened when the army of the Chaldeans had lifted the siege from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh's army, [12] that Jeremiah went out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin in order to take possession of some property there among the people. [13] While he was at the Gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah the son of Hananiah was there; and he arrested Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are going over to the Chaldeans!” [14] But Jeremiah said, “A lie! I am not going over to the Chaldeans”; yet he would not listen to him. So Irijah arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. [15] Then the officials were angry at Jeremiah and beat him, and they put him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, which they had made into the prison. [16] For Jeremiah had come into the dungeon, that is, the vaulted cell; and Jeremiah stayed there many days.”


IV. Faithful Preaching vs. 17-21
     “[17] Now King Zedekiah sent and took him out; and in his palace the king secretly asked him and said, “Is there a word from the LORD?” And Jeremiah said, “There is!” Then he said, “You will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon!” [18] Moreover Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “ In what way have I sinned against you, or against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison? [19] “Where then are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land’? [20] “But now, please listen, O my lord the king; please let my petition come before you and do not make me return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, that I may not die there.” [21] Then King Zedekiah gave commandment, and they committed Jeremiah to the court of the guardhouse and gave him a loaf of bread daily from the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guardhouse.” 


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Sunday Sermon Outline: Jeremiah 36

Jeremiah 36
Response to the Word

I.  The Word Preached vs. 1-10
     “In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, [2] “Take a scroll and write on it all the words which I have spoken to you concerning Israel and concerning Judah, and concerning all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day. [3] Perhaps the house of Judah will hear all the calamity which I plan to bring on them, in order that every man will turn from his evil way; then I will forgive their iniquity and their sin.” 
     [4] Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD which He had spoken to him. [5] Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am restricted; I cannot go into the house of the LORD. [6] So you go and read from the scroll which you have written at my dictation the words of the LORD to the people in the LORD's house on a fast day. And also you shall read them to all the people of Judah who come from their cities. [7] Perhaps their supplication will come before the LORD, and everyone will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and the wrath that the LORD has pronounced against this people.” 
     [8] Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the book the words of the LORD in the LORD's house. [9] Now in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before the LORD. [10] Then Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the LORD in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the LORD's house, to all the people.”

2 Timothy 4:2-5


II. The Word Ignored vs. 11-20
     “[11] Now when Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard all the words of the LORD from the book, [12] he went down to the king's house, into the scribe's chamber. And behold, all the officials were sitting there—Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the other officials. [13] Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read from the book to the people. 
     [14] Then all the officials sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll from which you have read to the people and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and went to them. [15] They said to him, “Sit down, please, and read it to us.” So Baruch read it to them. 
     [16] When they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one to another and said to Baruch, “We will surely report all these words to the king.” [17] And they asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us, please, how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?” [18] Then Baruch said to them, “He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink on the book.” [19] Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go, hide yourself, you and Jeremiah, and do not let anyone know where you are.” [20] So they went to the king in the court, but they had deposited the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and they reported all the words to the king.”

Genesis 3:1-3


III. The Word Attacked vs. 21-26
     “[21] Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it to the king as well as to all the officials who stood beside the king. [22] Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning in the brazier before him. [23] When Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with a scribe's knife and threw it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. [24] Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, nor did they rend their garments. [25] Even though Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah pleaded with the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. [26] And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king's son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the LORD hid them.”

2 Timothy 3:12


IV. The Word Confirmed vs. 27-32
     “[27] Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll and the words which Baruch had written at the dictation of Jeremiah, saying, [28] “Take again another scroll and write on it all the former words that were on the first scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned. [29] And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says the LORD, “You have burned this scroll, saying, ‘Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will make man and beast to cease from it?’” [30] Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah, “He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. [31] I will also punish him and his descendants and his servants for their iniquity, and I will bring on them and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah all the calamity that I have declared to them—but they did not listen.”’” 
     [32] Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the son of Neriah, the scribe, and he wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and many similar words were added to them.”

Matthew 24:35


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Sunday Sermon Outline: Jeremiah 35

Jeremiah 35
A Matter of Choice

I.  The Choice to Obey vs. 1-11
     “The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, [2] “Go to the house of the Rechabites, speak to them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.” [3] Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, his brothers and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites, [4] and I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door. [5] Then I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “Drink wine.” [6] But they said, “We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall drink no wine, you nor your sons, forever.
     [7] ‘You shall not build a house, sow seed, plant a vineyard, nor have any of these; but all your days you shall dwell in tents, that you may live many days in the land where you are sojourners.’ [8] “Thus we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, [9] “nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in; nor do we have vineyard, field, or seed. [10] “But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.
     [11] “But it came to pass, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, ‘Come, let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and for fear of the army of the Syrians.’ So we dwell at Jerusalem.””


II. The Choice to Disobey vs. 12-16
     “[12] Then came the word of the LORD to Jeremiah, saying, [13] “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not receive instruction to obey My words?” says the LORD. [14] “The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; for to this day they drink none, and obey their father's commandment. But although I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, you did not obey Me. [15] “I have also sent to you all My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, ‘Turn now everyone from his evil way, amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them; then you will dwell in the land which I have given you and your fathers.’ But you have not inclined your ear, nor obeyed Me. [16] “Surely the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them, but this people has not obeyed Me.”’”

Deuteronomy 30:15-20


III. Punishment and Reward vs. 17-19
     “[17] “Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the doom that I have pronounced against them; because I have spoken to them but they have not heard, and I have called to them but they have not answered.’” [18] And Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts and done according to all that he commanded you, [19] ‘therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to stand before Me forever.”’””

Malachi 1:6; Romans 2:5-11


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