Introduction to Ephesians

Introduction

As we were coming to the end of Jeremiah I have been thinking about where in the Scriptures we should study next. I felt that we should study through the Letter to the Ephesians.

Today we will begin looking at the life and time of Jeremiah the prophet of Adonai. And I believe that as our world continues on a path toward Neo-Paganism, we will see more and more practical relevancy between our world and the time of Jeremiah. Let us start by reading Jer. 1:1-5

Jeremiah 1:1–5 TLV

The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the kohanim who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. The word of Adonai came to him during the days of King Josiah of Judah, son of Amon, in the thirteenth year of his reign. It continued during the days of King Jehoiakim of Judah, son of Josiah, until the end of the eleventh year of King Zedekiah of Judah, son of Josiah—until the exile from Jerusalem in the fifth month. The word of Adonai came to me, saying: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I set you apart— I appointed you prophet to the nations.”

Date and Authorship

Authorship

As with every book of Scripture, the date and the authorship have been questioned and debated. However, regardless of how many times this book has been copied by different scribes throughout the centuries, it has still retained this introduction that we just read. Those who have sought to denounce this internal evidence, have done so without any evidence to the contrary. I hold the same view as Michael Brown that:

Unless there is strong evidence that Jeremiah was not the author of a particular passage, be that evidence literary or historic, he is regarded as it probable author, though the work of a later editor or editors is presupposed, especially in terms of the final shaping of the book.

Additional evidence that Jeremiah was not only a real person, but also the author of the book ascribed to him is found in 2 Chron. 35:25

2 Chronicles 35:25 TLV

Now Jeremiah composed laments for Josiah, and to this day all the singers, male and female, commemorated Josiah in their laments. And they made them an ordinance in Israel and behold, they are written in the lamentations.

And then again in 2 Chron. 36:12

2 Chronicles 36:12 TLV

He did evil in the sight of Adonai his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet who spoke from the mouth of Adonai.

I acknowledge that Jeremiah also used a scribe, by the name of Baruch, to help write down and even rewrite several sections. For instance, there first person narratives as well as third person narratives. The former are mostly in chapters 1-25 and the latter are mostly in chapters 26-52.

But here is a question: How closely would you guard these words, if you were in Jeremiah’s position? There are many times when Jeremiahs’ life is on the line because of what he said, and there are many times when people tried to destroy the words that he had written down. And yet Jeremiah never backed down from the words given, and even rewrote them after they had been destroyed.

Date

In verse 2 we see that Jeremiah’s ministry began in the 13th year of Josiah of Judah, this would be the year 627 BC. Jeremiah’s ministry would then extend for more than 40 years until 586 BC.

Jeremiah’s prophesies seem to be very influenced by Hosea, Amos and Isaiah, especially with regards to the oracles against the nations. But in all cases, Jeremiah has personalised these words of the prophets who came just before him.

Jeremiah preached throughout the lives of 5 different kings of Judah, Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah (although Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin only reigned for about 3 months each). He saw the sacking of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, including the burning of the Temple of Solomon. He witnesses the exile of the nation of Judah, and watched the curses of Moses written in Deuteronomy come to pass due to the unrepentance and wickedness of the people.

I read a quote from W.G. Moorehead that powerfully describes the time and role of Jeremiah:

It was Jeremiah’s lot to prophesy at a time when all things in Judah were rushing down to the final and mournful catastrophe; when political excitement was at its height; when the worst passions swayed the various parties, and the most fatal counsels prevailed. It was his to stand in the way over which his nations was rushing headlong to destruction; to make an heroic effort to arrest it, and to turn it back; and to fail, and be compelled to step to one side and see his own people, whom he loved with the tenderness of a woman, plunge over the precipice in the wide, weltering ruin.

Historical Background

The year of Jeremiah’s calling was the year that the last great king of Assyria, Ashurbanipal, died. Within 15 years, both Asshur the capital city, and Ninevah had fallen to the Medes and the Chaldeans. The world empire of Assyria would never rise again. As the Assyrian empire declined, the Kingdom of Egypt sought to take advantage and made war against Assyria. It was during one of these exchanges, as Pharoah Neco was marching through the Land of Israel on his way to fight Assyria, that King Josiah of Judah fought against him and died. This was 18 years into Jeremiah’s ministry when the last righteous king of Judah died in 608 BC.

Josiah had attempted to bring the nation of Judah back to Adonai. In fact it was said of Josiah that: 2 Kings 23:25

2 Kings 23:25 TLV

Before him there had never been a king like him, who turned to Adonai with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Torah of Moses, nor has any king like him risen since him.

But after Josiah’s death, his sons did not follow after Adonai, and they did evil in the sight of Adonai. Pharoah Neco removed Jehoahaz after only 3 months, and installed Eliakim as king of Judah (whom he renamed Jehoiakim). Jehoiakim paid Pharoah Neco tribute until Nebuchadnezzar II came and conquered Jerusalem on March 16, 597 BC. It was at this time that Nebuchadnezzar, or Nebuchadrezzar, took King Jehoiachin and several thousand of the wealth and noble back to Babylon. Included in this deportation were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, also known as Beltechazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.

Even though Jeremiah had begun his prophetic ministry by warning about the destruction of the Kingdom from the north, none of the people of Judah listened. Even after Babylon had exiled thousands of people, still the people of Judah would not listen to Jeremiah, and 10 years later in the summer of 587 BC, Nebuchadnezzar returned and destroyed Jerusalem.

Through all of this, Jeremiah continued to faithfully declare the words of Adonai, and continued to call for the people to repent and return to the Lord.

Text and Style

As with the majority of the prophetic literature, the book of Jeremiah is a mixture of prose and poetry. Some scholars, without any evidence, have stated that this is an example of multiple authors. However, like all the prophets before him, Jeremiah choose to write in a variety genres to get his message of repentance across to the people of Judah. Michael Brown stated this:

Based on several years of immersion in the MT (Masoretic Text) … from the vantage point of a reader of the text, I did not find that the distinction between the two literary genres was always immediately apparent.

From a hermeneutical perspective, we understand that Poetry is interpreted as Poetry and Prose is interpreted as Prose, but weight and the meaning of both is equivalent. As with the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures, we will see the use of repetition and chiastic structure that will help emphasise the main points of different prophesies; we will also see the emotive cry of a man who loved his nation, but could not follow where they walked. Jeremiah is often called the “weeping prophet” for this reason.

However, we will also a prophet who was shown by Adonai the hope of a new covenant. A time where God would write His laws on people’s hearts, a time where Adonai would fill all His people with His own Spirit of holiness, a time when a Messianic King would rule over a rebuilt Jerusalem.

For those who are interested, the MT of the book of Jeremiah is actually the longer version as compared to the Septuagint (LXX). So it would seem that the LXX was translated from a shorter version of the Hebrew manuscript. Normally the shorter version is taken to be the earliest, however there seems to be some debate over this matter. Regardless, the MT has been used as the bases for most English translations.

Jeremiah the Man

To understand Jeremiah, let’s look at 2 verses that are side by side. Jer. 20:13-14

Jeremiah 20:13–14 TLV

Sing to Adonai, praise Adonai! For He has delivered the soul of the needy one from the hand of evildoers. Cursed be the day I was born! The day that my mother bore me— may it never be blessed!

In this passage we see that Jeremiah is rejoicing and praising the Lord for the deliverance of his soul, and in the very next verse we hear the heart cry out in pain, and cursing the day he was born!

Unlike Jonah, Jeremiah did not have the option of running away. He was not prophesying against an enemy, but against his own brethren, his own country. He loved his nation, but was painfully aware of just how sinful the nation was. Jeremiah was also perfectly aware that Adonai was about to bring punishment against Judah for the sins committed over the previous 500 or so years. Specifically Jeremiah was told by Adonai, Jer. 15:4

Jeremiah 15:4 TLV

“So I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.

And even though Jeremiah’s heart broke over the sin of the nation, Adonai forbade him to intercede for them. Destruction was coming at the hand of Adonai, and there was nothing that Jeremiah could do about it.

If he tried to be silent, the word of Adonai became like fire in his bones, when he spoke, the people’s faces became like bronze and refused to hear. Michael Brown puts it this way, “To live without God was impossible; to live with God was overwhelming.”

Basilea Schlink, founder of the Evangelical Sisters of Mary, said:

“Anyone who loves as much as God does, can not help suffering. And anyone who really loves God will sense that He is suffering.”

Abraham Joshua Heschel put it this way:

Jeremiah’s soul was in pain, stern with gloom. To his wistful eye the city’s walls seemed to reel. the days that were to come would be dreadful. He called, he urged his people to repent - and he failed. He screamed, wept, moaned - and was left with terror in his soul.

And yet, even through all of this Jeremiah has a deep, intimate relationship with Adonai that carries him through. He shared the Lord’s heart, and felt an intimate solidarity with Adonai that few could boast of. As we go through Jeremiah’s life we will experience the depths of despair, but also the greatest promise of hope in the Scriptures. We will see the pain and sorry of a man watching his loved ones die before him, and yet find a man of faith and hope who has seen the ultimate plan of Adonai’s restoration.

Application

For all of us here in Australia, today is election day. We are surrounded by a majority of people who do not want God to exist. We are surrounded by a public that mostly do not want God’s definitions of Life, God’s definition of sexuality, or God’s definitions of holiness and morality.

And we are still called to be light and salt to this world. My encouragement to you all is to vote for people who will fear Adonai, and who will tremble at His word. Vote for people who will declare Biblical truth, and Biblical righteousness.

A time is coming and is already here when people will mock all that is right and true; when people will call good, evil and call evil, good. 2 Tim. 3:1-5

2 Timothy 3:1–5 TLV

But understand this, that in the last days hard times will come— for people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, hardhearted, unforgiving, backbiting, without self-control, brutal, hating what is good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to an outward form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid these people!

But we will follow the teachings of Jeremiah, his manner of life, purpose, faithfulness, patience, love and perseverance - as well as his persecutions and sufferings. For Adonai delivered him from all of them.

Let us continue in what we learn, for it will lead us to salvation through trusting in the New Covenant described by Jeremiah and initiated by Yeshua the Messiah!