Jeremiah

The Call of Jeremiah—Jeremiah 1:1–19
Topics: Children, Creation, Evil, Fear, Forsake, Idolatry, Inadequacy, Instructions, Judgment, Preparation, Prophecy, Punishment, Questions, Words, Worship

Open It
1. *What does it feel like to bring news that you know will be unpopular?
2. When have you been chosen for a task for which you felt totally unqualified?

Explore It
1. How is Jeremiah identified at the beginning of the book bearing his name? (1:1)
2. How long did Jeremiah serve as a prophet to Judah? (1:2–3)
3. *How did God announce to Jeremiah that he was chosen as a prophet? (1:5)
4. What was Jeremiah’s assessment of his own abilities in relation to God’s call? (1:6)
5. How did God respond to Jeremiah’s reservations? (1:7)
6. What promise did God make to Jeremiah from the outset of his ministry? (1:8)
7. By what action did God transform Jeremiah into His mouthpiece? (1:9)
8. *How did God describe Jeremiah’s mission as prophet? (1:10)
9. By what symbol did God show Jeremiah that He was watching both Jeremiah and the people of Judah? (1:11–12)
10. What did the boiling pot tilting away from the north symbolize? (1:13–15)
11. What sins had caused God to execute judgment on Judah by means of the peoples from the north? (1:16)
12. *What consequences did God promise if Jeremiah did not say what He commanded? (1:17)
13. Although He predicted that the people would oppose Jeremiah, what did God promise His prophet? (1:19)

Get It
1. *What difference can it make to know that God knew us and set us apart even before our birth?
2. What reservations do you have about your ability to serve God according to His call?
3. When we tell people about Christ, whose words do we speak?
4. How did God make it clear to Jeremiah that there was nothing to fear?
5. Why do you think God sent Jeremiah to Judah, knowing that they would fight against him?
6. *What is the source of our strength to preach God’s Word?

Apply It
1. When can you make a list of the ways you have seen God work in your life throughout your life?
2. *What regular practice of prayer, meditation, or Bible study can you use to enhance your fear of the Lord and put your fear of people into perspective?

Israel Forsakes God—Jeremiah 2:1–3:5
Topics: Accusation, Anger, Awe, Backslide, Bitterness, Challenge, Change, Children, Correction, Darkness, Devotion, Divorce, Evil, Faults, Follow, Forget, Forsake, Freedom, Fruit, Gifts, Glory, Guilt, Help, Holiness, Humiliation, Idolatry, Injustice, Innocence, Instructions, Judgment, Knowledge, Law, Love, Marriage, People, Poor, Prophecy, Punishment, Questions, Rebellion, Rejection, Remembering, Salvation, Self-righteousness, Serving, Shame, Sin, Slavery, Trust, Unfaithfulness

Open It
1. What is one of the more outrageous excuses or rationalizations you’ve heard recently?
2. *How would people be likely to view the heir to a large fortune who refused it and insisted on striking out on his or her own?

Explore It
1. *What did God, through Jeremiah, remind Judah about her history with God? (2:1–3)
2. What acts had God performed on behalf of His people only to be answered by disobedience? (2:6–7)
3. *What two sins did God say His people had committed? (2:13)
4. How was Israel being humiliated because of her disobedience? (2:14–16)
5. Why were terrible things happening to God’s people? (2:17)
6. *What attitude did the people of Judah fail to have toward the Lord? (2:19)
7. What two pictures from the practice of farming did Jeremiah use to illustrate Judah’s rebellion? (2:20–21)
8. To what animal behavior did God compare the behavior of Judah? (2:23–24)
9. To what did Jeremiah compare the disgrace of Israel? (2:26)
10. How did Israel respond to God’s correction? (2:29–30)
11. To what did God compare Israel’s abandonment of God? (2:31–32)
12. Besides spiritual prostitution, of what sin did God find Judah guilty? (2:33–34)
13. What behavior on the part of Israel made it unthinkable that God would return to her? (3:1–3)
14. How did Judah’s talk contrast with her behavior? (3:4–5)

Get It
1. What should a history lesson on God’s dealings with His people inspire in us?
2. *How is it possible for people to have no awe of God?
3. What options do men and women have once they are stained by sin?
4. *What was ironic about the way Judah cried out to God, or even blamed God, when they were in trouble?
5. Why does violence toward the powerless tend to follow when people abandon respect for God?
6. Why are people inclined to call upon God without changing their sinful ways?

Apply It
1. What meditation would help revive your awe of God in the coming week?
2. *To whom could you tell about God’s love and provision in your life?

Unfaithful Israel—Jeremiah 3:6–4:4
Topics: Adultery, Anger, Backslide, Blessing, Children, Confession, Disobedience, Evil, Fear, Forget, Gifts, Glory, Guilt, Heart, Honor, Hypocrisy, Idolatry, Immorality, Instructions, Justice, Knowledge, Mercy, Parents, Questions, Rebellion, Reconciliation, Remembering, Repentance, Restoration, Righteousness, Running, Salvation, Shame, Stubbornness, Truth, Understanding, Unfaithfulness, Youth

Open It
1. *Why is it often difficult for us to admit that we’re wrong?
2. What have you learned from other people’s mistakes?
3. What is one thing you have learned from experience?

Explore It
1. What did God tell Jeremiah that Israel had done, with Judah looking on? (3:6–7)
2. Despite witnessing God’s “divorcing” Israel, what did Judah go ahead and do? (3:8–9)
3. What was the nature of Judah’s “return” to God? (3:10)
4. How did Israel and Judah compare in God’s estimation? (3:11)
5. *What did God promise to Israel if they would acknowledge their guilt before Him? (3:12–13)
6. Whom did God promise to choose and bring to Jerusalem? (3:14)
7. What kind of leaders did God intend to give to His faithful remnant? (3:15)
8. What striking differences did God predict between the day of His salvation and Jeremiah’s day? (3:17–18)
9. *What kind of relationship did God originally intend to have with Israel and Judah? (3:19)
10. To what did God compare Israel’s unfaithfulness? (3:20)
11. What “cry” did Jeremiah foresee from the people of Israel? (3:21)
12. In Jeremiah’s vision, what do the people come to confess and acknowledge about themselves? (3:22–25)
13. *What did God require of Israel in order to bless them and, through them, all the nations? (4:1–2)
14. What did Jeremiah say the people could do to avert God’s wrath? (4:3–4)

Get It
1. *What kind of loyalty does God want from us?
2. How does God want us to repent of our sin?
3. How does God view sin when people are duly warned and choose to sin anyway?
4. Why do you suppose God chose an analogy from marriage to portray Israel’s wanderings?
5. *What did it mean for God to predict a day when the ark of the covenant would never enter people’s minds?
6. What spiritual “disease” did God offer to cure if His people would come to Him?

Apply It
1. *In what practical way can you evaluate your loyalty to the Lord this week?
2. What is one step you can take to seek out new areas of your life that God may want to change?

Disaster from the North—Jeremiah 4:5–31
Topics: Actions, Anger, Bitterness, Children, Courage, Darkness, Deceit, Decisions, Earth, Evil, Fear, Foolishness, Heart, Heaven, Judgment, Knowledge, Light, Mourning, Peace, People, Power, Punishment, Rebellion, Repentance, Running, Understanding

Open It
1. *What plans have you made in case you receive warning of violent weather coming your way?
2. What was an effective punishment when you were a child? Why?

Explore It
1. What did Jeremiah predict that Judah would need to do in the near future? (4:5–6)
2. To what wild animal did Jeremiah compare the attack by the people from the north? (4:7)
3. *What was the appropriate response of Judah to God’s anger? (4:8)
4. Who did Jeremiah predict would lose courage when the Lord’s judgment came? (4:9)
5. What deception was current in Jerusalem because people took God’s goodness for granted and believed the false prophets? (4:10)
6. What would the people learn about the purpose of God’s judgment when it was already descending on them? (4:11–12)
7. Even as the invading army was announced, what could Jerusalem do to be saved? (4:13–17)
8. What brought the terrible judgment of God on Judah? (4:18)
9. *How did Jeremiah feel about knowing the fate of his people? (4:19–21)
10. *How did God evaluate the moral fiber of His own people? (4:22)
11. How complete was the destruction foreseen by Jeremiah? (4:23–26)
12. Though God promised a fearsome judgment, what element of hope did He give Jeremiah? (4:27)
13. How do we know that God was not judging on a whim? (4:28)
14. Though Judah “adorned herself” to win the favor of powerful nations, how did God say she would end up? (4:30–31)

Get It
1. Why might people in your city or town listen to or ignore a prophecy like Jeremiah’s?
2. *How do you demonstrate your concern for the certain doom of those who do not repent and turn to Christ?
3. Why would you want to know or not know about an instance of judgment from God?
4. How would you respond to a message of destruction from God?
5. *What are some of the fruitless ways that people seek to evade the judgment of God?
6. What would be a concrete and appropriate way to express grief over the fate of wicked people?

Apply It
1. *What step can you take this week to avoid becoming foolish as the people of Judah were?
2. What can you do to warn a believer or friend who is foolishly ignoring God’s warnings?

Not One Is Upright—Jeremiah 5:1–31
Topics: Adultery, Authority, Backslide, Correction, Creation, Deceit, Enemies, Fear, Foolishness, Forgiveness, Forsake, Goodness, Honesty, Hypocrisy, Idolatry, Ignorance, Judgment, Knowledge, Law, Leadership, Lust, Lying, Needs, People, Poor, Power, Prophecy, Punishment, Questions, Repentance, Revenge, Security, Sin, Slavery, Stubbornness, Swearing, Truth, Unfaithfulness, Wealth

Open It
1. *Why do you expect more or less of your leaders than of the average citizen?
2. In your mind, where does a national ruler get the authority to rule?

Explore It
1. *On what condition did God say He would forgive the city of Jerusalem? (5:1)
2. What words on the part of the Israelites did God discern as a lie? (5:2)
3. How did Jeremiah report that the people responded to the Lord’s rebuke? (5:3)
4. How did Jeremiah try to give the leaders the benefit of the doubt? (5:4–5)
5. Why did Jeremiah predict vicious attacks by wild animals? (5:6)
6. What sins provoked God to punish Israel? (5:7–9)
7. *What limitation did God place on the destruction of Israel and Judah? (5:10–11)
8. How did the people deceive themselves about God and His prophets? (5:12–13)
9. What did God say Jeremiah’s words would be to the people of Israel and Judah? (5:14)
10. How did God specify the manner in which He would punish Israel? (5:15–17)
11. In what way did Israel’s punishment fit the offense? (5:18–19)
12. What was wrong with the people’s perspective? (5:20–22)
13. Why did the harvests fail in Judah? (5:23–25)
14. *What were the characteristics of the wicked people condemned by Jeremiah? (5:26–29)
15. What was the shocking condition of the people of Israel during Jeremiah’s time? (5:30–31)

Get It
1. *Why do you think it would make a difference to God to find one honest person in a sin-filled city?
2. What result did God hope to see from the punishment He inflicted on the people?
3. Even without the words of the prophets, why do we have ample reason to respect God?
4. Why is a willful offense worse than ignorant breaking of a law?
5. How can the Word of God be a blessing to some and a curse to others?
6. *How have you experienced the lack of respect for God in our society today?
7. To what extent does God care about how people acquire wealth?
8. Why is it significant that lack of concern for the poor and powerless is often mentioned among the sins God judges?
9. What is the proper source of authority for those who minister to or hold authority over God’s people?

Apply It
1. *In what way can you visibly show respect for God in the coming week?
2. What is one way you can submit your sources of income and use of money to the scrutiny of the Holy Spirit?

Jerusalem Under Siege—Jeremiah 6:1–30
Topics: Anger, Beauty, Deceit, Disobedience, Enemies, Family, Fear, Greed, Hardheartedness, Law, Listening, Lying, Peace, Punishment, Rebellion, Rejection, Rest, Running, Sacrifice, Shame, Sickness, Soul, Testing, War, Wisdom

Open It
1. What positive or negative associations do you have with the word “tradition”?
2. *How do we use predictions about the future in our everyday lives?

Explore It
1. What warning did Jeremiah issue to the people of Jerusalem? (6:1–3)
2. What plans did Jeremiah envision being made by invaders? (6:4–5)
3. *What did Jeremiah say would happen if the people didn’t heed his warning? (6:6–8)
4. When Babylon finished “gleaning” the vine of Israel, how many would be left? (6:9)
5. *What kind of response did Jeremiah get to his prophecies? (6:10)
6. What did Jeremiah predict would happen when God judged the world? (6:11–12)
7. How had the prophets and priests sinned against God? (6:13–15)
8. *For what did God recommend that the people ask? (6:16)
9. What did God’s appointed watchmen tell the people? (6:17)
10. What did God call the rest of the earth to observe about Israel? (6:18–19)
11. How did God view the sacrifices and expensive incense offered by Israel and Judah? (6:20)
12. What did God say would cause many people to stumble? (6:21)
13. How did Jeremiah describe the invading army of Babylon? (6:22–23)
14. How did Jeremiah predict that people would react to the invaders? (6:24–26)
15. How did Israel respond to God’s refining? (6:27–30)

Get It
1. Why do you think Jeremiah kept on talking about the level of devastation that Israel’s enemies would bring?
2. *When have you received a “we will not listen” response to a message about God, as did Jeremiah?
3. Who do you know to whom the Word of the Lord is offensive?
4. *Why are some people offended by what the Bible says?
5. By Jeremiah’s day, how long had God been revealing His path to righteousness and blessing?
6. What sometimes motivates people in leadership to deceive the people they lead?
7. Why do you think people sometimes put more emphasis on expense and appearance in religious observances than on sincerity of heart?
8. When have you experienced God’s refining in your life?
9. How should we respond when God seeks to refine us?

Apply It
1. *To whom do you need to communicate God’s Word, even if he or she finds it (the message, not you) offensive?
2. Where can you read in the Bible this week to remember God’s will and commands?

False Religion Worthless—Jeremiah 7:1–8:3
Topics: Abandon, Adultery, Anger, Call, Complacency, Correction, Deceit, Dishonesty, Disobedience, Evil, Hypocrisy, Idolatry, Instructions, Judgment, Justice, Law, Listening, Mourning, Murder, Name, Oppressed, Prayer, Prophecy, Rejection, Repentance, Sacrifice, Shame, Stubbornness, Trust, Words, Worship

Open It
1. What circumstances tend to lull people into complacency?
2. *When can you say that who you are (your race, nationality, family, etc.) or who you know (influential friends) have helped you get ahead?

Explore It
1. In what specific place did God tell Jeremiah to deliver his prophecy? (7:1–2)
2. What did the people need to do in order to continue to live in their land in peace? (7:2–3)
3. What had the people been taking for granted as a sign of their permanent standing with God? (7:4)
4. What specific changes was God looking for in the behavior of the people of Israel? (7:5–7)
5. *How was Israel demonstrating double-mindedness in relation to God? (7:9–10)
6. What did God say about the attitude the people had developed toward the temple? (7:11)
7. How did the former worship place at Shiloh provide an example for Jerusalem in Jeremiah’s day? (7:12–15)
8. Why did God tell Jeremiah not even to pray for the people? (7:16–18)
9. *Who suffered the greatest harm from the evil deeds of Israel? (7:19)
10. *How long had God been trying to communicate that He was more interested in the attitude of the heart than in empty actions? (7:21–26)
11. By what symbolic action was Jeremiah to demonstrate God’s rejection of the people? (7:28–29)
12. What was going on at Topheth that was detestable to God? (7:30–31)
13. What event did Jeremiah predict for Topheth in the future? (7:32–34)
14. What horrible things did Jeremiah say would happen under the “sun and the moon and all the stars of heaven” which the people had made into gods? (8:1–2)
15. What curse would all the survivors of the invasion have in common? (8:3)

Get It
1. Why was the gate of the temple a particularly appropriate place for Jeremiah to speak what God had revealed to him?
2. *What ways do we have of changing outwardly but not inwardly?
3. What messages in the church and the world around us might lull us into a false sense of security with respect to a righteous God?
4. Who gets hurt the most when we turn away from God?
5. Why can there be no exemptions from God’s righteous standards?
6. *Why would it be difficult to deliver a message you had been warned in advance would be poorly received?
7. How do modern day people “look to the sun, moon and stars”?
8. How do you think God views our modern fascination with astrology?
9. How can a place become detestable to God?

Apply It
1. How can you explain the problem with astrology to someone who consults horoscopes?
2. *How could you strengthen your resolve this coming week to share God’s Word when you need to, regardless of how it may be received?

Sin and Punishment—Jeremiah 8:4–9:26
Topics: Adultery, Anger, Children, Death, Deceit, Disobedience, Earth, Enemies, Evil, Fear, Forsake, Greed, Grief, Healing, Heart, Hope, Hopelessness, Idolatry, Instructions, Justice, Kindness, Knowledge, Law, Listening, Lying, Mourning, Peace, People, Punishment, Questions, Rejection, Repentance, Revenge, Right, Righteousness, Running, Self-righteousness, Salvation, Shame, Sin, Stubbornness, Teaching, Testing, Truth, Understanding, Unfaithfulness, Wealth, Wisdom

Open It
1. *What is one of the more obnoxious boasts you have ever heard?
2. How does it feel to be deceived by a close friend?

Explore It
1. In what ways did Israel’s stubbornness seem “unnatural” to God? (8:4–7)
2. Who was guilty of greed, deceit, and minimizing Israel’s predicament? (8:10–11)
3. *What attitude did God expect but fail to find in the people of Israel? (8:12)
4. What did God determine to take away from Israel? (8:13)
5. What was the cry of the people in the face of God’s judgment? (8:14–16)
6. To what did God compare His instruments of judgment? (8:17)
7. *What was the cry of Jeremiah’s heart as he contemplated the judgments he was announcing? (8:18–21)
8. What was God’s answer to Jeremiah’s pleading? (8:19)
9. What was Jeremiah’s fervent wish for Israel? (8:22)
10. In spite of his sadness for them, why did Jeremiah want to separate himself from his people? (9:1–2)
11. What warning did Jeremiah receive from God concerning the people among whom he lived? (9:4–6)
12. What was it about the words of the people that displeased God? (9:7–9)
13. What did God reveal to Jeremiah about the desolation of the land? (9:10–16)
14. What were some of the illustrations of grief and destruction given in Jeremiah’s prophecy? (9:17–22)
15. *What is the only boast that has legitimacy with God? (9:23–24)

Get It
1. In what ways does the plant and animal world reflect God’s orderliness more than does human society?
2. What should we remember about our possessions when we are tempted to become bitter about what we have lost?
3. *What does it mean to you to find healing in God?
4. *Why is it important for us to grieve for the suffering of wicked people?
5. Why is it important for our words to match our plans and actions?
6. How have you experienced the contrast between wisdom, strength, and riches and the knowledge of the Lord?

Apply It
1. *How can you demonstrate God’s available healing to someone else this coming week?
2. In the coming month, how will you pursue the knowledge of the Lord?

God and Idols—Jeremiah 10:1–25
Topics: Anger, Comparisons, Correction, Craftsmanship, Direction, Earth, Endurance, Enemies, Fear, Foolishness, Goodness, Greatness, Heaven, Help, Idolatry, Judgment, Justice, Knowledge, Learning, Life, Listening, Name, Power, Shame, Sickness, Sovereignty, Teaching, Understanding, Wisdom

Open It
1. What customs have either strong positive or strong negative associations for you?
2. *Why do you think you respond positively or negatively to correction by an authority? a peer?

Explore It
1. *Why were the customs regarding the making of idols called worthless? (10:3–5)
2. *What surpassing qualities of God did Jeremiah praise? (10:6–7)
3. How did Jeremiah compare the idols of his day to the living God? (10:8–10)
4. What future did God predict for the false gods that fascinated the people of Israel? (10:11)
5. What examples of God’s power did Jeremiah list in order to make his case? (10:12–13)
6. How did Jeremiah describe the people who made and worshiped idols? (10:14–15)
7. In what ways did Jeremiah say God was far superior to the gods of the other nations? (10:16)
8. What command did Jeremiah pass along to the people of Israel? (10:17)
9. Why did God command the people to prepare to leave their land? (10:18)
10. How did Jeremiah describe the suffering of Israel in very personal terms? (10:19–20)
11. How did Jeremiah evaluate the leaders (“shepherds”) of Israel? (10:21)
12. From which direction did Jeremiah say the invaders would come? (10:22)
13. *What great truth is revealed to us through Jeremiah? (10:23)
14. What was Jeremiah’s prayer for himself in light of God’s justice? (10:24)

Get It
1. Why might we receive pressure to worship false gods?
2. *What instances do you see today of people worshiping things God has made or things they have made themselves?
3. When have you ever been urged to worship or serve something other than God?
4. In Jeremiah’s day, who was partly at fault for Israel’s being scattered?
5. What important lesson did Jeremiah learn about his own life and the life of each human being?
6. Why did Israel have to endure so much suffering?
7. *Why is it desirable for us to experience God’s correction but to avoid His anger?

Apply It
1. How can you improve upon your leadership in the family, at work, or in the church?
2. *How can you remind yourself in the coming week that your life is not your own?

Jeremiah Prophesies Destruction—Jeremiah 11:1–13:27
Topics: Adultery, Anger, Beauty, Bitterness, Commitment, Compassion, Covenant, Darkness, Death, Enemies, Evil, Family, Follow, Forget, Forsake, Fruit, Glory, God, Goodness, Hatred, Heart, Help, Honor, Idolatry, Instructions, Judgment, Justice, Law, Learning, Life, Light, Listening, Lust, Mercy, Mind, Name, Neighbor, Obedience, Pain, People, Praise, Prayer, Pride, Prophecy, Punishment, Questions, Revelation, Revenge, Righteousness, Safety, Shame, Sin, Stubbornness, Swearing, Testing, Trust, Words

Open It
1. What is an issue of fairness that has direct impact on your life?
2. *If you knew that someone was trying to kill you, what would you do?

Explore It
1. Of what important era in their history did God want Jeremiah to remind Israel? (11:1–5)
2. Why was God punishing His people? (11:9–11)
3. What did God say the people would discover when they sought help from the gods they had been worshiping? (11:12–13)
4. *How did Jeremiah find out about the plot on his life, and where did he turn for help? (11:18–20)
5. What did the Lord promise to do to the people of Anathoth who had threatened Jeremiah? (11:21–23)
6. What questions did Jeremiah pose to God concerning His justice? (12:1–4)
7. What did God reveal that He intended to do to His unfaithful people? (12:7–13)
8. How would the response of the nations to God’s judgment on Israel affect those nations? (12:14–17)
9. What physical demonstration did God require of Isaiah as a lesson to the people? (13:1–7)
10. *How was Israel like Jeremiah’s belt? (13:8–11)
11. How did Jeremiah know that God was not going to change His mind about punishing Israel? (13:12–14)
12. If Israel refused to listen to God, what would happen to them and to Jeremiah? (13:15–17)
13. What future did God predict for all Judah? (13:18–19)
14. *What had it become impossible for Israel to do in her hardheartedness? (13:20–23)
15. What sins caused God to declare the destruction of Jerusalem? (13:24–27)

Get It
1. What has God promised to us, and what does this require of us as believers?
2. What idols (false gods) are worshiped in society today that pose a temptation even to believers?
3. Why do people try to silence people who speak for God or those who remind us of God’s commands?
4. *Where do you see instances around you of wicked people seeming to prosper?
5. *Why is it sometimes tempting to give up living God’s way if you see no immediate results?
6. Why is it unwise to claim to be “religious” if God does not reside in your heart?
7. What determines whether a person is useful to God?
8. If we cannot change our natural tendency toward sin, what hope is there for us?
9. Why are people who do not trust in God for their righteousness destined to shame?

Apply It
1. *What do you want to remember the next time you see an unrighteous person prosper or get undeserved rewards?
2. In what area of your life do you need to be on guard against pride standing in the way of God’s blessing?

Drought, Famine, Sword—Jeremiah 14:1–15:21
Topics: Acceptance, Alone, Anger, Backslide, Change, Compassion, Covenant, Death, Despair, Enemies, Evil, Fasting, Fear, Forsake, Goodness, Guilt, Hatred, Healing, Heart, Hope, Humiliation, Idolatry, Joy, Judgment, Listening, Lying, Mourning, Name, Pain, Peace, People, Prayer, Prophecy, Punishment, Rejection, Remembering, Repentance, Restoration, Salvation, Serving, Sin, Suffering, Wealth, Words

Open It
1. *What is the biggest lie you have ever believed for a period of time?
2. When have you pleaded for mercy on behalf of someone else?

Explore It
1. What desperate situation did Jeremiah foresee for Jerusalem? (14:1–6)
2. On what basis did Jeremiah plead for God’s intervention? (14:7–9)
3. *Why did God say He would not be dissuaded from punishing Israel? (14:10–12)
4. How did God reply when Jeremiah told Him that the prophets were giving the people the impression that they were safe? (14:13–16)
5. With what dismaying word did God send Jeremiah to the people of Israel? (14:17–18)
6. What great men of faith did God maintain could not convince Him to rescue Israel from judgment? (15:1–3)
7. What king of Judah was particularly responsible for leading the people so far astray? (15:4)
8. What attitude had set God firmly against the people of Israel? (15:5–9)
9. *How was Jeremiah treated because of the message he brought from God? (15:10)
10. *What promise did God make to His servant Jeremiah? (15:11)
11. How did God describe the ruthlessness of the enemy He sent against Israel? (15:12–14)
12. How did Jeremiah plead his own case with God? (15:15–18)
13. Of what did Jeremiah need to repent in order to continue as God’s spokesman? (15:19–21)
14. How did God predict that Jeremiah would continue to be received by the people? (15:20–21)
15. What promise did God make to Jeremiah even as He asked him to take an unpopular course? (15:20–21)

Get It
1. *How did God handle the dilemma of His people in need of punishment and His own name in need of vindication?
2. Why was God so unresponsive to Jeremiah’s pleading on behalf of the people?
3. *Why do false prophets often receive more honor from their audience than faithful prophets?
4. Why did God not accept Jeremiah’s repentant attitude on behalf of the people?
5. How is it fair or unfair that even God’s faithful servants will experience suffering?
6. When can, or cannot, an appeal to the honor of God’s name persuade Him to act?
7. When can the worthiness of God’s people cease to be a legitimate defense against God’s discipline?

Apply It
1. How can you prepare yourself to discern the lying words of people who falsely claim to represent the truth?
2. *What steps could you take to prepare yourself to deliver or defend God’s Word, regardless of how it is received?

Day of Disaster—Jeremiah 16:1–17:27
Topics: Anger, Blessing, Celebration, Children, Comfort, Comparisons, Confidence, Death, Deceit, Despair, Discipline, Disobedience, Evil, Fear, Foolishness, Forsake, Fruit, Healing, Heart, Holiness, Hope, Idolatry, Injustice, Joy, Judgment, Knowledge, Law, Life, Listening, Love, Marriage, Mourning, Name, Obedience, Openness, People, Power, Praise, Questions, Remembering, Restoration, Revenge, Rewards, Running, Sacrifice, Salvation, Serving, Shame, Sin, Slavery, Strength, Stubbornness, Teaching, Trust, Understanding, Wealth, Worry, Worship

Open It
1. For what have you relied on someone else who then turned out to be unreliable?
2. Under what circumstances does participation in routine activities not make sense?
3. What have you discovered about the importance of rest to your life?
4. *What do you most like to do for relaxation?

Explore It
1. What routine practices did God forbid for Jeremiah as a sign to the people? (16:1–9)
2. How did Jeremiah’s boycott of marriages and funerals convey his prediction about Israel’s future? (16:5–9)
3. How was Jeremiah to answer the question “What wrong have we done”? (16:10–13)
4. What great event in Israel’s past did God say would be exceeded by His eventual deliverance? (16:14–15)
5. What was Israel going to lose because of their sin? (17:3–4)
6. What is the outcome of trusting in people? (17:5–6)
7. What is promised to the person who trusts God? (17:7–8)
8. What was Jeremiah’s, and God’s, perspective on the human heart? (17:9)
9. What did God say would become of the person who used unjust means to gain riches? (17:11)
10. What were the people saying to Jeremiah? (17:15)
11. How did Jeremiah ask God to prove him right? (17:14–18)
12. Where did God tell Jeremiah to deliver his message about obedience? (17:19)
13. *What was God’s original command to His people concerning the Sabbath? (17:20–22)
14. *How did God promise to bless Jeremiah’s generation if they would observe the Sabbath laws? (17:24–26)
15. *How did God intend to act toward Israel if they disobeyed as their ancestors had? (17:27)

Get It
1. In your experience, what do we lose when we disobey God?
2. Who is the most trustworthy person you have known, and why do you consider that person trustworthy?
3. In what way is it good news, bad news, or both that God is always watching us?
4. When have you been guilty of downplaying or disregarding God’s commands?
5. How have you personally witnessed that the human heart is “deceitful above all things”?
6. In what ways do people fool themselves?
7. How has God proven Himself trustworthy in your life?
8. *In what sense is respect for the Sabbath also respect for God?
9. What does it mean to honor the Sabbath?
10. *How can we use days of rest to restore our well-being?

Apply It
1. *How can you observe the Sabbath this week in a way that will help you rest, as God intended?
2. What action can you take this week to evaluate the spiritual condition of your heart?

At the Potter’s House—Jeremiah 18:1–19:15
Topics: Accusation, Anger, Blessing, Death, Disobedience, Enemies, Evil, Forget, Forgiveness, Forsake, Goodness, Idolatry, Instructions, Law, Listening, Lost, Murder, Questions, Plans, Punishment, Remembering, Repentance, Sacrifice, Sin, Stubbornness, Teaching, Wisdom, Words

Open It
1. What is the most arrogant statement you’ve ever heard?
2. *What are some things that, when broken, are impossible to repair?

Explore It
1. Where did God send Jeremiah to receive a message from Him? (18:1–2)
2. What was the potter doing as Jeremiah watched? (18:3–4)
3. *How did God liken His power over the nations to the decisions of the potter? (18:5–10)
4. What unthinkable deed had Judah done against God? (18:13–15)
5. Where did the people of Judah begin to walk when they left God’s ways and began to worship idols? (18:15)
6. What did God say He would do because Israel worshiped idols? (18:16–17)
7. What was being said about Jeremiah by the people who resisted his message? (18:18)
8. Of which past deeds did Jeremiah remind God? (18:19–20)
9. How did Jeremiah ask God to deal with his enemies? (18:21–23)
10. Where did God instruct Jeremiah to take the elders and deliver a prophecy? (19:1–2)
11. *What practices (carried out in the Valley of Ben Hinnom) would bring God’s judgment on the people? (19:3–5)
12. Why would the name of the valley where Jeremiah stood be changed? (19:6–9)
13. What was the meaning of the symbolic action the Lord told Jeremiah to carry out? (19:10–12)
14. Whose houses would become defiled like the city dump? (19:13)
15. *What message did Jeremiah take to all the people in the temple because of the reaction of the elders to whom he had delivered the prophecy? (19:14–15)

Get It
1. What is significant to you about the image of God as a potter?
2. Why did the people think Jeremiah was expendable?
3. *Even after God has pronounced a judgment, what might make Him relent or reconsider, either for good or ill?
4. What comes to mind when you think of the image of God turning His back instead of showing His face?
5. What are some ways in which you have avoided the unpleasant in the past?
6. *What do you think will become of people who abuse or neglect children, unless they repent?

Apply It
1. *What is a practical way in which you can demonstrate God’s concern for a child in need in the coming weeks?
2. What God-fearing person in a position of leadership could use your encouragement today?

Jeremiah and Pashhur—Jeremiah 20:1–18
Topics: Children, Consequences, Death, Enemies, Evil, Failure, Fear, Friendship, Good News, Heart, Humiliation, Insults, Lying, Mind, Mourning, Power, Praise, Prophecy, Punishment, Revenge, Righteousness, Salvation, Shame, Slavery, Sorrow, Trust, War, Wealth

Open It
1. What kinds of crises might make a person wish he or she had never been born?
2. *When was the last time you were bitterly disappointed?
3. When have you felt as if everyone were just waiting for you to make a mistake?

Explore It
1. How did the chief officer respond to Jeremiah’s prophecy in the temple? (20:1–2)
2. What unlikely person had Jeremiah beaten? Why? (20:1–2)
3. What future did Jeremiah foretell for Pashhur and all of Judah? (20:3–6)
4. *What was Jeremiah’s complaint to the Lord? (20:7–8)
5. Why was Jeremiah upset with God? (20:7–10)
6. What would happen if Jeremiah tried to stop speaking the word of the Lord? (20:9)
7. What did Jeremiah hear the people saying about him? (20:10)
8. *From where did Jeremiah derive consolation for his disappointments? (20:11–13)
9. What did Jeremiah believe about God’s ability to set things straight? (20:11–13)
10. *What was the basis for Jeremiah’s song of praise to God? (20:13)
11. How had Jeremiah come to feel about life and his presumably joyful entry into it? (20:14–18)

Get It
1. Why do some people try to silence those who speak God’s Word?
2. How could Jeremiah be so confident that his enemies wouldn’t have the final word?
3. Why is it encouraging to know that no human being can keep the Word of God from going forth?
4. What would motivate even Jeremiah’s friends to try to silence him?
5. *What value is there in the fact that the Bible records Jeremiah’s (and other servants’ of God) discouragement?
6. *What should we do whenever we feel disappointed?

Apply It
1. What servant of God do you know who is in a period of despair and in need of your words of comfort?
2. *What injustice is weighing on you which you can turn over to God?

God Rejects Zedekiah’s Request—Jeremiah 21:1–14
Topics: Anger, Complacency, Death, Enemies, Evil, Justice, Life, Mercy, Miracles, Opposition, Oppressed, People, Prophecy, Questions, Security, Submission, War

Open It
1. What would you do if forced to choose between immediate death and life without any possessions or freedom?
2. What do you think is the worst thing for a human being to lose?
3. *What, for you, represents security?

Explore It
1. Why did King Zedekiah send messengers to Jeremiah? (21:1–2)
2. *What did the king hope God would do for Judah, as He had done in the past? (21:2)
3. What was God’s answer concerning the outward enemy facing Jerusalem? (21:3–4)
4. Rather than intervening to save Judah, what did God promise to do? (21:5–7)
5. What, specifically, did Jeremiah say would become of the king who ruled in Jerusalem? (21:7)
6. What choice was God offering to the people of Jerusalem? (21:8)
7. *Why did God say that surrender would be a preferable option to staying in the city of Jerusalem? (21:9–10)
8. What did God require from the descendants of David? Why? (21:11–12)
9. *Where were the people of Jerusalem placing their confidence for the city’s security? (21:13)
10. To what did God compare the wrath deserved by the people of Judah? (21:14)

Get It
1. Why was Jeremiah a logical go-between when the people sought God’s help against an enemy?
2. If the choice were yours, would you choose God’s anger or that of a human enemy? Why?
3. *Why don’t more people choose life when they realize the spiritual choice before them?
4. *In what are the people around you trusting for their security?
5. What does it mean to find our security in God?

Apply It
1. The next time you are faced with only undesirable choices, how will you remember that one of them might actually be God’s provision for you?
2. *In what area of your life do you need to let God be your primary source of security?

Judgment Against Evil Kings—Jeremiah 22:1–30
Topics: Answers, Arrogance, Covenant, Death, Dishonesty, Enemies, Evil, Fear, Forsake, Greed, Heart, Idolatry, Injustice, Instructions, Justice, Knowledge, Law, Listening, Mourning, Obedience, Oppressed, Pain, People, Poor, Prophecy, Punishment, Questions, Rejection, Right, Security, Shame, Swearing, Youth

Open It
1. In your opinion what are some of the best ways to teach children responsibility?
2. *What do you consider the marks of greatness in a national leader?

Explore It
1. Where was Jeremiah told to proclaim God’s message? (22:1)
2. *What principles of good government did God list as conditions for His blessing on Judah? (22:3–4)
3. What consequences were promised if the king did not obey God? (22:5)
4. Although Judah and Jerusalem had been special in God’s sight, what did He swear to do to them? (22:6–7)
5. What reason would be given for the disgrace and destruction of Judah? (22:8–9)
6. What arrogant and selfish behavior on the part of the king angered God? (22:13–14)
7. How did God feel about the notion that displays of wealth indicated greatness in a ruler? (22:15)
8. *How was Josiah different from Jehoiakim, his son? (22:15–16)
9. *How did God judge Jehoiakim’s heart? (22:17)
10. What did God say would become of Jehoiakim’s “greatness” at the end of his life? (22:18–19)
11. Before God allowed Judah’s enemies to crush them, what had He done to try to save them? (22:20–21)
12. When did Jehoiakim’s rebellion against God begin? (22:21)
13. What was going to become of the king and his splendid buildings? (22:22–23)
14. To what did God compare Jehoiakim’s son, Jehoiachin? (22:28)
15. Why didn’t it matter whether Jehoiachin continued David’s line by having children? (22:29–30)

Get It
1. In what sense can our godliness be measured by our treatment of fellow human beings?
2. Why is God so concerned about the poor and powerless?
3. *How do human indicators of greatness differ from God’s?
4. *What circumstances do we sometimes think would entitle us to God’s favor?
5. What conclusion can we draw from the case of Josiah and Jehoiakim about the certainty of godly people having godly children?
6. In what way do you need to copy the example of your parents more consciously?

Apply It
1. *In what areas of your life can you act on the opportunity to do what is just and right for your fellow human beings?
2. What is one step you can take this week to learn from or copy something good that your parents did right?

The Righteous Branch—Jeremiah 23:1–40
Topics: Adultery, Anger, Answers, Benefits, Caring, Darkness, Earth, Evil, Faithfulness, Fear, Forget, Forsake, Fruit, Heart, Heaven, Hiding, History, Holiness, Hope, Injustice, Justice, Leadership, Listening, Lying, Mind, Opposition, Peace, Questions, People, Prophecy, Punishment, Responsibility, Repentance, Restoration, Right, Righteousness, Salvation, Security, Shame, Stubbornness, Understanding, Wisdom, Words

Open It
1. *What are your expectations of the persons who teach or care for your children?
2. When have you had the experience of your words being misquoted, distorted, or taken out of context? What resulted?

Explore It
1. What technique did God use to describe the relationship between His people, Israel, and their leaders? (23:1)
2. *What did God promise to do for His “flock” after He delivered them from evil rulers? (23:3–4)
3. What were the characteristics of the King God promised to raise up? (23:5–6)
4. What great event, foretold by Jeremiah, would take precedence over the historical importance of the Exodus out of Egypt? (23:7–8)
5. What did God promise to do with people who claimed to be His prophets or priests but were in fact godless and wicked? (23:11–12)
6. What different, but equally abhorrent, deeds were done by the prophets in Israel and Judah? (23:13–14)
7. Where were the false prophets getting the “visions” they reported? (23:16)
8. What lie did the false prophets tell those who rejected God’s ways? (23:17)
9. *What would have characterized the message of the prophets if they had truly heard from God? (23:21–22)
10. *What questions did God ask of those who underestimated His power? (23:23–24)
11. Where did the “dreams” of the false prophets come from, and what were they designed to accomplish? (23:25–27)
12. How does God’s Holy Word contrast with the contrived dreams of faithless people? (23:28–29)
13. What kind of prophet does God oppose? (23:30–32)
14. Why were the people of Israel forbidden to use the word “oracle”? (23:33–36)
15. What would become of those who insisted on claiming to speak God’s Word even after they were warned of His judgment on their lies? (23:37–40)

Get It
1. What truths about God are implied in the rhetorical questions He asks in 23:23–24?
2. Why are false prophets such a dangerous attraction for the people of God?
3. *Who are the unbelieving “prophets” (that is, people who falsely claim to have special insights into the truth) of our day?
4. Why can someone’s claim of a dream or vision be hard to refute?
5. *How can we distinguish between someone who falsely speaks in the name of God and someone who is speaking the truth about God?
6. What sobering truths should we take into consideration before we claim to speak for God?

Apply It
1. *What is one thing you can do to avoid being naive or misled by others who misrepresent the facts?
2. What pleasant statements or predictions have you heard recently that you need to examine in the light of God’s Word?

Two Baskets of Figs—Jeremiah 24:1–10
Topics: Answers, Caring, Gifts, Goodness, Heart, People, Punishment, Questions, Repentance, Restoration

Open It
1. *When has some ostensibly “bad” news turned out to be good news in disguise?
2. Why do you think many people find it difficult to make a sincere apology?

Explore It
1. Which of the inhabitants of Judah were taken into exile in Babylon? (24:1)
2. What historic event coincided with Jeremiah’s word from the Lord? (24:1)
3. What was the vision with which the Lord instructed Jeremiah? (24:2)
4. How great was the contrast between the two batches of figs? (24:3)
5. *How did God look upon the people who went into captivity in Babylon? (24:5)
6. What was God’s intention with regard to the exiles from Judah? (24:6)
7. *What gift did God promise to the exiles? (24:7)
8. *How were Zedekiah and the survivors like poor figs? (24:8–10)
9. How would the rest of the world come to view Zedekiah? (24:9)
10. What did God intend to send against Judah? (24:10)
11. How long would God’s opposition to the exiles from Judah last? (24:10)

Get It
1. *How is this passage a demonstration of both God’s mercy and His righteous judgment?
2. How is God Himself involved in producing a people fit to worship and serve Him?
3. What was the key inward difference between the exiles and the people who fled to Egypt or remained in the land?
4. *How does a person develop a heart to know God?
5. When has God’s discipline in your life brought renewal to your spiritual condition?

Apply It
1. *How can you prepare yourself to see God’s goodness in your next trying circumstance?
2. How can you thank God for allowing you to know Him?

Seventy Years of Captivity—Jeremiah 25:1–38
Topics: Anger, Drinking, Earth, Enemies, Escape, Evil, Grief, Guilt, Idolatry, Instructions, Judgment, Leadership, Listening, Mourning, People, Prophecy, Punishment, Repentance, Restoration, Revenge, Serving, Slavery, War, Words, Worship

Open It
1. *What are your thoughts whenever you meet someone with a “holier-than-thou” attitude?
2. What are five situations that, in your opinion, must make God very angry?

Explore It
1. When did Jeremiah’s next message fall in relation to the kings of Judah and Babylon? (25:1)
2. *How long had Jeremiah been speaking the word of God to the people of Judah and Jerusalem? (25:2–3)
3. How did the people of Judah respond to God’s servants? (25:4)
4. *What was the message of the prophets? (25:5–6)
5. *How did the people bring God’s judgment on themselves? (25:7)
6. Whom did God specify as His instrument of judgment, and how long would Judah remain in captivity? (25:8–11)
7. How would Babylon eventually pay for her guilt before God? (25:12–14)
8. What was the cup that God ordered Jeremiah to deliver to many nations? (25:15–16)
9. What nations were named in Jeremiah’s prophecy as being in line to be judged by God? (25:17–26)
10. What was God’s answer to any nation that refused the cup from Jeremiah? (25:27–29)
11. What images did Jeremiah use to convey the coming of God’s great wrath? (25:30–31)
12. How did Jeremiah describe the magnitude of the destruction he foresaw? (25:32–33)
13. What would become of all the leaders who did not fear God? (25:34–38)

Get It
1. *Why did it anger God that the people worshiped things they had created?
2. What could the people of Judah have done to avert God’s punishment?
3. *Why was it significant that Jeremiah’s prophecy of judgment included the most powerful nations on earth?
4. Why did God refer to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, as his servant?
5. How bad do conditions have to be in order to prevent people from burying and mourning their dead?
6. What was God saying about the supposed “exemption” of the leaders when He used many of the same words to describe their plight as He had used with the sheep?
7. In what ways do people who love and serve God need to acknowledge their own inherent sinfulness?

Apply It
1. *How can you avoid making gods out of your own accomplishments?
2. How can you avoid becoming complacent about your own sinfulness and need for God?

Jeremiah Threatened with Death—Jeremiah 26:1–24
Topics: Anger, Death, Evil, Guilt, History, Instructions, Law, Leadership, Listening, Murder, Name, Obedience, People, Plans, Prophecy, Punishment, Repentance, Truth, Words, Worship

Open It
1. How would you describe the dynamics of an angry crowd?
2. *If you could create an agenda for the leaders of our country, what would it include?

Explore It
1. During whose reign did Jeremiah receive this particular communication from God? (26:1)
2. What was Jeremiah instructed to do in the courtyard of the temple? (26:2)
3. What had God resolved to do if the people repented? (26:3)
4. *What did God promise to do in the event that Judah did not repent? (26:4–6)
5. Toward what conclusion about Jeremiah and his message did the priests and prophets incite the people? (26:7–9)
6. What did the secular officials do when they heard about the conflict between Jeremiah and the religious officials? (26:10)
7. *What charge did the religious officials bring against Jeremiah? (26:11)
8. On what authority did Jeremiah defend his message to the people? (26:12)
9. What call from God did Jeremiah reiterate even as he defended himself? (26:13)
10. What did Jeremiah warn the rulers even as he put himself at their mercy? (2:14–15)
11. *On what grounds did the secular officials persuade the people that Jeremiah did not deserve to be punished? (26:16)
12. What example from Israel’s past was raised by some of the elders? (26:17–19)
13. What lesson did the wise rulers seek to apply to the present situation involving Jeremiah? (26:19)
14. What had happened to Uriah the prophet when he tried to warn the same king and people? (26:20–23)
15. What influential person helped save Jeremiah from being murdered? (26:24)

Get It
1. Why do you think Jeremiah would not back down even when his life was threatened?
2. Why do you think the religious leaders were so invested in the preservation of Jerusalem and the temple?
3. *In what sense does God leave our future up to us?
4. *Why is it difficult for us to respond to correction with openness and humility?
5. How does this story illustrate the important role that leaders have in influencing nations for good or evil?
6. Why do people try to negate God’s judgments by attacking His representatives?

Apply It
1. *How can you improve your response to a spiritual warning you recently received from the Bible, a sermon, a book, or a person?
2. What study or pursuit could help you to stand firm in speaking God’s Word, even when it is poorly received?

Judah to Serve Nebuchadnezzar—Jeremiah 27:1–28:17
Topics: Choices, Death, Discernment, Earth, Gifts, Instructions, Life, Listening, Lying, Occult, Peace, People, Power, Prophecy, Punishment, Questions, Rebellion, Restoration, Serving, Submission, Truth, War

Open It
1. What example of two completely contradictory predictions have you heard, and how did the matter turn out?
2. What types of possessions tend to give people a sense of security?
3. Why do you think some people find it difficult to obey their boss or civil authorities?

Explore It
1. What visual demonstration was Jeremiah ordered to give? (27:2)
2. What nations, besides Judah, were told that they would be conquered by Nebuchadnezzar? (27:3–6)
3. How long did God say that certain nations would be subject to Babylon? (27:7)
4. What did God warn certain nations not to do? (27:8)
5. Who was advising the kings to resist the Babylonians? (27:9)
6. How would the nations that submitted to Babylon fare better than those who resisted? (27:10–11)
7. *What did Jeremiah say would happen to Judah if the people and their king believed the false prophets rather than Jeremiah? (27:12–15)
8. What lie were the prophets of Judah telling the people about the temple treasure? (27:16)
9. *What reasoning did Jeremiah use to convince the people to serve the king of Babylon? (27:17)
10. What test did Jeremiah set up to prove to the people that the false prophets were wrong? (27:18)
11. What timetable did Hananiah give for the return of both the sacred articles and the king? (28:3–4)
12. What was Jeremiah’s initial reply to the idea of a quick deliverance? (28:5–6)
13. *How did Jeremiah say that Hananiah’s prophecy of “peace” would be proven right or wrong? (28:7–9)
14. What symbolic action did Hananiah take, supposedly to demonstrate the truth of his prophecy? (28:10–11)
15. How did God Himself contradict Hananiah’s prophecy? (28:12–14)
16. What personal message of judgment did God send to Hananiah? (28:15–16)

Get It
1. Which prophet do you think was more popular, Jeremiah or Hananiah, and why?
2. *What were some very practical reasons for the nations Babylon attacked to submit rather than resist?
3. How hard or easy do you think it would be for people of our day to believe that God was behind the rise and fall of great powers?
4. How might a person prepare for a “less than ideal” situation which, nevertheless, is God’s will for him or her?
5. Why is it important not to claim God’s endorsement or to claim His inspiration lightly?
6. *In what practical ways should our respect for God translate into submission to the laws and authorities He has put over us?

Apply It
1. What will be your plan to discern the truth the next time you get conflicting advice from Christians you respect?
2. *What can you do to show proper respect for the authorities God has put over you at work? in your community?

A Letter to the Exiles—Jeremiah 29:1–32
Topics: Adultery, Blessing, Call, Children, Craftsmanship, Death, Deceit, Encouragement, Future, Goodness, Grace, Heart, Hope, Instructions, Knowledge, Listening, Lying, Marriage, Peace, Plans, Prayer, Promises, Prophecy, Punishment, Rebellion, Restoration, Trust, Words

Open It
1. *How do you respond when someone who is supposed to speak for you expresses an opinion or idea that is not your own?
2. What kinds of things would you do differently if you moved to a new community but only expected to stay for a year?

Explore It
1. To whom did Jeremiah, living in Jerusalem, send a letter? (29:1–2)
2. Who was able to carry a letter to the exiles? (29:3)
3. What specific commands did God give the exiles regarding how they should settle down? (29:4–6)
4. *How did God want the Israelites to think about and react to the foreign country in which they lived? (29:7)
5. *By whom were the exiles in danger of being deceived? (29:8–9)
6. After what period of time did God promise to bring the people back to the land? (29:10)
7. *What was the nature of God’s plans for Israel? (29:11)
8. Why would Judah’s seeking for God be fruitful after this period of exile? (29:12–13)
9. How would the people of Israel be “reconstituted” after seventy years of exile? (29:14)
10. What did Jeremiah’s letter inform the exiles about God’s judgment of those who remained behind? (29:15–19)
11. What did God have in store for two specific false prophets who were telling the exiles they would soon be home? (29:20–21)
12. What deeds of the false prophets had not escaped God’s all-seeing eye? (29:22–23)
13. What did Shemaiah’s letter to Zephaniah the priest in Jerusalem contain? (29:24–28)
14. How did Jeremiah learn about the letter encouraging his imprisonment? (29:29)
15. What was God’s judgment on Shemaiah for his treachery against Jeremiah? (29:31–32)

Get It
1. *Why was it important for the exiles to know that God planned to prosper them and not to harm them?
2. What kind of prophet (false or true) told the people what they wanted to hear while requiring nothing of them in return?
3. *What emotional reaction would most people have if asked to pray for the prosperity of their captors?
4. How do you think God would have us pray for our country?
5. Why does God want us to seek Him with our whole heart?
6. What does it mean to you to seek God with your whole heart?
7. Why is back-stabbing a risky way of trying to get rid of your enemies?
8. How should we react whenever someone promises us something for nothing in spiritual matters?

Apply It
1. How can you maintain a healthy skepticism toward people who promise too much for God?
2. *How does God’s promise of a hope for the future enable you to persevere through the current difficulties in your life?

Restoration of Israel—Jeremiah 30:1–31:40
Topics: Abundance, Accountability, Anger, Blessing, Children, Comfort, Compassion, Covenant, Creation, Death, Devotion, Discipline, Enemies, Evil, Fear, Forgiveness, Freedom, Fruit, Future, Guidance, Guilt, Healing, Health, Heart, Honor, Hope, Humiliation, Husbands, Joy, Justice, Knowledge, Leadership, Love, Mourning, New Covenant, Oppressed, Pain, Peace, People, Persecution, Pleasure, Power, Praise, Promises, Prophecy, Punishment, Purpose, Questions, Rejection, Remembering, Repentance, Rest, Restoration, Rewards, Righteousness, Salvation, Satisfaction, Security, Serving, Shame, Sin, Slavery, Sorrow, Teaching, Thanksgiving, Understanding, Unfaithfulness, Words, Work, Youth

Open It
1. *What thoughts and feelings would go through your mind if you were told you had an incurable illness?
2. What are the different ways that groups of people celebrate and demonstrate collective joy?

Explore It
1. What did God instruct Jeremiah to do with the words that had been revealed to him? (30:1–2)
2. What good news summarized God’s plans for the defeated and divided nation? (30:3)
3. What was the picture of judgment painted by Jeremiah? (30:4–7)
4. What did Jeremiah predict that Israel would receive instead of its enslavement to foreign nations? (30:8–9)
5. What two blessings did God say Israel once had and would have again? (30:10)
6. What would characterize God’s discipline of His own people? (30:11)
7. *What was God’s metaphor for the sinful condition of His people? (30:12–13)
8. How would the future look different for God’s people and for their enemies? (30:16–17)
9. What miraculous event would be the occasion for great rejoicing? (30:18–20)
10. What relationship did God intend to reestablish with all twelve tribes of Israel? (31:1–2)
11. How did God plan to demonstrate the constancy of His love? (31:3–6)
12. What picture did Jeremiah paint of the future return of the exiles? (31:7–8)
13. What attitude did Jeremiah predict for Israel as they returned to the land God had given them? (31:9)
14. *Why did God say He would provide streams of water and a level path? (31:9)
15. What two key actions did God promise to take on behalf of Israel, allowing them to return to the land? (31:10–11)
16. What causes for rejoicing would the people of Israel have when God fulfilled His promise? (31:10–14)
17. What hope for the future did Jeremiah hold out in order to encourage the mourners? (31:16–17)
18. What hypothetical “conversation” did Jeremiah record between the repentant Ephraim (symbolic of the northern kingdom) and God? (31:18–20)
19. What would become of the fatalistic proverb that reflected the people’s sense of helplessness and doom? (31:29–30)
20. *What was the new covenant described by Jeremiah? (31:31–34)
21. How did God illustrate the certainty of His preservation of the descendants of Israel? (31:35–37)

Get It
1. Why was it important for prophecies to be recorded for the future, not just spoken in the present?
2. How is God’s justice balanced with His mercy in the messages of Jeremiah?
3. *Given the fact that our sinfulness is incurable, how can we be made right with God?
4. How attainable do peace and security seem in our day?
5. What kind of devotion does God look for in a leader?
6. *What sort of behaviors does God model for earthly fathers to imitate?
7. In what sorts of circumstances does it help to know that God is a God of compassion?
8. How would you characterize the people around you with regard to fatalistic outlook?

Apply It
1. *Knowing that you can never cure yourself of your sin, how can you express your gratitude to God for His forgiveness?
2. How can you remind yourself of the source of your peace and security each day?
3. How can you imitate God in your role as father, mother, friend, sibling, etc. in a specific situation this week?

Jeremiah Buys a Field—Jeremiah 32:1–44
Topics: Anger, Children, Covenant, Discipline, Enemies, Escape, Evil, Goodness, Heart, History, Idolatry, Instructions, Joy, Listening, Love, Obedience, People, Possessions, Power, Prophecy, Punishment, Questions, Responsibility, Restoration, Rewards, Sacrifice, Sin, Success, Teaching, Witnessing, Youth

Open It
1. *When have you had the opportunity to deliver a well-deserved “I told you so”?
2. What do you think would happen to the crime rate if people believed the world would end tomorrow? Why?

Explore It
1. How long had the kings of Judah and Babylon been reigning when Jeremiah received this word from God? (32:1)
2. Where was Jeremiah, and who had put him there? (32:2–3)
3. What were the specifics of Jeremiah’s prophecies about the outcome of the siege? (32:3–5)
4. What happened to Jeremiah while he was in the courtyard, just as God had told him? (32:6–8)
5. What course of action did Jeremiah take? Why? (32:8–12)
6. What did God say after Jeremiah hid the deed to his newly purchased property in a clay jar? (32:13–15)
7. *What truths did Jeremiah proclaim about God’s nature? (32:17)
8. How did Jeremiah summarize God’s role and Israel’s role in their relationship throughout history? (32:18–23)
9. *Why was Jeremiah left to marvel over what he had just done? (32:24–25)
10. What was God’s reply to Jeremiah’s doubts? (32:26–27)
11. What had the people of Judah and Jerusalem done to deserve the punishment that was about to befall them? (32:28–35)
12. What glimpse into the immediate future was Jeremiah giving the people as God instructed? (32:36)
13. *What glimpse into the more distant future did God give to Jeremiah? (32:37–44)

Get It
1. How did Jeremiah’s seemingly irrational actions concerning a piece of property serve to illustrate what God was revealing?
2. *What different reactions are we likely to get when we communicate God’s ways to our world?
3. What should we do when obedience to God’s clear directives seems confusing, illogical, or even contradictory?
4. How does the unbelieving world view our hope in the triumph of Jesus Christ over sin and death?
5. *What might have happened if Jeremiah had been so caught up in appearances that he was afraid to look inconsistent to the people around him?
6. What element in this story illustrates the maxim that actions speak louder than words?
7. What kinds of purchases would you be likely and unlikely to make if you knew the world would end tomorrow?

Apply It
1. In what area of your life could it be helpful to ponder the truth that nothing is too hard for God?
2. *What steps can you take to evaluate how your concern for appearances is affecting your obedience to God?

Promise of Restoration—Jeremiah 33:1–26
Topics: Abundance, Anger, Answers, Awe, Call, Compassion, Covenant, Creation, Death, Earth, Evil, Fear, Forgiveness, Goodness, Grace, Healing, Health, Hiding, Honor, Joy, Justice, Knowledge, Law, Name, Peace, Praise, Promises, Rebellion, Rejection, Restoration, Righteousness, Sacrifice, Salvation, Security, Sin, War

Open It
1. How do you feel when you have misplaced something you value highly, and then you find it?
2. *What laws of nature are commonly used by writers, speakers, or other communicators to illustrate a point?

Explore It
1. Where was Jeremiah when God spoke to him? (33:1)
2. How did God identify Himself to Jeremiah? (33:2)
3. *On what basis did God assert His authority to speak? (33:2)
4. What invitation did God issue to Jeremiah? (33:3)
5. What outcome did Jeremiah predict in the current war in which Babylon was besieging Jerusalem? (33:4–5)
6. How did God promise to reverse His actions in the more distant future? (33:6–7)
7. How would God satisfy His own righteousness with regard to the sin and rebellion of Judah? (33:8)
8. How did God predict that the rest of the world would react to a restored Judah? (33:9)
9. How did Jeremiah contrast the sights, sounds, and moods in Jerusalem before and after God’s merciful intervention? (33:10–11)
10. What common sight of everyday life in Jeremiah’s time would serve as a sign of God’s restoration? (33:12–13)
11. What promise did God make that should have given great hope to Jeremiah’s hearers? (33:14–16)
12. What promise did God make to David and reiterate to Jeremiah? (33:17–18)
13. *What did God offer as the guarantee of His promises? (33:19–22)
14. What conclusions were foreign nations drawing about God’s people as they were being punished? (33:23–24)
15. *How did God assure His people that He would indeed have compassion on them? (33:23–26)

Get It
1. What may have been helpful about the fact that God revealed the near and distant future to Jeremiah at the same time?
2. What difference does it make that some of the prophecies about the Messiah were given to an imprisoned prophet in a besieged city?
3. *How does God’s Lordship over Creation help us understand His power over human affairs?
4. *What is an example of a “great and unsearchable thing” that has been revealed to us by God?
5. Why is God concerned when people misunderstand His nature?

Apply It
1. *What example of God’s faithfulness in nature can inspire your understanding of His constant love for you?
2. What unanswered question of your heart will you call out to God?

Judgment Arrives—Jeremiah 34:1–35:19
Topics: Call, Covenant, Death, Dishonesty, Disobedience, Drinking, Enemies, Escape, Faithfulness, Family, Freedom, Honor, Idolatry, Instructions, Invitation, Learning, Listening, Mourning, Name, Obedience, Peace, People, Promises, Prophecy, Punishment, Repentance, Serving, Sin, Slavery, Traditions, War, Words

Open It
1. *Whom do you admire for his or her faithfulness and integrity, and how does this person demonstrate those qualities?
2. What do you think motivates people to go back on their word?

Explore It
1. What good news and bad news did Jeremiah have for king Zedekiah during the siege of Jerusalem? (34:1–5)
2. At the time of this prophecy, what cities had not yet fallen to the king of Babylon? (34:6–7)
3. *What agreement did king Zedekiah make with the people of Jerusalem? (34:8–9)
4. How did the people respond to Zedekiah’s suggestion about abolishing the slavery of fellow Jews? (34:10)
5. After they had agreed to free the slaves, what did the people do? (34:11)
6. What was God’s plan for dealing with the issues of Israelites as slaves? (34:12–14)
7. What solemn agreement was initiated by Jeremiah’s countrymen? (34:15)
8. *What action by the leadership of Judah profaned God’s name? (34:16)
9. What was God’s sarcastic expression for the punishment He decreed? (34:17)
10. How did God turn the ceremony used for solemnizing an agreement into a picture of the punishment due those who broke the agreement? (34:18–20)
11. What specific prophecy destroyed the hope that Nebuchadnezzar had withdrawn from Jerusalem for good? (34:21–22)
12. What invitation did God tell Jeremiah to issue to the Recabite family? (35:1–2)
13. Where did Jeremiah meet with the Recabites? (35:3–5)
14. How did the Recabites respond to Jeremiah’s invitation? (35:6)
15. What instruction of their ancestor had the Recabites been obeying to the letter? (35:7–10)
16. Why had the Recabites come to Jerusalem? (35:11)
17. *How did Jeremiah use the example of the Recabites’ obedience to call the people of Jerusalem to account? (35:12–16)
18. How did the people’s response to God’s call through His prophets seal their doom? (35:17)
19. What was God’s promise to the Recabites because of their integrity and wholehearted obedience? (35:18–19)

Get It
1. What might Zedekiah have hoped would happen if the people repented of making slaves?
2. In what sense did it profane the name of God when His people broke their agreement with Him?
3. Why were the people of Jerusalem unwise to break a covenant they had made with God?
4. Why did God honor the obedience of the Recabites?
5. How are the examples in these chapters insightful lessons about the value of keeping your word?
6. What promises do contemporary people tend to take lightly?
7. *What sorts of consequences follow in the wake of a broken promise?
8. *What is gained by fulfilling the terms of a promise even if it hurts or requires sacrifice?

Apply It
1. *What promise do you need to keep, even if it is costly to you?
2. How could you advise a fellow Christian before he or she enters into a binding promise or agreement?

Jehoiakim Burns Jeremiah’s Scroll—Jeremiah 36:1–32
Topics: Anger, Answers, Disobedience, Fasting, Fear, Forgiveness, Hiding, Leadership, Listening, Mourning, Obedience, People, Plans, Prayer, Prophecy, Punishment, Questions, Repentance, Sin, Words

Open It
1. *What is your most vivid memory of being sent to do something risky, and how did it feel at the time?
2. When has a routine duty suddenly required courage on your part?
3. For what reasons might you be willing to defy the governing authorities?

Explore It
1. Who was king of Judah when Jeremiah wrote down this prophecy from God? (36:1)
2. *What was God’s purpose in having Jeremiah record His judgments against Judah? (36:2–3)
3. Who helped Jeremiah record God’s message and deliver it to the people? (36:4–7)
4. Why had many Jews gathered in Jerusalem at the time Baruch read the scroll in the temple? (36:8–10)
5. Who reported the gist of the prophecy to the officials gathered in the secretary’s room? (36:11–13)
6. What did the other officials ask when they heard what was happening in the temple? (36:14–15)
7. What did the shaken officials feel they must do about the prophecy? (36:16)
8. What questions did the officials ask of Baruch? (36:17–18)
9. What orders did the officials give Baruch for himself and Jeremiah? (36:19)
10. *How did the king respond in action and attitude as the scroll was being read aloud? (36:20–24)
11. What did the king’s officials respond to what the king did with the scroll? (36:25)
12. What was the king’s first action after he had burned the scroll? (36:26)
13. What was God’s response to king Jehoiakim through His servant Jeremiah? (36:27–31)
14. *How did Jeremiah and Baruch faithfully demonstrate that God’s plans would not be stopped by the king? (36:32)

Get It
1. How is God’s long-suffering nature portrayed in the story of Jeremiah’s scroll?
2. What character traits were exhibited by Baruch in this story?
3. *Why were the officials afraid when they heard Baruch’s message?
4. What are the indications within the story that the officials had a good idea of how the king would react to the scroll?
5. When might a routine duty suddenly require courage to do the right thing?
6. How does a public pronouncement of a written document add weight to a message someone wants to deliver?
7. *What is our responsibility when a decision with moral consequences lies in the hands of someone above us in the chain of command?

Apply It
1. *How will you respond to those in immediate authority over you who resolutely oppose God?
2. How can God’s offer of yet one more chance remind you to seek God’s forgiveness for repeated offenses you’ve had trouble conquering?

Jeremiah in Prison—Jeremiah 37:1–38:28
Topics: Abandon, Accusation, Advice, Anger, Answers, Choices, Conversation, Death, Deceit, Discouragement, Escape, Fear, Freedom, Friendship, Goodness, Instructions, Leadership, Life, Listening, Mercy, Murder, Obedience, Opposition, Prayer, Prophecy, Questions, Swearing, Trust, Words

Open It
1. *What story of a dramatic rescue has stayed in your mind? Why?
2. How have you coped with news that wasn’t what you wanted to hear?

Explore It
1. How did Zedekiah become king of Judah? (37:1)
2. What request did Zedekiah make of Jeremiah? (37:2–3)
3. What is revealed about the city of Jerusalem at the beginning of this story? (37:5)
4. *Despite the fact that the situation seemed to be looking up, what bad news did Jeremiah tell the king? (37:6–8)
5. Why was Jeremiah put in prison? (37:11–15)
6. *What question did the king ask Jeremiah in secret? (37:17)
7. How did Jeremiah answer the king? (37:17)
8. On what basis did Jeremiah plead his case with King Zedekiah? (37:18–20)
9. Where did the king order that Jeremiah be held instead of the dungeon in Jonathan’s house? (37:21)
10. What did some of the officials find out that Jeremiah was telling the people? (38:1–3)
11. What punishment did the officials propose to the king? (38:4)
12. How did the king respond to the officials’ demand? (38:5)
13. Where was Jeremiah’s place of imprisonment? (38:6)
14. Who appealed to the king on behalf of Jeremiah? (38:7–9)
15. What happened in response to Ebed-Melech’s appeal? (38:7–13)
16. Where did Jeremiah stay after his rescue? (38:11–13)
17. Why was Jeremiah hesitant to answer the king’s request to give him a straightforward answer? (38:14–15)
18. After Zedekiah had sworn not to harm him, what did Jeremiah reveal about God’s plans? (38:16–18)
19. Why was Zedekiah afraid to obey God and surrender to the Babylonians? (38:19)
20. *What specifics did Jeremiah tell the king about what would happen if he did, or didn’t, obey God? (38:20–23)
21. Because it was dangerous for them to have talked, what did Zedekiah tell Jeremiah to say when he was questioned about his conversation with the king? (38:24–26)
22. Where was Jeremiah when the city of Jerusalem was captured? (38:28)

Get It
1. Where were the people of Jerusalem looking for help against the Babylonian siege?
2. Why was Jeremiah so unpopular with the officials of Jerusalem and the temple?
3. How was Jeremiah taking action on his own prophecy about the future when he was apprehended by his enemies?
4. *When has obedience to God required you to make a decision you knew would be unpopular with others?
5. What contributes to a climate in which God-respecting people are harassed, mocked, ridiculed, or even harmed?
6. *What are people acknowledging when they turn to God in times of confusion or trouble?

Apply It
1. How might you be able to plead the case of a helpless person in the weeks to come?
2. *What step can you take this week toward developing the faith to obey God even when His will is not necessarily what you want?

The Fall of Jerusalem—Jeremiah 39:1–40:6
Topics: Choices, Disobedience, Favoritism, Fear, Freedom, Gifts, History, Home, Life, Murder, People, Poor, Punishment, Running, Salvation, Sin, Trust, War

Open It
1. *What is your favorite story, true or fictional, of a total reversal of fortunes?
2. What do you think of the idea that the captain should go down with the ship? Why?

Explore It
1. What happened to Jerusalem? (39:1–3)
2. What did the king of Judah and his soldiers do when the Babylonians entered the city? (39:4)
3. *What happened to Zedekiah and his troops because they decided to flee? (39:5–7)
4. What was left of the kingdom of Judah when the Babylonians finally left? (39:8–10)
5. What happened to the prophet Jeremiah when the Babylonians took the city? (39:11–14)
6. *What words of comfort did Jeremiah have on the eve of the Babylonian victory for the man who had rescued him from the cistern? (39:15–18)
7. Where was Jeremiah when the Babylonian commander of the guard came looking for him in order to carry out the king’s instructions? (40:1–2)
8. *What did Nebuzaradan understand about what had just transpired in Judah? (40:2–3)
9. What choices were given to Jeremiah about where he would live? (40:4–5)
10. Where did Jeremiah choose to stay after he was freed by the Babylonians? (40:6)

Get It
1. Although Zedekiah had been installed as a puppet king for the Babylonians, why did he run in fear when they finally took the city?
2. Why would the Babylonians have left a few poor people and given them property?
3. *What can we learn about Jeremiah’s character and motives from the fact that he chose to stay with his people rather than receive honor in Babylon?
4. *What is revealed about God’s character through His concern for Ebed-Melech?
5. How would you respond to the self-imposed suffering of someone who had ignored your previous warnings about the consequences of a specific behavior?

Apply It
1. What immediate action can you take this week concerning a warning from God’s Word?
2. *What person of faith could you study in the coming weeks in order to learn how to take a stand for God’s righteousness while maintaining compassion for sinners?

The Flight to Egypt—Jeremiah 40:7–45:5
Topics: Abundance, Anger, Answers, Believe, Compassion, Death, Deceit, Desires, Disobedience, Enemies, Escape, Evil, Faithfulness, Fear, Forget, Fruit, Grief, Guidance, Humility, Husbands, Idolatry, Instructions, Law, Leadership, Life, Listening, Lying, Murder, Name, Obedience, Pain, People, Plans, Prayer, Promises, Prophecy, Punishment, Questions, Remembering, Rest, Restoration, Salvation, Serving, Sin, Sorrow, Stubbornness, Suffering, Swearing, Vows, War, Worship

Open It
1. *Whom do you know who has been too trusting and suffered because he or she refused to believe ill of another person?
2. What traditional superstitions were you taught as you were growing up?

Explore It
1. How did the governor appointed by the Babylonians reassure the small fighting force that remained in the land after the Babylonians withdrew? (40:7–10)
2. How did the remnant of people in the land of Judah grow and begin to prosper? (40:11–12)
3. What warning did some of the commanders give to Gedaliah, the appointed governor? (40:13–14)
4. How did Johanan propose to solve the threat against Gedaliah, which he perceived as potentially disastrous to the whole remnant? (40:15)
5. How did Gedaliah respond to Johanan’s desire to protect him? (40:16)
6. What devious plan was carried out by Ishmael and his followers? (41:1–3)
7. What evil deeds did Ishmael add to his murder of Gedaliah? (41:4–10)
8. What transpired when Johanan caught up to Ishmael? (41:11–15)
9. What did Johanan assume the remaining faithful people would have to do since Gedaliah had been murdered? (41:16–18)
10. What request did Johanan and the people with him make of the prophet Jeremiah? (42:1–3)
11. *What promises did Jeremiah and the people make to one another? (42:4–6)
12. What positive commands and reassuring words did Jeremiah bring from God? (42:7–12)
13. What warning did God have for the people in anticipation of their intended disobedience? (42:13–18)
14. Of what fatal mistake did Jeremiah accuse the remnant of Judah? (42:19–22)
15. *How did Johanan and the other leaders rationalize their disobedience? (43:1–3)
16. Who were the people who entered Egypt, some of them against their will? (43:4–7)
17. When he was at Tahpanhes with the others, what symbolic action did God tell Jeremiah to take, and what was the meaning? (43:8–13)
18. For what sin did God, through Jeremiah, remind the people that He had punished Judah and Jerusalem? (44:1–6)
19. Why was Jeremiah amazed that the remnant had not learned a lesson from all that had happened before? (44:7–10)
20. What did God say He would do to all those determined to go to Egypt for protection? (44:11–14)
21. *What superstitious belief did the people cite as they defied Jeremiah openly? (44:15–19)
22. How did Jeremiah proceed to correct their thinking about the real cause of their misfortune? (44:20–23)
23. With what vow did God answer the people’s vow to continue worshiping the “Queen of Heaven”? (44:24–28)
24. What did God promise to do to the pharaoh of Egypt, whom the Israelites considered an ally against Babylon? (44:29–30)
25. Why was the scribe, Baruch, feeling sorry for himself? (45:1–3)
26. How did God respond to Baruch’s self-pity? (45:4–5)

Get It
1. What mistake on the part of a well-meaning governor kept the remnant of poor people and fugitive soldiers from prospering after the Babylonian conquest?
2. *How did reliance on their own wisdom and preconceptions about God’s answer get Johanan and his fellow leaders into trouble?
3. What (other than fear of the Babylonians) led the people to ignore God and His prophet, Jeremiah?
4. Why did Jeremiah call the disobedience of the people who insisted on fleeing to Egypt a fatal mistake?
5. Why do people swear oaths that they don’t really intend to keep?
6. Why are some people willing to attribute their misfortune to God’s indifference or powerlessness rather than to their own sins?
7. When have you felt discouraged because of how long you have endured hardship in doing the right thing?
8. *What blessings will follow if we allow God’s loving-kindness to be our reward for faithfulness?

Apply It
1. In what area of your life do you need to pray for God’s perspective on human evil?
2. *What initial steps can you take to refocus on the eternal rather than the earthly rewards when you face discouragement in serving the Lord?

Prophecies about Foreign Nations—Jeremiah 46:1–51:64
Topics: Abandon, Alone, Arrogance, Challenge, Complacency, Confidence, Courage, Covenant, Creation, Death, Deceit, Discipline, Discouragement, Drinking, Enemies, Escape, Evil, Fear, Forgiveness, Forsake, Glory, Grief, Guilt, Healing, Heart, Help, Holiness, Hope, Idolatry, Insults, Joy, Judgment, Justice, Lost, Mercy, Mourning, Name, Opportunities, Opposition, Oppressed, Pain, Peace, Plans, Pride, Prophecy, Punishment, Purpose, Questions, Remembering, Rest, Restoration, Revenge, Running, Sacrifice, Salvation, Security, Shame, Silence, Sin, Strength, Swearing, Trust, Unfaithfulness, War, Wealth, Wisdom, Words, Youth

Open It
1. *What, in your mind, is a good example of a situation in which justice was served?
2. In what strategic defense or weapon would you have the most confidence during a personal attack?

Explore It
1. Why did Jeremiah say that the mighty warriors of Egypt would cower before Nebuchadnezzar? (46:13–17)
2. Despite the judgment coming on Egypt, what did God promise them eventually? (46:25–26)
3. What promises did God make to Israel with honesty, justice, and hope? (46:27–28)
4. To what terrifying natural disaster did God compare the Egyptian conquest of Philistia? (47:2–5)
5. Where did the people of Moab misplace their trust, sending themselves and their idols into captivity? (48:6–9)
6. In the context of judging the nations, what curse did Jeremiah pronounce on the lax or merciful? (48:10)
7. Why would it be particularly appropriate when Moab became an object of scorn and ridicule? (48:26–27)
8. What brought about Moab’s destruction as a nation? (48:42)
9. What was the source of Ammon’s false sense of security? (49:4)
10. What did God promise to the Ammonites when their punishment was complete? (49:6)
11. How did God say He would treat the helpless, even within the borders of His enemy, Edom? (49:11)
12. Why did Edom think its location made it invincible? (49:15–16)
13. How would Damascus along with Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor also fall under God’s judgment? (49:23–33)
14. What would eventually happen to the nation of Elam after it was defeated and taken into exile? (49:37–39)
15. *With their enemies facing God’s wrath, what did Jeremiah predict Israel and Judah would do? (50:4–5)
16. What attitude of the Babylonians in relation to God’s people convinced God to leave them desolate? (50:11–13)
17. Since the Babylonians had exiled many of the peoples they conquered from their own land, what would happen when God punished them? (50:16)
18. *When Babylon was made accountable to God, what would become of Israel’s guilt? (50:20)
19. What did Jeremiah tell us about Israel’s Redeemer? (50:34)
20. To what historic event did God compare the coming destruction of Babylon? (50:39–40)
21. What were the Babylonians failing to take into account about God’s relationship to Israel? (51:5)
22. What nation was to become God’s instrument of justice against Babylon? (51:11–14)
23. *How did Jeremiah contrast the God of Israel with the idols of the other nations? (51:17–19)
24. What religious disgrace of the people of Israel would be remedied by God Himself? (51:51–53)
25. What message about Babylon was Seraiah to deliver to the exiles in Babylon? (51:59–64)

Get It
1. Why was it important for the Jews exiled in Babylon to know that Babylon’s great power would soon fall?
2. Why was it important that each instrument of God’s wrath not be lax?
3. *In what ways does modern society practice some of the same evil and rebellious attitudes that brought on God’s punishments for these nations?
4. *What will become of those who rejoice when one of God’s servants stumbles morally?
5. How does our worship become acceptable to God?

Apply It
1. In what situation can you demonstrate a new attitude toward a Christian who has stumbled?
2. *Through what difficult circumstance will you ask God to give you perspective, patience, and (eventually) freedom?

The Fall of Jerusalem—Jeremiah 52:1–34
Topics: Anger, Craftsmanship, Death, Evil, Freedom, Honor, Judgment, Kindness, Leadership, Poor, Punishment, Rebellion, Running, War, Wealth

Open It
1. *When property of yours is stolen, how do you feel when you discover the loss?
2. What, in your mind, constitute the national treasures of your country?

Explore It
1. How did God view Zedekiah, king of Judah? (52:1–3)
2. Why did Nebuchadnezzar lay siege to the city of Jerusalem? (52:3–5)
3. What was the condition of Jerusalem after almost two years? (52:6)
4. What did Judah’s army do when the Babylonians broke through the city wall? (52:7–9)
5. *What was Zedekiah’s punishment for rebelling against Babylon? (52:9–11)
6. What happened to the buildings of Jerusalem and the rest of the population? (52:12–15)
7. What did the captain of the guard want those left behind to do? (52:16)
8. *What were some of the valuable articles that the Babylonians took out of the temple? (52:17–19)
9. What were the notable features of the lavish worship objects that the Babylonians destroyed? (52:20–23)
10. What became of the leaders who remained in the city of Jerusalem after the siege? (52:24–27)
11. How many Jews in all were removed from Jerusalem by the Babylonians? (52:28–30)
12. *What happened to the first king of Judah, who obeyed God and surrendered to the Babylonians? (52:31–34)

Get It
1. *How does the book of Jeremiah make it clear that even the last of the kings of Judah and his subjects suffered for their own sins?
2. What made Zedekiah’s punishment much worse than that of the first king of Judah, Jehoiachin, who had surrendered to Babylon?
3. *How did Jehoiachin, living in Babylon, receive his reward for obeying God’s unusual directive to surrender to the enemy?
4. What was the wisdom of leaving behind some of the poorest people in a conquered land?
5. In your opinion, why was the looting of the temple significant enough to record in detail?
6. What was the material and human condition of the city of Jerusalem by the end of this story?

Apply It
1. *What biblical lesson in disobedience can you make into your personal object lesson to inspire you to obey God?
2. What acquaintance of yours going through a difficult time could you encourage with the truth that God will judge the wicked?

Adult Questions for LESSONmaker (2024). Bellingham, WA: Logos, p. Je 1:1–52:34.