Have Made Thee This Day … an Iron Pillar

Lesson 41: “I Have Made Thee This Day … an Iron Pillar”, Old Testament Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual, 194

1. Introduction

a) Thought I would have Isaiah withdrawal this week

b) Have come to appreciate Jeremiah

i) One of the few prophets who lived to see many prophesies fulfilled

ii) Worked during one of the most difficult times ever

(1) Israel was terribly depraved

(2) Babylon was knocking on the door and Jeremiah could see what would happen if Israel continued

(3) Prophesied to more than one prominent member of his society that they and their children would be carried away captive and killed.

(4) Was scorned and treated horribly for his prophesies

c) I wonder if we can draw some parallels between Jeremiah and the experiences of some LDS leaders, missionaries and members who speak out against some of the evil practices that are accepted in the world today.

d) One Isaiah scripture mentioned by Bro. Robison last week is good for us to remember as we see disturbing trends among the worldly.

i) READ Isaiah 65:17 -

17 ¶ For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

(1) Implications are amazing

(2) We know from revelation that those righteous Saints who have gone to the Spirit World continue to be aware of what is going on here in mortality, particularly among their family members.

(3) Always thought that there might be some discussion in the Spirit World about experiences we had during this life.

(4) Isaiah is saying that when Christ comes and the earth is transformed into its Millennial state, that transformed earth will be so wonderful that we won't even remember or think of the mortal earth that captures almost all our thoughts today.

(5) On days when we feel a little like Jeremiah in considering the world's wickedness, I believe that thinking on the earth in its millennial state might be good for us.

(a) Jeremiah knew that wickedness would bring captivity in Babylon

(b) We know that wickedness will happen before the return of Christ to the earth.

(c) What a great difference between our view of the future of the world and Jeremiah's.

(d) How blessed we are to live on the earth at this time, knowing that astounding new heavens and a new earth are just around the corner, according to the Lord's timetable.

2. Background on Jeremiah

a) Born about 645 BC in a small town, Anathoth, near Jerusalem

b) Prophesied under five kings of Judah

i) Jeremiah's recorded ministry covered over 50 years

ii) Josiah, whom we have discussed previously, was a righteous king who wept when he read the law found when the temple was cleansed that had been lost during three generations of apostasy

iii) The rest of the kings were wicked

iv) The last of the five kings was Zedekiah, who ruled when Babylon conquered Judah

c) Political Situation

i) Jeremiah born about 60 years after Assyria finished carrying the 10 lost tribes into captivity

ii) The Northern Kingdom – Israel – was gone and Judah stood alone

iii) Judah, with its capital in Jerusalem, was a vassal state to Babylon and paid tribute to it.

(1) Judah had traditionally been under the protection of Egypt, but Egyptian power was in decline as Babylon's increased.

(2) For some reason, one of the sons of Josiah, Jehoiakim, kept switching allegiance back and forth between Babylon and Egypt.

(a) Jeremiah and Ezekial both warned him that this would be disastrous, but Jehoiakim withheld tribute payments from Babylon.

(3) Babylonian captivity took place in three stages:

(a) Three months after Jehoiakim died, while his son was King, Jerusalem was besieged by Babylon and fell in 598

(b) After Zedekiah was made king, he revolted and the biggest deportation took place after another siege in 589 – 11 years after the first

(i) Nebuchadnezzar II, besieged Jerusalem again

(c) In 582, a Babylonian-appointed governor of Judah was assassinated and Jews who had not already been deported fled to Egypt.

d) Other prophets who were contemporaries of Jeremiah

i) Zephaniah

ii) Probably Nahum, Obadiah, Habakkuk

iii) In Babylon, the great prophets of the captivity – Daniel and Ezekiel

iv) Lehi

(1) Remember that Lehi prophesied exactly the same consequences for Judah that Jeremiah prophesied.

(2) Both men prophesied in Jerusalem

(3) The Lord lead Lehi and his family out of Jerusalem during the reign of Zedekiah, shortly before the fall of Jerusalem to a Babylonian siege.

(4) The plates of Laban and teachings of Book of Mormon prophets include the teachings of Jeremiah.

(a) READ – 1 Nephi 7:14 – In the wilderness outside of Jerusalem, Nephi is trying to persuade Laman and Lemuel not to return to Jerusalem

14 For behold, the Spirit of the Lord ceaseth soon to strive with them; for behold, they have rejected the prophets, and Jeremiah have they cast into prison. And they have sought to take away the life of my father, insomuch that they have driven him out of the land.

3. Jeremiah's Calling

a) Reading 1 – Jeremiah 1:4–10

4 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

6 Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.

7 ¶ But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.

8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.

9 Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

i) Jeremiah was fore-ordained to be a prophet – Verse 5 - Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet

b) Reading 2 - The Prophet Joseph Smith said, “Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very purpose in the Grand Council of heaven before this world was” (History of the Church, 6:364).

c) Reading 3 – Elder Orson F. Whitney said: "A prophet's name, place of birth, and the character of his everyday calling, are matters of little moment compared with other things pertaining to him. What of his state and standing before he came on earth? This is a far more important consideration. God's prophets are chosen before they are born, and are sent into the world as He needs them. Their aims are high and holy. They desire the welfare and happiness of the race. Yet almost invariably their motives are misunderstood, and they and their followers are opposed and persecuted." (Saturday Night Thoughts, p14)

d) READ – Jeremiah 1:17-19

17 ¶ Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.

18 For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.

19 And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee.

4. Many people oppose Jeremiah and try to prevent him from fulfilling his mission

a) Great opposition to Jeremiah

b) Reading 4 – Jeremiah 20:1-6

1 Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the Lord, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.

2 Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord.

3 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The Lord hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magor-missabib.

4 For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.

5 Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.

6 And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.

c) Reading 5 – Jeremiah 26:7-15

7 So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord.

8 ¶ Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.

9 Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.

10 ¶ When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king’s house unto the house of the Lord, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the Lord’shouse.

11 Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears.

12 ¶ Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard.

13 Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you.

14 As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you.

15 But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth theLord hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears.

d) Reading 6: Jeremiah 36:1-6, 20-23, 27-29

1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

2 Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day.

3 It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.

4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.

5 And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of the Lord:

6 Therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the Lord in the ears of the people in the Lord’s house upon the fasting day: and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities.

SKIP

20 ¶ And they went in to the king into the court, but they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the ears of the king.

21 So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he took it out of Elishama the scribe’s chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king.

22 Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him.

23 And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.

SKIP

27 ¶ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,

28 Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned.

29 And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the Lord; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?

e) Jeremiah was accused unjustly and put into prison (37:12–15). He was later cast into a dungeon, where he sank into the mire (38:4–6). By order of King Zedekiah, Jeremiah was released from the dungeon and put back in prison (38:7–13).

f) This was very hard for Jeremiah to endure

i) READ Jeremiah 20:14-18

14 ¶ Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.

15 Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad.

16 And let that man be as the cities which the Lord overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide;

17 Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me.

18 Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?

g) The Children of Israel had committed two great evils

i) Reading 7 – Jeremiah 2:13

13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

ii) Reading 8 - Elder Marion D. Hanks said: “Material objectives consume too much of our attention. The struggle for what we need or for more than we need exhausts our time and energy. We pursue pleasure or entertainment, or become overinvolved in associations or civic matters. Of course, people need recreation, need to be achieving, need to contribute; but if these come at the cost of friendship with Christ, the price is much too high.

“ ‘For my people have committed two evils,’ said the Lord to Israel; ‘they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.’ (Jer. 2:13.)

“The substitutions we fashion to take the place of God in our lives truly hold no water. To the measure we thus refuse the ‘living water,’ we miss the joy we could have” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1972, 127; or Ensign, July 1972, 105).

h) How bad was Jerusalem at this time?

i) READ - Jeremiah 5:1

1 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.

ii) Even more generous that the Lord's offer to spare Sodom if 10 righteous people could be found therein (see Gen. 18:32). Here he offers to save Jerusalem in any righteous can be found there.

i) eremiah’s prophecies that the Babylonians would destroy Jerusalem were fulfilled, as recorded in Jeremiah 39–40. Jeremiah had been in prison during the siege, but afterward the Babylonians freed him and allowed him and a remnant of the Jews to remain in the land of Judah. Johanan, the leader of those who remained, asked Jeremiah to seek the Lord’s will for them and promised to obey it (Jeremiah 42:1–6). Through Jeremiah the Lord told the people to stay in the land of Judah and promised to bless them if they would do so (Jeremiah 42:9–22). But Johanan led the people into Egypt, where most of them continued in their wickedness (Jeremiah 43–44).

5. Jeremiah is strengthened in adversity by his love for the word of God.

a) ASK – How did Jeremiah survive and continue to strive during this terrible 50 years of ministry?

b) Earlier, we read Jeremiah 1:9

i) READ - 9 Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

c) What did Jeremiah do with the words of the Lord?

i) Reading 9 – Jeremiah 15:16

16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.

ii) Reading 10 – 2 Nephi 2:3

3 Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.

d) The effect of the words of God upon Jeremiah

i) READ – Jeremiah 20:9

9 Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.

6. Conclusion