- Jeremiah faced challenges in getting the people of Judah to listen to and accept his warnings from God about impending judgment if they did not repent from their sins like idolatry and pride (Paragraphs 1-2). - The people's refusal to listen to Jeremiah and repent led to terrible crisis that could have been avoided (Paragraph 3). - Jeremiah was deeply saddened by Judah's sins and coming condemnation, despite opportunities to repent, which the people refused (Paragraphs 4-6). - Jeremiah received death threats for prophesying Jerusalem's destruction, but was later absolved by the judges (Paragraphs 7-9).

1. Lesson 7

2. Key Text:
“ ‘But let him who glories
glory in this, that he
understands and knows
Me, that I am the Lord,
exercising lovingkindness,
judgment, and
righteousness in the earth.
For in these I delight,’ says
the Lord”
Jeremiah 9:24

3. The travails and trials of God’s
servant continue. In fact, pretty
much all of the book of Jeremiah
deals with the challenges and
struggles the prophet had in
trying to get the people to listen
to the words that the Lord was
seeking to convey to them out of
love and concern.
Imagine what would have happened if the people had listened to
Jeremiah and had accepted the prophet’s warning. If they had
listened—if the people, the kings, and the leaders had humbled
themselves before God—the terrible crisis would not have come.
The chance for repentance was before them.

4. Even after they had done
so much wrong, so much
evil, the door to redemp-
tion and salvation had
not closed.
The door stood open;
they simply refused to
walk through it.
Again, it’s so easy for us today to shake our heads at the hardness
of their hearts. “Now all these things happened to them as
examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom
the ends of the ages have come” (1 Cor. 10:11, NKJV). We have
these examples before us; what will we learn from them?

5. Causes for the fall
of Judah:
• Lie and pride
(Jeremiah 9)
• Idolatry
(Jeremiah 10:1-15)
How to avoid the
fall:
• A call to repentance
(Jeremiah 26:1-6)
Judah’s response:
• A death threat
(Jeremiah 26:7-15)
• Jeremiah is absolved
(Jeremiah 26:16-24)

6. “Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might
weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” (Jeremiah 9:1)
Why was Jeremiah so sad?
Jeremiah cried because Judah was going to be
condemned. The people could avoid that condemnation
if they repented from their sins. But Jerusalem didn’t
want to listen to his message (Luke 19:41-44).
Which were Judah’s sins?
• “Everyone will deceive his neighbor, and will
not speak the truth; they have taught their
tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves
to commit iniquity.” (Jeremiah 9:5).
• “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
let not the mighty man glory in his might,
nor let the rich man glory in his riches.”
(Jeremiah 9:23).

7. “God is the source of all wisdom. He is
infinitely wise and just and good. Apart
from Christ, the wisest men that ever lived
cannot comprehend Him. They may profess
to be wise; they may glory in their
attainments; but mere intellectual
knowledge, aside from the great truths that
center in Christ, is as nothingness. ‘Let not
the wise man glory in his wisdom: ... but let
him that glorieth glory in this, that he
understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am
the Lord which exercise loving-kindness,
judgment, and righteousness, in the earth.’
Jeremiah 9:23, 24”
E.G.W. (Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students; section 2; cp. 9; pg. 66)

8. “Thus says the Lord: ‘Do not learn the way of the Gentiles;
do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles
are dismayed at them. For the customs of the peoples are
futile; for one cuts a tree from the forest, the work of
the hands of the workman, with the ax.’” (Jeremiah 10:2-3)
• Great in might (v.6)
• Fearsome (v. 7)
• True (v. 10)
• The living God (v. 10)
• At His wrath the earth
will tremble (v. 10)
• He has made the
earth by His power
(v. 12)
• He rules the Creation
with His voice (v. 13)
• Futile (v. 8, 15)
• They must not be feared
(v. 5)
• Liars (v. 14)
• They shall perish (v. 15)
• They cannot do good or
evil (v. 5)
• They have not made the
heavens (v. 11)
• They cannot speak (v. 5)
God’s people copied
everything the pagan
nations did (maybe
they’re still doing the
same).
Is it worth following
customs and beliefs
that have no purpose
instead of trusting and
obeying the only true
and powerful God?

9. Read Jeremiah
10:1–15. What is
the Lord telling His
people here? If this
same warning were
given today, in our
time and culture
and context, how
might it be written?
Jeremiah is telling the people what they should have already known:
these pagan gods are nothing but human creations, figments of
people’s own demonically warped imaginations. This is a prime
example of what Paul, writing centuries later, meant when he wrote
about those who “changed the truth of God into a lie, and
worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is
blessed for ever. Amen” (Rom. 1:25).

10. Notice in this verse
how Paul contrasts
the creation and the
Creator. This same
contrast is presented
in these verses in
Jeremiah, which talk
about the impotence
and weakness of
these “gods” in
contrast to the true
One. All through these
texts Jeremiah is trying to show the people how foolish and silly it
is to put their trust in these things, which are incapable of doing
anything. All this in contrast to the Creator God, who not only
created the world but sustains it by His power (see Heb. 1:3).

11. “Perhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way, that I may relent
concerning the calamity which I purpose to bring on them because of the evil of
their doings.” (Jeremiah 26:3)
There is a clear message throughout the Bible:
repent sincerely; God will forgive you and
deliver you (2Chr. 6:37-39; Ez. 14:6; Mt. 3:2;
Lk. 24:47; Acts 17:30).
We all have sinned and deserve death.
Nevertheless, God has provided a way for us to
be saved through the Cross.
God is still patient and merciful to us today.
“In mercy to the world, Jesus delays
His coming, that sinners may have an
opportunity to hear the warning and
find in Him a shelter before the
wrath of God shall be poured out.”
E.G.W. (The Great Controversy, cp. 26, pg. 458)

12. “Now it happened, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that
the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests
and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, ‘You will surely
die!’” (Jeremiah 26:8)
Jeremiah reaffirmed his prophecy
and called the people to
repentance again (v. 12-13).
He waited for the judges’ decision
with a clear conscience. If they
killed him, they would be spilling
innocent blood (v. 14-15).
We should show the same courage
when people accuse us because of
our faith.
Jeremiah prophesied the destruction of the
temple and Jerusalem, thus he was death
threatened. A judgement against the
prophet took place (v. 10).

13. “So the princes and all the people said to the priests and the prophets,
‘This man does not deserve to die. For he has spoken to us in the name
of the Lord our God.’” (Jeremiah 26:16)
Some people still had a healthy conscience.
They understood that Jeremiah was not
responsible for his threatening message, but God
was. So he asked the judges to free the prophet.
They argued that other prophets prophesied
similar things in the past.
Gamaliel defended the apostles like that some
centuries later. He concluded this way: “lest you even
be found to fight against God.” (Acts 5:39).

14. The acquittal em-
phasized that
Jeremiah was not
guilty of those
things he was
accused of. Howe-
ver, the priests’
and prophets’
hatred became
stronger.
Anger and the de-
sire for revenge rose in them so that at a later time they
would pounce on Jeremiah with their full fury. His release
meant only a moment of ease for the prophet. He was not
completely out of danger.

15. What we can see here is
an example of how some
people learned lessons
from history while
others, knowing the
same history, refused to
learn the same lessons.
We can see something
similar centuries later,
with the Pharisee Gama-
liel and his caution to
other leaders concerning
how to handle the
followers of Jesus.
SAUL
GAMALIEL

16. “What is the duty of the messenger of truth? Shall he
conclude that the truth ought not to be presented,
since often its only effect is to arouse men to evade or
resist its claims? No; he has no more reason for
withholding the testimony of God’s word, because it
excites opposition, than had earlier Reformers. The
confession of faith made by saints and martyrs was
recorded for the benefit of succeeding generations.
Those living examples of holiness and steadfast
integrity have come down to inspire courage in those
who are now called to stand as witnesses for God.
They received grace and truth, not for themselves
alone, but that, through them, the knowledge of God
might enlighten the earth. Has God given light to His
servants in this generation? Then they should let it
shine forth to the world.”
E.G.W. (The Great Controversy, cp. 26, pg. 459)

17. The sundering of the divine powers?
So great was God’s love for us that
the Godhead, whose members
loved each other from eternity, en-
dured this “sundering” in order to
redeem us. “ ‘My God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me?’ ”
(Matt. 27:46) is the clearest and
most powerful expression of that “sundering,” of what it
cost to save us. Here, we can again see the pain and
suffering the Lord has endured because of our sin.

18. No wonder, then,
that “we love be-
cause he first loved
us” (1 John 4:19,
NIV). Of course, as
fallen humans we
only imitate that love, and even that imitation is
often warped by our own selfishness and sinful de-
sires. God’s love transcends ours; we reflect God’s
love the way an oily mud puddle reflects the sky.

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