Part 16 (1/2)

4. Rejection and captivity foretold, Chs. 14-22.

III. The Book of Consolation, Chs. 23-33.

1. The restoration of the remnant, Chs. 22-29.

2. The complete restoration, Chs. 30-33.

IV. The Doom of Jerusalem Due to the People's Wickedness, Chs. 34-36.

V. The History of Jeremiah and His Times, Chs. 37-45.

VI. Prophecies Against Foreign Nations, Chs, 46-51.

VII. Historical Appendix, Ch. 52.

Lamentations.

The name means elegies or mournful or plaintive poems. It was formerly a part of Jeremiah and represents the sorrows of Jeremiah when the calamities which he had predicted befell his people, who had often despised and rejected him for his messages. He chose to live with them in their suffering and out of his weeping pointed them to a star of hope. There are five independent poems in as many chapters. Chapters 1, 2, 4 and 5 have each 22 verses or just the number of the Hebrew alphabet. Chapter 3 has 66 verses or just three times the number of the alphabet. The first four chapters are acrostic, that is each verse begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In chapter three, each letter is used in order and is three times repeated as the initial letter of three successive lines.

a.n.a.lysis.

I. The Misery of Jerusalem, Ch. 1.

II. The Cause of the People's Suffering, Ch. 2.

III. The Basis of Hope, Ch. 3.

IV. The Past and Present of Israel, Ch. 4.

V. The Final Appeal for Restoration, Ch. 5.

For Study and Discussion. (1) Make a list of the evils predicted against the people because of their sins. (Example 19:7-9). (2) Make a list of the different sins and vices of which Jeremiah accuses Israel.

(Example 2:12; 3:20, etc.) (3) Point out all the prophesies of Divine judgment against other nations and a.n.a.lyze the punishment foretold.

(Example 5:18-25). (4) Study the case of fidelity to parents given in Ch. 35. (5) Collect all pa.s.sages in both books which tell of the Messiah and of Messianic times and make a study of each (as 23:5-6).

(6) Select a few of the striking pa.s.sages of Lamentations and show how they apply to the facts of history. (6) The sign and type of the destruction of the land. Chs. 13-14. (8) The potter an ill.u.s.tration of G.o.d's power over nations, Chs. 18-19. (9) The ill.u.s.tration of the return, seen in the figs, Ch. 24. (10) Jeremiah's letter to the captive, Ch. 29. (11) Jeremiah's love for Judah-it saw their faults, rebuked them for their sins, but did not desert them when they were in suffering, because they despised his advice.

Chapter XVII.

Ezekiel and Daniel.

Ezekiel.

The Prophet. His name means ”G.o.d will strengthen”. He was a priest and was carried into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar. B. C. 597. He had a home on the river Chebar where the Elders of Judah were accustomed to meet.

His wife died in the ninth year of his captivity. He was a man of very powerful intellect and apparently from the better cla.s.ses of those carried into captivity. He is less attractive than Isaiah and less constant in the flow of his thought than Jeremiah. He is not so timid or sensitive as Jeremiah but has all his horror for sin and all of his grief, occasioned by the wickedness of his people and the suffering which they endured. In his boldness of utterance he was not surpa.s.sed by his predecessors.

Nature of the Prophecy. The nature of the prophecy or the methods by which he exercised or manifests his prophetic gift differs from that of the other prophets. He does not so much predict as see visions of them. Allegories, parables, similitudes and visions abound, some of them symbolic of the future and others of existing facts and conditions. The prophet remains on the banks of Chebar and in spirit is transported to Jerusalem and the temple. Much of the book is in character similar to Revelation and while the general subjects are very plain, much of the meaning of the symbols is obscure. There are, however, powerful addresses and eloquent predictions of Divine judgments on the nations. It was probably due to the services of Ezekiel that Israel's religion was preserved during the exile.

The Main Aspects of his Teaching. (1) Denunciation of Judah's sins and the downfall of Jerusalem, Chs. 1-24. (2) Judgments upon foreign nations, Chs. 25-32. (3) Repentance as a condition of salvation, 18:30-32. (4) The glorious restoration of Israel, li:16ff; 16:60ff; 27:22-24; 20:40ff; Chs. 33-48. (5) The freedom and responsibility of the individual soul before G.o.d. 18:20-32. (6) The necessity of a new heart and a new spirit, 11:19: 18:31; 36:26.