• Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on January 21st, 2012

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    Bible Study: Jeremiah 52

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 52

    I feel like I’m leaving an old friend. We’ve spent so much time with Jeremiah that we’re gonna miss him. However we have a little longer with him, as we will be going into Lamentations for a couple of weeks, and thus we won’t leave Jeremiah completely at this time. But, two more weeks in Lamentations.

    But the book of Jeremiah. We come now to chapter fifty two, which as I mentioned this morning it’s sort of an appendix to the book. As you look at verse sixty four of the previous chapter, “Thus far are the words of Jeremiah”. Chapter fifty two is probably added by another author, and perhaps Ezra, who when they came back from the captivity, it could be that he added this final chapter to Jeremiah. Some of the things that are mentioned in this chapter, took place in Babylon, perhaps even after Jeremiah’s death. That is the last few verses of the chapter. So, it is sort of an appendix in which he records the fulfillment of the prophecies that Jeremiah had been uttering for some forty years.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on January 20th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Jeremiah 51

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 51

    We’ve just about completed the book of Jeremiah. Tonight we are in chapter fifty, which happens to be the longest chapter in the book. Next week we finish the book of Jeremiah. Fifty two chapters, at the pace we’ve been going, it’s been just about a year with Jeremiah. We’ve become pretty familiar with the old boy! Gonna, you know he’s become a real friend, and it’s going to be sort of sorrowful leaving him. But we don’t leave him completely. We go through his tears in the book of Lamentation, as he weeps over the destruction of Jerusalem, as he looks at the ruins of the city and weeps over the failure of the people to really seek God and find God’s help.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on January 19th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Jeremiah 50

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 50

    Let’s turn now in our Bibles to the book of Jeremiah, chapter fifty, as we are coming to the end of the prophecies of Jeremiah. Jeremiah now turns his attention toward Babylon. The next two chapters are directed against Babylon, and he commanded Zerahiah to take these prophecies to Babylon and to read them to the Israelites, those who were taken captive by the Babylonians. As there are the pronouncements of God’s judgement against Babylon. Then he was to take these prophecies, Zerahiah, and he was to tie a rock to them and toss them into the Euphrates river, and pronounce, “So shall Babylon sink”.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on January 18th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Jeremiah 49

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 49

    Jeremiah chapter forty nine, as God pronounces His judgement against the Ammonites, and against Edom, and then against Damascus, and then Kedar, and finally, against Elam. The Ammonites were descendants of Lot. Both the Moabites and the Ammonites descended from Lot, the nephew of Abraham. Thus no doubt, Lot in the beginning with Abraham believed of Jehovah, but the descendants of Lot began to worship basically, the god Molech.

    So concerning the Ammonites. Now Ammon was north of Moab. If you take a map of the bible, you see at about the middle of the dead sea, on the eastern side, the river Arnon, comes into the dead sea. Moab occupied the area just south of the Arnon river. Where the Ammonites were in the territory, that was north of the Arnon river. Much like the territory of Moab. It was the high plain country, which today is a part of Jordan.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on January 17th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Jeremiah 48

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 48

    Jeremiah, chapter forty eight, and his prophecy against Moab. The area of Moab is pretty much the area that is occupied by Jordan today. It was that country of the high plains, that was east of the Jordan valley. A fertile area. A place that, you remember that in the book of Ruth, Ahimelech and Naomi, because of the drought, sold out and moved to Moab because it generally received more rain than fell in Israel. So they were there in Moab. Moab was unfriendly to Israel. When the Israelites first came out of Egypt, it was Balak the king of Moab that hired Balaam to curse the people, and they basically remained unfriendly to Israel. So when Judah was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, they exalted and rejoiced over the desolation of Jerusalem. But their fate is certain.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on January 16th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Jeremiah 46-47

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 46-47

    So these prophecies are directed to the Gentile nations. After the fall of Jerusalem, and it’s destruction by Babylon, that began what in the scriptures, is termed, the times of the Gentiles. Where God sort of set aside Israel, because of it’s failure, and the Gentile powers became dominant. Israel was in captivity, returned after seventy years, but never regained her strength, was finally destroyed by the Romans. We are presently living in the times of the Gentiles, but God is again gonna deal with the nation of Israel. Their day is coming, their time is coming. The time of the Gentiles is limited. Jesus said that, “Jerusalem will be trodden under the foot of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Paul speaks about the blindness that has happened to the nation of Israel, in part, until the fulness of the Gentiles is come in.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on January 15th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Jeremiah 44-45

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 44-45

    Let’s turn now in our Bibles to Jeremiah, chapter forty four. As Jeremiah is in Egypt, and is probably giving the last prophecy of his career, as far as chronologically. Beginning with chapter forty five, these are just a collection of Jeremiah’s prophecies that he gave earlier in his career. But he is now in Egypt, and he has been prophesying for some forty years of the fact that Babylon was going to come and conquer the people, and they were going to be destroyed if they sought to resist the Babylonian army. The people did not listen to him.

    He is now gone with a remnant of people that did escape from the Babylonian occupational forces, and they have gone down to Egypt, contrary to the warnings of God. So, Jeremiah gives them one final warning. I can understand why Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet, not only because many times he speaks of tears, and he wrote this book of Lamentation. The book of Lamentation was written before his prophecy here in Egypt, but for forty years he had been preaching to the people, the word of God, and nobody paid attention. Even after the forty years, after seeing the prophesies of Jeremiah fulfilled, the people still in Egypt, do not listen, and will not listen to him. He warned them not to go down to Egypt. They went down, though they promised to obey everything God said, yet they disobeyed and went to Egypt.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on January 14th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Jeremiah 42-43

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 42-43

    Let’s look now at Jeremiah, chapter forty two. The warnings of the prophets of God, have not been heeded. The nation of Judah did not turn from idolatry, from the sexual promiscuity, from the worship of the false gods. The people of Judah did not return to the Lord with their whole hearts. They did not return to the law of God. As the result, the words of the prophets have come to pass, the Babylonian army has overrun the city of Jerusalem. The walls of the city have been broken down. The temple, the palaces have been broken down, the city has been set on fire. The inhabitants have fled, or have been taken captive to Babylon. It is a sad, sad picture of the desolation. The king of Judah has been taken as a captive to Babylon, his children have been slain before his eyes, and now his eyes have been put out. He is a captive in Babylon.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on January 13th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Jeremiah 39-41

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 39-41

    Let’s turn now in our Bibles to Jeremiah, chapter thirty nine, as we continue our journey through the word of God. I love just journeying through God’s word! The thirty ninth chapter begins with the story of the fall of Jerusalem. For forty years Jeremiah has been warning the people that this was going to happen. He had been prophesying now for forty years. Sort of sad to report, after forty years there really wasn’t much fruit to his ministry, but the Lord told him that that would be the case. God said, “I want you to speak to them, but they’re not going to listen.” And that basically was the case. He tried to stand in the gap. He tried to warn the people, but they would not listen to the warnings of God and now Jerusalem is being taken.

    A little more full details of the story of the fall of Jerusalem, are given in the end of the book of II Kings, the end of the book of II Chronicles, and also in Jeremiah chapter fifty two. So to really get the whole story, you should read the last chapters of II Kings, of II Chronicles, and chapter fifty two of Jeremiah.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on January 12th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Jeremiah 37-38

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 37-38

    We enter into what is generally called part three of the book of Jeremiah. And it’s going to give us a very short synopsis really, of the reign of Zedekiah and the whole section of the next three chapters belong to the reign of Zedekiah and they go from the beginning of his reign, to the captivity, to his being taken captive to Babylon. So in three chapters you’re going to be covering the reign of Zedekiah, and the end really of the nation of Judah, you come to what is generally classified in the scriptures, as the time of the Gentiles. When Zedekiah was taken captive, and carried away to Babylon, and Judah ceased to exist as a nation. Then from a scriptural standpoint, what has been known and called the times of the Gentiles.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on January 11th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Jeremiah 35-36

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 35-36

    How many of you think that you would be obeying some edict that was given by some relative that far back? And yet that’s exactly the case you have with the Rechabites. There is this traditional thing with them. That because of the commandment of Jonadab, their son of Rechab, to his children, not to drink any wine, not to plant any vineyards, not to sow any seeds, not to build houses, but to dwell in tents. They were keeping still, that commandment.

    That is why, I believe that the Bedouins of today are descendants of Rechab. I think that they’re probably from this same clan. Because to the present day they still dwell in tents. The Israeli government tried to put them in houses. They built a housing unit for them near Beersheba and they tried to get the Bedouins into a housing unit, but the Bedouins pitched their tents next to the houses, and they used the houses for their chief, and all, at night. And they slept in their tents!

    They’re an interesting people. They have an interesting culture. Part of the culture is not drinking wine. They’re great coffee drinkers, and the social drink is coffee with them. There’s a lot of significance in how they prepare the coffee, and how they serve the coffee, and whether it be sweet or bitter, or whatever. Just a lot of fascinating cultural aspects to the Bedouin people today. Still living in tents. Still not planting any crops. Still not planting vineyards. Just living on the mountain sides, out in the wilderness, and keeping their flocks of sheep and goats. They’re an interesting group of people.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on January 10th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Jeremiah 33-34

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 33-34

    Now, Jeremiah had been shut up in the prison, because of his prophecy to Zedekiah. The prophecy of the fall of Jerusalem, and the captivity of the king himself. While he was in prison, the word of the Lord came to him to buy the field of his cousin Hanameel. The right of redemption was his. The property was being foreclosed on, he being a near relative had an opportunity to redeem it so it would remain in the family. Jeremiah redeemed the field, but then he thought that that’s so foolish, in as much as the Babylonian army has already encircled the city of Jerusalem, and has the city under siege. They’re going to fall to Babylon, they’re going to be in captivity for seventy years. I don’t need that field. Why would I buy that field? So, he prayed to the Lord.

    The prayer was mainly occupied with worship, but then he finally got to the point and he said, “Lord why would you want me to buy that field?” The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah and gave to him the reason he was to buy the field was to give a sign to the people of his confidence in the word of God, that God would return them from their captivity. They would again dwell in the land, and property would be bought and sold and occupied in the land again. So it was a witness to the people. That was the first response to the Lord.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on January 9th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Jeremiah 32

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 32

    Now these are the things that Jeremiah is saying. That the Lord tells you that Babylon is going to conquer the city Zedekiah. You’re gonna see the king of Babylon face to face and he’s gonna lead you captive to Babylon, and they’re gonna capture the city. Now, this had a demoralizing effect on the people who were trying to defend the city against the Babylonian army. In fact it was considered treason on the part of Jeremiah. So they put him in prison, in order that he could not discourage the people, for actually Jeremiah was saying, “If you want to really save yourself, surrender! If you try to resist it’s only to your own harm and to your own hurt. So the best policy is just to surrender.” Well you can imagine how that goes when your nation is at war. When the pacifists come along and say, “Well we ought to just surrender. You know, and save all this bloodshed and all.” It wasn’t a popular message, in fact it was a demoralizing message, as far as the people were trying to defend this city against the Babylonians. For that reason Jeremiah was put in prison. Now the Babylonian army is outside the city. They are besieging the city. Things are getting bad within the city. Supplies are short, and Jeremiah’s saying, “We ought to surrender”. So they put him in jail, and now he is there in jail at the court of the king’s house.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on January 8th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Jeremiah 30-31

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 30-31

    The key sort of to the two chapters is found in the last verse of chapter thirty, where he declares that, “The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return until He has done it, until He has performed the intent of His heart. Then in the latter years, or the latter days, you will consider it.” These are prophecies of the last days. When Daniel was writing his prophecies in the twelfth chapter, the Lord told Daniel to seal up these things that He had spoken to him. He said, “For seal them up until the time of the end. In other words it isn’t given to you Daniel, for you to know or understand. Just write them, seal them up until the time of the end. For at that time they will understand. For in the last days knowledge shall be increased”. So the knowledge and the understanding of the word of God, and of those prophetic issues that deal with our days, are more clearly understood now, then they were during say, church history, or during the time of the prophets themselves, as they were writing these things. As Peter tells us, “They wrote of things that they did not really understand themselves.” But God wanted the record there in advance and thus the prophetic writings of the scripture. But as we see the events unfolding, then we begin to have a clearer understanding of these prophecies.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on January 7th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Jeremiah 29

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 29

    Now in the first siege of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar took many captives. He took Jeconiah the king, and the queen. He took several of the princes. Among those princes that were taken to Babylon, was Daniel. So, this chapter was addressed to Daniel. Daniel no doubt heard it, read it, when it was sent from Jeremiah to Babylon. He was one of the princes that was taken as a hostage by Nebuchadnezzar. Of course we’ll be getting to the book of Daniel, as we move through the old testament, and so you can see Jeremiah, he’s writing the letter over in Babylon. Here is Daniel with these others who is receiving this letter from Jeremiah.

    The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) and this is what the letter says, [So, it was from Jeremiah to those who were taken captive in Babylon, who were taken at the time of Jeconiah, and it was said by these two fellows, Elasah and Gemariah, and they were being sent as ambassadors from Zedekiah to Nebuchadnezzar. So, Jeremiah slipped the letter in and said, “Give this to the captives when you get there”.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on January 6th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Jeremiah 27-28

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 27-28

    There in Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar had had another dream. Daniel, actually Nebuchadnezzar, writes of this dream. This is an interesting chapter in the bible, it is a chapter that is written by a pagan king. Chapter four of Daniel is actually written by Nebuchadnezzar. It’s incorporated in the book of Daniel, but it’s a very fascinating chapter in that it is written by a well, once pagan, king. Notice that he begins with, “Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, languages, that dwell in all the earth. Peace be multiplied unto you. And I thought it good to really send you my testimony, to show you the signs and wonders that the high God has brought toward me.” He’s gonna give a personal testimony of certain signs and wonders that God did for him. And he declares, “How great are His signs, and how mighty are His wonders. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation”. Now he said, “I Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house, and I was flourishing in my palace”. Everything was just going great, “And I saw a dream which made me afraid. And the thoughts upon my bed, and the visions of my head, they troubled me. And therefore I made a decree to bring in all the wise men, so that they could interpret this dream”, and they all came in and they couldn’t do it, and finally, “Daniel came in before me, and his name was Belshazzar, according to the name of my God, in who is the spirit of the holy gods, and before him, I told him the dream”. When Daniel heard the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had, he said, verse seventeen, “This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones, to the intent”, this is the purpose, “that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and He gives it to whomsoever He will, and He sets over it the basest of men.” “Now this is the intent of the dream Nebuchadnezzar, that you might know that God rules.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on January 5th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Jeremiah 26

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 26

    You will remember that in the seventh chapter, when he was commanded to go to the Lord’s house to preach the message of the people, basically the message in chapter seven, was that they were not to trust in lying vanities saying, “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these”. And we learn from the seventh chapter that the people had come to a place where they were trusting in the fact that they had the temple, and they had restored the temple worship. They were trusting in that as a divine kind of a protection from the enemies. They thought that as long as they had the temple and temple worship that they could live however they please, but God would protect them from their enemies, and Jeremiah was saying, “That’s not true. You’re trusting in a lying vanity. It’s not the outward observance of the temple that’s going to save anybody. It’s the heart that God is interested in”. Jeremiah was rebuking them for those kinds of feelings when they were coming to the temple of God thinking, “Well, here we are doing God a service, therefore God is going to divinely intervene, in our behalf against our enemies.”

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on January 4th, 2012

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    Bible Study: Jeremiah 24-25

    Bible Study: Jeremiah 24-25

    The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon;

    He is giving us a lot of things by which we can date this prophecy. First of all, it was the fourth year that Jehoiakim was the king. He was the son of Josiah. When Jeremiah started to prophecy it was in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah. Josiah continued for another nineteen years and then his son reigned for only three months when his second son, Jehoiakim came to the throne and he has now been reigning for four years. So this would be the twenty-third year of Jeremiah’s prophesying.

    I point that out to you to give you a little insight into the situation. Here the fellow has been faithfully declaring God’s word to the people for 23 years. Now some of you have been witnessing to your family for a year and nothing has happened yet. And you feel very discouraged because it seems like you have been talking to them for a whole year and they are still the same. They are not interested in the things of the LORD.

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