Welcome to BibleBum where we are exploring the entire Bible in one year to better learn how to follow God’s instructions and discover the purpose for our lives.  The BibleBum blog uses The One Year Chronological Bible, the New Living Translation version.  At the end of each day’s reading, Rob, a cultural history aficionado and seminary graduate, answers questions from Leigh An, the blogger host, about the daily scripture.  To start from the beginning, click on “Index” and select Day 1.

Jeremiah 16-18:23

Jeremiah 35:1-19

Questions & Observations

Q. (Jeremiah 17:3): I can think of several reasons that God would hand over Judah’s possessions: they have been defiled, to give the people of God no rewards for their bad behavior, to leave Judah a ghost town with nothing to offer, and to allow the Israelites to start fresh when they return.

A. I like your list.  I would only add that they took pride in their possessions, and that likely added to their problems.

Q. (17:4b): Is their any long-term meaning to the last two lines of this verse, like alluding to hell?

A. I don’t believe so, God is alluding to temporal, not eternal, punishment.

O. (17:5-10): What a profound passage.  This pretty much says the main fall of humans, I believe.

Q. (35:19): First, what is the purpose of having the Recabites in this story?  Why have a group that does obey God come to Judah?  Does the last sentence mean that the Recabites will be royalty under God?

A. The Recabites are NOT obeying God in this example; they are obeying the command of their forefathers (there is some degree of debate as to whether this is a Jewish or non-Jewish group).  God is using them as an example to rebuke the people of Judah by saying, “look if these people can keep a human rule within a family, why can’t you citizens of Judah do the same for My laws?”  There is some Jewish tradition that states that the Recabites will have a role in the post-exile Temple, though there are no more specific scriptures that mention this role, so we can’t be certain.