BibleTelling

This month’s story shows how to bring new light to a part of the Bible that may be unfamiliar to many Christians. With that in mind, we have included a few extra tools that may help you teach this part of Scripture.

1. We have our regular Story of the Month entitled Going Home, crafted by Loren Miller.
2. We are including a BibleTelling story that gives more background material for Loren’s story. We took this from the fourth BibleTelling book, Chosen City.
3. We have also included the Search the Scripture worksheet from the same BibleTelling book. You may find this helpful if you decide to teach this section of Biblical Jewish history.

Here is a suggestion on how to use these three tools. Give the Search the Scripture worksheet to the class the week preceding your lesson. Ask someone to tell (or read) the BibleTelling story in class. Ask someone else to tell Going Home. Conclude by asking three questions:

• What does this lesson teach us about God?
• What does this lesson teach us about the people of God?
• What part of this study did you find most interesting?

Let us know if you decide to teach this lesson, or if you used them in other areas.

Jeremiah

Part I – The Broken Clay Pot

The prophet Jeremiah carried a clay pot and stood before the leaders and priests of Judah. They looked at the clay pot and then looked at the prophet. He said, “The people of Judah have forsaken the Lord and have decided to worship gods of their own making. Therefore, I have a message from the Lord!”

Jeremiah then threw the clay pot onto the stone floor and it burst into many pieces. “The Lords says, ‘I told your forefathers not to follow other gods, but keep my commandments. I promised them if they worshiped other gods, I would leave the Temple, destroy Jerusalem, and take the people off the land. I will now keep that promise. I have sent for a nation who will come and destroy you. This people and this city will lay in ruins, just like this clay pot.’”

One of the priests became so angry, he had Jeremiah beaten, put in stocks, and left to suffer. The next day the priest came and released him. Jeremiah looked at him and said, “The Lord has changed your name. Your name is now ‘terror.’ You will be in terror the rest of your life. In terror you will see your friends killed in the streets. In terror you will watch the armies of Babylon destroy this city. Still, you will live and be taken captive back to Babylon. There you will die; and there you will be buried.

Part II – The King of Babylon comes to Judah

Jeremiah continued to tell the people they will go into captivity stay there for seventy years. He said, “The land will rest for seventy years, then God will bring your children back to possess it.” The people and their rulers refused to listen to him.

Finally Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came to do battle with Judah. He conquered Jerusalem and took the king back to Babylon, where he died. His son was made king in his place.

Jeremiah told the people to accept this and submit to Babylon. Again, the people did not listen to him, but rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. So the armies of Babylon came and conquered the city a second time. They took the king and his family back to Babylon, along with all the treasures and gold from the House of the Lord. They took everything of value from the city, including all the craftsmen, military men, and scholars. 10,000 people were marched to Babylon, leaving only the poor to oversee the land.

Again the people rebelled against Babylon, so Nebuchadnezzar sent his army to Judah a third time. The rulers of Jerusalem sent a message to Jeremiah. “Please, pray and ask God to deliver us!”

Jeremiah sent a message back to them from the Lord, “No! I will not deliver you because I am the one fighting against you. I will strike down the inhabitants of this city – both man and beast – with a great plague. I will give those who survive to Nebuchadnezzar.”

Still, the people ignored these warnings. Therefore Nebuchadnezzar decided to leave no one in the land who could resist him. When the army of Babylon conquered the city, they destroyed the Temple, burned all the houses, and broke down the city walls. They took the rest of the people away to Babylon, leaving only a few to tend the land.

Part III – Two Baskets of Figs

The Lord came to Jeremiah in a vision. He set two baskets of figs in front of him and asked, “What do you see?”

Jeremiah looked at them and said, “I see two baskets of figs. One is full of delicious fruit, the best I have seen. It makes my mouth water just looking at it. The other contains rotten figs, the worst I have seen. The smell is repulsive.”

The Lord said, “The people of this land are like the rotten figs. They are evil and corrupt. I will throw them away and have them destroyed.”

“The people going into the captivity are like the good figs. I am going to watch over them and care for them. I will bring their descendants back into this land and once again plant them here. I will put a desire into their heart to know me. I will be their God and they shall be my people.

This vision from the Lord was fulfilled when the people in Judah rebelled against the Babylonians one last time. They killed the appointed governor, and then fled from Judah and went to Egypt because they feared Nebuchadnezzar’s anger. Meanwhile, the Lord was with those who were taken to Babylon, and He sent his prophets to be with them.