Israel Is Not Cast Away

1I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? 3“Lord, they have killed Your prophets, they have torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.” 4But what is the divine response to him? “I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice. 6But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.

7What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened; 8just as it is written,

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,

Eyes to see not and ears to hear not,

Down to this very day.”

9And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and a trap,

And a stumbling block and a retribution to them.

10Let their eyes be darkened to see not,

And bend their backs forever.”

11I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. 12Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!

1) How does Jeremiah 31 portray both emotional and spiritual restoration for Israel?

2) What does Paul’s picture of the remnant teach about יהוה’s faithfulness even when many fall away?

3) How does the promise of a renewed covenant written on the heart point toward the fullness of redemption still to come?

Hananiah’s False Prophecy

1Now in the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying, 2“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3Within two years I am going to bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. 4I am also going to bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles of Judah who went to Babylon,’ declares the Lord, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’ ”

5Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and in the presence of all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord, 6and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord confirm your words which you have prophesied to bring back the vessels of the Lord’s house and all the exiles, from Babylon to this place. 7Yet hear now this word which I am about to speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people! 8The prophets who were before me and before you from ancient times prophesied against many lands and against great kingdoms, of war and of calamity and of pestilence. 9The prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, then that prophet will be known as one whom the Lord has truly sent.”

10Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it. 11Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Even so will I break within two full years the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations.’ ” Then the prophet Jeremiah went his way.

12The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying, 13“Go and speak to Hananiah, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “You have broken the yokes of wood, but you have made instead of them yokes of iron.” 14For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they will serve him. And I have also given him the beasts of the field.” ’ ” 15Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen now, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie. 16Therefore thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This year you are going to die, because you have counseled rebellion against the Lord.’ ”

17So Hananiah the prophet died in the same year in the seventh month.

Judgments on Judah’s Enemies

1Gather yourselves together, yes, gather,

O nation without shame,

2Before the decree takes effect—

The day passes like the chaff—

Before the burning anger of the Lord comes upon you,

Before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you.

3Seek the Lord,

All you humble of the earth

Who have carried out His ordinances;

Seek righteousness, seek humility.

Perhaps you will be hidden

In the day of the Lord’s anger.

4For Gaza will be abandoned

And Ashkelon a desolation;

Ashdod will be driven out at noon

And Ekron will be uprooted.

5Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast,

The nation of the Cherethites!

The word of the Lord is against you,

O Canaan, land of the Philistines;

And I will destroy you

So that there will be no inhabitant.

6So the seacoast will be pastures,

With caves for shepherds and folds for flocks.

7And the coast will be

For the remnant of the house of Judah,

They will pasture on it.

In the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down at evening;

For the Lord their God will care for them

And restore their fortune.

8“I have heard the taunting of Moab

And the revilings of the sons of Ammon,

With which they have taunted My people

And become arrogant against their territory.

9Therefore, as I live,” declares the Lord of hosts,

The God of Israel,

“Surely Moab will be like Sodom

And the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah—

A place possessed by nettles and salt pits,

And a perpetual desolation.

The remnant of My people will plunder them

And the remainder of My nation will inherit them.”

10This they will have in return for their pride, because they have taunted and become arrogant against the people of the Lord of hosts. 11The Lord will be terrifying to them, for He will starve all the gods of the earth; and all the coastlands of the nations will bow down to Him, everyone from his own place.

12“You also, O Ethiopians, will be slain by My sword.”

13And He will stretch out His hand against the north

And destroy Assyria,

And He will make Nineveh a desolation,

Parched like the wilderness.

14Flocks will lie down in her midst,

All beasts which range in herds;

Both the pelican and the hedgehog

Will lodge in the tops of her pillars;

Birds will sing in the window,

Desolation will be on the threshold;

For He has laid bare the cedar work.

15This is the exultant city

Which dwells securely,

Who says in her heart,

“I am, and there is no one besides me.”

How she has become a desolation,

A resting place for beasts!

Everyone who passes by her will hiss

And wave his hand in contempt.