Jeremiah Part 1 Leader Guide (NASB and ESV) You’ve Forsaken me: Repent and Return (Chapters 1–24) i Jeremiah Part 1 Leader Guide (NASB and ESV) © 2009, 2013, 2017 Precept Ministries International Published by Precept Ministries of Reach Out, Inc. Chattanooga, Tennessee 37422 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the U.S.A. Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible® © The Lockman Foundation, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission. www.lockman.org Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 3rd Edition (11/2017) ii USING LEADER GUIDES Leader Guides are intended for you, the leader, to guide your Precept Upon Precept® and In & Out® discussions. They are designed to help you reason through the content of the lessons and to ensure you have understood what your group should have learned from their study. The guides offer effective plans for leading discussions. The Holy Spirit is your guide as you prepare. He is the one who knows what your group needs to apply to their lives. Pray for them as they study and for yourself as you prepare to lead the discussion. These guides can be used for either the NASB or the ESV edition of the courses. ESV words follow the NASB after a slash / or are set off with parentheses. Leader Guides include the following: • Lesson emphasis • A logical order for the discussion • Discussion questions • Suggested visual aid(s) Practical tips for using the Leader Guide: • Don’t simply “do” the lesson. Stay with the lesson until you have a good understanding of it. This will give you a better grasp of how the Leader Guide takes you through the lesson. • You don’t have to ask every question in the guide. Often one question will be covered while discussing another question so there is no reason to ask it. Your goal is not to ask every question, but to ask enough questions to make sure your group understood the lesson and to help them apply the truths to their lives. Using the Leader Guide with In & Out When your entire group uses In & Out Compare an In & Out lesson with the Leader Guide. Use what relates to the In & Out lesson as a guide for the discussion. Don’t teach what’s not in In & Out lessons. Remember your goal in the discussion is for your group to discuss what they’ve learned, not for you to lecture on what you learned. For groups studying both Precept Upon Precept and In & Out Use the Leader Guides as designed for PUP, knowing that the In & Out assignments will be covered in the discussion. Make a note in the Leader Guide of what is not in the In & Out. iii PRINTED L ESSONS PDF PAGE NO. PAGE NO. 1 LESSON ONE: Jeremiah 1-2 5 7 LESSON TWO: Jeremiah 3-4 11 15 LESSON THREE: Jeremiah 5-6 19 23 LESSON FOUR: Jeremiah 7-9 27 31 LESSON FIVE: Jeremiah 10-12 35 37 LESSON SIX: Jeremiah 13-15 41 45 LESSON SEVEN: Jeremiah 16-18 49 53 LESSON EIGHT: Jeremiah 19-21 57 59 LESSON NINE: Jeremiah 22-24 63 To locate a particular lesson in the pdf, click on in the grey bar on the left side of the window. Bookmarks will appear for each of the lessons. Select the lesson you need. iv 2017 Precept Ministries International Jeremiah Part 1 Leader Guide Lesson 1, Chapters 1–2 JEREMIAH PART 1 LEADER GUIDE Lesson 1 Lesson emphasis • Jeremiah 1–2 • Jeremiah’s appointment and God’s words to Judah To begin this discussion, you might ask your group what spoke to them or impressed them as they studied this lesson. JEREMIAH 1 What is this chapter about? The Lord’s word came to Jeremiah He appointed Jeremiah a prophet to the nations He also spoke to the people of Judah and Jerusalem Tell your group to look at “Jeremiah a Man Appointed by God” and the “Map of Israel” as visual aids. Jeremiah was a young man, the son of a priest from Anathoth When did the Lord’s word come to Jeremiah? In Josiah’s 13th year as king of Judah—the time of this chapter Also in Jehoiakim’s reign until Judah’s exile in Zedekiah’s 11th year as king. Tell your group to look at “The Rulers and Prophets of Jeremiah’s Time” as a visual aid for this part of your discussion. According to 2 Chronicles 34 what did Josiah do as king of Judah? Began to seek the Lord in the 8th year of his reign. He was 16 years old. Began to purge Judah in the 12th year of his reign, 20 years old. In his 13th year as king of Judah the Lord first spoke to Jeremiah. In his 18th year as king, he finished purging / cleansing the land and repaired the temple. During that repair, the book of the Law was found. 1 Jeremiah Part 1 Leader Guide 2017 Precept Ministries International Lesson 1, Chapters 1–2 How significant was it that the book of the Law had been lost to Judah? What was Josiah’s response when he heard it? When Josiah heard God’s words of judgment for disobedience, he humbled himself before the Lord. He led the people to make a covenant of obedience before the Lord. Throughout his lifetime, they didn’t turn from following Him. What did the Lord tell Josiah about “the evil / disaster” He was going to bring on Jerusalem? When was He going to bring it? Why? Because of prior abominations the kings and people of Judah and Jerusalem had done, the judgment was still coming on Judah and Jerusalem. It would not come in Josiah’s reign, but after he died. According to Jeremiah 52, did the Lord bring “the evil / disaster” on Jerusalem and Judah? Yes, they were taken captive to Babylon in Zedekiah’s reign. How long did the Lord’s word come to Jeremiah? How long did he know what was ahead for Judah and its people? Jeremiah knew from Josiah’s reforming reign that Judah faced judgment, and what it was. It was about 40 years before it happened. What was Jeremiah’s age when the Lord appointed him? Is that relevant to young people now? He was a youth. Both the king and the prophet were young men, the two spiritual leaders of God’s people Judah. What was the conversation between the Lord and Jeremiah in verses 4-10? Ask what your group learned about the Lord from these verses and what they learned about Jeremiah. Before the Lord formed Jeremiah, He knew and appointed him as a prophet to the nations. Ephesians 1:3-5; 2:10 He chose all believers in Christ before the foundation of the world. Chosen to be holy and blameless His workmanship—He prepared the good works each of us is to do. John 15:16 Jesus appointed the eleven disciples to go and bear fruit. This seems to apply to all believers, too. 2 2017 Precept Ministries International Jeremiah Part 1 Leader Guide Lesson 1, Chapters 1–2 The Lord was going to send Jeremiah to places and tell him what to speak to the people he was sent to. Verse 8, the nations . don’t fear; God will deliver. Verse 17 the people of Judah . not overcome you / prevail; God will deliver. The Lord warned Jeremiah not to be dismayed before the people of Judah and Jerusalem. What’s the meaning of verses 11-12? How does this relate to Jeremiah’s message? This is a play on words in Hebrew. In verse 12 “watch” is a similar word in Hebrew to “almond.” The almond tree blossoms before other trees in the early spring. The blossoms are the signs that almonds will come later. God will perform His Word, even if it’s delayed for a time. Relate this to 1 Thessalonians 2:13. His Word still performs its work. Jeremiah was not the first prophet to announce the coming judgment on Judah. The Lord prophesied judgment through Jeremiah in a time of revival. It didn’t come for several years . but it came as He said. According to verses 13-16, what was going to happen? Out of the north, kingdoms will bring evil / disaster on Judah’s inhabitants and Jerusalem. Jerusalem and cities of Judah—their kings, princes, priests, and people were the recipients of the Lord’s judgment because they forsook the Lord and worshiped other gods they made What do verses 17-19 say about Jeremiah? He was to speak all God commanded. God made him as a fortified city against Judah and its inhabitants, because they would fight against him. He was not to be dismayed, because God was with him to deliver him. Ask your group how this might apply to them, and what they learned from the cross-references in 2 Timothy and Matthew. Matthew 28:16-20 Jesus commanded His disciples, and all believers, to make disciples by teaching them to observe all He commanded—His Word. 3 Jeremiah Part 1 Leader Guide 2017 Precept Ministries International Lesson 1, Chapters 1–2 2 Timothy 4:1-4 The time has come when people turn away from listening to the truth, but believers are still to be ready to preach the sound doctrine of God’s Word.