Even from Old Testament times, there have been writings of an intermediary place between Heaven and Earth, such as Wisdom 3, Psalms 6:5, 88:12, 94:17, Job 10:21f, Job 14:21 and these are confirmed by the saints, like St. Irenaeus. We know that this place has no knowledge of the world, but it is clear from I Sam 2:6, Job 26:6 and Psalms 86:13, 139:8 that God is still present in this place, and from Christ's statement that God is the God of the living, not of the dead. One of these intermediary pl...
Aug 20, 2011•32 min
Immediately upon separation from our bodies in death, we undergo our own particular judgment, and the judgment and pronouncement of the sentence are given. The actual execution of the sentence occurs later at the Final Judgment when Christ comes again. Daniel 12 and John 5 give us evidence for this. We will know at the particular judgment the justness of the sentence, but not until the final judgement will we see the whole of God's plan.
Aug 13, 2011•32 min
Wisdom tells us that ungodly people belong to death, but as Philippians 1 says, for the Christian, to live is Christ and death is gain. We would do well to remember that death, is the wages of sin, and that God's plan was to have man be immortal as God is. Death, however, has been transformed into a blessing by Christ. The saints also have much to say about the way to approach death.
Aug 06, 2011•43 min
God promises to punish Molech, the god of the Ammonites, and those who worship it, but the Ammonites will be restored afterward, as they are relatives of the Israelites, descended from Lot. God will also punish the Edomites, who had a marauding culture, but their children and widows He will keep alive. Other nations also have judgments against them. Babylon was used by God to exact judgment on Israel, but now that the judgment has been exacted, and the nations became drunk on the things that cam...
Jul 30, 2011•49 min
After God promises to punish Egypt, he promises to punish the Philistines, whose people were very advanced, possessing the ability to forge iron. God will punish them for the taking of the Ark of the Covenant, many, many years ago. Moab will also be punished for pride. In all of these cases, the true God is attacking the false gods. It is worthy of note that the language here echoes Numbers 21:27ff.
Jul 23, 2011•30 min
The last few chapters of Jeremiah are rich in wordplay and in detail, and in some ways are like an entirely different book. There are many pronouncements made against Egypt, which has often been used to mean the world at large, but pride of worldly power is singled out for particular condemnation.
Jul 16, 2011•25 min
The word of the Lord comes to Jeremiah, and he tells those who escaped to Egypt that Nebuchadnezzar will conquer them and they will not come back. Those who have worshiped false gods, and who have taken wives who brought in worship of false gods, like the goddess Astarte, known as the queen of Heaven, have left God. King Hophra of Egypt was already having trouble before Nebuchadnezzar came against him, and he would indeed fall a little while later. Some use criticism of this false god to impugn ...
Jul 09, 2011•45 min
Jeremiah is cared for in Babylon, and Gedaliah is left as governor of Judah, since he did not go with the rebellion, and since he was not taken to Babylon. A marauder named Ishmael plots to kill Gedaliah, and since Gedaliah won't take efforts to stop him, Ishmael does kill him and all those who were with him. A while later, eighty other pilgrims come to give offerings in the temple, and Ishmael kills all of them, except for some who gave up their hiding places. Ishmael takes captives and flees t...
Jul 02, 2011•36 min
Some in the military hear the words of Jeremiah, and they plot to silence Jeremiah. King Zedekiah, like Pontius Pilate later, lets them do what they will. They put Jeremiah into a cistern and left him to die until Ebed-melech, a eunuch, comes to the defense of Jeremiah. Jeremiah is rescued, and Zedekiah asks Jeremiah to tell him the truth, and Jeremiah tells him to surrender. Zedekiah is afraid to do that. There is a breach in the city walls, and the city falls. The king and his men sneak out, b...
Jun 25, 2011•31 min
The Babylonians approach Israel, and the people prepare for the attack. Extrabiblical accounts of this time exist in the Lachish Letters. At this time, some people make a sacred covenant to free their slaves, possibly as a cost-cutting measure, but when the impending army seems to be less of a threat, these people break their sacred covenant and take back their slaves. Jeremiah wrote down all the words that God had told him, and ordered Baruch to read them to those assembled in the temple. Jehoi...
Jun 18, 2011•50 min
God declares again that He will restore both Israel and Judah, and declares that the king will be from their own, as opposed to being ruled from outside, and God will bring him near, as opposed to him daring to approach God. Even Samaria will come back to Zion. Jeremiah prophesies consolation for God's people after the exile, even the priests whom he has often prophesied hardship. The people will mourn for what has happened, and there is a prophecy about the slaughter of the innocents by Herod. ...
Jun 11, 2011•48 min
Hananiah proclaims that Babylon will be defeated within two years and the things that they ave stolen from the temple will be restored. Jeremiah says that this is not what the true prophets have prophesied about before, and that the people should not believe Hananiah's words until they come true. Hananiah would die shortly thereafter. Jeremiah tells the people not to wait to start families and prepare for their return, as the return will not come quickly. Jeremiah also talks about the bleak futu...
Jun 04, 2011•27 min
Jeremiah prophesies in the Temple that the Temple will be sacked, and the priests and false prophets want to kill Jeremiah for it, but the people are persuaded that if they do kill Jeremiah, and he is a prophet, they will have innocent blood on their hands. There is precedent among the prophets for this in Micah and a counterexample in Uriah. Jeremiah puts a yoke on his neck to warn the people of the subjugation Judah will experience, and to tell the envoys of Judah's neighbors that they must al...
May 28, 2011•31 min
Jeremiah pronounces judgment on Jehoiachin and criticizes all the kings but Josiah. He also refers to the entire people returning to Israel, as well as a righteous branch of David who will rule there. This is a messianic prophecy, and it refers to Jesus. Jeremiah goes after the false prophets as well. Jeremiah is shown a basket of figs, some good and some bad. These figs are like the people of Israel, and God will restore them to the land. The bad people, however, will be treated like bad figs b...
May 21, 2011•39 min
Jeremiah sees a potter whose clay has not turned out the way he wanted to, and God uses this to explain his actions. God will rework Israel into a different type of vessel if Israel will change its path, which Paul would echo in 2 Timothy 2:20-21. This does not match what the priests and false prophets were saying at the time, but those people, both then and now are not guaranteed to proclaim what is in the Bible and the catechism. Jeremiah shatters a flask to emphasize the analogy. Jeremiah is ...
May 14, 2011•42 min
Jeremiah is distressed by the fact that the people are against him, and has no wife to comfort him in his distress, since children would not be safe in this time. Jeremiah prophesies that if Jerusalem keeps the Sabbath, kings will rule in Jerusalem and people will come bearing offerings, but if they do not keep the Sabbath, the city will be consumed by fire.
May 07, 2011•49 min
God tells the people of Israel and the surrounding nations that they will be conquered, but Israel will be restored, as well as any nation that will worship God as other nations have convinced Israel to worship Baal. Any nation that does not do this will be destroyed. There is an extended section of visions told in a parabolic form next. Jeremiah is told to bury a waistcloth, a piece of intimate apparel, and then to dig it up, finding it spoiled. This is analagous to Israel, who was designed to ...
Apr 30, 2011•35 min
Jeremiah embraces the book of the law that was discovered, the book of Deuteronomy. Meredith Klein, in ''The Treaty of the Great King'', says that Deuteronomy follows a well-defined formula of a Hittite treaty from a subject to his ruler. These treaties go over the history of the relationship, the conditions of the treaty, and the consequences of breaking it. (Some of these curses can be found in Deuteronomy 27). Jeremiah takes the people to task for failing to meet that covenant, and his kinsme...
Apr 23, 2011•40 min
The Lord tells His people that if they circumcise their hearts as Moses told them to do in Deuteronomy 10:16, they will be able to return to the land. Jeremiah protests to the Lord that He is deceving the people: we know from 2 Thessalonians that God can allow the people to be deceived. The people had been led astray by the priests (the tradition of being led astray by those claiming religious authority continues in some quarters down until today), but they would have to be reconciled to God by ...
Apr 16, 2011•42 min
God recalls when Israel came into the land out of Egypt and how He dealt harshly with those who would dare to touch His people, the first fruits of the harvest. Unfortunately, Israel became dissolute. The people carried on the religious ceremonies despite God not being in the ceremonies, and the people didn't even ask where God was. The Israelites did not seek refuge in God when the nation was threatened; they sought protection from Egypt, who liked to exact a terrible price from their beneficia...
Apr 09, 2011•38 min
Josiah, at age 8, came to the throne, and showed signs of clear piety by his teens. During the time of his reign, there was a lack of competing power in the area, giving Josiah room to make needed reforms. Josiah cleansed the temple, and the priests discovered the book of the law there, which had been neglected. Josiah elevated the Passover to a great festival, and Huldah prophesies that those who participated in these reforms would die before seeing the judgment on Judah. Jeremiah, son of Hilki...
Apr 02, 2011•44 min
Jeremiah is called to prophecy when he was preparing for the priesthood around age 20, in the reign of King Josiah, the great reformer. Jeremiah is reluctant and protests that he does not know how to speak, but God tells him that He watches over His words, but does not hide from Jeremiah that this will take many years, which will turn out to be forty years. Under Josiah, Jeremiah is somewhat protected, but ultimately, the Babylonians capture Judah, and Jeremiah joins his kinsmen in captivity. Th...
Mar 26, 2011•33 min
After Jesus appears to the apostles, they tell Thomas, who had been apart from them following the crucifixion, that they have seen Jesus, but Thomas, cynical, does not believe. Jesus then appears to the apostles again with Thomas, who does believe is very deeply moved. Jesus tells Thomas that he has believed because he has seen, but those who have not seen but still believe (those reading the gospel) are blessed. The last chapter, an epilogue, describes few disciples going to fish at a later tim...
Mar 19, 2011•39 min
Mary Magdalene visits the tomb of Jesus with some others, saying, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." John and Peter go to visit the tomb, and John sees the state of the burial cloths and believes. Mary sees two angels in the tomb, and Jesus reveals Himself to Mary, much like He reveals Himself to the apostles on the road to Emmaus. Jesus tells Mary not to hold onto Him, sending her to tell the apostles, whom He calls His brothers even as he h...
Mar 12, 2011•42 min
Peter comes to the palace where Jesus is being tried, and denies that he knows Him three times, as Christ prophesied. Christ is brought to Pilate, who finds no guilt. Pilate tries to send Jesus back to be punished by the Jews, but they refuse, as there is a law preventing them from executing Him, but they must see Jesus executed for declaring Himself the Son of God. The people lodge a complaint that Jesus declared Himself to be a king, which forces Pilate to act. Pilate offers to release Jesus, ...
Mar 05, 2011•38 min
Jesus and His disciples go into the Kidron Valley to the garden of Gethsemane, where they are met with a large number of soldiers. Jesus confronts the soldiers, finds out that they are looking for Jesus, and declares "I am," echoing the the fact that He is God. The soldiers come to take Jesus away and He tells them to let the disciples go. This was to fulfill what Jesus said in John 17, showing that John gives Jesus' words the same weight as the Old Testament prophets. Peter strikes a soldier on...
Feb 26, 2011•35 min
Jesus repeats his final command: love. Through a long explanation, Jesus declares His love for His disciples and explains that He must go away, but that He will return. Once more, Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit will come, proceeding through the Son. Jesus also explains that some in the world will try to hurt the disciples. After this, He prays to His Father that we would be preserved from a host of threats and from the evil one.
Feb 19, 2011•48 min
Jesus calls himself the true vine, which calls to mind the imagery of Psalm 80[79], and He states that His Father is the vinedresser, who will prune away the branches that do not bear fruit. Thus, we must accept and grow the fruit that God is giving us. If we do not take the discipline that God requires of us and prove that we are His disciples, we will be eating and drinking judgment on ourselves in the Eucharist. Jesus speaks to each of us in the whole of the Last Supper, saying that He wants ...
Feb 12, 2011•31 min
At the Passover feast, Judas is already preparing to betray Jesus. Jesus takes off His outer robe and washes the feet of His disciples. Such washing by the master is unheard of in the tradition of ritual washing. Even knowing the betrayal, and the prophecy from Psalm 41 that Jesus will be betrayed by an intimate friend, Jesus is hurt by the knowledge of Judas' sin. Jesus gives Judas the morsel, a piece of honor at the Passover feast, asking Judas to do what he will do. Judas leaves, and Jesus te...
Feb 05, 2011•51 min
Jesus goes to Bethany, which becomes His base of operations, and there, Martha anoints His feet with costly oil. Jesus lets her do it, saying that she is preparing His body for burial. Judas thinks that the money should have been given to the poor, and plans to betray Jesus. Jesus then enters Jerusalem on an ass, like a peaceful king. Jesus, who had said all along that His time had not yet come, declares that His time has now come. Jesus is troubled by the coming trauma of taking on the sins of ...
Jan 29, 2011•30 min
