Symbolism in Jeremiah

1
Symbolism in Jeremiah

• Tim Haile

2
Symbolism In Jeremiah

• The Almond Tree (Jer. 111, 12)
• The word of the Lord came to me saying, What do
  you see, Jeremiah? And I said, I see a rod of
  an almond tree. Then the Lord said to me, You
  have seen well, for I am watching over my word to
  perform it.
• Almond From Heb. Meaning Hasty (Blooms Early)
• Signifies Gods Readiness To Punish

3
Symbolism In Jeremiah

• The Boiling Pot (Jer. 113, 14)
• The word of the Lord came to me a second time
  saying, What do you see? And I said, I see a
  boiling pot, facing away from the north. Then
  the Lord said to me, Out of the north the evil
  will break forth on all the inhabitants of the
  land..
• The Pouring Out of Pain, Punishment and
  Destruction (Jer. 115-ff)

4
Symbolism In Jeremiah

• The Boiling Pot (Jer. 113, 14)
• To Come From the North Because This Was the
  Normal Travel Route Into Palestine
• Jer. 46 - I am bringing disaster from the
  North, even terrible destruction
• Jer. 61 - Flee for safety, people of Benjamin!
  Sound the trumpet in Tekoa! Raise the signal over
  Beth Hakkerem! For disaster looms out of the
  north, even terrible destruction.

5
Symbolism In Jeremiah

• The Boiling Pot (Jer. 113, 14)
• Jer. 622 - This is what the Lord says Look,
  an army is coming from the land of the north a
  great nation is being stirred up from the ends of
  the earth.
• Jer. 1022 - Listen! The report is coming- a
  great commotion from the land of the north! It
  will make the towns of Judah desolate, a haunt of
  jackals.
• Jer. 318 - Exiles To Return From the Land of the
  North

6
Symbolism In Jeremiah

• Broken Cisterns (Jer. 213)
• For my people have committed two evils They
  have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters,
  to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns
  that can hold no water.
• A Fountain Provides Life-Sustaining Water (cp
  Jn. 414)
• Cisterns Produce No Water Broken Cisterns
  Cant Even Retain Water! (false religion)

7
Symbolism In Jeremiah

• Linen Girdle (Belt, Loincloth (Jer. 131-11)
• Jeremiah to Purchase and Wear the Linen Girdle
• Linen Priestly Garments of Holiness
• No Contact With Water Suggests Filth (Judahs
  Building Corruption)

8
Symbolism In Jeremiah

• Linen Girdle (Belt, Loincloth (Jer. 131-11)
• Jeremiah Told to Take the Belt to Perath
  (Euphrates) and Hide it in a Crevice (4, 5)
• After Many Days, Jeremiah Told to Retrieve the
  Belt
• Found It Ruined and Worthless (7, 10)

9
Symbolism In Jeremiah

• Linen Girdle (Belt, Loincloth (Jer. 131-11)
• As the Girdle Wasted Away In the Earth, So Would
  Judah in Captivity - see Leviticus 2639
• Those of you who are left will waste away in the
  lands of their enemies because of their sins
  also because of their fathers sins they will
  waste away.

10
Symbolism In Jeremiah

• Wineskins (Jer. 1312-27)
• Jerusalem Told Every wineskin should be filled
  with wine
• People Missed the Figurative Application Dont
  we know
• They Would Drink of Gods Wrath (Isa. 5117) -
  Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O
  Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of
  the Lord the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to
  the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering.

11
Symbolism In Jeremiah

• Jeremiah Not To Marry (Jer. 161-4)
• The word of the Lord also came to me saying,
  You shall not take a wife for yourself nor have
  sons or daughters in this place. For thus says
  the Lord concerning the sons and daughters born
  in this place, and concerning their mothers who
  bear them, and their fathers who beget them in
  this land They will die of deadly diseases,
  they will not be lamented or buried they will be
  as dung on

12
Symbolism In Jeremiah

• Jeremiah Not To Marry (Jer. 161-4)
• the surface of the ground and come to an end
  by sword and famine, and their carcasses will
  become food for the birds of the sky and for the
  beasts of the earth.
• Jeremiahs Marriage Prohibition Was to Suggest to
  the People That There Was No Positive Future For
  His People

13
Symbolism In Jeremiah

• Jeremiah Not To Attend Funerals (Jer. 165-7)
• For thus says the Lord, Do not enter a house of
  mourning, or go to lament or to console them for
  I have withdrawn my peace from this people,
  declares the Lord, My lovingkindness and
  compassion. Both great men and small will die in
  this land they will not be buried, they will not
  be lamented, nor will anyone gash himself or
  shave his head for them. Men will not break bread
  in

14
Symbolism In Jeremiah

• Jeremiah Not To Attend Funerals (Jer. 165-7)
• mourning for them, to comfort anyone for the
  dead, nor give them a cup of consolation to drink
  for anyone's father or mother.
• Jeremiahs Lack of (Expressed) Compassion
  Representative of Gods Withdrawal of Compassion
• People To Die Without Burials

15
Symbolism In Jeremiah

• Jeremiah Not To Attend Feasts of Joy (Jer.
  168-9)
• Moreover you shall not go into a house of
  feasting to sit with them to eat and drink. For
  thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel
  Behold, I am going to eliminate from this place,
  before your eyes and in your time, the voice of
  rejoicing and the voice of gladness, the voice of
  the groom and the voice of the bride.
• Time of Joy Soon Over!

16
Symbolism In Jeremiah

• The Potters Clay (Jer. 18)
• Jeremiah Sent to the Potters House - Observed
  That the Clay Was Marred in the Potters Hands -
  The Potter Formed it Into Another Pot (cp. Job
  419 Rom. 920, 21)
• Signified the Spiritual and Moral Corruption of
  Israel (6-17)

17
Symbolism In Jeremiah

• The Clay Jar (Jer. 19)
• Jeremiah Told to Buy a Clay Jar and Take It, With
  Certain Elders and Priests, to the Valley of Ben
  Hinnom
• Told to Pronounce Judgment Against Judah For
  Their Sins (sacrifice to idols, child sacrifice,
  etc)

18
Symbolism In Jeremiah

• The Clay Jar (Jer. 19)
• Jeremiah Told to Break the Clay Jar (10) While
  People Were Watching (visual aid)
• Represented Gods Smashing of Judah in Judgment,
  And the Irreparable Consequences to Judah

19
Symbolism In Jeremiah

• The Figs (Jer. 24)
• Jeremiah Shown 2 Baskets of Figs in Front of the
  Temple 1 Basket Very Good 1 Basket Very Bad
• Good Figs Represented Exiles Whom God Would Watch
  Over
• Poor Figs Represented Rebels Like Zedekiah,
  Objects of Wrath

20
Symbolism In Jeremiah

• The Yoke (Jer. 27)
• Early in the reign of Zedekiah (see 281 4th
  year 593 BC), Jeremiah Told to Make a Yoke Out
  of Straps and Crossbars And Place It On His Neck
• Told To Send Word to the Kings of Edom, Moab,
  Ammon, Tyre and Sidon (Zedekiah Already Heard
  (12) Through Envoys

21
Symbolism In Jeremiah

• The Yoke (Jer. 27)
• That Their Countries Would Come Under The Yoke
  of Nebuchadnezzar
• False Prophets Were Saying
• You will not serve the king of Babylon (14)
• Very soon now the articles from the Lords house
  will be brought back from Babylon (16) (those
  carried off in 605 597)

22
Symbolism In Jeremiah

• The Yoke (Jer. 27)
• Among the False Prophets Was Hananiah (Jer. 28)
• Claimed That the Lord Almighty, the God of
  Israel Would Break the yoke of the king of
  Babylon within two years (282, 3 contrast 308)
• Jeremiah Said 70 Yrs (2511,12)

23
Symbolism In Jeremiah

• The Yoke (Jer. 27)
• Hananiah Removed the Yoke From Jeremiahs Neck
  and Broke It (Jer. 2810, 11)
• Claimed That God So Signified the Breaking of
  Babylons Rule
• God Replaced the Yoke of Wood With a Yoke of
  Iron (2814) - Hananiah Died 2 Months Later, Per
  Jeremiahs Prediction (2816, 17)

24
Symbolism In Jeremiah

• Jeremiahs Field (Jer. 32)
• Jeremiah Told to Purchase a Field From His
  Cousin, Hanamel
• Weighed Out 17 Shekels of Silver For Hanamel
• Signed Sealed the Deed Before Witnesses
• Had Baruch Place the Deed in a Clay Jar For
  Storage

25
Symbolism In Jeremiah

• Jeremiahs Field (Jer. 32)
• Jeremiah Would Never Live On His Land, But His
  Purchase Signified Future RESTORATION
• For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of
  Israel says Houses, fields and vineyards will
  again be bought in this land (Jer. 3216, 44)

26
Symbolism In Jeremiah

• Stones at Tahpanhes (Jer. 43)
• Jeremiah to Bury Large Stones in Clay in the
  Brick Pavement at the Entrance to Pharaohs
  Palace in Tahpanhes (8, 9)
• Signified Gods Sending of Nebuchadnezzar to
  Destroy Egypt - He Would Erect His Royal Tent
  Over the Stones (10)