Jeremiah 2

In   Last Lesson, We looked at this verse near the end of 2 Chronicles:

 (2 Chr 36:21 NKJV)  to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.

Jeremiah made this clear in a short passage we studied last week.

(Jer 25:11-12 NKJV)  'And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. {12} 'Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,' says the LORD; 'and I will make it a perpetual desolation.

What else does Jeremiah have to say?

 (Jer 29:10-15 NKJV)  For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. {11} For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. {12} Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. {13} And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. {14} I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive. {15} Because you have said, "The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon";

Did it Happen!  Did God do What He Said?

In our lesson last week, we noticed the ground work which made all this possible.

That set up the next World Empire:  The Meado-Persian empire:

But how does this verse fit in?

Jer 29:15 Because you have said, "The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon";

There was Daniel, and what did he do?

1.            He studied the writings of the other prophets.

(Dan 9:1-2 NKJV)  In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; {2} in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the LORD through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

2.            He prayed – we read this last time:

(Dan 9:3-10 NKJV)  Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. {4} And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession, and said, "O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments,

{5} "we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. . . .

And as we concluded, we noted that Daniel may have been one of the three most righteous men in the Old Testament.

But let’s continue his prayer:

(Dan 9:6-19 NKJV)  "Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. {7} "O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day; to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.

{8} "O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. {9} "To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. {10} "We have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. {11} "Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. {12} "And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem.

What is the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses?

(Deu 8:19-20 NKJV)  "Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the LORD your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. {20} "As the nations which the LORD destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the LORD your God.

If you are looking for the word curse, you may like this verse better:

(Deu 28:14-15 KJV)  And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. {15} But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:

In the interest of time, I’m going to move to the end of this historic prayer:

Daniel 9:18 "O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. {19} "O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name."

Do not delay! – The words of a man, but it was answered by God!

(Dan 9:20-23 NKJV)  Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God,

{21} yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. {22} And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, "O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. {23} "At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision:

What follows is the famous, 70 weeks of Daniel.  We won’t have time tonight to get into the vision of the 70 weeks, but it is a unique vision.

(Ezra 1:1-3 NKJV)  Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, {2} Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. {3} Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem.

Let’s see if we can tie it all together.

(Jer 29:10 NKJV)  For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place.

Isaiah gave his name and what he was to do

(Isa 44:28 NKJV)  Who says of Cyrus, 'He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure, Saying to Jerusalem, "You shall be built," And to the temple, "Your foundation shall be laid."'

(Isa 45:1-4 NKJV)  "Thus says the LORD to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held; To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut:

{3} I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the LORD, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel. {4} For Jacob My servant's sake, And Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me.

We know he prayed and he studied.

The rest is my speculation which I cannot prove by scripture, but others have suggested it, and I think they are correct:

I believe Daniel shared the verses we have looked at with Cyrus and that Cyrus was “moved by God’s spirit” and responded in the way he did as recorded by Ezra.

I hope in a small way, I’ve helped tie a few more books of the Old Testament together for you.