Jeremiah 38-52 and Lamentations Twenty Questions

1. If you had been in Jerusalem circa 587 B.C. to hear Jeremiah’s message in chapter 38:2-3, how do you think you would have responded?

2. Do you see any connection between what was done to Jeremiah in 38:6 and his message to King Zedekiah in 38:22?

3. What was the fate of King Zedekiah after the Babylonian victory?

4. What was the fate of Jeremiah after the Babylonian victory?

5. After the assassination of Nebuchadnezzar’s appointed governor, Gedaliah, many of the Jews remaining in Judah fled to Egypt.  Was this in obedience or disobedience to Jeremiah’s message to them?

6. According to Jeremiah 44, how did the Jews in Egypt feel about offering incense to the Queen of Heaven?

7. In the battle between Babylon and Egypt for supremacy, who won?

8. What does Jeremiah prophesy for Babylon in chapters 50 and 51?

9. What did the Babylonians do to Jerusalem, as recounted in Jeremiah 52:12-27?

10. How does the Book of Jeremiah end emotionally, with its account of King Jehoiachin in 52:31-34?

11. Have you ever had a season or time of lament in your life?  What did you lament?

12. Why didn’t the promises of God and the status of the Jews as God’s chosen people protect their nation from ruin?

13. What are some things Jerusalem is likened to in Lamentations 1:1?

14. What do you think Lamentations 1:10 is referring to?

15. What is the emotional, psychological, economic and spiritual toll of seeing a land’s best people sent into exile to another nation?

16. Does Jeremiah describe God’s role in the destruction of the nation as passive or active?  Why do you think that is?

17. Do you see any spiritual significance in the children of Jerusalem crying out in desperation for “bread and wine” in Lamentations 2:12?

18. The phrase “terrors on every side” appears several times in Jeremiah and Lamentations, such as in Lamentations 2:22.  What does 2:20 and 4:10 indicate about the extent of the famine in Jerusalem during the Babylonian siege?

19. In spite of Jeremiah’s many afflictions, what is the source of his hope in Lamentations 3:22 and following?  (Bonus question: What hymn is based on Lamentations 3:22-23?)

20. According to Lamentations 4:12, it had been widely believed that Jerusalem’s defenses were impregnable.  Is any nation beyond the reach of God’s judgment?