"Only Life Changes"

Question:
What was the popular reaction to Jeremiah on this point?
Answer:
It reads in Jeremiah 38:4 KJV> Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.

Question:
When the disaster foreseen by Jeremiah finally came upon the nation, what was the prophet’s attitude toward the destroying power, Babylon?
Answer:
It reads in Jeremiah 37:17 KJV> Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.
It reads in Jeremiah 38:2 KJV> Thus saith the LORD, He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live.
It reads in Jeremiah 38:18 KJV> But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand.

Question:
What was Jeremiah’s reply to the easy optimism of the false prophets?
Answer:
It reads in Jeremiah 29:8-9 KJV> For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD.

Question:
Was the position taken by Jeremiah supported by other prophets of his time?
Answer:
It reads in Jeremiah 28:2 KJV> Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.

Question:
What specifically did Jeremiah predict about Jerusalem?
Answer:
It reads in Jeremiah 26:4-6 KJV> And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you, To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened; Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.

Question:
Why is it especially touching that Jeremiah should have seized upon these details?
Answer:
Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.
Jeremiah 16:2 KJV

Question:
What picture does Jeremiah draw of the desolation that awaits a land that has turned its back upon God?
Answer:
And the carcasses of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away. Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.
Jeremiah 7:33-34 KJV

Question:
What were Jeremiah’s feelings regarding those who opposed him?
Answer:
Yet, Lord, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.

Question:
What were Jeremiah’s inner feelings in the face of the popular opposition to his message?
Answer:
It reads in Jeremiah 20:14-18 KJV> Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bares me be blessed. Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad. And let that man be as the cities which the Lord overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide; Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me. Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame? It reads in Jeremiah 15:10 KJV> Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me. It reads in Jeremiah 9:2 KJV> Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.

Question:
What was the attitude of his peers toward Jeremiah?
Answer:
O Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived; thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.
Jeremiah 20:7 KJV