2018, December 2 ~ Jeremiah 33:14-16; and 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

Jeremiah 33:14-16

After the good King Josiah (who instituted many Deuteronomic reforms) was killed in battle in 609 BCE at Megiddo (the Greek name for which is Armageddon), the fortunes of Judea took a sharp downward turn. Babylon threatened Judea’s existence, and Judea had a series of hapless kings from 609 BCE until Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians in 597 BCE and destroyed by them in 586 BCE. The deportations of the Babylonian Exile occurred in two phases, one in 597 and the second in 587 BCE.

Jeremiah’s prophesy (i.e. speaking for YHWH) began around 609 and continued until 586 BCE when he died in Egypt.

Most Bible scholars agree that the Book of Jeremiah underwent substantial revisions between the time of Jeremiah (627 – 586 BCE) and the First Century. In fact, parts of Jeremiah are word-for-word the same as 2 Kings, a book written by the Deuteronomists (authors of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings). Many of the sections in the book of Jeremiah that are in “poetry style” are attributed to the prophet, and the parts in “prose style” were added by the Deuteronomists.

Jeremiah is mostly a prophet of doom and gloom, but today’s reading is in prose style and is optimistic. These verses are a repetition of Jer. 23:5-6, and are not in some other versions of the Book of Jeremiah that were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. They were likely added around 450-400 BCE. The verses anticipate a Messianic Age when YHWH will fulfill the promise that a righteous Branch from the House of David will rise up to bring justice and righteousness (a right relationship with God) to Israel and Judea.

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

Thessalonica, a port city in northern Greece, was capital of the Roman province of Macedonia in the First Century. Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians is the oldest part of the Christian Scriptures and was written by Paul before 50 CE, about 20 years before the first Gospel (Mark) was written.

The theme of this short letter (five chapters) is one of encouragement to remain steadfast. In the passages just before today’s reading, Paul expressed pain at not being able to visit this community. In today’s reading, he urged the Jesus Followers in Thessalonica to remain holy and blameless.