Jeremiah

• Jeremiah was of priestly lineage.

• Ministry - 627-585 BC

– Fall of Jerusalem (586 BC)

• Message of Judgement - Judah’s unfaithfulness to God will end in its destruction.

• Message of Hope - God has a bright future for his people, a time of restoration and a new covenant.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah was given the unenviable task of standing in opposition to the royal house of David, the prophets, priests and people.

He was called to announce the coming destruction of Jerusalem (because of her sins) and urge them to accept exile in Babylon if they wished to live and have a future.

Jeremiah’s message seemed both treasonous to his own people and heretical towards God’s covenant.

Jeremiah

• Most of Jeremiah’s sermons come from the tumultuous years in Jerusalem after Josiah’s death, during the reigns of his two sons Jehoiakim (609-598 BC) and Zedekiah (597-586 BC).

• Under Babylonian control Jerusalem repeatedly turns to Egypt for help to gain a measure of independence.

Jeremiah

• This eventually resulted in the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in 598 BC.

• Most of the leading people of Jerusalem were sent into exile to Babylon.

• The total destruction of Jerusalem comes in 586 BC.

Influences on Jeremiah

• Hosea.

• Jeremiah makes considerable use of the former’s vivid imagery of Israel as a faithless bride-turned-prostitute.

• Nor merely idolatry, but syncretism – worshiping and serving Baal alongside of Yahweh.

Influences on Jeremiah

• Deuteronomy.

• Including the curses for unfaithfulness at the key point of whether they will serve God alone. (11:1-13; 17:5-8).

• The un/circumcised heart. (4:4; 9:25; cf. Deut.

10:16; 30:6).

• The promised restoration after exile with a new covenant. (30-33).

Baruch

• The collection of oracles in Jeremiah may have been put together and “published’ by Baruch. (36:32; 45:1-5).

– See Romans 16:22.

Four Main Divisions of Jeremiah

Division 1

1-25: Prophecies of judgment against Jerusalem.

• Forms the heart of Jeremiah’s prophetic word.

• Included in this collection are many of Jeremiah’s own interactions with God (by argument, dialogue, lament and complaint) over the coming disaster or over his own treatment. (e.g. 12:1-4; 20:7-18; next slide 14-17).

14:1-17:27

• God announces judgment. (14:1-6).

• Jeremiah prays for his people. (14:7-9).

• Because their judgment is set God tells Jeremiah not to pray for his people (14:10-16)

but to weep over them. (14:17-18).

• Jeremiah responds by reminding God of his covenant. (14:19-22).

• God contends that even Moses and Samuel couldn’t help them now. (15:1-4, 5-9, 12-14).

14:1-17:27

• Jeremiah responds with a lament. (15:10, 15-18).

• God calls Jeremiah to repent, stay with his calling, and assures him of deliverance. (15:11, 19-21).

Rembrandt van Rijn, Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of

Jerusalem, c. 1630

Four Main Divisions of Jeremiah

Divisions 2-4

26-36: Narratives holding out hope for the future.

37-45: Narratives regarding the Fall of Jerusalem.

46-51: Prophecies of judgement against the nations.

52: Epilogue.

1:1-19

• Jeremiah’s call (1:4-10) initiates the pattern of dialogue, debate and argument between Jeremiah and God throughout the book.

• Jeremiah, in proper prophetic humility, resists his calling.

21:1-24:10

• The king will someday be replaced with a true branch from David’s line. (23:1-8).

• The messianic oracle in 23:5-6, is repeated in 33:15-16 and picked up in Revelation 5:5.

25:1-38

• The words against Babylon in 25:10 are echoed in the final doom of John’s “Babylon” in Rev. 18:21-23.

27:1-29:32

• Jeremiah vs the false prophets who are saying God will deliver them from Babylon.

• Jerusalem hope will come through exile.

30:1-33:26

• Jeremiah buys a field in Anathoth (32:1-25) as a down payment on the future that will come after Jerusalem’s exile (and after Jeremiah’s death).

• The future restoration. (32:36-33:26).

• Note how 33:15-16 picks up on the promise of the Messiah from 23:5-6.

50:1-51:64

• Babylon’s future doom and how it relates to Israel’s future.

• Several of these oracles will serve as the basis for John’s announcement of doom on a later “Babylon” – the city of Rome (Revelation 18).

Jeremiah

The book of Jeremiah is a constant reminder of God’s faithfulness to his word in Deuteronomy that his elect will be cursed by exile for their unfaithfulness to God but will be restored at a later time with the hope of a new covenant – which was fulfilled through Jesus Christ, David’s “righteous Branch”. (23:5).