Jeremiah: [ /jeh·ruh·mai·uh/ ] noun – means exalted or appointed by God.
The book was written by the Prophet Jeremiah (Ch. 1:1) through a scribe names Baruch (Ch 36:2, 32), written sometime during the years he prophesied from 627-586 BC.
OVERVIEW:
The Book of Jeremiah records the final prophecies to Judah, warning of oncoming destruction if the nation does not repent. Jeremiah calls out for the nation to turn back to God. At the same time, Jeremiah recognizes the inevitability of Judah’s destruction due to its unrepentant idolatry and immorality. The Book of Jeremiah is primarily a message of judgment on Judah for rampant idolatry (Jeremiah 7:30-34; 16:10-13; 22:9; 44:2-3). After the death of King Josiah, the last righteous king, the nation of Judah had almost completely abandoned God and His commandments. Jeremiah compares Judah to a prostitute (Jeremiah 2:20; 3:1-3). God had promised that He would judge idolatry most severely (Leviticus 26:31-33; Deuteronomy 28:49-68), and Jeremiah was warning Judah that God’s judgment was at hand. God had delivered Judah from destruction on countless occasions, but His mercy was at its end. Jeremiah records King Nebuchadnezzar conquering Judah and making it subject to him (Jeremiah 24:1). After further rebellion, God brought Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian armies back to destroy and desolate Judah and Jerusalem (Jeremiah chapter 52). Even in this most severe judgment, God promises the restoration of Judah back into the land God has given them (Jeremiah 29:10).
The overarching theme in this text is judgment since Jeremiah prophesied in the final years of Judah before God’s people were exiled to Babylon. The first forty-five chapters focus primarily on the judgment coming to Judah because of its disbelief and disobedience. However, an element of God’s grace is also present in these harrowing events. The fall of Jerusalem comes nearly nine hundred years after the original covenant between God and the Israelites in the Sinai desert (Exodus 24:1–18). Such an extended period reveals God’s great patience and mercy, allowing His people the opportunity to turn from their sinful ways—a lifestyle they began not long after the original covenant with God (Exodus 32:1–35).
SO WHAT?
Jeremiah is often called the “weeping prophet” because of his sorrow of the coming judgement to nation of Judah. Jeremiah loved Judah, but he loved God much more. As painful as it was for Jeremiah to deliver a consistent message of judgment to his own people, Jeremiah was obedient to what God told him to speak to God’s people. Jeremiah hoped and prayed for mercy from God for Judah, but also trusted that God was good, just, and righteous. We too must obey God, even when it is difficult, recognize God’s will as more important than our own desires, and trust that God, in His infinite wisdom and perfect plan, will bring about the best for His chosen people (Romans 8:28). Jeremiah provides us the clearest glimpse of the new covenant God intended to make with His people once Christ came to earth. This new covenant would be the means of restoration for God’s people, as He would put His law within them, writing it on hearts of flesh rather than on tablets of stone. Rather than nurturing our relationship with Him through one specific location like the temple, He promised through Jeremiah that His people would know Him directly, a knowledge that comes through the person of His Son, Jesus Christ (Jeremiah 31:31–34; Hebrews 8:6).
Seeing God’s patience with His people in the Old Testament reminds us that God has always been and continues to be merciful. The account that His chosen people routinely ignored the covenant they made with Him for the better part of a millennia without immediate death and destruction should give us hope in our own struggles with living well for God. Though we fail Him, He is patient with us, working in us to bring about the best for our lives. Yet this account also reminds us that an end of His patience and grace will certainly come, a truth that should spur us to pursue God wholeheartedly today and share the good news of rescue and true life in Jesus Christ with those around us.
Next month, we will walk through the book of Lamentations, a lament by Jeremiah for what occurred to Judah and Jerusalem after their continued and unrepentant idolatry. God allowed the Babylonians to besiege, plunder, burn, and destroy the city of Jerusalem. They also destroyed Solomon’s Temple, which had stood for approximately 400 years, burning it to the ground. Yet even in this terrible judgment, God is a God of hope. No matter how far we have gone from Him in this life, we have living hope through Christ that we can return to Him and find Him compassionate and forgiving.
If you have questions, need prayer, a word of encouragement, or a cup of coffee, please contact me. Reach out to me via email: Colin@nlcwanamingo.org or by phone: 507-824-3019.
