JEREMIAH

Who was Jeremiah?

Jeremiah has always a fascination to Christian hearts, because of the close similarity that exists between his life and that of Jesus Christ. Each of them was “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief”; each came to his own, and his own received him not; each passed through hours of rejection, desolation, and forsakenness. And in Jeremiah we may see, beaten out into detail, experiences which, in our Lord, are but lightly touched on by the evangelists.

Meyer, F. B. (1894). Jeremiah: Priest and Prophet (p. 5). New York; Chicago; Toronto: Fleming H. Revell Company.

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The meaning of the name Jeremiah is uncertain...”the Lord throws” in the sense of laying a foundation; or “The Lord establishes.”

Jeremiah wrote the book of Jeremiah and the book of Lamentations

Jeremiah born 650 BC (according to Rose Book timelines)

Jeremiah lived in Anathoth, a Levitical city in the land of Benjamin (about 3 miles northeast of Jerusalem)

Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah

Hilkiah - of the priests (Levitical priest) that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin

Hilkiah - of the line of Ithamar, son of Aaron (1 Chr. 24:1-19)

Likely a descendant of Abiathar, the sole survivor of the priests of Nob (1 Samuel 22:20) Saul killed all the priests because the priest Ahimelech had given David a sword and bread.

Not the High Priest of the line of Eleazar (1 Chr. 6:1-13).

Jeremiah was called as a Prophet, not a priest.

Jeremiah prophesied from about 627 BC till at least 582 BC, after the fall of Jerusalem.

He wrote his final prophecies in Egypt (Jeremiah 43-44).

Jeremiah was possibly a teenage or early 20’s when called???? The Lord called him in the 13th year of the reign of Josiah, king of Judah, the last righteous king of Judah. (2Kg 22)

The Lord commanded Jeremiah not to marry.

Jeremiah’s ministry lasted at least 41 years during the reign of five kings of Judah: Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah.

Jeremiah was heart broken over Jerusalem’s sin and the judgment they had brought upon themselves…thus the title “the weeping prophet.”

Jeremiah continued to minister to the remnant who remained in Jerusalem after the fall of Judah.

After the assassination of Gedaliah (Jeremiah 41:1-3) he went (taken against his wishes) with the exiles to Egypt (Jeremiah 43:7) and continued to speak for the Lord there (Jeremiah 44:1-30).

The New King James Version (Chapter 41)

41 Now it came to pass in the seventh month that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family and of the officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. And there they ate bread together in Mizpah. 2 Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who were with him, arose and struck Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, and killed him whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land. 3 Ishmael also struck down all the Jews who were with him, that is, with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.

Jeremiah was God’s choice “Before I formed you in the womb.” (Jeremiah 1:5)

5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;

Before you were born I sanctified you;

I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

NOTE:

1.Not a general knowledge

2.Indicates the sense of close relationship

3. Includes idea of

a. being “chosen”

b. having God’s protection or God “watching over” him

4. God had set him apart - consecrated him to be spokesman to Judah (Jeremiah 2-45)

5. Jeremiah’s ministry as God’s spokesman extended to the Gentile nations (Jeremiah 45-51).

Jeremiah was hated, persecuted, and imprisoned for his message. He declared Jerusalem would fall to the Babylonians, as a judgment from the Lord and advised surrender to Nebuchadnezzar (18:18; 37:15; 38; 40:1)

After the fall of Jerusalem, he delivered God’s message for the remnant to stay in Judah and not go to Egypt, but he was ridiculed and ignored.

Jeremiah was a man of outstanding courage, who boldly and unwaveringly proclaimed the Lord’s message despite almost total national opposition.

The New King James Version. (1982). (Je 1:5). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. (Psalms 139: 13-16)

The New King James Version (Psalm 139)

13 For You formed my inward parts;You covered me in my mother’s womb.14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;Marvelous are Your works,And that my soul knows very well.15 My frame was not hidden from You,When I was made in secret,And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.And in Your book they all were written,The days fashioned for me,When as yet there were none of them.

Jeremiah, according to tradition, died in Egypt by stoning.

Recipients:

Jeremiah’s ministry’s primary audience was Judah and Jerusalem. . . the population in general (2:2;3:17;7:2;18:11) and also addressed Judah’s kings (13:18;21:3,11;22:1-2,11,18,24); priests of Judah (20:3-6_; and prophets (23:9; 28:15).

Purpose and Themes:

Encourage repentance and faith by revealing the Lord’s faithfulness to His promises both to discipline and restore Israel.

*The phrase “days are coming” looks forward to the reign of Messiah, the Righteous Branch, on the earth in the millennial kingdom (Jeremiah 23:3-6; 30:1-9; 33:14-15).

Jeremiah 23: 3-6

The New King James Version (Chapter 23)

3 “But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 4 I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says the LORD.5 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD,“That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness;A King shall reign and prosper,And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.6 In His days Judah will be saved,And Israel will dwell safely;Now this is His name by which He will be called:

Jeremiah 30: 1-9

The New King James Version (Chapter 30)

30 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 “Thus speaks the LORD God of Israel, saying: ‘Write in a book for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you. 3 For behold, the days are coming,’ says the LORD, ‘that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah,’ says the LORD. ‘And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.’ ”4 Now these are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah.5 “For thus says the LORD:‘We have heard a voice of trembling,Of fear, and not of peace.6 Ask now, and see,Whether a man is ever in labor with child?So why do I see every man with his hands on his loinsLike a woman in labor,And all faces turned pale?7 Alas! For that day is great,So that none is like it;And it is the time of Jacob’s trouble,But he shall be saved out of it.8 ‘For it shall come to pass in that day,’Says the LORD of hosts,‘That I will break his yoke from your neck,And will burst your bonds;Foreigners shall no more enslave them.9 But they shall serve the LORD their God,And David their king,Whom I will raise up for them.

Jeremiah 33:14–15 (NKJV)

‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah:

‘In those days and at that time

I will cause to grow up to David

A Branch of righteousness;

He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.

Note: An outstanding emphasis in Jeremiah’s ministry is the priority of a right relationship with the Lord, in contrast to external religious practices (Jeremiah 4:4; 7:21-26; 11: 1-13).

Jeremiah 7:21–26 (NKJV)

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat meat. For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices. But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.’ Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have even sent to you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them. Yet they did not obey Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.

Jeremiah also presented the Lord as:

Creator (Jeremiah 5:22;10:12-16;27:5;31:35-37;32:17;51:15-19)

Jeremiah 5:22 (NKJV)

Do you not fear Me?’ says the Lord.

‘Will you not tremble at My presence,

Who have placed the sand as the bound of the sea,

By a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass beyond it?

And though its waves toss to and fro,

Yet they cannot prevail;

Though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it.

Jeremiah 10:12–16 (NKJV)

He has made the earth by His power,

He has established the world by His wisdom,

And has stretched out the heavens at His discretion.

When He utters His voice,

There is a multitude of waters in the heavens:

“And He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth.

He makes lightning for the rain,

He brings the wind out of His treasuries.”

Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge;

Every metalsmith is put to shame by an image;

For his molded image is falsehood,

And there is no breath in them.

They are futile, a work of errors;

In the time of their punishment they shall perish.

The Portion of Jacob is not like them,

For He is the Maker of all things,

And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance;

The Lord of hosts is His name.

2 the all powerful Lord of hosts (Jeremiah 9:7; 10:6;27:5;31:35;32:17,27)

Jeremiah 32:17 (NKJV)

‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.

3. everywhere present (Jeremiah 23:23-24)

Jeremiah 23:23–24 (NKJV)

“Am I a God near at hand,” says the Lord,

“And not a God afar off?

Can anyone hide himself in secret places,

So I shall not see him?” says the Lord;

“Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord.

4. Savior and Redeemer (Jeremiah 3:23;14:8; 31:11;50:34)

Jeremiah 3:23 (NKJV)

Truly, in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills,

And from the multitude of mountains;

Truly, in the Lord our God

Is the salvation of Israel.

5. Loving and compassionate (Jeremiah 12:15;30:18;31:3,13)

Jeremiah 31:13 (NKJV)

“Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance,

And the young men and the old, together;

For I will turn their mourning to joy,

Will comfort them,

And make them rejoice rather than sorrow.

6. The Lord will always be faithful to His covenant with Israel, His chosen people. (Jeremiah 10:16;12:14-15)

Jeremiah 10:16 (NKJV)

The Portion of Jacob is not like them,

For He is the Maker of all things,

And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance;

The Lord of hosts is His name.

7. God is the Lord the God of Israel (Jeremiah 11:3;19:3;24:5)

Jeremiah 24:5 (NKJV)

“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah, whom I have sent out of this place for their own good, into the land of the Chaldeans.

8. God is the Lord the God of the nations (Jeremiah 5:15;10:6-7;18:7-10;25:17-28)

Jeremiah 10:6–8 (NKJV)

Inasmuch as there is none like You, O Lord

(You are great, and Your name is great in might),

Who would not fear You, O King of the nations?

For this is Your rightful due.

For among all the wise men of the nations,

And in all their kingdoms,

There is none like You.

But they are altogether dull-hearted and foolish;

A wooden idol is a worthless doctrine.

NEW COVENANT introduced by Jeremiah in chapters 30-33

These chapter portray the Messianic restoration of Israel and Judah (Chapter 30).

Jeremiah described events that will occur “in those days.”

Jerusalem will be called “The Throne of the Lord” (Jeremiah 3:14-17)

The Lord’s presence will replace that of the ark of the covenant.

The righteous Branch of David “shall reign as king…and do justice and righteousness in the land.” (Jeremiah 23:1-5;33:15)The deity of the Messiah is seen in 23:6 because “He will be called ‘The Lord our righteousness’”

He will bring in the new covenant (31:31-34), which will fulfill God’s covenant with Abraham

(Genesis 12:13;17:1-8), Moses and Israel (Deuteronomy 28:30), and David (2 Samuel 7:1017).