JEREMIAH
ABOUT THIS BOOK
The world of Jeremiah's time was full
of wars as new empires conquered the old ones. The tiny kingdom of Judah was
caught in the middle, and during Jeremiah's lifetime, Babylonia conquered Judah
and ended its freedom as a nation.
Jeremiah began bringing the Lord's
message to the people of Judah when he was young, possibly less than 20 years
old. He continued until 586 B.C., when the Babylonians captured Jerusalem. Some
of the people of Judah soon forced him to go with them to Egypt, where he
continued to speak to them for the Lord.
Many of Jeremiah's messages include the
date when they were originally spoken. But when his friend Baruch helped him put
the messages into writing, they did not arrange the messages by these dates.
Usually the messages are grouped together because they are about similar
subjects.
Jeremiah acted out many of his
messages, so that the people would know exactly what the Lord was saying (see
13.1-11; 19.1-11; 27.1—28.17; 32.1-44; 43.7-13).
Time after time, Jeremiah said God was
going to punish Judah. But because he also said the people of Judah should
surrender to the Babylonians, his enemies accused him of being a traitor. They
had him thrown in prison and even tried to have him killed. Jeremiah complained
to God about his problems, and these complaints are now known as his
"Confessions" (see 11.18-23; 12.1-6; 15.10,11,15-21; 17.14-18;
18.19-23; 20.7-18).
Jeremiah often reminded the people of
Judah that they had broken their agreement to worship only the Lord. And so the
Lord was going to punish them by letting the Babylonians take them away to
Babylonia. But the Lord had also promised to bring his people back to their land
someday, and at that time the Lord would make a new agreement with them:
"I will write my laws
.
"No longer will they have to teach
one another to obey me.
I, the Lord, promise that all of them will obey me,
ordinary people and rulers alike.
I will forgive their sins and forget the
evil things they have done."
A QUICK LOOK AT THIS BOOK
God Chooses Jeremiah To Speak for Him
(1) God Will Punish the People of Judah and Jerusalem (2–26)
Jeremiah against the Lying Prophets (27–29)
God Will Someday Bring His People back to their Land (30–33)
Scenes from Jeremiah's Ministry (34–38)
The Fall of Jerusalem and Later Events in Judah (39–42)
Jeremiah in Egypt (43–44)
A Message for Baruch (45)
The Lord Speaks about the Nations (46–51)
Another Account of the Fall of Jerusalem (52)