Jeremiah introduction reviews the man, his times, his message, and the similarities between Jeremiah and Jesus.
The Man
A. “Jeremiah” means “Jehovah destroys and rebuilds” (verse 10 is the complete meaning of Jeremiah’s name).
B. He was of the priestly line and lived in the priests’ city of Anathoth.
C. He had some personal wealth because he was able to purchase real estate and even hire a scribe.
D. He was called to the ministry when but “a child” (Jer_1:4-6); this was in the year 627 B.C.
The Times
A. Jeremiah ministered during the last forty years of Judah’s history.
- Josiah was a godly king (627 BC); he died in 608 B.C. It was during his reign that the Law was found and the temple worship restored.
- Jehoahaz followed, but reigned only three months, so Jeremiah does not mention him.
- Jehoiakim was next (608-597 B.C.); he was a godless man and did his utmost to persecute Jeremiah. It was he who burned the scroll of Jeremiah’s prophecies in Jer_36:1-32.
- Jehoiachin was the next king, but he too reigned just three months before being taken captive to Babylon.
- The last king was Zedekiah (597-586 B.C.); he presided over the ruin of the nation and the capture of the city of Jerusalem.
B. Political landscape during Jeremiah’s ministry
- Assyria was the leading power in the world, but Egypt and Babylon were rapidly gaining strength.
- In 607 B.C. the Babylonians took Nineveh and destroyed the power of Assyria.
- Babylon then turned to Judah, and Judah’s “politicians” advised the king to ask Egypt for help. Jeremiah was against an Egyptian alliance.
- Babylon finally did capture Judah and take Jerusalem (606-586). Jeremiah wrote Lamentations to commemorate the death of the Holy City.
The Message
A. Jeremiah’s task was not easy because he had to preach judgment on Judah.
- The first part of this Jeremiah introduction records his sermons, in which he denounces the people, priests, and princes for their sin of idolatry.
a. In Jer_25:1-38 he announces that the nation will go into captivity for seventy years, and then return to reestablish the nation.
b. In Jer_31:1-40 he prophesies a “new covenant” between Jehovah and His people, not a covenant of law and works written on stones, but a covenant of love and faith, written in the heart.
c. In the final chapters, Jeremiah deals with the Gentile nations around Judah and tells of God’s plans for them.
B. Key Words
- “Backslide” (Jer_2:19; Jer_3:6, Jer_3:8, Jer_3:11-12, Jer_3:14, Jer_3:22; Jer_49:4): The nation had turned her back on the Lord and was following false prophets who led them to worship idols.
- “Repent” is used eleven times by the prophet, but the nation did not repent.
a. Jeremiah wept for his fallen nation. See Jer_9:1; Jer_13:17; Jer_14:17; Jer_15:17-18; and Lam_1:2; Lam_2:11, Lam_2:18.
1) Jeremiah was called a traitor and was persecuted by his own people. No OT prophet faced more opposition from false prophets than did Jeremiah (see Jer_2:8, Jer_2:26; Jer_4:9; Jer_5:31; Jer_6:14; Jer_14:13-16; Jer_18:18; Jer_23:9-40; Jer_26:8-19; Jer_27:9-16; chaps. 28 and 29).
b. If Judah had repented, God would have delivered them from Babylon.
1) Because they persisted in their sins, the nation had to be punished, but then God promised restoration “for His name’s sake.”
2) Jeremiah used many dramatic illustrations to get his messages across:
a) fountains and cisterns (Jer_2:13);
b) medicine (Jer_8:22);
c) a “good-for-nothing” girdle or sash (Jer_13:1-11);
d) a clay vessel (chaps. 18-19);
e) yokes (Jer_27:1-22);
f) drowning a book (Jer_51:59-64).
Jeremiah and Jesus
This Jeremiah introduction reviews the similarities between Jeremiah and Jesus Christ are worth noting.
- Neither married (Jer_16:2), and both were rejected by their own towns (Jer_11:21 and Jer_12:6 with Luk_4:16-30).
- Jeremiah ministered under the menacing shadow of Babylon, Jesus under the shadow of Rome.
- Both were considered traitors by their people.
- Jeremiah was viciously opposed by the false prophets, Jesus by the scribes and Pharisees, the false leaders of His day.
- Both wept over the city of Jerusalem, and both predicted its ruin.
- Jeremiah gathered few disciples about him; Jesus had a small following.
- Both were arrested falsely and persecuted.
- Both emphasized a religion of the heart, and not merely one of outward forms and ceremonies. It was Jer_7:11 that Jesus quoted when He cleansed the temple and told the priests they had made it “a den of thieves.”
- Both emphasized the new covenant in the heart (Jer_31:31-37; Heb_8:7).
- In their preaching, both used striking illustrations and comparisons.
- Both revealed a tender, sympathetic heart that was crushed by the wickedness of a nation that should have obeyed God’s Word.
- In the end, it seemed that both were failures in their lives and ministries, but God honored them and made their work successful.