Jeremiah God’s faithful priest wrote this book at a time when the lifestyle of Israel and its kings, had got to an all time low. As a result God took his protective hand away from Israel, allowing the nations of Babylon to overthrow them and taking most of the people back to Babylon into exile. Jeremiah the priest received direct word from God, to warn Israel of the pending time of tribulation, at the hands of the Babylonians.
In the first six chapters, Jeremiah is ordered by God to publicly proclaim the disasters befalling Israel for there evil lifestyle. But in chapter seven he promises if they radically mend their ways he will relent of his punishment. But almost in the same breath, God relates the times He had pleaded with Israel to turn back to him, but they rejected Him out of hand. To the end of chapter twelve, God continues to warn and justify His retribution on Israel. God uses an illustration in chapter thirteen, of how he will deal with Israel, and in the next few chapters describes how Jeremiah should answer all the arguments that the people will throw at him.
But in Jeremiah 17:7 God declares His compassion by saying: "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. 8:He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." 9:The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? 10:"I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve."
Again God uses an illustration to show how Israel is behaving.
In Jeremiah 18:1 to 6 we read:This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2:"Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." 3:So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4:But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. 5:Then the word of the LORD came to me: 6:"O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. Jeremiah takes the jar to the leaders in Jeremiah 19:10 and drops the jar on the floor to illustrate that Israel will be smashed likewise.
As a result of what Jeremiah told the officials, he was arrested and put in a dungeon. Jeremiah 20:1 When the priest Pashhur son of Immer, the chief officer in the temple of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, 2:he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin at the LORD'S temple.
But Jeremiah in the midst of the testing’s was able to say in Jeremiah 20: 7 But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.
Moving on to Jeremiah 33:1 we read. While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD came to him a second time: and continues in Jeremiah 33:15 "`In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David's line; he will do what is just and right in the land. 16:In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.' 17:For this is what the LORD says: `David will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, 18:nor will the priests, who are Levites, ever fail to have a man to stand before me continually to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to present sacrifices.' " God was reassuring Jeremiah in the midst of the persecution, that He will have mercy, and Israel will once again worship the Lord in peace and security.
The Lord then asked Jeremiah to write on a scroll all that the Lord had told him, but when he showed it to the King, he had the scroll burnt. But God instructed Jeremiah to write another one with additional text. Jeremiah 36: 27:After the king burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah's dictation, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 28:"Take another scroll and write on it all the words that were on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah burned up. 29:Also tell Jehoiakim king of Judah, `This is what the LORD says: You burned that scroll and said, "Why did you write on it that the king of Babylon would certainly come and destroy this land and cut off both men and animals from it?" 30:Therefore, this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on the throne of David; his body will be thrown out and exposed to the heat by day and the frost by night. 31:I will punish him and his children and his attendants for their wickedness; I will bring on them and those living in Jerusalem and the people of Judah every disaster I pronounced against them, because they have not listened.' "32:So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and as Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.
We now see Egypt setting out to besiege Israel, but they drew back.
In Jeremiah 37 we read: 1 Zedekiah son of Josiah was made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim. 2:Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the LORD had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet. 3:King Zedekiah, however, sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: "Please pray to the LORD our God for us." 4:Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. (His second capture)5:Pharaoh's army had marched out of Egypt, and when the Babylonians who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem. 6:Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet: 7:"This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of me, `Pharaoh's army, which has marched out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt. 8:Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capture it and burn it down.' 9:"This is what the LORD says: Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, `The Babylonians will surely leave us.' They will not! 10:Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn this city down." 11:After the Babylonian army had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh's army, 12 Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property among the people there.13: But when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested him and said, "You are deserting to the Babylonians!" 14:"That's not true!" Jeremiah said. "I am not deserting to the Babylonians." But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15:They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison. 16:Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time.
This is how Jerusalem was finally taken.
Jeremiah 39 reads: 1 In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege to it. 2:And on the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah's eleventh year, the city wall was broken through. 3:Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came and took seats in the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officials of the king of Babylon. 4:When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled; they left the city at night by way of the king's garden, through the gate between the two walls, and headed towards the Arabah. 5:But the Babylonian army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They captured him and took him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him. 6:There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and also killed all the nobles of Judah. 7:Then he put out Zedekiah's eyes and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon. 8:The Babylonians set fire to the royal palace and the houses of the people and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. 9:Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard carried into exile to Babylon the people who remained in the city, along with those who had gone over to him, and the rest of the people. 10:But Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people, who owned nothing; and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.
In the midst of the conflict Jeremiah had protection.
Jeremiah receives reassuring word from the Lord that he will have freedom, in the midst of the conflict, as in Jeremiah 39:13 So Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard, Nebushazban a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officers of the king of Babylon 14:sent and had Jeremiah taken out of the courtyard of the guard. They handed him over to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him back to his home. So he remained among his own people. 15:While Jeremiah had been confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD came to him: 16:"Go and tell Ebed-Melech the Cushite, `This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am about to fulfil my words against this city through disaster, not prosperity. At that time they will be fulfilled before your eyes. 17:But I will rescue you on that day, declares the LORD; you will not be handed over to those you fear. 18:I will save you; you will not fall by the sword but will escape with your life, because you trust in me, declares the LORD.'"
Jeremiah 40 continues: 1:The word came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had released him at Ramah. He had found Jeremiah bound in chains among all the captives from Jerusalem and Judah who were being carried into exile to Babylon. 2:When the commander of the guard found Jeremiah, he said to him, "The LORD your God decreed this disaster for this place. 3:And now the LORD has brought it about; he has done just as he said he would. All this happened because you people sinned against the LORD and did not obey him. 4:But today I am freeing you from the chains on your wrists. Come with me to Babylon, if you like, and I will look after you; but if you do not want to, then don't come. Look, the whole country lies before you; go wherever you please." 5:However, before Jeremiah turned to go, Nebuzaradan added, "Go back to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the towns of Judah, and live with him among the people, or go anywhere else you please." Then the commander gave him provisions and a present and let him go. 6:So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah and stayed with him among the people who were left behind in the land.
The Ammonite People came and killed the King that had been put in place by the leaders of Babylon. Then when news broke they escaped to Egypt with the captured Israelites, but the Lord warned the Israelites who had threatened to escape to Egypt, that they would be punished for disobeying the Lord by going, and be utterly destroyed.
Jeremiah 40: 7 continues: When all the army officers and their men who were still in the open country heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam as governor over the land and had put him in charge of the men, women and children who were the poorest in the land and who had not been carried into exile to Babylon, 8:they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah - Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, and their men. 9:Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, took an oath to reassure them and their men. "Do not be afraid to serve the Babylonians," he said. "Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you. 10:I myself will stay in Mizpah to represent you before the Babylonians who come to us, but you are to harvest the wine, summer fruit and oil, and put them in your storage jars, and live in the towns you have taken over." 11:When all the Jews in Moab, Ammon, Edom and all the other countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as governor over them, 12:they all came back to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, from all the countries where they had been scattered. And they harvested an abundance of wine and summer fruit. 13:Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers still in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah 14:and said to him, "Don't you know that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to take your life?" But Gedaliah son of Ahikam did not believe them. 15:Then Johanan son of Kareah said privately to Gedaliah in Mizpah, "Let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and no-one will know it. Why should he take your life and cause all the Jews who are gathered around you to be scattered and the remnant of Judah to perish?" 16:But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, "Don't do such a thing! What you are saying about Ishmael is not true."
Jeremiah 43 continues: 1 When Jeremiah finished telling the people all the words of the LORD their God - everything the LORD had sent him to tell them - 2:Azariah son of Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, "You are lying! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, `You must not go to Egypt to settle there.' 3:But Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Babylonians, so that they may kill us or carry us into exile to Babylon." 4:So Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers and all the people disobeyed the LORD'S command to stay in the land of Judah.5:Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers led away all the remnant of Judah who had come back to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been scattered. 6:They also led away all the men, women and children and the king's daughters whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah. 7:So they entered Egypt in disobedience to the LORD and went as far as Tahpanhes.
The Lord continued to warn Israel about their attempted escape into Egypt
We read in Jeremiah 44:26 But hear the word of the LORD, all Jews living in Egypt: `I swear by my great name,' says the LORD, `that no one from Judah living anywhere in Egypt shall ever again invoke my name or swear, "As surely as the Sovereign LORD lives." 27:For I am watching over them for harm, not for good; the Jews in Egypt will perish by sword and famine until they are all destroyed. 28:Those who escape the sword and return to the land of Judah from Egypt will be very few. Then the whole remnant of Judah who came to live in Egypt will know whose word will stand - mine or theirs. 29:"`This will be the sign to you that I will punish you in this place,' declares the LORD, `so that you will know that my threats of harm against you will surely stand.' 30:This is what the LORD says: `I am going to hand Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt over to his enemies who seek his life, just as I handed Zedekiah king of Judah over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the enemy who was seeking his life. "
Lets remind ourselves of how all these disasters started. It was the result of Israel’s disobedience. God then took His hand of protection away from his chosen people, so the warring nations around about would come and capture them, taking the Israelites into exile.
David was being pursued relentlessly by King Saul, but on one occasion when David found Saul off guard, after David’s men had cut of the lower part of King Saul robe while asleep, and able to kill him, we read in 1 Samuel 24:5 Afterwards, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. 6:He said to his men, "The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD'S anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the LORD." Israel is the LORD'S anointed chosen people.
In the last few chapters of Jeremiah we see how God would bring punishment upon the nations that besieged Israel, which included the Philistines, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians as well as the Babylonians.
If we go back to Jeremiah 28: we read about Jehoiakim king of Judah the reign of Zedekiah who was later captured and had his eyes taken out, and reads as follows: 1:In the fifth month of that same year, the fourth year, early in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, said to me in the house of the LORD in the presence of the priests and all the people: 2:"This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: `I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3:Within two years I will bring back to this place all the articles of the LORD'S house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed from here and took to Babylon. 4:I will also bring back to this place Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the other exiles from Judah who went to Babylon,' declares the LORD, `for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.' "
If we now return to the last chapter, Jeremiah 52:31 we read:In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Evil-Merodach became king of Babylon, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah and freed him from prison on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month. 32:He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honour higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 33:So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king's table. 34:Day by day the king of Babylon gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived, till the day of his death. God is a God of faithfulness, and always fulfils what He says. As with Jeremiah, from being imprisoned for many years, Jehoiachin was not only released from prison but was treated as if he were the king’s son. Be encouraged, for in the midst of adversity, the Lord is able to give us peace and security, even at the expense of our enemies. Solomon wrote in Proverbs 16:7 When a man's ways are pleasing to the LORD, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him.
One important lesson we learn from this book. God will bring nations into judgement if they continue to ignore His law, and not follow His commandments. Within our own land we see an erosion of morality, right across the nation. Family values are in shatters, relationships are shallow and unstable. Children lack God ordained discipline, (Proverbs 13:24 He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him) resulting in lack of accepted discipline, with a steep climb in crime and disorder. We could soon see God taking His hand of protection away from this land, becoming a dictatorship overnight, and bringing the people to their knees. For the church we need to be listening to the voice of God and be prepared. We need to be a voice like Jeremiah, warning the nation, of its ungodly behaviour, and God’s pending judgement.
As well as a word of warning, we need to share a word of encouragement to Gods own people. Like Jeremiah if we stay close to the Lord, listening to his voice, He will guide, guard and protect you through the conflicts. Do we have open ears, open eyes and strength to follow the Lord faithfully, in the midst of tribulation and conflict?
Further studies to this book will be given at a later date.
