MY SHORT REPORT JEREMIAH 4-29
The link that brought you to this page and the page title are a bit of a misnomer, because this short report is not long enough to cover so many chapters of the Bible. What the link and the title do, however, is track where we are in our plan to read through the entire Bible in 1 year. May each report pique your interest and help you to draw near to God. The Bible, James 4:8, tells us if we do so God will draw near to us. Works cited are at the end of the report. Internal links provide additional information.
BIBLE READING—WEEK 33—JEREMIAH 4-29: Last week we saw that much of the Easter Story is on display in Isaiah 52 and 53 where the promised Messiah, for our sake and according to God’s will, humbled Himself and became a Suffering Servant. This past week’s reading brought us through Jeremiah 29, and this week’s Short Report looks at the life and times of Jeremiah, who was formed in the womb with the specific purpose of announcing God’s judgment on a rebellious people, yet he also give them God’s hope for the future.
Jeremiah was born in Anathoth, a Levitical town in the territory of Benjamin; his father, Hilkiah, was a priest; the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) puts Anathoth “about 3 mi. (5 km.) NE of Jerusalem” (Olive Tree).
According to Wikipedia, the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to Assyria in 722 B.C. By supplying Jeremiah’s birth year (646 B.C.), the year of the thirteenth year of King Josiah’s reign (626 B.C.), and the year Jerusalem fell (586 B.C.) from the NIV Bible Commentary (NIVBC) to the first three verses of Jeremiah 1 we see that Jeremiah was born 76 years after the Kingdom of Israel fell, and God called him into service when he was 20 years old; his service ended 40 years later when Jerusalem fell (Barker, 1149).
In the 96 years prior to Jeremiah’s call the Southern Kingdom of Judah failed to turn from its evil ways and stay on God’s path—even after they watched the Northern Kingdom of Israel fall to Assyria. The ISBE lists Ahaz as the king of Judah at the time, and under his watch the Southern Kingdom became a vassal state of the Assyrians. He was an evil king, as were his religious practices; he sacrificed his son to the fire of Molech. Hezekiah followed his father Ahaz and reigned for 29 years from 716-687 B.C. Although he was a good king and reformed many of Judah’s idolatrous ways, Assyria was often a source of trouble. He was followed by his son Manasseh, who co-reigned with his father for ten years, and whose 55 year reign (696-642 B.C.) propelled Judah into a deep state of idolatry equal to the days of Ahab and Jezebel in the Northern Kingdom. Amon (642-640 B.C.) tried to follow in his father’s evil footsteps, but was slain by his men who put his son Josiah on Judah’s seat of power at the age of eight. Josiah was a godly king that died in battle against Egypt in 609 B.C. During his reign Assyria gradually lost power and was defeated by Babylon as King Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 B.C.) rose to power (Olive Tree).
Manasseh’s wicked leadership does not go unnoticed by God. In chapter 15 the Lord makes a special case against him by telling Jeremiah, “I will make them [the Southern Kingdom of Judah] a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.” The NIVBC says, “Manasseh’s sin is presented as a root cause of Judah’s captivity…the people had imitated his ways when he brazenly led Judah into idolatry” (Barker, 1189).
Surrounded by all of this trouble it is no wonder that the young Jeremiah didn’t want the job God was offering him; Jeremiah 1:6 reads, “Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.’” Moses had a similar excuse in Exodus 4:10: “I am slow of speech and of tongue,” he said.
In the People’s Bible Commentary (PBC), David M. Gosdeck points out that the “Lord had determined Jeremiah’s future long before Jeremiah was conceived or his mother gave birth to him. From eternity the Lord had chosen him to be a prophet.” To that he adds, “This word from the Lord (verse 5) would be the anchor of Jeremiah’s life.” Again, he adds, “The Lord had shaped him for this very purpose. The Lord Himself had made Jeremiah and equipped him” (p. 11).
With God speaking from a burning bush, Moses’ call is no doubt the most famous and dramatic of callings, but Jeremiah’s call is without a doubt the most quoted, because his call to service reminds us all that life is a gift from God; thus, abortion is an abomination, so too were the child sacrifices that the people and the Kings of Judah practiced (Jeremiah 19:4-5). Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Accordingly, we are the work of God’s hand (Isaiah 64:8), and God made Jeremiah to be the last chance for all of the nations that surrounded Judah (the Southern Kingdom) and Judah itself to hear God’s call to repent and get in a right relationship with their Creator or face the cup of His wrath (Jeremiah 25:15).
Speaking on the subject of calls the NIVBC says God does not error in selecting His servants, rather, “He empowers all he calls and provides the encouragement and help they need. … He [Jeremiah] would be mercilessly opposed and persecuted, but the Lord would preserve him from the attacks of his enemies and give him the moral courage he would so greatly need” (Barker, 1157).
Indeed, when God sends you out to speak against wickedness, as He did with Jeremiah, you are bound to make many enemies. God told Jeremiah to rebuke Israel for turning away from Him—though they once loved Him as a bride loves her groom (2:2), they long ago turned their back on God and took many lovers as a prostitute would (3:1). While doing this Jeremiah also likens idolatry to adultery saying, “She [Israel] took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord” (3:9-10).
Jeremiah further rebukes idolatry in chapter 7 verses 9-21 saying it provokes the Lord and brings shame to the people. At the same time he reproofs the men of Judah as they enter the Lord’s House by asking, “Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes?” (v. 11). Jesus speaks the same way in Matthew 21:13 when He cleanses the Temple. In addition, while I place it last in this paragraph, forgiveness is the foremost thought in the chapter, because Jeremiah first provides an opportunity to return to the Lord saying, “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever” (vv. 5-7).
Henry Halley informs his readers, “This is one of Jeremiah’s heart-rendering appeals for repentance, based on God’s amazing promise that if only the people would harken to their God Jerusalem would never fall (5-7)” (p. 311). Whereas Halley looks at the heart of the prophet, Gosdeck reports on the condition of Judah’s heart, he tells his readers, “Instead of coming to the temple as penitents to receive pardon and grace from the Lord, they came unrepentant, demanding what they felt God owed them” (p. 50).
In chapter 15 we learn of Jeremiah’s unceasing pain, because Judah will not turn away from its sins and God will not turn away from His Covenant Promise. The Mosaic Covenant was conditional and carried both a blessing for obedience and a curse for disobedience (Deuteronomy 11:26-28).
Looking at the Mosaic Covenant in the PBC Mark E. Braun explains that the “Covenant language is also courtship language. The Lord was a faithful husband; Israel, His cherished bride. If Israel chose to follow other gods, they would be exchanging the love of a reliable, proven suzerain for the whims and uncertainties of gods that didn’t even exist” (p. 105).
2 Corinthians 11:2 states, “For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.” The Bridegroom is mentioned in Jeremiah 23 where Christ is called the Righteous Branch of David; He is also called “The Lord is our righteousness” (v.6). He is shown here as righteous King who gathers His people from foreign lands so “they shall dwell in their own land”—the Promised Land.
More hope is given to the captives in Chapter 29 when Jeremiah’s letter reaches the captives in Babylon. They are told to settle in and lead normal lives because their stay will be for seventy years, which had been clearly stated in Chapter 25. This was so they would not be deceived by false prophets that gave false hope of an early return. This letter holds one of the most popular verses in the Bible, Jeremiah 29:11, which says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope and a future” (NIV-84).
Just as Jeremiah 29:11 gave hope to the Jews during the Babylonian Captivity, it gives hope to Christians today, who look forward to the future God has promised to us all, especially in the light of verses like Hebrews 11:1, ”Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen,“ and 1 Peter 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
This short paper considered some of the historical events surrounding the life of Jeremiah, and how both the events and Jeremiah were shaped by the hand of God. The Lord used both to provide correction to His Covenant People. He also provided them with hope about their future return to Israel and a living hope through the promise of a righteous King.
Jeremiah was born in Anathoth, a Levitical town in the territory of Benjamin; his father, Hilkiah, was a priest; the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) puts Anathoth “about 3 mi. (5 km.) NE of Jerusalem” (Olive Tree).
According to Wikipedia, the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to Assyria in 722 B.C. By supplying Jeremiah’s birth year (646 B.C.), the year of the thirteenth year of King Josiah’s reign (626 B.C.), and the year Jerusalem fell (586 B.C.) from the NIV Bible Commentary (NIVBC) to the first three verses of Jeremiah 1 we see that Jeremiah was born 76 years after the Kingdom of Israel fell, and God called him into service when he was 20 years old; his service ended 40 years later when Jerusalem fell (Barker, 1149).
In the 96 years prior to Jeremiah’s call the Southern Kingdom of Judah failed to turn from its evil ways and stay on God’s path—even after they watched the Northern Kingdom of Israel fall to Assyria. The ISBE lists Ahaz as the king of Judah at the time, and under his watch the Southern Kingdom became a vassal state of the Assyrians. He was an evil king, as were his religious practices; he sacrificed his son to the fire of Molech. Hezekiah followed his father Ahaz and reigned for 29 years from 716-687 B.C. Although he was a good king and reformed many of Judah’s idolatrous ways, Assyria was often a source of trouble. He was followed by his son Manasseh, who co-reigned with his father for ten years, and whose 55 year reign (696-642 B.C.) propelled Judah into a deep state of idolatry equal to the days of Ahab and Jezebel in the Northern Kingdom. Amon (642-640 B.C.) tried to follow in his father’s evil footsteps, but was slain by his men who put his son Josiah on Judah’s seat of power at the age of eight. Josiah was a godly king that died in battle against Egypt in 609 B.C. During his reign Assyria gradually lost power and was defeated by Babylon as King Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 B.C.) rose to power (Olive Tree).
Manasseh’s wicked leadership does not go unnoticed by God. In chapter 15 the Lord makes a special case against him by telling Jeremiah, “I will make them [the Southern Kingdom of Judah] a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.” The NIVBC says, “Manasseh’s sin is presented as a root cause of Judah’s captivity…the people had imitated his ways when he brazenly led Judah into idolatry” (Barker, 1189).
Surrounded by all of this trouble it is no wonder that the young Jeremiah didn’t want the job God was offering him; Jeremiah 1:6 reads, “Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.’” Moses had a similar excuse in Exodus 4:10: “I am slow of speech and of tongue,” he said.
In the People’s Bible Commentary (PBC), David M. Gosdeck points out that the “Lord had determined Jeremiah’s future long before Jeremiah was conceived or his mother gave birth to him. From eternity the Lord had chosen him to be a prophet.” To that he adds, “This word from the Lord (verse 5) would be the anchor of Jeremiah’s life.” Again, he adds, “The Lord had shaped him for this very purpose. The Lord Himself had made Jeremiah and equipped him” (p. 11).
With God speaking from a burning bush, Moses’ call is no doubt the most famous and dramatic of callings, but Jeremiah’s call is without a doubt the most quoted, because his call to service reminds us all that life is a gift from God; thus, abortion is an abomination, so too were the child sacrifices that the people and the Kings of Judah practiced (Jeremiah 19:4-5). Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Accordingly, we are the work of God’s hand (Isaiah 64:8), and God made Jeremiah to be the last chance for all of the nations that surrounded Judah (the Southern Kingdom) and Judah itself to hear God’s call to repent and get in a right relationship with their Creator or face the cup of His wrath (Jeremiah 25:15).
Speaking on the subject of calls the NIVBC says God does not error in selecting His servants, rather, “He empowers all he calls and provides the encouragement and help they need. … He [Jeremiah] would be mercilessly opposed and persecuted, but the Lord would preserve him from the attacks of his enemies and give him the moral courage he would so greatly need” (Barker, 1157).
Indeed, when God sends you out to speak against wickedness, as He did with Jeremiah, you are bound to make many enemies. God told Jeremiah to rebuke Israel for turning away from Him—though they once loved Him as a bride loves her groom (2:2), they long ago turned their back on God and took many lovers as a prostitute would (3:1). While doing this Jeremiah also likens idolatry to adultery saying, “She [Israel] took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord” (3:9-10).
Jeremiah further rebukes idolatry in chapter 7 verses 9-21 saying it provokes the Lord and brings shame to the people. At the same time he reproofs the men of Judah as they enter the Lord’s House by asking, “Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes?” (v. 11). Jesus speaks the same way in Matthew 21:13 when He cleanses the Temple. In addition, while I place it last in this paragraph, forgiveness is the foremost thought in the chapter, because Jeremiah first provides an opportunity to return to the Lord saying, “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever” (vv. 5-7).
Henry Halley informs his readers, “This is one of Jeremiah’s heart-rendering appeals for repentance, based on God’s amazing promise that if only the people would harken to their God Jerusalem would never fall (5-7)” (p. 311). Whereas Halley looks at the heart of the prophet, Gosdeck reports on the condition of Judah’s heart, he tells his readers, “Instead of coming to the temple as penitents to receive pardon and grace from the Lord, they came unrepentant, demanding what they felt God owed them” (p. 50).
In chapter 15 we learn of Jeremiah’s unceasing pain, because Judah will not turn away from its sins and God will not turn away from His Covenant Promise. The Mosaic Covenant was conditional and carried both a blessing for obedience and a curse for disobedience (Deuteronomy 11:26-28).
Looking at the Mosaic Covenant in the PBC Mark E. Braun explains that the “Covenant language is also courtship language. The Lord was a faithful husband; Israel, His cherished bride. If Israel chose to follow other gods, they would be exchanging the love of a reliable, proven suzerain for the whims and uncertainties of gods that didn’t even exist” (p. 105).
2 Corinthians 11:2 states, “For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.” The Bridegroom is mentioned in Jeremiah 23 where Christ is called the Righteous Branch of David; He is also called “The Lord is our righteousness” (v.6). He is shown here as righteous King who gathers His people from foreign lands so “they shall dwell in their own land”—the Promised Land.
More hope is given to the captives in Chapter 29 when Jeremiah’s letter reaches the captives in Babylon. They are told to settle in and lead normal lives because their stay will be for seventy years, which had been clearly stated in Chapter 25. This was so they would not be deceived by false prophets that gave false hope of an early return. This letter holds one of the most popular verses in the Bible, Jeremiah 29:11, which says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope and a future” (NIV-84).
Just as Jeremiah 29:11 gave hope to the Jews during the Babylonian Captivity, it gives hope to Christians today, who look forward to the future God has promised to us all, especially in the light of verses like Hebrews 11:1, ”Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen,“ and 1 Peter 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
This short paper considered some of the historical events surrounding the life of Jeremiah, and how both the events and Jeremiah were shaped by the hand of God. The Lord used both to provide correction to His Covenant People. He also provided them with hope about their future return to Israel and a living hope through the promise of a righteous King.