Jeremiah

Part One: Introduction to Jeremiah

The Prophet

Jeremiah, "the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin" (1:1), was called as a young man in the thirteenth year of King Josiah (627 BC) and prophesied for over forty years, through the reigns of Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah, the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC, and beyond, ending his ministry in Egypt (1:2-3; 43-44). His name probably means "the LORD exalts" or "the LORD establishes."

Jeremiah is called "the weeping prophet": "Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!" (9:1). No prophet's inner life is revealed more fully. He was forbidden to marry (16:2), rejected by his own family and townsmen (11:21; 12:6), beaten and put in stocks (20:2), threatened with death (26:8), imprisoned (37:15), thrown into a muddy cistern (38:6), and finally taken against his will to Egypt (43:6-7). Yet he remained faithful, and his book records some of the most tender promises in the Old Testament, including the New Covenant (31:31-34).

Author and Composition

Jeremiah dictated his messages to his faithful scribe Baruch son of Neriah (36:4, 32; 45:1). When King Jehoiakim burned the first scroll, Jeremiah dictated it again "and there were added besides unto them many like words" (36:32). The book is not arranged in strict chronological order; it is grouped partly by theme. The Greek Septuagint version is shorter by about an eighth and places the oracles against the nations (chapters 46-51) in the middle of the book. The final chapter (52), an appendix almost identical to 2 Kings 24:18-25:30, was evidently added by a later hand, since 51:64 says, "Thus far are the words of Jeremiah." By word count, Jeremiah is the longest book in the Bible.

Historical Setting

Jeremiah's contemporaries included Zephaniah, Habakkuk and the prophetess Huldah in Judah, and Daniel and Ezekiel in Babylon. The world was changing: Assyria fell (Nineveh destroyed 612 BC), Egypt tried to dominate the region, and Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar became the superpower that God used as His instrument of judgment.

Confirmation from Archaeology

• Seal impressions (bullae) have been found bearing the names of people mentioned in Jeremiah, including Gemariah son of Shaphan (36:10), Jehucal son of Shelemiah and Gedaliah son of Pashur (38:1). A bulla reading "Berekyahu son of Neriyahu the scribe" (Baruch son of Neriah) has been published, though its authenticity is debated.
• A Babylonian tablet names "Nabu-sharrussu-ukin, the chief eunuch," identified by many scholars with "Sarsechim, Rab-saris" (chief officer), who was present at Jerusalem's fall (39:3).
• The Lachish Letters, written on pottery shortly before the fall of Jerusalem, describe the Babylonian advance; one says the signals of Azekah can no longer be seen. Jeremiah 34:7 notes that Lachish and Azekah were the last fortified cities left.
• The Babylonian Chronicle records Nebuchadnezzar's victory at Carchemish (605 BC; 46:2) and his capture of Jerusalem in 597 BC.

Purpose and Theme

Jeremiah called Judah to repent of idolatry and covenant unfaithfulness before it was too late, warned that Babylon would destroy Jerusalem and carry the people into exile for seventy years, and promised that God would afterward restore His people, raise up a righteous King from David's line, and make a New Covenant written on their hearts. His ministry combined the hardest message of judgment with the most beautiful promises of hope: "to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant" (1:10).

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah... I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Jeremiah 31:31, 33

Jeremiah's Symbolic Acts

Jeremiah's Confessions

Several passages record Jeremiah's personal laments, sometimes called his "confessions": 11:18-12:6; 15:10-21; 17:14-18; 18:18-23; 20:7-18. In them he pours out his pain, loneliness, anger at his persecutors and even complaint against God, yet always returns to trust. They show that faithful servants of God can feel deep anguish, and that God meets them in it.

Outline of Jeremiah

Part Two: Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis

Section I: The Prophet's Call (Chapter 1)

Chapter 1 — "Before I Formed Thee"

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

Jeremiah 1:5

God knew Jeremiah and set him apart before birth (compare Psalm 139:13-16; Galatians 1:15). This verse is a strong witness to the personhood and value of the unborn. Jeremiah protested, "Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child" (1:6). God answered, "Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee" (1:7-8). Then the LORD touched his mouth: "Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth" (1:9; compare Deuteronomy 18:18). His commission had two sides: "to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant" (1:10).

Two visions confirmed his call. An almond branch (Hebrew shaqed, "the waking tree," the first to blossom in spring) meant "I will hasten [watch over] my word to perform it" (1:11-12; the Hebrew for "watch" is shoqed). A boiling pot tilted from the north meant disaster would come from the north, from Babylon (1:13-16). God promised, "I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land... And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee" (1:18-19).

Section II: Warnings and Appeals to Judah (Chapters 2-25)

Chapter 2 — Forsaking the Fountain

God remembered Israel's early devotion: "I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness" (2:2). But they had turned away. "Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit" (2:11).

For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

Jeremiah 2:13

They abandoned the true source of life and laboured to make their own, which failed. Jesus offered "living water" to all who come to Him (John 4:10-14; 7:37-38). Israel's sin was deep and stubborn: "though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me" (2:22). They were like a wild donkey in heat chasing other gods (2:23-25), turning to wood and stone, "Thou art my father" (2:27).

Chapter 3 — Return, Backsliding Children

Judah had seen the northern kingdom sent away for spiritual adultery, yet "her treacherous sister Judah feared not" (3:8), and her return to God under Josiah was "not with her whole heart, but feignedly" (3:10). Yet God pleaded: "Return, thou backsliding Israel... and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful" (3:12). "Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you" (3:14). He promised, "I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding" (3:15), and foretold a day when the ark would no longer be remembered, because Jerusalem itself would be called "the throne of the LORD" and all nations would gather to it (3:16-17). "Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God" (3:22).

Chapter 4 — Break Up Your Fallow Ground

"Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart" (4:3-4; Romans 2:29). The invader is coming from the north (4:6-7). Jeremiah felt the agony personally: "My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart" (4:19). "My people is foolish... they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge" (4:22). He saw a vision of the land reversed to chaos: "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light" (4:23), the language of Genesis 1:2.

Chapter 5 — Not One Righteous Man

"Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem... if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it" (5:1; compare Genesis 18:23-32). Both poor and great had broken the yoke (5:4-5). "They are waxed fat... they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless" (5:28). The deepest tragedy: "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?" (5:30-31).

Chapter 6 — Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace

The siege is pictured (6:1-8). The false prophets "have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace" (6:14; repeated in 8:11). "Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush" (6:15).

Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.

Jeremiah 6:16

Jesus echoed this: "ye shall find rest unto your souls" (Matthew 11:29). God rejected empty sacrifices from a disobedient people (6:20).

Chapter 7 — The Temple Sermon

At the gate of the temple, Jeremiah confronted the people's false confidence: "Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these" (7:4). They thought the temple guaranteed their safety while they stole, murdered, committed adultery, swore falsely and worshipped Baal (7:8-10). "Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes?" (7:11). Jesus quoted this when He cleansed the temple (Matthew 21:13). "But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh... and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel" (7:12; 1 Samuel 4). God told Jeremiah not to pray for them (7:16), as they made cakes for "the queen of heaven" (7:18). God had always wanted obedience more than sacrifice: "Obey my voice, and I will be your God" (7:23). They burned their children in Topheth in the valley of Hinnom, which would become "the valley of slaughter" (7:31-32). The consequences of this sermon are told in chapter 26.

Chapter 8 — The Harvest Is Past

"Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times... but my people know not the judgment of the LORD" (8:7). "The wise men are ashamed... they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?" (8:9). The false comfort of "Peace, peace" is repeated (8:11). A cry of despair: "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved" (8:20). Jeremiah grieved: "For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt... Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?" (8:21-22). Christ is the Great Physician (Matthew 9:12).

Chapter 9 — Glory in Knowing God

"Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears" (9:1). Jeremiah wished he could escape to a lodge in the wilderness from a nation of liars (9:2-6). "Their tongue is as an arrow shot out" (9:8). Then a great word on true glory:

Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 9:23-24

Paul quotes this: "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:31; 2 Corinthians 10:17).

Chapter 10 — The Living God and Lifeless Idols

Idols are cut from the forest, decked with silver and gold, and fastened with nails; "They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go" (10:3-5). "But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king" (10:10). Verse 11 is written in Aramaic, the international language, as a message for the nations: "The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish." God "hath made the earth by his power" (10:12). Jeremiah prays, "O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps" (10:23).

Chapter 11 — The Broken Covenant; a Plot Against Jeremiah

Judah had broken the covenant made at Sinai (11:1-10), so judgment would come and their idols would not save them (11:11-13). Then Jeremiah discovered that the men of his own hometown, Anathoth, were plotting to kill him: "I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to the slaughter; and I knew not that they had devised devices against me" (11:19; compare Isaiah 53:7). They said, "Prophesy not in the name of the LORD, that thou die not by our hand" (11:21). Jesus too was rejected and threatened by the people of His hometown (Luke 4:24-30).

Chapter 12 — Why Do the Wicked Prosper?

Jeremiah asked God: "Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?" (12:1). God's answer was not an explanation but a challenge: "If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses?" (12:5). Worse trials were coming, even from his own family (12:6). Yet God grieved over His heritage (12:7-13) and promised compassion even to the nations around Israel if they would learn His ways (12:14-17).

Chapter 13 — The Ruined Girdle

God told Jeremiah to buy a linen girdle (waistcloth), wear it, then hide it in a cleft of the rock by the Euphrates. When he retrieved it, "the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing" (13:1-7). So God would ruin "the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem" (13:9). Israel had been meant to cling to God like a girdle, "that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear" (13:11). Wine bottles would be filled and smashed (13:12-14). "Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness" (13:16). Their sin had become their nature:

Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

Jeremiah 13:23

Human beings cannot change their own hearts; only God can (Ezekiel 36:26; John 3:3).

Chapter 14 — Drought and False Prophets

A severe drought struck: nobles sent servants for water and found none; even the hind abandoned her calf (14:1-6). Jeremiah interceded: "O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake" (14:7). God said, "Pray not for this people for their good" (14:11). The false prophets promised peace; God said, "I sent them not... they prophesy unto you a false vision" (14:14-15).

Chapter 15 — Even Moses and Samuel

"Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people" (15:1), even the greatest intercessors could not turn back judgment now, because of the sins of Manasseh (15:4; 2 Kings 21:10-15). Jeremiah lamented his birth: "Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife" (15:10). Yet he also testified:

Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.

Jeremiah 15:16

When he complained that God was like "a liar, and as waters that fail" (15:18), God called him to repent of his self-pity: "If thou return, then will I bring thee again... and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth" (15:19), and renewed His promise to make him a bronze wall (15:20).

Chapter 16 — No Wife, No Mourning, No Feasting

God told Jeremiah not to marry or have children (16:2), not to attend funerals (16:5) or feasts (16:8), as signs of the coming disaster. Yet hope breaks in: a future regathering would be so great that people would no longer speak of the Exodus from Egypt, but of God bringing Israel back "from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them" (16:14-15). God would send "many fishers" and "many hunters" to gather them (16:16). Even the Gentiles would come from the ends of the earth and confess, "Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit" (16:19).

Chapter 17 — The Deceitful Heart

"The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart" (17:1).

Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD... Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters

Jeremiah 17:5-8

Compare Psalm 1. Then the diagnosis of the human condition:

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways

Jeremiah 17:9-10

God is "the fountain of living waters" (17:13). Jeremiah prayed, "Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise" (17:14). The chapter ends with a call to keep the Sabbath and not carry burdens through Jerusalem's gates (17:19-27), a word Nehemiah later enforced (Nehemiah 13:15-22).

Chapter 18 — The Potter's House

God sent Jeremiah to watch a potter at work. When the vessel was marred in his hand, "he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it" (18:4).

O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

Jeremiah 18:6

God is sovereign over nations. If a nation He has threatened repents, He relents; if a nation He has promised to bless turns to evil, He withholds the good (18:7-10). Prophecies of judgment and blessing are often conditional on the response. Judah answered, "There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices" (18:12). They plotted against Jeremiah: "Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah" (18:18). Paul uses the potter to teach God's sovereignty (Romans 9:20-21).

Chapter 19 — The Broken Bottle

Jeremiah bought an earthen bottle, took elders and priests to the valley of Hinnom near the potsherd gate, and announced judgment for their child sacrifice and idolatry (19:1-9). Then he smashed the bottle: "Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again" (19:11). Topheth would become a burial ground (19:11-13). Matthew connects the purchase of the potter's field with Judas' betrayal money to a prophecy he attributes to Jeremiah, drawing on this chapter, the field Jeremiah bought (32:6-9) and Zechariah 11:12-13 (Matthew 27:9-10).

Chapter 20 — Fire in the Bones

Pashur the priest, chief governor in the temple, had Jeremiah beaten and put in the stocks (20:1-2). Released, Jeremiah renamed him Magor-missabib, "Fear round about," and foretold his captivity (20:3-6). Then came Jeremiah's most intense lament: "O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily" (20:7). He tried to stop speaking God's word, but could not:

Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.

Jeremiah 20:9

"But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble" (20:11). He praised God (20:13), and then, in a sudden plunge, cursed the day he was born (20:14-18; compare Job 3). The chapter shows the real emotional cost of faithful ministry.

Chapter 21 — The Way of Life and the Way of Death

During Nebuchadnezzar's siege, King Zedekiah sent to ask Jeremiah whether the LORD would perform a miracle as in former times (21:1-2). The answer: God Himself would fight against Jerusalem (21:3-7). "Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death. He that abideth in this city shall die... but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live" (21:8-9). Surrender to Babylon was God's way of escape. The king's house was called to "Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor" (21:12).

Chapter 22 — Messages to the Kings

Jeremiah went to the king's palace with a call to justice (22:1-9). Then he addressed recent kings:

• Shallum (Jehoahaz): "Weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more" (22:10-12). He died in Egypt (2 Kings 23:34).
• Jehoiakim: "Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness... that useth his neighbour's service without wages" (22:13). His father Josiah "did judgment and justice... He judged the cause of the poor and needy... was not this to know me? saith the LORD" (22:15-16). Knowing God shows in justice. Jehoiakim would die unmourned: "He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem" (22:18-19).
• Coniah (Jehoiachin): "Though Coniah... were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence" (22:24). "O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah" (22:29-30).

Jehoiachin had sons (1 Chronicles 3:17-18), but none of them reigned on David's throne. This curse shows the wisdom of God's plan for Christ's birth: Matthew traces Jesus' legal right to the throne through Joseph, a descendant of Jeconiah (Matthew 1:11-12), but Jesus was not Joseph's physical son. Luke traces His physical descent through Mary back to David's son Nathan, not Solomon's line (Luke 3:31). Christ inherited the throne legally without being under Jeconiah's curse by blood.

Chapter 23 — The Righteous Branch and the False Prophets

"Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!" (23:1). God would gather the remnant of His flock Himself and set up faithful shepherds over them (23:3-4). Then one of the great Messianic prophecies:

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Jeremiah 23:5-6

The Messiah is called by the divine name (Jehovah-tsidkenu). He is not only righteous; He is our righteousness. "Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness" (1 Corinthians 1:30); "that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). Ironically, the last king of Judah was named Zedekiah, "the LORD is my righteousness," but he did not live up to his name. A greater exodus is promised again (23:7-8).

The rest of the chapter condemns the false prophets: they "walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers" (23:14), "speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD" (23:16), and say to those who despise God, "Ye shall have peace" (23:17). "I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran" (23:21). "Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?... Do not I fill heaven and earth?" (23:23-24).

The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

Jeremiah 23:28-29

Chapter 24 — Two Baskets of Figs

After Jehoiachin was taken to Babylon, God showed Jeremiah two baskets of figs: one very good, one very bad (24:1-3). The good figs were the exiles in Babylon, whom God would watch over and bring back: "I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart" (24:7). The bad figs were Zedekiah and those who remained in Jerusalem or fled to Egypt, who would be destroyed (24:8-10). Those who appeared to be suffering most were actually under God's care.

Chapter 25 — Seventy Years

In the fourth year of Jehoiakim (605 BC), Jeremiah reminded the people that he had preached for 23 years, "rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened" (25:3). Therefore Nebuchadnezzar, "my servant," would come against them (25:9).

And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation... and will make it perpetual desolations.

Jeremiah 25:11-12

Daniel read this prophecy as the seventy years drew to a close (Daniel 9:2), and Cyrus' decree fulfilled it (2 Chronicles 36:21-23; Ezra 1:1). Jeremiah was then told to make the nations drink "the wine cup of this fury," from Jerusalem to Egypt, Philistia, Edom, Moab, Tyre, Elam and finally Babylon (Sheshach), for God was bringing judgment on all the earth (25:15-29). "The LORD shall roar from on high" (25:30).

Section III: Conflict with Leaders and False Prophets (Chapters 26-29)

Chapter 26 — Jeremiah on Trial

At the beginning of Jehoiakim's reign, Jeremiah preached the temple sermon (compare chapter 7): if the people did not repent, the temple would become like Shiloh (26:1-6). The priests, prophets and people seized him: "Thou shalt surely die" (26:8). The princes held a trial. Jeremiah answered, "As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you. But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves" (26:14-15). The princes declared, "This man is not worthy to die" (26:16). Some elders recalled that Micah had prophesied, "Zion shall be plowed like a field" in Hezekiah's day, and Hezekiah repented rather than killing him (26:17-19; Micah 3:12). But another prophet, Urijah, had been hunted down in Egypt and killed by Jehoiakim (26:20-23). Ahikam son of Shaphan protected Jeremiah (26:24). The trial resembles Christ's: accused by religious leaders of speaking against the temple, declared worthy of death (Matthew 26:59-66).

Chapter 27 — The Yoke of Babylon

God told Jeremiah to make bonds and yokes and wear one, and send them to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon, whose ambassadors were in Jerusalem plotting rebellion (27:1-3). God, the Creator, had given these lands to "Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant" (27:5-6). Nations that submitted would remain in their land; those that refused would be destroyed (27:8-11). Jeremiah urged Zedekiah and the priests not to listen to prophets who said the temple vessels would soon be returned from Babylon (27:12-16). Instead, the remaining vessels would also go to Babylon, "and there shall they be until the day that I visit them... then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place" (27:21-22; fulfilled in 52:17-23 and Ezra 1:7-11).

Chapter 28 — Hananiah, the False Prophet

In the same year, the prophet Hananiah declared in the temple that within two years God would break Babylon's yoke and return the vessels and the exiles (28:1-4). Jeremiah replied, "Amen: the LORD do so," but reminded him that a prophet of peace is proven only when his word comes to pass (28:6-9; Deuteronomy 18:22). Hananiah took the wooden yoke from Jeremiah's neck and broke it (28:10-11). God's answer through Jeremiah: "Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron" (28:13). And to Hananiah: "The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Therefore... this year thou shalt die" (28:15-16). "So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month" (28:17), two months later.

Chapter 29 — The Letter to the Exiles

Jeremiah sent a letter to the exiles in Babylon, who were being told by false prophets that they would soon return:

Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters... And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.

Jeremiah 29:5-7

God's people were to live faithfully and do good where they were, praying for the welfare of a pagan city (compare 1 Timothy 2:1-2; 1 Peter 2:11-12). The exile would last seventy years (29:10). Then:

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:11-13

This promise was given to the exiles about their return, but it reveals God's heart toward His people in every age (Romans 8:28). The letter condemned two false prophets in Babylon, Ahab and Zedekiah, who would be roasted in the fire by Nebuchadnezzar (29:21-23), and Shemaiah, who opposed Jeremiah (29:24-32).

Section IV: The Book of Consolation (Chapters 30-33)

These chapters, written down at God's command (30:2), contain the most hopeful promises in Jeremiah.

Chapter 30 — The Time of Jacob's Trouble and Restoration

"For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah... and I will cause them to return to the land" (30:3).

Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

Jeremiah 30:7

This had a near fulfillment in the Babylonian crisis, and many Bible teachers see its ultimate fulfillment in the great tribulation before Christ's return, "such as was not since the beginning of the world" (Matthew 24:21; Daniel 12:1). "But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them" (30:9), the Messiah, the Son of David (Ezekiel 34:23-24; Hosea 3:5). "Fear thou not, O my servant Jacob... for I am with thee... though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee" (30:10-11). Israel's wound seemed incurable (30:12-15), "For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds" (30:17). "And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God" (30:22).

Chapter 31 — The New Covenant

The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

Jeremiah 31:3

God promises joyful return: virgins dancing, vineyards planted, watchmen calling, "Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God" (31:4-6). "He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock" (31:10). Sorrow will turn to joy (31:13).

"A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not" (31:15). Rachel, buried near Bethlehem (Genesis 35:19), is pictured weeping as the exiles were gathered at Ramah (40:1). Matthew applies this to Herod's slaughter of the children of Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16-18). Yet God says, "Refrain thy voice from weeping... they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end" (31:16-17). Ephraim repents (31:18-20). "The LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man" (31:22), a puzzling verse that some have understood as a hint of the virgin birth, though its meaning is debated. People will no longer say, "The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge," for each will die for his own iniquity (31:29-30; Ezekiel 18).

Then the heart of the book:

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Jeremiah 31:31-34

The New Covenant promises an inward change (the law written on the heart), a personal relationship ("I will be their God"), direct knowledge of God for all, and full forgiveness. At the Last Supper Jesus said, "This cup is the new testament [covenant] in my blood, which is shed for you" (Luke 22:20). Hebrews quotes this passage in full as fulfilled in Christ, the Mediator of a better covenant (Hebrews 8:6-13; 10:15-18). Paul calls himself a minister "of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:6).

God guarantees Israel's future as surely as the sun, moon and stars: "If those ordinances depart from before me... then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever" (31:35-37). Jerusalem will be rebuilt and "shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever" (31:38-40).

Chapter 32 — Buying a Field During the Siege

In the tenth year of Zedekiah, with Jerusalem under siege and Jeremiah confined in the court of the prison (32:1-2), God told him that his cousin Hanameel would come and ask him to buy the family field at Anathoth by the right of redemption (32:6-8; Leviticus 25:25). Jeremiah bought it for seventeen shekels of silver, signed and sealed the deed before witnesses, and gave it to Baruch to put in an earthen jar to last many days (32:9-14). "For thus saith the LORD of hosts... Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land" (32:15). It was an act of faith in God's promise at the darkest moment.

Then Jeremiah prayed: "Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee" (32:17). God answered: "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?" (32:27). The city would fall (32:28-35), but God would gather His people, "And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever... And I will make an everlasting covenant with them... but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me" (32:37-41).

Chapter 33 — Call unto Me

While Jeremiah was still in prison:

Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

Jeremiah 33:3

God promised health, cure, cleansing and forgiveness (33:6-8). Again there would be "The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness... the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever" (33:11), words sung when the temple foundation was laid after the exile (Ezra 3:11). "I will cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David" (33:15), and Jerusalem "shall be called, The LORD our righteousness" (33:16): the city shares the name of its King. "David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel" (33:17). God's covenant with David is as certain as His covenant with day and night (33:20-26). Christ, the Son of David, fulfils it (Luke 1:32-33).

Section V: The Last Days of Jerusalem (Chapters 34-39)

Chapter 34 — Zedekiah and the Broken Covenant of Release

Jeremiah told Zedekiah he would be taken to Babylon and see Nebuchadnezzar face to face, but would die in peace (34:1-5). Only Lachish and Azekah remained among the fortified cities (34:7). During the siege, the king and people made a covenant to free their Hebrew slaves, as the law required (34:8-10; Exodus 21:2; Deuteronomy 15:12), but when the siege lifted for a time they took them back (34:11). God's answer: "Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty... behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine" (34:17). They had made the covenant by cutting a calf in two and walking between the pieces (34:18; compare Genesis 15:9-17); now they would suffer the fate of the calf.

Chapter 35 — The Faithful Rechabites

In Jehoiakim's day, God told Jeremiah to bring the Rechabites into the temple and offer them wine (35:1-5). They refused: their ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab had commanded them never to drink wine, build houses or plant vineyards, but to live in tents, and they had obeyed for over two centuries (35:6-10; 2 Kings 10:15). God used them as an object lesson: they obeyed a human ancestor, but Judah would not obey the living God, who had spoken to them "rising early and speaking" (35:12-17). God promised, "Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever" (35:19).

Chapter 36 — The Scroll Burned

In the fourth year of Jehoiakim, God told Jeremiah to write all His words in a scroll, "It may be that the house of Judah will hear... that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin" (36:2-3). Jeremiah dictated to Baruch, who read it in the temple on a fast day (36:4-10), in the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan. The princes heard it, were afraid, told Baruch and Jeremiah to hide, and took the scroll to the king (36:11-20). In his winter house, with a fire burning on the hearth, Jehoiakim had it read; after every few columns he cut it with a penknife and threw it into the fire until it was consumed (36:21-23). "Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments" (36:24), in sharp contrast to his father Josiah, who tore his clothes when he heard the law read (2 Kings 22:11). Some princes pleaded with him not to burn it (36:25). God hid Jeremiah and Baruch (36:26). God told Jeremiah to write it all again, adding judgment on Jehoiakim: "he shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out" (36:28-31). "And there were added besides unto them many like words" (36:32). Man can burn the Word of God, but cannot destroy it (Isaiah 40:8; 1 Peter 1:25).

Chapter 37 — Arrested as a Traitor

Zedekiah, made king by Nebuchadnezzar, did not listen to God's word (37:1-2), yet asked Jeremiah to pray (37:3). When Pharaoh's army approached and the Babylonians temporarily withdrew, Jeremiah warned that they would return and burn the city (37:5-10). Leaving the city to visit his land in Benjamin, he was arrested at the gate and accused of deserting to the Chaldeans (37:11-14). The princes beat him and threw him into a dungeon cell in the house of Jonathan the scribe, where he stayed many days (37:15-16). Zedekiah secretly brought him out and asked, "Is there any word from the LORD?" "And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon" (37:17). Jeremiah asked not to be returned to the dungeon, and he was kept in the court of the prison with a daily piece of bread "until all the bread in the city were spent" (37:20-21).

Chapter 38 — In the Miry Pit

The princes demanded Jeremiah's death because his words were weakening the soldiers' morale (38:1-4). Zedekiah said, "Behold, he is in your hand: for the king is not he that can do any thing against you" (38:5). They let Jeremiah down by cords into the cistern of Malchiah, where there was no water but mire, "so Jeremiah sunk in the mire" (38:6). Ebed-melech, an Ethiopian eunuch in the king's house, pleaded for him (38:7-9). With the king's permission he took thirty men, let down old rags and worn-out clothes for padding under Jeremiah's arms, and drew him up out of the pit (38:10-13). A foreigner showed more compassion than Judah's leaders. Zedekiah met Jeremiah secretly again, and Jeremiah urged him once more to surrender: "if thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned" (38:17). "Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the LORD" (38:20). But Zedekiah feared the people (38:19) and would not act. Jeremiah stayed in the court of the prison until Jerusalem was taken (38:28).

Chapter 39 — The Fall of Jerusalem

In the ninth year of Zedekiah, Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem; in the eleventh year, on the ninth day of the fourth month, the city was broken up (39:1-2). Babylonian officials, including Nergal-sharezer and Sarsechim the Rab-saris, sat in the middle gate (39:3). Zedekiah fled by night but was captured near Jericho and brought to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, where his sons were killed before his eyes; then his eyes were put out, and he was bound and taken to Babylon (39:4-7). The city and the temple were burned and the walls broken down (39:8). The poor were left to tend vineyards and fields (39:10). Nebuchadnezzar ordered that Jeremiah be treated well (39:11-14). And God remembered Ebed-melech: "I will surely deliver thee... because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the LORD" (39:15-18).

Section VI: After the Fall (Chapters 40-45)

Chapter 40 — Freed and Choosing to Stay

Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, found Jeremiah bound in chains among the captives at Ramah and released him, acknowledging, "The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place" (40:1-3). He offered Jeremiah a good life in Babylon or freedom to stay (40:4). Jeremiah chose to stay with the poor remnant under Gedaliah, the new governor at Mizpah (40:5-6). Scattered Jews gathered to Gedaliah, who urged them to serve Babylon and harvest the land (40:7-12). Johanan warned Gedaliah that Ishmael was plotting to kill him, but Gedaliah did not believe it (40:13-16).

Chapter 41 — Gedaliah Murdered

Ishmael, of the royal family, murdered Gedaliah, the Jews with him and the Babylonian soldiers at Mizpah (41:1-3). The next day he killed seventy of eighty pilgrims coming with offerings, sparing ten who promised him hidden food stores, and threw the bodies into a pit (41:4-9). He took the rest of the people captive toward Ammon, but Johanan rescued them, and Ishmael escaped (41:10-15). Fearing Babylonian revenge, Johanan led the people toward Egypt (41:16-18).

Chapter 42 — "Whether It Be Good, or Whether It Be Evil"

The remnant asked Jeremiah to pray for guidance and promised, "Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God" (42:1-6). After ten days, God's answer came: stay in the land, and God would build them up and give them mercy before the king of Babylon; but if they went to Egypt for safety, the sword and famine they feared would follow them there (42:7-22). They had already made up their minds.

Chapter 43 — Taken to Egypt

Johanan and the proud men said, "Thou speakest falsely: the LORD our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Egypt" (43:2), blaming Baruch for turning Jeremiah against them (43:3). They took the whole remnant, including Jeremiah and Baruch, to Tahpanhes in Egypt (43:4-7). There God told Jeremiah to hide large stones in the brickwork at the entrance of Pharaoh's house and announce that Nebuchadnezzar would set his throne over them and strike Egypt (43:8-13). Babylonian records indicate that Nebuchadnezzar did campaign against Egypt around 568 BC.

Chapter 44 — The Queen of Heaven

Jeremiah's last recorded message rebuked the Jews in Egypt for burning incense to other gods (44:1-14). The men and women answered defiantly: "As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee. But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven" (44:16-17). They claimed they had prospered when they worshipped her and suffered when they stopped (44:17-18). Jeremiah answered that their idolatry was the very reason for their suffering (44:20-23). God would watch over them "for evil, and not for good," and only a small number would escape back to Judah (44:27-28). As a sign, Pharaoh-hophra would be handed over to his enemies (44:29-30). The book's prophetic history ends in tragedy: the people who had experienced God's judgment still refused to repent.

Chapter 45 — A Word to Baruch

Dated to Jehoiakim's fourth year, this short chapter records God's personal word to Jeremiah's faithful scribe. Baruch had complained, "Woe is me now! for the LORD hath added grief to my sorrow" (45:3). God answered that He was breaking down what He had built, "And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the LORD: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest" (45:5). In a time of national collapse, Baruch was to lay aside personal ambition and be content with God's preservation of his life.

Section VII: Oracles Against the Nations (Chapters 46-51)

Jeremiah was called "a prophet unto the nations" (1:5). These chapters show that the God of Israel is the Judge of the whole earth.

Chapter 46 — Egypt

The first oracle describes Egypt's defeat by Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish on the Euphrates "in the fourth year of Jehoiakim" (605 BC; 46:2), the battle that made Babylon master of the region. "Egypt riseth up like a flood... But this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance" (46:8-10). "In vain shalt thou use many medicines" (46:11). A second oracle announces Nebuchadnezzar's coming to strike Egypt itself (46:13-26), though Egypt would later be inhabited again (46:26). The chapter ends with comfort for Israel: "But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob... for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee" (46:27-28).

Chapter 47 — The Philistines

"Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood" (47:2): Babylon would sweep over Gaza, Ashkelon and the Philistine cities. "O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet?" (47:6).

Chapter 48 — Moab

A long lament over Moab, the proud neighbour descended from Lot. "Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully" (48:10). "Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him" (48:11): like wine left too long undisturbed, Moab's complacency would be shaken. "We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud)" (48:29). Yet God grieved over Moab (48:31-36) and promised, "Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days" (48:47).

Chapter 49 — Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar, Hazor and Elam

• Ammon (49:1-6): judged for seizing Israel's land, yet promised restoration (49:6).
• Edom (49:7-22): "Is wisdom no more in Teman?" (49:7). Its pride would be brought down from its rocky heights: "though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence" (49:16). This section closely parallels Obadiah 1-9. Edom would become a desolation like Sodom (49:17-18).
• Damascus (49:23-27), Kedar and Hazor (49:28-33), Arab tribes, struck by Nebuchadnezzar.
• Elam (49:34-39), in the east, scattered, yet "in the latter days... I will bring again the captivity of Elam" (49:39).

God's judgments on the nations are real, but several end with hope of restoration, a glimpse of His purpose to bless all nations (Genesis 12:3; Acts 2:9, where Elamites heard the gospel at Pentecost).

Chapters 50-51 — The Fall of Babylon

The longest oracle is against Babylon, the very nation God used to judge Judah. "Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded" (50:2). A nation from the north would destroy her (50:3, 9), identified as the Medes: "the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it" (51:11, 28). Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians in 539 BC (Daniel 5:28-31).

Woven through the judgment are promises for Israel: "the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God... saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten" (50:4-5). "My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray" (50:6). "Israel is a scattered sheep... I will bring Israel again to his habitation" (50:17-19). "In those days... the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none... for I will pardon them whom I reserve" (50:20). "Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name" (50:34).

Babylon would be judged for her pride (50:29-32), and become perpetually desolate, "no man shall abide there" (50:39-40; 51:37). "Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD'S hand, that made all the earth drunken" (51:7). "Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her" (51:8). God would dry up her waters (51:36) and make her princes drunk "that they may... sleep a perpetual sleep" (51:39, 57), fulfilled when Babylon fell during Belshazzar's feast (Daniel 5). "My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD" (51:45).

Jeremiah wrote all these words in a book and gave it to Seraiah, who went to Babylon with Zedekiah. After reading it, Seraiah was to tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates, saying, "Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her" (51:59-64). "Thus far are the words of Jeremiah" (51:64). Revelation uses this imagery for the fall of end-time Babylon: the golden cup (Revelation 17:4), "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen" (18:2), "Come out of her, my people" (18:4), and an angel casting a great millstone into the sea, saying, "Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all" (18:21).

Section VIII: Historical Appendix (Chapter 52)

Chapter 52 — The Fall of Jerusalem Recounted

This chapter, almost identical to 2 Kings 24:18-25:30, confirms that Jeremiah's prophecies came true. Zedekiah rebelled; Jerusalem was besieged and fell; Zedekiah's sons were killed and he was blinded and taken to Babylon, where he remained "till the day of his death" (52:1-11). The temple, palace and city were burned (52:12-14), and the bronze pillars, the sea and the vessels were carried away (52:17-23), as Jeremiah had foretold (27:19-22). The chief priest and officials were executed (52:24-27). Three deportations are numbered: 3,023 people in Nebuchadnezzar's seventh year, 832 in his eighteenth, and 745 in his twenty-third, "all the persons were four thousand and six hundred" (52:28-30), probably counting adult men. The book ends with a ray of hope: in the 37th year of his captivity, Jehoiachin was released from prison, given new garments, and ate at the king of Babylon's table "all the days of his life" (52:31-34). The house of David survived.

Part Three: Christ in Jeremiah

Prophecies of the Messiah

Jeremiah as a Picture of Christ

Other Pictures of Christ

• The fountain of living waters (2:13; 17:13). "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink" (John 7:37-38; 4:14).
• The balm of Gilead and the physician (8:22). "They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick" (Matthew 9:12).
• The potter (18:1-6). God's sovereign power to remake marred vessels; in Christ we are made new (2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 9:21).
• The strong Redeemer (50:34). "Their Redeemer is strong" (Galatians 3:13; Titus 2:14).
• The kinsman's redemption of the field (32:6-15). The right of redemption exercised in hope (Ruth 4; Ephesians 1:14).
• The word like fire and a hammer (23:29). "The word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword" (Hebrews 4:12).

Part Four: Fulfilled Prophecies

Part Five: Key Passages in Depth

Jeremiah 1:4-10 — The Call of God

God's call was personal ("I knew thee"), sovereign ("I sanctified thee... I ordained thee"), not based on ability ("I am a child"), and backed by His presence ("I am with thee") and His words ("I have put my words in thy mouth"). Every believer's service rests on the same foundations (2 Corinthians 3:5-6).

Jeremiah 2:13 — Broken Cisterns

Every sin is a double evil: forsaking God, the fountain of life, and trying to find life elsewhere. People still dig broken cisterns in money, pleasure, success, relationships and false religion. Only Christ satisfies the thirst of the soul (John 4:13-14).

Jeremiah 17:9 — The Deceitful Heart

The human heart is not basically good; it is deceitful and desperately sick. We cannot fully know our own hearts, but God searches them. This is why we need the new heart promised in the New Covenant (31:33; Ezekiel 36:26) and why salvation must be by grace, not self-improvement (Romans 3:10-18; Ephesians 2:8-9).

Jeremiah 18:1-10 — The Potter and the Clay

God has absolute authority over nations and individuals, as a potter over clay. Yet He responds to repentance: a nation that turns from evil can be spared, and a marred vessel can be remade. God's sovereignty and human responsibility stand together.

Jeremiah 20:7-18 — Fire in the Bones

Jeremiah's honesty about his pain encourages every struggling servant of God. He was mocked, discouraged and tempted to quit, but God's word burned in him so that he could not keep silent. Faithfulness is not the absence of struggle but perseverance through it (1 Corinthians 9:16).

Jeremiah 29:4-14 — Seeking the Peace of the City

God's people in exile were to settle down, live productively, raise families, pray for their pagan city, and trust God's plan for their future. This models the Christian's life as a "stranger and pilgrim" in this world (1 Peter 2:11-12; Hebrews 11:13-16).

Jeremiah 31:31-34 — The New Covenant

The longest Old Testament passage quoted in the New Testament (Hebrews 8:8-12). The Old Covenant was broken by Israel; the New Covenant is better because it is based on God's work, not human promises. It provides an inward transformation, a personal relationship, universal knowledge of God among His people, and complete forgiveness. Jesus inaugurated it with His blood, and every believer shares in its blessings (2 Corinthians 3:6). Its full national fulfillment for Israel is foretold for the future (Romans 11:26-27).

Jeremiah 36 — The Indestructible Word

Jehoiakim burned the scroll, but God simply had it rewritten, with more added. Throughout history people have tried to destroy the Bible, and it has endured. "The word of our God shall stand for ever" (Isaiah 40:8).

Part Six: The Major Teachings of Jeremiah

1. The Sovereignty of God over Nations

God raises and judges nations: He calls Nebuchadnezzar "my servant" (25:9; 27:6), and also judges Babylon (50-51). He is the potter (18:6).

2. The Seriousness of Sin and Judgment

Idolatry, injustice, false worship and refusal to listen to God's word bring certain judgment (7; 25). God's patience is long but not endless (7:13, 16; 15:1).

3. True versus False Religion

Trusting in the temple, rituals or religious slogans without obedience is worthless (7:4-11). God desires obedience, justice and a heart that knows Him (7:23; 9:24; 22:16).

4. The Corruption of the Human Heart

"The heart is deceitful above all things" (17:9). Judah's sin was ingrained like the leopard's spots (13:23).

5. False Prophets

Jeremiah's ministry was a constant battle against prophets who said "Peace, peace" (6:14; 23; 28). A true prophet speaks God's word faithfully, even when it is unpopular (23:28).

6. The Call to Repentance

"Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings" (3:22). God's warnings were always meant to lead to repentance (18:8; 26:3; 36:3).

7. The Faithfulness of God's Servant in Suffering

Jeremiah's life shows the cost of faithfulness: loneliness, rejection, persecution and grief, and God's sustaining presence through it all (1:19; 15:20; 20:11).

8. Hope Beyond Judgment

Judgment is not God's final word. He promises return from exile, restoration, rebuilding and joy (29-33).

9. The New Covenant

God's ultimate solution is not a better law but a new heart (31:31-34; 32:39-40), fulfilled in Christ.

10. The Messianic King

The righteous Branch of David, called "THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS," will reign in justice (23:5-6; 33:15-17).

11. Living Faithfully in Exile

God's people can serve Him and seek the good of the city where He has placed them (29:4-7).

12. The Power and Endurance of God's Word

God's word is like fire and a hammer (23:29), cannot be silenced (20:9), and cannot be destroyed (36).

Part Seven: Connections — How Jeremiah Links to the Rest of the Bible

Jeremiah in the New Testament

Jeremiah in the Old Testament

Themes That Run from Jeremiah Through Scripture

Part Eight: Practical Lessons

• God knows you and has a purpose for you (1:5).
• Don't let youth or inadequacy stop you from obeying (1:6-8).
• Stop digging broken cisterns; come to the fountain (2:13).
• Return to the Lord; He heals backsliding (3:22).
• Break up the hard ground of your heart (4:3).
• Ask for the old paths (6:16).
• Don't trust in religious places or slogans (7:4).
• Glory only in knowing God (9:23-24).
• Trust in the LORD, not in man (17:5-8).
• Don't trust your own heart; ask God to search it (17:9-10).
• Let God reshape you like a potter (18:6).
• Speak God's word even when it costs you (20:9).
• Know God by doing justice to the poor (22:15-16).
• Test every message by God's Word (23:28-29).
• Bloom where God has planted you; pray for your city (29:7).
• Seek God with your whole heart (29:13).
• Nothing is too hard for the Lord (32:17, 27).
• Call to God, and He will answer (33:3).
• Keep your promises to God and people (34).
• Obey God more faithfully than the Rechabites obeyed their father (35).
• Treat God's Word with trembling, not a penknife (36).
• Show compassion like Ebed-melech (38:7-13).
• Don't ask for guidance if you've already decided (42-43).
• Don't seek great things for yourself (45:5).

Part Nine: Key Verses to Memorize

Conclusion

Jeremiah is the book of the weeping prophet, called before birth to speak God's word to a nation that would not listen. For more than forty years he warned Judah to turn from broken cisterns to the fountain of living waters, confronted false prophets who cried "Peace, peace," and announced that Babylon would destroy Jerusalem. He suffered rejection, beatings, imprisonment and the mire of a cistern, and he watched his warnings come true. Yet his book also contains some of the brightest promises in Scripture: seventy years of exile and then return, a righteous Branch from David called "THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS," and a New Covenant in which God would write His law on His people's hearts and remember their sin no more. That covenant was sealed in the blood of Jesus Christ, the true Son of David, the greater Weeping Prophet who wept over Jerusalem, was rejected by His own, was put to death and was raised from the pit of death, so that all who trust Him may know God and be forgiven.

I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people... for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Jeremiah 31:33-34