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World Christian Fellowship 60, High Worple, Rayners Lane, Harrow

Middlesex, HA2 9SZ, United Kingdom Tel: +44 208 429 9292

www.wcflondon.com wcflondon@gmail.com

Book of Jeremiah

Name meaning: His name means “Jehovah throws,” in the sense

of laying down a foundation, or “Jehovah establishes, appoints,

or sends.”

The author was "Jeremiah son of Hilkiah"

Jeremiah was commanded to write down the words which the

Lord had given to him (36:1-3)

Neriah the son of Baruch, a scribe was used by Jeremiah to write

while he dictated. (36:4)

King Jehoiakim destroyed the scroll of Jeremiah when it was

read to him but another scroll was made available by Neriah the

son of Baruch the scribe. (36:32)

Chapters of 26-52 most probably attached to the previous 25

chapters after the death of Jeremiah by Baruch.

Jeremiah comes from a small town of Anathoth in Judah, about

3 miles Northeast of Jerusalem in Benjamin’s tribal inheritance,

and he was the son of priest. Since his father was a priest he

would have certainly raised as a priest but there was no record

of evidence that he served as priest. In spite of that God chose

Jeremiah to be His voice to the people, which requires

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undeniable courage, even though the people of Judah would not

listen.

God wanted to show Jeremiah as an object lesson to Judah hence

he remained unmarried (16:1–4).

Year Written: Jeremiah’s ministry began in 627 BC on the 13th

year of King Josiah reign (1:2) and ended sometime after 582 BC

with his prophecy to the Jews who fled to Egypt (Jeremiah 44:1).

Most of his time the ministry of Jeremiah was outside Jerusalem

in Judah.

The Northern Kingdom failed and it was taken over by Assyrians

but God was warning them through various prophets to repent

but people would not listen to the voice of God. During the

ministry of Jeremiah in 582 B.C. Judah fell completely to the

powers of Babylon.

The people knew that they were facing the judgement of God

during the time of Jeremiah ministry. They have seen the outside

power threatening them and they should have responded with

repentance and humbled themselves before the lord. But they

chose to fence themselves and ignored the commandments of

God and that resulted in disobedience.

After 586 B.C., Jeremiah was forced to go with a fleeing remnant

of Judah to Egypt (43,44). He was possibly still ministering in 570

B.C. (44:30). When Babylon invaded Egypt in 586/82 B.C.

Jeremiah was taken captive by Babylonians.

Judah’s King Jehoiachin, was taken as a captive in 597 B.C. was

allowed to be free in Babylon in his last days (52:31-34) Jeremiah

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could be alive then he would be about 85 to 90 years old to

complete the entire book by himself.

The Life of Jeremiah

“The weeping prophet” (9:1; 13:17; 14:17),this is how Jeremiah

was known, living a life of conflict because of his predictions of

judgment by the invading Babylonians. Jeremiah was

threatened, tried for his life, put in stocks, forced to flee from

Jehoiakim, publicly humiliated by a false prophet, and thrown

into a pit.

Jeremiah pleaded the people of Judah to repent so that they can

avoid the judgement from God, going into captivity into Babylon.

Judah refused to listen to God through him and then Jeremiah

pleaded with them not resist the Babylonians to avoid total

destruction (Chapter 27) He did plead the same with other

nations too!

Ministry under Josiah:

Jeremiah began his ministry at about age twenty in the

thirteenth year of Josiah (627 B.C.)

He was of a priestly family (living in Anathoth25 about three

miles Northeast of Jerusalem) and came to Jerusalem for the

annual feasts

He may have been well off financially since he bought the estate

of his bankrupt kinsman without difficulty.

Josiah offered protection to Jeremiah and good relations.

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Ministry after Josiah's Death:

Jeremiah was persecuted by the rise of an idolatrous faction in

Judah.

Jeremiah was still protected some by god-fearing elders and

princes after his messages against the nation in 7-10

When Jeremiah was forbidden to enter the temple area, he sent

Baruch as his spokesman to proclaim prophecies which he

dictated to him.

King Jehoiakim destroyed Jeremiah's dictated prophecies.

King Zedekiah allowed the nobles to arrest Jeremiah as a traitor

urging the nation to submit to Babylon.

King Zedekiah was also fearful of Jeremiah because of the

fulfilment of his past prediction concerning the Chaldean

invasion of 598 so he rescued him and kept him safely hidden

until the fall of Jerusalem.

Ministry after the Fall of Jerusalem:

Although Jeremiah was offered a place of honour by the

Babylonians for urging the Jews to submit to them, he chose to

stay with his people in Palestine and minister to those who

remained after the deportation.

After the murder of Gedaliah he was taken off to Egypt by

deserter, remnant Jews who refused to experience

Nebuchadnezzar's punishment.

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Jeremiah lived a few years in Egypt and then died there around

570 B.C.

His plight on ministry:

God had asked Jeremiah to go and proclaim His word and also

He told him that they would not listen to you.

Jeremiah 7:27, “When you tell them all this, they will not listen to

you; when you call to them, they will not answer.

How many of us would love to do this job?

Knowing fully well the people would not listen to the message

they won’t repent yet the prophet cries out for the people to

change their attitude.

Historical background:

Please do take time read 2 Kings 22-25 and 2 Chronicles 34-36 to

understand what was happening at that time.

His prophecy took place during the reigns of Judah’s final 5 kings.

➢ Josiah 640–609 B.C., 31 years

➢ Jehoahaz 609 B.C., (3 Months)

➢ Jehoiakim 609–598 B.C., 11 years

➢ Jehoiachin 598–597 B.C., (3 Months) and

➢ Zedekiah 597–586 B.C. 11 years

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King Ahaz, father of Hezekiah, long before 735-715 B.C. had set

up a system of sacrificing children to the god of Molech in the

Valley of Hinnom, just outside Jerusalem.

King Hezekiah led the reforms to remove such practice during the

period of Isaiah ministry (Isaiah 36:7)

King Manasseh, son of Hezekiah continues to practice the child

sacrifice along with idol worship, this continued until the day of

Jeremiah’s ministry. (Jeremiah 7:31; 19:5; 32:35)

There are quite a few people worshipped a “queen of heaven”

during this time (Jeremiah 7:18; 44:19)

Though there were reforms during the time of King Josiah but it

was only outwardly but their heart did not change. The deadly

cancer of sin was deep and flourished quickly again after a

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shallow revival. Religious insincerity, dishonesty, adultery,

injustice, oppression against the helpless, and slander succeeded

as the norm not as exception.

Political changes:

626 B.C. Assyria's last great king, Ashurbanipal, died leading to

the establishment of an independent Babylonian state which

would grow.

Assyria the known world power at that time started losing its

power slowly by 612 B.C. the invincible capital Nineveh was

destroyed and the new world power of Babylon was coming up.

The Neo-Babylonian empire under Nabopolassar (625–605 B.C.)

became dominant militarily with victories against,

Assyria (612 B.C.),

Egypt (609–605 B.C.), and

Israel in 3 phases (605 B.C., as in Daniel 1; 597 B.C., as in 2 Kings

24:10–16; and 586 B.C., as in Jeremiah 39,40,52).

Josiah King of Judah removed Judah from Assyria's control and

existed as an autonomous state until 609 B.C. when it lost a

battle with Egypt on the plain of Megiddo lost his life in the battle

(2 Chronicles 35:20-24)

When Assyria lost its battle with Egypt then they took over

Judah.

Egypt’s Necho replaced Josiah's son, Jehoahaz, after three

months with Jehoiakim (who was another son of Josiah) as a care

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taker king (2 Kings 23:34-35) and plundered Judah's treasuries.

Necho of Egypt took Jehoahaz into captivity in Egypt.

Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Egyptians at Carchemish. Judah's

king, Jehoiakim, changed his loyalty to the Babylonians rather

than the Egyptians and became Nebuchadnezzar's vassal

(caretaker) king (2 Kings 24:1)

1st Deportation: 605 B.C.

Nebuchadnezzar had to return to Babylon with the death of his

father, Nebopolassar and strengthened his rule by appointing

vassal kings and taking hostages. Daniel was taken as a part of

this deportation (Daniel 1:1-6)

In 601 Egypt defeated the Babylonians immediately Judah's king,

Jehoiakim, switched loyalty from Babylon to the Egypt (2 Kings

24:1)

In 598 B.C. Babylon attacked Jerusalem leading to Jehoiakim's

death and the surrender of the city by his successor, Jehoiachin,

in 597 B.C.

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2nd Deportation: 597 B.C.

Nebuchadnezzar, replaced Jehoiachin after only three months of

reign, deported him, Prophet Ezekiel and 10,000 other leaders

from the city, looted the city, and placed Zedekiah Judah's vassal

king (2 Kings 24:12-16)

3rd Deportation: 586 B.C.

Zedekiah was a weak king and he was convinced by Egypt to

revolt with a coalition of other states (Tyre and Ammon) against

Babylon (588 B.C.) but Jeremiah vehemently opposed and

advised against it. He was defeated and Nebuchadnezzar

destroyed Jerusalem in 586 B.C.

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Evil-merodach (Ewal Marduk) restored Jehoiachin on the 27th

day of the 12th month of the 37th year of the captivity (506 B.C.;

2 Kings 25:27)

Jeremiah was taken as a captive this time and where he

remained in Babylon/ Egypt and died there.

Purpose:

Jeremiah 22:6-9, For this is what the Lord says about the palace

of the king of Judah: “Though you are like Gilead to me, like the

summit of Lebanon, I will surely make you like a wasteland, like

towns not inhabited. 7 I will send destroyers against you, each

man with his weapons, and they will cut up your fine cedar

beams and throw them into the fire. 8 “People from many nations

will pass by this city and will ask one another, ‘Why has

the Lord done such a thing to this great city?’ 9 And the answer

will be: ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of

the Lord their God and have worshiped and served other gods.’”

To warn of awaiting judgment for Judah.

To urge people and specifically Judah to repentance and the

obedience of God’s word

To quick judgment by confronting Judah's response to her final

warnings and pleas for repentance

To predict, warn, and historically record the fall and hope of

Jerusalem, as well as, its surrounding nations due to their

disobedience to God's word

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Jeremiah’s messages paint pictures of:

1) People’s sin,

2) The invader God would send,

3) The severe of siege; and

4) Catastrophic destruction.

The main theme of Jeremiah is

➢ Judgment upon Judah (chapters 1–29)

➢ Restoration in the future messianic kingdom (23:3–8; 30–

33).

Isaiah gave more time for the restoration of the people in God’s

glory after the punishment (Chapters 40-66) Jeremiah didn’t

elaborate that much. Because the time Jeremiah was living the

punishment was taking place so he was pleading people to

repent to avoid the wrath of God.

A secondary theme is God’s willingness to spare and bless the

nation only if the people repent. Though this is a frequent

emphasis, it is most graphically portrayed at the potter’s house

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Jeremiah18:1–11).

Other themes are,

➢ God’s longing for Israel to be tender toward Him, as in the

days of first love (2:1–3)

➢ Jeremiah’s servant tears, as “the weeping prophet” (9:1;

14:17)

➢ The intimate relationship God had with Israel and that He

longed to keep (13:11)

➢ Suffering, as in Jeremiah’s trials (11:18–23; 20:1–18) and

God’s sufficiency in all trouble (20:11–13)

➢ The vital role that God’s Word can play in life (15:16)

➢ The place of faith in expecting restoration from the God

for whom nothing is too difficult (32:17&27)

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➢ Prayer for the coordination of God’s will with God’s

action in restoring Israel to its land (33:3 & 6–18).

Brief Summary

Since the book of Jeremiah is not arranged chronologically we

have huge challenge to understand the message of the Prophet

very clearly in its right setting. Because of this, the theme of the

prophecies goes back and front in time it’s difficult to get the full

essence at one go. But Ezekiel is arranged so chronologically

much easier to understand.

The prophecies of Jeremiah offer us a unique insight into the

mind and heart of one of God’s faithful servants. The book

includes numerous personal statements of emotional

engagement. Jeremiah was not merely as a prophet brought by

God into the scene to deliver God’s message but also as a human

being who felt compassion for his people. Jeremiah desired

judgment for evildoers and was concerned about his own safety

as well.

Brief Outline of the book:

1. Call of Jeremiah (1:1–19)

➢ Context (1:1–3)

➢ Choice (1:4–10)

➢ Charge (1:11–19)

2. Proclamations to Judah (2:1–45:5)

Condemnation of Judah (2:1–29:32)

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First message (2:1–3:5)

The sin of the people

➢ Unfaithfulness to their covenant God (2:1-13)

➢ The consequences of Israel’s apostasy (2:14-19)

➢ The degenerative nature of Judah’s sin (2:20-28)

➢ The sure judgment of God (2:29-37)

➢ Plea of Jeremiah (3:1-5)

Second message (3:6–6:30)

The coming judgment

➢ The requirement of alteration of life (3:1-5, 19-20)

➢ Runaway Israel and unfaithful Judah (3:6-11)

➢ A plea for repentance and a promise of restoration (3:12-

18)

➢ The necessity for sincere repentance (3:1-4:4)

➢ The coming judgment (4:5-6:30)

➢ The enemy from the north (4:5-31)

➢ Reasons for Jerusalem’s ruin (5:1-31)

➢ Summary (6:1-30)

Third message (7:1–10:25)

Judah’s false religion and its consequences

➢ Religious rites versus right relationships (7:1- 8:3)

➢ The Temple sermon (7:1-15)

➢ Prayer prohibited for a profligate people (7:16-20)

➢ Cultic conformity versus constant obedience (7:21-28)

➢ Abominations in the Temple and in the land (7:29-8:3)

➢ An incurable people and their inevitable fate (8:4-9:22)

➢ The unnaturalness of backsliding (8:4-7)

➢ Wisdom and the Word of God (8:8-13)

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➢ The coming invasion (8:14-17)

➢ The prophet’s feelings (8:18-9:9)

➢ A wail for the destruction of Judah (9:10-22)

➢ Earthly versus heavenly glory ( 9:23-24)

➢ Flesh versus heart circumcision (9:25-26)

➢ Idols versus the true God (10:1-16)

Fourth message (11:1–13:27)

Jeremiah’s confessions and Judah’s approaching doom

➢ Jeremiah and the covenant (11:1-12:17)

➢ Judah’s violation of the covenant (11:1-17)

➢ Jeremiah’s confession (11:18-12:6)

➢ A divine lament (12:7-13)

➢ The divine purpose (12:14-17)

➢ Parables and warnings (13:1-27)

➢ Parable of a linen loincloth (13:1-11)

➢ Parable of the wine jars (13:12-14)

➢ A warning against pride (13:15-17)

➢ A lament for the royal family (13:18-19)

➢ Jerusalem’s incurable sickness and its punishment

(13:20-27)

Fifth message (14:1–17:18)

➢ Prophecies concerning a drought: God’s rejection of his

people’s appeals (14:1-15:4)

➢ The drought described (14:1-6)

➢ People’s confession and appeal to God (14:7-9)

➢ God’s rejection of the appeal (14:10-18)

➢ A second confession and appeal (14:19-22)

➢ God’s final refusal (15:1-4)

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➢ Judah’s winnowing and Jeremiah’s woes (15:5-21)

➢ Warnings and promises (16:1-2)

Sixth message (17:19–27)

Parables, proclamation, and persecution (18:1- 19:27)

➢ The parable of the potter (18:1-12)

➢ The unnaturalness of Judah’s sin (18:13-17)

Seventh message (18:1–20:18)

➢ A plot and a protest (18:18-23)

➢ The parable of the broken flask (19:1-15)

➢ Persecution and protest (20:1-18)

Eight message (21:1–14)

Zedekiah’s request and Jeremiah’s reply (21:1-10)

Ninth message (22:1–23:40)

➢ Message of the royal house of Judah

➢ Message about the future of the Davidic dynasty (23:1-8)

➢ A polemic against false prophets (23:9-40)

Tenth message (24:1–10)

A vision of two baskets of figs (24:1-10)

➢ The vision (24:1-3)

➢ The vision interpreted (24:4-10)

Eleventh message (25:1–38)

➢ Judgment on Judah (25:1-14)

➢ Judgment on the nations (25:15-38)

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Twelfth message (26:1–24)

➢ Summary of the sermon against religious leaders (26:1-6)

➢ Jeremiah’s trial for treason (26:7-24)

Thirteenth message (27:1–28:17)

➢ The yoke of Babylon (27:1-28:17)

➢ Message to neighbouring kings (27:1-11 )

➢ Warning to King Zedekiah (27:12-15 )

➢ Warning to priests and people (27:16-22)

➢ Conflict with Hananiah (28:1-17)

Fourteenth message (29:1–32)

➢ Letters to exiles in Babylon (29:1-32)

➢ A general letter to all exiles (29:1-23

➢ A specific letter to Shemaiah (29:24-32)

Consolation to Judah—New Covenant (30:1–33:26)

The forecast of restoration (30:1–31:40)

The faith in restoration (32:1–44)

The forecast of restoration—Part 2 (33:1–26)

Calamity on Judah (34:1–45:5)

Before Judah’s fall (34:1–38:28)

During Judah’s fall (39:1–18)

After Judah’s fall (40:1–45:5)

3. Proclamations of Judgment on the Nations (46:1–51:64)

➢ Against Egypt (46:2–28)

➢ Against Philistia (47:1–7)

➢ Against Moab (48:1–47)

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➢ Against Ammon (49:1–6)

➢ Against Edom (49:7–22)

➢ Against Damascus (49:23–27)

➢ Against Kedar and Hazor [Arabia] (49:28–33)

➢ Against Elam (49:34–39)

➢ Against Babylon (50:1–51:64)

4. The Fall of Jerusalem (52:1–34)

➢ Destruction of Jerusalem (52:1–23)

➢ Deportation of Jews (52:24–30)

➢ Deliverance of Jehoiachin (52:31–34)

Key Verses:

Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a

prophet to the nations.”

Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things and

beyond cure. Who can understand it?”

Jeremiah 29:10-11, “This is what the LORD says: ‘When seventy

years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my

gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 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.’”

Jeremiah 31:31-34, 31 “Behold, the days are coming, says

the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of

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Israel and with the house of Judah— 32 not according to the

covenant that I made with their fathers in the day thatI took them

by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant

which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says

the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the

house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law

in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God,

and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach

his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know

the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to

the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity,

and their sin I will remember no more.”

Jeremiah 52:12-13, “On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the

nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,

Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, who served the

king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He set fire to the temple of

the LORD, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every

important building he burned down.”

Conclusion:

The prophecies of Jeremiah provide us the clear message of

coming messiah and the New Covenant. The New Covenant

would be the means in which God will restore His people and put

His laws in their heart and His spirit on them. Rather than

nurturing our relationship with God through a fixed location like

a temple, He promised through Jeremiah that His people would

know Him directly, a knowledge that comes through the person

of His Son, Jesus Christ.

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Judgement of God is the overarching the theme of the book since

this was prophesied in the last years of Judah going to exile to

Babylon because of their disobedience and unbelief.

God was patient almost over 900 years from the time God made

a covenant with them in Mount Sinai in Exodus 24:1-18. These

shows how patient God is with His people.

God was warning Judah over one hundred years after Israel went

into captivity yet they refused repent and turn to God.

Why the people were not listening to God? In spite of God raising

so many prophets they would not listen, why?

They were so much boastful about Jerusalem!

They were given the promise by God about Jerusalem, so come

what may god won’t let something happens to Jerusalem.

Doesn’t not strike a chord with these modern-day Christians

thinking once saved always saved no matter what?

There were false Prophets who were proclaiming that don’t

worry nothing will happen, proclaiming false prophecy, why?

Same as of today, don’t worry your best life is now! How many

false prophecies are to confirm he society and its sin!! We see so

many homosexuals are become preachers and pastors?

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Application for today:

1. Seeing God’s patience with His people in the Old

Testament reminds us that God has always been and

continues to be merciful. That His chosen people

routinely ignored the covenant they made with Him.

Though we fail Him, He is patient with us, working in us

to bring about the best for our lives.

Are you taking the patience of God in your life as a chance

to confirm your life style which is contrary to God’s way?

2. But the book of Jeremiah also reminds us that an end will

certainly come, a truth that should shoot us to follow

after God wholeheartedly. Will you follow Him?

3. The Prophet Jeremiah had a most difficult message to

deliver. Jeremiah loved Judah, but he loved God much

more. As painful as it was for Jeremiah to deliver a

consistent message of judgment to his own people,

Jeremiah was obedient to what God told him to do and

say.

Jeremiah hoped and prayed for mercy from God for

Judah, but also trusted that God was good and righteous.

We too must obey God, even when it is difficult.

4. God’s Omniscience: The book stresses the omniscience

of God. In his foreknowledge, God knew the character of

the prophet, and his fitness for the job, even before he

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was formed in the womb. The creator will always respect

our freedom of choice; yet, he knows. He is God!

Do you recognise that God knew you are capable what He

has called you to do?

5. God Empowers the called: When you are willing to be

used in the service of God then you can take your

weaknesses and turn them into strengths. Jeremiah was

a timid, sensitive youth who initially shrunk from the

awesome responsibility with which he was challenged.

But he became one of the Lord’s greatest, most

courageous men?

Do you see yourself like that?