However, an element of grace is also present in these events. The fall of Jerusalem comes nearly nine hundred years after the original covenant between God and the Israelites in the Sinai desert Exodus — That His chosen people routinely ignored the covenant they made with Him for the better part of a millennia without immediate death and destruction should give us hope in our own struggles with living well for God.
Though we fail Him, He is patient with us, working in us to bring about the best for our lives. But the book of Jeremiah also reminds us that an end will certainly come, a truth that should spur us to follow after God wholeheartedly. Will you follow Him? View Chuck Swindoll's chart of Jeremiah , which divides the book into major sections and highlights themes and key verses. Who wrote the book? They intended to starve him to death, but Ebed-melech the Cushite rescued Jeremiah by pulling him out of the cistern.
However, Jeremiah remained imprisoned until Jerusalem fell to the Babylonian army in B. The tide had turned against Jeremiah:.
Then You showed me their deeds. Pursued and opposed, Jeremiah went into a dark place and lamented his role and the constant pain of hatred directed against him. He was isolated and sensed no consolation from God:. Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife and conflict in all the land. I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me Jer You have overcome me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me.
For whenever I speak, I cry out, I proclaim violence and destruction. For the word of the LORD has become to me a reproach and derision all day long. Report him; let us report him! They suffer because they do not fit into tidy political or tribal categories. They speak for God, who transcends such groups. Yes, although the prophet is totaliter aliter totally other , the human cost is high, and he comes to resemble Christ on the cross.
The idea that most people will ultimately accept the truth must be crucified. Just before the end of Judah, King Zedekiah summoned Jeremiah from prison and asked for a prophecy regarding the war he proposed against the Babylonians. He told the king that God would spare Judah the worst if they accepted this and did not take matters into their own hands. This is what the LORD, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: If you indeed surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned down, and you and your household will survive.
But if you do not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be handed over to them. They will burn it down, and you yourself will not escape their grasp Jer Zedekiah did not listen, and the end came swiftly:.
In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army and laid siege to the city. The Chaldeans set fire to the palace of the king and to the houses of the people, and they tore down the walls of Jerusalem Jer Jeremiah was freed from prison and likely spent the remainder of his days in Egypt against his will.
The remnant of Judah refused his prophecy and made alliances with Egypt. Jeremiah spent the rest of his life there trying to dissuade the Jewish people in Egypt from foreign alliances and from being enamored of the Egyptian gods. His warnings went unheeded and the remnant in Egypt received the following condemnation from God through him:. It was likely in Egyptian exile that Jeremiah died, although there is no certain account of his death.
He died preaching and warning. Yes, he was a pillar of brass against a stubborn people. He suffered greatly for his work; he had the often-thankless task of summoning people away from worldly thinking and political alliances that compromised their devotion to God. This work must continue both in and out of the Church. In our world there is a great darkness, but Jeremiah would warn us that the problem should be seen within before we look outside. We can surely hear the echoes of warning to shepherds who mislead their flock.
Collectively, we are compromised; we are too politically aligned with secular agendas and prone to giving God lip service rather than wholehearted obedience. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with loving devotion. Another brief upswing occurred under King Josiah, but after that, Judah was a mess of puppet kings placed by Egypt and Babylon, some reigning for only three months.
Meanwhile, Assyria had been conquered by Babylon. Jeremiah died in B. Most of what we know about Jeremiah comes from the book of the Bible that bears his name. Jeremiah was born to a priestly family in Anathoth, about three miles from Jerusalem.
He was called as a prophet in the thirteenth year of the reign of King Josiah. For around forty years, Jeremiah spoke for God to the people of Judah. Over the years, he was whipped and put in the stocks Jeremiah , attacked by a mob Jeremiah , threatened by the king Jeremiah , and ridiculed Jeremiah He lived through the siege of Jerusalem along with the rest and was there as the people were taken away as captives. Perhaps worst of all, Jeremiah was alone. He was not allowed to marry Jeremiah , and his family abandoned him.
He was alone with the knowledge of the horrors coming for Judah. His early messages focused on condemning false worship and social injustice, with calls to repentance. He proclaimed a coming foe, and after the reforms under Josiah, he urged the people to adhere to the covenant Jeremiah He continually urged focusing on the inner spirit and right actions rather than external religious practice.
For this, he was arrested. Jeremiah continually denounced Jehoiakim for his selfishness, materialism, and injustice. However, his special predictions of desolation were always for Judah. When Jehoiakim withheld tribute from the Babylonians, Jeremiah warned that Judah would be destroyed by Babylon.
Many died in a siege of Jerusalem and more were carried off to Babylon in The Babylonians placed Zedekiah on the throne of Judah. During this time, Jeremiah wrote to the exiles in Babylon, telling them they would not be returning to their homeland anytime soon. Instead, he passed along a message from the Lord telling them to settle in Babylon.
This was a captivity for the long haul. Jeremiah was known for his dramatic object lessons. For example, when emissaries from surrounding nations came to Judah asking the nation to join a rebellion against Babylon, Jeremiah put a yoke on his neck and went about urging the nations to submit to the yoke of Babylon and live Jeremiah At the height of the Babylonian siege, on orders from God, Jeremiah bought land in the city of Jerusalem to show that the Jews would one day return Jeremiah Jeremiah preached a lot of doom and punishment.
However, his message was ultimately one of repentance and restoration. God was quick to remind his people that although there would be consequences for their sin, He still had a plan.
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