The book of Jeremiah has 52 chapters, and his book of Lamentations has 5–thus, it will take me a few posts to cover his writings. Part 1 covers Jeremiah 1-10. For background on Jeremiah, see
https://www.biblestudytools.com/jeremiah/ https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jeremiah-Hebrew-prophet https://www.insight.org/resources/bible/the-major-prophets/jeremiah https://lifehopeandtruth.com/prophecy/prophets/prophets-of-the-bible/jeremiah-the-prophet/
Jer 1 Jeremiah called in the 13th year of Josiah, serves through Zedekiah & the Babylonian captivity
1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
2 To whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.
I think there’s a strong indication that Jeremiah’s father was a counselor to young King Josiah, the priest spoken of in 2 Kings 22, and a part of the reformation of the kingdom of Judah. Jeremiah seems to have had a position/access to the king’s court. It’s possible that the priest Hilkiah “who was over the household” and “the chief priest” was the (or one of the) influence(s) that made an impact on young Josiah to turn him to God. Remember that the priests/Levites were sent to live among each of the tribes in order to be teachers and civil leaders among them long ago under Moses. King Josiah may have sent his right hand man, the priest Hilkiah, as an overseer in the land of Benjamin. Or, Hilkiah’s ancestors may have been assigned to the land of Benjamin, and his talents may have brought him to the notice of the court so that he might have been called into service there. See various references at
https://biblehub.com/topical/h/hilkiah.htm
Jeremiah served as prophet to the Kingdom of Judah for about 40 years, from the good years of King Josiah, through the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of the Jews. He lived beyond that, and continued to counsel those that were left, but they didn’t listen to him either—though he did have some good and loyal friends. It’s no wonder that he wrote Lamentations, after having seen the great reforms of King Josiah, and then the utter wickedness and destruction that followed.
4 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
5 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.
6 Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
7 ¶ But the Lord said unto me, 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.
8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.
9 Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
The verses above make clear that God had a plan for Jeremiah even before he was born. Jeremiah, as Moses and others before, was overwhelmed with the role God was calling him to play. When he says he is but a child, I don’t think that meant that he was literally a boy like Samuel, though he might have been in his late teens or early 20s (considering he was prophet to the nation/kings for 40 years). What he is expressing is that he doesn’t feel adequate (like Moses at his call) in his speaking abilities. But God reassures him, as He did Moses and Joshua, that He would give him the words to say, and back him up in his assignment. As we will see, that doesn’t mean Jeremiah didn’t have hard things to go through and to suffer, but God would deliver him in the end. Jeremiah would not only pull down the corrupt, he would also build or plant the basis of a better kingdom or kingdoms (consider what his words have meant for God’s true followers since his time, and even now).
In vision God shows Jeremiah an almond branch, probably opening its blossoms, as God says that it represents the quickening of His work. Then God shows him a boiling pot facing the north. God says that it represents bad things to come from the north (probably the pot was boiling over, representing the spread of the ills of conquest over all the Middle Eastern lands). The ruling/military families will come against Jerusalem and all the cities of the kingdom of Judah—and this because of their wickedness and idolatry. God sends Jeremiah out with the warning that if he shows fear, he’ll lose his gift of speaking effectively. God reaffirms His backing with the word picture of protecting Jeremiah like an impenetrable city of defense. He forewarns Jeremiah that he’ll face opposition, but reiterates that He will be with him and deliver him.
Jer 2—Israel has turned from the all powerful God to sticks and stones
God sends Jeremiah out with a message to Jerusalem. He reminds them of their sojourn in the wilderness during the Exodus. It’s a little different picture of Israel than the Torah (5 books of Moses) paints, but I suppose God is referring to the 2nd generation, who had learned to live the Law of Moses (the Law of God). But then God accuses the ancestors of Jeremiah’s contemporaries of turning their backs on Him (as if they had found some fault in Him). God pleads with them, and their descendants. He says that no other nation has switched gods (who aren’t true gods), and yet the Israelites have. It’s astonishing! Poetically, verbally visually, He says, “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.” (note Jesus’ declaration about Living Waters: John 4:4-26, John 7:37-39)
Rhetorically God asks if Israel is a servant (instead of a son). That is, why should he be mistreated? (speaking of the difference between the way servants were treated, vs sons) But the nation of Israel has brought this on themselves. “Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts.”
God reminds them that He has saved them before, and they have promised not to misbehave (for example the covenants under Hezekiah and Josiah). But here they are again dirtying themselves, and the strongest cleaners can’t wash them clean. Like camels or donkeys they take off to do as they like. Only when they are experiencing their cycle can they be found. They’ve had a taste of infidelity, and they choose their lovers instead of God.
You call rocks and sticks your gods, every city has their own, yet they can’t save you in time of trouble. Why do you come to Me, when you have sinned against Me? You won’t learn from my corrections. You kill the prophets like lions kill those in their paths. You proudly claim to be powerful in and of yourselves, and see no reason to come unto Me. Rhetorically God asks, does a young girl or a bride forget her jewelry or pretty clothes? Yet you have forgotten Me for “days without number.” Your sins are obvious as the blood of the innocent on your clothes. You claim to be innocent, (but I know better). You’ll be ashamed of trying to make Egypt an ally, just as you were shamed in making Assyria an ally (remember when the Israelites invited Assyria into partisanship when Israel & Judah were adversaries, and a few year later when Assyria became a super power they came to rue the day). Your confidence in your policies will not turn out well . . . you’ll be arrested (that is, stopped) and walk forth with your hands on your head.
Jer 3—Israel has played the harlot
In the days of Josiah the king was this condemnation made by God through Jeremiah, early in his calling. Perhaps Jeremiah was an influence for good in the life of Josiah. Jeremiah began to prophesy in the 13th year of Josiah. 2 Chron 34:3 says in the 12th year of his reign he began to purge the land of idolatry. If Jeremiah was not the impetus of the purging, he was surely a supporter of it.
Jeremiah paints a clear picture of the adulterous idolatry of Israel in the form of a parable that they would understand. A divorced wife who had remarried (or, worse yet, not remarried, but involved herself with other man/men) would not be taken back by her 1st husband. That would pollute the man’s inheritance (or the nation’s lands). And yet, though Israel had played the harlot with many false gods, God invites, even pleads, that Israel return to Him and He will welcome the one who had strayed. Look at all the high places (places of idolatrous worship) and consider what false gods with whom Israel hasn’t been untrue! Like a harlot sitting by the road in the Arabian wilderness (where travelers far from home would be tempted), Israel has polluted the land (earned the land a bad rep, for instance). For this reason the rains have been kept back. And yet, Israel has refused to be ashamed of infidelity. (Remember the story of Elijah, for example, how even after his powerful demonstration of the true God over the false—the miraculous lighting of the altar and the bringing of rain after a 3 year drought—yet Elijah mourned in a cave that there was no one that was true to God).
Next the Lord refers to the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah as sisters. For all Israel’s adulteries God divorced Himself from her (“put her away”: the Assyrian captivity). And yet, her sister kingdom, Judah followed her example. “And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly [pretending], saith the Lord.” King Hezekiah, at the time of the Assyrian captivity, brought those that were left of Israel as well as his kingdom of Judah, to covenant with God, recommit themselves to Him. But Hezekiah’s son & heir Manasseh led the people into worse idolatry than ever.
Jeremiah is sent north to plead with the remnants of Israel to return to God and find His promise of mercy. “Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” God promises to bless and prosper Israel. They will no longer look back to their history (being led by the ark of the covenant, as in the Exodus), but to Jerusalem for their leadership. The kingdoms of Israel and of Judah will be reunited, and the captives of Assyria will return to join them. Even Jeremiah is led to ask how this could all happen, but is answered that they will call God their father and not turn away from Him (with God all things are possible).
Jer 4—if the Jews would just turn to God, He would save them from the coming conquest from the North; a hint that God is preparing to create something out of the dust
God promises that if His people will just return to Him, destroy all the idolatrous worship, and swear their allegiance to Him, He will protect them from conquest & captivity. He uses the metaphor of farming: prepare the ground that has been left fallow, rather than plant amongst the weedy brambles. He uses the metaphor of circumcision to represent making their hearts tender/feeling toward God, lest they suffer God’s fury like a fire that can’t be quenched (because of their wicked behavior). God instructs His people to blow a trumpet in the land to gather the people into defensed cities, under the banner of Zion/Jerusalem/the kingdom of Judah. Like a lion, conquest is coming from the north, who will lay waste everything. God will allow such predations because He is angry with the wickedness of His people.
Jeremiah complains to God that surely He has deceived His people, promising peace, when like a powerful whirlwind destruction is coming. God pleads that Jerusalem wash herself from wickedness and rebellions against Him. It is her own doings that have brought all this on. Jeremiah voices his deep distress at the destruction and warfare to come. “For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish [foolish] children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.”
Interestingly, Jeremiah refers back to the state of the earth before Creation, “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.” (a premonition of the creation of a new state of Israel/Judah). God details the utter destruction of the land through warfare. He says, No matter what you do to make yourself look attractive to potential “lovers” (allies), they will all despise you. Then Jeremiah uses the metaphor of the pains of a woman giving birth. Such causes one to ponder what is to be created, born, of this clearing away of the debris & deadness of the land—witness the return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity and the development of the Jewish state from there.
Jer 5—Israel’s pretensions: they have eyes & ears but don’t see or hear who God really is
A challenge: search high and low for someone that looks for the Truth and brings Justice. If any can be found, God will pardon the people. Their words say they believe, but their behavior belies their words. While God has offered correction, they have been incorrigible. Jeremiah believes that the people have been foolish because they have not been taught. He determines to go to the great men (rulers or elites) of the day, because they are educated. But he finds that they have broken away from the restrictions of the Law. Because of this, like a zoo of predators will destruction come upon the land.
How can they be pardoned? Their children swear by false gods. When God had prospered them, they were faithless to Him and assembled in crowds at the licentious places of idol worship. Like well-fed horses they have “neighed” after their neighbor’s wives.
Destruction is coming (yet not in total) for Israel’s treachery with God. They assure themselves that nothing bad will happen, so their prophets are just windbags. Jeremiah’s words, on the contrary, will be like fire devouring wood. An ancient nation speaking an unknown language will come, and like an open grave their arrows will devour the lives of Israelites. They will eat up the food of the land, and leave the cities impoverished.
When people ask, Why is God doing this to us? Jeremiah is to answer, “Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.” They have eyes to see, ears to hear, but neither see nor hear. “Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter [2 rainy seasons, that water the crops], in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest . . . your sins have withholden good things from you.”
Wicked men lay in wait, setting traps and snares to enrich themselves at the expense of others. Like a cageful of birds, their holdings (business dealings) are full of deceit. In their own prosperity they don’t bring justice to the needy poor and the fatherless. The prophets lie, the priests rule through their riches. And the people like things the way they are. What will you do when the consequences follow? What a message for today!
Jer 6—the people will suffer the consequences of their hypocrisy & wickedness
“O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Beth-haccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction.” See Jeremiah 1:1, and the following explanations of the place mentioned here:
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/jeremiah/6-1.htm
https://www.bibleplaces.com/tekoa/
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/nehemiah/3-5.htm men of Tekoah
https://bibleatlas.org/beth-haccherem.htm map; Beth-hakkerem south of Jerusalem, Tekoa further south
Commentaries offer a better understanding of verses 2-3: “woman” is an insertion not in the Hebrew, and “comely” is often a reference to a pleasant pasture. That lovely pasture is going to be devoured by armies from the north. In verse 6 trees are hewn down, probably for siege engines. It’s a warning (v. 8), because Jerusalem has spouted/gushed wickedness (violence and plundering, no doubt to get gain, like gangster families) like a fountain or a geyser. As in a grape harvest, where the vines are gleaned clean, and the grapes gathered into baskets, Zion will be left fruitless.
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/jeremiah/6-2.htm
Jeremiah asks, Who can I speak to and warn? Their ears are insensitive and they don’t listen. They don’t want to hear the Lord’s reproaches. Jeremiah feels angry at them. He’s tired of trying to be tactful & politically correct. He’s going to just lay it all out: not just soldiers, but husbands and wives, old people, everyone will be pillaged. Because everyone, rich or poor, powerful or powerless, is greedy of others’ goods, and even prophets and priests are dishonest/liars. They try to soothe people’s fears by saying there will be peace, but there will be no peace. They are shameless.
The Lord tells Jeremiah to remind the people of the old paths, the good way (the Law of Moses) in which they would find peace (compare Matt 11:28-30), but people are not interested in walking in those ways. The Lord set watchmen over the people to warn them of trouble, but they refused to listen.
References to watchmen: Isa 52, 56, 62; Ezek 33; Jer 31 & 51; 2 Kings 18:8 the watchmen on the tower were to warn their citizens of danger approaching; 1 Sam 16 Saul’s scouts(?) see the bold success of his son Jonathan & armor bearer, and the Israelite army is emboldened to fight for their nation & win).
So the Lord says He will bring the fruit (consequences) of their own thoughts upon them. He says, What’s the point of your fancy, expensive incense from Sheba (used in worship of those days)? All your offerings are worthless to Me [because of their hypocrisy]. Fathers, sons, neighbors, friends will all perish by the hands of conquerors from the north [Mesopotamia]. “They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea [because there are so many of them come shouting in battle]; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.” We’ve heard of their reputation, which strikes trembling fear, anguish, pains like a woman giving birth. Nobody dares go out to the fields or the roads. “O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.”
The Lord tells Jeremiah that he is set as a tower (like a watchtower, to give warning), and a fortress (a defense against destruction). Jeremiah is to know what they are like, and test them to see what they are truly made of. But God knows they are grievous rebels, companions of slanderers, hard as brass/iron, corrupters. Jeremiah, like a foundry worker tries to purify metal, yet the impurities/the wicked continue. The Lord will toss them out as silver that can’t be purified.
Jer 7—what God told Jeremiah to tell the people as they entered the Temple gate
The Lord tells Jeremiah to stand at the gate of the Temple and proclaim His word: Amend your ways and [God] will cause you to be able to continue living here. Don’t trust in lying promises that the Lord will not destroy this place because of His temple. Execute Justice in the court system. Don’t oppress foreigners, the fatherless, and the widow [those without protectors or recourse]. Don’t shed innocent blood. Don’t follow/worship other gods. Then [God] promises this land to you forever, as He did your ancestors.
But you trust in lies that can’t profit you. Do you think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, commit perjury and the like, burn incense to Baal and other gods you don’t know, and then come and stand here in the Temple thinking you can get away with all that? “Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes?” (No doubt Jesus was referencing this when He said, “ye have made it a den of thieves.” Matt 21:13) Just go check on Shiloh, where God’s tabernacle was at first, and see what He did to it because of the wickedness of the northern kingdom of Israel. Because you have likewise polluted this Temple, while “I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not . . . ,” God will do the same here, where you trust you are safe because of the promises He made to your forebearers.
The Lord tells Jeremiah not to pray for the people, nor try to intercede for them. He refuses to hear. He asks Jeremiah, Do you see what they do in Jerusalem and the cities of Judah? The kids gather wood, the fathers build a fire, and the women make bread/cakes for the “queen of heaven” (a false god), and they pour out drink offerings to other gods. Are they provoking Me, or causing confusion to their own faces?
The Lord says that when He brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt He didn’t ask for burnt offerings [at first], “But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.” (Remember what Samuel said to Saul, “Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” 1 Sam 15:22. The burnt offerings were to keep reminding the people of God and their covenant with Him, they were not the ends, but the means. They didn’t listen, but walked in their own imaginations and ideas. They went backward instead of forward (instead of progressing to a higher law, they were given the Law of Moses, a schoolmaster, to bring them to God. See Gal 3:24 etc). “Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them: Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.”
The Lord tells Jeremiah to tell the people all these things (at the Temple gate, as they enter to “worship”), but He says they will not listen. Jeremiah can call to them, but they won’t answer him. The Lord says, “But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.” Jeremiah writes of mourning and lamenting ritual of cutting off one’s hair, because the people of Jerusalem and the cities of Judah have done such evil, even polluting the Temple, and sacrificing their children in Tophet, in the valley of the son of Hinnom. One day that place will be called the valley of slaughter. They will run out of place to bury people, and the corpses will be eaten by beasts and birds. There will no longer be happy songs and glad voices of brides and grooms in Jerusalem and the cities of Judah: the land will be desolate.
Jer 8—things will get so bad that people would rather die than live
Jeremiah, speaking for the Lord, predicts that the bones of the kings, princes, priests, prophets (all of Judah), and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will be brought out of their graves and spread before the altars of the sun, moon, and other gods the people have served/worshipped to show the bones disrespect. “And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the Lord of hosts.” Presumably the conquerors are the “they” that would do the disrespecting, and the inhabitants of Judah & Jerusalem are ”they” that will wish they were dead.
And will the people then return to God and acknowledge their wrongs, asking/exclaiming to themselves, “What have I done?” No, they continue in their deceipt and refuse to come back to God. Though the creatures of the earth instinctively know their seasons, God’s people don’t recognize His judgments. How can they say they are wise and keep the Law of the Lord, and yet they are ashamed of Him, His words, and His ways.
Therefore, their wives and lands will be given to others (conquerors). Everyone from the least to the most powerful is covetous, the prophets and priests are dishonest. They try to soothe people by claiming “Peace…when there is no peace.” Are they ashamed of their abominations [such as sacrificing their children to false gods]? No. For that, their grape & fig harvests will be consumed [by the conquerors, or by Nature]. Why do we just sit here? We ought to get into (hide in) the walled cities and sit in silence for God has given us over to the consequences of our sins. We hoped for peace, and for health, but nothing came but troubles. We heard only the sounds of war horses as they advanced from the north, and the land is devoured by the conquerors. Like snakes and cockatrices [mythical or uncertain creatures], they won’t be charmed, but bite you. (“charmed, or charming” now has such a mild meaning, like a charming personality. But think in terms of snake charmers who don’t succeed, and get bit by a poisonous snake!)
Verses 18 to the end seem to be the lament of Jeremiah for his people, and their conquest by armies from a far away land. Where is God? They have provoked Him to anger with their idolatry (so He wants nothing to do with them). “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved . . . Is there no balm [medicine] in Gilead [a proverbial place of healing]; is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?”
Jer 9—Jeremiah, and the Lord, lament for the wickedness of the people
“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!” Jeremiah wishes he had a lodge to stay, away from his iniquitous people, whose lying tongues are like bows (shooting deadly arrows), and they go from one evil to the next. Even brothers and neighbors can’t be trusted. They are all deceptive, speaking peacefully with their tongues, but in their hearts are setting traps for their neighbors.
God claims vengeance on the people for their iniquities. But God’s vengeance is not the same as human vengeance. God requires Justice (even while He sorrows for the people), while humans just want to delight in making people suffer. God weeps for the destruction of the land. “Who is the wise man, that may understand this?” The destruction of the land is a consequence of the people forsaking God’s laws. Not only the land will be destroyed, the people will be scattered among unbelieving nations. The women are invited to mourn for the land and the people. Not only Judah, but Egypt, Edom, the Ammonites, the Moabites, and all that dwell in the region will be conquered for their iniquities.
23 ¶ Thus saith the Lord, 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:
24 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.
Jer 10—worshipping idols made by men is ludicrous; God is the true & living God, all powerful, Creator
“Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel . . .” Don’t fall for horoscopes, nor images made of wood & covered with silver or gold. They can’t speak or move on their own, nor can they do either good or evil. They are just foolish and vain. Compare contemporary veneration of crystals and the like.
In contrast, the Lord has true power. He is the true God, everlasting and living. He created the heavens and earth, and He can destroy all. He has not only the power, but the intelligence/wisdom as the Creator, who formed all.
Yet the Lord laments, and is grieved for the destruction of His people. Reference is made to the tabernacle of Exodus. Jeremiah humbly pleads for God’s correction for himself, but not to be destroyed. He pleads that those who have destroyed God’s people, and who have not believed in Him, be the objects of His anger.
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