Jeremiah Resources
Commentaries, Sermons, Illustrations, Devotionals
See Disclaimer
Updated March, 2013
 

A Chronology of Jeremiah's 40+ Year Ministry

BC
640 Josiah becomes king of Judah - the last godly king.
628 Josiah began to purge Judah in his 12th year
627 Lord first spoke to Jeremiah in 13th year of Josiah. Jeremiah 1-6 under Josiah's reign
622 In 18th year of Josiah Book of the Law found in House of God! (2Ki 22:8)
612 Nineveh the capital of Assyria was sacked.
609 King Josiah killed at Megiddo by Necho of Egypt, who was fighting to bolster Assyria (2Ki 23:29-30).
609 Jehoahaz ruled Judah 3 months, deposed by Neco, taken to Egypt in chains (2Ki 23:32-33; cf Jer. 22:10).
609-598 Jehoiakim reigned over Judah as an Egyptian vassal (Jer 22:13-17).
605 Battle of Carchemish. Nebuchadnezzar defeated Egyptian forces (Jer 46:2). "Turning point in world history"
605 First deportation of Jews to Babylon - Daniel in this group (2Ki 24:1). 
601 Jehoiakim sided with Egypt against Jeremiah's warnings (Jer. 22:13-19).
597 2nd Babylonian invasion takes Jerusalem, deports Ezekiel & 10,000; Zedekiah replaces Jehoiachin (2Ki 24:17)
592 Ezekiel begins his prophetic ministry (some 35 years after Jeremiah had begun his)
586 Fall of Jerusalem (Jer 39:1-18). Gedaliah appointed governor of Judah (2Ki 25:22-26). Jeremiah taken to Egypt.
538 Babylon falls to the Medes and Persians

Key words (NAS95): There are many key words but just reading through these key words give you some major "clues" as to the message and theme of the Book of Jeremiah. The following key words/phrases are somewhat grouped together. Do these groups give you at least a general sense of Jeremiah's message?

Word of the LORD (52x/51v - 20% of all uses of this phrase in Scripture are by Jeremiah!),

Heart/hearts (55x/48v), Faithless, faithlessness (8x/7v), Forsake (20x/18v), Forget (3x), Adultery, adulteries, adulterer (9x), Rebel, rebellious, rebellion (6x) Wicked, Wickedness (34x/30v), Evil/evils (53x/47v), Sin, sins, sinned (26x/25v), Iniquity, iniquities (24x/23v), Idol, images, gods, Baal (64x/56v)

Backslide (Only once in NAS95; 13x/12 in KJV - used only 4 other times in KJV in entire OT!),

Woe (13x), Wrath (19x/18v), Famine (33x/30v), Calamity (27x), Destroy (56x/52v), Pluck (4x), Uproot (8x/6v)

Babylon (169x in 149v - more than all other uses in Scripture combined!), Nations (Gentiles) (60x/55v)

Covenant (24x/21v), Everlasting (10x/9v), Love (14x/13v), Hope (6x); Compassion (7x/6v), Lovingkindness (5x)

Faithful/faithfulness (3x), Trust, trusted, trusting (18x/17v), Listen, hear, heed (96x), Remember (14x/13v), Return (35x/29v), Repent (6x), Turn/Turned Back (20x)

Restore (18x), Heal/healed/healing/health (21x/15v); Plant (17x/15v), Build (12x)

Baxter sums up the book with two phrases (using the KJV) - The first phrase is "I will punish" (Jer 9:25KJV, Jer 11:22KJV, Jer 21:14KJV, Jer 25:12KJV, Jer 29:32KJV, Jer 30:20KJV, Jer 36:31KJV, Jer 44:13KJV, Jer 44:29KJV, Jer 46:25KJV, Jer 50:18KJV, Jer 51:44KJV). The second phrase is "I will restore." (Jer 30:17)  Jer 26:12, 13 sums up God's clear and gracious "eleventh-hour offer" to Judah, an offer which was obviously rejected.

Beloved, we do well to read and study the prophecy of Jeremiah, for in these 52 chapters are timeless principles that will impact every nation and every individual who rejects God's Word and Authority and wantonly pursues wickedness. In short here is what Jeremiah would say...Woe to that nation or that person!

THE KEY CHAPTERS OF
JEREMIAH

Baxter writes (and I agree) that "The key to the whole book is found in Jeremiah 30, 31, especially in Jer 30:15-18

'Why do you cry out over your injury? Your pain is incurable. Because your iniquity is great and your sins are numerous, I have done these things to you. 16 'Therefore all who devour you will be devoured; and all your adversaries, every one of them, will go into captivity; and those who plunder you will be for plunder, and all who prey upon you I will give for prey. 17 'For (Don't miss this strategically placed term of explanation- Always ask "What is it explaining?") I will restore you to health and I will heal you of your wounds,' declares the LORD, 'Because they have called you an outcast, saying: "It is Zion; no one cares for her."' 18 "Thus says the LORD, 'Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob and have compassion on his dwelling places; and the city (Jerusalem) will be rebuilt on its ruin, and the palace will stand on its rightful place. (See David Baron's discussion of these crucial passages)

Key Event in Jeremiah: Fall of Jerusalem in Jer 39:1-18. Jeremiah 1:1-38:28 are given to Judah before the fall, but they are not in chronological order. Jeremiah 40-44 address Judah after the fall. Jeremiah 45:1-5 is to Baruch. Jeremiah 46:1-51:64 is to the Gentile nations. Jeremiah 52:1-34 is a historical supplement.

J C Ryle (1880): THE book of the prophet Jeremiah receives from most Christians far less attention than it deserves. It is a noteworthy fact that hardly any portion of Holy Scripture is the subject of so few exhaustive commentaries and expositions.

THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH
SUMMARIZED
 

Jeremiah 1:1-19: INTRODUCTION - JEREMIAH COMMISSIONED
 
Jeremiah 2:1-20:18: PROPHECIES TO JUDAH, GENERAL AND UNDATED
First message, Jer 2:1-3:5; second message, Jer 3:6-6:30; third message (at Temple gate), Jer 7:1-10:25; fourth message (the broken covenant), Jer 11:1-12:17; fifth message (sign of linen girdle), Jer 13:1-27; sixth message (on the drought), Jer 14:1-15:21; seventh message (sign of the unmarried prophet), Jer 16:1-17:18); eighth message (at city gates), Jer 17:19-27; ninth message (the potter's vessel), Jer 18; tenth message (the earthen vessel), Jer 19:1-15; result, Jer 20:1-18.
 
Jeremiah 21:1-39:18: PROPHECIES TO JUDAH, PARTICULAR AND DATED.
First (to Zedekiah), Jer 21:1-23:40; second (after first deportation), Jer 24:1-10; third (fourth year of Jehoiakim: he coming Babylonian captivity), 25; third (early reign of Jehoiakim), 26; fourth (early reign of Jehoiakim), 27-28; fifth (to captives of first deportation), 29-31; sixth (tenth year Zedekiah), 32-33; seventh (during Babylonian siege), 34; eighth (days of Jehoiakim), 35; ninth (fourth year Jehoiakim), 36; tenth (siege), 37; result 38-39.
 
Jeremiah 40:1-44:30: PROPHECIES TO JUDAH AFTER FALL OF JERUSALEM.
Babylonian kindly treatment of Jeremiah (Jer 40:1-6); ill-doings in land of Judaea (Jer 40:7-41:18); Jeremiah's message to remnant in the land (Jer 42); Jeremiah carried down to Egypt (Jer 43:1-7); first prophetic message in Egypt (Jer 43:8-13); second prophetic message to Jewish refugees in Egypt (Jer 44:1-30); result-further rejection of the message by Jewish refugees.
 
Jeremiah 45:1-51:64: PROPHECIES UPON NINE GENTILE NATIONS.
Preceded by a prefatory note to Baruch the faithful scribe who wrote them (45); first (against Egypt), Jer 46; second, (against the Philistines) Jer 47; third (against Moab), Jer 48; fourth (against the Ammonites) Jer 49:1-6; fifth (against Edom), Jer 49:7-22; sixth (against Damascus), Jer 49:23-27; seventh (against Kedar and Hazor), Jer 49:28-33; eighth (against Elam), Jer 49:34-39; ninth (against Babylon and Chaldea), Jer 50:1-51:64.

Jeremiah 52:1-34: SUPPLEMENT/CONCLUSION - Jerusalem overthrown.
(Adapted from Baxter's Explore the Book)

"THE WEEPING PROPHET"

The book of Jeremiah is unique among the OT prophets, because God reveals the prophet's heart more than with any of the other prophets. "Jeremiah was the prophet of Judah's midnight hour." (Baxter) Jeremiah was the "weeping prophet" (Jer 9:1; 13:17), the "reluctant prophet" (Jer 1:6), “prophet of loneliness” (he was commanded not to marry, Jer 16:2), the persecuted prophet = rejected, ridiculed, beaten, falsely accused -- Jer  11:18-23; Jer 12:6; Jer 15:10; Jer 18:18; Jer 20:1-3 (in stocks); Jer 20:7 (laughingstock) Jer 26:1-24; Jer 37:11-38:28, accused of treachery (Jer 38:4), lowered into a cistern (Jer 38:6); carried, against his will, by his countrymen into Egypt (Jer 43:1–7).

Related Resource: Picture of a Prophet by Leonard Ravenhill

Irving Jensen: NO MORE FITTING INTRODUCTION to the prophecy of Jeremiah could be given in the opening words of the prophecy than by stating where God “found” Jeremiah (among the priests), and what He made of him (a prophet unto the nations). (Everyman’s Bible Commentary)

J Sidlow Baxter: Jeremiah is one of the bravest, tenderest, and most pathetic figures in history; and his book of prophecies is one which everybody should read. Indeed, there is good reason why we should read the prophecies of Jeremiah with much thoughtfulness just now, for there is no little correspondence between the fateful days of this noble prophet and our own. ...I know of no man who reveals a truer heart-likeness to Jesus Himself than does Jeremiah, in his suffering sympathy both with God and men, in his unretaliating forbearance, his yearning concern for his fellows, his guileless motive, his humility, his willingness for self-sacrifice, and his utter faithfulness, even to the point of unsparing severity in denunciation. All disappointed, disappreciated, disregarded, misunderstood, misrepresented, and persecuted Christian workers today, sticking on at their work, but with a leaden weight at the heart and a choke of grief in the throat, should turn aside again and again to commune with the heroic great-heart of these pages. Indeed, we cannot properly study this Book of Jeremiah without studying Jeremiah himself; for the man is as much the book as the prophecies which he uttered.... With an intensity of love and sympathy, he himself lived and felt and suffered in his message. His own heart-strings vibrated to every major and every minor chord. The man and his message were one. (Baxter's Explore the Book)

James Van Dine (see below) - "Jeremiah’s very personal, and painful, participation in the prophetic enterprise sets him apart as the messenger of God who most identified with the sorrow that Yahweh must have felt over the rejection of His chosen people. Hence, unlike the other writing prophets, the message of Jeremiah is significantly bound up with the prophet’s own spiritual and psychological states, induced as they were by the difficulty of his mission and the hostility to its reception. God does not judge without sorrow; his servants cannot but share His own heart for His special people."

G Campbell Morgan's "Living Messages" from Jeremiah (see below): "The permanent values of this book constitute its living message. I utter that in briefest sentences. First, it teaches us that sin is its own destruction. No policy can outmaneuver God. National rebellion is national ruin. Sin carries within itself the force of its own punishment and its own retribution. Secondly, it affirms that the heart of God is wounded by sin. Judgment is His strange act. He weeps over the doom of a city. Finally it declares that the ultimate victory is with God, “He made it again.” The Branch is appointed. The King-Priest has come. We are to learn that God must punish sin, that the most awful fact of sin is that it wounds God; and finally, that if we will but have it so, if we will but turn to Him and listen to His call, He overrules by canceling, and breaking the power of sin, makes again the vessel marred in the hand of the potter." (Living Messages of the Books of the Bible - The Message of Jeremiah)

Archaeological Discoveries  - Corroborate historicity of biblical accounts of last years of Judah. (1) The Babylonian Chronicle gives information about the campaigns of the Babylonian armies from 626BC on, including capture of Jerusalem in 597. (2) The Lachish letters describe the situation in Judah just prior to Nebuchadnezzar's final siege of Judah in 586. A seal at Lachish bears the name of Gedaliah (Click discussion). (3) Tablets excavated near the Ishtar Gate of ancient Babylon include the name of "Yaukin [Jehoiachin] king of the land of Yahud [Judah]" as receiving royal bounty (i.e., ration tablets, 2Ki 25:29-30). (From The Ryrie Study Bible)

Jeremiah ministered during the reigns of Judah's last, five kings (Jer 1:1-3). One has but to name these kings - Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah - to realize the darkness of those days. Note that unfortunately Jeremiah is not arranged chronologically which can make it difficult for the reader to discern when Jeremiah is actually prophesying. Below is a list of the last five kings with the respective chapters during which Jeremiah ministered (these are approximations).

Henrietta Mears: Jeremiah was assured that Jehovah ordained him to this work before his birth (Jeremiah 1:5). God tells us in Eph 2:10 that we were created unto good works before God even laid the foundation of the world. God has a plan for each one of our lives (Jer 1:1-8). (What the Bible is All about)

Favorite Passages: There are many but here are a few - Jer 2:13, Jer 6:16, Jer 15:16, Jer 17:9-10, Jer 20:9, Jer 23:29, Jer 29:11-13, Jer 31:3, Jer 31:31-34, Jer 32:17

Quotations/Allusions of Jeremiah in NT:

Jer 5:21 > Mk 8:18
Jer 6:16 > Mt 11:29
Jer 7:11 > Mt 21:13; Mk 11:17; Lk 19:46
Jer 9:23, 24 > 1Co 1:31; 2Co 10:17
Jer 10:7 > Re 15:3, 4
Jer 12:3 > Jas 5:5 (Allusion)
Jer 22:24 > Ro 14:11 ("As I live...")
Jer 31:15 > Mt 2:18
Jer 31:31-34 > He 8:8-12
Jer 31:33, 34 > He 10:16, 17

Pastor Ray Stedman applies the warning passages of Jeremiah to us today writing:
 

We do not want to read this as though it is something remote from us. If you are inclined to say only, "Oh, it's such a pity what's going to happen to Israel," remember that this is your story, too. This is the way God works. He deals with Israel this way because this is the way he deals with everybody. There is a scriptural principle reflected here which all too often we forget. Paul said very plainly in Galatians 6, "Be not deceived [i.e., don't kid yourself]; God is not cheated," (Gal 6:7a). Just because judgment does not fall immediately upon people, they think they have gotten by. But Paul says, "Don't fool yourself; God is not cheated. Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption [i.e., trouble, pain, heartache, trial, distress, and disaster]," (Gal 6:7,8a). Now, that is inevitable. God does not cancel that out by the forgiveness of sin. That is part of what we call the natural consequences of evil, the temporal judgment of God. And it is never canceled out, any more than the rest of what Paul says is canceled out: "but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life" (Gal 6:8b) -- life everlasting -- now -- not just in heaven some day but now. The joy and glory of life will come to us if we walk in the Spirit, and that is inevitable. But so is the judgment for our sin. This means, of course, that ultimately a recompense comes to us in life now for the evil in which we have indulged our flesh--whether it is blatant, open, sensual evil, or whether it is inward--spiritual pride, bitterness, and all the other sins of the spirit. It makes no difference. Evil brings its own results. As someone has well said, "You can pull out the nail driven into the wall, but you can't pull out the nail hole. "If you want to study this question further, you can obtain a copy of a message I gave some years ago entitled The Scars of Sin, which touches on this subject. (The Secret of Strength)