It’s hard to believe that I began a year ago to walk through the book of Jeremiah! Jeremiah lived through interesting times as his nation fell apart. He tried to warn people, but few paid attention. Most scoffed at him instead.
The pivotal moment in Jeremiah’s life was the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem. He’d been predicting it for decades, lived to see it, and then saw the aftermath. 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles also document Jerusalem’s destruction. When 2 Chronicles recounts the end of the kingdom of Judah, it mentions Jeremiah’s involvement, which is not mirrored in 2 Kings.
When King Josiah died in battle, Jeremiah composed a lament for him (2 Chronicles 35:25). This led to the tradition that since Jeremiah witnessed the fall of Jerusalem, he was also the author of the book of Lamentations, which laments over the fall of the city. This is why Lamentations is placed after Jeremiah in Christian Bibles (the Jewish ordering places it with the writings among books like Psalms).
After Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, began to reign, it says “He did not humble himself before Jeremiah” (2 Chronicles 36:12). This stands in contrast to kings like Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 32:26) and Josiah (2 Chronicles 34:27), who humbled themselves before the Lord. In the end, Jerusalem was destroyed “to fulfill the word of Yahweh by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land has enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days of desolation it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years” (2 Chronicles 36:21). Leviticus 25:4 says that the land is to take a year off every seven. Because of the disobedience of the people, the land would enjoy an extended Sabbath (Leviticus 26:34-35).
The 70 years is probably one of Jeremiah’s most well-known prophecies, which is actually stated twice: Jeremiah 25:11-12 and 29:10. Daniel also was aware of Jeremiah’s promise of 70 years of exile (Daniel 9:2). After the 70 years were complete, Cyrus, king of Persia, proclaimed they could all return so that “the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled” (2 Chronicles 36:22, Ezra 1:1). Most people didn’t believe Jeremiah’s prophecies during his lifetime, but the compilers of the Bible recognized the importance of his words.
To Ponder…
Jeremiah had a rough life. He was ridiculed and scorned. He was imprisoned for obeying the Lord. He delivered a message that no one wanted to hear. Even after he was proven correct, they still did not listen to him. Nevertheless, he did say there was still hope. Despite the great tragedy that befell the nation, God was still in control and would bring them home again.
May we be faithful like Jeremiah, even in the face of adversity. May we also have discerning ears and hearts to hear when God is truly speaking and tune out the noise around us that’s competing for our attention.
Coming Up Next…
That concludes this series on Jeremiah! That means it’s time for a new book! However, I’m going to change this a bit. Rather than studying a whole chapter and picking out a random bit or two from it, I’m going to slow down and post verse by verse each week, focusing on the Hebrew that could be missed in English. As I continue to dig deeper into the original language and take the time to study it, I’m awed by the riches I find. This will help us better cross the linguistic bridge.
With that said, starting next week I will be diving into the short book of Habakkuk, who prophesied around the same time as Jeremiah. I hope you’ll join me!