Introduction to the book of Jeremiah

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/15/2014 3:40 PM

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Introduction to the book of Jeremiah

            Today we begin the long process of going through the book of Jeremiah.  There are times when certain books of the Bible excite me more than others, and to be honest I am not as excited to look at Jeremiah as I was looking at the book of Isaiah, but one thing I know and that is that it is from the Word of God and so for that reason alone I want to study this book.  It took around six months to go through the book of Isaiah which had 66 chapters, and it could even take a bit longer going through Jeremiah even though it has 51 chapters in it.  We will begin our journey today by looking at some of the things we need to know about Jeremiah before going into the first chapter of the book.

            The following is the outline we will be following from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary on Jeremiah is entitled “Be Decisive” and he states that the Key theme of the book is “Repent and return to the Lord of He will judge.”  The key verse is Jeremiah 3:22 “"Return, O faithless sons, I will heal your faithlessness." "Behold, we come to You; For You are the LORD our God.”

I.                    Jeremiah’s Call and Commission Chapter 1.

II.                 Jeremiah’s Messages to his people Judah. Chapters 2-33

1.       During the time of Josiah’s rule. Chapters 2-13

A.     The sins of the nation. Chapters 2-6.

B.     The temple messages Chapters 7-10.

C.     The broken covenant Chapters 11-13.

2.       The Coming Babylonian invasion. Chapters 14-16.

3.      The Sabbath message Chapter 17.

4.      The potter’s house sermons Chapters 18-19.

5.      Messages to the leaders Chapters 20-24.

6.      Judah’s captivity.  Chapters 25-29.

7.      National restoration. Chapters 30-33.

III.               Jeremiah’s Ministry and the fall of Jerusalem. Chapters 34-39.

1.      Ministry during the siege. Chapters 34-38.

A.     To King Zedekiah. Chapters 34, 37-38.

B.     To King Jehoiakim. Chapters 35-36.

2.      Jerusalem Falls. Chapter 39.

IV.              After the fall of the City. Chapters 40-45, 52.

V.                 Jeremiah’s Messages to the Nations. Chapters 46-51.

1.      To Egypt Chapter 46.

2.      To Philistia Chapter 47.

3.      To Moab. Chapter 48.

4.      To Ammon, Moab, Edom, Syria, Kedar, and Elam. Chapter 49.

5.      To Babylon. Chapters 50-51.

Let us look at some other things before we begin to study the book of Jeremiah.

Title:  In Jeremiah 1:1 we read “The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin.”  From this verse we see where the title of the book comes from, and we also see Jeremiah’s fathers name along with finding out the Jeremiah is a priest who lived in the land of Benjamin.

Author and Date:  We know that Jeremiah is the human author of the book and that when we look at the kings that he served we can find out the date of the beginning of the book.  We know that Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 BC, so we can figure from that date when the book was close to being ended, for Jeremiah went to Egypt with some of the survivors of the Babylonian attack and lived there until he was martyred.  John MacArthur states that he lived to between the age of 85-90.

Historical and Theological Themes:  The following comes from the John MacArthur Study Bible.  “The main theme of Jeremiah is judgment upon Judah (chapters 3-29) with restoration in the future messianic kingdom (23:8; 30-33).  Whereas Isaiah devoted many chapters to a future glory for Israel (Isa. 40-66), Jeremiah gave far less space to this subject.  Since God’s judgment was imminent he concentrated on current problems as he sought to turn the nation back from the point of no return.

            “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 shop (18:1-11).  A future focus is God’s plan for Jeremiah’s life, both in his proclamation of God’s message and in his commitment to fulfill all of His will (1:5-19; 15:19-21).  Other themes include: 1) God’s longing for Israel to be tender toward Him, as in the days of first love (2:1-3); 2) Jeremiah’s servant tears, as ‘the weeping prophet’ (9:1; 14:17); 3) the close, intimate relationship God had with Israel and that He yearned to keep (13:11); 4) suffering, as in Jeremiah’s trials (11:18-23; 20:1-8) and God sufficiency in all troubles (20:11-13); 5) the vital role that God’s Word can play in life (15:16); 6) the place of faith in expecting restoration from the God for whom nothing is too difficult (chapter 32, especially vv. 17, 27) ad 7) prayer for the coordination of God’s will with God’s action in restoring Israel to its land (33:3, 6-18).”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible Question:  “Joppa” (Acts 11:4-5).

Today’s Bible Question:  “To whom did God say ‘Fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation’?

Answer in our next SD.

1/15/2014 4:21 PM