Introduction The Book of Jeremiah

Our Approach What is Jeremiah’s intended audience? Jeremiah’s primary audience is the Israelite people While other nations (Philistines, Moabites, and Ammonites) would be justly judged, Jeremiah’s main goal is to warn the Israelites of impending doom Jeremiah is not necessarily intending to address the wickedness of Babylon (although they would be judged by God as well)

Our Approach It would be easy to make connections from Jeremiah to the world around us Our goal will be to make application of the principles found within Jeremiah to the modern church For instance, turn to 2 Chronicles 33:1-9 What does it mean when it states that Manasseh “caused his sons to pass through the fire”? It is easy to connect this concept to modern day abortion, but is there a better spiritual application that we can make?

Introduction Where was Jeremiah from? “Jeremiah’s home was Anathoth, a Levitical city in the territory of Benjamin located about five miles northeast of Jerusalem” (Humphries, xiii). “This connection with Anathoth would indicate that Jeremiah came from a family of priests…”

Introduction When did the word of the Lord first come to Jeremiah (according to the text)? The 13 th year of Josiah’s reign over Judah Josiah’s reign began in approximately 639 B.C., which would place the word coming to Jeremiah in 626 B.C. Josiah was 21 years old (2 Kings 22:1)

Introduction When did the word of the Lord come to Jeremiah the second time? (Jeremiah 1:3) In the days of Jehoiakim and remained until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign. Jehoahaz reigned for three months before Jehoiakim took his place Jehoiakim took power in approximately 608 B.C. This places the “eleventh year of Zedekiah” at approximately 586 B.C.

Introduction Why were the sermons/prophecies/pleadings necessary? Many kings of both Israel and Judah lived lives filled with rebellion and wickedness Manasseh and Amon stand as examples of such wickedness While Manasseh seems to have a semi-happy ending, it appears his redemption comes too late for Amon More on this in the next lesson

Introduction Service to false idols is a strong theme throughout Jeremiah This is one of the largest contributing factors for the captivity of Israel and Judah While kings like Manasseh and Josiah sought to destroy idolatry, they could not change the hearts of an unrighteous people What applications can be made to today? As Christians, we may fight for just legislation…and win, but that doesn’t mean we’ve changed hearts. This should stand as a warning to us that we need to change the hearts of those within the Lord’s church and establish why we follow God

Introduction Was Jeremiah speaking to the king? Jeremiah began speaking the year after Josiah started his purge It is clear that Josiah’s heart is with God, but the hearts of the people are not

Introduction Another dominant (although perhaps indirect) theme throughout Jeremiah is: God rules in the kingdoms of men This point is explicitly made in Daniel 5:20-21 “But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him. Then he was driven from the sons of men, his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. They fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses.”

Introduction Like Nebuchadnezzar, Manasseh is driven from his kingdom by God, then placed back in power once he has humbled himself before God Likewise, God shows His awesome power over dumb idols Under Manasseh, Judah set up “high places,” which were locations for sacrificing to false gods (not the same as mentioned in 2 Chron. 33:4) Once Manasseh begins to combat idolatry, the Israelites still offer sacrifices at the “high places,” except that they then offered them only to the true God

Introduction We see that God has power over these dumb idols in that He pushed them from His own house Obedience to His will then began to take place even in the “high places” of the false gods.

Next Week We will start looking deeper into the history of Judah from Manasseh to Zedekiah There are significant readings for the next lesson…check them out! 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles provide different perspectives. Sometimes one will provide information not found in the other. We will use both narratives. We will revisit many of the themes discussed today as we progress through our study of Jeremiah