Jeremiah is a difficult book to follow chronologically, as the chapters are not necessarily chronological. It is also difficult to study in that a portion of it is prophetic in nature. For this reason, we will not concern ourselves with the chronology as much as we will concern ourselves with the message of Jeremiah.
The writing of Jeremiah, in contrast to Isaiah, is not as eloquent and lofty as Isaiah, but is instead direct and to the point, expressing almost continually a deep anguish of soul, which, as previously mentioned, provided him with the nickname of "the weeping prophet."
The person of Jeremiah is thought, by most biblical scholars, to be the most deeply spiritual person of the Old Testament. We will get to know Jeremiah much more personally than any other prophet, as this book is almost an autobiography of Jeremiah. We will find Jeremiah to be uncompromising, both with himself as well as with his nation, Judah.
The book of Jeremiah is quoted over 50 times in the New Testament, with more than half of those in the book of Revelation alone.
Jeremiah was in the Lord's service for forty-five years. During that period of time, yet prior to the fall of Jerusalem, twelve sermons (or warnings) were preached to the nation of Judah by Jeremiah.
My Bible breaks down these sermons so that it is easy for me to see where one sermon begins and ends and another begins again. Hope yours does too, but if not, you will see the division of sermons by my postings as I will post notes daily regarding each sermon and its relevant scripture, and will provide the number of the sermon in the post's title.
When we have studied all twelve sermons, we will then learn of the conflict that Jeremiah's messages from God brought to him from 1) the nation of Judah, 2) the false prophets, 3) Hananiah, 4) Shemaiah.
These conflicts will be followed by the speaking of God's promises of future restoration. But then the judgment, as God had before ordained and declared to be coming, arrives swiftly and surely. We will see Jerusalem's fall to the Babylonians in three phases: the period just before the fall, during the fall, and after the fall.
And all of this will still only get us through chapter 45. There are 52 chapters in the Book of Jeremiah. The remaining chapters are prophetic, and repetitive of Jerusalem's fall. Jeremiah is the longest book of the Bible, and thus quite an undertaking in terms of bible study.
Please be sure to read the chapters relevant to the appropriate sermon before reading that day's post regarding the sermon, if at all possible. And, as always, post questions, thoughts or other comments at the end of the day's post whenever it suits you to do so. I usually respond pretty quickly whenever a question is asked. All comments and responses are to be found at the bottom of each day's post.
Finally, I want to add one last warning of my own: because so much of this book is a strong message being sent from God to a hard-hearted people who have been negligent of God ("my people have forgotten me days without number" Jer. 2:32b), and because many of us have at some time or another, perhaps even recently, also been forgetful and negligent of God, please do not let the enemy attack you in this regard. Remember, that the message is always strongest to those who are unrepentant, who have not yet even acknowledged that they have turned from God, and remember also that the Lord continually, it seems, offers hope if they will only repent. Certainly, if there are readers of this blog who have not yet acknowledged their neglect of God, then I pray that this book will help lead you to repentance and forgiveness which is freely given by God. But most of you, I believe, would not even be reading this blog if you were not already cognizant of your sin of negligence against God, and repentant of it already...thus you find yourselves here studying the Word of God. You are here because the Spirit of the Lord has drawn you and will keep you.
So, tomorrow we will begin with Sermon #1 and if you can please read chapter 2:1 through 3:5 which are the scriptures covering Jeremiah's first sermon, before you read the blog post.
The writing of Jeremiah, in contrast to Isaiah, is not as eloquent and lofty as Isaiah, but is instead direct and to the point, expressing almost continually a deep anguish of soul, which, as previously mentioned, provided him with the nickname of "the weeping prophet."
The person of Jeremiah is thought, by most biblical scholars, to be the most deeply spiritual person of the Old Testament. We will get to know Jeremiah much more personally than any other prophet, as this book is almost an autobiography of Jeremiah. We will find Jeremiah to be uncompromising, both with himself as well as with his nation, Judah.
The book of Jeremiah is quoted over 50 times in the New Testament, with more than half of those in the book of Revelation alone.
Jeremiah was in the Lord's service for forty-five years. During that period of time, yet prior to the fall of Jerusalem, twelve sermons (or warnings) were preached to the nation of Judah by Jeremiah.
My Bible breaks down these sermons so that it is easy for me to see where one sermon begins and ends and another begins again. Hope yours does too, but if not, you will see the division of sermons by my postings as I will post notes daily regarding each sermon and its relevant scripture, and will provide the number of the sermon in the post's title.
When we have studied all twelve sermons, we will then learn of the conflict that Jeremiah's messages from God brought to him from 1) the nation of Judah, 2) the false prophets, 3) Hananiah, 4) Shemaiah.
These conflicts will be followed by the speaking of God's promises of future restoration. But then the judgment, as God had before ordained and declared to be coming, arrives swiftly and surely. We will see Jerusalem's fall to the Babylonians in three phases: the period just before the fall, during the fall, and after the fall.
And all of this will still only get us through chapter 45. There are 52 chapters in the Book of Jeremiah. The remaining chapters are prophetic, and repetitive of Jerusalem's fall. Jeremiah is the longest book of the Bible, and thus quite an undertaking in terms of bible study.
Please be sure to read the chapters relevant to the appropriate sermon before reading that day's post regarding the sermon, if at all possible. And, as always, post questions, thoughts or other comments at the end of the day's post whenever it suits you to do so. I usually respond pretty quickly whenever a question is asked. All comments and responses are to be found at the bottom of each day's post.
Finally, I want to add one last warning of my own: because so much of this book is a strong message being sent from God to a hard-hearted people who have been negligent of God ("my people have forgotten me days without number" Jer. 2:32b), and because many of us have at some time or another, perhaps even recently, also been forgetful and negligent of God, please do not let the enemy attack you in this regard. Remember, that the message is always strongest to those who are unrepentant, who have not yet even acknowledged that they have turned from God, and remember also that the Lord continually, it seems, offers hope if they will only repent. Certainly, if there are readers of this blog who have not yet acknowledged their neglect of God, then I pray that this book will help lead you to repentance and forgiveness which is freely given by God. But most of you, I believe, would not even be reading this blog if you were not already cognizant of your sin of negligence against God, and repentant of it already...thus you find yourselves here studying the Word of God. You are here because the Spirit of the Lord has drawn you and will keep you.
So, tomorrow we will begin with Sermon #1 and if you can please read chapter 2:1 through 3:5 which are the scriptures covering Jeremiah's first sermon, before you read the blog post.
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