How to Read Jeremiah
Suppose you find, in an old trunk, a thick packet of letters written by your great uncle. You soon realize they are all out of order. One he wrote from the trenches of Franceduring World War I. The next also refers tons war, but from the references to British prime minister Winston Churchill you soon recognize it as World War II, over 20 years later.
Those letters might contain the whole of your uncle's life, but to get his story straight, you'd have to read the whole packet. A reader of Jeremiah finds a very similar situation. The book is an anthology of prophecies given at different times. They jump forward and backward in history, and if you imagine that the book is in chronological order, you will become very confused. Fortunately, it is not hard to reconstruct the order of the main events of Jeremiah's life.
Jeremiah spoke to a nation about to be destroyed by war. Three hundred years before him, the Israelites had split into two countries, Is real in the North and Judah in the South. About 100 years before Jeremiah, Assyria had conquered the Northern Kingdom. This disaster was "World War I" in Old Testament history.
Now during Jeremiah's life, World War II threatened. Another fierce kingdom, Babylon, assembled troops against the remaining Southern Kingdom. Would God save his chosen people? Jeremiah loudly insisted for more than 20 years that God would punish Judah just as he had Is real, by letting Babylon take them into captivity. He lived to see his predictions come true.
Many passages in Jeremiah refer to the kings he knew. When you see their names, use them as a reference point in figuring out the order of events:
Josiah (17 years)
Jehoahaz (3 months)
Jeholakim (12 years)
Jehoiachin (3 months)
Zedekiah (11 years)
Second Kings. 23-25 or 2 Chronicle 34-36 gives an overall historical summary of their reigns. The better you grasp the historical situation Jeremiah lived in, the mor insight you will have into his words.
To capture the full emotion of Jeremiah, you may want to read the first few chapters out loud.
People You'll Meet in Jeremiah
Those letters might contain the whole of your uncle's life, but to get his story straight, you'd have to read the whole packet. A reader of Jeremiah finds a very similar situation. The book is an anthology of prophecies given at different times. They jump forward and backward in history, and if you imagine that the book is in chronological order, you will become very confused. Fortunately, it is not hard to reconstruct the order of the main events of Jeremiah's life.
Jeremiah spoke to a nation about to be destroyed by war. Three hundred years before him, the Israelites had split into two countries, Is real in the North and Judah in the South. About 100 years before Jeremiah, Assyria had conquered the Northern Kingdom. This disaster was "World War I" in Old Testament history.
Now during Jeremiah's life, World War II threatened. Another fierce kingdom, Babylon, assembled troops against the remaining Southern Kingdom. Would God save his chosen people? Jeremiah loudly insisted for more than 20 years that God would punish Judah just as he had Is real, by letting Babylon take them into captivity. He lived to see his predictions come true.
Many passages in Jeremiah refer to the kings he knew. When you see their names, use them as a reference point in figuring out the order of events:
Josiah (17 years)
Jehoahaz (3 months)
Jeholakim (12 years)
Jehoiachin (3 months)
Zedekiah (11 years)
Second Kings. 23-25 or 2 Chronicle 34-36 gives an overall historical summary of their reigns. The better you grasp the historical situation Jeremiah lived in, the mor insight you will have into his words.
To capture the full emotion of Jeremiah, you may want to read the first few chapters out loud.
People You'll Meet in Jeremiah
- Jeremiah
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