Introduction

to Jeremiah
Prophecy
Jeremiah is one of the 17 prophe5c books of the Old Testament. Stuart and Fee point out that prophets had four main
roles in Israel:
1. Prophets were covenant enforcement mediators.
In other words, God used the prophets to bring his people back to the terms of the covenant.
2. The message they brought was Gods message not their own.
The prophets were keenly aware that they were bringing the Word of Yahweh to his people. In Jeremiahs case, this
is emphasised in the opening of the book where his calling as a prophet is portrayed.
3. They were Gods direct representa5ves.
They were media5ng Gods message directly from him to his people without it going through a third party. They
heard Gods words and they spoke those words, see Hosea 1:1-2 as an example.
4. The message was unoriginal but it was expressed in dierent forms and words.
The prophets were not crea5ng a new message from God but were returning to what God had already said and
applying it to the situa5on they found themselves in. In the background of all that the prophets speak is the covenant
made by God with his people at Sinai. This is made explicit in Jeremiah in chapter 11:1-14.
We might sum up these ideas by saying that prophecy is about bringing Gods perspec5ve to any given situa5on. In
the context of Jeremiah, while there are serious poli5cal issues at stake, God is more interested in the spiritual than
the poli5cal.

PREDICTION OR APPLICATION
In popular terms, prophecy is about telling the future - about predic5ng events that are s5ll to happen. While some
of prophecy does exactly that, the vast majority is not about predic5ng the future it is about applying Gods word to
the present. When studying Jeremiah, then, we may well nd that there are aspects which we may see as being
fullled in our 5mes or indeed further ahead in the future but we need to remember that the messages Jeremiah
gave were, rst and foremost, for the people of his 5me. Our job in interpreta5on is, then, to see how we can apply
these to us, Gods people, today.

THE STORY IN THE PROPHETS

Obviously, the prophe5c books are not narra5ve though sec5ons of them contain narra5ve, including parts of
Jeremiah. However, we can detect an overarching narra5ve within the prophe5c books. This story takes the following
shape: the people of God have fallen away from the demands of their covenant rela5onship with God; he calls them to
repentance and announces judgement if they fail to do so; he then promises future salva5on and blessing. This can be
seen as directly related to the curses and blessings related to the covenant as expressed in Deuteronomy 28 and 30
and in Levi5cus 26. These chapters, and an understanding of them, are central to understanding the later prophets.
The later prophets, then, worked from a knowledge and belief in the previously revealed word of God, and spoke
Gods revela5on into their circumstances as an act of faith; they believed that just as God had acted for Israels blessing
in the past, so would he act for their blessing in the future. The prophets were, therefore, wri5ng messages of hope
and comfort within dicult and troubling 5mes. As we read them, we need to see them in this pastoral context if we
are to apply them to our own situa5ons and 5mes. Prophecies are not complicated puzzles that need to be
deciphered by people with special understanding or knowledge. They are messages from a God of grace, holiness and
love to his people and aimed at their comfort and strengthening.
We might summarise the role of the prophets in the words of an expert in the law when he asked Jesus what he had to
do to inherit eternal life. 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength
and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbour as yourself.

Context
Jeremiah serves as a prophet during the reigns of ve Kings in Jerusalem, as well as the governorships of Gedaliah
and Johanan aber the Exile. The dates for his ministry, therefore, go from 627 to 560 BC.

Date
627
608?
605-603
597
594
588


586
585

560

Event
Jeremiahs Call
Destruc5on of temple
Burning of scroll
Lejer to exiles
Scroll thrown in Euphrates
Zedekiah told to surrender
Jeremiah in cistern
Jeremiah purchases a eld
Fall of Jerusalem
Flight to Egypt
Last speech to exiles
Jehoiachin released

Reference
1:1-19
26:1-24
36:1-32
29:1-19
51:59-64
37:1-38:28
37:1-38:28
32:1-44
39:1-40:7
43:1-13
44:1-30
52:31-34

Year of Kings Reign

Josiah year 13
Jehoiakim year 1?
Jehoiakim years 4-5
Zedekiah year 1
Zedekiah year 4
Zedekiah year 10

Zedekiah year 11
Johanan as governor

Even a brief look at the table above shows that the book of Jeremiah is not put together chronologically. Like many of
the prophe5c books, history becomes important in terms of its theological signicance; because it shows how God is at
work in the world.
Jeremiahs ministry starts as the dominant empire of the 5me, Assyria, was in decline. This opened the way for the rise
of Egypt, the Babylonians, and the Medes. Judah was caught in the middle of these poli5cal changes and was, at 5mes
a vassal of Assyria, Egypt and Babylon with a brief period of independence in there as well. It was during the 5me
under Babylon that the Exile occurred and the symbols of independence, and of Gods blessing, the Temple, the city
and the land, were destroyed.

Exile
The most important historical and theological event which lies at the heart of Jeremiah is the Exile in 586/7 BC. This
raised for the Jews fundamental ques5ons about the nature of God, the meaning of covenant, the meaning of Israel
itself and the relevance of the Land. It becomes closely linked with the ques5ons of what is sin, and what is the
meaning of repentance.
Jeremiahs response to these theological, na5onal and personal issues is not one of systema5c theology; rather his
theology and his thinking came out of life and from what he had learned of Israels tradi5ons. He tackles the
important ques5ons men5oned above, but also brings in the future hope of restora5on beyond judgement; his lejer
to the exiles (Jeremiah 29) is perhaps the clearest expression of this.

Structure
As with many prophe5c books, it can be quite dicult to determine the structure of Jeremiah. This is par5ally because
of the theological nature of this structure, and par5ally because the book is so varied. There are, though some clues
which we can use and help give us the structure below:
1:1-19 Jeremiahs Call
2:1-25:38 Divine Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem (Prophe5c Book One)
2:1-20:18 Judgement for unfaithfulness and call to repentance (including eight dialogues with Yahweh)

11:1-17 First

12:1-13 Second

15:10-12 - Third

15:15-21 - Fourth

17:14-18 - Fibh

18:18-23 - Sixth

20:7-13 - Seventh

20:14-18 - Eighth

26:1-29:32 True and False Prophecy (Historical Book One)

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30:1-33:26 Book of Consola5on (Prophe5c Book Two)

34:1-45:5 Rejec5on of Gods Word and the Fall of Jerusalem (Historical Book Two)

34:1-36:32 Rejec5on of Gods word by King and people

37:1-39:18 Up to the fall of Judah

40:1-45:5 The fate of those who remain

46:1-51:64 Oracles against the Na5ons (Prophe5c Book Three)

52:1-34 The Fall of Jerusalem (Historical Book Three)

Jeremiahs Theology
NAMES FOR GOD
Perhaps the name that Jeremiah uses for God the most oben (in common with many of the prophets) is Yahweh (in
English Bibles, usually wrijen LORD). This is the covenant and personal name of God, revealed in a specic way to
Moses (Exodus 3:14-15). On nine occasions, Yahweh is combined with the Hebrew word for Lord Adonai and
translated in English Bibles as Sovereign LORD, though a bejer transla5on might be King Yahweh.
Jeremiah uses some key terms to describe God and his rela5onship with his people. The terms go from the imminent
(husband, father) to the transcendent (Creator, Lord of history). It is worth no5ng how these are taken up in the New
Testament.
Husband 2:2
Ephesians 5:21-33; Revela5on 21:2

Creator 5:22
John 1:3; Colossians 1:16

Fountain of Living Waters 2:13

John 4:13-14

Pojer 18:1-12
Romans 9:21

Father 3:19
Majhew 6:9

Lord of History 25:9

Acts 2:23

COVENANT

As the use of Gods covenant name suggests, the covenant between God and his people is central to Jeremiahs
message (as it is in the OT as a whole). The fact that the people have broken this covenant is expressed graphically in
the poe5c sec5on at the start of Jeremiah. In chapter 11:1-17 (the rst of Jeremiahs dialogues with Yahweh), this is
most clearly expressed through linking the ac5ons of the people back to Gods covenantal promises in Deuteronomy
27 and 28. This sense of con5nuity with the past is important in Jeremiah. The people of God are s5ll the people of
God, despite their faithlessness, my people is a phrase used nearly 50 5mes in the book.

GODS FAITHFULNESS
Fundamental to our understanding of covenant is, of course, the faithfulness of God. In covenantal terms, this is
expressed in two ways. Firstly in the blessings that ow from obeying the commands of the covenant (Deuteronomy
28:1-14). Secondly, through the bringing of the curses that ow from the rejec5on of the covenant condi5ons
(Deuteronomy 28:15-68), one of which is the reality of exile. In Jeremiah 22:1-5, this balance of blessings and curses
as a result of the peoples ac5ons is shown clearly in Gods statements concerning the future of the kingship.
It is some5mes dicult for us to accept that judgement is a sign of Gods love and faithfulness, but it is. Indeed, Gods
ac5ng in judgement in response to his promises that he would do so is part of the basis for the faith that Jeremiah has
in Gods ul5mate blessing of his people. This is made explicit in chapter 31:28, Just as I watched over them to uproot
and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, declares
the Lord. The people could be sure of the return from exile because God had sent them into exile; both of these acts
were signs of Gods faithfulness.
One concept which is at the heart of the prophe5c understanding of Gods faithfulness is that expressed by the
Hebrew word, hesed. This is translated in a number of ways in English Bibles, faithful love, kindness, love, and
lovingkindness being just some. It is a word which expresses the way that God acts towards his people, and
expresses how his people ought to act towards each other. In Jeremiah 2:2, the word is translated devo5on in the
NIV, This is what the Lord says:I remember the devo5on of your youth in an image which perfectly expresses the
force of hesed. It is this covenant faithfulness to his people (and the expecta5on of similar devo5on in return) which
lies behind Jeremiahs condence in the ul5mate return of the people from exile.
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COVENANT SIGNS
There are three signs of the covenant which Jeremiah uses to help explain the consequences of rebellion and the hope
of return and which he redenes in important ways.
The rst of these is the Temple: the physical sign of Gods presence with his people. In Jeremiahs 5me, the people had
reached a state where they were trus5ng in the physical Temple rather than the God who dwelt there. Thus in chapter
seven (a chapter revolving around the abuse of the Temple) Jeremiah shows the fu5lity of simply repea5ng
meaningless words, this is the temple of Yahweh, this is the temple of Yahweh, this is the temple of Yahweh, if the
peoples ac5ons deny his very presence. In other words, outward ritual is not enough.
The future that is presented by Jeremiah has a dierent avour to it. The sugges5on comes in terms of the Temple that
the return will involve a move from the reliance on symbols of covenant to the God of the covenant himself. This nds
its ul5mate expression in chapter 31 but it is foreshadowed in chapter 3:16,17, where instead of looking to the Ark of
the Covenant people will look to God himself. Where the Ark, a specic place behind the curtain in the Most Holy
Place is replaced by the whole of Jerusalem being known as the Throne of Yahweh (Jeremiah 3:17).
A second sign of the covenant is that of the kingship. Gods promise to David that there would always be a King on the
throne of Israel (2 Samuel 7:11b-13) was one of the cornerstones of Judahs understanding of the covenant. As
chapter 52 tells us, the King is removed into exile and the sons of Zedekiah are killed before his eyes then he took
him to Babylon (Jeremiah 52:10,11). With the removal of the King, one of the main signs of the covenant is removed.
Once again in this context, the demands of the covenant are reiterated. In Jeremiah 22:4-5 the promise of a King on
Davids throne is repeated, as long as the people obey the covenant requirements. If they do not, then the removal of
the King is equally certain. Just as with the Temple, and other aspects of the covenant, obedience brings blessing,
disobedience brings curses.
The more distant future, though, holds a promise of greater blessing. The Lord promises that he will rise up a King
who will reign wisely and do what is right in the land (Jeremiah 23:5). This coming King is referred to as a righteous
Branch (Jeremiah 23:1, 5; 33:15) whose name would be Yahweh our righteous Saviour (Jeremiah 23:6). This
promise goes beyond a mere reinstatement of the Davidic line. We see in this a clear pointer towards the coming of
the one who is a truly righteous saviour, the descendant of David, Jesus.
The third sign of the covenant which Jeremiah starts to redene is that of circumcision. This sign, given rst to
Abraham (Genesis 17:10), was an important one in the faith of Israel. However, the physical circumcision was always a
sign of a dierent, spiritual circumcision. Thus in Deuteronomy 10:16 and 30:6, Moses makes it clear that circumcision
was really about something internal and not external. This aspect of circumcision is taken up by Jeremiah in chapter
4:4, where he writes, Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, circumcise your hearts.

NEW COVENANT
This redening of the covenant signs nds its ul5mate expression in what is probably the most famous chapter in
Jeremiah, chapter 31. This chapter forms part of the Second Book of Prophecy in Jeremiah, and with chapters 30 and
32 form what is oben referred to as the Book of Consola5on. It is the sec5on of Jeremiah where hope for the future
is most clearly expressed. Verse 31 is the pivotal verse, not just of chapter 31, or even this book, but perhaps of the
Old Testament. The faithful, unchanging God will Make a new covenant with the people of Israel
This is the only 5me a New Covenant is men5oned in the Old Testament and there are three important aspects we
need to explore if we are to recognise how important a statement this is, and how inuen5al it becomes in the rest of
the story of Gods salva5on.
Firstly, this covenant will be internal, rather than a covenant which is enforced by external rules and regula5ons
(Jeremiah 31:33). It involve a change internally. This is a change which is taken up by Jesus in the Sermon on the
Mount, where he brings out clearly the dierence between the outward righteousness of those who follow the law
and the inward righteousness of those who hear his words and live them out. Paul takes this idea up and explains it
further in 2 Corinthians 2:12-4:6.
Secondly, this covenant will be personal in responsibility. The former covenant was one with the whole people, with
the na5on and the eects of following or rejec5ng the covenant were felt by all. Thus people could complain that the
parents have eaten sour grapes, and the childrens teeth are set on edge (Jeremiah 31:29). This will change in the
new covenant Jeremiah tells us. Instead of the eect of one genera5ons sin being felt by succeeding genera5ons,
everyone will die for their own sin. At rst sight, the promise of death for each individual as a result of their sin is not
very posi5ve. But when we realise the change that is taking place here, a change from external conformity to internal
change, then it becomes a very real statement of hope.
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Thirdly, the covenant will be personal in terms of rela6onship, as Jeremiah writes, They will all know me, from the
least of them to the greatest (Jeremiah 31:34). A meaningful covenant rela5onship with God will be made possible
for everyone, not just a few. This does not mean the new covenant will be simply individualis5c. The people of God
remain the people of God and the promise of forgiveness of sin which follows is a promise to the people. However, it
does place an emphasis on the individuals rela5onship with God.
It is, of course, is impossible to read this without seeing the new covenants realisa5on in the person of Jesus. When,
at the ini5a5on of the new covenant at Last Supper, Jesus took the cup and said, This cup is the new covenant in my
blood (Luke 22:20) he was bringing together Jeremiahs new covenant with the Mosaic covenant. He was linking this
chapter with the words spoken by Moses at the ini5a5on of the old covenant, This is the blood of the covenant that
the Lord has made with you (Exodus 24:8). The two covenants coming together in the one person, Jesus as the
fullment of the law and the prophets!
This fullment of Jeremiahs prophecy in Jesus helps us to see something of how prophecy works. Jeremiah 31 is
fullled par5ally by the return form exile of the people under Ezra and Nehemiah. When the people return to the land
and the temple is rebuilt. However, it is only completely fullled in Jesus. And this fullment is in stages (for want of a
bejer word). The Last Supper shows us the rst stage of this fullment, but there is the promise in Jeremiah 31:33b,
that I will be their God and they will be my people. This promise, this statement of covenant, is being fullled as we
speak. It is why Peter can write, But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy na5on, Gods special
possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you
were not a people, but now you are the people of God (1 Peter 2:9-10). However, its ul5mate fullment lies in the
future, a future which is hinted at in verses 38-40 of this chapter, a future in the New Heavens and the New Earth of
Revela5on 21 where we read, I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Look! Gods dwelling place is now among
the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God
Revela5on 21:3). That is where the new covenant leads us, where the reality of Gods faithfulness will be known for
eternity.

Jeremiahs Call
The actual call of Jeremiah is found in chapter 1:4-10 and begins with the phrase, The word of Yahweh. This is a
common way of introducing the message that a prophet has to bring and is not specic to Jeremiah. It usually
introduces a message which is for public consump5on, but in this instance, the word comes to Jeremiah for his own
understanding, and takes the form of a conversa5on with God, rather than a record of Gods message to his people.
The word, translated word in this instance (dabar) means word, message, thing, ac5on and shows the clear link that
there is in Israelite thought between what a person thinks and what they do; that they are all part of the same event.
This is important in Jeremiahs case as he brings the message of God to his people both through words and in
symbolic acts (chs. 13, 18, 19; 51-59-64).
The call is presented in the form of a conversa5on with Yahweh, the rst sec5on being three lines of poetry. The rst
two follow the standard prac5ce of what is known as synonymous parallelism:

Before I formed you in the womb // I knew you

Before you were born // I set you apart

These words do not imply that somehow or other Jeremiahs life was simply predetermined. The conversa5onal nature
of the encounter with Yahweh suggests otherwise. Rather, it does two things. First, that while Jeremiah did have the
freedom to have resisted the call he could only discover the meaning of his birth and mortal existence in responding
to the call. Second, it is a sign of hope. The people may rebel and God may send them into exile, but this is no surprise
to God; he has a plan for dealing with the situa5on, a plan that was from before Jeremiah was born.
The two words in the second part of each line merit some comment. To know (yada) in biblical terms suggests more
than we would usually associate with the word in English. It goes beyond simple knowledge of things, or events, or
people and contains an important aspect of rela5onship which involves personal commitment. Thus, to know is
used of God and his rela5onship to his people (Amos 3:2), and to individuals (Genesis 18:19). It is also used of the
human sexual rela5onship (Genesis 4:1). There is, thus, an intensely comfor5ng and reassuring aspect to this phrase,
coming as it does from God to his prophet, that Gods knowledge of Jeremiah is a deeply commijed, personal one.
The idea of commitment is con5nued in the second word here, set apart (hiqdi). The root of this verb is the word
holy and is oben used to describe those things which are for Gods use (in the Tabernacle, for example, Levi5cus
10:10). Thus, everything that was involved in the worship of Yahweh in the Tabernacle (and later the Temple) was set
apart for that use. Gods use of the word here emphasises the holy role that Jeremiah (and other prophets) had.
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The third line of the poe5c call is also important, I appointed you as a prophet to the na5ons. The idea of Gods
choosing and calling of Jeremiah is con5nued with the word appoint, a word which is used in a number of
important passagesto describe this sort of special appointment (cf. Gen. 1:17; 17:5). The prophe5c ministry to
which Jeremiah is called is no ordinary task, it is one to which God himself must call and appoint. But the call goes
further and emphasises the universal nature of Gods rule and shows that Yahweh is not limited in the exercise of his
sovereignty or power.
Yahwehs ini5al approach to Jeremiah is followed by Jeremiahs response as the dialogue between God and his prophet
commence. The response is not unlike that of Moses (Genesis 3:11-4:17) or Isaiah (Isaiah 6:5) in that Jeremiah comes
with an objec5on as to why he is not t for the calling God has for him. In his case it is his youth and his lack of
experience at speaking. Gods response to Jeremiah ends with a promise of Gods presence and salva5on. It is
noteworthy that God does not promise that trouble will not come, rather that in this trouble God will be present and
save Jeremiah. The prophets later life shows how true this promise was.
Then, in an ac5on which combines aspects of Moses and Isaiahs calls, God reaches out his hand and touches
Jeremiahs mouth making it clear that the message Jeremiah would bring is directly from God himself. This ac5on of
Gods must have been one which Jeremiah looked back on when he was faced with opposi5on as a source of comfort.
The recoun5ng of the call also served to validate Jeremiahs posi5on as Yahwehs spokesperson.

JEREMIAHS ROLE
In verse 10 God con5nues to explain what Jeremiahs role as prophet would be. The phrases that God uses are taken
up elsewhere in the book and form the basis for Jeremiahs future ministry.
See, today I appoint you over na5ons and kingdoms
to uproot and tear down,
to destroy and overthrow,
to build and to plant.
The repe55on of the appointment of Yahweh to this task is followed by three couplets of verbs. The rst two are
nega5ve, the third posi5ve. Jeremiahs message, here summarised, was to be one of judgement, but also of hope.

Further Reading
Dillard RB, Longman T III, 1995, An Introduc6on to the Old Testament, Leicester: Apollos
This is an excellent introduc5on to the whole of the OT. The sec5on on each book is, therefore, somewhat limited,
but as a one volume reference book it is hard to beat.
Fee GD and Stuart D, 2003, How to Read the Bible for All its Worth, Grand Rapids: Zondervan
This is the standard introduc5on to hermeneu5cs and is highly recommended. It should be in all libraries.
Harrison RK, 1973, Jeremiah and Lamenta6ons, London: The Tyndale Press
An introductory level commentary with an excellent introduc5on to the book. If you wish to have a basic but wellgrounded commentary in your library, then this would be the one to get.
McConville G, 2002, Exploring the Old Testament Volume 4 The Prophets, London: SPCK
This is an excellent introduc5on to each of the prophe5c books. Wrijen by UK evangelical scholars it covers all the
main points of the book and gives sugges5ons for further thought and reading.