Jeremiah...a Jewish prophet who is credited with 2 books in the Old Testament....the book of Jeremiah, one of the biggest books in the Old Testament, and the Book of Lamentations...which describes the lament of the destruction of Jerusalem....
Jeremiah was born in the village of Anathoth, which was located approximately 3 miles northeast of Jerusalem. He was born into a Jewish priestly family and was familiar with the God of Israel and His relationship to Israel even at a very young age.
It is recorded Jeremiah received his call from the God of Israel to become a prophet around the age of 20. At first, Jeremiah wanted no part of being a prophet, yet God reassured him He would direct him, give him the right words to say, and protect him from opposition.
By this time, Israel had split and now Judah and Benjamin were separate as a nation from the rest of Israel, and this is where Jeremiah lived....in Judah.
The call to be a prophet wasn't unusual in the days of Jeremiah, and the word prophet is defined both in Greek and Hebrew literature.
In Greek, the word prophet comes from the word "prophetus" and has the meaning of "one who proclaims and is able to interpret divine revelation". A prophet is able to be very descriptive when speaking the Word of God.
In Hebrew, the word prophet is "nabi" meaning "one who speaks for God" and is capable to receive visions...particularly of the future.
In these biblical times, prophets could be called upon for various reasons: they spoke with kings...to encourage them or to point out where they had made wrong decisions that could effect the nation as a whole. Prophets could offer guidance for military affairs or when building projects were about to begin.
The general characteristics of a prophet were: they were holy men moved by the Spirit of God, they usually exerted self-control when describing a revelation, and often times prophets were not popular because of their analysis how the general public worshipped within the Jewish community...prone to outward displays of worship to the God of Israel yet with no intent to observe the Laws of the God of Israel from committed and sincere hearts...just going through the motions... resulting in prophets preaching the message of repentance to their nation.
Ok, here is what Jeremiah's setting was as he received the office of a prophet at his young age of 20. For decades prior to Jeremiah's birth, the country known as Assyria dominated the ancient Near East....including the great country of Egypt...at least for a while.
As far as Judah was concerned, King Manasseh and all of Judah were basically vassals of Assyria, giving allegiance to Assyria both with large amounts of money and the worship of Assyrian deities. The people of Judah themselves gave homage to the pagan gods of Assyria and yet still performed "heartless rituals" to the God of Israel...at the Temple in Jerusalem. They even put other pagan gods within the Temple and as a result, Judah became a spiritual wasteland. King Manasseh of Judah was succeeded by his son Amon, who also chose to do evil in the sight of the God of Israel by worshipping pagan gods, and was quickly replaced (through assassination) by Josiah, the 8 year old son of Amon and became king of Judah.
Josiah was quite different than both his father and grandfather, and chose to serve the God of Israel and reject all other pagan gods. The thing about Josiah that is long remembered...he reestablished the Book of the Law...the early parts of the Old Testament...which had long been done away with and forgotten by the Jewish people. When the Book of the Law became the very "law of the land", it was obvious Judah was in need of repentance from their sin and the pagan gods they had put their trust in. As this "revival" began to take place in the land of Judah, this is where Jeremiah is introduced as a prophet of the God of Israel.
Yet, just as Jeremiah was getting started in his office as a prophet, Josiah died in battle against the Egyptians in 609 B.C. Along with this, the great Babylonian Empire came into being and crushed the Assyrian Empire and beat back the Egyptians. Then, between 605 B.C. and 586 B.C., King Nebuchadnezzar of the Babylonian Empire attacked, divided, and finally destroyed the kingdom of Judah...and the city of Jerusalem. This was all taking place while Jeremiah had become a prophet...for the great God of Israel.
Following Josiah, the kings of Judah renewed the interests of the people of Judah to return to the worship of pagan gods and their beliefs, and refused to listen to the prophetic words now being spoken by...Jeremiah.
This culminated when King Jehoiakim of Judah pushed the worship of pagan gods "to the max" and relied on Egypt for support...against the ongoing threats of the Babylonian Empire.
In 597 B.C. the Babylonian Empire defeated Judah and put a vassal king in Judah named Zedekiah, a relative to the previous kings of Judah. Zedekiah had respect for Jeremiah but was weak as a leader,and instead of listening to to the instructions given by Jeremiah, he followed the advice of others and tried to break the "peace treaty" between Judah and Babylon.
In 588 B.C., the Babylonians reached Jerusalem and in 586 B.C. broke through the walls of Jerusalem and destroyed the city...including the very Temple itself. Most of the people of Judah went to Babylon as slaves, yet there was a remnant that remained in Judah,...including Jeremiah. Jeremiah writes of the days after the siege of Jerusalem.
This is the background to the prophet Jeremiah...and as far as relating to us today...in the year 2014...we have to ask ourselves: Are we prone to the worship of pagan gods? It may not be the same gods the people of Israel worshipped...mostly gods of good fortune...like good crops for the next year for survival. Rather, our gods today are: the god of money, the god of grudges, the god of getting even, the god of unforgiveness...do we not not follow the ways of pagan gods as well?
And unlike King Josiah bringing back to his people the return of the Book of the Law...the Scriptures today are right here with us...the instructions are clear...and yet do we choose..."No thank-you..we will do it the way we think is right".
So, now I begin...the book of Jeremiah....
Jeremiah was born in the village of Anathoth, which was located approximately 3 miles northeast of Jerusalem. He was born into a Jewish priestly family and was familiar with the God of Israel and His relationship to Israel even at a very young age.
It is recorded Jeremiah received his call from the God of Israel to become a prophet around the age of 20. At first, Jeremiah wanted no part of being a prophet, yet God reassured him He would direct him, give him the right words to say, and protect him from opposition.
By this time, Israel had split and now Judah and Benjamin were separate as a nation from the rest of Israel, and this is where Jeremiah lived....in Judah.
The call to be a prophet wasn't unusual in the days of Jeremiah, and the word prophet is defined both in Greek and Hebrew literature.
In Greek, the word prophet comes from the word "prophetus" and has the meaning of "one who proclaims and is able to interpret divine revelation". A prophet is able to be very descriptive when speaking the Word of God.
In Hebrew, the word prophet is "nabi" meaning "one who speaks for God" and is capable to receive visions...particularly of the future.
In these biblical times, prophets could be called upon for various reasons: they spoke with kings...to encourage them or to point out where they had made wrong decisions that could effect the nation as a whole. Prophets could offer guidance for military affairs or when building projects were about to begin.
The general characteristics of a prophet were: they were holy men moved by the Spirit of God, they usually exerted self-control when describing a revelation, and often times prophets were not popular because of their analysis how the general public worshipped within the Jewish community...prone to outward displays of worship to the God of Israel yet with no intent to observe the Laws of the God of Israel from committed and sincere hearts...just going through the motions... resulting in prophets preaching the message of repentance to their nation.
Ok, here is what Jeremiah's setting was as he received the office of a prophet at his young age of 20. For decades prior to Jeremiah's birth, the country known as Assyria dominated the ancient Near East....including the great country of Egypt...at least for a while.
As far as Judah was concerned, King Manasseh and all of Judah were basically vassals of Assyria, giving allegiance to Assyria both with large amounts of money and the worship of Assyrian deities. The people of Judah themselves gave homage to the pagan gods of Assyria and yet still performed "heartless rituals" to the God of Israel...at the Temple in Jerusalem. They even put other pagan gods within the Temple and as a result, Judah became a spiritual wasteland. King Manasseh of Judah was succeeded by his son Amon, who also chose to do evil in the sight of the God of Israel by worshipping pagan gods, and was quickly replaced (through assassination) by Josiah, the 8 year old son of Amon and became king of Judah.
Josiah was quite different than both his father and grandfather, and chose to serve the God of Israel and reject all other pagan gods. The thing about Josiah that is long remembered...he reestablished the Book of the Law...the early parts of the Old Testament...which had long been done away with and forgotten by the Jewish people. When the Book of the Law became the very "law of the land", it was obvious Judah was in need of repentance from their sin and the pagan gods they had put their trust in. As this "revival" began to take place in the land of Judah, this is where Jeremiah is introduced as a prophet of the God of Israel.
Yet, just as Jeremiah was getting started in his office as a prophet, Josiah died in battle against the Egyptians in 609 B.C. Along with this, the great Babylonian Empire came into being and crushed the Assyrian Empire and beat back the Egyptians. Then, between 605 B.C. and 586 B.C., King Nebuchadnezzar of the Babylonian Empire attacked, divided, and finally destroyed the kingdom of Judah...and the city of Jerusalem. This was all taking place while Jeremiah had become a prophet...for the great God of Israel.
Following Josiah, the kings of Judah renewed the interests of the people of Judah to return to the worship of pagan gods and their beliefs, and refused to listen to the prophetic words now being spoken by...Jeremiah.
This culminated when King Jehoiakim of Judah pushed the worship of pagan gods "to the max" and relied on Egypt for support...against the ongoing threats of the Babylonian Empire.
In 597 B.C. the Babylonian Empire defeated Judah and put a vassal king in Judah named Zedekiah, a relative to the previous kings of Judah. Zedekiah had respect for Jeremiah but was weak as a leader,and instead of listening to to the instructions given by Jeremiah, he followed the advice of others and tried to break the "peace treaty" between Judah and Babylon.
In 588 B.C., the Babylonians reached Jerusalem and in 586 B.C. broke through the walls of Jerusalem and destroyed the city...including the very Temple itself. Most of the people of Judah went to Babylon as slaves, yet there was a remnant that remained in Judah,...including Jeremiah. Jeremiah writes of the days after the siege of Jerusalem.
This is the background to the prophet Jeremiah...and as far as relating to us today...in the year 2014...we have to ask ourselves: Are we prone to the worship of pagan gods? It may not be the same gods the people of Israel worshipped...mostly gods of good fortune...like good crops for the next year for survival. Rather, our gods today are: the god of money, the god of grudges, the god of getting even, the god of unforgiveness...do we not not follow the ways of pagan gods as well?
And unlike King Josiah bringing back to his people the return of the Book of the Law...the Scriptures today are right here with us...the instructions are clear...and yet do we choose..."No thank-you..we will do it the way we think is right".
So, now I begin...the book of Jeremiah....
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