Jeremiah1

Jeremiah



JEREMIAH God called an ordinary person like Jeremiah to an extraordinary task. Jeremiah is best known for his role as a prophet. He warned Israel’s southern kingdom of Judah of its pending doom. He loved God’s people and hated to see them refuse God’s mercy. However, the people of Judah shunned Jeremiah and mistreated God’s messenger. They did not like him getting on their case. They continued to ignore his warnings until Babylon finally destroyed them and took them captive. We remember Jeremiah as the “weeping prophet”—someone who hurt whenever God’s people broke God’s commands. Instead of resenting Judah for the way they treated him, he mourned Judah’s fate. Jeremiah wrote the Old Testament books of Jeremiah and Lamentations. JEREMIAH’S BACKGROUND He was the prophet to Judah before its fall in 586 BC; his name is also spelled “Jeremias” (Matthew 16:14) and “Jeremy” (Matthew 2:17; 27:9, KJV). Jeremiah was born in the village of Anathoth, about three miles northeast of Jerusalem. His father’s name was Hilkiah, and he belonged to the tribe of Benjamin. His call came in the thirteenth year of King Josiah (640-609 BC). He refers to himself as “a child” when called (Jeremiah 1:6), but the Hebrew word is not the same as used in 30:6 and cannot be limited to preadolescence. He was probably referring to his inexperience rather than to his age. Jeremiah was born about 657 BC during the reign of the wicked king Manasseh, while the great Ashurbanipal, who had shaken the world by sacking the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes in 663 BC, ruled a world empire from Assyria. God informed Jeremiah that he had consecrated and appointed him before birth (Jeremiah 1:4-5). Jeremiah first shrank with a sense of inadequacy and fear: “O Sovereign LORD,...I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!” (1:6). God would not allow Jeremiah to excuse himself. He was assured that words would be given him to speak, and guidance given for the way (1:7). He was promised protection (1:18) and deliverance (1:8) despite opposition (1:19). God touched his mouth, signifying divine inspiration of his words, and gave the sign of a branch from an almond tree, explaining that the Lord is watching (see the margin or footnote in the New Living Translation). The third sign was the boiling pot (1:13) facing from the north, picturing the source and fury of impending disaster. Thus the tone of Jeremiah’s life ministry was set: judgment, disaster, danger, defeat, and impending death for the nation. What a job! We may not win popularity contests with others for enlightening them to God’s truth. However, we must remain faithful nonetheless. Although God’s overall message to the world is one of love and salvation, not condemnation, he takes sin seriously—especially among his own people. As we communicate God’s truth, we must be careful not to gloss over sin. Sometimes we must play Jeremiah’s role-despite an unwelcome reception.
EARLY MINISTRY The messages Jeremiah gave during his first five years of ministry may have been instrumental in the great revival of 622 BC. Those cooperating with King Josiah in the reformation and friendly with Jeremiah included Ahikam and his father, Shaphan (Jeremiah 26:24); Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son (39:14), who later became governor; Acbor, son of Micaiah, also called Abdon, whose son Elnathan joined the opposition (26:22) but later repented (36:25); and Asaiah (2 Chronicles 34:20). The prophets Nahum and Zephaniah also influenced the reform movement, which must have climaxed under the preaching of Habakkuk and Jeremiah, the priestly ministry of Hilkiah, and the prophecies of Huldah the prophetess. During the reign of King Josiah, Jeremiah spoke without the fear of persecution that plagued his later ministry. Though the content of the book of Jeremiah sometimes appears to be fragmentary, most of chapters 1-19 date to the time of Josiah. When they found the lost Book of the Covenant in the temple debris, Jeremiah may have been inspired to write these words in Jeremiah 15:16: “Your words are what sustain me. They bring me great joy and are my heart’s delight.” The words “So be it, LORD” (11:5) in a context recalling the words of Moses in the Torah may be Jeremiah’s response after hearing King Josiah read the newly found book. Small towns and rural areas, including his hometown, heard Jeremiah shame the high places and idolatry. They sought to kill the young prophet, or at least to intimidate him (Jeremiah 11:21). Instead of being silent, Jeremiah asserted that his motivation was for their good and condemned their resistance to the truth as their greatest danger. Shortly after Jeremiah began his ministry, a number of world-changing events took place. Ashurbanipal died, and the Assyrian Empire rapidly declined. Nabopolassar began a twenty-one-year reign in Babylon, leading an expansion that ended when his son Nebuchadnezzar conquered the known world. As the world news filtered in, Jeremiah turned more toward Jerusalem. He may have shared his first temple speeches (Jeremiah 7:1-10) at this time. Nabopolassar felt his strength sufficient to launch an attack against Assyrian territory in 616 BC, but he advanced cautiously because Psamtik I (Psammeti-chus) of Egypt appeared ready to aid Assyria. Cyaxares of Media (Medes) pounced on Assyria when Babylon hesitated and took its most sacred city, Asshur, in 614 BC. Babylon joined Media, along with Scythia, and waged an assault against Nineveh, which fell late in the summer of 612 BC. The Assyrian Empire had shriveled to two small areas: Haran and Carchemish. Nabopolassar took Haran in 610, and Ashuruballit, having escaped, appealed to Egypt for help at Carchemish. Neco, who had become pharaoh within the year, responded immediately. He marched through Judah without giving Josiah prior notice and asked that the Jews not bother him in view of his haste to go northward (2 Chronicles 35:21). Ignoring the request, Josiah pursued them to Megiddo and was wounded in the ensuing battle; he died in Jerusalem. DURING THE REIGN OF JEHOIAKIM In place of Jehoahaz, Josiah’s fourth son, who reigned only three months, Pharaoh Neco enthroned Jehoiakim (Eliakim). Neco demanded heavy payments from Judah for providing protection. He also took Jehoahaz prisoner as collateral to assure payment (2 Kings 23:31-33). Early in the reign of Jehoiakim, Jeremiah, moved by God’s Spirit, delivered his third temple speech (Jeremiah 26) on the occasion of one of the annual Jewish feasts. He called for the people to repent and to act on the basis of the revelation they had heard repeatedly from the Book of the Law. The barb of the sermon came in the warning: “This is what the LORD says: If you will not listen to me and obey the law I have given you, and if you will not listen to my servants, the prophets-for I sent them again and again to warn you, but you would not listen to them—then I will destroy this Temple as I destroyed Shiloh, the place where the Tabernacle was located. And I will make Jerusalem an object of cursing in every nation on earth” (26:4-6). Shiloh had been the heart of Jewish worship from Joshua to Samuel, but after being destroyed by the Philistines, it never revived. It served as an example of complete desolation following God’s judgment in the days of Eli. In response, the crowds gathered rapidly and reacted angrily against Jeremiah. Priests and princes hurried to the New Gate, where a court was established to bring order and to control violence. Jehoiakim would be no help to Jeremiah, for he had refused to listen to God’s messages (Jeremiah 22:21). The priests and false prophets spoke against Jeremiah, calling him a traitor. Then some of the elders spoke to the people about Uriah, who had prophesied the same message. Rather than risk disaster, Ahikam persuaded the court to spare Jeremiah. Egypt controlled Palestine and Syria after the decay of the Assyrian Empire. In 606 BC Egypt succeeded in annihilating a garrison city of Babylonian soldiers south of Carchemish and then reoccupied Carchemish to await the return blow from Babylon. This Egyptian victory meant persecution for Jeremiah, who was often accused of false prophecy (compare to Jeremiah 20). Jeremiah never had confidence in Egypt. Each time a Jewish leader would call for a new alliance with Egypt, Jeremiah repeated God’s message against it. Whenever a Jewish group fled to Egypt for security, Jeremiah warned of worse things in that land of false refuge (see Jeremiah 44:26-27). We, too, often see God’s own people trusting in almost anything other than God. They trust in the money they can touch. And they rely on relationships they can feel. However, we must share God’s truth with these disillusioned believers. At their best, material possessions and earthly relationships will one day disappoint us. Only God can be fully trusted. This was Jeremiah’s message, and it is ours today. Jeremiah’s ode and prophecy in 46 poetically describe Egypt’s defeat at Carchemish, when Nabopolassar sent his son Nebuchadnezzar to destroy them (605 BC). After smashing the Egyptian army at Carchemish, Nebuchadnezzar pursued the enemy through Judah. “Not a single man escaped to his own country,” reads the exaggerated Babylonian record. His father’s death, however, prevented him from invading Egypt, and he returned to Babylon to assume the throne. The following year Nebuchadnezzar, now king of Babylonia, returned to accept the homage of the rulers of Judah, Syria, and Phoenicia. On this occasion God gave Jeremiah his great 70-year prophecy (25:11-12), the basis of Daniel 9:2, 24-27. A year after the decisive battle at Carchemish, Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe, finished recording all the dictated words of Jeremiah and was reading from this scroll at the temple. A report reached the king, who sent Jehudi, a servant, to fetch the scroll and read it to him. When this was done, Jehoiakim burned the scroll in spite of his counselors, who pleaded with the king to stop (Jeremiah 36:23-25). God’s message, soon rewritten, added a promise of fearful judgment on Jehoiakim (36:27-31). Ambitious young Nebuchadnezzar determined to add Egypt to his dominion. In 601 BC he led his forces through Judah again, but Neco had advance warning and was prepared for the onslaught. In the desert of Shur, Nebuchadnezzar suffered defeat. Encouraged by this display of Egyptian defensive strength, the pro-Egyptian parties in Judah asserted themselves, persuading Jehoiakim to lead them to freedom from Babylon by making an alliance with Egypt (2 Kings 24:1). But help from Egypt did not come (24:7). In 599 BC, Nebuchadnezzar armed those surrounding the rebel Jewish kingdom to harass the Jews, which they willingly did (2 Kings 24:2). Evidently, Jehoiakim lost his life in one of these raids. Since the people despised him, his body was thrown out without honorable burial, as Jeremiah had predicted (Jeremiah 22:19). DURING THE REIGN OF ZEDEKIAH Nebuchadnezzar’s siege of Jerusalem in 598 BC lasted only a short time because the new king, Jehoiachin, crowned at age eighteen, knew resistance was useless. He gave himself up, with all his family and court, in March of 597 BC, after serving as king about three months. The Babylonian Chronicle reads: “He [Nebuchadnezzar] seized the city and captured the king.” Jehoiachin was carried to Babylon along with eight thousand officers, artisans, and executives (Ezekiel among them) and many treasures (2 Kings 24:16; compare to 24:14). In his place Nebuchadnezzar appointed Zedekiah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, to rule. Zedekiah proceeded to organize his government with the less capable and inexperienced help left after the deportation. Jeremiah took up his thankless ministry, calling on the Jews to believe God, obey the laws of Babylon, and reject false hopes in Egypt. Zedekiah turned a deaf ear to these appeals, listening rather to the unwise advice of his counselors (Jeremiah 37:1-2). During the first year of Zedekiah’s rule, Jeremiah received the vision of the two baskets of figs. The Jews carried to Babylon were like good figs, while Zedekiah and those who trusted in Egypt were like rotten figs (24:1-8). The reason for this reproachful description was that the Jews began plotting rebellion against Babylon along with Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon. This rebellion started from the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah (27:1-3) and marked a breach in their oath of loyalty to Nebuchadnezzar. Of course, it also meant they once again refused God’s message through Jeremiah. In Egypt the Pharaoh began to renew plans to organize dissidents within the Babylonian Empire to revolt. He hired Jewish soldiers to aid him in protecting his southern border. The Jewish soldiers settled on a Nile island called Elephantine, or Yeb (593-410 BC). Jeremiah addressed an oracle to these Jews (Jeremiah 44). The treaty for Jews to help in Egypt evidently also assumed that Egyptians would aid Israel. When the Babylonians besieged Jerusalem in 589, Pharaoh Hophra came to the aid of Zedekiah. Nebuchadnezzar, ruling from Riblah, commanded that the siege against Jerusalem be lifted in order to make a surprise attack on Hophra (37:5). The release gave Jeremiah an opportunity to journey to Anathoth to secure some family property (37:12). However, Irijah, captain of the guard, arrested Jeremiah in the Gate of Benjamin for defecting to the enemy, and he was beaten and flung into a dungeon. King Zedekiah brought him out after many days. With characteristic boldness, Jeremiah told the king he would shortly become a captive himself. At the same time, Jeremiah requested that the king act justly and release him. He gained part of his request and was treated more fairly. However, he continued as prisoner in the court of the guard. The Babylonian army chased Pharaoh Hophra back to Egypt and returned to crush Jerusalem without further mercy. The siege, which began in 589 BC, was restored with rigor in January of 588, Zedekiah’s ninth year (Jeremiah 39:1). During this time, the Lord gave Jeremiah foreknowledge of a visit from a cousin who wished to sell a field near Anathoth (32:7-9; compare to 37:12). Jeremiah bought the field as an object lesson to verify the message of restoration after their captivity—an experience that would last seventy years (29:10). The armies of Babylon cut off all supplies from Jerusalem and were able to destroy the last two outlying Jewish fortresses of Lachish and Azekah (Jeremiah 34:7). Food became scarce. Disease spread. Sewage and impure cistern water caused pestilence. With increased distress came Jeremiah’s increased appeal for the city to surrender. However, we see human nature at work in Judah’s stubborn refusal to follow along God’s plans. Like Judah, instead of surrendering to his plans for us, we fear them. We feel God must have made a mistake if his plans include suffering. So, we look for a shortcut, or a detour or some other way to hold back the inevitable. Instead, we should listen to the voice of Jeremiah and entrust the consequences of our lives to God. Jeremiah remained in the prison court until the Babylonians breached the city wall in July of 586 BC. The king escaped by night and succeeded in reaching the plains of Jericho but was captured there and taken to Riblah. Zedekiah’s family and counselors were killed; he himself was blinded and taken in chains to Babylon, where he died soon after (Jeremiah 39:6-7). Back in Jerusalem, Nebuzaradan, the Babylonian general, sent most of the Jews into captivity. Jeremiah, however, was granted special consideration; after being released from prison, he was placed under the care of Gedaliah, son of Ahikam. AFTER THE FALL OF JERUSALEM A month after the fall of Jerusalem, the city was burned and the walls broken down. Gedaliah was appointed governor of the remaining agricultural community, with headquarters at Mizpah. Jeremiah returned to Jerusalem where, according to tradition, he took up his abode in a grotto near what is now known as Gordon’s Calvary. There he wrote the book of Lamentations. The Ammonite king Baalis, plotting rebellion against Babylon, instigated the murder of Gedaliah (Jeremiah 40:13). In the reaction that followed, the remaining people followed the leader Johanan ben Kareah to a camp near Bethlehem, intending to go to Egypt. They asked Jeremiah, at Jerusalem, to give guidance from the Lord, promising obedience. Jeremiah’s message required that they remain in Israel and not go to Egypt. Disobedience was complete and immediate. Fearing Babylon, they departed from Judah, taking Jeremiah with them, and entered Egypt (41:16-43:7). Jeremiah did not stop his ministry in Egypt. His message at Tahpanhes (Jeremiah 43:8-12) assured a victorious conquest of the land by Nebuchadnezzar, which took place in 568-567 BC. Jews from all parts of Egypt gathered to discuss their future in exile. Jeremiah took the opportunity to denounce their idolatry. Jewish women as well as men argued that they had enjoyed prosperity while serving idols but had suffered since stopping. Jeremiah condemned their obdurate blindness to reality and gave God’s indictment. For a verifying sign, Jeremiah predicted that Pharaoh Hophra of Egypt would be assassinated (44:30), which happened in 466 BC. No later record of Jeremiah’s acts exists in the Bible. Tradition says that some Jews from the exile stoned Jeremiah in a settlement in Tahpanhes. Though Jeremiah suffered continued rejection during his life, numerous writers of the apocrypha as well as more traditional writings honor his history. Jesus could well have had Jeremiah in mind when he said, “You build tombs for the prophets your ancestors killed and decorate the graves of the godly people your ancestors destroyed... [You are] the descendants of those who murdered the prophets” (Matthew 23:29-31, NLT). OTHER JEREMIAHS 2. Jeremiah was also a family head in the Transjordan portion of Manasseh whom Tiglath-pileser took captive (1 Chronicles 5:23-26; compare to 2 Kings 15:29). 3. Jeremiah was also the father of Hamutal, a wife of King Josiah (2 Kings 23:31; 24:18). 4. Jeremiah was also an ambidextrous (right- and left-handed) Benjamite bowman and slinger who joined David at Ziklag (1 Chronicles 12:4). 5, 6. Two Gadite soldiers who joined David’s army were named Jeremiah (1 Chronicles 12:10, 13). 7. Jeremiah was also the postexilic priest who with Nehemiah set his seal to the covenant, renewing the people’s promise to obey God’s laws (Nehemiah 10:2). He is mentioned again (12:34) as part of the procession for the dedication of the new wall of Jerusalem. 8. Jeremiah was also the priest who returned from exile with Zerubbabel (Nehemiah 12:1) and became head of a family of priests (12:12). 9. Jeremiah was also the father of Jaazaniah, a Recabite who refused to drink wine (Jeremiah 35:3).

BOOK OF JEREMIAH

OT prophetic book, second in the canonical order of the Prophets. AUTHOR Few doubt that the prophet from Anathoth wrote the book of Jeremiah, yet questions persist concerning some parts, particularly chapter 52. The use of the third person cannot be used to discredit Jeremiah’s authorship, for Jeremiah used the first and third person, and even the second person, in the same context. For example, 32:6-7 reads: “Jeremiah said [third person], ‘The word of the LORD came to me: [first person] . . . your uncle will come to you [second person]’ ” (RSV). The problem of the passage of time provides the strongest argument against the Jeremian authorship of chapter 52. Jeremiah was born about 657 BC. Evil-merodoch released Jehoiachin (52:31) about 95 years later. Jeremiah 52:33 summarizes the continuation of events beyond this time. The problem of location also argues against Jeremian authorship, for Jeremiah took up residence in Egypt (43:6-7) while Jehoiachin dwelt in Babylon. Note also that Jeremiah concludes his writing with chapter 51, making chapter 52 a true editorial appendix. Since chapter 52 parallels 2 Kings 24:18–25:30, it may be that other portions of Jeremiah that parallel sections of 2 Kings may have been written by someone other than Jeremiah. The following table shows such portions and includes harmonic passages in 2 Chronicles. The first column shows historical (chronological) sequence. The last column provides a brief condensation of content. Baruch served as the secretary for Jeremiah. The relationship between the two men apparently lasted many years; the prophet gave a word of encouragement as he blessed his helper (45:5). According to the custom of the people, it would have been legitimate for the scribe to write some of the prophet’s messages in his own words. This would not deny inspiration. AUTHENTICITY That Jeremiah lived and actually wrote the major part of the book bearing his name is authenticated by numerous references in both biblical and nonbiblical sources (e.g., Daniel 9; Ecclesiasticus 49; Josephus’s Antiquities 10; Talmud: Baba Bathra). The veracity of the historical sections of Jeremiah have abundant confirmation in contemporary biblical books and in the secular histories preserved in Babylon, Egypt, and Persia. Higher critics sought to discredit the portions of Jeremiah that were omitted by the Septuagint, or to credit passages to a later writer because of style differences (e.g., chapters 30–33) or spelling differences (as found in chapters 27–29) or linguistic problems (as in 10:11, written in Aramaic, but this may be a gloss). Another reason for discrediting Jeremiah’s authorship is that critics dated some prophecies later than indicated in the context. This results from their requiring that predictive writing follow the record of its fulfillment. None of these reasons is sufficient cause for doubting authenticity. The Hebrew text deserves priority over the Septuagint. Aramaic contact with the Jews became commonplace during this period (cf. Ezra 4–7; Daniel 2–7) and therefore explains the presence of Aramaic. Different styles may be expected from the same writer due to differing circumstances and differing purposes. Baruch may have been inspired to write parts of this book and/or edited what Jeremiah wrote. Prediction preceding fulfillment presents no problem for believers. THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH AND THE SEPTUAGINT The special problems of the Septuagint translation of Jeremiah demand attention. The Septuagint translators evidently made an inaccurate translation. About 2,300 Hebrew words are omitted from the Septuagint. After chapter 23, the mistranslation, omissions, and mixed chronological order indicate confusion. However, the Dead Sea Scrolls display texts with both the Hebrew and the Septuagint order, indicating the antiquity of both editions. Both have suffered corruption at the hands of scribes and the ravages of the ages. The Septuagint evidently veers much further from the original, yet it has invaluable clues to help suggest answers to some textual problems. The most evident major shift in the Septuagint consists of the removal of chapters 46–51 of the Hebrew order, and the placement of them in the spot from which 25:13b-14 was removed. These chapters are renumbered 26–31 but are mixed and changed considerably from the order of the Hebrew Masoretic Text. BACKGROUND This is fully discussed in the previous entry. DATE The chronological sequence of the messages of Jeremiah constitutes a major problem that cannot be wholly solved. Nonetheless, the book was written during Jeremiah’s ministry (c. 627–586 BC). ORIGIN AND DESTINATION After beginning his ministry in Anathoth, Jeremiah moved to Jerusalem, where he remained until he was forced to join the disobedient refugees who arrived in Egypt about 584 BC. Until the deportation of Jehoiachin (597 BC), Jeremiah addressed his messages to the king and the people residing in Judah. Later messages addressed the same group, plus the captives in Babylon (e.g., chapter 29). After the departure to Egypt, he addressed Jews in that land. PURPOSE Part of God’s commission to Jeremiah stated the purpose of Jeremiah’s ministry: “Today I appoint you to stand up against nations and kingdoms. You are to uproot some and tear them down, to destroy and overthrow them. You are to build others up and plant them” (1:10, NLT). The first four parts of the commission required that Jeremiah, appointed as a “chief governor” over nations, should wreck the existing religious and social structures by his preaching against moral and spiritual sin. Doubtless, the physical destruction caused by the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Babylonians was the accoutrement for the truth uttered by the prophet. Jeremiah is consistent in his blasts at moral and religious wickedness, his call to submit to the punishment that God gives through Babylon, and his assurance that such submission will lead to blessing. When Zedekiah asks advice (38:14), we know what Jeremiah will say. When the captains of the refugees ask if they should go to Egypt, we already know the answer (42:3). We may also anticipate the obdurate rejection of God’s message on the part of the inquiring people, who apparently want to know God’s will but have no desire to obey it. Nevertheless, part of Jeremiah’s purpose focuses on the most distant future when the new covenant will supplant the old (31:31-37), and a transformed people bent on obedience rather than sin will receive God’s promised kingdom. TEACHING National sin brings national punishment. No truth blazes so clearly as this. Gentiles as well as Jews stand under the same judgment, for God is not the God of Israel only. Individuals are not overlooked in divine judgments on nations. God sets before each the way of life and the way of death (21:8) and appeals to each to choose life (27:13). Jeremiah illustrates human depravity by questioning if people can change their skin color or leopards their spots (13:23). The depths of depravity reach beyond man’s ability to measure (17:9-10). People even love falsehood (5:30-31). Yet God promises to transform willing subjects who call on him (33:3) by giving them a “new heart” (24:7; 32:38-41) as the climatic provision of the new covenant (31:33-35). The Messiah, who accomplishes the saving work, is called the Lord our Righteousness, the King, the righteous Branch, the Branch of David (23:5-6; 33:15-16). A future nation will be made up of individuals who accept this salvation. Passing through the night of tribulation as of travail (30:6-7), the Jews will understand the true identity of their Messiah, will believe and receive him with repentant sorrow, will be cleansed (33:8), and will be regathered from all countries (32:37) by the omnipotent God (verse 27). OUTLINE AND CONTENT Though many see no logical order, a careful reading of Jeremiah will reveal a grouping on the basis of content, as suggested by the following outline: VII. Introduction (1) VII. Oracles against the Jews (2–25) III. History—Signs and Sufferings of Jeremiah before the Siege (26–29) IIV. The Book of Hope written during the Siege (30–33) IIV. History—Signs and Sufferings of Jeremiah after the Siege (34–45) IVI. Oracles against the Nations (46–51) VII. Conclusion (52)

The prophet opens his ministry with a series of utterances against the sins of Jerusalem (2:1–3:5), followed by similar messages (through chapter 4), concluding with words of judgment (chapters 5–6). The message in the temple gate (chapters 7–10) leads into the proclamation against covenant breakers (chapters 11–13). The lamentation over the drought (chapter 14) and subsequent miseries (chapter 15) compares with many similar expressions of grief. Jeremiah did not differ from other prophets in his use of object lessons. The rotted linen waistband (chapter 13), the broken jug (chapter 19), figs (chapter 24), and ox yoke (chapters 27–28) may be supplemented by human object lessons (chapter 35), and even the prophet himself, whose celibacy (16:1-4), resistance to sympathetic consolation (16:5-7), and withdrawal from feasts (16:8-9) all served to illustrate and confirm his message. Places where Jeremiah proclaimed his messages helped bear home his point. He stood in the public gate, where kings came and went, to proclaim that judgment (fire) would come through the gate (17:19, 27; 39:3). Then he went to the potter’s house (chapter 18), and then to Hinnom or Topath, which would be called the Valley of Slaughter (chapter 19). The persecution suffered by Jeremiah first hinted at (1:8), then predicted (verse 19), expresses its venom privately from his home village (11:19-23). The prophet’s kindred join the opposition (12:6). Public opposition brings beatings and the stocks (20:2-3). Jeremiah prefers to keep silent rather than to speak and suffer (verse 9), but he cannot withhold the word that is as fire in his bones. The result: all his familiars reproached, derided, terrorized, and denounced him, then sought his death (verses 7-18). Jeremiah escaped death at the hands of priests, prophets, and people only because he had a few faithful friends (26:8-24). When his prophecies began to materialize, hatred mounted. He was beaten and put into a dungeon for many days (37:14-17) on a false charge. Temporary relief at the guardhouse (verse 21) lasted only a few days. Officials clamored again for his death (38:4) and put him into a cistern, where he sank in the mire (verse 6). His rescue (verse 10) preserved his life, but his imprisonment at the guardhouse continued (verse 28). His writings were cut up and burned (36:23); his words were denied and rejected (43:1-7; 44:16). The “Book of Hope“ (chapters 30–33) does contain some words of judgment (32:28-35), and other sections of the prophecy have a few bright spots (3:11-18; 16:14-16; 23:2-8; 29:10-14), but in a volume otherwise dark, these four chapters bring pleasant relief. The climax of hope, as indicated also in the longest NT quotation from Jeremiah (see Hebrews 8:8-12), predicts a new covenant (31:31-40). Other prophecies also describe the end of the Mosaic law and sacrament (e.g., 3:16), and the new covenant (32:40; 33:19-26). Little is known of Jeremiah’s activity or messages from c. 594–589 BC. Zedekiah’s counselors made clandestine plans for throwing off Babylon’s yoke by alliances with neighbor nations. A traitor may have reported the conspiracy to Babylon (perhaps Edom). After Babylon attacked, Zedekiah sought a hopeful report from Jeremiah but did not get it. The Recabite faithfulness to the Nazarite vow (chapter 35) dates to the days of Jehoiakim but as an object lesson fits the siege context. Recabites received a human command that they obeyed; Jews received a divine command that they rejected. Recabites will be blessed (35:18-19); Judah, judged (verses 15-17). The reading of the scroll to Jehoiakim and his scornful rejection of it (chapter 36) illustrates the prophetic assertion (35:15) that destruction follows the rejection of God’s message given through the prophets. The siege comes into focus in chapter 37 with another inquiry from Zedekiah (the nonchronological chapters 35–36 serve as an illustrative parenthesis). Jeremiah 37:11 moves forward to the time of the lifting of the siege of 589 BC when Nebuchadnezzar drove Pharaoh Hophra’s army back to Egypt. During the reprieve, Jeremiah sought to attend a meeting of relatives to settle family matters at or near Anathoth. Perhaps the trip involved initiating the purchase that would be made two years later (32:6-15). However, as he was leaving the city, he was arrested for desertion to the Babylonians and jailed in a dungeon cell until Zedekiah granted him privileged prisoner status. The king’s officers had ample cause for the accusation of sedition: Jeremiah had encouraged desertion (21:9; 38:2). Traitors deserved death, and this was their verdict against Jeremiah (38:4-5). The violence of the time encouraged the officers to select a cruel method of execution: let Jeremiah starve and bury himself in the mire at the bottom of an abandoned cistern. A sympathetic Ethiopian, Ebed-melech, made the rescue. Immediately, the unadulterated prophecies of judgment came forth again from Jeremiah’s lips, including a message to the king that reflected Jeremiah’s own recent experience: “[Your friends] have betrayed and misled you. When your feet sank in the mud, they left you to your fate” (38:22, NLT). Jeremiah 39:1–43:7 records history from the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC to the flight into Egypt, including the liberation of Jeremiah (chapter 39), appointment and assassination of Gedaliah (chapters 40–41), a warning from God against going to Egypt (chapter 42), and the obdurate disobedience of the people (43:1-7). The latest writings of Jeremiah are found in chapter 44. The audience consisted of idolatrous Jews (44:4-6) gathered from various parts of Egypt as far as Aswan (Pathros). Jeremiah repeated the appeal of former prophets to reject false gods in favor of Jehovah, but to no avail (44:15-16). The message to Baruch (chapter 45), written about 605 BC, is placed here to round out the main part of the book, which begins with the commission to “break down” and “pluck up” (1:10) and concludes with the same Hebrew words (45:4). If Baruch had ambition to obtain status in the Judean court like his brother Seraiah (51:59), he was advised that it would be useless because disaster would come, as the preceding chapters indicate. The oracles against the nations (46–51), introduced by a title superscription (46:1), constitute a distinct stylistic division similar to Isaiah 13–23, Ezekiel 25–32, and Amos 1:3–2:16. Some of the prophecies against foreign nations in Jeremiah carry dates that show that they were written at different points during his ministry but were collected together for the book. The prophecy against Egypt opens with a colorful description of Egypt’s expulsion from Carchemish (605 BC) after a short occupancy (Jeremiah 46:1-12). The second message (verses 13-26) may picture the attack on Egypt in 601 BC when Neco stopped Nebuchadnezzar at the border; the attack in 589 BC when Hophra lost in his attempt to aid Zedekiah; or (most probably) the invasion of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar in 568 BC, when Babylon took advantage of the weakness of Egypt to occupy it. At that time Nebuchadnezzar set up his judgment throne as predicted (43:10) and meted out death sentences to all rebels, including those Jews who might have been implicated in anti-Babylonian conspiracies. The conclusion of the Egypt oracle repeats part of the Book of Hope (46:27-28, cf. 30:10-11). Messages against Edom, Arabia, Phoenician cities, and Ammon generally condemn pride, cruelty, and idolatry. The oracle against Elam is unique. No other prophet speaks judgment against this people, whose dwelling east of Babylon meant rare contact with Judah. Jeremiah predicted that Elam would be doomed, then restored. Ezekiel counts Elamites among the inhabitants of Sheol (Ezekiel 32:24). The final judgment indicates the unbiased attitude of the prophet. His messages placed him in an advantageous position with the Babylonians, who treated him with respect and kindness, in contrast to their cruelty to other Jews. But when God spoke against Babylon, Jeremiah uttered God’s words without respect to his own comfort, just as he had spoken against Egypt when silence would have been logical for self-preservation. Chapter 51 concludes “the words of Jeremiah.” Chapter 52 repeats historical facts previously stated prophetically by Jeremiah, and partially recorded also as history in chapter 39 (cf. 2 Kings 25 and 2 Chronicles 36). The editor of Jeremiah evidently desired to climax the book with a historical confirmation of Jeremiah’s prophecy, but he included facts beyond those contained elsewhere.