Jeremiah: Necessary History

Christians have a tendency towards the New Testament.  This is a natural reaction to the fact that our faith is based on the life and work of Christ, which is chronicled in the Gospels and applied in the letters of Paul, Peter, John, James, Jude, etc.  However, as per Jesus' own words, He did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to complete them (Matt. 5:17).  And if we, as Christians, are to have a greater understanding of Christ, we need to be willing to mine through the books of Old Testament for their worth, both in practical matters as well as theological.  The book of Jeremiah is one such book worth studying.  It is not only valuable for its significant contribution to prophecy about Christ but also for the history of Israel and Jeremiah himself.

Called to be a prophet as a young boy (1:6), Jeremiah grew up in a time in which Israel was in a maelstrom of tumult and turmoil (around 590 BC).  More than a century earlier, the northern kingdom, which included 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel, was conquered and taken into exile by the Assyrians.  The southern kingdom, however, based in Jerusalem, was protected by God.  The people responded in haughtiness, believing that God's providential hand could never be removed because of their covenant, despite the prophesies made by Isaiah indicting them for their sin.

As a result of such arrogance, the "prophets" of Jeremiah's time looked superciliously at the words of Jeremiah, which were prophesies of judgment to come at the hands of the Babylonian empire, newly revitalized under the leadership of Nebuchadnezzar.  As a result of such disdain for his work, Jeremiah was ignored, mocked, beaten, and even thrown in prison.  Despite such harsh treatment, Jeremiah stayed perseverant to the call that God had given him and, in the end, his prophesies were proven when the Babylonians finally sacked Jerusalem, first in 597 and definitively in 587.

Jeremiah's contribution to the corpus of Scripture is twofold: first is in regards to judgement; second, in regards to redemption.  Jeremiah preached repentance to Judah in order to maintain the covenant that God had provided for them.  He prophesied judgement because of their increasing sin and lustful sin.  However, Judah turned in pride and self-delusion away from God and was punished justly for their conceited unbelief.  But that is not the whole story.  In Jeremiah 31:31-34, Jeremiah prophesies of a new covenant that God will inaugurate that surpasses the old covenant in its scope and its effect.  As Christians, we know this new covenant to be made in the blood of Christ and introduced at the Last Supper.

To be sure, this has been a brief introduction, a cursory synopsis, of some of the important points of note in regards to the book of Jeremiah.  The purpose has been to show the significance for Christians to study and to examine the books of the Old Testament because they speak of God, and of Christ Jesus.  We should be eager to learn more about them, then, because in doing so we will be growing in our knowledge of God.  Let us then dig into the Word so as to dig into God Himself!