A Study in Jeremiah Chapter 1

A Study in jeremiah chapter 1                         

A Study in Jeremiah begins during the reign of Josiah, the last king of Israel (Judah) who was approved by God as one who did that which was right in the sight of the LORD.

1 ¶  The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:

    1. Jeremiah means “exalted of the Lord” or “appointed by the Lord.” He was the son of Hilkiah. There is speculation that Hilkiah was the high priest, but there is nothing to indicate that in the text.  Furthermore, it’s unlikely, because it would almost certainly have been in the text.  A Study in Jeremiah Chapter 1
      1. He was one of the priests of Anathoth, a walled town about 5 km northeast of Jerusalem, allotted to the Levites by Joshua (Joshua 21:17 – 19). According to David Cloud, who visited the remains of this city in 2017, there’s not much left of it.  God promised that Anathoth would be judged for plotting to kill Jeremiah.  (Jeremiah 11:21 – 23)
      2. Jeremiah prophesied during the reigns of the last five kings of Judah: Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah.

  1. A modern, 21st preacher can identify with Jeremiah, even though he lived so long ago. The apostasy of today is much like the apostasy of Judah in Jeremiah’s day.
    1. He had to stand alone in a rebellious world
    2. He had many troubles, such as loneliness, lies and slander against him, threats, hatred, willful misunderstandings and temptations to stumble.
    3. He had to deal with hard hearts
    4. He had to face a great deal of discouragement
    5. The following was small and the fruit scarce
    6. Many false teachers “competed” with his message, telling people what they wanted to hear
    7. There was no hope for things to improve where he was in his time; neither, according to the Bible, is there any hope for the apostasy of our day to do anything but increase
    8. He was tempted to compromise
    9. He was called to preach in an evil generation
    10. He had the presence and help of God (never give up!)
    11. He could come close to God and commune with Him
    12. He was not to seek great things for himself in this world
    13. He had the promise of a wonderful future
  2. Many exciting archaeological finds have been made from the time of Jeremiah. Bullae, which are clay document seals, have been found in the area of the royal palace that bear the names of people mentioned in the Bible who lived or worked in the palace before Nebuchadnezzar burned it. Much has been found that agrees with the events as recorded by Jeremiah in his day. For a really excellent short history of what has happening in the days of Jeremiah, David Clouds book, Jeremiah, a part of the Way of Life Commentary Series is available from wayoflife.org.  It is available in print form, and for a very low price in downloadable format.
  3. Jeremiah was persecuted in one way or another throughout his entire ministry. He finally accompanied the disobedient remnant to Egypt after the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.  Nothing further is known of him.

2  To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.

  1. The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah during the reign of Josiah. King Josiah was a righteous king, the son of a wicked king, his father, Amon. His three wicked sons, Jehoahaz, who reigned only three months,  Jehoiakim, who reigned 11 years, followed by Jehoiakim’s son, Jehoiachin, who reigned only 3 months, then Zedekiah, son of Josiah, who also reigned 11 years.  Josiah began to seek the Lord and a purge of the high places in the 8th year of his reign.  His zeal for the Lord was prophesied by a “man of God out of Judah” (1 Kings 13:1,2) who declared that Josiah would offer the priests of the high places on the repugnant altar that King Jeroboam of Israel had built in Bethel.
    1. We know from this verse (according to Ussher’s calculations) that Jeremiah began to prophesy in 608 BC. That means that Jeremiah prophesied, according to the records we have, for 44 years.  It was 42 years from the 13th year of Josiah to the destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC, and then for about another 2 years to the remnant that went into Egypt.
  2. It is absolutely essential to recognize that Jeremiah declared that it was the word of the LORD that came to him. This is completely unambiguous. Jeremiah claimed that the words he recorded, the words of himself, Jeremiah, was the word of the LORD, Jehovah, the I AM who spoke to Moses at the burning bush.
    1. As we study the prophesies of Jeremiah, we can see, from the record of history, that he was a true prophet of God, because of the clear fulfillment of the things he prophesied. The Bible is an amazing, accurate, very surely and obviously true book, proven so again and again and again and again by fulfilled prophesy.

3  It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.

  1. King Josiah, the last righteous king of Judah, was killed by the Egyptians, and his wicked sons began to reign. The first son, Jehoahaz, only reigned three months, before he was taken captive to Egypt.
    1. Jehoiakim was taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BC. He was bound in fetters to be taken to Babylon, but was slaughtered, according to Jeremiah’s prophesy, as well as the historian, Josephus, and his body was tossed outside the walls like the body of a dead donkey, without any burial.
    2. Jehoiachin, Jehoiakim’s son, reigned only three months in 597, during which time Jeremiah remained in prison.
    3. Zedekiah, Josiah’s third son, began to reign in 597 and reigned for 11 years. Like his brothers, before him, he listened to the people, rather than to God’s warning through Jeremiah to repent.  He eventually imprisoned Jeremiah.
      1. Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem in 586 BC, destroyed the temple, killed the king’s sons, put out the king’s eyes, and took him captive to Babylon.
    4. After this, Jeremiah warned the remnant to remain in the land, as God commanded, but they decided to seek refuge in Egypt.  Jeremiah went with them, and nothing further is known of him.

4 ¶  Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,Word of God

  1. We are clearly told, from the outset, that this is the word of Jehovah. It is not simply some vague “revelation” that came to a man from some entity, as in the case of Mohammed’s confusion and questioning over whether he had been spoken to by an evil jinn or an angel.  Jeremiah clearly states that what follows is the word of almighty God, whose name is Jehovah.

5  Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

  1. Here we see a clear statement of the foreknowledge of God. The doctrine of foreknowledge is most important to us as Christians.  We are chosen, or elect, predestinated  according to the good pleasure of His will, not by limited atonement, Christ dying only for the ones chosen to be saved, but predestinated by the foreknowledge of God.  “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.”  1 Peter 1:2
    1. God knew Jeremiah before he was even conceived. He knew the life of Jeremiah from beginning to end.  He knew that even with the full freedom of choice that God gives to all, Jeremiah would be an obedient and faithful servant and witness.
      1. Because of this foreknowledge, God chose Jeremiah, sanctifying and ordaining him to be his prophet to the nations, even before he was born. God knew infinitely better that Jeremiah that he was the one for the task ahead.
      2. As we can see in the following verse, Jeremiah thought he was not fit for the task. This is the way it is for many preachers and Christians who think that they are not suited nor suitable to take the gospel to those around them.  God has called all Christians to preach the gospel every creature.
    2. God formed Jeremiah in the belly. God does this with every human being.  Abortion is outright murder.  There is no way to get around this.  There is no way to justify it.  There is no argument to be brought forward in favour of it.  Abortion is always the murder of a completely innocent human being, and worse, it is the murder of a human being that God has carefully and personally formed in the safety of its mothers belly.  “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.  My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.  Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.” Psalm 139:13 – 16
      1. Jeremiah was fashioned by God for the task he was called to. In other words, he had all the attributes that were needed for the task.  His only requirement was to choose to accept the call.  God had prepared him in every way needed in advance.
        1. Human beings are formed by God with talents and abilities built right in. We make heroes of hockey stars and idolize singers and actors, but they did not make themselves! They ought to use the talents and abilities they have been given for the glory of God.
        2. We ought never to hate ourselves or feel worthless. God has personally worked in the formation of every human being, working right in the womb to prepare us for the unique call He has for us in our life.  We were formed by God and are therefore of very, very great value.

6  Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.

  1. Jeremiah, like so many others whom God has called, did not believe it was possible for him to do as God said. He did not believe that he was qualified.

7  But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.

  1. Jehovah God answered Jeremiah. He told Jeremiah not to say he was a child.  He was not to think of the message he would be preaching as coming from one with childlike knowledge, because the word he spoke would be the word of God.
    1. We may feel weak, unqualified and unable to speak, but God has commanded us to preach the gospel. It is not our word.  It is not something we have to figure out and by our own wisdom and strength preach to the world.  We are saved by grace by the power of the gospel and by that grace, we are able to preach the gospel. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:  for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”  Romans 1:16

8  Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.

  1. God told Jeremiah not to be afraid to face the people he would be preaching to, no matter who it was. Jeremiah preached to kings and princes and other priests.  He stood before those who hated him, who wanted nothing more than his demise.  Yet God told him when he called him not to fear, because Jehovah God would be with him to deliver him.
    1. God has told us, his children in Christ, that we are not to worry about what we will say. Jesus said, “But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.” Matthew 10:19
    2. Jeremiah was not to be afraid to speak; he was to speak the word of God by faith, no matter what or who he was speaking to.

9  Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

  1. This demonstrates the very personal way that Jehovah God communed with the prophets He called. Furthermore, it clearly demonstrates the fact that God’s word is verbally inspired.  He put His very words in Jeremiah’s mouth!
    1. There is no question, here. There is no ambiguity.  Jehovah God declared that He had put His words in the mouth of Jeremiah. We can be confident, today, when we read the Bible, that it is the very Word of God, given to us directly by God through the men he chose.

10  See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

  1. God made it very clear to Jeremiah (and to us), that the words he would have Jeremiah speak and write down were His words. All the things he would say, all the judgments he would preach, were directly from God.
    1. Considering that God put His words in the mouth of the prophet, we ought never to think any part of the Bible unimportant or irrelevant. Every word of God is important and not to be messed with.  “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.  Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” Proverbs 30:5,6

11 ¶  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.

  1. This is the beginning of the God’s messages to Jeremiah, starting with two visions given by God.
    1. The Hebrew word for almond tree means “wakeful tree,” because it is the first tree to blossom and bear fruit after the winter.
    2. The rod of an almond tree is a powerful sign of coming judgment. The rod, also called a staff, is a walking stick, used to travel by foot. Judgment was travelling toward Jerusalem!
    3. Finally, a rod is used in divining. Divining is often a great sin as practised by man, but it also refers to prophecy, the declaration of God’s word about the future.

12  Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.

  1. The almond tree is the first tree to bud in spring in the Middle East.
    1. This signified the first thing that would happen, something that was coming very soon.
    2. This was a sign that God’s judgment was about to begin. The things that God would show Jeremiah were not far away, as some prophecies, but about to begin.
      1. It was 42 years from the time Jeremiah began prophesying until Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple.

13  And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north.

  1. God then brought a second vision before Jeremiah, a seething pot facing north. A seething pot was a great cauldron used to boil food, usually hung over an open fire.  It could be propped on one side so that its mouth faced out to make it more accessible for adding food or for serving.  It could be quite full, being often added to as foodstuff was available, and if the fire was too hot, it would boil over and if anything or anyone got in its way, it could be catastrophic.
    1. This seething pot he saw had its face “toward the north,” meaning that the opening was in the north, ready to pour out its contents toward the south.

14  Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.

  1. Again, God gave an interpretation to Jeremiah. The seething pot represented a evil about to break forth or “boil over” from the north that would flow out upon all the inhabitants of the land, especially Jerusalem.

15  For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.

  1. This would have been Babylon and its allies. The kings of the vassal states under Babylon would site on thrones at the gates of all the cities of Judah and Jerusalem, itself.  This could only happen if Jerusalem was breached, which its inhabitants believed was not possible.
    1. At the time of this vision, the kingdoms of the north were part of the Assyrian empire, which was conquered by Nabopolassar, Nebuchadnezzar’s father. He conquered Nineveh, thus completely ending the Assyrian empire and raising Babylon to the dominant power in the region, rivalled only by Egypt.
    2. Note that prophecies often refer to multiple events. The first was about to happen, the conquering, destruction and carrying away of the people of Jerusalem.  But the kingdoms of the north will once again rise against Israel for the same reason, their wicked disobedience to God.

16  And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.

  1. God was about to carry out judgment upon Judah for their gross disobedience and wickedness. God spoke of their vile practice of worshipping other gods as spiritual adultery and whoring after other gods. They were God’s chosen people, expressly told that they were to have no other gods.
    1. The people of Jerusalem were committing the most unspeakable atrocities, which they had learned from the people they were supposed to drive out, but in disobedience, intermarried with. They caused their children to “pass through the fire” to the Canaanite god, Molech.  This involved laying their children into the outstretched hands of a hollow brass idol they had superheated in Gehenna, a small valley just outside Jerusalem, also called the Valley of Hinom. (It’s inside modern Jerusalem, which encloses the old city within its boundaries.)

17  Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.

  1. God commanded Jeremiah to prepare for action, to rise up and speak to the people of Judah, which especially meant its leaders. God warned him to trust him and not to be intimidated.
    1. This is a good warning for us, today. We should speak boldly the word of God as Christians.  God made it clear to Jeremiah that he would give him everything that he needed to say, but warned him that if he was fearful, he would cause him to become confused.
      1. Be not dismayed – the same word is translated “dismayed” in the first phrase and “confounded” in the second. God warned him that if he was afraid to face the people he was sent to, He would make him afraid of them.  In other words, if he feared them, rather than obey God, God would give him a real reason to fear them.
      2. Arise – get moving. God called on Jeremiah to prepare for action by fastening up his loose clothing so it would not hinder him, then to arise.  It was not enough to be ready for action;  he was to take
        1. This is a strong exhortation to us, today, to do more than simply prepare to preach the gospel to every creature. It is essential for us to prepare ourselves for action – to read and study our Bibles and to spend much time with the LORD in prayer, but unless we take action, moving to speak to the people around us, nothing will happen.
      3. Jeremiah was instructed to speak all that God commanded him to the people he was sent to.
        1. Note that he was to speak all that God commanded him, not just some or a part of it.
        2. Today, much harm is done when we speak only a small portion of the salvation message to the people around us. God never commanded us to tell sinners to “pray the prayer” to be saved.  He told us to preach the gospel.
          • Paul gave us the framework for doing that – the headings – when he wrote: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures…” 1Corinthians 15:3,4
          • He went on from there to describe the vast number of eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but the key was in the words, “according to the scriptures.”
          • “According to the scriptures” is referring to the vast number of prophecies of the Messiah who would die for the sins of the people, who would be buried, and who would rise from the dead, all of which were fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
          • The gospel then must explain sin, the reason a Saviour is needed, which is proven in the Law, which shows that all have sinned, all have come short of the glory of God. It must be explained that sin separates us from God, that the wages of sin is death, and that the solution is a gift from God, Jesus Christ the Lord.
          • Unless we tell people all that God says about sin and salvation, many people end up going to hell thinking they’re going to heaven. That is simply unthinkable!

18  For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.

  1. A defenced city – God promised Jeremiah that he would give him the strength, backbone and courage to face anyone, from the least to the greatest, to whom God would send him.
    1. A preacher must especially trust God for everything, or he will soon fail. A preacher must depend completely on God and not balk at difficulty or opposition.
      1. While this obviously applies to someone called to preach as Jeremiah was or as a pastor is, today, it also applies to each one of us, who are all called to “preach the gospel to every creature.” Each one of us is to be a witness who is “…not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:  for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth…”  Romans 1:16

19  And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I [am] with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.

  1. The kings, priests and people of the land to whom God was sending Jeremiah did not like his message. They did, indeed, withstand him.  They wanted to kill him.  He lived in great peril, most of the time.  However, God promised that they would not prevail against him.  They would not succeed against him, because God was with him, fighting on his side to deliver him.
    1. It is common for Christians to fear man and therefore not share the gospel with the people even in their own community. Yet God has told us to preach the gospel to every creature. That is a command, not a suggestion.
      1. Just as God did not send Jeremiah out without His protection, He does not send us out without His protection. In fact, He warns us not to fear man.  “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul:  but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”  Matthew 10:28  Fear God and trust Him, not man.  God will deliver all who put their faith in Jesus Christ, though we may even lay down our lives in the process of obeying Him. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”  John 6:47 “Everlasting” means it cannot be lost, nor taken away.  “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 8:38,39

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