Jeremiah 1:1-19
The call and commission of Jeremiah by God.
This chapter is historic, Hilkiah was the father of Jeremiah and was the high priest who found the Book of the Law during Josiah’s reign (in 621BC). Josiah and Jeremiah were contemporaries, probably friends. Jeremiah prophecied for 18 years in Josiah’s reign until Josiah died trying to wage war against the same Pharaoh the Babylonians would soon defeat. Verses 2-3 gives us the time span of Jeremiah’s ministry, from the 13th year of Josiah to the 11th year on the 5th month of Zedekiah when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed and burned. (vs. 4-5) God says he knew Jeremiah before he was conceived, and before he came out of the womb he was sanctified and ordained a prophet (vs. 5). God tells him ‘Don’t worry about the effect of your message, just give the message.’ Jeremiah objects saying he’s but a child (the ministry for a priest wasn’t supposed to start until they were 30 years old, Jeremiah was only 20). Verse 10 defines Jeremiah’s prophetic ministry. Most note the “to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down” part of the commission in this verse, but never the last part, “to build, and to plant”. At the very end of his ministry in the Middle East, under the protection of the Babylonians Jeremiah has custody of king Zedekiah’s daughters. Both he, Baruch and they disappear from the historic scene, it’s just like they disappear from off the map, a historic mystery. More on this later. (vs. 13) The seething pot is the coming Babylonian army, coming from the north to destroy and capture. In verse 19 God says the Jews will fight against Jeremiah, ‘but they will not succeed in harming you, for I am with you, so give your message from me.’
Anathoth, his home, was about 2.5 miles northeast of Jerusalem.
“The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, 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 [ie, Josiah was 21 years old, 626BC]. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.’ Then said I, ‘Ah, Lord GOD! Behold I cannot speak, for I am a youth.’ But the LORD said to me: ‘Do no say, I am a youth. For you shall go to all to whom I send you. And whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you,’ says the LORD. Then the LORD put forth his hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: ‘Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.” [Comment: during the lifetime of Jeremiah the Assyrian Empire was ‘pulled down and destroyed,’ while the Babylonian Empire was built up and took its place. Judah was pulled down and deported to Babylon, and then at that same period in time Jeremiah along with king Zedekiah’s daughters mysteriously historically disappear from view. Some speculate that Jeremiah had a secret commission from God to replant the crown of David somewhere else in the world through Zedekiah’s daughters. We’ll find out for sure when Jesus returns. But this verse was definitely fulfilled historically in Jeremiah’s lifetime, nations fell and rose, empires fell and rose, all following the words the LORD gave Jeremiah to speak.] “Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Jeremiah, what do you see?’ And I said, ‘I see a branch of an almond tree.’ Then the LORD said to me, ‘You have seen well, for I am ready to perform my word.’ And the word of the LORD came to me the second time, saying, ‘What do you see?’ And I said, ‘I see a boiling pot, and it is facing away from the north.’ Then the LORD said to me: ‘Out of the north calamity shall break forth on all the inhabitants of the land. For behold, I am calling all the families of the kingdoms of the north,’ says the LORD; ‘They shall come and each one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around, and against all the cities of Judah. I will utter my judgments against them concerning all their wickedness, because they have forsaken me, burned incense to other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands. Therefore prepare yourself and arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before their faces, lest I dismay you before them. For behold, I have made you this day a fortified city and an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you,’ says the LORD, ‘to deliver you.’”
Background for chapters 2-12
J. Vernon McGee gives us this background for Jeremiah chapters 2 through 12, “Chapters 2 through 6 were given during the first five years of Jeremiah’s ministry (626-621BC). And since he began to prophesy in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah, these messages were given in those five years before the finding of the Book of the Law in the temple. The messages in chapters 7 through 9 have to do with the cleansing of the temple and the discovery of the Book of the Law, which took place in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah (621BC). Then chapters 10 through 12 are the messages which came in the period of reform and revival after the finding of the Book of the Law. We will discover that the revival was a surface-revival sort of thing because there was not proper emphasis placed on the Word of God. Friend, we need to remember that there will never be a real revival until there is a real emphasis placed upon the Word of God. In order to orient ourselves for this period of history, we need to study the historical books along with the prophetic books. Therefore we will turn back to the thirty-fourth chapter of 2 Chronicles to fit the messages of Jeremiah into this particular place in history. “Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign [639BC], and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years [609BC]. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left” (2 Chronicles 34:1-2). “For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father [631BC]: and in the twelfth year [627BC] he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images” (2 Chronicles 34:3). Jeremiah’s first five years of prophesying were during this period [627-621BC].” [J. Vernon McGee, THRU THE BIBLE SERIES, Vol. III, p.358.]
Jeremiah 2:1-37
Vs. 1-3, This is God’s impassioned rebuke for Israel (and this is addressed to the whole nation of Israel, even though the Northern 10 tribed House of Israel went into Assyrian captivity and never returned historically as a nation). God is calling them to remember the beginning of their relationship with him, just as Jesus does of the Ephesus era of his Church in Revelation 2. Vs. 5, God asks, ‘What did I do wrong?’ They abandoned God for idols. Verse 8, emphasis mine. This has become, sadly, a condition found amongst the pastors and ministers throughout many of the older denominations, a condition of their not knowing the God of the Bible. Jesus (cf. John 8:58) was Yahweh in the Old Testament. These pastors do not know the God of the Bible, neither Yahweh nor Jesus. It is a case of the blind leading the blind, a sad condition found amongst them and their churches. So Jeremiah 2, the whole chapter can and does apply to modern Christianity as found in our Western Judeo-Christian nations. It’s not merely a dead, historic chapter in Jeremiah, it’s alive and applies to the here and now! If you’re reading this and find you’re a member of one of these older denominations, my advice, get out fast, find a live part of the Body of Christ (your spiritual life may depend on it). Vs. 21-22 God uses the good vine verses the corrupt vine analogy. vs. 28 puts this in context with God speaking specifically to Judah “you have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah.” Judah has had Baal worship re-introduced into the fabric of their society by the two previous kings, Manasseh and Amon (see http://www.unityinchrist.com/kings/5.html for the historic background associated with these prophecies). That’s what Jeremiah’s ministry was all about, warning the nation of Judah about the dire consequences of that.
“Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothal, when you went after me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. Israel was holiness to the LORD, the firstfruits of his increase. All that devour him will offend; disaster will come upon them,’ says the LORD.’ Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel. Thus says the LORD: ‘What injustice have your fathers found in me, that they have gone far from me, have followed idols, and have become idolaters? Neither did they say, ‘Where is the LORD, who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, through a land of drought and the shadow of death, through a land that no one crossed and where no one dwelt? I brought you into a bountiful country, to eat its fruit and its goodness. But when you entered, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination. The priests did not say, Where is the LORD? And those who handle the law did not know me; the rulers also transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit. Therefore I will yet bring charges against you,’ says the LORD, ‘and against your children’s children I will bring charges. For pass beyond the coasts of Cyprus and see, send to Kedar and consider diligently, and see if there has been such a thing. Has a nation changed its gods, which are not gods? But my people have changed their Glory for what does not profit. Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid; be very desolate,’ says the LORD. ‘For my people have committed two evils: They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and have hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water. Is Israel a servant? Is he a homeborn slave? Why is he plundered? The young lions roared at him, and growled; they made his land waste; his cities are burned, without inhabitant. Also the people of Noph [Memphis in ancient Egypt] and Tahpanhes [Tanis?] have broken the crown of your head. [Comment: “Also the people of Noph and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of your head” is perhaps a reference to the future death of king Josiah at the hands of Pharaoh Neko II and his Egyptian army at Megiddo in 608BC.] Have you not brought this on yourself, in that you have forsaken the LORD your God when he led you in the way? And now why take the road to Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? Or why take the road to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River [Euphrates]? Your wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing that you have forsaken the Lord GOD of hosts. For of old I have broken your yoke and burst your bonds; and you said, ‘I will not transgress,’ when on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down, playing the harlot. Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality. How then have you turned before me into the degenerate plant of an alien vine? For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before me,’ says the Lord GOD. How can you say, ‘I am not polluted, I have not gone after the Baals’? See your way in the valley; know what you have done: You are a swift dromedary breaking loose in her ways, a wild donkey used to the wilderness, that sniffs at the wind in her desire; in her time of mating, who can turn her away? All those who seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they will find her. Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst. But you said, ‘There is no hope. No! For I have loved aliens, and after them I will go.’ As the thief is ashamed when he is found out, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they and their kings and their princes, and their priests and their prophets, saying to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave birth to me.’ For they have turned their back to me, and not their face. But in the time of their trouble they will say, ‘Arise and save us.’ But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble; for according to the number of your cities are your gods, O Judah. Why will you plead with me? You all have transgressed against me,’ says the LORD. ‘In vain I have chastened your children; they received no correction. Your sword has devoured your prophets like a destroying lion. O generation, see the word of the LORD! Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of darkness? Why do my people say, ‘We are lords; we will come no more to you’? Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number. Why do you beautify your way to seek love? Therefore you have also taught the wicked women your ways. Also on your skirts is found the blood of the lives of the poor innocents. I have not found it by secret search, but plainly on all these things. Yet you say, ‘Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me.’ Behold, I will plead my case against you, because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’ Why do you gad about so much to change your way? Also you shall be ashamed of Egypt as you were ashamed of Assyria. Indeed you will go forth from him with your hands on your head; for the LORD has rejected your trusted allies, and you will not prosper by them.’
