Delve Into The ProphetsSample

DAY 14 – JEREMIAH

The prophet Jeremiah began to speak to the kingdom of Judah around the time that Ashurbanipal, the last great king of Assyria, died. Jeremiah continued to bring “the word of the Lord” to his people for the next forty years. As the Assyrian Empire crumbled, Judah experienced a revival of its fortunes and national character under Josiah. But it then fell back into spiritual and moral decline under kings Jehoiakim and Zedekiah. It was eventually destroyed by Babylon. The book that preserves Jeremiah’s prophecies chronicles these events from his eyewitness perspective.

After Ashurbanipal’s death, the Assyrian Empire steadily lost its grip on the peoples it had conquered. In Judah, the young king Josiah abandoned a policy of religious and political appeasement and reestablished the worship of the true God. The thirty years of his reign represented the last great flowering of the Judean kingdom. Unfortunately, Josiah met an untimely end. Egypt was concerned over the growing power of Babylon and wanted to prop up the tottering Assyrian Empire as a weak buffer state. But Josiah supported the Babylonians, so he led his army out to intercept an Egyptian army that was marching past Judah on its way to defend Assyria. Josiah was killed in battle, and Judah fell under Egyptian domination. His son Jehoahaz succeeded him, but Pharaoh Necho deposed him and carried him to Egypt as a hostage. He put another of Josiah’s sons, Jehoiakim, on the throne instead.

Under Jehoiakim, the kingdom of Judah reverted to the idolatry, immorality, and injustice that Josiah had worked so hard to eradicate. Early in his reign, the Babylonians defeated the Egyptians in a decisive battle and became the new rulers of the region. At first Jehoiakim paid them tribute, but then he rebelled, counting on support from Egypt—even though Jeremiah warned this support would never come. In response to this rebellion, the Babylonians invaded Judah. In 597 BC they captured Jerusalem. By this time, Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin had succeeded him. The Babylonians deported Jehoiachin and most of Judah’s nobles and artisans, and they carried off many of the temple’s furnishings and treasures. They placed a man named Zedekiah, who was Josiah’s son and Jehoiachin’s uncle, on the throne.

The Judeans confidently expected that Jehoiachin would soon return, along with the temple treasures. Jeremiah warned them against their complacency and misplaced confidence, proclaiming that God would instead “watch over” those who had gone into exile and that he would soon judge Judah and Jerusalem. His words came true when Zedekiah, despite further warnings, repeated Jehoiachin’s disastrous mistake of looking to Egypt for help. The Babylonian army returned to subjugate the rebellious province. In 586 BC they reconquered Jerusalem, and this time they completely destroyed the city and the temple, carrying more of the population off into exile. 

Jeremiah was among those who remained behind. The other survivors made matters even worse for themselves by assassinating the governor the Babylonians appointed. They fled to Egypt in fear for their lives against Jeremiah’s advice, and they took him with them against his will. Jeremiah’s last recorded words come to us from Tahpanhes in Egypt.

PRAYER: Help me to find Your way, Lord – and to walk in it.