The Study of Jeremiah (ירמיהו)

Today, we continue our journey through the Bible with today’s study of Jeremiah. May God show us what He wants us to learn?

“May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock, and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

As we study the Bible alone or in a group setting, there are several questions we can ask ourselves to help us dig deeper. The five questions are:

What does the scripture say about God
Then what does the scripture say about me
Does something in this passage challenge me
What gives me hope in this passage
Is anything unclear to me

I hope these questions help you as much as they help me.

Book of Jeremiah

Author: Jeremiah.
Audience: The southern kingdom and Jerusalem.
Date Written: about 627-586 B.C.
Length: 52 Chapters.
Keywords: Destroy and building.
Key Verses: Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the Lord your God and have no awe of me, declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty. (2:19).
Key People: Judah’s kings.

Summary of Jeremiah:

Within the pages of the book, several keywords stand out. Jeremiah mentions “forsake” twenty-four times, “backsliding” thirteen times and “return” forty-seven times. Therefore, the principal message of the book of Jeremiah contains lots of encouragement for all who strayed from God. The prophet tells of the certainty of God’s judgement because of sin, yet offers the hope of a tender love and eternity with God. Jeremiah encouraged the people to return to God and amend their ways because the Lord still loved them.

Sections of the Book:

The book of Jeremiah contains six significant themes, which are:

Calling Jeremiah as a prophet–Chapter 1.
Warnings to Judah–Chapter 2-35.
Persecution of Jeremiah–Chapter 36-38.
The fall of Jerusalem–Chapter 39-45.
Judgement of all nations–Chapter 46-51.
Historical information–Chapter 52.

Messages in Jeremiah:

The prophet Jeremiah announced God would judge Israel’s sins with an exile to Babylon. And then he lived through the horror of his predictions. The book of Jeremiah shows a graphic but important picture of how disobedience leads to destruction. But the story does not end here. Jeremiah tells us of a time of restoration that includes a promise of “a righteous Branch to spring up for David” who “shall execute justice and righteousness in the land” (Jer. 33:15).

“I will be your God, and you shall be my people” is the constant promise of God to wayward Israel throughout the book of Jeremiah (Jer. 7:23; 11:4; 30:22). For us today, this is great encouragement. We have become the heirs of God’s covenant promises to Israel. No matter how others identify us socially, ethnically, or racially, we know that through Christ, the God of the Bible will be our God, and we will be his people.

Final thoughts:

And like so many other books in the Bible, we see God’s character on display in this book. This book shows us God as:

Good—31:12, 14; 33:9.
Holy—23:9.
Just—9:24; 32:19; 50:7.
Kind—31:3.
Long-suffering—15:15; 44:22.
Loving—31:3.
Merciful—3:12; 33:11.
Omnipresent—23:23.
Powerful—5:22; 10:12; 20:11; 37:17.
A promise keeper—31:33; 33:14.

Jeremiah also paints Christ in many beautiful, poetic ways such as the “balm in Gilead” (8:22), the good Shepherd (23:4), “a righteous Branch” (23:5), “the Lord our righteousness” (23:6), and David the King (30:9).

All Lessons from the Bible

Each book of the Bible contains lessons for us to learn and historical information. We must study God’s Word to see what to do and what not to do in life. Paul reminds us of the importance of the words within the text in 2 Timothy 3.

2 Timothy 3:14-17; “14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Prayer

Please grant me the understanding and knowledge of You and Your word. As I open my Bible to read the scriptures, it gives me wisdom and discernment. And even as I sit and listen to the pastor, preacher or apostle reveal what Your Holy Book is speaking into my life, help me see and understand. Help me know Jesus Christ and how He lived His life so I can follow in His precious footsteps. Amen.

Do you need prayer? I would love to pray for you. Submit your prayer request on my website at https://yvonne-morgan.com/submit-your-prayer-request-here/