01 Jeremiah 1:1-3 What to do when your country falls apart

by Krisan Marotta | Sep 14, 2016 | 01 Podcasts, Jeremiah

1The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, 2to 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. 3It 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 exile of Jerusalem in the fifth month. – Jeremiah 1:1-3

Why study Jeremiah?

Jeremiah is about national, political crisis.
Jeremiah is about personal crisis.
Jeremiah is about the word of the Lord.

Historical Context

NOTE: One of the best summaries of the history of the time is the Introduction in Derek Kidner’s commentary on Jeremiah.

734 BC – Israel rebelled only to be crushed by Assyria; the northern and eastern tribes deported.
722 BC – Israel rebelled again. Assyrian conquered her capital city, and took the 10 northern tribes into exile.
627 BC – In the year of Jeremiah’s call, the Assyria king (Asshurbanipal) died sparking a civil war over succession. Both the Babylonians and the Egyptians rebel.
626 BC – Babylon defeated the Assyrians outside of their capital city, gaining independence. Josiah, the King of Judah enacts reforms.
627 BC – Jeremiah begins his ministry.
605 BC – at the Battle of Carchemish, the Babylonians defeat the combined forces of Egypt & Assyria.
586 BC – Babylon destroys Judah & Jerusalem and takes the remaining Israelities into exile
Jeremiah’s job was to predict and warn of the coming Babylonian invasion.

The question that the book of Jeremiah encourages us to ask is when the world is falling apart is “What is God doing?”

Who was Jeremiah?

Jeremiah was a priest from the village of Anathoth.
He was an “insider” who would soon be an “outsider.”
He was too young and inexperienced to be respected by his peers.

The book of Jeremiah is about a prophet declaring disaster yet promising hope. What do you do when your country falls apart? You seek the Lord.

For more detail and explanation, please listen to the podcast.

Next in Series: 02 Jeremiah 1:4-10 What does God want from me?

Part of the series: Questions Jeremiah Answered

Study Resources: Jeremiah Resources

Scripture quotes are from the New American Standard Version of the Bible.

Photo used here under Flickr Creative Commons.