South Asia Bible Commentary by Brian Wintle

Author:Brian Wintle
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Zondervan Academic
Published: 2015-08-31T16:00:00+00:00

JEREMIAH

Jeremiah is one of the longest books in the Bible. It paints a vivid picture of the prophet with all his weaknesses and strengths while also telling the story of the last generation of the kingdom of Judah. It covers the period from Jeremiah’s call in 626 BC to shortly after the conquest of Judah by Babylon in 586 BC, or in other words, the period when the nation was on the verge of its seventy-year exile during which the people would have to learn to live without the main pillars of their faith: namely, the temple, the king and the land. The book of Jeremiah also contains the prophecy of the new covenant (31:31-34) which enables us to understand the work of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit, when the law will be written in hearts and minds.

Jeremiah’s personal suffering on behalf of the people to whom he ministered gives us a glimpse of the burden of his call to live and speak for God. Because this prophetic book centres on God’s covenant with his people, we will use his covenant name, Yahweh, usually translated “the LORD”, throughout the commentary.

Historical Context

In order to understand the book of Jeremiah, we need to understand its political context. While the Assyrian Empire was dominant during Jeremiah’s youth, by the time he died, the Babylonians held all the power.

Around 735 BC a coalition of Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel planned to rebel against Assyria and wanted the southern kingdom of Judah to join them. However, Judah resisted and asked Assyria for help. The end result was disastrous as the Assyrians defeated Syria and Israel and made Judah a vassal. In 722/21 BC, Israel again rebelled against Assyria. This time, the Assyrians completely destroyed the capital city of Israel, Samaria, deported the population and put an end to the northern kingdom. Only the southern kingdom of Judah remained.

In 705 BC Sennacherib became the ruler of Assyria, which led to a widespread revolt that included Judah under Hezekiah. Sennacherib put down the rebellion in 701 BC with a heavy hand and lay siege to Jerusalem. Hezekiah sought the Lord at this time, and Isaiah the prophet reassured him through the Lord’s word that Sennacherib would go back to Assyria without attacking Jerusalem. The city was miraculously spared by the protective hand of God.

In 687 BC Manasseh became the king of Judah. He reversed the policies of Hezekiah and gave himself up to the Assyrians completely. During his reign, Judah became terribly corrupt. There was widespread oppression, injustice, violence and bloodshed. Biblical historians judge Manasseh to be the most evil king of Judah. Jeremiah was born during the last years of Manasseh’s reign. At the age of twenty-one, Josiah took over the reign in 640 BC and brought in sweeping reforms. A few years later as these reforms were gaining momentum, Yahweh called Jeremiah to be a prophet.

During the prophetic ministry of Jeremiah, Yahweh called the prophet Ezekiel to deliver his messages to the Jews in Babylonian exile.

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