Jeremiah And The Final Days Of Judah Series

May 06, 2023

Jeremiah was born during the reign of Manasseh – Judah’s worst king.

When Manasseh’s grandson, Josiah, came to the throne he attempted to undo everything Manasseh had done. He removed the idols from the land, but he couldn’t remove idol worship from the hearts of the people.

The people didn’t abandon the Temple they simply brought idol worship into the Temple and relegated Yahweh to just another of the many gods they worshipped.

They had convinced themselves that their actions wouldn’t have any serious consequences because they believed that God would never allow anything terrible to happen to the city or Temple that bore His name.

It was in the 13th year of Josiah’s reign {627 BC}, that Jeremiah got THE CALL.

Jeremiah resisted. He actually protested:

• Jeremiah 1:6 - "Ah, Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child."

But Yahweh had somethings to say and He wanted Jeremiah to deliver the message:

• Jeremiah 2:1-9 - The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: "'I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown. 3 Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest; all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them,'" declares the LORD…. 7 I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable. 8 The priests did not ask, 'Where is the LORD?' Those who deal with the law did not know me; the leaders rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols. 9 "Therefore I bring charges against you again," declares the LORD. "And I will bring charges against your children's children.

• Jeremiah 4:14-18 - O Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts? 15 A voice is announcing from Dan, proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim. 16 "Tell this to the nations, proclaim it to Jerusalem: 'A besieging army is coming from a distant land, raising a war cry against the cities of Judah. 17 They surround her like men guarding a field, because she has rebelled against me,'" declares the LORD. 18 "Your own conduct and actions have brought this upon you. This is your punishment. How bitter it is! How it pierces to the heart!"

Jeremiah did what God asked him to do – at great personal cost.

• He was not allowed to marry or have a family (16:2).

• God gave him all sorts of crazy object lessons to perform before the people (19:1-2 and 27:2).

• His life was threatened by those who opposed his message, including his own family (26:8-15).

• Court “prophets” challenged him at every turn (28).

• He was imprisoned (37:12-16).

• He was thrown down a well (38:3-6).

It is the last 2 events we will focus on today.

Jeremiah imprisoned – 37:1-21

Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, was on the throne. Nebuchadnezzar had placed him on the throne after King Jehoiachin had been removed and taken to Babylon.

Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words Yahweh had spoken through Jeremiah, however, he still asked Jeremiah to “pray to Yahweh for us.”

Pharaoh marched out against Nebuchadnezzar’s army when he got word that the Babylonians were besieging Jerusalem (because Egypt and Judah had formed an alliance against Babylon) the Babylonian army broke off the siege and set off to engage the Egyptian army.

Jeremiah went to Zedekiah with a word from Yahweh: “Pharaoh's army, which has marched out to support you, will go back to its own land. Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capture it and burn it down. Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, 'The Babylonians will surely leave us.' They will not! Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn this city down.”

While the Babylonians were away, the people were once again free to move about the countryside. Jeremiah decided it was time to go check on his property. When he reached the Benjamin gate, however, he was stopped by the captain of the guard and accused of trying to desert to the Babylonians.

Why do you suppose Jeremiah was singled out? Because he had been counselling the people to surrender:

• Jeremiah 21:8-10 - …. tell the people, 'This is what Yahweh says: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; he will escape with his life. 10 I have determined to do this city harm and not good, declares Yahweh. It will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will destroy it with fire.'