Zephaniah becomes a prophet	Jeremiah becomes a prophet	King Josiah killed in battle	Daniel taken captive	Ezekiel begins to prophesy in Babylonia	Judah falls; Jerusalem destroyed; Jeremiah's ministry ends	First exiles return to Judah
640 B.C.	627	609	605	593	586	538

710	700	690	680	670	660	650	640	630	620	610	600	590	580	570	560	550	540	530
	Kings of Babylon							Neo- Babylonian Empire
								Nebopolassar      625        605			605  Nebuchadnezzar  562
				612 Assyria and Nineveh are destroyed by  Babylon							605 Egypt defeated Babylon at Battle of Carchemish
				Jehoahaz (Joahaz/Shallum) three months									Jehoiachin (Coniah or Jeconiiah) 3 months
	Last Five Kings of Judah						640      Josiah       609				Jehoiakim (Eliakim) 609  -  597		Zedekiah (Mattamih) 597 - 586
											70 - years Jewish Captivity      536
											Three Stages of Captivity
										1 605  Daniel and friends
											2 597 Ezekiel and ten thousand captives
												3 586 Destruction of Jerusalem
	Jeremiah and His Contemporary Prophets(Southern Kingdom)					Nahum 650                            620
								JEREMIAH 627        (53 years of ministry)        574
							636 Zephaniah 623			Habakkuk 621   609		593        Ezekiel        559
										605                               Daniel                             536
710	700	690	680	670	660	650	640	630	620	610	600	590	580	570	560	550	540	530

The Call of Jeremiah

Jeremiah’s Times

Jeremiah

Served as a prophets to Judah from 627 B.C. nil the exile in 585 B.C

CLIMATE OF THE TIME	Society was deteriorating economically, politically, spiritually. War and captivity dominated the world scene. God's word was deemed offensive.
MAIN MESSAGE	Repentance from sin would postpone Judah's coming judgment at the hands of Babylon.
IMPORTANCE OF MESSAGE	Repentance is one of the greatest needs in our immoral world. God's promises to the faithful shine brightly by bringing hope for tomorrow and strength today.
CONTEMPORARY PROPHETS	Habakkuk (612-588 B.C.), Zephaniah (640-621 B.C.)

The Blueprint 

A. GOD'S JUDGMENT ON JUDAH (1:1045:5) The call of Jeremiah Jeremiah condemns Judah for its sins Jeremiah prophesies destruction Jeremiah accuses Judah's leaders Restoration is promised  God's promised judgment arrives

Jeremiah confronts many people with their sins: kings; false prophets, those at the temples, and those at the gates. A lack of response made Jeremiah wonder if he was doing any good at all. He often felt discouraged and sometimes bitter. To bring such gloomy messages to these people was a hard task. We, too, have a responsibility to bring this news to a fallen world: Those who continue in their sinful ways are eternally doomed. Although we may feel discouraged at the lack of response, we must press on to tell others about the consequences of sin and the hope that God offers. Those who tell people only what they want to hear are being unfaithful to God's message.

B. GOD'S JUDGMENT ON THE NATIONS (46:1-52:34) Prophecies about foreign nations The fall of Jerusalem

Jeremiah lived to see many of his prophecies come true - most notably the fall of Jerusalem. The fulfillment of this and others prophecies against the foreign nations came as a result of sin. These who refuse to confess their sin bring judgment upon themselves.

The Kings of Jeremiah's lifetime

King	Story of his reign	Dates of his reign	Character of reign	Jeremiah message to the king
Josiah	2 King 22:1-23:30	640-609 B.C.	Mostly good	3:6-25
Jehoahaz	2 Kings 23:31-33	609 B.C	Evil	22:10-12
Jehoiakim	2 Kings 23:34-24:7	609-598 B.C.	Evil	22:13-23; 25:1-38; 26:1-24; 35:1-19;  36:1-32
Jehoiachin	2 Kings 24:8-17	598-597 B.C.	Evil	13:18-27; 22:24-30
Zedekiah	2 Kings 24:18-25:26	597-586 B.C.	Evil	21:1-14; 24:8-10; 27:12-22; 32:1-5;  34:1-22; 37:1-21; 38:1-28; 51:59-64

God's object lessons in Jeremiah

Reference	Object Lesson	Significance
1:11, 12	Branch from an almond tree	God will carry out his threats of punishment.
1:13-15	Pot of boiling water, spilling southward	An enemy army will invade from the north
13:1-11	A rotten linen loincloth	Because the people refused to listen to God, they had become useless, good for nothing like a useless linen loincloth.
18:1-17	Potter's clay	God could destroy his sinful people if he so desired. This is a warning to them to repent before he is forced to bring judgment.
19:1-12	A shattered clay jar	God would smash Judah just as Jeremiah smashed the clay jar.
24:1-10	Two baskets of figs	Good figs represent God's remnant. Bad figs are the people left behind.
27:2-11	Yoke	Any nation who refused to submit to Babylon's yoke of control would be punished.
43:8-13	Large rocks	The rocks marked the place where Nebuchadnezzar would set his throne when God allowed him to conquer Egypt.
51:59-64	Scroll sunk in the river	Babylon would sink to rise no more.

Function of the Prophets

Period	Function	Audience	Message	Examples
PRE-MONARCHY	Mouthpiece-leader	People	National guidance Maintenance of justice Spiritual overseer	Moses Deborah  TRANSITION: Samuel
PRE-CLASSICAL	Mouthpiece-leader	King and court	Military advice Pronouncement of rebuke or blessing	Nathan Elijah Elisha Micaiah
CLASSICAL	Mouthpiece-social/spiritual commentator	People	Rebuke concerning current condition of society; leads to warning of captivity, destruction, exile and promise of eventual restoration  Call for justice and repentance	TRANSITION: North - Jonah South - Isaiah Writing prophets Best example Jeremiah

Jeremiah Overview