Jeremiah (1:1) The word Jeremiah means “Jehovah establishes” or “Jehovah appoints”.

Jeremiah 36:1-4, 32; Dan 9:2 Matthew 2:17, 18; Matthew 21:13; Hebrews 8:8-13 and Rom 11:22) Jeremiah prophesied for about 45 years and there was no response to his message. He was constantly rejected and is often called in the Old Testament the “man of sorrows”.

The warning of judgement upon Judah (1:10-19)

The book is not written chronologically but in typical order:

• The designation of the prophet. (1:1-19) Jeremiah is identified and we are given his message and office.
• The declarations of God against Judah. (2:1 – 45:5).

1. The twelve sermons of Jeremiah to Judah (2-25)
2. The conflicts of the prophet (26-29)
3. The consolations of the prophet (30 – 33)
4. The circumstances of the prophet Jeremiah in relation to the fall of Jerusalem (34 – 45). Circumstances before the fall of Jerusalem. (34 – 36) – Circumstances during the fall of Jerusalem (37 – 39) – Circumstances after the fall of Jerusalem (40 – 45).

• The declarations of God against the nations of the Gentile people around about (46 – 51).
• The description of the fall of Jerusalem (52).

• Chapter 22:30. This is a problem verse put forward by critics of the Bible. Jehoiakim is to be “childless”. In Matthew 1:12 this same man is an ancestor of Jesus Christ. It is obvious from Jeremiah 22:28 that Jehoiakim’s wife had children. Jehoiakim was to be “childless” in the sense that he would not have a child who was going to sit upon the throne of Judah because of the judgement of God that was about to fall on the nation.
• The prophecy concerning the 70 years of Exile. (Jeremiah 25:11,12). There was a specific reason why this number of years was chosen. The children of Israel were instructed to observe a sabbatical year. (See Leviticus 26:33-35) From 2 Chronicles 36:21 we are told that they had not kept this observance. God was now going to claim the sabbatical years that they had refused to give Him. Thus for the years that Israel had stolen from God, God was finally going to reap what was His. The land would be at rest for 70 years. (586-516 BC).
• The new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34). The details of the new covenant are several:-

1. It is for Israel and is going to replace the covenant of Moses.
2. It is going to take place “after those days”. “Those days” in 37:7 are the days of “Jacob’s troubles.
3. It is the days of the regathering of Israel. See 30:1-30.
4. There is spiritual blessing.
5. There is universal knowledge of the Lord.
6. There is the forgiveness of sins

There are five references in the N T to the “new covenant”. They are: 2 Corinthians 3:6; 1 Corinthians 11:35; Luke 22:20; Hebrews 8:8 and 9:19.

The Church has prematurely entered into the benefits of the new covenant which God will establish with Israel when He takes up His programme with them once again. The book of Lamentations is the appendix which was a song sung by Jeremiah lamenting the destruction of the city of Jerusalem.