OceanSide church of Christ




Click here to see all of the YouTube videos belonging to OceanSide
(opens in a new browser)
 Previous Return to BibleClass Next  Click to download Audio

Quotes from Jeremiah

Mike Wencel

 

A person with a white beard and glasses AI-generated content may be incorrect.

 {from Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary}

 

Jeremiah was born in Anathoth, situated north of Jerusalem in the territory of Benjamin (Jer 1:1-2). He was called to the prophetic ministry in the 13th year of Josiah’s reign, about 627 B.C. He must have been a young man at the time, since his ministry lasted for about 40 years—through the very last days of the nation of Judah when the capital city of Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 B.C.

 

Jeremiah’s call is one of the most instructive passages in his book. God declared that he had sanctioned him as a prophet even before he was born (Jer 1:5). But the young man responded with words of inadequacy: “Ah, Lord God!” (Jer_1:6). These words actually mean “No, Lord God!” Jeremiah pleaded that he was a youth and that he lacked the ability to speak. But God replied that he was being called not because of age or ability but because God had chosen him.

 

Immediately Jeremiah saw the hand of God reaching out and touching his mouth. “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth,” God declared (Jer 1:9). From that moment, the words of the prophet were to be the words of God. And his ministry was to consist of tearing down and rebuilding, uprooting and replanting: “See, I have this day set you over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant” (Jer 1:10).

 

Because of the negative nature of Jeremiah’s ministry, judgmental texts abound in his book. Jeremiah was destined from the very beginning to be a prophet of doom. He was even forbidden to marry so he could devote himself fully to the task of preaching God’s judgment (Jer 16:1-13). A prophet of doom cannot be a happy man. All of Jeremiah’s life was wrapped up in the knowledge that God was about to bring an end to the holy city and cast off His Covenant People.

 

Jeremiah is often called “the weeping prophet” because he wept openly about the sins of his nation (Jer 9:1). He was also depressed at times about the futility of his message. As the years passed and his words of judgment went unheeded, he lamented his unfortunate state: “O Lord, You induced me, and I was persuaded; You are stronger than I, and have prevailed. I am in derision daily; everyone mocks me” (Jer 20:7).

 

At times Jeremiah tried to hold back from his prophetic proclamation. But he found that the word of the Lord was “like a burning fire shut up in my bones” (Jer 20:9). He had no choice but to proclaim the harsh message of God’s judgment.

 

Jeremiah did not weep and lament because of weakness, nor did he proclaim evil because of a dark and gloomy personality. He cried out because of his love for his people and his God. This characteristic of the prophet is actually a tribute to his sensitivity and deep concern. Jeremiah’s laments remind us of the weeping of the Savior (Mat 23:37-39).

 

As Jeremiah predicted, the nation of Judah was eventually punished by God because of its sin and disobedience. In 586 B.C. Jerusalem was destroyed and the leading citizens were deported to Babylonia. Jeremiah remained in Jerusalem with a group of his fellow citizens under the authority of a ruling governor appointed by the Babylonians. But he was forced to seek safety in Egypt after the people of Jerusalem revolted against Babylonian rule. He continued his preaching in Egypt (Jer 43-44). This is the last we hear of Jeremiah. There is no record of what happened to the prophet during these years of his ministry.

 

 

 

Ref#

Verse #

Scripture

1

1:5

 

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.

 

2

2:19

 

Your own wickedness will correct you, And your backslidings will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing That you have forsaken the Lord your God, And the fear of Me is not in you," Says the Lord GOD of hosts.

 

3

5:11-12

 

For the house of Israel and the house of Judah Have dealt very treacherously with Me," says the Lord.  They have lied about the Lord, And said, "It is not He. Neither will evil come upon us, Nor shall we see sword or famine.

 

4

6:16-17

 

Thus says the Lord: "Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'  Also, I set watchmen over you, saying, 'Listen to the sound of the trumpet!' But they said, 'We will not listen.' But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart; They have revolted and departed.

 

5

7:8

 

Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit

 

6

7:23-24

 

But this is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.' Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.

 

7

8:12

 

Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed, Nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; In the time of their punishment They shall be cast down," says the Lord.

 

8

9:23-24

 

Thus says the Lord: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the Lord.

 

9

10:23-24

 

O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps. O Lord, correct me, but with justice; Not in Your anger, lest You bring me to nothing

. 

10

17:5, 7-8

 

[5] Thus says the Lord: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the Lord. [7] "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord. [8] For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

 

11

17:9

 

The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? 

 

12

17:10

 

I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.

 

 

13

18:18

 

Then they said, "Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us attack him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words."

 

14

22:21

 

I spoke to you in your prosperity, But you said, 'I will not hear.' This has been your manner from your youth, That you did not obey My voice. 

 

15

23:1-2

 

"Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!" says the Lord.  Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: "You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings," says the Lord. 

 

16

24:7

 

Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.

 

17

23:5-6

 

"Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord, "That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.  In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness

 

18

31:31-34

 

"Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah - not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord.  But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." 

 

19

36:1-3,

23-24,

31

 

[1] In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, [2] "Take a scroll and write on it all the words which I have spoken to you concerning Israel and concerning Judah, and concerning all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day. [3] "Perhaps the house of Judah will hear all the calamity which I plan to bring on them, in order that every man will turn from his evil way; then I will forgive their iniquity and their sin."  [23] And it happened, when Jehudi had read three or four columns, that the king cut it with the scribe's knife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. [24] Yet they were not afraid, nor did they tear their garments, the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words.  [31] I will punish him, his family, and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring on them, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah all the doom that I have pronounced against them; but they did not heed."

 

20

38:2-4, 6

 

[2] Thus says the Lord: “He who remains in this city {Jerusalem} shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes over to the Chaldeans shall live; his life shall be as a prize to him, and he shall live.” [3] Thus says the Lord: “This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which shall take it.” [4] Therefore the princes said to the king, "Please, let this man be put to death, for thus he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man does not seek the welfare of this people, but their harm."  [6]  So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the king's son, which was in the court of the prison, and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire. So Jeremiah sank in the mire. 

 

21

38:20

 

But Jeremiah said, "They {the Jews who had defected to the Chaldeans}, shall not deliver you. Please, obey the voice of the Lord which I speak to you. So it shall be well with you, and your soul shall live.