June 4, 2023 - Jeremiah 1:4-19

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                                                                                              June 4, 2023             

Introduction to Jeremiah

by Wayne Gaeddert

1. Jeremiah is the author. Jeremiah 1:1

2. Jeremiah means ‘Jehovah establishes, appoints, or sends.’

3. Jeremiah had a scribe, Baruch,  to write for him. Jeremiah 36:4

4. Jeremiah’s ministry was mainly to Judah and Jerusalem, the northern kingdom of Israel had already fallen to Assyria.

5. Jeremiah’s ministry stretched across the rule of five kings beginning in Josiah’s thirteenth year, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah into the exile period of Judah.

6. The spiritual condition in Judah was one of flagrant idol worship.

7. The main theme of Jeremiah is judgment upon Judah with restoration in the future messianic kingdom. Dr. John MacArthur

8. The book of Jeremiah is not always in chronological order.

9. Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet.

10. Jeremiah predicted that Judah would be in Babylonian captivity for 70 years. Jeremiah 25:11-12

11. When God called Jeremiah to be a prophet, He also told Jeremiah that no one would pay attention to his message. Jeremiah 1:18-19

12. Jeremiah is the longest prophetic book with 1364 verses.

13. Of the 415 times the Old Testament uses the phrase, ‘thus says the LORD,’ Jeremiah accounts for 148 (~35%) of them. Holman NKJV Study Bible

14. The best-known passage in Jeremiah is 31:31-34 which is quoted in Hebrews 8:8-12, 10:16-17

15. Jeremiah’s father was a priest.

16. Anathoth, Jeremiah’s hometown, is one of the Levitical cities given to the children of Aaron in the tribe of Benjamin. Joshua 21:13,18

17. By the time Jeremiah began to prophesy, the Assyrian empire was in decline and power was shifting to Babylon.

18. Broad outline of Jeremiah:

I. Prologue: Jeremiah’s Call and Vision (1:1-19)

II. Jeremiah Calls for Repentance (2:1–25:38)

III. Jeremiah Stands Firm Despite Harassment (26:1–36:32)

IV. Jeremiah Sees Destruction Ahead (37:1–45:5)

V. Prophecies Against the Nations (46:1–51:64)

VI. Epilogue: The Fall of Jerusalem (52:1-34

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June 4, 2023

Jeremiah 1:4-19

Lessons Learned

by Wayne Gaeddert

1. God has designed you with a purpose.

2. God has placed you in time and space to bring glory to His name.

3. Serving God is often met with excuses with which they claim to not be qualified for the task.

4. “Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.” 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 NIV

5. God qualifies those He calls to a task. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29

6. God empowers those He calls to a task.

7. God prepares those He calls to a task.

8. In Hebrew culture the almond tree is called, ‘the watching tree.’

9. You are not promised a bed of roses when you chose to follow Jesus. You are, however, promised the power to the Holy Spirit to empower you.

10. The gospel message is resisted today much like Jeremiah’s call to repentance.

11. Application:

• God has a purpose for you.

• Expect judgment from God when you refuse to acknowledge His call to follow Him.

 “But now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained.” Acts 17:30b-31a NKJV

• You have the promise of the Holy Spirit to empower you to follow where He leads you.

“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1:13-14 NKJV

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