Post by Lee on Jul 12, 2014 19:33:40 GMT
Jeremiah's life is one of the loneliest and saddest in Scripture. His personal experiences were hitter; "the message of disaster he had to proclaim was 'depressing and unwelcome; and the times in which he lived were of unparalleled calamity. His efforts were foredoomed to failure. It was a lost catise from the very beginning. He was everywhere hated and misunderstood. While intensely loving and grieving for his countrymen and his nation, he was despised and persecuted as an enemy and a traitor.
Jeremiah was born in the closing years of the long, evil reign of Manasseh, around 650 BC. This king's wicked reign sealed the doom of the kingdom of Judah, and it brought to an end God's much-tried longsuffering and patience (Jer. 15:4-6)—
"I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for all that which he did in Jerusalem . .
I am weary with repenting."
Jeremiah begins his ministry in the reign of the good king Josiah. It was a bright interlude of righteousness—but it did not last. Josiah began to reign when he was 8, At 16 he dedicated himself to serve God, and when he was 20 he set about to purge Judah from all her wickedness and idolatry. Jeremiah began his ministry in the next year—the 13th of Josiah's reign. Jeremiah would be about the same age as Josiah about 20. It is truly a touching picture of these 2 young men—king and prophet—laboring to turn the nation to righteousness as the smoldering judgments of God hovered over the land, just as 2 young men—a prophet and king, John and Jesus— did in the days of the nation's final judgment.
It is notable that Jeremiah's ministry began just 40 years before the destruction of Jerusalem and the burning of the Temple by the Babylonians, as recorded in the Lamentations. We remember that Jesus began his ministry just 40 years before the destruction of Jerusalem and the burning of the Temple by the Romans. In each case we see a period of final probation given to the city.
1970 Berean p 51
Jeremiah was born in the closing years of the long, evil reign of Manasseh, around 650 BC. This king's wicked reign sealed the doom of the kingdom of Judah, and it brought to an end God's much-tried longsuffering and patience (Jer. 15:4-6)—
"I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for all that which he did in Jerusalem . .
I am weary with repenting."
Jeremiah begins his ministry in the reign of the good king Josiah. It was a bright interlude of righteousness—but it did not last. Josiah began to reign when he was 8, At 16 he dedicated himself to serve God, and when he was 20 he set about to purge Judah from all her wickedness and idolatry. Jeremiah began his ministry in the next year—the 13th of Josiah's reign. Jeremiah would be about the same age as Josiah about 20. It is truly a touching picture of these 2 young men—king and prophet—laboring to turn the nation to righteousness as the smoldering judgments of God hovered over the land, just as 2 young men—a prophet and king, John and Jesus— did in the days of the nation's final judgment.
It is notable that Jeremiah's ministry began just 40 years before the destruction of Jerusalem and the burning of the Temple by the Babylonians, as recorded in the Lamentations. We remember that Jesus began his ministry just 40 years before the destruction of Jerusalem and the burning of the Temple by the Romans. In each case we see a period of final probation given to the city.
1970 Berean p 51