Translations
Jeremiah, Prophet of God - Part 2
R. E. Harlow,
Commentary on the book of Jeremiah & Lamentations
Jeremiah: Prophet of God - Part 2
Jeremiah was one of the greatest prophets of the Bible. God called him when he was a young man, and he obeyed the Lord and wrote prophecies as he was guided by the Spirit of God. Jeremiah’s name may mean “Exalt Jehovah”, and he certainly did that in both Jeremiah and Lamentations.
Jeremiah, Prophet of God - Part 1 covered the first 20 chapters of Jeremiah. Jeremiah first told how God called him to be a prophet, and then he gave 8 messages or prophecies God gave him to pass on to His people and to the kings of Judah.
Jeremiah, Prophet of God - Part 2 covers chapters 21 - 52 of the book of Jeremiah as well as the short book of Lamentations. Jeremiah 21 - 52 includes prophecies against the kings and false prophets, an account of Jeremiah’s arrest and imprisonment, and prophecies concerning the future blessings God has planned for Israel and Judah after their punishment in Babylon was over. In these chapters Jeremiah also describes what happened just before the fall of Jerusalem – and just after. Jeremiah ends the book of Jeremiah by telling about the fall of Jerusalem and by giving prophecies against ten Gentile nations.
The book of Lamentations tells how Jeremiah and the other people felt when they experienced the fall of Jerusalem. The great lesson of Lamentations is that sin is the cause of punishment, but there was hope for the people who lived through that terrible time of trouble.
Jeremiah and Lamentations have great lessons to teach us about God’s love and righteousness. These lessons will help us live for the Lord today.
Introduction
Jeremiah was a prophet of God who lived in Jerusalem during the saddest event in the Old Testament. The LORD had chosen Jerusalem, and His people built His temple there. But they chose to worship false gods, and Jeremiah protested against their sins. Finally, God sent the armies of Babylon to destroy His city and His temple.
Who was this Jeremiah? His name may mean Exalt Jehovah, and he certainly did that in both of his books. The Holy Spirit led Jeremiah to use the name Jehovah or LORD 712 times in his prophecy and 32 more times in the book of Lamentations. Jeremiah also tells us a good deal about himself, more than any other Old Testament prophet does. So his book includes prophecy and history.
Jeremiah did not write his book as history with the events of one year following another as things really happened. He lived and prophesied and wrote while five different kings ruled on the throne of Judah, one after another. The books of Kings and Chronicles tell us what happened to each king in order. Jeremiah does not do this – he puts things together for different reasons.
We can think of the book of Jeremiah with these divisions:
1. God called Jeremiah to be a prophet, chapter 1
2. Prophecies of Jeremiah over many years, chapters 2 - 20
3. What happened to Jeremiah, chapters 21 - 45
4. Prophecies against ten Gentile nations, chapters 46 - 51
5. The Fall of Jerusalem, chapter 52
Jeremiah 21 - 52 is covered in this book, Jeremiah, Prophet of God - Part 2. Jeremiah 1 - 20 is covered in Jeremiah, Prophet of God - Part 1.
R. E. Harlow
Robert E. Harlow,a long-time commended worker, went to be with the Lord on March 10, 2003, five days short of his 95th birthday. He was co-founder of Emmaus Bible College, now located in Dubuque, Iowa, and founder, along with his wife, Gertrud, of Everyday Publications, Inc., in Port Colborne, ON. Dr. Harlow wrote more than fifty books, including Come and Dine: New Testament Readings for Every Day (1976). His,Can We Know God? (1958) was the first of a series of books he wrote in simple, "Everyday", English. It has sold some 500,000 copies in more than a dozen languages. A native of Toronto, he was also a missionary in the Belgian Congo.
