Jeremiah 1:1-12, Chronology of Jeremiah

Today’s post is not of a devotional nature, although the reading for today is a powerful account of the call of Jeremiah.  By the almond tree, the first to blossom as Israel comes out of winter, God was telling Jeremiah that the waiting was over.  The fulfillment of Israel’s terrible chastening was to come during Jeremiah’s lifetime.

What we are presenting today is something that might be helpful as you read Jeremiah’s prophecy.  The book is in the order that God intended and should be read thus.  But you will notice that God also directed Jeremiah to date most of his sermons.  In other words, we are supposed to pay attention to the chronology. 

Today’s passage (v2-3) also gives us the historical context for Jeremiah.  He began his ministry in the thirteenth year of Josiah, and continued through two eleven-year reigns of two of Josiah’s sons Jehoiakim and Zedekiah.  Between these three reigns there were two three-month reigns of kings who were displaced by the Egyptians (after Josiah) and the Babylonians (after Jehoiakim).  Jeremiah’s ministry continued after the carrying away to Babylon, to the point where he was forcibly taken to Egypt by the remnant who would not heed his word of the Lord that they stay in Judah.

·        During the reign of Josiah.

Jeremiah 1-20 record Jeremiah’s early messages and his interaction with the Lord occasioned by the total rejection of his ministry.  The messages are undated but very clearly belong in the early years.

·        During the reign of Jehoiakim.

o   26:1-31:40: Messages at the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim.

o   35:1-19: Illustration of the Rechabites early in Jehoiakim’s rule.

o   25:1-38: 4^th year of Jehoiakim: Prophecy of the “70 Years Captivity”

o   36:1-32: 4^th year of Jehoiakim: Jeremiah writes his prophecies in a book; the king burns the scroll later in the 5^th year, 9^th month.

o   45:1-5: 4^th year of Jehoiakim, God’s blessing on Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe.

o   (46:2: significant event in the 4^th year of Jehoiakim, the defeat of Egypt by Babylon at Carchemish.)

·        During the reign of Zedekiah.

o   Before the siege by Babylon:

§  34:1-7, 8-22: early in the reign of Zedekiah.

§  49:34-39: beginning of Zedekiah’s reign, judgment on Elam.

§  50:1-51:64: fourth year of Zedekiah, judgment on Babylon.

o   During the siege by Babylon:

§  37:1-21: early in the siege, Jeremiah held in the court of the prison.

§  32:1-33:26: Jeremiah’s message while in the court of the prison.

§  38:1-13: Jeremiah briefly placed in the dungeon.

§  39:15-18: God’s blessing on Ebed-Melech for delivering Jeremiah from the dungeon.

§  38:14-28: Jeremiah’s private warning to Zedekiah.

§  39:1-18: Jerusalem falls to the Babylonians.

·        After the fall of Jerusalem.

o   40:1-16: Jeremiah released by the Babylonians, to return to Jerusalem.

o   41:1-43:7: 7^th month of captivity, events that lead the remnant to go to Egypt.

o   43:8-44:30: Jeremiah’s warning to those in Egypt.

·        Judgments against the nations.  

Other than the two listed above, before the siege, these are undated.

o   49:1-6: Against Ammon.  At the time Ammon had a measure of control over Gad, one of the two and a half tribes east of the Jordan.

o   49:7-22: Against Edom.

o   49:23-27: Against Damascus.

o   49:28-33: Against Kedar and Hazor.

o   52:1-34: this is an undated summary description of what happened to Zedekiah and Jerusalem.

We hope this is not only helpful in understanding Jeremiah’s prophecies; we also hope it might encourage you to read such a powerful book by an amazing man of God.