Judah: Hard Times 28/10/2021

This blog is intended to provide a brief simple introduction to the context in which Jeremiah wrote his prophecy. For those who are looking for more detail, I have prepared a chronology outlining the main events relating to the life and times of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah Chronology

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When did Jeremiah live?

He was probably born around 640 BC and God called him to be his prophet in 626 or 627 BC during the reign of King Josiah. He was a prophet for probably 42 years right up to the time when the mighty Babylonian army attacked the country of Judah and many of his countrymen and women were taken into exile in Babylon in 587 BC or 586 BC. Jeremiah was not taken into exile in Babylon. We are not sure exactly when he died but some Judeans had taken him against his will to Egypt and he probably died in Egypt some years after 586 BC.

Where did Jeremiah live?

He lived originally in the village of Anathoth which was very near to the city of Jerusalem. Jeremiah would probably have been able to see the city walls from his home but he was on the edge of the wilderness which sloped down to the Dead Sea from his village. His father was named Hilkiah who was a priest. Jeremiah lived in the kingdom of Judah. This was not a very large country - it covered an area of only 3,435 square miles, compared to the land area of Scotland which is 30,981 square miles. Judah was the homeland of two of the 12 tribes of Israel (Judah and Benjamin). What about the other 10 tribes? At one time there was a northern kingdom made up of these 10 tribes but in the year 722 BC the Assyrians swallowed up Israel, taking most of the population captive and driving them away from their homeland. Instead, some of the Assyrians migrated to this territory.

What king(s) ruled over Judah when Jeremiah was serving God as His prophet?

There were 5 kings of Judah during Jeremiah's lifetime. Josiah was the best of these and he ruled from 640 BC until 609 BC. He was a reformer who tried to bring the nation back to God. Josiah was killed in battle against the Egyptians and his son Jehoahaz reigned for only three months. The Egyptians decided that it was time to appoint another king - another of Josiah's sons but they changed his name from Eliakim to Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim reigned from 609 BC to 597 BC and he was completely controlled by the King of Egypt. He disliked Jeremiah intensely and completely disregarded his warning of judgement. [See Day Share entitled Jeremiah: Burning Pages 17/11/2021] Jehoiakim had other false prophets who told him what he wanted to hear. King Jehoiakim had been an evil king who led the nation further into worshipping pagan gods and all that went with that. He died in 597at the time when the Babylonians were surrounding the city of Jerusalem and there was a siege of the city. The new king was Jehoiakim's son and his name was remarkably similar - Jehoiakin. But he did not last long. After a few months, Jehoiakin along with his mother (the queen mother, and widow of Jehoiakim) were taken captive into Babylon along with many skilled professionals from Judah. The last king of Judah also had a name change and he was also dominated by Babylon. His Judean name was Mattaniah but the Babylonians changed this to Zedekiah and he has the dubious distinction of being Judah's last king. He was a puppet king but he had some respect for God's prophet - only he was too weak to follow Jeremiah's advice and preferred to obey his court advisers. Zedekiah reigned from 597 BC until he came to a sorry end in 587 BC when the nation of Judah was taken away captive into Babylon. So Jeremiah was prophet during the reigns of 5 kings of Judah.

Who were the superpowers at this time in the history of the Middle East?

[Picture by CALIN STAN on Unsplash]

There were three major superpowers during the lifetime of Jeremiah. Firstly, Assyria was the country which was feared when Jeremiah was a young lad. Assyria was located on the banks of the River Tigris and its capital city was Nineveh. The Assyrians were probably descended from a man named Asshur, who was a son of Shem and a grandson of Noah (See Genesis 10:22). This country was roughly around the modern city of Baghdad (so nowadays this is known as Iraq). The Assyrians were known for their cruelty and there are pictures which have been discovered showing some of their cruel treatment of their enemies. The second superpower was Egypt and most of us will know about Egypt because of the story of Joseph, Jacob's son who was sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt but he became second-in-command to Pharaoh. We also are familiar with the story of Moses who led the nation of Israel out of slavery in Egypt to the promised land. We have seen that Egypt controlled King Jehoiakim whose father had been killed by an Egyptian King named Necho. The third superpower was Babylon which is described as the 'enemy from the north.' The king of Babylon was called Nebuchadnezzar and he was a very powerful ruler. Babylon was the dominant power in the region from 612 BC onwards. Jeremiah prophesied that God was going to punish the nation of Judah and that Babylon would be allowed to carry out God's judgement on his own people. The prophecy of Jeremiah ends with the nation being taken into captivity in Babylon. There is a promise of future deliverance and restoration but the nation will face much suffering and bloodshed at the hands of the Babylonians.

There is much that could be said about Babylon and this is a name which is found throughout the Bible. Away back in the first book in the Bible, we read of a place called Shinar and a city called Babel (Genesis 11:1-8). This is the origin of Babylon and the Babylonians. In Genesis it is called Babel. Babylon was a vast city by ancient city and the people are sometime called Chaldeans. There are close links between the Assyrians and the Babylonians.

Here is an old chorus which Janie and I sang in our younger days in the Bible Class at Bethany Hall, Stevenston.

Kingdoms may rise; kingdoms may fall

Nations refuse to hear God's call

But the word of the Lord endureth

For evermore

[Picture by Humble Lion on Unsplash]