Approaching studies within Jeremiah, instead of trying to follow chronologically, which is difficult with this book, for roughly the first half of the book, the first 29 chapters, we will instead only produce studies within their appropriate chapters, theming them as follows:

• Jeremiah’s Calling                     Ch.1
• Jeremiah’s Main Message        Ch.2,3,5,7,21,22
• Jeremiah’s Action Parables      Ch.13,18,19,27
• Jeremiah’s Opposition              Ch.11,12,14,18,20,26,28
• Jeremiah’s Message of Hope   Ch.3,23,24,25,29

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, and the particular theme, as with studies elsewhere, each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read on the main Bible page.

Message of Hope: 4. 70 Years Captivity

Jer 25:1-14

 1 The word came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. ² So Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people of Judah and to all those living in Jerusalem: ³ For twenty-three years—from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—the word of the Lord has come to me and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.

⁴ And though the Lord has sent all his servants the prophets to you again and again, you have not listened or paid any attention. ⁵ They said, “Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the land the Lord gave to you and your ancestors for ever and ever. ⁶ Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not arouse my anger with what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you.”

⁷ “But you did not listen to me,” declares the Lord, “and you have aroused my anger with what your hands have made, and you have brought harm to yourselves.”

⁸ Therefore the Lord Almighty says this: “Because you have not listened to my words, ⁹ I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. ¹⁰ I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. ¹¹ This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

¹² “But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,” declares the Lord, “and will make it desolate forever. ¹³ I will bring on that land all the things I have spoken against it, all that are written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. ¹⁴ They themselves will be enslaved by many nations and great kings; I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”

A. Find Out :

1. When did this word come? v.1
2. How long had Jeremiah been prophesying? v.3
3. What had the people done? v.3c, 4c, 7a, 8
4. What is the Lord going to do? v.9-11
5. After how long will the Lord act? v.12a
6. What will he do? v.12-14

B. Think:

1. Why would Judah have no excuse?
2. How could they have been saved?
3. How was this a message of both despair and yet hope?

C. Comment:

A remarkable passage.  First Jeremiah reminds them that he has now been warning them for 23 years and they have disregarded God’s word again and again.  They can never say they were not warned.  God had given them every warning possible, in fact by the time Jerusalem has finally been destroyed, Jeremiah will have been warning them for about 36 years!  Never say God is hasty in His judgements!

Next the Lord clearly states His intentions: He is going to bring Nebuchadnezzar to deal with them but after 70 years have passed He will deal with the Babylonians.  The Lord who stands outside time overviews it and reveals a snippet of what is to come. Babylon fell seventy years from the beginning of Jehoiakim’s reign according to some scholars. The Temple rebuilding in Jerusalem was completed 70 years after its destruction. 

However we date it, the important point is that God fixes the times and seasons and He has decreed that Israel WILL come back to this land.  There is hope for the future of Israel, but those who go into captivity now had better realise they will be there for the rest of their lives!  Although the Lord is Lord over this situation and promises to restore Israel in the future, the present is bad!

D. Application?

1. Thank the Lord that when He says something it WILL happen.
2. Thank the Lord again that He is never hasty or unfair in bringing His judgement.