| JEREMIAH |
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| references to Winston Churchill, you soon recognize it as World War II, over 20 years later. Those letters might contain the whole of your uncle's life, but to get his story straight, you'd have to read the whole packet. A reader of Jeremiah finds a very similar situation. The book is an anthology of prophecies given at different times. They jump forward and backward in history, and if you imagine that the book is in chronological order, you will become very confused. Jeremiah spoke to a nation about to be destroyed by war. Three hundred years before him, the Israelites had split into two countries, Israel in the North and Judah in the South. About 100 years before Jeremiah, Assyria had conquered the Northern Kingdom. This disaster was "World War I" in Old Testament history. Now, during Jeremaih's life, World War II threatened. Another fierce kingdom, Babylon, assembled troops against the remaining Southern Kingdom. Would God save his chosen people? Jeremiah loudly insisted for more than 20 years that God would punish Judah just as he had Israel, by letting Babylon take them into captivity. He lived to see his predictions come true. Many passages in Jeremiah refer to the five kings he knew. When you see their names, use them as a reference point in figuring out the order of events: - Josiah (17 years) - Jehoahaz (3 months) - Jehoiakim (12 years) - Jehoiachin (3 months) - Zedekiah (11 years) Second Kings 23-25 or 2 Chronicles 34-36 gives an overall |
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