Jeremiah

Dear Bible Challenge participants,

 And so we leave behind the Isaiah scroll, and begin Jeremiah...

Jeremiah lived and prophesied in the decades before, during and after the Babylonian conquest, destruction of Jerusalem, and into the Exile. The Jeremiah scroll is a collection of oracles, laments and narrative compiled and edited by the "Jeremiah School" that (as we saw similarly with Isaiah) gathered around the prophet, that school including Jeremiah's scribe, Baruch.  

This Forward Movement booklet provides a nice overview of the composition and themes of Jeremiah.  

Jeremiah is both similar and different to previous prophets we've encountered. Like Moses, he's pretty unsure of this call to serve (I am only a boy!). Like the Deuteronomist, he's no fan of the monarchy. Like prophets we will encounter (Ezekiel, Hosea) he uses the relationship of husband and wife as a metaphor for the relationship between God and God's people. Unlike Isaiah, Jeremiah has very little "light."

Jeremiah's life and ministry were...pretty miserable, really. There are bright moments in this scroll, but they are few and far between. The Book of Lamentations that follows is attributed to him. Jeremiah himself would go into exile in Egypt, in Elephantine, and presumably died there.

I confess to being grateful that we have Hebrews to enjoy as we begin this undertaking. It's not an easy undertaking, but it is worth it... and

As ever, thank you for being on this journey!

Peace,

Paige+