Jensens survey of the old testament adam 200

One of Manasseh’s gravest sins was to
desecrate the court of the Temple by
building altars to Baal, and to set up a
graven image in the holy house where God
had set His name (read 2 Kings 21).

The moral condition of Judah in the days


of Jeremiah is pun-gently described by the
prophet in 5:31: “The prophets prophesy
falsely, and the priests rule on their own
authority; and My people love it so!” For
fty years blasphemous insults to God were
heaped up by king, priest, and people, until
the climax was reached, and Judah’s doom
was irrevocably sealed. Although the
judgment was postponed for a while because
of the tender heart and righteous life of King
Josiah, twenty- ve years after his death the
kingdom of Judah was a thing of the past.
Into this political and moral turmoil, God
sent Jeremiah to be His spokesman. Much of
Jeremiah’s
ministry
concerned
the
international situation in which Judah was
intimately and precariously involved. Look
a t Map T and observe that Canaan was the
geographical link between Egypt in the

southwest and Syria, Assyria, Babylon, and
other nations in the north. Each nation


sought to be the world power. Control of
Canaan was a must for such a claim.
D. HIS CONTEMPORARIES

S t u d y Chart 82 for orientation to the
historical setting of Jeremiah. Observe the
three groups of contemporaries:
1. Contemporary prophets. These have been
referred to above.
2. Contemporary kings. These are the kings
who were reigning over Judah while
Jeremiah prophesied. Only Josiah was a
good king. Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin reigned
for only a brief time. Josiah, Jehoiakim, and
Zedekiah are the kings who played a major
role in Jeremiah’s career. Sections of the
book of Jeremiah referring to these reigns
are:
Josiah: 2:1—12:17
Jehoiakim: 13:1—20:1g; 25:1—27:11


Zedekiah: 21:1—24:10; 27:12—39:18
3. Contemporary foreign powers. Observe
that in the early part of Jeremiah’s ministry,
Judah was threatened mainly by Egypt and

Assyria. Judah was continually tempted to
make alliance with one power so as to be
protected from the other. Jeremiah’s
consistent message was to get right with
God and trust Him for protection from any
nation.
In the latter part of Jeremiah’s career, the
threats were from Babylon. Two events had
brought about the change of threat: (1) the
Assyrians were defeated by the Babylonians
in 612 B.C. with the fall of Nineveh; (2) the
Egyptians were defeated by the Babylonians
in 605 B.C. at the Battle of Carchemish.
Judah resisted Babylon; but Jeremiah, by
direction from God, urged Judah to give in
to Babylon so as to avoid utter destruction,