BibleProject | One Story That Leads to JesusSample

Electrifying poetic imagery, startling public stunts, breathtaking evil, astonishing mercy: Isaiah was just the beginning. Get ready for more Hebrew Bible prophetic literature!

Today, we meet Jeremiah, a prophet who lived during the twilight years of the Southern Kingdom. Jeremiah opens with a direct accusation against the people. Instead of staying faithful to Yahweh, the Israelites are like adulterers, having affairs with Canaanite idols.

This gut-wrenching metaphor for Israel’s unfaithfulness shows up over and over again in the latter prophets. In Israel’s ancient Near Eastern context, it packed a particularly powerful punch. Back then, women had very few ways to find food, safety, and shelter outside of their families. Ancient marriages involved mutual care and commitment, but they also functioned as women’s primary social and economic safety net.

This combination of love, loyalty, and security is precisely what we find in Yahweh’s covenant commitment to Israel. God has cared for his people like a devoted husband cares for his beloved wife. He rescued them from Egypt, protected them in the wilderness, and settled them in a rich garden land. Now, Yahweh’s covenant partners are loving and trusting other gods, trying to get food and security from wooden blocks carved into statues.

Yahweh sends Jeremiah with a severe warning: The Israelites’ lifeless lovers will give them nothing but exile and ruin.

Watch the video to learn about the prophet’s mission to the adulterous kingdom of Judah in the book of Jeremiah.

Reflection Questions

• According to Jeremiah, what happens to the land as a result of Judah’s corruption and covenant adultery? What does this suggest about the effects of unfaithfulness, idolatry, and injustice?
• Where else have you seen a prophet’s ministry begin with a touch to his mouth? What happened? How does this hyperlink help you understand Jeremiah’s prophetic commission?