Jeremiah lived from about 640 to 575 BC, about a hundred years after Isaiah. This was the time when three big empires—Assyria, Egypt, and Babylon—came together in Israel's history. He witnessed the fall of Judah, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the exile of God's people.
His book is one of the most interesting and confusing in the Old Testament. It has many warnings but also great hope at its core. Jeremiah came of age under King Josiah and witnessed the reforms this good king brought to Judah. But the reforms didn't hold. Josiah's three sons and one grandson, the last four rulers of Judah, were failures, and the nation spiraled downward.
God called Jeremiah at a young age to prophesy and warn Judah of coming judgment. Almost no one listened. He faced relentless opposition: imprisonment, assassination attempts, and years of isolation. His ministry was costly in every sense.
His book feels less like a finished work and more like a scrapbook. It’s a mix of sermons, symbolic actions, and emotions. Though it may appear disorganized initially, Jeremiah and his scribe Baruch crafted it intentionally to highlight key themes. It is the longest book in the Bible, longer than all twelve minor prophets combined.
What the book captures most is God's grief. After centuries of patience, Jeremiah records God's exasperation and sorrow over his apostate people. Jeremiah warned that Babylon was coming to destroy Jerusalem, a prophecy the final chapter confirms was fulfilled.
Yet at the book's center is a promise: God is not finished with his people. He will establish a new covenant and give them a new heart.
Few people in Scripture suffered as much as Jeremiah. His ministry was marked by heartbreak, rejection, and the collapse of everything he loved. Yet his story refuses to end in despair. Even in judgment, God speaks hope to his sinful people. He judges them for their sinfulness, but offers hope and a changed heart through the new covenant.
The Big Idea of Jeremiah
S: What does God do with his people when they reject him and his covenant?
C: He uproots, tears down, destroys, and overthrows them, yet he also builds and plants them.
BI: When God’s people reject him and his covenant, he uproots and tears them down, destroys and overthrows them, yet he also builds and plants them.
Introduction: Jeremiah's Call (1)
1
S: What does God do for his people in the worst of times?
C: He sends and strengthens messengers with messages of judgment and salvation.
BI: In the worst of times, God raises up messengers of judgment and salvation.
Judgment on Judah (2–20)
2:1-3:5
S: What happens when we abandon God?
C: We experience the tragic consequences.
BI: Turning from a faithful God to empty substitutes brings ruin, not freedom.
3:6-4:4
S: What does God plead with his unfaithful people to do?
C: To turn back to him.
BI: God pleads with his unfaithful people to turn back to him.
4:5-6:30
S: What is our greatest danger?
C: Thinking we're okay when we're at the brink of destruction.
BI: Our greatest danger is thinking we're okay when we're on the brink of destruction.
7:1-8:3
S: What danger do religious people face?
C: Thinking that religious activity is a substitute for a genuine love for God.
BI: You can dress up disobedience in worship, but God sees right through it.
8:4-9:26
S: How do we respond to the spiritual ruin of those who should know better?
C: With intense grief for their condition and their destiny.
BI: Weep for those who are headed for ruin.
9:23-24
S: In what should we put our trust?
C: Not in human strength, but in knowing God.
BI: Don't boast in wisdom, strength, or wealth, but in knowing God.
10:1-25
S: What is the difference between idols and the Lord?
C/BI: Idols are glorified deadwood, but the Lord alone is the living, everlasting King.
11:1-23
S: Why did God judge Judah?
C: Because of the moral depths to which they had fallen.
BI: God judges because he is just and people are evil.
12
S: What do we need when we question God's justice?
C: A greater grasp of God's knowledge, justice, and compassion.
BI: Our doubts about God's judgment expose gaps in our view of God.
13:1-14
S: What does sin do to people who should know better?
C: It destroys what's valuable and dooms them to judgment.
BI: Willful sin destroys everything it touches and invites judgment.
13:15-27
S: What is God's message to his disobedient people?
C: Repent or face his judgment.
BI: God's message to his disobedient people is clear: repent now or face his judgment soon.
14:1-15:9
S: How should we pray for those facing God's judgment?
C: With boldness and submission.
BI: When praying for those under God's judgment, be bold enough to ask and humble enough to trust.
15:10-21
S: What is ministry like?
C: It can be unbearably hard, and yet be strengthened and supported by God.
BI: The unbearable weight of ministry and the sustaining grace of God go together.
16:1-21
S: What will God do to those who persist in rebellion?
C: Judge them while remaining faithful to his word.
BI: God judges rebellion and stays true to his promises at the same time.
17:1-11
S: What is humanity's problem?
C: Persistent sin and the deceitfulness and sickness of the heart.
BI: Our problem isn't just what we do; it's a heart that's deceitful, diseased, and bent toward sin.
17:12-18
S: How should God's pressured servants pray?
C: With praise and honest petition for vindication.
BI: When ministry wears you down, praise God and pray for vindication.
17:19-27
S: What's our real problem?
C: Disobedience.
BI: Our real problem is disobedience.
18:1-17
S: Who are we before God?
C: Like clay in the hands of the potter, which means he can do with us as he pleases.
BI: Before God, we're clay, and clay doesn't get to question the potter.
18:18-23
S: What should God's servants do with those who severely oppose them?
C: Cry out to God and leave the judgment up to him.
BI: When attacked, God's servants pray hard and let God settle the score.
19
S: What will God do to those who break his word?
C: He will break them.
BI: Break God's word and God will break you.
20
S: What happens when people reject God's message?
C: The people are destroyed and the messenger is discouraged.
BI: When people reject God's message, the people are destroyed and the messenger is discouraged.
The Warnings Ignored (21-29)
21
S: What happens when we want God's benefits but not God himself?
C: God turns against us.
BI: When we want what God gives without who God is, we face his judgment.
22:1-23:8
S: Where can we find hope when multiple leaders fail?
C: In the Messiah, who will never fail.
BI: When leaders fail, put your hope in Jesus, who will never fail.
23:9-40
S: What does God say to religious leaders who misrepresent him?
C: They will face his harsh judgment.
BI: God reserves some of his harshest judgment for those who claim to represent him but don't.
24
S: How can we escape God's judgment later?
C: Come to grips with God's judgment now.
BI: To escape God's judgment later, come to grips with God's judgment now.
25:1-14
S: What will God do with his disobedient people?
C: Discipline them and ultimately restore them.
BI: When God's people disobey, he will discipline them and ultimately restore them.
25:15-38
S: Who will face God's wrath?
C: All people, including his own and the most powerful in the world.
BI: No one is exempt from God's wrath.
26:1-24
S: What happens when someone proclaims God's truth?
C: Many respond with anger, but some believe.
BI: The proclamation of God's word divides.
27-28
S: How should we respond when we don't like God's message?
C: Don't change it, but submit to it.
BI: When you don't like God's message, don't change it; submit to it.
29
S: What is God's message to his people in exile?
C: Settle in and work for renewal, but long for home.
BI: In exile, settle in, work for renewal, and long for home.
Book of Comfort (30-33)
31:1-31:26
S: What is God's ultimate agenda for his people?
C: To restore, heal, love, fill with joy, and guard them forever.
BI: God's ultimate agenda for his people isn't judgment, but restoration, healing, love, and joy that lasts forever.
31:27-40
S: How will God transform his people?
C: He will change them from the inside out so they obey him, know him, and enjoy his forgiveness forever.
BI: God promises to change his people from the inside so they will obey him, know him, and enjoy his forgiveness forever.
32
S: What kind of decisions should we make?
C: Decisions that only make sense in light of God's promises.
BI: Live in a way that only makes sense if God can be trusted to keep his word.
33
S: What does God's restoration look like?
C: It looks like all the blessings of the past, only better.
BI: God's restoration looks like all the blessings of the past, only better.
The Consequences Come (34-45)
34-35
S: Who will receive God's blessing?
C: Those who follow through in obedience.
BI: God's blessing follows those who follow through.
36
S: Why should we respond with reverence to God's word even when we don't like what it says?
C: Because it's God's word and it can't be broken.
BI: Submit to Scripture because it's God's word and it can't be broken.
37-38
S: What should those who proclaim God's word expect?
C: Rejection from some and obedience from others.
BI: Those who proclaim God's word should expect rejection from some and obedience from others.
39
S: What happens in the end?
C: God keeps his promises by judging the wicked and saving those who trust him.
BI: In the end, God will judge the wicked and save those who trust him.
40-41
S: What changes after judgment?
C: Nothing if the heart hasn't changed.
BI: Even after judgment, nothing changes until the heart does.
42-43
S: Where should we turn for the security we need?
C: Not to the world's solutions, but to God alone.
BI: When you need security, resist the world's solutions and turn to God alone.
44
S: What happens when you persist in rebelling against God?
C: You end up farther from him than you can imagine.
BI: When you keep rebelling against God, you end up farther from him than you can imagine.
45
S: What should we remember when it feels like our lives and ministries have failed?
C: We're part of a bigger story.
BI: When you feel small, remember you're playing a small part in a big story only God can see.
Judgment on Nations (46–51)
46
S: Where should we put our trust?
C: In God alone, not in worldly power that can't even save itself.
BI: Trust in God, not in worldly power that can't even save itself.
47
S: Who will deal with the enemies of God's people?
C: The Lord, whose judgment can't be stopped.
BI: The Lord will deal with the enemies of his people, and when his judgment comes, no force can stand against it or turn it back.
48
S: How will God judge the arrogant, self-reliant, and proud?
C: With sobering judgment before a God of justice and grace.
BI: The God of justice and grace will judge the proud, self-reliant, and idolatrous.
49:1-6
S: What is God’s message to those who proudly defy him and his people?
C: He will judge them, but he still offers hope.
BI: God will judge those who proudly defy him and his people, yet he still holds out hope.
49:7-22
S: What is God’s message to the proud who trust in their wisdom and security?
C: He will humble them, and no refuge will keep them safe.
BI: God will humble the proud who trust in their wisdom and security, and no refuge will keep them safe.
49:23-27
S: How will God judge those who used to be great?
C: His previous judgments against them will not expire.
BI: God’s judgments don’t expire just because the threat has passed.
49:28-33
S: What does God say to those who think they will escape judgment?
C: They too will be judged.
BI: No one can escape God's judgment.
49:34-39
S: What will God do with those who look like they can save us from his judgment?
C: He will judge them too.
BI: God will judge the people and things we’re tempted to trust to escape his judgment.
50-51
S: What will God do with the tool of his judgment?
C: God will utterly judge it.
BI: The tool of God’s judgment won’t escape God’s judgment.
Epilogue: The Fall of Jerusalem (52)
52
S: What does the fall of Jerusalem and the exile reveal?
C: God can be trusted to keep his promises of judgment and restoration.
BI: God will keep his promises to judge and restore.
