Those following the two-year Bible reading plan with me will begin reading the book of Jeremiah, July 5. (Link to the Two-Year Bible Reading Plan Bookmarks)

Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. His ministry began at a young age during the reign of King Josiah of Judah. The people had become callous and corrupt as they turned away from God to worship idols. God gave Jeremiah many prophetic warning to give to the people but they would not listen. Jeremiah grieved as again and again he warned the people of their impending doom if they didn’t repent, but his words continually fell on deaf ears.

God directed Jeremiah and his scribe Baruch to write down the words of all of his prophecies on a scroll and read them to the people. Later King Jehoiakim who had succeeded King Josiah at this time demanded to hear the prophecies. King Jehoiakim listened to the words, but was not moved by fear. Instead he cut off and burned the prophecies as they were read to him. God directed Jeremiah to dictate the words of the prophecies a second time to Baruch as he wrote them down on a scroll.

Jeremiah faced persecution and imprisonment but he continued to speak the words God gave him for the people. Jeremiah eventually witnessed the downfall of Jerusalem that he had tried so hard to prevent from happening.

Image credit: https://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/jeremiah-scroll/