No 16
(Book of Jeremiah)
Jeremiah was a pre-exilic prophet and
his writings were mostly made up of warnings of impending danger due to the
shameful behaviour of God’s children. There are three main themes in the book –
the backsliding, the bondage and the restoration of the Jews. As in the writings of all the other prophets,
there were many warnings but very few heedings.
Here are examples of the three types of prophecies in Jeremiah.
Backsliding: “And I saw, when for all the causes whereby
backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill
of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played
the harlot also”.(ch3:8).
Bondage: (this is the one Daniel was reading in chapter 9:2 of
his book.) “For thus saith the LORD, That after
seventy years be accomplished at
Restoration: “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even
the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. For it shall come
to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from
off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve
themselves of him:”(ch30: 7, 8). This last prophecy is still future for
us also because it describes the time of the Great Tribulation period otherwise
called the “seventieth week of Daniel”
where antichrist pours out his wrath upon Israel. At the end of this period,
the Second Coming of Jesus Christ occurs with “the armies that were in
heaven followed Him on white horses” (