The book of Jeremiah is not easy to understand. This is due largely to the fact that, while many of his oracles are dated, they are not arranged chronologically in the book. In fact scholars struggle to understand why the book is as it is, i.e., rather disorderly. We laymen have the (seeming) advantage that we only have to deal with the English text (at least in this English version of ALBERITH); scholars have the additional struggle to understand why the order and lenght of the book of Jeremiah in the Hebrew and the earliest Greek texts differ so significantly from one another.
Here are some suggestions for a study programme to help you get to grips with the book.
1. Set aside two months, say, and read your way through the book of Jeremiah, at least thrice through. Set aside a notebook and, in it, write down what strikes you in particular. These may be promptings from the Holy Spirit that come to you as you read, questions you strike you, observations you think may be important, etc. Most importantly, make an outline of each chapter of the book that you read. The plentiful study Bibles available today is a blessing, but they can also easily make us lazy and dependent on the outline they provide. We highly recommend that you do prepare your own instead because the exercise itself will help you to incorporate the text of Scriptures to yourself.
2. As you work your way through #1, set yourself to understand the general historical background of Jeremiah's life and ministry. You can do this by reading as much as you can of ALBERITH's Timeline From Josiah to Exile. Get yourself to the point where 1) given a blank sheet of paper, you can sketch your own timeline of the major events that constitute the background of Jeremiah's ministry, and 2) you can more or less summarize the reigns and characters of the five kings.
3. Reading a good overview of Jeremiah's message and the book may be useful here too. H. L. Ellison was an expositor of world fame and he has contributed a very helpful and systematic series of twenty-nine articles in The Evangelical Quarterly. You may wish to read through them all. Click here to open the articles.
Low Chai Hok
©Alberith, 2021