Old Testament
Jeremiah
A reluctant prophet who told the truth for forty years and was never believed.
Prophecy · 52 chapters · About 3 hours
c. 626–586 BC, as Jerusalem fell
Overview
Jeremiah is called as a young man and told, essentially, that no one will listen. They don't. He preaches through four kings and watches the city burn.
He is the most emotionally exposed prophet: he argues with God, curses the day he was born, and keeps preaching anyway.
Inside the ruin he buys a field — an absurd, hopeful investment — because God promises houses and vineyards will be bought here again.
What it keeps returning to
The broken cistern
Israel trades a fountain of living water for tanks that hold nothing.
New covenant
A law written on hearts rather than stone — the promise the New Testament claims.
Faithfulness in failure
Jeremiah's ministry 'failed' by every measure and was exactly right.
Start here
Jeremiah 1:4–10
The call: 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.'
Jeremiah 29:10–14
The famous promise — read it in its exile context.
Jeremiah 31:31–34
The new covenant.
Go deeper in Jeremiah
“I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.”