See all teachings on the book of Jeremiah
Jesus is written of in “the volume of the book”. All of Scripture points to Him—His life, death and resurrection. Below is a selection of passages from Jeremiah and how they point to Him who gave everything for us.
(This is current as of chapter 20 in our midweek study)
Chosen Before the Foundation of the World
Jeremiah 1:5
As Jeremiah was chosen beforehand for his ministry, so those who are in Christ were chosen in Him before the foundation of the World.
Ephesians 1:3-6; 2:10 — Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. …For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
The Fountain of Living Waters
Jeremiah 2:13; 7:13; 14:3
The people rejected the Fountain of Living Waters and hewed for themselves leaky cisterns. The offer of Living Water still stands in Jesus Christ.
John 7:37-38 — “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
Our Iniquity is Marked, We Cannot Cleanse Ourselves
Jeremiah 2:22; 17:1
The peoples’ sins could not be washed away on their own. So too, we must come to Christ for forgiveness. Only in Him can we be made clean, and our sins be taken away.
1 John 1:8-9 — If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Circumcision of the Heart
Jeremiah 4:4
The Lord called on the people to circumcise their hearts toward Him, an act ultimately fulfilled in Christ.
Colossians 2:11-12 — In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead
All Have Sinned
Jeremiah 5:1-3; Jeremiah 18:4
Everyone is guilty before a holy God, like marred clay in the hands of the Potter. Only in Christ can we be made righteous.
Romans 3:21-26 — But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Apart from Him we are Dead
Jeremiah 5:10; 13:7, 10
Branches in Judah that were not bearing fruit were to be removed. So too, all outside of Christ will be cast away. Only in Christ can we have life. Every one not abiding in Him is dead.
John 15:1-6 — I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away …If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
Ephesians 2:1, 4-5 — And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked…But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)
Sin Must and Will be Judged
Jeremiah 6:1, 10:25; 15:2
Just as Judah was given sufficient warning about the coming judgment, so too, if man does not obey the Gospel and receive Christ by faith, there is only judgment ahead.
Colossians 3:6 — Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience
2 Thessalonians 1:6-9 — since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power
There is no Good in Us
Jeremiah 6:29-30; 14:10
There was nothing redeemable in the people. “The smelter refines in vain”. Only in Christ can we be accepted through His righteousness
Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.
Ephesians 1:6-7 — He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
Outward Religion & Sacrifices Do not Save
Jeremiah 7:8-10, 21-22
God’s desire for us is obedience but instead, like the people of Judah, we instead have followed the dictates of our own heart. We need a better offering, for it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin.
Hebrews 10:11-14 — And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
Thousands of Years of Mercy
Jeremiah 7:25
The Lord had warned His people and called on them to repent for thousands of years. Jeremiah was one of a long line of Prophets who came to call the people to return to the Lord, demonstrating that the Lord is both righteous and merciful. He is gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. This is made manifest to the whole world in the person and work of Jesus Christ who is the express image of God’s person.
Acts 17:30-31 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
2 Peter 3:8-9 — “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
Judgment and Death are a Choice
Jeremiah 8:3, 12:17
With so much clear, consistent warning of God’s coming judgment, the people had no excuse: the choice was theirs: life or death. With the Gospel message set before us today, we have a choice whether to believe, or disobey.
John 3:18, 36 — He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. …He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.
Romans 2:5-10 — But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek
1 Peter 4:17 — For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?
The Lord Desires to be Known
Jeremiah 9:23-24
The Lord calls on His people to know Him–His lovingkindness, His judgment, and His righteousness. He has made Himself fully known in Jesus Christ.
1 John 5:20 — And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
The Law Brings a Curse
Jeremiah 11:3
Disobedience to the Lord’s word resulted in the curses promised in Deuteronomy. Only in Christ can we be redeemed from the curse.
Galatians 3:10-12 — For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”
No One is Able Intercede Between God and Man
Jeremiah 15:1
Jeremiah wanted to intercede for the people, but no one is able to stand in the gap between God and man except Jesus Christ.
1 Timothy 2:5 — For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,
The Lord Seeks and Saves the Lost
Jeremiah 16:16-17
After the captivity, the Lord promises to seek out every captive from the lands where they will be driven. His resolve to seek the save the lost is fully manifest in Jesus Christ.
Luke 19:10 — for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Only in Christ are We made Complete, a New Creation
Jeremiah 19:11
Jeremiah broke the potter’s vessel as a symbol of the brokenness of the people because of their sin. So broken were they, they could not be made whole again. We also are dead in our sins, only able to be made alive, made new, in Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17 — Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
We are Weak, He is Strong
Jeremiah 20:11
Jeremiah recognized the Lord was with Him and trusted in His strength. In Christ, we have the same hope and certainty, that God is always with us, not because of our strength or works of righteousness, but because of His own purpose and grace.
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”