{"id":26129,"date":"2020-11-06T13:42:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T13:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/2021\/02\/23\/preaching-on-jeremiah\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T16:42:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T16:42:08","slug":"preaching-on-jeremiah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/preaching-on-jeremiah\/","title":{"rendered":"Preaching on Jeremiah"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Historical Background<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Almost everything in Jeremiah was addressed to people who ignored it. Yet this anthology of the prophet\u2019s preaching (augmented by narratives and a sampling of Jeremiah\u2019s prayer life) was preserved because the exiles and subsequent generations needed it. So do we.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its explanation of the disaster that befell Judah, its indictment of a recalcitrant people and their wretched leaders, its portrayal of a just but patient God, its critique of idolatry and false prophecy, its promise of a new covenant, and\u2014not least\u2014its portrait of a faithful prophet make this, the second-longest book in the Bible, worth knowing and preaching today. We, the new covenant people to whom everything in Jeremiah comes through Christ and his gospel, share in the hope and the responsibilities of seventh century Judah. We also need the warnings addressed originally to them but preserved for our benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeremiah ministered in the last four decades of the southern kingdom (1:1-3). He supported the revival under Josiah, a hopeful movement that sadly proved to be too little too late. Then, after Josiah\u2019s protection was removed, he was vilified, ostracized, imprisoned, and threatened with death for preaching repentance and submission to Babylon. His message was seen not only as unpopular but, humanly speaking, as treasonous. The contemptible Jehoiakim tried to suppress him. The feckless Zedekiah sought his advice on occasion but was unable or unwilling to heed it. In the end, his prophecies of doom were fulfilled to the letter and the false prophets exposed as frauds. Even after the fall of Jerusalem in 587\/586, when you might think Jeremiah was vindicated as God\u2019s trustworthy spokesman, the survivors continued to reject his counsel, fleeing to Egypt and taking Jeremiah with them. There he ended his days and his preaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chart: Preaching Through Jeremiah<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We know the weekly grind of sermon prep is hard, whether you are in the midst of series or planning a new series. Trying to find key verses you need to highlight in your sermon, finding the historical background to the book, discovering the flow\/structure of book, and even figuring out what is the theme of each section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is why we created this chart! This chart is designed to\u00a0save you time<\/strong>\u00a0as you prepare to preach a new sermon series from the Book of Jeremiah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will find a quick visual overview of the movement of the Book of Jeremiah. It will help orient you and your hearers as you preach through the entire book or sections of the book. It provides, at a glance, one way to divide the book into pericopes. The chart includes key verses in the book, an overarching title for the book, the overall message of the book, and some historical background. It is color-coded to highlight certain defining aspects of the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This chart could be used as a slide in your church service. It could serve as an introduction to a new series or a weekly check-in before you begin preaching. It could even be printed out and given to the members of your church, as a resource to help them grasp the message of the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sermon Series<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Series Title: ‘To Uproot and to Plant’<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This series title comes from Jeremiah\u2019s commissioning in chapter one, a phrase repeated six more times, sometimes paired with \u201cto destroy and to build.\u201d Despite the challenges faced in preaching this long book (see below), you can keep your bearings if you remind yourself and your hearers repeatedly that in everything Jeremiah says and does he\u2019s trying to uproot sin and unbelief and plant covenant faithfulness and hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are those challenges in preaching this book? There are at least these three:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Structure (or Lack Thereof) of to the Book<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there\u2019s a structure, it\u2019s definitely not chronological. One commentator says that the arrangement is that of a snowball picking up more of the prophet\u2019s words and biography as it rolls along. Another wonders if Jeremiah scribbled in haste on whatever writing material was at hand in the chaotic death throes of Judah and no editor was willing to rework the material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suggestion: Preach consecutively through the book, using supplemental print or projected chronologies and maps to help keep the story line clear for listeners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Application Is Tricky<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No modern country stands in the same relationship to God as did Judah, so it\u2019s precarious to make a direct application of warnings, directives, and promises spoken to the chosen people. If any entity is heir to the Jerusalemites, it\u2019s the church. Even so, application is tricky: few congregations are as far gone as Jeremiah\u2019s. So how is the prophet\u2019s preaching relevant?\n\nSuggestions: Periodically remind listeners that although their country is not the covenant people, the Lord of all the earth holds all people accountable for certain universal standards of right and wrong. And warn the church not to sink to the depths depicted in these pages or presume that because God has established a covenant with us in his Son\u2019s blood he would never chasten us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Variety of Genres<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another challenge is the variety of genres in the book: Poetic oracles and prose discourse, biography and autobiography, taunts and indictments, prayers and confessions, conversations and narratives, visionary experiences and enacted parables.\n\nSuggestion: View this challenge as a wonderful opportunity to bring variety to your preaching. You and the congregation will both find the series more interesting if you\u2019re willing to tackle different literary forms and let the form of each text shape the form of the sermon. The unity of the series will be achieved not by every sermon sounding the same but by coming back repeatedly to the uprooting and planting theme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sermon Series Summaries<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Systematic exposition of complete pericopes (usually full chapters or stories) should be our norm. But sometimes a single verse begs to be preached. A profound truth concisely and memorably worded gives the preacher plenty to work with and the listener plenty to chew on. Furthermore, varying the length of sermon texts is refreshing for both preacher and listener.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeremiah offers a few such standout texts: 9:23-24 (\u201cLet him who boasts boast in this\u201d); 29:7 (\u201cSeek the prosperity of the city\u201d); 29:11 (\u201cI know the plans I have for you\u201d), for example. Don\u2019t miss the opportunity to proclaim these gems. Of course, the Scripture reading should include the verse\u2019s context: Then the congregation will hear the whole unit even if your exposition covers just one sentence. The sermon doesn\u2019t have to do all the work; skillful oral interpretation of Scripture will powerfully communicate God\u2019s Word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are representative sermon possibilities (where no title is given, it\u2019s not an oversight; I don\u2019t always title my sermons):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Text: Jeremiah 1:1-3<\/h2>\n\n\n\n