Overture:

Jeremiah

Who was Jeremiah

Great prophet of Ancient IsraelLink with MosesMinistry 626 – c.586 BC

Jeremiah’s life

Didn’t want to be prophetBlasphemous challenge (rape)Experienced intense unhappinessJeremiah means ‘YHWH will cast away’Lived to great age (90?)

What was the context?

Israel split in twoSouthern KingdomArrogance of leadership

(Temple)

Threat from Babylon & Egypt

Good king JosiahReigned c 640-609BCFaithful reformerDeuteronomy ‘discovered’ 621 BC

2 Kings 22.8Jeremiah author??Deuteronomic history

Killed in battle at Megiddo (Armageddon)

Jeremiah’s message

The Wrath of God is comingBecause Israel is idolatrousBecause Israel is unjustNew Covenant

The Exile

The “great calamity”Defining disaster of Ancient Israel597/587 BCLeadership taken to BabylonJerusalem destroyed

“On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He set fire to the temple of the LORD, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down.” Jeremiah 52:12-13

Lamentations

Pleads for mercy“intercede no more for this people”

False prophets

HananiahImprisonment (588 BC)

Reaction

"You will go to them; but for their part, they will not

listen to you"

So why Overture?

A great calamity is coming upon usBecause we are idolatrousBecause we are unjust

We too face calamity

Unavoidable But will not be believedMany will hear…What is the path for the faithful?

God’s wrath

Explain what is meant by ‘idolatry’Explore notion of judgementExplain what is meant by apocalypse

Foreseeing calamity

Environmental aspectsSocial aspects (poverty) Foreign policy aspectsReligious message is distorted

Promise of restoration

New CovenantBut no clear vision of the future

Pursuit of genuine humanityIn the light of the one who is truly humanGo and learn what this means: “I desire mercy not sacrifice”

Jeremiah as our guide for today

YHWH not absent from processMeaning to be foundHope is always presentJeremiah shall be our guide through the calamity

Let us Be Human

Prophecy, Peak Oil and thePath for the Faithful