Written by Matthew H. Patton |
Thursday, February 29, 2024
The book of Jeremiah, therefore, was given to help Judah navigate this dire and climactic end to their story. Even as their nation was uprooted at every level (king, temple, land, covenant), Jeremiah shows that the Lord had a redemptive purpose. He removed these shadowy gifts to prepare the way for ultimate, eschatological gifts that will never pass away. The real end of Israel’s story will not ultimately be wrath, but grace and glory.

Jeremiah is one of the most daunting books of the Bible. In terms of word count, it is the longest in the whole Bible. It flits between poetic images and narratives, often with little warning, and it does not follow a chronological order. Most of its content is about grim judgment and dire sin, with few glimmers of hope. People often feel perplexed when they try to read it.
But God gave us this book for our encouragement (Rom. 15:4). If we keep three things in mind as we read, we will begin to understand God’s genius and love in giving us this challenging book.
1. The book’s theme is judgment unto restoration.
For all its complexity, the whole book of Jeremiah expounds two basic themes: judgment and restoration. The theme verse highlights these two themes: the Lord set Jeremiah “over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jer. 1:10). The first four verbs are about judgment (plucking up, breaking down, destroying, and overthrowing). The latter two are about restoration (building and planting).
The judgment texts refer primarily to the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 586 BC. The Lord is keen to establish that this dreadful event was the just consequence for Judah’s awful sin. The many allusions to the covenant curses in Deuteronomy 28 show that the Lord is being faithful to what He said He would do when His people betray Him. Indeed, He has been more than patient.
During Jeremiah’s ministry, Judah’s fall became an inevitable event. No amount of repentance or prayer could avert it. That is why the Lord forbids Jeremiah to pray for the people (Jer. 7:16; 11:14). Thus, the only way forward for Judah was to accept judgment, including exile from the land of promise (Jer. 21:8–10).
But the most amazing part of Jeremiah’s message is that the Lord—the same God who brought severe judgment on them—also intends to reverse the curse (Jer. 31:28) and heal His people (Jer. 30:12–17; cf. Deut. 32:39). He will do more than simply returning Judah to the pre-exile status quo.
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But what if the whole of the prophets were profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness? What if every verse of the prophets was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope? Wait, those questions sound vaguely familiar . . . (see Rom. 15:4; 2 Tim. 3:16).
To unlock the whole of the prophets, we must grasp the pattern of judgment unto restoration. This simple three-word phrase captures the entire prophetic message. In this article, we’ll see how this pattern unlocks the message of Jeremiah, and then how this pattern is fulfilled in Christ and His church.
Judgment Unto Restoration in Jeremiah
Immediately after Jeremiah’s ordination as a prophet (Jer. 1:4–9), the Lord provides him with a summary of his message: “See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jer. 1:10). This verse is the thesis statement of the book. Notice how the first four verbs are destructive words and the last two verbs are constructive. Here is the judgment-unto-restoration pattern. And Jeremiah will speak it not only to God’s people but to all the nations.
From this point on, the book of Jeremiah feels like a chaotic jumble of texts, with no clear reason for why one unit follows another. The text flits backward and forward in time, from prayer to vision to story, and often very abruptly (the structure is actually highly purposeful, but not on the surface). However, if you remember the thesis statement from Jeremiah 1:10 and the fact that the prophets are always describing either judgment or restoration, you will never be lost. You need only ask: Am I hearing about judgment or restoration?
For example, we read in Jeremiah 4:6, “Raise a standard toward Zion, flee for safety, stay not, for I bring disaster from the north, and great destruction.” This clearly describes judgment that is coming on Jerusalem (Zion) from a foe in the north. In the vision that follows, we do not need to discern exactly when the events take place to profit from how it expands our understanding of judgment. In Jeremiah 4:19, we see the wild terror and panic of those who are judged: “My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent, for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.” And in Jeremiah 4:23, we see how God reverses the created order when He judges His people: “I looked on the earth, and behold, it was without form and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light.” Most crucial is the reason for God’s white-hot wrath, which is Israel’s sin: “Your [wicked] ways and your deeds have brought this upon you” (Jer. 4:18).
Some units, such as Jeremiah 4:5–6:30, are sustained expositions of judgment. Other units, including Jeremiah 31:1–9, dwell exclusively on restoration. Reading these sustained expositions of judgment or restoration reminds one of a collage. In a collage, many individual pictures are laid next to one another to form a whole, often without smooth transitions between the pictures. Instead, the pictures are simply laid next to one another.

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