NIV Commentary Jeremiah & Lamenentations

NIV Commentary Series:  Jeremiah & Lamentations

Timothy M. Willis writes that Jeremiah is pivotal to one's understanding of the Old Testament for three reasons. First, Jeremiah writes at a crucial time in Israel's history. While Judah survived and even began to thrive after the Assyrians' attack on the northern territory of Israel some hundred years before Jeremiah, circumstances change during Jeremiah's career. Idolatry is taken up once again and Jerusalem is destroyed by Babylon, who exiles the majority of the nation.

Second, God's covenant relationship with his people is pictured time and time again in Jeremiah. While the Davidic and Mosaic covenants seem to be impossible to fulfill when the royal family is not preserved and the promised land is ransacked, is it possible that the Abrahamic covenant could still be fulfilled? Could Israel still be the nation that God uses to bless other nations? Jeremiah addresses these questions as he makes prophecies about the future of the nation of Israel and the coming Messiah.

Third, Jeremiah gives us a foundational understanding of the nature of the Lord. The wrath of the Lord is discovered as Israel forsakes her relationship with God. However, God's mercy, forgiveness, love, and grace are also dominant themes, as he continues to love his wayward children.

Throughout the writings of Jeremiah--in Jeremiah and Lamentations--the predominant theme is God's sovereignty. In the book of Jeremiah, we see that God retains the ability to choose his prophet, to determine the fate of the nations, and to continue to hold out both the threat of destruction and the hope of deliverance. Lamentations examines the same themes from the viewpoint of the sufferers. Jeremiah laments the inevitable destruction of his fellow Israelites while trusting in God to set right the wrongs committed against them.

Jeremiah & Lamentations has 431 pages.