Judah’s Idolatry
Category: Failure of covenant loyalty
Could endure: Remain faithful to the LORD as husband and King.
“I remember the devotion of your youth… Israel was holy to the LORD.” (Jeremiah 2:2–3)
Cross-Refs: Exodus 19:5–6; Hosea 2:19–20.
Chose wrongly: Forsook God, worshiped idols.
“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” (Jeremiah 2:13)
Cross-Refs: Deuteronomy 32:15–18; Romans 1:25.
Endured (negatively): Judgment, drought, exile.
“You have forsaken the LORD your God and have no awe of me.” (Jeremiah 2:19)
Cross-Refs: Jeremiah 5:19; 2 Chronicles 36:16–17.
Why (wrong motive): Desire for other gods, trust in nations.
“As a thief is disgraced when he is caught, so the people of Israel are disgraced—they, their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets.” (Jeremiah 2:26)
Cross-Refs: Ezekiel 16:15; James 4:4.
Result: Scattered among nations, mocked by enemies.
“You will serve foreigners in a land not your own.” (Jeremiah 5:19)
Cross-Refs: Lamentations 1:3; Deuteronomy 28:36–37.
False Prophets
Category: Failure of truth & integrity
Could endure: Speak the true word of God.
“I have put my words in your mouth.” (Jeremiah 1:9)
Cross-Refs: Deuteronomy 18:18; 2 Peter 1:21.
Chose wrongly: Spoke lies of peace when judgment was coming.
“They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.” (Jeremiah 6:14)
Cross-Refs: Jeremiah 23:16–17; Ezekiel 13:10.
Endured (negatively): Condemned by God, exposed as frauds.
“I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The LORD declares.’” (Jeremiah 23:31)
Cross-Refs: Deuteronomy 18:20; Lamentations 2:14.
Why (wrong motive): Greed, popularity, fear of rejection.
“From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit.” (Jeremiah 6:13)
Cross-Refs: Micah 3:11; 2 Timothy 4:3.
Result: Brought ruin on themselves and misled the people.
“Therefore they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them.” (Jeremiah 6:15)
Cross-Refs: Jeremiah 14:14–16; Matthew 7:15–19.
King Jehoiakim
Category: Failure of obedience & reverence
Could endure: Humble himself before God’s word.
“Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah.” (Jeremiah 26:2)
Cross-Refs: Deuteronomy 17:18–20; Psalm 119:11.
Chose wrongly: Burned God’s scroll, despised the message.
“The king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned.” (Jeremiah 36:23)
Cross-Refs: Amos 2:12; Acts 7:51.
Endured (negatively): Prophesied disgraceful death.
“He will have the burial of a donkey—dragged away and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.” (Jeremiah 22:19)
Cross-Refs: 2 Kings 24:6; Ecclesiastes 8:10.
Why (wrong motive): Pride, defiance, hatred of truth.
“Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just.” (Jeremiah 22:15)
Cross-Refs: Proverbs 29:12; John 3:19–20.
Result: Dynasty cut off, judgment fell.
“None of his offspring will prosper, none will sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah.” (Jeremiah 36:30)
Cross-Refs: Lamentations 5:16; Jeremiah 22:30.
People Rejecting Jeremiah’s Message
Category: Failure of listening & repentance
Could endure: Repent at God’s word and live.
“Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Jeremiah 6:16)
Cross-Refs: Isaiah 55:6–7; Matthew 11:29.
Chose wrongly: Refused to listen, mocked God’s word.
“But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’” (Jeremiah 6:16)
Cross-Refs: Zechariah 7:11–12; Acts 7:57.
Endured (negatively): Siege, famine, sword, exile.
“They did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts.” (Jeremiah 7:24)
Cross-Refs: 2 Chronicles 36:16–17; Romans 2:5.
Why (wrong motive): Stubbornness, love of sin.
“But they did not pay attention or listen to him.” (Jeremiah 37:2)
Cross-Refs: Isaiah 30:9–11; 2 Timothy 4:4.
Result: Destroyed city, burned temple, exile to Babylon.
“I will bring on this city and all the villages around it every disaster I pronounced against them, because they were stiff-necked and would not listen to my words.” (Jeremiah 19:15)
Cross-Refs: Lamentations 2:1–5; Hebrews 3:15.