Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jeremiah 1-3.

When we read Jeremiah we tend to think of him prophesying to the people of Judah under the last few, wicked kings of Judah.  We overlook the fact that he began prophesying under King Josiah, who is recorded as having led a major revival in worship of God.  In fact,  Jeremiah begins to prophesy the year after King Josiah began his major reforms.  So, while King Josiah was busy having the altars to Baal and the Asherah poles throughout the land of Israel (including all of Israel, not just the portion which was the Kingdom of Judah), Jeremiah was prophesying against the people of Israel for worshiping idols and failing to worship God.  I believe that today’s passage is directed at those who embraced Josiah’s reforms without acknowledging their own sins; those who had happily worshiped Baal and other idols, in particular the gods of Assyria and Egypt, right up until King Josiah began his campaign to wipe out such worship, at which point they enthusiastically joined his campaign and became avid promoters of worshiping God.

Which brings me to another thing I noticed here: Jeremiah prophesied against relying on Assyria and Egypt.  I want to note the King Josiah died when he went out to prevent Pharaoh Necho from marching to support the Assyrian Empire in its battle against the Babylonians, who subsequently defeated the Assyrians.  It seems to me that perhaps Jeremiah was speaking out about the Assyrians and the Egyptians because there was a faction, a strong faction, in the court in Jerusalem which favored appeasing Assyria and Egypt, while King Josiah favored seeking to join the Babylonian alliance in its war against Assyria.  Jeremiah seems to be suggesting here that the faction which had previously backed being willing vassals of Assyria had now turned to being willing vassals of Egypt.  And that part of that vassalage was offering sacrifices to the gods of Egypt.

Finally, I want to point out that Jeremiah called the people of Judah, and all of Israel, to return to God and renounce their sins in genuine repentance.  His prophecy in today’s passage would have served to reinforce the revival which King Josiah was attempting to foster while rejecting those who embraced the revival for purely political reasons by taking up worship of God without truly rejecting idol worship.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.