Notes On The Prophecy And Lamentations Of Jeremiah

NOTES ON THE PROPHECY AND LAMENTATIONS
OF JEREMIAH
"The Weeping Prophet"
by
H. A. Ironside
In taking up the study of the wri
tings of Jeremiah it is not pur
posed to attempt a full exposition
of the books of this the tendere
st of all the prophets. My only
thought is to jot down notes of
what has been particularly impressed on my ow
n heart in going over them, in the hope that
others, especially young Christians, may, like myself, find benefit.
The prophecy with its poetical appendix form
s a portion of Scripture abounding in soulful,
stirring appeals. If we think of
prophecy merely as foretelling the future (and especially
unfolding the glories of Messiah’s kingdom), we shall not find it nearly so full as either Isaiah,
Ezekiel, or Daniel, with which
it is commonly classed as being one
of the major prophets. It has
not the majesty of the first, the extended visi
on of the last, nor the wondrous imagery of the
other; but none of these charac
teristics would be expected in a series of messages chiefly
intended for the conscience. If, however, we thin
k of prophecy in its New Testament sense, as
that which brings the soul into the presence of God, we realize at once how fully this is the case
here.
The same is true in great m
easure of Ezekiel, bu
t it would seem that there the people are
practically given up from the start, their defection is so complete; part of them already having
been carried into cap
tivity, as in the case of
the prophet himself (Ezekiel 1:1): but in Jeremiah, in
the first half of the book at least, we have evid
ently ministry with a vi
ew to recalling wandering
hearts to the One they had forsaken.