Jeremiah 2:4-13

Ancient Lens

What can we learn from the historical context?

Passage Context - Divided Kingdom, Common Struggles

The prophet, Jeremiah, conducted the bulk of his ministry in the latter half of the 7th century, BC. During this time, the nation of Israel was a divided kingdom. The northern kingdom fell to the Assyrians in 721, and the southern kingdom fell to the Babylonians in 587. Jeremiah wrote between these two catastrophic events, providing theological interpretation for what was taking place.

Jeremiah, located near Jerusalem, the historic capital of the unified nation, was writing with both a local and national perspective. Chapter 2, which includes our smaller passage, for example, shows the dual…