Jeremiah 25 - Introduction

It was immediately after the battle of Carchemish (605 b.c.) between Egypt and Babylon, and probably before Nebuchadnezzar and his victorious army appeared in Palestine, that Jeremiah delivered this prophecy Jeremiah 25, orally perhaps at first to the people, but soon afterward committed to writing; it formed part of Jehoiakim’s scroll Jeremiah 36:29. It belongs to the year of Jeremiah’s greatest activity, when he was using his utmost efforts to detach Jehoiakim from Egypt, and prevail upon him to accept frankly the position of a king subject to Nebuchadnezzar, not only as a matter of policy but of religious duty. It was this latter aspect of the appeal that made the king reject it. He burned the prophet’s scroll, tried to slay the prophet, and heard the voice of God no more during the rest of his reign.