Legends of the Bible

*Includes pictures of historic art depicting Jeremiah and other important people.

*Explains Jeremiah's life and times through the historical record and Scripture.

*Includes a bibliography for further reading.

"And when your people say, 'Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?' you shall say to them, 'As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.'" - Jeremiah 5:19

A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors" Legends of the Bible series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of the Bible's most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known.

The belief in prophets is as old as religion itself, and the tradition of prophets is especially prevalent in Judaism and Christianity, with prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah being among the most famous historical figures in the Bible. In addition to interpreting and sharing the word of God with the people, ancient prophets also served a variety of different roles in the Bible. God had prophets like Jeremiah perform symbolic acts that foretold future events, particularly hardships that the Israelites suffered at the hands of the Babylonians and Egyptians. The abilities of the prophets to predict future events have become the primary ways in which contemporary society remembers them, which has ensured that the term prophet (which meant spokesman in Hebrew) is now part of the lexicon and means something far different than the ancient definitions.

The prophet Jeremiah was born into a time of great political and religious turmoil for Judah. Longstanding institutions were being overturned left and right, and leaders scrambled for power amidst the ensuing chaos. In the century before Jeremiah was born, Assyria was the prominent political power that dominated Judean life and politics. Judah was fortunate enough not to suffer the fate of their northern neighbor Israel, which was overthrown and resettled by Sargon II in 720 B.C., but the angst that the Judeans felt living under the thumb of the Assyrians comes through clearly in the oracles of 8th century Judean prophets like Micah, Amos and Isaiah of Jerusalem.

Around the time Jeremiah was born (627 B.C.), an Assyrian official in Babylon, Nabopolassar, led the Babylonians in a revolt against their Assyrian oppressors and succeeded in reclaiming Babylon for the Babylonians. This successful act of rebellion against Assyria created shockwaves of aspirations that reverberated throughout all of the Assyrian vassal states, including Judah. The events around Jeremiah ensured that he would undergo some of the Bible's most famous trials and tribulations and also rub shoulders with some of the most famous figures of the ancent world, including the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II. Not surprisingly, he has been credited as the author of a few books in the Bible.

Legends of the Bible: The Life and Legacy of the Prophet Jeremiah discusses the life, history, stories, and Scripture passages about the famous prophet, examining the Bible and historical record to piece together an understanding of his life. Along with pictures and a bibliography, you will learn about the prophet Jeremiah like you never have before, in no time at all.