Even the original readership of the book of Jeremiah read about events and dates mentioned in the book from a later date. The "now" of the book was all historical to them (just as it is with us). However, this does not diminish the importance of what is said here below:
Time is an element of the book of Jeremiah that must be recognized. Chronology is included in the text and is very important. The
thing is, the people the Book was written to were very well informed of the
chronology of the nations of Israel and Judah. They knew the lineages of the
kings and all the events surrounding them. They knew details of battles, the
foreign conquests and deportations. In fact, the original readership were all
displaced people, they all had part in the history we are talking about. Even
if their ancestors had been deported a hundred years earlier, the history had
been handed down from generation to generation and any and all news from the
homeland was sought and cherished and discussed and passed down.
Therefore,
rather than record things in a restrictive, chronological order, the author of
Jeremiah was able to write thematically and place the events and prophecies in
their proper historical context by using what we might call “time stamps.”
Here is an example: The
phrase, “After King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon exiled Jehoiachin … king of Judah
… (24:1)” is a very clear time stamp. It gives a specific context for the word
of the Lord that follows. The
significance of this particular date is that this is when the majority of the
population of the holy city was dragged away into exile. Jerusalem was emptied
of its king and his family, its soldiers, its tradesman, its leaders and almost
all of its population. Left behind was an incompetent king, peasants, and a
wily prophet. This is the context where the good figs, bad figs prophecy of
this chapter is revealed. There are about 18 of these time stamps placed
throughout the book. The one mentioned above is the 4th.
These time stamps are key to recognizing the author's organization of his book.
