Bible Commentaries
Jeremiah 3

Verses 1-5

Jeremiah’s First Prophecy Against Jerusalem Jeremiah 2:1 to Jeremiah 3:5 contains what is likely Jeremiah’s first prophecy against the children of Jerusalem. We can date it to the time of Josiah’s reign from the statement made in Jeremiah 3:6, “The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king,” which immediately follows this prophecy.

Verses 1-25

Jeremiah 3:4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?

Jeremiah 3:4 “My father” - Comments - The description of the God of Israel as “Father” is extremely rare in the Old Testament Scriptures. It was first used by David the psalmist (Psalms 2:7; Psalms 89:26), then by Isaiah (Isaiah 63:16; Isaiah 64:8), then by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 3:4), and finally by Malachi (Malachi 2:10).

Jeremiah 3:15 And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

Jeremiah 3:15 Illustration - King David was a pastor who fed God's children the statutes of God.

Jeremiah 3:16 And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.

Jeremiah 3:16 Comments - In Jeremiah 3:16 Jeremiah predicts the forsaking of the Levitical system and the loss of the ark of the covenant, both of which took place when Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in 586 B.C.

Jeremiah 3:17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.

Jeremiah 3:18 In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.

Jeremiah 3:19 But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.

Jeremiah 3:19 “and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father” Comments - In Matthew 6:9, Jesus teaches the Jews to address God as “our father,” or “my father.”

Matthew 6:9, “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.”