Jeremiah 26:5
and if you do not listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have sent you again and again even though you did not listen,
and if you do not listen to the words of My servants the prophets,
This phrase emphasizes the importance of heeding the messages delivered by God's prophets. In the historical context of Jeremiah, prophets were God's chosen messengers, often tasked with delivering warnings and calls for repentance to the people of Israel and Judah. The role of a prophet was crucial, as they were seen as the mouthpiece of God. The phrase underscores the repeated failure of the people to listen, which is a recurring theme throughout the Old Testament. This failure to listen is not just a historical issue but a spiritual one, reflecting a hardened heart and rebellion against God's will. The prophets, including Jeremiah, often faced persecution and rejection, highlighting the people's resistance to divine correction.

whom I have sent you again and again
This part of the verse highlights God's persistent efforts to reach His people. The repetition of sending prophets demonstrates God's patience and mercy, as He continually provides opportunities for repentance and change. This persistence is seen throughout the biblical narrative, where God repeatedly sends messengers to guide, warn, and instruct His people. It reflects God's desire for a relationship with His people and His unwillingness to give up on them despite their disobedience. This can be connected to the New Testament, where Jesus speaks of sending prophets and wise men, and the people's continued rejection of them (Matthew 23:34).

even though you did not listen,
This phrase points to the stubbornness and disobedience of the people. Despite God's repeated attempts to communicate through His prophets, the people often chose to ignore the warnings and continue in their sinful ways. This reflects a broader theme of human rebellion against God, which is evident throughout the Bible. The refusal to listen is not just a rejection of the prophets but a rejection of God Himself. This theme is echoed in the New Testament, where Jesus laments over Jerusalem's refusal to listen to God's messengers (Matthew 23:37). The phrase serves as a warning of the consequences of ignoring God's word and the importance of being receptive to His guidance.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jeremiah
A major prophet in the Old Testament, called by God to deliver messages of warning and hope to the people of Judah.

2. Prophets
God's messengers who were sent repeatedly to convey His words and warnings to the people. They played a crucial role in guiding Israel and Judah back to God's covenant.

3. Judah
The southern kingdom of Israel, which was often warned by prophets like Jeremiah about impending judgment due to their disobedience.

4. God
The sovereign Lord who communicates His will and warnings through His prophets, desiring repentance and obedience from His people.

5. Temple of the Lord
The setting of Jeremiah's message in this chapter, where he was instructed to deliver God's warning to the people of Judah.
Teaching Points
The Importance of Listening to God
God repeatedly sends His prophets to communicate His will. We must be attentive and responsive to God's messages, whether through Scripture, prayer, or godly counsel.

The Consequences of Disobedience
Ignoring God's warnings leads to judgment. The history of Judah serves as a cautionary tale for us to heed God's instructions.

God's Patience and Persistence
Despite repeated rejections, God continues to reach out to His people. This demonstrates His patience and desire for repentance and restoration.

The Role of Prophets and Scripture Today
While we may not have prophets in the same way today, God still speaks through His Word. We should value and study Scripture as God's communication to us.

Repentance and Restoration
God's ultimate goal in sending prophets is to bring His people back to Him. We should be quick to repent and seek restoration in our relationship with God.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the repeated sending of prophets by God demonstrate His character and intentions towards His people?

2. In what ways can we ensure that we are listening to God's messages in our lives today?

3. What are some modern-day "prophets" or sources of godly wisdom that we might be ignoring, and how can we better heed their messages?

4. How does the rejection of prophets in Jeremiah's time parallel the rejection of Jesus in the New Testament, and what lessons can we draw from this?

5. Reflect on a time when you ignored a warning or message from God. What were the consequences, and how did you eventually respond?
Connections to Other Scriptures
2 Chronicles 36:15-16
This passage highlights the persistent sending of prophets by God and the people's continued rejection, similar to the message in Jeremiah 26:5.

Matthew 23:37
Jesus laments over Jerusalem's history of killing prophets, echoing the rejection of God's messengers seen in Jeremiah's time.

Hebrews 1:1-2
This passage speaks of God speaking through prophets in the past and now through His Son, showing the continuity and fulfillment of God's communication.
Afflictions, Distresses, TumultsF. B. Meyer, B. A.Jeremiah 26:1-24
The Prophet of God Arraigned by the NationA.F. Muir Jeremiah 26:1-17, 24
People
Achbor, Ahikam, Elnathan, Hezekiah, Jehoiakim, Jeremiah, Josiah, Micah, Shaphan, Shemaiah, Uriah, Urijah
Places
Babylon, Egypt, Jerusalem, Kiriath-jearim, Moresheth, New Gate, Shiloh, Zion
Topics
Attention, Betimes, Ear, Early, Getting, Hearken, Hearkened, Heed, Heeded, Listen, Listened, Often, Prophets, Rising, Sending, Servants, Though, Urgently, Yea
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Jeremiah 26:5

     8654   importunity, to people

Jeremiah 26:3-6

     5165   listening

Jeremiah 26:4-6

     5408   messenger

Library
The Life of Mr. Robert Garnock.
Robert Garnock was born in Stirling, anno ----, and baptized by faithful Mr. James Guthrie. In his younger years, his parents took much pains to train him up in the way of duty: but soon after the restoration, the faithful presbyterian ministers being turned out, curates were put in their place, and with them came ignorance, profanity and persecution.--Some time after this, Mr. Law preached at his own house in Monteith, and one Mr. Hutchison sometimes at Kippen. Being one Saturday's evening gone
John Howie—Biographia Scoticana (Scots Worthies)

A Godly Reformation
'Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. 2. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. 3. He in the first year of his reign, in the first mouth, opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them. 4. And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Prophet Micah.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS. Micah signifies: "Who is like Jehovah;" and by this name, the prophet is consecrated to the incomparable God, just as Hosea was to the helping God, and Nahum to the comforting God. He prophesied, according to the inscription, under Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. We are not, however, entitled, on this account, to dissever his prophecies, and to assign particular discourses to the reign of each of these kings. On the contrary, the entire collection forms only one whole. At
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Second Stage of Jewish Trial. Jesus Condemned by Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin.
(Palace of Caiaphas. Friday.) ^A Matt. XXVI. 57, 59-68; ^B Mark XIV. 53, 55-65; ^C Luke XXII. 54, 63-65; ^D John XVIII. 24. ^d 24 Annas therefore sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest. [Foiled in his attempted examination of Jesus, Annas sends him to trial.] ^b and there come together with him all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes. ^a 57 And they that had taken Jesus led him away to the house of Caiaphas the high priest, ^c and brought him into the high priest's house. ^a where
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Sanctification.
I. I will remind you of some points that have been settled in this course of study. 1. The true intent and meaning of the law of God has been, as I trust, ascertained in the lectures on moral government. Let this point if need be, be examined by reference to those lectures. 2. We have also seen, in those lectures, what is not, and what is implied in entire obedience to the moral law. 3. In those lectures, and also in the lectures on justification and repentance, it has been shown that nothing is
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

The Twelve Minor Prophets.
1. By the Jewish arrangement, which places together the twelve minor prophets in a single volume, the chronological order of the prophets as a whole is broken up. The three greater prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, stand in the true order of time. Daniel began to prophesy before Ezekiel, but continued, many years after him. The Jewish arrangement of the twelve minor prophets is in a sense chronological; that is, they put the earlier prophets at the beginning, and the later at the end of the
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

Jeremiah
The interest of the book of Jeremiah is unique. On the one hand, it is our most reliable and elaborate source for the long period of history which it covers; on the other, it presents us with prophecy in its most intensely human phase, manifesting itself through a strangely attractive personality that was subject to like doubts and passions with ourselves. At his call, in 626 B.C., he was young and inexperienced, i. 6, so that he cannot have been born earlier than 650. The political and religious
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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