The Bible by David Alley

"I am the man who has seen affliction..." says Jeremiah in this third chapter which describes his own personal suffering and affliction. Anyone want to swap places with Jeremiah? Despite its sadness this particular chapters holds a special place of affection in my (David's) heart.

It's a good thing Jeremiah used poetic language to describe the horrors he witnessed, because children reading the Bible won't grasp the fullness of how bad it was. In this chapter, Jeremiah describes through another beautiful Hebrew acrostic poem, the worst sights he had even seen.

Jeremiah continues his lament for Jerusalem, and like chapter 1, this chapter also follows a 22 verse acrostic poem with each verse starting with a successive Hebrew letter. In this chapter he mourns that God had to get so angry, and acknowledged it was righteous and necessary, but sad because it was avoidable.

In the final chapter of Jeremiah, a kind of appendix or postscript written by someone later, we see that the deeds of God, though seemingly harsh are filled with kindness and grace. Judgement requires a judge and the sorting out of good and evil is necessary and done for the good of all. What happened to Jeremiah and what comes next in the Bible?

"And it happened after Israel had been led captive and Jerusalem had been destroyed that Jeremiah sat and lamented with the following lamentation and said:...” And so begins the saddest book in the Bible. Why is that? Find out here:

Jeremiah 51 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer.

Jeremiah 49 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer.

Jeremiah 50 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer.

Jeremiah 48 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. Jeremiah brings a long prophecy against Moab and their detestable god Chemosh who required child sacrifice. After great patience, the Lord determined this false religious system which was corrupting the earth was to be removed. How did this happen, when and why?

Jeremiah 47 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. The Philistines were a nation that came from over the sea (possibly Crete) and were a thorn to Israel for a long time. But in this prophecy from Jeremiah the Lord is going to make an end of this nation. What did God say, what did it mean, and what was the outcome in history?

Jeremiah 46 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. Jeremiah now begins a series of prophecies against all the nations surrounding Israel, beginning with Egypt. It is a prophecy of judgement and doom. Why does God care about these nations? Why does he judge them? Do they even know about these prophecies?

Jeremiah 44 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. Even after going to Egypt the Jews that survive still do not give up idol worship. In this chapter Jeremiah confronts them as they worship the Queen of Heaven. This video explores what Jeremiah has to say, who the Queen of Heaven is, and why they still keep on worshipping other gods.

Jeremiah 45 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. Baruch was the one faithful man that stood by Jeremiah in his difficult years, and now the Lord gives Jeremiah a personal prophecy for him. We all want to receive a personal prophecy, but would you want to receive this one?

Jeremiah 43 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. This chapter contains the prohpecy of Jeremiah, who was now in Egypt at the time. He predicted the people who had left Jerusalem to avoid trouble, would find the exact thing in Egypt. He was not popular as a result. Why was this the case? Why was God so against them going back to Egypt?

Jeremiah 42 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. After Gedaliah the governor is assassinated, Jeremiah is consulted by the remaining poor - and given his amazing track record you would think he would have been believed. But his answer isn't' what they want to hear and once again they don't listen. What does this say about sermons we don't agree with?

Jeremiah 41 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. After the seige is over and only a few are left, Gedaliah is appointed governor, but he is quickly assasinated by Ishamel of Ammon. Chaos reigns. This video explores the chaotic days before Jeremiah is dragged away out of Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 40 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. The narrative around the siege of Jerusalem continues and in this video Nebuzaradan, the commander of the Babylonian army captures Jeremiah and releases him. In his mind he is fulfilling the word of the Lord in what he does. Why would this be so? This video explains.

Jeremiah 39 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. This chapter diverts from the usual prophetic/poetic style and is narrative. Jerusalem falls to the Babylonians and King Zedekiah flees the city, but is captured. At this point two prophecies, one by Jeremiah and one by Ezekiel which seem to be in opposition to each other are both fulfilled and God is proven to be double right.

Jeremiah 37 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In this chapter and video, Zedekiah secretly talks to Jeremiah to try to find out what God is saying without others knowing, but the word from the Lord is the same. Zedekiah promises Jeremiah will not tell that they had a conversation, so how do we know that they talked? Was Jeremiah unfaithful to his promise? And what is up with Ze...

Jeremiah 38 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. The things that Jeremiah was preaching and prophecying seem to be subversive and politically undermining the king, even though they are true, and so he has enemies. In this chapter his enemies try to kill him by throwing him in an underground cistern (which you can still visit in Jerusalem) and leave him for dead. He is rescued by E...

Jeremiah 36 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. Since Jeremiah is unable to preach in public, he gets Baruch to do it for him. Baruch is apprehended in the temple reading out the scroll of Jeremiah's words. The scroll ends up in the Kings winter residence where it is burned and destroyed column by column... the first act of vandalism of God's words that we are aware of.

Jeremiah 35 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In this video we meet the Rechabites, an interesting group of nomads who live in tents, and have abstained from alcohol for hundreds of years, based on the commands of an ancestor. God makes the point through Jeremiah that this group obey the command of their tee-totalling ancestor, but God's people don't listen to him though he spe...

Jeremiah 34 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In Jeremiah 34 we discuss the two prophecies given to King Zedekiah - one by Ezekiel and the other by Jeremiah which seemed to be contradictory. Certainly that is how Zedekiah interpreted them, and henceforth ignored Jeremiah. Were they really contradictory? This video explains that God sometimes gives words that don't make sense un...

Jeremiah 32 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In Jeremiah 32 the strangest thing happens - the Lord tells Jeremiah he is going to be offered a property for sale and he is to buy it. Sure enough this happens, but the question is, why buy a property in the middle of a war, when the security of land is not guaranteed. Watch this video and find out.

Jeremiah 33 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In Jeremiah 33 we learn God's phone number by which you can have a direct line to God at anytime. What is his phone number? Watch the video to find out.