What is a summary of the book of Jeremiah?

from the old testament

• Jeremiah's main subject is God's judgment on Judah for her persistent, unrepentant sins (Jeremiah 2:13, 5:1-3, 7:9-10, 11:7-8, 17:1). God used Jeremiah to prophesy Judah's coming captivity in Babylon (Jeremiah 20:4, 21:7, 25:9-11, 32:28).
• God chose Jeremiah before he was born (Jeremiah 1:5), and he prophesied to God's people even amid persecution (Jeremiah 20). Jeremiah's experience shows that God has a plan for our lives, and sometimes persecution for His sake is part of that (cf. Matthew 5:10-11).
• The book of Jeremiah shows that God's will not allow sin to go unpunished, but that His discipline stems from His love (Jeremiah 29:11, 30:11, 31:3). This theme is clear in many other parts of Scripture (Deuteronomy 8:5; Proverbs 3:11-12).
• Along with God's discipline is His grace. Through Jeremiah, God promises Judah's eventual restoration (Jeremiah 29:10, 30:3, 31:31-33, 33:7-8), a plan that points to the restoration of all who believe in Christ. God's grace and mercy are also revealed in many other parts of the Bible (Hosea 6:1; Ezekiel 36:24-26).
• God's patience is part of His mercy. He warned Judah through Jeremiah for twenty-three years before He exacted punishment (Jeremiah 25:3). God is patient with individuals and nations.
• Jeremiah was often the lone voice of truth in Judah amid false prophets (Jeremiah 14:14, 23:16-17, 28:15-17), exemplifying perseverance.

from the new testament

• Just as He did with Judah, our Heavenly Father disciplines us because He loves us: "It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?" (Hebrews 12:7; cf. Revelation 3:19).
• Through Jeremiah, God promised Judah restoration. He promises this to all who place their faith in Christ (Acts 3:19-21; Hebrews 8:6–13).
• While we may wonder why the Lord hasn't returned yet, Peter wrote, "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). God's mercy toward Judah meant years of warnings before judgment, which is the pattern for us to keep in mind, knowing that God's mercy is the foundation of our wait.
• Jeremiah learned that people would often rather hear comfortable lies than the hard truth. This is a truth that Paul warned Timothy about: "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths" (2 Timothy 4:3-4; cf. Galatians 1:10).

implications for today

Near the end of The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy realizes that she could have gotten home all along by clicking her heels three times and repeating "There's no place like home." No adventures with talking trees, poppy fields, or flying monkeys needed.

The Judeans that God had exiled to Babylon may have wished for such a simple solution to get back to Jerusalem. Instead, they got a letter from Jeremiah on behalf of God telling them to start planting crops, having kids, and to "seek the welfare of the city where" God had exiled them (Jeremiah 29:4-7). In other words, settle in, because you aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

Christians today may feel like we aren't home either, and in a way, we're right since we're citizens of Heaven first and our nation second (Philippians 3:20). But God has put us where we are for a reason. We're ambassadors for Christ, meant to tell others that they can find a better home, an eternal one.

Like Jeremiah, we must be bold in speaking that truth.