Jeremiah

This was a sign that God was going to break the Jewish nation because they had worshipped false gods and even sacrificed children to them!

Jeremiah 19:10-13
"Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee, and shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter’s vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury. Thus will I do unto this place, saith the Lord, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet: and the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods"

This was to show them that in future there would be no happy occasions in the land.

Jeremiah 16:8-9
"Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride"

Jeremiah is talking about the coming of Jesus when the Jews will no longer be the only ones who teach men about God.

Jeremiah 31:34
"And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more"

God had decided to hand all the kingdoms into the rule of Babylon. The yoke, used to control cattle, was a symbol of servitude to the king of Babylon.

Jeremiah 27:8
"And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the Lord, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand"

God had Jeremiah return after a time and dig up the loincloth.

Jeremiah 13:7-11
"Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing. Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Thus saith the Lord, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing. For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the Lord; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear"

God spoke to Jeremiah when he was still a child but told him that he was chosen before he was born.

Jeremiah 1:4-5
"Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee;
and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee,
and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations"

Because of their wicked plans God decided to punish the people of Anathoth.

Jeremiah 11:21-23
"Therefore thus saith the Lord of the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying, Prophesy not in the name of the Lord, that thou die not by our hand: therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will punish them: the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine: and there shall be no remnant of them: for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, even the year of their visitation"

The vision showed that the Jews who had been exiled would be saved, but those who had remained in Jerusalem or fled to Egypt would be spread throughout the nations.

Jeremiah 24:4-10
"Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart. And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the Lord, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt: and I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them. And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers"

The nations Jeremiah names are Egypt, Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar, Elam and Babylon. God tells Ammon that it will be destroyed and that Israel will take control of the land.

Jeremiah 49:1-2
"Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the Lord;
Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir?
why then doth their king inherit Gad,
and his people dwell in his cities?
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord,
that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites;
and it shall be a desolate heap,
and her daughters shall be burned with fire:
then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the Lord"

Jeremiah's prediction was spot on. The Jews were released after 70 years in Babylon.

Jeremiah 25:11-12
"And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations"