I have said so many times that if you don’t understand the history contained in the Bible, you can’t hope to understand the prophecy. One reason is that without a grasp of history, you don’t know what part of the prophecy has been fulfilled in the past and what part has not. And then there is this statement from the prophet Isaiah; it is a challenge to all prophets.

Produce your case, says the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, says the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and show us what shall happen: let them show the former things, what they were, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare to us things to come.

In these last chapters of Jeremiah, there is not a lot to learn about the latter days. They are addressed in only the most general terms, if at all. We do learn some things, though, about God’s overall intent regarding these people–and, since history tends to repeat itself, there may be future prophecies buried in the pattern of the fulfilled prophecies of the time. We’ll find God’s pronouncements against the nations which had been players in the history of Israel, beginning in chapter 46.