When does this word from the Lord come to Jeremiah?

This passage (Jeremiah 26:1–24) starts a new section in Jeremiah that goes from Jeremiah 26:1–29:32 and it describes in more detail the kind of opposition Jeremiah faced during his ministry with prophets who proclaimed a message of peace in opposition to his message of judgment.

The opening verse places this first incident in Jeremiah 26:1–24 in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah. Jehoiakim became king of Judah between September 609 BC and April 608 BC.¹ The incident takes place, therefore, some fourteen years before the events described in the next three chapters (Jeremiah 27:1–29:32) which all take place during the reign of Zedekiah. It probably also took place before the Babylonian invasion began in 605 BC.²

This is also not the first time this incident is mentioned. Jeremiah 7:1–15 describes this incident and gives a longer record of what Jeremiah said in his sermon. The purpose of the incident in Jeremiah 7:1–15 is to warn Judah of the judgment that is coming. Here in Jeremiah 26:1–24, the incident has a different purpose in the book. Jeremiah 1:1–25:38 gave a thorough record of the sermons the prophet preached and the message of judgment that the Lord was sending to Judah. Jeremiah 27:1–29:32 give a detailed account of the conflict that arose between Jeremiah and the false prophets who were preaching peace. Jeremiah 26:1–24, therefore, seems to have been placed strategically to set the scene for the conflict. This conflict between Jeremiah and the false prophets had massive implications for Jeremiah, the false prophets, the leadership and the whole nation. Here we have a portrait of the spiritual confusion and imperceptivity that held sway at the religious centre of the land.³