His calling, Jer 1:4-10; prophesies during the reigns of Josiah, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah, Jer 1:2-3; threatened with death, Jer 11:21; 26:8
Jeremías (Heb. Yirmeyâh, “Yahweh is exalted” or “Yahweh strikes”; gr. Hieremías). The name appears on an ancient Hebrew vase handle, in ancient Hebrew seals, and in the Lachish Letters.* 1. A native of Libnah whose daughter Hamutal was the wife of Josiah and mother of Jehoahaz (2Ki 23:30, 31). 2. Head of a family in the tribe of Manasseh (1Ch 5:24). 3, 4 and 5. Name of 3 men who joined David’s band at Ziklag (1Ch 12:4, 10, 13). 6. Nehemiah covenant signer (Neh 10:2). 7. Priest who returned from Babylonian exile with Zerubbabel (Neh 12:1, 12). 8. Prince of Judah at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem (Neh 12:34). 9. Prophet who stimulated religious reform under King Josiah. He counseled the Jews of Jerusalem before the exile and part of the captivity and wrote the book that bears his name. Jeremiah is perhaps the most colorful prophet in the OT. Mixed into his prophetic messages are frequent glimpses into his soul that offer a vivid picture of his feelings and experiences as a prophet called to deliver an unpopular message at a time of national crisis. The history of the southern kingdom, Judah (since the captivity of the 10 tribes a century earlier), was one of growing national apostasy. In Jeremiah’s time it became clear that God, if he wanted to fulfill his purpose for Israel, had to take drastic measures. Canaan was theirs only by virtue of covenant relationship with God, but by their persistent violations of the provisions of that covenant they had denied his right to the land. Captivity was inevitable, not as a retributive punishment but as a curative discipline, and it fell to Jeremiah to explain the reasons for the captivity and encourage them to cooperate with God’s plan in that experience. Over and over again, through Jeremiah, God pleaded with his people to submit to the king of Babylon and be willing to learn the lesson that this bitter experience was meant to teach them. The 1st captivity occurred in 605 BC, but, as they refused to cooperate, a 2nd captivity occurred in 597 BC, and a 3rd in 586 BC, which was accompanied by a total desolation of the city and the temple. Ezekiel was called to a similar role on behalf of the exiles in Babylon, and, at about the same time, God placed Daniel in Nebuchadnezzar’s court for the purpose of tempering the natural harshness and severity of the Babylonians toward the Jews. The messages of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel were intended to clarify the nature and purpose of the captivity and hasten the exiles’ return to their homeland. Jeremiah was the son of Hilkiah, a priest of Anathoth* (Jer 1:1). He was called to the prophetic office while he was still young (vs 6, 7). At first, he was hesitant to accept the call, but God assured him that although he would meet with violent opposition he could also expect divine help in carrying out his mission (vs 8, 17-19). Jeremiah, tender and gentle by nature, suffered much personal anguish from the conflict between his feelings and the harsh messages of rebuke and warning that he was to bear. Foreseeing the sad fate that awaited his beloved people, he exclaimed, “My heartstrings ache” (4:19). Captivity was inevitable (vs 27, 28), but God comforted Jeremiah with the promise that it would not be the end of “everything” for his chosen people (4:27; 5:10). To impress him with desperate moral and spiritual degeneracy, God sent him on an excursion through the streets of Jerusalem in search of a man who sincerely sought to know and do God’s will (5:1). Unsuccessfully, Jeremiah hopefully returned to the leaders, but found that not one of them was leading the nation in the paths of righteousness (vs 3-5). Now better perceiving the complete apostasy of his people, Jeremiah was instructed to stand “at the door of the house of the Lord” to warn them of the fate that awaited them if they did not repent. That sermon, commonly called 613 “The Temple Discourse,” is recorded in chs 7-10. The seriousness of the message is evident from God’s warning to Jeremiah: “Do not pray for this people…because I will not listen to you” (7:16). Lamenting his solemn implication, he exclaimed: “Oh, if my head were to become waters, and my eyes fountains of tears so that my people would cry day and night!” (9:1). “Woe is me for my brokenness! my sore is very painful – he cried out to the Lord, but reconciling himself with the thought he added -: But I said: Certainly this is my illness, and I must suffer it ”(10:19). However, recognizing divine justice in the foretold judgments, the prophet asked for mercy (vs 23-25). Then the Lord sent Jeremiah to the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem with the message: “Hear the words of this covenant, and do them”; but, despite his fervor, the people paid him no attention (11:6-8). In reality, his own relatives of his, the priests of Anathoth, completed to silence him with death. When the Lord revealed the plot to him, the prophet asked the Lord for justice and revenge; Hadn’t he just spoken the words that God had given him? (vs 9-23). Seeing in the conspiracy against his life a reflection of the nature of Judah’s hatred against God, the prophet asked the Lord: “Why is the way of the wicked prosperous?” (12:1). God answered him by asking him in turn what he would do when the whole nation rose against him, if the first moment of opposition had tired him (v 5; cf 1:19). Just as the affections of Jeremiah’s relatives had turned away from him to the point of being ready to kill him, so Israel’s had turned away from God (12:6-11). For the 2nd time he exclaimed: “My soul shall weep…and weeping bitterly my eyes shall weep, because the flock of the Lord has been taken captive” (13:17). For the 3rd time (cf 7:16; 11:14) God told him: “Do not pray for this people for good” (14:11), and the prophet lamented: “Let my eyes shed tears night and day, and let them not cease. ” (v 17). Jeremiah concluded that perhaps God had “wholly rejected Judah” (v 19). Then, like Moses of old (Exo 32:31, 32), he confessed the sin of his people and cried out to the Lord not to break his covenant with them (Jer 14:20-22). But God replied that it would be useless, even if Moses prayed for them: captivity was inevitable (15:1). And he said: “I will destroy” my people, because “they did not turn from their ways” (vs 6, 7). Lamenting the insults he had suffered, Jeremiah complained again to the Lord: “Avenge me on my enemies_ for love of you I suffer insult… Why was my pain perpetual, and my hopeless wound did not admit healing?” (vs 15-18). Once again God assured the prophet of divine protection and deliverance (vs 20, 21). Jeremiah was not to take a wife (16:2) or raise a family, because, in view of captivity, they would die “of painful diseases” (vs 3, 4). The prophet was then sent to bring a solemn message of warning to the gate of Jerusalem, based on a symbolic visit to the potter’s house. As he gave it, the conspiracy against his life deepened, and he cried out once more (cf. 17:18) to the Lord to tire of his enemies (18:18-23). Around this time, Pashhur, the ruler of the temple, put him in the stocks by the Benjamin Gate, next to the temple, and left him there overnight (20:1-3). The prophet complained to the Lord: “Every day I have been mocked, each one mocks me”, and decided to renounce his prophetic office (vs 7-9). But God would not release him (v 9). Consequently, the prophet cursed the day of his birth and regretted the role assigned to him (vs 14-18). Bearing the prophetic yoke once more, Jeremiah reflected greater maturity. He no longer cried or complained about his fate, but instead delivered a direct and courageous message, without hesitation or regret. Sent first to the “court of the house of the Lord,” he announced the 70-year captivity and utter desolation of the city of Jerusalem and the temple (26:2). Immediately after this speech the priests and prophets arrested Jeremiah and threatened to kill him (v 8), and no doubt they would have if the princes of Judah had not come to his defense (vs 10-16). His maturity of spirit at that time is evident from his serene response to those who intended to take his life: “As for me, behold, I am in your hands; do with me as you think best and right” (v 14). Because he was forbidden to teach in the temple courts, Jeremiah dictated his messages to his assistant, Baruch, who wrote them on a scroll and read them in the temple on a certain fast day (36:1-6). News of what was happening reached the princes, who seized the scroll and brought it to King Jehoiakim, who in turn burned it (vs 11-26). Then the prophet rewrote what was on the scroll and added more warning material: Judah’s throne would be extinguished and Jehoiakim would die a violent death (vs 27-32). Jeremiah later appeared before King Jehoiachin with a stern message warning him that Nebuchadnezzar would 614 take him into captivity and that he would die in exile (22:24-30). Early in Zedekiah’s reign, the prophet counseled the king: “Serve the king of Babylon and live; why should this city be desolate?” (Jer 27:12,17). This policy was opposed by a group of false prophets, but the death of their leader, Hananiah, within the time prophesied by Jeremiah, was a testament to Jeremiah’s mission and message (28:9, 16, 17). At about this time he also wrote to the exiles in Babylon advising them to settle down, because the captivity would be long (ch 29). The Jewish leaders in Babylon answered Jerusalem asking that Jeremiah be imprisoned, because he was a false prophet (vs 24-27). Soon after this, Nebuchadnezzar again invaded Judah and laid siege to Jerusalem. Jeremiah, who “was a prisoner in the court of the prison” (32:1-3), was apparently freed when the siege was temporarily lifted as Nebuchadnezzar prepared to fight the Egyptian army that had come to Zedekiah’s aid (37: 11,12). The prophet set out to go to his house in Benjamin to inspect a piece of land he had recently purchased, but he was taken prisoner on leaving Jerusalem and accused of going over to the Chaldeans (vs 11-15). At this time, Zedekiah secretly asked advice about what policy he should take (vs 16-21). The prophet advised him to surrender to the Chaldeans, but the princes and army commanders called for Jeremiah’s death (38:1-4); he was housed in an empty cistern, the floor of which was…