The Prophet Jeremiah
For almost 50 years, the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah preached a very unpopular message of repentance to the people of Judah. For this same time period, there was no measurable change in their lives. He was shunned, rejected, imprisoned beaten and persecuted - FOR 50 YEARS !!!!.He had few, if any, friends, no sympathizers to his cause, never married or had children because God instructed him not to (Jer 16:2) and lived a life marked by constant sadness.
BACKGROUND:
Jeremiah was a prophet of God for almost 50 years and yet he was chosen as a prophet by God long before that ! How can one be appointed a prophet before his birth? Check it out!
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations". God speaking to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:5)
"But the Lord said to me, "Do not say I am a youth, because everywhere I send you, you shall go, and all that I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you," declares the Lord. Then the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and break down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant." (Jer 1:7-10)
"Now, behold, I have made you today as a fortified city, and as a pillar of iron and as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests, and to the people of the land, and they will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you," declares the Lord (Jer 1:18-19)
Time period: 627 bc - 580 bc (48 yrs)
Prior to this time period, the divided kingdom period existed; The Northern kingdom, known as Israel, consisted of 10 tribes; The Southern kingdom, known as Judah, consisted of 2 tribes.
In 722 bc (100 yrs before Jeremiah), the Northern kingdom was destroyed and carried off to Assyria. (Throughout the book of Jeremiah, he proclaims did you not remember what the Lord did to your brothers in Israel?)
In 612 bc, Nineveh, the capital of Assyria was captured by the Babylonians.
In 605 bc, Egypt was defeated by Babylon
Therefore, Jeremiah was a prophet to the remaining kingdom, the Southern kingdom (Judah). Interestingly, Jeremiah prophesied during their last years and was present for their destruction and captivity by Babylon in 586 bc
Jeremiah, a prophet for 50 years, served under the following kings of Judah:
THE SUFFERING (some information provided by Rich Vincent, Singles minister, College Park Baptist Church, Indianapolis, IN):
God clearly stated that Jeremiah's ministry would be very difficult and full of suffering:
"Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them... They will fight against you but but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you" declares the Lord. ( Jer 1:17-18)
For almost 50 years, Jeremiah preached a very unpopular message of repentance to the people of Judah. For this same time period, there was no measurable change in their lives. (Can you imagine dedicating your whole life to a cause and having it fall on deaf ears ?)
In addition, he was shunned, rejected, imprisoned beaten and persecuted - FOR 50 YEARS !!!!. He had few, if any, friends, no sympathizers to his cause, never married or have children because God instructed him not to (Jer 16:2) and lived a life marked by constant sadness. Consider 9:1 - "Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people."
Jeremiah's outer troubles:
The people will not listen or answer Jeremiah (7:25, 17:23)
False prophets preached good news to the people (14:14, 23:16-17,21, 30-34)
People devised plans to bring him down (18:18, 22)
People wanted to kill him (11:19, 21-23, 18:23, 38:4 )
His own relatives betrayed him (12:6)
Not allowed to go to a house of feasting with anyone (16:8)
He was beaten and put in stocks by a temple overseer (20:2)
He experienced social rejection, mockings and public ridicule - "a laughingstock all day long" (20:7)
Everytime he spoke, he cried aloud (20:8)
All his trusted friends are watching for his fall and ready to take revenge (20:10)
The word of the Lord resulted in reproach and derision all day long (20:8)
He was seized by the priests, prophets and all the people in order to put him to death (26:8-15)
He was shutup in the king's prison (32:1-5)
He was forbidden to go into the temple (36:5)
He was accused of treason, beaten, placed in a dungeon cell for many days (37:11-16)
He was committed to the court of the guardhouse until the day Jerusalem was captured (37:21, 38:28)
He was imprisoned in a muddy cistern, where he was let down with ropes and he sank in the mud and left starving for dead (38:6-10)
He was held under arrest in the courtyard of the guard until Jerusalem was captured (38:14-28)
Taken in chains as an exile into Babylon
Taken with the remnant to Egypt, against God's commands
Tradition states Jeremiah was stoned to death in Egypt
Jeremiah's inner struggles:
4:19 - 21 - Read Jeremiah's words: "Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry. Disaster follows disaster; the whole land lies in ruins. In an instant my tents are destroyed, my shelter in a moment. How long must I see the battle standard and hear the sound of the trumpet? "
7:30 - 8:1 - Jeremiah is told about the future of Judah - - named the "Valley of Slaughter": " 'The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes, declares the LORD . They have set up their detestable idols in the house that bears my Name and have defiled it. They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire-something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind. So beware, the days are coming, declares the LORD , when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, for they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. Then the carcasses of this people will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away. I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, for the land will become desolate. 'At that time, declares the LORD , the bones of the kings and officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves."
8:18-22 - "O my Comforter in sorrow, my heart is faint within me. Listen to the cry of my people from a land far away: "Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King no longer there?" "Why have they provoked me to anger with their images, with their worthless foreign idols?" "The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved." Since my people are crushed, I am crushed; I mourn, and horror grips me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?"
9:1-6 - "Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people. Oh, that I had in the desert a lodging place for travelers, so that I might leave my people and go away from them; for they are all adulterers, a crowd of unfaithful people. "They make ready their tongue like a bow, to shoot lies; it is not by truth that they triumph in the land. They go from one sin to another; they do not acknowledge me," declares the LORD . "Beware of your friends; do not trust your brothers. For every brother is a deceiver, and every friend a slanderer. Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning. You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me," declares the LORD ."
10:19-25 - "Woe to me because of my injury! My wound is incurable! Yet I said to myself, "This is my sickness, and I must endure it." My tent is destroyed; all its ropes are snapped. My sons are gone from me and are no more; no one is left now to pitch my tent or to set up my shelter. The shepherds are senseless and do not inquire of the LORD ; so they do not prosper and all their flock is scattered. Listen! The report is coming- a great commotion from the land of the north! It will make the towns of Judah desolate, a haunt of jackals. Jeremiah's Prayer I know, O LORD , that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps. Correct me, LORD , but only with justice- not in your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing. Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the peoples who do not call on your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him completely and destroyed his homeland."
11:14, 14:11-12 - The Lord commanded Jeremiah not to even pray for his people, not to cry for them, for He vowed not to listen to their prayers.
14:7 - "Although our sins testify against us, O LORD , do something for the sake of your name. For our backsliding is great; we have sinned against you. "
14:19-22 - "Have you rejected Judah completely? Do you despise Zion? Why have you afflicted us so that we cannot be healed? We hoped for peace but no good has come, for a time of healing but there is only terror. O LORD , we acknowledge our wickedness and the guilt of our fathers; we have indeed sinned against you. For the sake of your name do not despise us; do not dishonor your glorious throne. Remember your covenant with us and do not break it. Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, O LORD our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this. "
15:1-4 - Jeremiah knew what was going to happen to these people - the 4 dooms of the Lord - the sword to slay, the dogs to drag off, the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.
15:10-11 - "Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth, a man with whom the whole land strives and contends! I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me. The LORD said, "Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose; surely I will make your enemies plead with you in times of disaster and times of distress. "
15:15-18 - "You understand, O LORD ; remember me and care for me. Avenge me on my persecutors. You are long-suffering-do not take me away; think of how I suffer reproach for your sake. When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God Almighty. I never sat in the company of revelers, never made merry with them; I sat alone because your hand was on me and you had filled me with indignation. Why is my pain unending and my wound grievous and incurable? Will you be to me like a deceptive brook, like a spring that fails?"
19:9 - Jeremiah knew what was going to happen to these people -"And I shall make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another's flesh in the siege..."
20:9 - If I speak I am terribly persecuted - If I don't it's as if my heart is a burning fire shut up in my bones - I cannot hold it in and endure it.
20:14, 18 - Cursed the day of his birth wishing his mother was his grave
20:18 - His birth resulted in seeing only trouble and sorrow and believed all his days were spent in shame
Jeremiah stayed faithful to his calling despite seeing the deterioration of the nation leading to their destruction and captivity.
Here's how the people caused their deterioration:
Idolatry (Jer 2:13,19,27-28,10:3-11; 13:10, 16:18, 20, 22:8-9)
They made sacrifices to other gods
They set up idols inside the temple(7:30, 32:34)
They sacrificed their own children ! (7:31; 19:4-5; 32:35)
They served an abundance of gods, breaking the covenant with the one true God (11:9-14)
They and their forefathers had evil hearts (16:11-12)
In the final stages, God is seen as an adversary and the idols are considered their friends and saviors (44:16-19)
The people loved the false prophets which God found "appalling", "horrible" and "shocking" (5:30-31; 6:14; 8:8-12; 14:14-16; 23)
Judah is compared to a wild donkey in heat that lustfully pursues any lover available (2:20, 24-25)
Judah is compared to an unfaithful wife (3:20)
Judah is compared to well fed lusty horses (5:7-9)
Judah is compared to a shameless prostitute (3:1, 6-8, 13:27)
Jeremiah witnessed all this and pleaded and wept for the people. He was known as the weeping prophet; when he cried it was always to God in prayer, for no one else would listen and yet God never turned a deaf ear.
God, therefore, divorces Judah as he divorced Israel (3:1,8) and abandons her to her lovers (12:7-8)
God breaks this covenant requiring a new covenant fulfilled thru Jesus Christ!
Jeremiah prophesied the destruction of Judah for almost 50 yrs. and when it finally happens, he breaks down and weeps.
THE RESPONSE (some information provided by Rich Vincent, Singles minister, College Park Baptist Church, Indianapolis, IN):
Jeremiah was sustained by the Lord's frequent reaffirmations of his commission as a prophet (Jer 7:2, 27-28, 11:2, 6; 13:12-13, 17:19-20)
Jeremiah had undying confidence in God and His promises (15:20, 20:12, 29:14, 32:1-15)
Jeremiah had tremendous knowledge of God (9:23-24, 22:15-16)
Jeremiah's situation forced him to personally find solace and strength in the Lord alone !
Jeremiah's viewed the Lord as:
Creator of all things (10:12-16; 51:15-19)
Omnipotent (32:27; 48:15; 51:57)
Omnipresent (23:24)
Sovereign Deliverer (20:11, 32:17-25)
Lord of the Nations (5:15; 18:7-10; 25:17-28; 46-51)
Jeremiah has been rightly called the most Christlike of ALL the prophets.
Some Hebrew scholars feel that Isaiah 53 is about Jeremiah and not Christ !
When Jesus asked the disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is"? They replied, some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. (Mt 16:13-14)
