Articles
Jeremiah the Prophet
Jeremiah the Prophet
Jeremiah begins his career as a prophet while a young man (1:6) and continues until he is old. He begins his prophetic ministry in the 13th year of Josiah (627 B.C.). He continues thru Jehoahaz (609), Jehoiakim (609-598), Jehoiachin (598), Zedekiah (597-586), and past the death of Gedeliah the governor. That is a span of over 40 years. He continued for some time after that in Egypt but we don't have any real indication of how long that was. He was probably around 20 when he was called and would have been mid 60's or so when taken captive to Egypt.
He grew up in the village of Anathoth about 3 miles NE of Jerusalem. This was a town that had been set aside for the priests (Josh. 21:13-19). This would indicate that he was of the priestly family and could anticipate being a priest and serve in the great temple of Solomon. As he approached the age of being a priest the country was in the midst of a religious revival under Josiah. The temple had been restored along with the sacrifices and priestly duties. He could anticipate his life as a priest living in the small priestly village close by. He would have anticipated getting married, having a family, living near all his other family. Then….
God calls him not to be a priest but to be a prophet with a message from the LORD. The message is a message of doom, punishment from God, and destruction of their country (1:10). He is told to preach but also told that they won't listen! It is a job that 'cannot be done'. God doesn't ask him to change their hearts or save the country, He tells him to preach destruction for their rebellion. The preaching IS the job. How do you do such a job where you can see not 'success' or 'progress' from your work?
Then Josiah dies - killed in a battle with Pharaoh Necho. The kingdom is thrown into chaos as Jehoahaz reigns 3 months and is deposed. Jeremiah can only watch as the nation spirals into chaos. With the destruction of the kings and instability of their leadership the whole political structure crumbles. The people are split into warring factions - part wanting to align with Egypt and fight Babylon, others wanting to fight both Egypt and Babylon and remain 'independent', and Jeremiah preaching that they NOT join Egypt and that NOT fight Babylon but surrender and take their medicine. He would be hated by all sides yet God expected him to keep preaching his message of doom.
As Babylon took the leading people of society and transplanted them in Babylon (Daniel and his friends [and others like him] in 608; Ezekiel and others in 596), Jeremiah would watch as the leading spiritual and educational people are taken out of the mix. This left only the poor, uneducated, and non-leaders.
With the ongoing wars there would have been a large number of widows, orphans and displaced people. Towns would have been destroyed. Fields and crops would have either been used to feed the foreign troops or burned so the OTHER troops could not use them. He watches as the people descend into poverty, starvation, and hopelessness. Through all this Jeremiah is to keep preaching.
The economic structure of the whole land was decimated. There was no more trade between the major powers. Such trade went through the very heart of Judah/Israel and provided revenue and economic opportunities. Now it is gone.
During all of this, Jeremiah is under commission of God to continue to preach. He is rejected, hated, persecuted, imprisoned, and thrown into a cistern. His preaching is rejected. His writings are burned. There are plots against his life. In chapter 16 we learn that he is forbidden to marry, to go to parties and festivities, and to attend funerals (16:1-4, 8-9, 5-7).
After Babylon does take over, Jeremiah could have taken an easy political way out and let Babylon reward him for his 'services'. He chooses to stay and continue preaching. As the people start an Egyptian movement [make a political alliance with Egypt and rebel against Babylon], he continues to 'beat his head against the wall' trying to deter them from this. They kill the governor that was appointed by Babylon, take Jeremiah as a hostage, and flee to Egypt. He has preached for 40 years and now will spend his final days as a hostage in a foreign land. He continues his preaching even while in Egypt. Then, if non-biblical history is right, he died in Egypt. All of his youthful dreams would have been demolished long ago.
All I can think of is the complaining and murmuring I have done about how difficult I have had it in serving God. Yea, right. Thank God for such men as Jeremiah.
