Jeremiah: A Prophet for Turbulent Times.

Jeremiah, the prophet not the bullfrog, was called by God to preach, to criticize, and to warn people who imagined that they were exceptional and would not be punished for their evil deeds. These people imagined that God had chosen them as something special and would overlook the fact that they had lost all sense of what a godly life looks like. The garbage dump of nations is littered with such people. That is why I chose the book of Jeremiah for our next Bible study.

 Let’s emphasize the ‘Bible study’ part. First, I follow something called Inductive Bible Study; the inductive part means that we work from the ground, that is from the text up. A deductive study is one that works from generalizations down; we don’t do that. Deductive work would say, “All Germans are lazy; there is a German, he must be lazy.” An inductive study requires us to work our way from the bottom up. If we see one lazy German, that is all we have, one lazy German. We will have to study about 10,000 more Germans to confirm the possibility and then survey about 100,000 people in order to discover the truth. The truth is that most Germans are hard workers, not lazy. In fact, that is true of every ethnicity despite the propaganda. 

 Second, I examine the historical context. What was happening around Israel and Judah during Jeremiah’s time. 

Third, I look at how the writer uses words, phrases, and arguments to convince the first readers of the book. So, we will put a lot of emphasis on the text, and we will not leave the text to make more general statements until we are sure we understand what the text says. In this book’s case, we will constantly examine the dialogue between God and Jeremiah and the people. 

 Some historical context for the prophet is in order. Jeremiah was born in Anatoth, Judah around 645 BC. By that time the northern state of Israel was but a sad memory. The army of the Assyrian Empire had invaded, demolished the country, and scattered the Israelites. That was in 721 BC, about 80 years before the time of Jeremiah. 

 What happened? Israel did not follow God’s ways; they were not true to God’s covenant. A series of evil kings ushered them to their doom. The prophet Amos, born around 745 BC, was called by God to preach, criticize, and warn the Israelites of the northern kingdom to change their ways. He was particularly critical of the oppression of the poor by the rich. Amos warned the people that God would have justice for the oppressed, and thus they would be judged.  

 “The eyes of the LORD God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth” (Amos 9:8).

 “Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream” (Amos 5: 23-24).

 The worship and sacrifices of the Israelites had become repugnant to God because they sang happy songs about themselves while the poor, the orphan, the widow, and the alien suffered. The poor and marginalized do not try to put a happy spin on their experience. Israel ignored Amos, the prophet of God, and twenty-five years later, the kingdom of Israel was gone. No one is above the law. 

 Jeremiah was called to a similar situation in the south to prophesy to the remnant Kingdom of Judah. His call was unusual. He was from a priestly family and thus in line to minister as a priest. Priests were not usually called to be prophets. Priests were part of the system, prophets railed against the system. Jeremiah was also young; he said himself that he was just a boy. Yet, God called him early on and Jeremiah functioned as the main prophet during the destruction of Jerusalem and the Exile to Babylon. Before Jeremiah died, both Israel and Judah were gone; there was no Jewish kingdom. No one is above the law of God. 

Jeremiah 1: 1-3.  “The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of the LORD came in the days of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. It came also in the days of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah until the end of the eleventh year of King Zedekiah son of Josiah of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.”

 The writer, Baruch the scribe, as we shall see, is very specific about the particulars of Jeremiah’s ministry as a prophet. Jeremiah is from the tribe of Benjamin who settled in the area on the north edge of Jerusalem in an area that included such towns as Jericho, Bethel, Mizpah, and Gibeon. Anatoth is about 5 miles north of Jerusalem, so Jeremiah was familiar with the capital city and the temple there.  

 Jeremiah’s father, Hilkiah, may have been the high priest during this time, or perhaps he was just a regular priest with the same family name. We don’t know.   

 Any rate, we do know that the high priest Hilkiah was responsible for helping King Josiah restore the proper worship of Yahweh. During restoration work in the temple, a copy of the ‘Book of the Law’ was found. Hilkiah took it to Josiah, and he had the text read to the people. All repented of not following God’s commands. Scholars think it was the Book of Deuteronomy (deutero = second, nomos = law). Jeremiah instituted reforms about the same time that Jeremiah began to prophesy. 

 King Josiah is a remarkable figure in the history of the kings of Judah. His great grandfather, Hezekiah, was King of Judah just after Assyria defeated Israel. Sennacherib came back after Judah, but with the guidance of the prophet Isaiah, Hezekiah survived that threat. However, Hezekiah was followed by a son, Manasseh, and a grandson, Amon, both of whom were evil. Amon was assassinated by his servants, then people rose up and killed those servants.

 So, the throne came to Josiah when he was 8 years old. Perhaps it was his mother, Jedidah, who led him down the right path. Josiah resumed the worship of Yahweh, and when Hilkiah found the Book of the Law, Josiah removed the priests who had permitted the worship of foreign gods and began again the rituals which were prescribed by God (see II Kings 22-23 for Josiah’s story). 

 Jeremiah received his call when he and Josiah both were in their early 20s. Clearly, God had removed the previous generation and was beginning anew. During Josiah’s lifetime, it worked well. Josiah kept the faith and died defending his people around 609 BC (Battle of Megiddo, against the Egyptian army). 

 However, Jeremiah lived to prophesy during the reigns of two sons of Josiah, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, both of whom, “did evil in the sight of the LORD” (II Kings 23-24). The result was that Jerusalem and Judah fell to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the city was destroyed, and the people were deported (last assault in 587 BC). Only a few were left behind, too poor to worry about.   

 Jeremiah lived during tumultuous times, born during the reign of the evil king Manasseh and died while the Jews were still enduring the Exile. How does the word of God sound to people who exist under an evil leader? Is there a clear critique of the wicked ways of the ruling class? Is there a warning to the people that God will only take so much and then the hammer falls? How does the word of God come to people who have been defeated and forcibly removed to another country? How does the word of God come to the exiles who are considered second-class citizens in the land where they have been settled? 

 Jeremiah obeyed God and preached (prophesied) that idolatry (worshipping something other than God, including wealth and power) and social injustice (like mistreating the poor and needy) would soon lead to God’s judgment of the Jews. Disobedience has consequences even if, for a while, things seem great in the country because the greedy were getting rich. Only widespread repentance from the top down could forestall God’s punishment of the nation and open up the possibility of forgiveness and restoration. 

 After King Josiah’s death, instead of repenting, the kings and people of Judah doubled down on their disobedience of God's covenant laws. The end came near; they still refused to repent. The end came with great destruction and fire (conquerors always burned the city, particularly the temple, in order to come after it had cooled and then recover the pooled gold). The elite became refugees. They were marched off to exile in the much-dreaded Babylonian Captivity. The unexpected judgment had come, but Jeremiah had warned them. The total loss of property, land, and the kingdom shocked the survivors. The Book of Lamentations was written to express their sorrow and depression. Is that the end that God had in mind?