The doom of the nation was sealed. “Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle” (II Kings 21:12).
Manasseh and Amon were the kings who followed good king Hezekiah. They utterly ignored the word of the Lord through Isaiah and led Judah into the most depraved forms of idolatry. Only a remnant would be saved and God reaches out to the potentially faithful ones by sending His heaviest concentration of prophets to the kingdom of Judah: Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk and Jeremiah.
The call of Jeremiah
“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto all nations…thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid…for I am with thee…Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth” (Jer.1:5-9).
Like Moses, and others before him, Jeremiah was at first reluctant to accept his commission. “I am a child” (1:7). The Hebrew word for child is Naar which can indicate a child, a young adult or even older (cf. reference to Joshua in Ex. 33:11). Tradition holds that Jeremiah was 16 to 21 years old when God’s word came to him. This would place him about the same age as Josiah, the last good king of Judah.
Jeremiah was given two visions directly related to his call, position and mission.
Rod of an almond tree
First of all, he sees a “rod (or shoot) of an almond tree” (1:11). The Hebrew word for “almond tree” is Shaked, which means “waken or awake.” That word was chosen because it was the first tree to blossom in early spring signaling nature’s arousal from the sleep of winter. God goes on to say, “thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.” Just as the almond tree signaled the awakening of spring, the spoken word would signal the hastening, the determination of God to perform His word. Jeremiah is thus shown that the time had arrived when all that had been spoken would now bear fruit. In this regard, his times parallel our own when the budding forth of Israel heralds the beginning of the process which will culminate in the fulfillment of the judgments that have been revealed.
A seething pot
The second vision involved the seething pot facing the north. God would bring invading armies from the north to punish all elements of the nation — kings, princes, priests and people for all had rebellious hearts. Later, God would issue the challenge: “…if ye can find a man, if there is any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it” (5:1). Rebellion permeated the nation.
Judah had been placed in a privileged position which offered great opportunities. But they failed to live up to their responsibilities. They had been given the law, the temple, the services of worship and the ministrations of the priests. They had many visible reminders of the covenant, of their obligations and of God’s blessings. But they were deeply in love with sin. “The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priest bear rule by their means, and my people love to have it so” (5:31).
Jeremiah’s message
“See I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant” (1:10). There would be no last minute reprieve for the nation; the die had been cast and Judah would fall. But there could be hope for certain individuals, a remnant. They were called upon to repent, turn back to Yahweh, accept His chastening, listen to Him, remain in the land, yield to Babylonian subjugation. There would be a new day; righteousness would return to Zion but it would only be for those whose hearts would change, who would be willing participants in the new covenant.
The reaction
“They shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee” (1:19).
Jeremiah was ridiculed, ignored, beaten, misrepresented, starved, mocked, and cursed. He was accused of sedition. He was taken and placed in stocks, put in prison and was thrown in a filthy, unused cistern.
The abuse of Jeremiah was not done by ignorant men. They knew he was the true messenger of God. King Zedekiah secretly released Jeremiah from prison and asked him, “Is there any word from the LORD?” (37:17) Zedekiah knew that Jeremiah was doing God’s work, but he was a weak man of little moral fiber. The princes and all the people knew that Jeremiah “hath spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God(26:16).” Yet they would not heed his words and reacted with violence when the message criticized personal conduct.
Jeremiah’s background
Jeremiah was a Levite of the family of Aaron living in Anathoth, three miles from Jerusalem. The fact that he lived in Anathoth suggests he was a descendant of Ithamar. I Kings 2:26 records Solomon’s banishment of an earlier son of Ithamar, Abiathar for his complicity in Adonijah’s attempted coup against Solomon. The exile of Abiathar completed the promised punishment upon the house of Eli (I Chron 24:3) for his sins when he had been high priest in Shiloh. A peculiarity of Jeremiah is a frequent reference to Shiloh. That could be explained by this link to Shiloh as the place where God had removed his ancestors from the high priestly line.
Kings of Jeremiah’s days
We are told that his commission takes place in the 13th year of Josiah, c. 627 B.C. Under Manasseh, Judah had again become corrupt. Amon, son of Manasseh, reigned two years continuing in his father’s footsteps until he was assassinated. Josiah, son of Amon, became king at the age of eight. When he was 16, he began to follow “the God of David his father.” At 20 Josiah began to purge Judah of her spiritual harlotry. Josiah was 21 when God called Jeremiah, 26 when the book of the law was found and 39 when he was slain challenging the army of Pharoah Necho (II Chro. 35:23-24).
Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah followed until Nebuchadnezzar took Zedekiah to Babylon. Jeremiah continued in the land until removed to Egypt where tradition says he was stoned.
The Gentiles
As Jeremiah began his ministry, the Assyrian empire had begun to decay. Babylon, Egypt, Media and small coalitions of countries gradually broke away from servitude to Assyria. Josiah was the king who led Judah out from under Assyria.
The Chaldean’s, under Nabopalassar, attempted to finish Assyria at this time. As Pharoah Necho attempted to support Assyria, Josiah lost his life in opposing his march up the coast of Palestine.
Josiah’s death was a dark day in Judah. Not only was Josiah dead, the impetus for reform was gone. The people conformed to right worship externally, but inside they went after the iniquity of their own hearts. The people quickly returned to idolatrous worship. Jeremiah’s disillusionment at these events was very great.
The political vacuum left by Assyria was filled by Egypt. Jehoahaz was taken prisoner by Necho and Jehoiakim was placed on the throne as a vassal of Egypt.
Following the Babylonian rout of Egypt at Carchemish and Hamath and the conquest of Ashkelon, Jehoiakim transferred his allegiance to Babylon. Following a temporary setback of Babylon at the hands of Necho, Jehoiakim rebelled against Babylon. An army of Chaldean’s, Syrians, Moabites and Ammonites subsequently came against Judah. Jehoiakim died and Jehoiachin assumed the throne for only three months. At that point, Nebuchadnezzar deported Jehoiachin, his mother and many of the key people to Babylon and set Zedekiah up as king.
In 594, the fourth year of Zedekiah, a plot developed between many of the small nations to rebel against Babylon while the great power was distracted by uprisings in the east. That rebellion failed to accomplish its goals. In 589, encouraged by an alliance with Pharaoh Hoprah, Zedekiah again moved to revolt. Nebuchadnezzar moved quickly, destroying most of the cities of Judah, and within 18 months took Jerusalem. The city and temple were burned to the ground leaving all in ruins.
A man of character and courage
During this time, Jeremiah faithfully conveyed the message of God. Although in despair, he faithfully discharged his responsibility even when faced with unrelenting hostility. We need to think about his persistence: he knew he was the last hope for some of his countrymen, his neighbors and his family. He went before kings, leaders and his fellows preaching the Truth. At one point he was determined to quit, but found that “God’s word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay” (20:9). He was on fire with the word of God. Would that were true of each one of us.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One