117 - The Weeping Prophet

Jeremiah 1-5

We have looked at bits and pieces of the Book of Isaiah and now we will have a look at the Book of Jeremiah, which is the second of the major prophets. 

The following dates are approximations only.

• Isaiah's time of ministry was 735-709 BCE
• Jeremiah's time of ministry was 605-535 BCE
• Ezekiel's time of ministry was 593-545 BCE
• Daniel's time of ministry was 605-536 BCE

We are told exactly when Jeremiah started and when he finished preaching in Judah. From the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah, king of Judah, (chronologically this fits into 2 Kings 22), until the exiling of Jerusalem to Babylon.  Jeremiah 1:2-3; see also 2 Kings 25.

Destruction Is Coming

Jeremiah was a priest, a native of Anathoth, in the tribe of Benjamin. He was called to the prophetic office when very young, about seventy years after the death of Isaiah, and exercised it for about forty years with great faithfulness, till the sins of the Jewish nation came to their full measure and destruction followed.  At the time of his calling, Jeremiah said, Alas, Lord Jehovah! Behold, I do not know to speak; for I am a boy. Jeremiah 1:6.

Jehovah asked: Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, I see a rod, a dry stick, of an almond tree. 1:11.  Matthew Henry suggests that this stick represents chastisement.   In place of that phrase the Targum has, and I said, a king hastening to do evil I see.  That is, to say the least, an interesting variation.

The second time, The Lord asked, What do you see? And I said, I see a boiling pot; and its face is from the face of the north. And Jehovah said to me, Out of the north, Babylon, an evil will be set loose on all the inhabitants of the land of Judah. 1:13-14.  The cauldron was seething and it was about to boil over into Jerusalem; it did in 606 BCE when Babylon captured Judah.

Again the Lord spoke, Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, So says Jehovah, I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothals, when you went after Me in the wilderness. 2:2.  What injustice have your fathers found in Me, that they have gone far from Me. 2:5

Now, look at my people, the North Americans, they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters, to hew out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.  

This statement can be seen from several viewpoints: 

1. They have forsaken the path of righteousness and are living for pleasure and moral depravity, 

2. They are still living the religious life but their religion is dead.  Examples of this are: 

• the Pharisees with whom Christ had to deal; 
• The Roman Catholic church without any living waters; simply dead routine.
• most of the long-established religions which grew out of the Reformation, they have no vitality;  Even though they will make a show of being religious, their religion won't be real. 2 Ti 3:5 Contemporary English Version. 
• or the newly developed churches which have a lot of artificial hype but very little down to earth love for Jehovah.    

Some say that there are two Gods in the Bible; the God of the Old Testament, who is mean and judgmental, and the God of the New Testament, who is forgiving.  

Those who believe that, are admitting that they have ignored the books of prophecy in the Old Testament.  For example, in Jeremiah chapter 3 alone, five times Jehovah uses words such as, But you play the harlot (in the spiritual realm) with many lovers; yet come back to Me. 3:1,  after she had done all these things, I said, Turn to Me! 3:7,  Return, O backsliding Israel, ... and I will not cause My anger to fall on you; for I am merciful, says Jehovah, and I will not keep anger forever. 3:12.

Jehovah Yearns For Restitution

Jehovah's heart is bleeding for those nations which were His, but have turned their back on Him.  He wants them to repent, but they refuse.  He says, Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have sinned against Jehovah your God. 3:13,  Then Turn, O backsliding sons, ... for I am married to you; Jehovah loves his people as a good husband loves his wife. 3:22.   Return, O backsliding sons, and I will heal your backslidings. 3:14.

When an issue arises, in our courthouses, we are quick to say, "all we want is justice".  We demand that from our judges.  Why then would we expect less than that from Jehovah, who is a just God?  If nations do not call on Him for forgiveness and change their lifestyle, justice demands punishment.  

When Jehovah punishes, He does not play games; He says, lest My fury come forth like fire, and burn so that none can put it out; because of the evil of your doings. 4:4.   In Judah's case, in 606 BCE, that fire came from Babylon.  Will North America's destruction also come from the same part of the world?

This topic can be summed up in the words from the Book of Jeremiah: And it will be, when you shall say, Why does Jehovah our God do all these things to us? Then You shall answer them, Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours. 5:19.