Jeremiah served the Lord as a Prophet for forty years from about 628 BC- 587 BC. He did so under five different kings of Judah, i.e., Josiah, Jehoahaz,[1] Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah. Jeremiah was born in Anathoth into the Aaronic lineage of Priests. Anathoth was a city located about 3 miles northeast of Jerusalem. It was part of the tribal portion of Benjamin, which was later given to the Levites. Anathoth was one of six cities named by Joshua as a city of refuge where those who had inadvertently killed another could find sanctuary. (Josh. 21:18). Jeremiah was also known as the “weeping prophet.” He is credited with writing both the Book of Jeremiah and the Book of Lamentations.
Imagine for a moment that you were sitting near the Temple at Jerusalem around 609 BC. As you pondered the scene there, you would have heard the voices of Jeremiah, Lehi, Zephaniah, Obadiah, Habakkuk, and Ezekiel. You might have seen a group of young men playing a game, i.e., Nephi, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.[2] All of these prophets would have been preaching the impending doom that would overtake Jerusalem and Judah if they did not repent and approach God with true intent. Jerusalem was filled with self-assured hypocrites who believed that in spite of their wickedness God would preserve them because they still offered daily sacrifices in the Temple. Prophets were perceived by many of the kings as irritants, naysayers, trouble makers and pessimist.
Jeremiah taught the Lord would carry away Judah to Babylon for seventy years. (Jer. 25:11). During the Babylonian capture of Jerusalem King Nebuchadnezzar appointed a puppet governor named Gedaliah and allowed Jeremiah to remain in Jerusalem. Gedaliah was assassinated and ironically Jeremiah was taken against his will to Egypt by some of the Jews who feared reprisal from the Babylonians. In Egypt he continued to call his fellow exiles to repentance. Jeremiah died about 570 BC. Tradition has Jeremiah dying at the hands of a mob of men motivated by prominent women. (Jer. 44:25) In particular Jeremiah chastised the women for baking cakes, burning incense and pouring out wine offering to Ishtar, “the queen of heaven.”[3] Ishtar was the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of fertility, love, war, and sex. Part of her cult worship included pagan temple prostitution.
The prophecies of Jeremiah can be divided into the following categories:
- The prophecies during the reign of Josiah (626-608 BC). These included chapters 1 to 6.
- The prophecies during the reign of Jehoiakim (608 to 597 BC.). Chapters 7 to 20.
- The prophecies during the reign of Zedekiah (597 to 586 BC.) Chapters 21 to 38.
- The prophecies after the Fall of Jerusalem. (586 BC.) Chapters 39 to 43.
- The prophecies against foreign nations. Chapters 44 to 51.
- Contested chapters 50-51 written about the destruction of Babylon.
- Zedekiah and precious Temple vessels carried away to Babylon. Chapter 52.
The five chapters of Lamentations can be summed up. “Our fathers have sinned, and are not.” (Lamentation 5:7) It is by the Lord’s mercy that we are not utterly destroyed as a people. Jeremiah expressed, ‘Therefore have I hope’ in the mercy of the Lord, while my soul mourns the loss of Jerusalem and her people.
An Overview of Jeremiah’s life and teachings.
Jeremiah longed for peace and rest for himself, but was required by the Lord to announce the coming destructions, a mission that burdened his heart. Jeremiah had to fight against the king’s councilors, false prophets, priests, and princes.
There are several powerful doctrines that Jeremiah underscores in his teachings. It begins with Jeremiah’s affirmation of a premortal existence. (Jer. 1:5). The phrase “Holiness to the Lord” (Exo.28:36) engraved upon the signet of the High Priest and upon the Temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was mourned as once being true but now lost. Jehovah is identified as the “Living Waters.” (Jer. 2:13, 17:13) A phrase that later Jesus will apply to himself. (John 4:10). If a man divorce his wife and she be another man’s wife she cannot return to her first husband. (Deut. 24:1-4). If that occurs the land will be cursed and the people destroyed. Neither can Judah commit whoredoms and expect to return to the Lord while she continues in worshipping idol pagan gods. The Lord will search out the children of Israel and Judah that are faithful and bring them to Zion, “one of a city and two of a family.” (Jer.3:14). Jeremiah excoriates the women in Judah for their worship of Ishtar, the ‘queen of heaven.’ (Jer. 7:18; 44:17-25). One of Jeremiah’s famous statements was “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots?” (Jer. 13:23). The wicked will be destroyed by sword, famine and pestilence. (Jer. 14:12, see Alma 10:22). Because of iniquity the Jews will be scattered far and wide to the four corners of the earth, but a remnant will survive and return. (Jer. 15:11). The Lord is the same and the Lord still liveth that saved Israel from Egypt and will bring again the remnant to the lands of their fathers. (Jer. 16:14). There is a Messianic scripture that Jesus quoted to Peter that caused Peter to leave his fishing nets and follow Jesus. (Matt. 4:19). “Behold I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them.” (Jer. 16:16). When Jesus said that to Peter, Jesus was declaring he was the Messiah. It was Jeremiah that coined the phrase, “Hope of Israel.” (Jer. 14:8, 17:13). One word used for “Hell” is ‘Gehenna’ which is the Greek word for the Hebrew ‘Gee and Hinnon’ meaning the Valley of Hinnon. Jeremiah explained that it was in the Valley of Hinnon where the chosen people burned their new born children alive to the pagan god Baal. (Jer. 19:5-6). Jeremiah prophecies of the coming “King Messiah” (Jer. 23: 5-8). During the reign of Zedekiah, Jeremiah foretold the Babylonian captivity of seventy years and the return of a remnant. (Jer.25:11-12). Jeremiah is put on trial but acquitted (Jer. 26:10-24.). This was only one of many trials and persecutions that Jeremiah would suffer. Later he is buried up to his neck in a sewer, kidnapped and finally killed by a mob in Egypt. One of my favorite scriptures is, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord.” (Jer. 29:11-14). When the people repent and call upon the Lord he will lead them back to Jerusalem. The Lord will also bring all those who are in the North Countries to Zion, the Lost Ten Tribes (Jer. 31). Ephraim is declared the Firstborn. (Jer. 31:9) The Lord will establish a “New Covenant with Israel and Judah through Christ. (Jer. 31:31-37). Jeremiah tells Zedekiah that he will be carried captive to Babylon. (Jer. 34:1-6). However Ezekiel said that Zedekiah would not see Babylon.[4] They were both right. Zedekiah was blinded and led away captive to Babylon. Jeremiah compares Christ to a lion and an eagle. (Jer.49:19-22). The end of Zedekiah. (Jer.52).
[1] King Josiah was killed by the Egyptians in a battle at Megiddo in 609 BC, Jehoiakim, his son and heir ruled for only three months before he was carried away to Egypt as a hostage. Jehoiachin, a younger brother became the puppet king of Judah paying tribute to Egypt.
[2] Daniel was his Hebrew name. His Babylonian name was Belteshazzar. Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were given new names: to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
[3] http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8586-jeremiah
[4] Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 10, Chapter VII:2