Finding the right path.

This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But you said, ‘We will not listen.’” (Jeremiah 6:16-17)

Where and when this word from Jeremiah originated no-one can be quite sure. It is another of his words of warning during the reign of King Jehoiakim, who was quite unlike his godly father, Josiah. Jehoiakim and his political advisers were only interested in a life of carefree indulgence. The Mosaic traditions and righteous laws upheld during his father’s reign were being discarded and everyone was doing as they liked, including the priests and prophets at the Temple.

There is no direct evidence of Jeremiah leaving Jerusalem and wandering in the desert, but the words of this prophecy certainly do not reflect city streets. The ‘ancient paths’ is a well-known phrase for the wilderness and it is very possible that Jeremiah, like other prophets and spiritual leaders of Israel, loved the desert. For those who sought to be in communion with God, like Moses or Elijah, the solitude of the desert was a haven.

The desert was not a place of separation from God – quite the reverse – it was separation from the world. It was a place of seclusion with God where the prophets could speak with him and hear his voice clearly, without the cacophony of the city streets.

The ‘ancient paths’ is a well-known phrase for the wilderness. It is very possible that Jeremiah, like other prophets of Israel, loved the desert.

Ask for the Good Way

Jeremiah was probably thinking of the Judean wilderness south of Jerusalem, or the Desert of Paran near Beersheba. These places would have been familiar to David, the shepherd boy of Bethlehem, before he became King of Israel.

In the wilderness, there are many desert paths. Some are broad and inviting, but dangerous, running alongside a precipice. Others are narrow and difficult, but safe. The shepherds know every path in the wilderness, some of which are so narrow that the sheep have to go in single file. The good shepherd goes ahead of his sheep just as David would have done, leading them to a good pasture where there is both food and water. David beautifully expressed this in the 23rd Psalm: “He leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness…”

In his time of reflection, Jeremiah was probably thinking of the wilderness and a time when he reached a crossroads. Being more used to city streets, he would probably have stood there waiting for a shepherd to come along, to ask him for the good way. This is expressed in this prophecy, “Ask for the good way”. It would have been an ancient path over which shepherds had led their flocks for centuries.

Jeremiah might even have been familiar with the words of Isaiah some 200 years earlier, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it’” (Isa 30:21).

A Voice in the Wilderness

Back in Jerusalem, the wilderness paths came into Jeremiah’s mind and he pronounced this reading, warning the nation of the dangers that lay ahead as a consequence of idolatry and unbelief. It grieved him to listen to the people and to know what would befall them. He longed to run away into the desert and to stay there. He wept before the Lord:

Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people. Oh, that I had in the desert a lodging place for travellers, so that I might leave my people and go away from them... (Jer 9:1-2a)

The shepherds know every path in the wilderness, some of which are inviting but dangerous. The good shepherd leads his sheep to safe pasture.

Jeremiah was a lone ‘voice in the wilderness’ patrolling the city streets, warning of the terrible consequences that would befall the nation if they no longer kept the terms of the covenant with God. He knew that God would not defend an unrighteous people and therefore disaster lay ahead.

God had already sent them many warning signs, all of which had been ignored, so Jeremiah now went on to make a devastating prophecy. In his quiet time in the wilderness he had heard God calling upon the whole world of nature to observe and to learn from what he was about to do with his own covenant people, who had deliberately discarded his teaching and ignored his warnings:

Hear, O Earth: I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their schemes, because they have not listened to my words and have rejected my law. (Jer 6:19)

Truth Then is Truth Today

If God will not defend his own covenant people when they deliberately reject his teaching and despise his words, what hope is there for Gentile nations who have known the word of God for centuries and yet deliberately turn away, despising his warnings?

The tragic history of Israel shows what happened to Jerusalem and the people of Judah in Jeremiah’s own lifetime when God’s warnings were ignored. He allowed the invading army of Nebuchadnezzar to break down the walls of Jerusalem and take the people captive to Babylon. Jeremiah knew that there was no army in the world that could have conquered Jerusalem if the people had remained faithful to God.

Jeremiah’s words are as true today as they were in the 6th Century BC, because God does not change. His truth then, is truth today. He is still saying: “Ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls”.

This article is part of a series on the life and ministry of the Prophet Jeremiah. Click here for previous instalments.

Who does God hold responsible for the state of the nation?

“The house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to me,” declares the Lord. “They have lied about the Lord; they said, ‘He will do nothing! No harm will come to us; we will never see sword or famine.’ The prophets are but wind and the word is not in them.” (Jeremiah 5:11-13)

This word is in the context of the instruction to Jeremiah to go up and down the streets of Jerusalem to see if he could find anyone who was behaving honestly and seeking the truth. He had listened to the ordinary people and he had gone to the political and religious leaders but found none of them were obeying the teaching of Yahweh – they had “broken off the yoke and torn off the bonds” of the God of Israel (Jer 5:5).

When Jeremiah reported his findings, the response he heard was, “Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken me and sworn by gods that are not gods” (5:7). Idolatry had spread rapidly since the death of King Josiah and there were altars to foreign gods on the streets of Jerusalem. The people were doing their business deals in the market and actually swearing by these idols. The righteous indignation of God can be seen in his words: “‘I supplied all their needs, yet they committed adultery and thronged to the houses of prostitutes…Should I not punish them for this?’ declares the Lord” (Jer 5:7-9).

These words are reminiscent of those given to Hosea in the northern state of Israel: “When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me” (Hos 13:6). Both Hosea and Jeremiah were astonished at the ingratitude and stupidity of those who were so blind that they did not recognise all the blessings that God had bestowed upon them. They still turned away and worshipped bits of wood and stone.

Both Hosea and Jeremiah were astonished at the ingratitude and stupidity of the people, who did not recognise all the blessings that God had bestowed upon them.

Will He Do Nothing?

Jeremiah recognised that God’s anger was not so much against the ordinary people but against their spiritual leaders – the priests and prophets who had no excuse. They knew the word of the Lord. They had rediscovered a Torah scroll during the repairs to the Temple ordered by King Josiah, who had re-affirmed the covenant with God. But the terms of this covenant were now being ignored by those who had responsibility for the spiritual life of the nation. They were not teaching the word of God to the people: “The prophets are but wind and the word is not in them!”

This was a devastating condemnation of the Temple priesthood, their preachers and teachers of the Torah. They had the scrolls containing parts of what we now know as Deuteronomy. There was no excuse for ignorance of the word of God. But the preachers actually undermined the faith of the people. Jeremiah declares this in 6:13: “From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, Peace,’ they say when there is no peace.”

The Temple priests and prophets had actually dared to say “He will do nothing!” Their teaching was that God was no longer active. They may have still acknowledged God as the Creator and that he had given the Torah to Moses, but they no longer believed he was active in his Creation. God had just dropped into the background (which is the view of many preachers today). He was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and he had done things for Israel in the past; but that was history. There was no need to worry about any misdemeanours in the nation because God was no longer doing anything! He was a god of the past, not of the present.

Proud and Haughty Leaders

The priests and prophets were part of a small elite under royal patronage at the Temple, enjoying a privileged lifestyle. They were practising mutual self-interest: the priests gave religious legitimacy to King Jehoiakim despite his licentious behaviour, and he gave Royal approval to the Temple hierarchy, who were greedy, self-indulgent and faithless men. They were far worse than the ordinary people because they were the official representatives of God.

Jeremiah recognised that God’s anger was not so much against the ordinary people but against their spiritual leaders – the priests and prophets who had no excuse.

They were a professional elite who did not have to earn their living by the work of their hands. It was their responsibility to teach the people the word of God, helping them to understand the requirements of the Lord and the terms of the covenant. They not only failed to do this, but by their false teaching and immorality, Jeremiah said, “They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his wickedness” (Jer 23:14).

This was a terrible condemnation. It meant that the priests and prophets were actually responsible for the state of the nation – for the idolatry and unbelief among the people as well as for the immorality and sexual perversion everywhere in Jerusalem. “They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for another man’s wife” (Jer 5:8). This is a highly significant analogy. Throughout the Old Testament, ‘horses’ were linked with the rich and powerful. Their owners were proud and haughty like kings. And this statement, in the context of the faithlessness of the nation, shows that the priests and prophets were anathema to God. The word of God was not in them.

Unbelief in the Pulpit

The most serious implication of these statements is that God was holding the religious leaders responsible for the fate of the nation. He was removing his cover of protection and giving the enemy permission to bring divine judgment upon Judah: “Go through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not destroy them completely” (Jer 5:10).

If we apply this teaching to our situation today in the Western nations that have turned their backs upon God, we have to conclude that God is holding the Church and its leaders – its priests and prophets – responsible for the state of the nation. They are not only held responsible for the moral and spiritual condition of the people, but also for the social and political corruption of the leaders who do not know the word of the Lord.

This is why the Bible says that judgment begins at the house of the Lord; because unbelief begins in the pulpit before spreading to the pew!

This article is part of a series on the life and ministry of Jeremiah. Click here to read previous instalments.

Why is the joker leading the pack?

To the despair of my wife and me, our middle daughter, when she was at primary school, used to invite all the naughty boys in her class to her birthday party. We took all necessary precautions of removing vulnerable artefacts but they were usually riotous events! We survived these birthday celebrations with minimum damage (apart from the odd broken window) and usually the household returned to normality after an intensive clear-up.

Reflecting upon these annual hijinks I became convinced that there is something in our human nature that likes living dangerously – flirting with risk, enjoying adventure tinged with the threat of the unknown.

It’s what I now call the ‘Boris Factor’, because I believe it accounts for the popularity of the front-runner in the Conservative Party’s race for our next Prime Minister – Boris Johnson. His popularity in the country, despite his well-publicised imperfections, is quite remarkable.

Promises, Promises

I cannot claim to know Boris very well, although I have met him a few times. On one occasion when he was canvassing support for his first term as Mayor of London, I spent two hours alone with him. His team had been chasing me around London for several months, keen to exploit my links with African-Caribbean community and church leaders. They coveted the black vote in inner-city boroughs, but I was not keen to be involved in a political campaign.

And then there were six: the Tory leadership hopefuls. Photo: AP/Press Association ImagesEventually I agreed to a meeting with Boris, provided I could talk about the special needs in these communities. We had a very good and frank conversation, particularly on what he would do with issues such as guns, drugs and knife crime. I was even able to quiz him on his personal faith (with dubious results!). After receiving a lot of promises I subsequently helped to bring some 80 leaders to meet with him, although I have to say that he did not keep his promises once he was in power.

I was nevertheless impressed by the way he addressed the black leaders using a mixture of humour and serious social policy strategy, while also acknowledging their particular community needs. He is an excellent communicator which probably accounts for his popularity in the country across widely different communities. But it is still surprising that so many are willing to overlook his blunders and alleged moral deficiencies and take the risk of making him Prime Minister.

There is something in our human nature that likes living dangerously – flirting with risk, enjoying adventure tinged with the threat of the unknown.

No Discernment

Why is this? Is it like the childhood fascination with the naughty boy? Do we like to take a risk and go for the charisma factor rather than the drab, boring, safe, pinstripe type of politician? The country certainly fell in love with Tony Blair as an exciting contrast to John Major, though the Blair factor only lasted a few years.

Public opinion, of course, is notoriously fickle, but it is surely surprising that there are some characters whose misbehaviours will be overlooked and who will be supported even though people know it is a risk. There is a telling statement made by the Prophet Jeremiah during the reign of the notoriously immoral King Jehoiakim in Jerusalem in the late 6^th Century BC. Jeremiah was having one of his prayer-time conversations with God and reporting on the state of the nation. He said “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land! The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way” (Jer 5:30-31).

Jeremiah was used to false prophets promising “Peace! Peace!” when the Lord was saying “There is no Peace!”. He was constantly countering the lies of these popular prophets who told the people there was nothing to worry about in the rumours that the Babylonian army was on the march. They said that no enemy would ever get into Jerusalem, because God would defend the city.

The priests confirmed the lies of the prophets and instead of rightly teaching the people and giving judgments in accord with the teaching given by God to Moses, they made up their own rules and their own interpretations of the word of God. Sadly, the people had no discernment; they loved things as they were – lies and deception were quite acceptable to them.

In Jeremiah’s day, the people had no discernment; lies and deception were quite acceptable to them.

Self-interest vs. Righteousness

Once the word of God is discarded, anything becomes acceptable. This is the situation in Britain today. The public are disgusted with the antics of the politicians in recent months: they have lost trust in their MPs, who have been seen on TV day after day arguing but never agreeing on anything. The business of governing the country seems to have been grossly neglected while Brexit issues have dominated everything. People of all political leanings want resolution. They also want a leader who will tell them what they want to hear, to make them feel comfortable, just like the people in Jeremiah’s day before disaster befell Jerusalem!

The public are looking for a strong leader and there are few outstanding characters on either side of the House. This is why Boris is very likely to be chosen as the next Prime Minister, despite the reservations of discerning people.

Conservative MPs are well aware of the unpopularity that their Party has suffered through three years of weak leadership under Theresa May, whose stubbornness was not matched with political skill. This is where the ‘Boris Factor’ may influence those MPs who have no love for him, but are still willing to vote for him: he is widely regarded as the only one who can both hold Nigel Farage at bay and defeat Jeremy Corbyn. Under these circumstances self-interest takes precedence over righteousness, especially when MPs know that the public have long ago discarded values of righteousness.

People want a strong leader who will tell them what they want to hear, to make them feel comfortable.

Prospects for Britain

Will Britain get a Prime Minister who is able to exercise righteous government? Certainly, mature Christians know that Britain does not deserve godly government and there are many signs that we are a nation already under judgment. But God is merciful and I believe he still has a purpose for Britain. Could he use Boris? Of course he could! God used Cyrus to do his will and bless his people even though Cyrus did not even know the name of the Lord. But is it God’s intention to bless the nation, or to allow us bring judgment upon ourselves?

Boris at least professes a faith in God, but is that enough to provide Britain with a God-fearing Government? If the Conservative Party installs Boris and his partner in No. 10, will he lead a Government that can restore standards of righteousness in the nation?

God’s offer of forgiveness and protection.

“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city. Although they say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’, still they are swearing falsely.” (Jeremiah 5:1-2)

This is an amazing statement that must have reminded Jeremiah of Abraham’s pleading with God over Sodom. In that case God would have spared the city if ten righteous men could have been found (Gen 18:32). But here the offer of forgiveness was if Jeremiah could find just one honest citizen who was deeply committed to the truth.

Jerusalem’s Great Corruption

This shows God’s great love for the city of Jerusalem, that he was prepared to forgive the city for the sake of one righteous person. But it also shows the extent of corruption among its citizens at that time.

It is difficult to be precise in dating this pronouncement, but it was clearly made during the reign of Jehoiakim who, unlike his godly father Josiah, lived a life of self-indulgence and set a bad example to the nation. Idolatry, immorality, injustice and corruption were everywhere. Jeremiah said that there were as many altars to foreign gods in the city as there were streets in Jerusalem.

There was plenty of outward show of religion and the people regularly used the name of the God of Israel when making their promises or agreeing business transactions. They were happy to swear their oaths in the name of Yahweh, but this really had no deep spiritual significance and certainly did not show that they were devoted to God, or that they observed the Torah, or even kept the Ten Commandments.

That God was prepared to forgive Jerusalem for the sake of one righteous person shows his great love for the city – but it also shows the extent of its corruption.

From Bottom to Top

Jeremiah duly went up and down the streets of Jerusalem and spent time in the market squares listening to the conversation of housewives and the tales of merchants. He no doubt did his research thoroughly and questioned many people - with disappointing results.

Then he thought; these are only uneducated, poor people who cannot be expected to have a detailed knowledge of the teaching handed down through generations of scribes from the time of Moses. It cannot be right to judge the whole city upon the lifestyles and behaviour of these people. He had to do something else before taking his answer back to the Lord.

He resolved, “These are only the poor; they are foolish, for they do not know the way of the Lord, the requirements of their God. So I will go to the leaders and speak to them; surely they know the way of the Lord, the requirements of their God” (Jer 5:4).

It was at this point that Jeremiah took the decision to widen his enquiries by going to the political and religious leaders of the nation, to see if they were observing the requirements of the covenant with God. That covenant, “I will be your God and you will be my people”, established by God through Moses on the ‘Day of Assembly’ (Deut 4:10), was a guarantee of protection.

But it was conditional upon the nation being faithful to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and having no other god. That was the first and supreme commandment. Obeying the rest of the teaching given to Moses was also important, but the citizens of Jerusalem - including their leaders - were not even keeping the first commandment faithfully.

Tearing Off the Bonds

Jeremiah’s conversations with the leaders shocked him: “with one accord they too had broken off the yoke and torn off the bonds” (Jer 5:5). They were no longer faithful to the God of Israel, the God of their fathers who had brought them out of Egypt, fed them in the desert and brought them into the Promised Land. He had protected the nation and prospered them since the days of David, who had established Jerusalem as his capital and given instructions to his son Solomon for the building of the Temple.

The covenant God made with Israel was a guarantee of protection – but it was conditional upon the nation being faithful to him.

Now, the leaders of the nation were no longer faithful to the God who had done so much for them. They had broken off the link with Yahweh and instead of teaching the people faithfully they even tolerated the worship of idols of wood and stone.

Therefore, God’s protection would be removed from over the nation and they would be subject to the most terrifying forces of destruction. “Why should I forgive you?” was God’s response when Jeremiah reported his findings. “Your children have forsaken me and sworn by gods that are not gods” (Jer 5:7).

God’s Grief

The pathos of this situation was not lost on Jeremiah, who was a great patriot. He loved the nation. He loved the city of Jerusalem; yet he could clearly foresee the judgment that would come upon the land and engulf the people.

In his quiet times, standing in the council of the Lord, Jeremiah also sensed the grief in God’s heart. He heard him saying, “‘I supplied all their needs, yet they committed adultery and thronged to the houses of prostitutes. They are well-fed lusty stallions, neighing for another man’s wife. Should I not punish them for this?’ declares the Lord” (Jer 5:7-8).

God certainly did not want to see the suffering that would inevitably come upon the people through their own wanton behaviour and the evil deeds of their faithless leaders. But God’s love for his people was also based upon righteousness, truth and faithfulness. The very justice of God demanded that he could not ignore the wickedness of the people and the deliberate disobedience of their leaders. He had to remove his cover of protection, with all the terrible consequences that would follow.

Message Today

This is a powerful message of warning to Britain, to Europe and to all the Western nations who have had the truth for hundreds of years but are deliberately turning away from their Judeo-Christian heritage and embracing the gods of the world.

They are no different from the ‘well-fed lusty stallions’ in Jerusalem who brought upon themselves such terrible destruction. But will the people or their leaders today listen to the warnings, any more than the people of Jerusalem did?

This article is part of a series on the ministry and message of the Prophet Jeremiah. Click here to read other instalments.

The limits to God's patience.

“This is the word of the Lord to Jeremiah concerning the drought: ‘Judah mourns, her cities languish; they wail for the land, and the cry goes out from Jerusalem. The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns but find no water. They return with their jars unfilled; dismayed and despairing, they cover their heads.

The ground is cracked because there is no rain in the land; the farmers are dismayed and cover their heads. Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grass. Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights and pant like jackals; their eyesight fails for lack of pasture.’” (Jeremiah 14:1-6)

Jeremiah presents a terrible picture of a prolonged drought covering the whole land of Judah during the reign of Jehoiakim the ungodly king (son of godly king Josiah), in the final decade of the 7th Century BC. The drought was not confined to Judah; it covered the whole region of what we now know as the Middle East.

Climatologists say that this was a period of ‘global warming’ and historians note that it was probably one of the reasons why Nebuchadnezzar conquered neighbouring countries: to recruit an army of labourers to dig canals around the rivers Tigris and Euphrates to irrigate the land.

Jeremiah knew nothing of global warming, but he certainly saw the hand of God, the Creator of the Universe, in what was happening to the people among whom God had called him to minister. The Hebrew word for ‘drought’ used in this passage is plural, indicating a series of droughts that had now become so severe that all life was being threatened.

Rich and poor, young and old, city-dwellers and farmers were all suffering; even the wild animals were dying of thirst: “wild donkeys stand on the barren heights and pant like jackals”. In the cities the wells had run dry and in the countryside the streams and river beds were cracked and empty. It was a scene of desolation and death.

Jeremiah knew nothing of global warming, but he certainly saw the hand of God, the Creator of the Universe, in the drought around him.

God’s Rebuke

Jeremiah had been told to remind the people of the terms of the covenant (Jer 11:1), but they had not listened or heeded his words. The consequences of breaking the terms of the covenant were perfectly clear: “The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron” (Deut 28:23).

No doubt Jeremiah also was suffering and his vivid description of the effects of the drought led him to pray for the nation – one of the rare occasions when Jeremiah interceded on behalf of the whole nation and the land of Israel: “Although our sins testify against us, O Lord, do something for the sake of your name” (Jer 14:7).

His pleading with the Lord was met by a fierce rebuke: “This is what the Lord says about this people: they greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet. So the Lord does not accept them; he will now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins” (14:10).

In order to stop him asking the Lord to break the drought and send rain upon the land, Jeremiah was told to stop praying for the wellbeing of the people because God would no longer listen to their pleas. In fact, he was told, “Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go!” (Jer 15:1). This is an exact reversal of the message given to Moses when he was told to go to Pharaoh with a call to bring the people out of Egypt into the presence of the Lord.

Limits to God’s Patience

The reason for this harsh rebuttal of Jeremiah’s request on behalf of the nation was that God had forgiven the people time after time, but they had never kept their promises of faithfulness. The discovery of the ‘Book of the Law’ during the repairs to the Temple ordered by Josiah had led the king to rededicate the nation to God, re-affirming the terms of the covenant. But his son, Jehoiakim, had reversed all that and the people had rapidly returned to worshipping the Baals.

God’s patience had reached its limits after all the warnings had been ignored. The God of Israel was now exercising his power over Creation. The drought was the consequence of breaking the covenant in turning away from the Lord. The teaching that had been given to Moses was, “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands…blessings will come upon you” (Deut 28:1). But, conversely, disobedience would bring terrible curses on the land and on all its inhabitants.

Jeremiah’s pleading with the Lord was met by a fierce rebuke.

It is a serious thing to enter into a covenant with God. It carries awesome responsibilities. Once we acknowledge him as our God, we belong to him: we are his servants, as well as his beloved children.

There are wonderful blessings and benefits from the love and protection the Father gives to his children, but there are also responsibilities. Jeremiah was well aware of this and although prophecies of peace and prosperity were being given to the people by some of the official prophets linked with the Temple priests, Jeremiah knew that the nation thoroughly deserved judgment.

Declaration of Faith

Jeremiah ended this time of intercession with a declaration of faith in God: “Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, O Lord our God. Therefore, our hope is in you. For you are the one who does all this” (Jer 14:22).

Surely this is a timely reminder to all the Western nations who have had the Gospel for centuries that there are inevitable consequences of turning away from the truth.

This article is part of a teaching series on the life and ministry of Jeremiah. Click here for previous instalments.

No-one sees the Father so clearly as the prophet with tears in his eyes.

“Your own conduct and actions have brought this upon you. This is your punishment. How bitter it is! How it pierces to the heart! Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry. Disaster follows disaster; the whole land lies in ruins.” (Jeremiah 4:18-19)

This was another of Jeremiah’s pronouncements in the early part of his ministry, most probably during the 11-year reign of Jehoiakim from Jerusalem (607 to 598 BC). The atmosphere in Jerusalem was one of complacent, easy-going affluence. Already strict moral and religious requirements from the days of Josiah’s Reform were being pushed into the background.

The young king was 25 when Josiah was killed in battle with the Egyptians. Jehoiakim made peace with the Egyptians – at a price, and promptly set about loosening the strong restraints that his father had imposed upon the people. He preferred a life of pleasure and turned a blind eye to what was happening in the countryside, where people were re-opening the altars to Baal on the high places.

What was more shocking to Jeremiah was that everywhere in Jerusalem there was evidence of moral corruption, self-indulgence, family breakdown, sharp business practice and even the re-appearance of altars to foreign gods. Jeremiah was a great patriot. He was not a nationalist, blindly supporting his country right or wrong; his patriotism involved a love for his nation and the welfare of the people that translated into a longing to see righteousness and shalom, justice and truthful behaviour.

Foreseeing Disaster

This pronouncement is very revealing, both for its reference to the international scene with the growing threat of a Babylonian invasion, and for what it shows us of Jeremiah’s personal character and ministry.

There were, no doubt, plenty of reports coming in from travellers and merchants of the activity of Nebuchadnezzar’s army that was on the move across what had been formerly Assyrian territory. Despite the fall of neighbouring countries to the all-conquering Babylonians, there was a dangerous lack of concern in Judah and especially in Jerusalem, where the priests and prophets constantly reassured the king and the people that God would never allow an enemy to enter the gates of the holy city, with its Temple that was the home of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

Jeremiah was not a nationalist, but he was a great patriot.

Jeremiah, in his times of standing in the council of the Lord, knew that the covenant that protected Israel and the land of Judah depended upon their observing the Torah and being faithful to God - especially having no other gods in the land or in the hearts of the people. Jeremiah’s was a lone voice on the streets of Jerusalem warning that the spirit of complacency which he saw all around would lead to disaster.

The Weeping Prophet

In his quiet times before the Lord, Jeremiah could actually foresee the future with vivid clarity, as though it was actually happening in front of his eyes. This caused him immense pain which he said pierced his heart: “Oh my anguish my anguish! I writhe in pain…How long must I see the battle standard and hear the sound of the trumpet?” (Jer 4:21).

No-one sees the Father so clearly as the prophet with tears in his eyes. The tears of love and trust form the spiritual bridge between the human prophet and the divine Presence. The prophet is expressing the total dependence of the human condition upon the grace of God. He sees the hopelessness of the situation facing the nation that he loves, and can do no other than bring it before God in utter humility and loving trust.

Jeremiah is known as the ‘weeping prophet’, a label often thrown at him by those who wish to denigrate his ministry. But the truth is that he learned to draw close to the Lord in his quiet times and, as a result, could see the consequences of what was happening in the nation so clearly through his tears that he could not keep quiet in public.

As he walked the streets of Jerusalem and saw the little shrines to foreign gods and as he listened to the chatter of people in the marketplace; housewives bickering and merchants exchanging obscenities, he could almost hear the hooves of the Babylonian cavalry clattering across the cobbles and the cries of anguish as they swung their swords, splattering blood on the market stalls.

Jeremiah knew what was going to happen unless there was repentance and turning in the nation – among its leaders and the ordinary people. The ‘unless’ was still there. But for how long?

Jeremiah could see the consequences of what was happening in the nation so clearly in his times with the Lord that he could not keep quiet in public.

Stirring Prophetic Voices

The knowledge of what would happen if there was no repentance was the driving force behind Jeremiah’s ministry: he could not keep quiet, whatever the consequences for himself and the threat to his personal safety. He suffered cruel abuse and physical pain because he could not stop declaring the truth and warning of what he had already foreseen so vividly.

The true prophetic ministry is no different today. Those who have learned to stand in the presence of the Lord with tears in their eyes as they speak of the state of their nation have foreseen for a long time the things coming to pass today – the breakdown of family life, gangs, guns and drugs leaving young people dying on our city streets. This is just some of the daily evidence of the crumbling of Western civilisation that has turned its back upon the Bible, abandoning its Judeo-Christian foundations.

As political and economic instability increases and the dormant churches stay silent, the sense of hopelessness and despair will grow. BUT will God use this to stir prophetic voices in the nations that will awaken humanity to the danger facing it, opening the way for a 21^st-Century spiritual awakening? Are we getting nearer the day that Paul foresaw when many in Israel will recognise Jesus as Messiah, combining in ‘one new man’ with believing Gentiles to bring the message of salvation to a dying world?

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John Job explains the great modern relevance of Jeremiah's message and notes strong links with the life and teaching of Jesus.

Jeremiah's message was inextricably linked with the history of Israel in his day. He first addressed the North, with a plea for unity with the Southern Kingdom. Then, when his word to his own people was rejected with the burning of the first scroll (Jer 36), he moved to the theme of inevitable judgment and finally to a message of hope beyond the end.

Throughout his long ministry, optimistic prophets kept building up false hopes in the people by parroting "Peace, peace" when the situation was hopeless. Jerusalem's demise was long and drawn-out; but by refusing to heed Jeremiah's call for repentance and turning away from idolatry and corruption, the fate of the city and its people was sealed.

Conflicting Interpretations of Scripture

Jeremiah's conflict hinged on the interpretation of Deuteronomy: the 'Book of the Law' found during the repair of the Temple early in Jeremiah's lifetime (2 Chron 34:14). This book was the address by Moses to the Israelites on the threshold of the Promised Land.

Jeremiah's optimistic contemporaries saw the book as promising that the crossing of the Jordan and occupation of the Promised Land was a drama to be re-enacted as they regained independence from the Babylonians on their God-given soil.

Jeremiah, by contrast, saw it as a warning of three interlocking aspects of sin in response to which God was sending the Babylonians to bring judgment. Chapter 11:1-17 is particularly instructive as a parody of the nationalistic hopes built on Deuteronomy.

Jeremiah's contemporaries saw the Torah as promising liberation from Babylonian rule – Jeremiah knew that it was a warning of judgment.

Deuteronomy summarises human duty as to love God (Deut 6:5). Though Jesus included "and your neighbour as yourself" taken from Leviticus 19:18 (Matt 22:39), there is plenty of evidence in Deuteronomy that this is a major implication of loving God. Jeremiah's indictment, then, can be seen under three headings: failure to love God was idolatry; failure to love others was immorality; failure to change was rebellion.

Idolatry and Immorality

Idolatry is criticised as ingratitude (Jer 2:13) and as folly (Jer 2:27). Idolatry led to alliance with pagan powers, which amounted to reliance on their gods (Jer 14:10). Drought was seen as the penalty for misconceiving Baal as the source of fertility. Beyond all else, idolatry amounted to slighting the true God.

Spiritual adultery, as often in the prophets, was depicted as sexual immorality (Jer 2:20). But there is also a reference to failures in the area of justice, especially for the poor (Jer 5:26-28; 21:12; 22:13). The prophet inveighed too against commercial malpractice, and in the same passage, slander, which he himself suffered (Jer 9:3-4).

Rebellion

These first two areas of Jeremiah's teaching echo Amos and Hosea. But his emphasis on rebellion is his most distinctive perception of his people's predicament. A long sequence of pictures make this point:

1. The uncircumcised ear cannot hear (Jer 6:10);
2. No soap can wash away guilt (Jer 2:22);
3. Refining is futile when no precious metal underlies the dross (Jer 6:27-30);
4. The people are like a she-camel on heat, enslaved to instinct (Jer 2:24);
5. They are like a common harlot who legally (Deut 24:1-4) cannot, and practically will not, return to her husband (Jer 3:1-3);
6. They compare unfavourably with the swift and wryneck, mere birds well aware of the time for returning (a verb which in Hebrew also means 'repent') (Jer 8:7).

The sweep of the book makes the point more forcibly still: events and reality constantly vindicated Jeremiah; but he was ignored for 25 years. Why, though, was it so wrong to resist the Babylonians? Why was the situation so different from when the Assyrian Sennacherib threatened Jerusalem a century earlier? The answer must be that, however unwisely, the Judeans had made a covenant with Babylon.

Most distinctive about Jeremiah's teaching is his emphasis on rebellion.

Here, then, lay the great irony - Deuteronomy was itself couched in the form of a 'covenant document', and those who made their covenant with God needed to be the first to keep covenants with others. Deuteronomic condemnation of the stubborn and rebellious son (Deut 21:18ff) is referred to in Jeremiah 2:14-19, and the incorrigible son breaks the most fundamental covenant of all.

With Jehoiakim's burning of the scroll, Jeremiah's stance changed. This is reflected in the reversal of some of Israel's basic and most cherished spiritual convictions.

The Reversal of the Exodus

Jeremiah may have thought of himself as the prophetic successor to Moses, mentioned in Deuteronomy 18:15 (Jer 1:4-10; 15:16). But he was told not to pray for the nation (Jer 7:16; 11:14; 14:11). It was not for him to stand in the breach (cf Ps 106:23) as Moses had done over the Golden Calf: he actually prays for judgment (Jer 18:21f). In the end he goes back as a prisoner to Egypt, from which Moses had led the people from slavery into freedom.

The Reversal of Holy War

The original invasion of Canaan was a 'holy war', in which the Israelites were God's agents to punish the Amorites (Josh 5:1). Often in the story of Judges, God instils panic into Israel's enemies: now the opposite happens; God fights against Israel (Jer 4:9; 6:24) and they are driven out of the land.

The Reversal of Creation

The account of Creation in the Old Testament embodies two themes. The first is the notion of order rather than chaos (Gen 1:1-2). The second is the provision of a garden for human beings to live in (Gen 2:4ff). The first theme is linked with the turning of a motley collection of slaves into an organised community; and the second with their settlement in the garden-land of Canaan.

Jeremiah implied (Jer 4:23-28) that all this was to be undone. The salvation oracle was turned on its head (Jer 12:5). The Abrahamic promise was reversed (Jer 15:8).
Those who make their covenant with God need to be the first to keep covenants with others.

Close study of Jeremiah's ministry reveals strong resemblances to that of Jesus:

(i) Conflict with the 'Establishment'

In both cases this is centred on the interpretation of Deuteronomy - in Jesus's day this was the text-book for hopes of national autonomy (defeat of the Romans) and renewed national greatness. It is no accident that Jesus's three answers in the desert to satan, who represents these Jewish aspirations, come not simply from Scripture ("It is written"), but all from Deuteronomy (Luke 4).

(ii) 'Another Moses'

The Messiah was expected to be another Moses. Indeed, this was how New Testament writers saw Jesus. But like Jeremiah, Jesus also prophesied national disaster. The cross exposed the spirit of nationalism which was doomed to be broken on the wheel of Roman power. In just the same way, Jerusalem's nationalism was broken by Babylon in Jeremiah's time.

It could be said that both Jesus and Jeremiah were Moses' successor. But this has to be re-appraised in the light of the great contrasts between the way in which God carries out his purposes of salvation in Jesus and what had happened in Old Testament times.

(iii) Undeserved Suffering

Jeremiah could describe himself as a lamb led to the slaughter and together with the well-known passage in Isaiah 53, this paved the way for the widespread use of the lamb metaphor in the New Testament, notably on the lips of John the Baptist (John 1:29), and no fewer than 31 times in Revelation.

Striking too is the same misunderstanding and rejection within the family of Jeremiah and Jesus (Jer 12:6, cf Mark 3:32).

(iv) The Destruction of the Word

The desecrating act of Jehoiakim was for Jeremiah what the cross was for Jesus: the final act of the rejection of the covenant relationship with God. In Jeremiah's case it was confined to the Jews, but through the crucifixion of Jesus, guilt was extended to all mankind.

(v) The Emergence of Hope Out of Disaster

Jeremiah did not pray for his people (Jer 7:16) and Jesus did not pray for the world (John 17:9). The demise of the Jewish state in Jeremiah's time points to the doom of non-Christian society in its alienation from God. The only hope for the world is for those who become 'unworldly' by refusing to live according to worldly values.

Jeremiah spells out his hopes of a 'new covenant' (Jer 31:31) and the New Testament sees in Christ's death and resurrection a fulfilment of this promise (most explicitly in Hebrews 8 and 9). Just as the Babylonian sledgehammer's demise is part of Jeremiah's optimism, Revelation, depicting Rome (in the guise of the scarlet woman of Babylon), spells out in her doom the end of worldly corruption.

The desecrating act of Jehoiakim was for Jeremiah what the cross was for Jesus: the final act of the rejection of the covenant relationship with God.

Our Society the Same?

Our society is not unlike that which confronted Jeremiah. The point is made by Jesus in the parable of the 'Rich Fool' (Luke 12:13), who epitomised both self-help and idolatry. For him, death played the same role as the destruction of Jerusalem played for the Jews.

Jesus had a long struggle with a people determined to go their own way, and Jeremiah's teaching is parallel to the message of Jesus, which says 'You cannot save yourself! You cannot engineer a solution to sin, or to your present problems, or save yourself from death'.

It is common to see some code of ethics comparable with Deuteronomy as a 'ladder' or 'lever' for making oneself acceptable to God. No doubt Paul took lessons from Jeremiah as well as from Jesus in seeing that God's law is neither ladder nor lever, reaching the conclusion that through the law we become conscious of sin (Rom 7:7). Yet Jeremiah's teaching on the new covenant enables us to anticipate God's judgment, and begin a new life; to echo Paul and say, "I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I: Christ lives in me" (Gal 2:20).

Flouting of God's Word

Jeremiah's catalogue of sins is closely matched by our society. In his book about the Bible (The English Bible and Seventeenth-Century Revolution, Penguin, 1993), Christopher Hill shows that behind the theological divergences in Cromwell's day, the notion that Protestant England could be modelled on Old Testament Israel and see itself as a Christian nation in covenant relation with God was generally accepted. We need to be careful not to exaggerate the extent to which English history follows that of Judah, but some comparisons can safely be made.

Our society is not unlike that which confronted Jeremiah.

In recent years we have seen erosion of respect for the Ten Commandments as a summary of divine law - notably in the increase and supposed trivialisation of adultery and homosexual practices, the advocacy of euthanasia and abuse of abortion.

We have also seen sentimentality about disciplining children and decay of truthfulness in public life. The message of Jeremiah challenges us to look at the sins of our own nation. Are we not in danger of the same judgment that Jerusalem suffered in his day? Has not the church also sadly missed its way and followed the ways of the world?

It may not be easy to tell when God's word has been nationally rejected as finally as with Jehoiakim's burning of the scroll, but Godly standards are being flouted. There is a need for a prophetic call to repentance and warning of the inevitability of disaster if this call is rejected.

Hope Beyond the End

Even in the worst scenario, Jeremiah's message, seen through New Testament eyes, holds out today the same hope beyond the end. To those who have kept Christian faith in a watertight compartment away from politics, Jeremiah is a model for courageous interaction in the life of the nation.

In a sense his ministry was entirely fruitless. But he has been vindicated, not only because the preservation of his words in Scripture testifies to the fact that he was right and his opponents were wrong, but also because the resurrection of Jesus points to a world where the truths he stood for are, and always will be, upheld.

To that realm Christians already belong, and to that extent are impervious to the worst that this world can do to them.

First published in Prophecy Today Vol 12 No 2, March 1996. Revised September 2016.