How the Church can and should appeal to men (as well as women)

We know more about Jeremiah than about any other prophet – including about his emotional response to the labours of the prophetic ministry.

We know very little about the personal lives of the majority of the prophets of the Old Testament. Beyond being told their names, details of their families and the places from which they came, we know almost nothing about them.

This is not true of Jeremiah, whose prophecies contain a considerable amount of biographical material. It is from his writings that we are able to see the emotional reaction of a prophet to the state of the nation to which he was sent and to the word of God that he was called to proclaim. We know more about him than about any other prophet, and are able to share his feelings as he tells out God's message.

Judah's Decline and Fall

Jeremiah's ministry followed on the reign of three kings: Manasseh, 696-642 BC, the two year rulership of his successor Amon, and the thirty-one year term of Josiah from 641 BC to his death on the battlefield of Megiddo around 610 BC (2 Ki 23:30).

Jeremiah began his ministry about half¬way through Josiah's reign. He continued through the three-month rule of Jehoahaz, the ten-year reign of Jehoiakim, another three-month rule, this time under Jehoiakin, finishing up under Zedekiah, whose ten-year reign ended with the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 587 BC.

We know more about Jeremiah than about any other prophet – including about his emotional response to the labours of the prophetic ministry.

Judah went through an all-time low during Manasseh's tenure of office, though things apparently took a turn for the better during the reign of Josiah, which included the discovery in the Temple of the Book of the Law. But taken overall, these were years that saw the decline and fall of the Judean kingdom. It was during this difficult and dangerous period that Jeremiah conducted his ministry.

Jeremiah the Man

Jeremiah was a sensitive man, capable of deep emotion, lacking self-confidence but yet courageous. He felt totally incompetent to be appointed God's prophet (Jer 1:5-10). We have a suggestion in his oft-repeated phrase 'rising up early and speaking', which occurs a number of times in his writings but nowhere else in Scripture, that he was a man with a disciplined life, able to keep his body under control (Jer 7:13, 25). The NIV translates this phrase as 'again and again'; the Hebrew word means 'to rise early'.

Jeremiah conducted his ministry during a difficult and dangerous period for Judah – and as a sensitive man, felt totally incompetent to be appointed God's prophet.

This Old Testament prophet was a loyal patriot who cared deeply about what happened to his nation. but had to face being branded as a traitor (Jer 37:13-14). He was clearly a man of the outdoors, observing almond blossom, the sirocco, the migration of storks and doves and the reproductive urge of wild asses (Jer 1:11-12; 4:11-12; 8:7; 2:23-24). How awful it must have been for him to be kept in prison or thrown into a cistern! But he was prepared to put up with all this unpleasantness rather than deny the word of God that was burning in his heart.

For his was no academic reaction to the letter of the law. He not only heard the word; he felt it (Jer 20:9). But sadly, as he records a dozen times or so, "They did not listen!" (Jer 6:19 and 13:11, for example). But despite their failure to respond to God's message, Jeremiah went on praying for them. He said to the Lord, "Remember that I stood before you and spoke on their behalf to turn your wrath away from them" (Jer 18:20). God invited Jeremiah's prayers (Jer 33:3), but the time came (Jer 7:16) when he was forbidden to pray for the people. It was too late. God said to him, "Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people!" (Jer 15:1).

We know that Jeremiah was a loyal patriot who prayed again and again for God to spare Judah his judgment.

Years later, after the fall of Jerusalem, the people asked Jeremiah to pray for them, "That the Lord will tell us where we should go and what we should do" (Jer 42:3). Jeremiah waited on the Lord for ten days before receiving an answer. But then, when he told them God's reply, they refused to do as he had said. How frustrating it must have been for this godly man to have had to prophesy to such disobedient people! It is still true today that many want to know his will, but refuse to obey when it is made known (Jer 42:7, 19-22).

By contrast Jeremiah stood firm, unmoved by either popular acclaim or princely threat. It is not surprising that he was highly critical of the false prophets, the 'windbags' (Jer 5:13) who prophesied lies and gave the people false hopes (Jer 23:16). Jeremiah quickly discerned their fatal weakness: they had not stood in the council of the Lord to 'see or hear his word' (Jer 23:18, 22). Regarding himself as a shepherd of God's people (Jer 17:6), Jeremiah was horrified at the failure of their shepherds to care for God's flock (Jer 10:21; 50:6).

Jeremiah was highly critical of false prophets and, as a shepherd of God's people, was horrified at the failure of shepherds to care for God's flock.

Jeremiah's 'Confessions'

In the so-called 'confessions' of Jeremiah we have a disclosure exposing the depths of the prophet's soul. These 'confessions' are to be found in the following verses: Jer 10:22-24; 11:18-12:6; 15:10-21; 17:9-11, 17:14-18; 18:18-23; 20:7-18. The use of the word 'confession' is best understood as referring to need rather than sin.

Here are some matters dealt with in the 'confessions':

• Jeremiah asks to be corrected (Jer 10:24).
• When God reveals to Jeremiah that wicked people are plotting to kill him, he cries out for vengeance (Jer 11:18-20).
• He then complains that it is the wicked who prosper (Jer 12:1).
• The prophet claims that God knows all about him (Jer 12:3).
• Then he appeals to the One who understands and cares, asking the Lord to avenge him (Jer 15:15).

Jeremiah then dares to question God's actions, saying "Your help is as uncertain as a seasonal mountain brook - sometimes a flood, sometimes as dry as a bone!" (Jer 15:18, Living Bible). To this complaint the Lord replies, "Stop this foolishness and talk some sense!" (Jer 15:19, Living Bible). He adds the stern warning, "Only if you return to trusting me will I let you continue as my spokesman". In a further warning to the prophet, God declares, "The heart is deceitful above all things...no-one can really know how bad it is" (Jer 17:9). Jeremiah then pleads with God, "Do not be a terror to me: you are my refuge in the day of disaster" (Jer 17:17).

Jeremiah dares to question God's actions and faithfulness, and the Lord rebukes him.

Jeremiah becomes really angry with his accusers and reminds the Lord that these are the very people he has prayed for (Jer 18:20). Now he demands. "Do not forgive their crimes or blot out their sins from your sight. Let them be overthrown" (Jer 18:23). In an astonishing accusation Jeremiah claims that the Lord has deceived, overpowered and prevailed against him and that he has suffered ridicule, reproach and insults (Jer 20:7-8), and that his friends are awaiting the moment when he will slip up (Jer 20:10). All this together brings him to the point where he curses the day he was born (Jer 20:14-15).

But better thoughts enter his mind before the 'confessions' come to an end. He says, "But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior, so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. Sing to the Lord! Give praise to the Lord! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked" (Jer 20:11-13).

Today's prophets can learn from Jeremiah's 'confessions'.

Jeremiah's Emotions

From his youth Jeremiah manifested the emotions associated with personal inadequacy. When he confessed, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child", the Lord replied with the reassurance, "Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you" (Jer 1:6-8). Later on came another reassurance that the Lord would be with him, and that he would make him like a bronze wall against the people (Jer 1:15-20).

Jeremiah experienced loneliness. Like Jesus, his brothers were unsupportive, and he was forbidden to marry (Jer 16:1-2). In the Jewish society of his day, to remain unmarried was almost unheard of. Jeremiah became the symbol of the message he proclaimed, for with the coming slaughter in Jerusalem this was neither the time nor the place to raise a family. He needed the sustaining comfort and sympathy of a wife and family, but they were denied him. This was the divine purpose for Jeremiah, and he had to learn how "blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him" (Jer 17:7).

Jeremiah had to face disappointment when the revival under King Josiah, which seemed so promising and in which Jeremiah had shared (2 Ki 23:19; Jer 11:6-7), gradually faded away.

Another emotional trauma that persistently dogged Jeremiah was the loss of credibility when there was no quick fulfilment of his predictions. He complained, "They keep saying to me, 'Where is the word of the Lord? Let it now be fulfilled!'" (Jer 17:15). Jeremiah had to continue predicting the fall of Jerusalem for years before it finally fell.

Jeremiah experienced personal inadequacy, loneliness, disappointment and a loss of credibility, but learned the blessings of trusting in God alone.

He could proclaim the message, "I know the plans I have for you, plans to give you hope and a future", but it would be seventy years before that promise was fulfilled (Jer 29:10-11).

Jeremiah experienced extreme frustration. After the fall of Jerusalem, the army officers and the people asked him to pray that God would show them where to go and what to do (Jer 42:3). For ten days, as we noted earlier, Jeremiah waited on the Lord for an answer; when it came they were told to stay in the land and not to go to Egypt. If they did this, all would be well. Imagine Jeremiah's frustration when he saw that they were determined to go to Egypt and refused the instructions he had given them from God!

Jeremiah had been encouraged by the actions of Josiah, who "did what was just and right" (Jer 22:15), but must have been filled with dismay when Shallum his son (otherwise known as Jehoahaz) came to the throne of Judah with the intention, in his own words, that "I will build myself a great palace" (Jer 22:14). The prophet experienced an increasing sense of horror with the realisation that he could do nothing to avert the disaster he saw approaching; it is just as difficult today to cope with a revelation of impending disaster. There were numerous threats on Jeremiah's life and he must have been conscious of his vulnerability. Some sentiments from one of the Servant songs in Isaiah 53:7 and from Jeremiah 11:19 surely describe his feelings.

Priests, prophets and people agreed that he must die as the penalty for daring to claim that "This house [the Temple] will be like Shiloh" (Jer 26:7-9). During the reign of Zedekiah, Jeremiah prophesied that the Babylonians would capture Jerusalem and burn it down. Zedekiah's officials, angered at such an unpleasant message, affirmed that Jeremiah should die. When threats are made against someone's life the natural reaction is to run away. So thought the captain of the guard, who arrested Jeremiah as he was leaving Jerusalem, though in fact the prophet was merely on his way to visit the Benjamites to claim his share of some property there. But the suspicion was that Jeremiah was deserting to the Babylonians, and he was beaten and imprisoned. Later he was lowered into a cistern.

Jeremiah experienced extreme frustration when people did not accept God's word, and was conscious of his vulnerability as numerous threats were made to his life.

But Jeremiah stuck with the people of Judah, even choosing to stay with them on their travels to Egypt when he could have been set free (Jer 43:7-8). But God raised up men such as Ebed-Melech and Ahikam to help the man of God when he was ill-treated; their encouragement and support must have been a welcome change from the more general hostility that surrounded him.

Jeremiah and Jesus

Jeremiah was the most Christ-like of the prophets. One of the answers to Jesus' question, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" was Jeremiah! (Matt 16:13-14). Michaelangelo portrays Jeremiah in the Sistine Chapel 'With eyes cast down', brooding in thought. As we have seen, the Suffering Servant of Isaiah is as appropriate a description of Jeremiah as it is of Jesus. Both were despised and rejected by their contemporaries.

But it would not be right to brand them as pessimists. As with Jesus, the message proclaimed by Jeremiah was one of hope (Jer 25:11-13; 29:10-11; 3:15-18; 23:5-6; 32:14-15). Jeremiah's use of the word 'perhaps' (Jer 36:7) is paralleled in Jesus' story of the barren fig-tree, in which the man who took care of the vineyard said, "Leave it alone for another year...If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down" (Luke 13:8).

This is the right emotion for all who are called to the prophetic ministry.

First Published in Prophecy Today, Vol 5 No 4, July/August 1989.