Jeremiah does the reader a great service in the first three verses of his book by identifying himself, his scope of work, and the historical setting in which he prophesied: “The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month” (Jeremiah 1:1-3). First, Jeremiah established his personal authorship, meaning then that the writing had to take place in his lifetime (this is a matter we may take for granted but higher criticism would date it later taking away its prophetic nature). Second, by setting his timeframe according to important dates in Judah and Jerusalem, Jeremiah then would obviously be indirectly stating his close proximity to these events placing him among these people. Then third, Jeremiah identifies his setting in Old Testament history. His work began with his divine call to the work in the thirteenth year of Josiah’s reign (which began in 640 B.C.) therefore indicating a starting period of 627-626 B.C. That work lasted then until the eleventh and final year of Zedekiah’s reign which is marked by Jerusalem’s destruction in 586 B.C. Jeremiah’s work, then, lasted around forty years and included some of the most significant events in biblical history. Jeremiah saw the ungodly rule of every king following Josiah that led Judah down the treacherous path of sin and into foreign exile and likewise did he see all three carryings away and the destruction of the city with his own eyes. Given all of this being experienced by a man of God such as was Jeremiah it becomes very evident as to why he is called “the weeping prophet.”
God’s word came unto Jeremiah at the beginning and he was told his divine mission: “Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. 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” (Jeremiah 1:9-10). His purpose in hindsight was not differen t from any other of the prophets. He was to seek out and warn the people of what their sins would do to them. However, also like the other prophets Jeremiah faced many hardship. Jehovah, though, mentions the great expectation with which He awaited Jeremiah’s ability to serve: “Then the word of the Lord came unto me saying, 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 the nations” (Jeremiah 1:4-5). It is sad though that just like everything and everyone else the Lord has counted dear, man found a way to enact persecution on God through His affection:
“His own family (12:6) and his own townsmen (11:18-23) dealt treacherously with him. The men of Jerusalem also conspired against him (18:18) and beat him and put him in stocks (20:1-3). Released, he was assaulted and nearly lost his life (ch. 26). Because of his prophecy of the victory of the Chaldeans, the princes of Judah labeled him a traitor, put him in prison, and appealed to Zedekiah to put him to death (37:11-38:6). When Zedekiah delivered him into their hands, they put him into a slimy cistern, from which he was rescued by an Ethiopian, Ebed-melech (38:7-13)” (Dunn).
Jeremiah though was resistant to intimidation and none of that which he suffered effected his desire to serve Almighty God. As he said in Jeremiah 20:9: “Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak anymore in his name. But his 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.”
As with the other prophets, Christ is a prominent theme through the book, Jeremiah 23:1-8 being a prime example. Here Christ is pictured as “the coming Shepherd and the righteous Branch who ‘shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS’ (23:5-6)” (Wilkinson and Boa).
Jeremiah’s prophetic work is of great value to the Christian if only he/she would learn from him and if only the world would learn from Judah’s mistake and misfortune.