Prophet Jeremiah

​Background of prophet Jeremiah  

a) Political background

• Prophet Jeremiah started his prophetic ministry during the reign of King Josiah.
• On his 40 years of prophecy, covered the reign of King Josiah, jehoahaz, jehoiakim and Zedekiah the last king of Judah.
• The kingdom of Judah was experiencing political instability due to weak rulers.
• Egypt started to control Judah up to when they were defeated by Babylonians and Judah became a vassal stating to rise.
• Judah was invaded by Babylonians and 10,000 men were deported into exile.
• The temple was destroyed thus bringing to an end to the kingdom of Judah.

b) Social background

The people of Judah has broken the social demands of the covenant in the following ways

• Bribery and corruption were widely practiced especially in the law courts.
• High sexual immorality.
• The innocent were murdered.
• False prophet and priest told lies.
• Dishonesty.
• The ruling oppressed the poor.

c) Religious background

Jeremiah prophesied at the time when the religious situation in Judah had deteriorated.

• People had turned to worship other gods.
• Hypocrisy was highly practiced.
• Human sacrifices were offered to gods.
• Worship was centered in the temple of Jerusalem.
• Divination and magic’s were practiced.
• King Josiah attempt to calm out religious reforms had failed.
• There were insincere sacrifices.
• False security in the temple.
• People ignored the teachings of the prophet of Yahweh.
• There was no single righteous person to be found.

​Personal life and the call of Jeremiah     

1.      Personal life to Jeremiah      

• Jeremiah was born in Anathoth village of Jerusalem.
• He was the son of the Hilkiah, descended from a priestly family but he was never a priest.
• He had deep knowledge of the Law of Moses and the teachings of the earlier prophets.
• He was called by God to be a prophet while he was a still young man.
• He was commanded by God not to marry or participate in any social functions.
• His message was mainly on the restoration of the covenant way of life through repentance of sins.
• Jeremiah suffered rejection and opposition from his people.

2.      The call of Jeremiah         

• Jeremiah narrates of his own experience in which God spoke to him in a personal and direct way.
• God told him he had chosen him since he was born to go to all nations and proclaims God’s message.
• Jeremiah was hesitant and said he did not know how to speak.
• God told him not to fear for he would be with him and protect him.
• God touched Jeremiah’s mouth and put a word to his mouth.
• Jeremiah’s prophetic mission would involve God’s judgement on Judah because of her sinful ways.

​The vision Jeremiah saw during his call

i.  A branch of the almond tree        

• Symbolized that God as king was watching over the fulfillment of his word.

ii. A boiling pot tilting in the north  

• Symbolized that God would use nations from north to destroy Judah. 

​The evils condemned by prophet Jeremiah 

a)     Necromancy

• Jeremiah condemned the acts of divination magic and sorcery. He warned King Zedekiah against listening to diviners, mediums and soothsayers who advised them to rebel against Babylonians.

b)     Deception    

• Priests who preached lies to people and did not tell them the truth about God’s judgement.
• He also condemned people who cheated others that they were friends but planned evil behind their backs.

c)      Idolatry   
Jeremiah condemned idolatry which involved

• Building altars for idol gods.
• Keeping idol images in the temple of Yahweh.
• Offering human sacrifices.
• Prophesying in the name of Baal.
• Practicing temple prostitution.

d)     Human sacrifice     

• Jeremiah condemned human sacrifice which the Israelites had borrowed from the Baal regions.
• Human sacrifice were carried out in the valley of Ben hinnon

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OUTLINE SEVEN REASONS WHY JEREMIAH CONDEMNED HUMAN SACRIFICES

• ​It was an act of idolatry which is against the second commandment
• It indicated the infidelity of the Israelites to their one true God
• It demonstrated Israel’s disrespect for the sacred gift of life
• Showed lack of knowledge of the true nature of God
• It defiled the land given to the Israel by God by spilling innocent blood
• Showed lack of love for one another/brotherhood
• It would lead them to severe punishment/provoked God’s anger
• Broke the 6th commandment – not to kill

​The temple sermon     

• The sermon of the temple was delivered by Jeremiah at the court of the court to address the worshippers.
• Jeremiah told the worshippers to reform their ways and deeds so that God would remain with them in the temple.
• He warned them against the false sense of security in the temple.
• He told the worshippers that God would remain with them in the temple if they do the following;
• If they stop stealing.
• Stopped adultery.
• Stop worshipping idols.
• Stopped murdering innocent people.
• Oppression of the aliens, orphans and windows.
• Jeremiah warned them that god would destroy the temple the way he had done to the shrine at Shiloh.
• He accused them of refusing to heed the teachings of God’s prophet
• Jeremiah foretold about God’s judgement and punishment when many people would lose their lives and their corpses 

​Jeremiah's teachings on judgement and punishment 

1. Judgement and punishment

a)     Causes of judgement and punishment

• People failure to take heed to the message of God.
• Defiling the holy places.
• Human sacrifices.
• Rulers and scribes leading people away from the covenant way of God. 
• Worshiping Yahweh using foreign religious rituals.
• Priests and prophet spoke lies.
• Failure by Israelites to repent their sins.
• Oppression of the poor by the rich people.
• Worshiping idols and heavenly bodies.
• Practicing divination and witchcraft.     

b)     Forms of punishment to Judah  

• God would use foreign country from the north to invade Judah
• God would destroy Jerusalem fire contrary to the beliefs and expectations of the people.
• Not even fasting and offering sacrifices would make God to intervene.
• There would be drought which would bring suffering to human beings.
• There would be severe drought.
• Bones of leaders would be exhumed.
• Judah would be attacked by her enemies
• People would be taken to exile.

c)      Forms of punishment for Judah
The people of Judah experienced God’s punishment in the following ways;

• The sons of King Zedekiah were killed in his presence.
•  People left in the city were taken to the exile.
• All the government officials were killed.
• Houses of the kings and those of the people were set on the fire.
• The Babylonians looted the city and the temple of everything valuable.
• The fields and vineyards of the rich, who had gone into exile, were given to the poor by Babylonians.
• The temple and the wall of Jerusalem were destroyed.
• The city of Jerusalem came under the rule of Babylon.

2. Symbolic acts related to judgement and punishments

a)     The waist cloth

• Jeremiah was instructed by God to buy a waist cloth to wear it.
• He was to hide it in crevices of rocks in the Euphrates.
• When he retrieved the cloth, it was ruined.
• The waist cloth symbolized Judah and Israel who had held a position of honour and praised.
• The ruined waist cloth reflects the state of idolatry in Israel; this meant that God had already passed his judgement on them.

b)     The earthen flask

• Jeremiah bought earthen flask for carrying water, he was to empty out the contents of the flask and break it in the presence of the elders and senior priests.
• The marching of the flask symbolized the destruction of Judah.
• The city of Jerusalem, the royal place and ordinary settlement would be destroyed.

c)      The potter and his clay       

• Jeremiah was instructed to go a potter’s house where he observed a potter moulding clay into pots
• He observed that, whenever the pot had defects the potter mould another pot.
• The potter and his clay symbolized the relationship between God and his people.
• That meant that God would destroy and rebuild the nation.
• God would raise new nation after the destruction.

d)     The wooden ox yoke    

• Jeremiah put a yoke in his neck and walked around with it like an oxen.
• This act symbolized the burden that would be felt in the punishment that the people would suffer.
•  He affirmed that the people would be slaves in exiles as Gods punishment.
• It also symbolized the need for the king to the surrender to the powers of Babylon so that they would be restored back and treated

e)     The vision of the two basket of figs

• Good fruits symbolized the exiles that were to be protected and restored back to their land and be made God’s people.
• The bad fruits symbolized the king of Judah and people who went to exile; time would come when they would be destroyed completely.

f)       Jeremiah’s life

• Jeremiah was commanded by God to neither to marry nor to have a family. This meant that punishment would disrupt the normal family life.
• He was prohibited from entering into a house of mourning meaning that God had completely withdrawn his blessings, love and pity for his people.
• Jeremiah was also restricted from entering a house of feast. This symbolized that time for feasting and happiness in Judah was over.

3. The fall of Jerusalem and the exile of the people of Judah

• Jerusalem was attacked and invaded by Babylon during the reign of King Zedekiah.
•  The Babylon siege of Jerusalem took 30 months
• The starved army of Judah became too weak and was smashed by the strong Babylonians.
• Zedekiah had not yet given hope of life.
• The city was looted, houses burned, the temple and its wall destroyed.
• The land and the city including the vineyards and the fields were given to the poor who remained in Judah.
• Nebuchadnezzar ordered for the killing of the sons of Zedekiah and his government officials.
• Egypt did not assist and the city was surrounded and weakened by the long and merciless siege.
• Zedekiah was blinded, frog matched and dragged in humiliation and taken to exile in Babylon.

Jeremiah’s teaching on suffering and hope 

1) Jeremiah suffering and lamentation

a)     The plot against Jeremiah’s life   

• The people of Jeremiah’s home town plotted to kill him, Jeremiah pleaded God to avenge for him and God promised to punish them
• Jeremiah lamented why God allowed the wicked to prosper, God encouraged him to stand firm and be ready for even more sufferings.

b)     Jeremiah’s torture by pashur

• Pashur the priest rejected Jeremiah’s prophecy on punishment and had him arrested, beaten locked up and then chased away from the gates of the gates of the temple.
• When Jeremiah was freed he did not soften his message, he pronounced punishment for pashur’s family and the people of Judah who will be exiled in Babylon.    

c)      Jeremiah arrest and trial

• Jeremiah was seized by the prophets and priests when he prophesied destruction.
• He was brought before the prices and the people where he was accused of blasphemy which carried a death sentence.
• He defended himself by declaring that the message spoken was from God and not his own.
• Sentencing him to death would only bring guilt to himself for killing the innocent blood.
• The princess and the people were convicted that the message was from God. His accusers had failed to prove that he was guilty and blasphemy and he was set free.

d)     Jeremiah’s lament about his isolation        

• He was filled with despair and felt that the work he had done was futile.
• God challenged him to repent for thinking that he had been abandoned if he was to continue to be God’s prophet.

e)     Jeremiah’s imprisonment  

• Jeremiah was arrested and accused of treason for insisting that Babylonians will return to attack the city and he was deserting his own people to join the enemies.
• The princes beat him and demanded for his exaction.
• He was put in underground cell for many days.
• Jeremiah pleaded to be released from the dungeon but the king was afraid of his advisers.
• He was put in the filthy cistern to ensure that he died but he was rescued by the ebedmelech an official of the king who returned him to the guardroom of the palace.

​The symbolic acts related to hope and restoration

a)     Two baskets of figs

• The good figs symbolized the people who submitted to the Babylonians and went into the exiles.
• God was watching over them and would preserve them as remnant and restore them back to their land.
• The bad figs symbolized those who refused to go and they would be punished.

b)     The wooden ox yoke

• This symbolized the perseverance of the Jews in the exile in the Babylon after a period of the exile, God would break the Babylonians yoke in the exile and they would be restored back to their land.

c)      The letter to the exiles

• Jeremiah wrote a letter to the exiles to counteract against false prophecies of speedy return to their land.
• Jeremiah encouraged them as follows;
• They should construct settlements and settle down.
• Marry and raise families.
• Promote the welfare of the masters.
• Carry out agricultural activities.
• God would answer their prayers.
• Their restoration would be after seventy years.
• Yahweh was still accessible to them even in Babylon.

d)     Jeremiah purchases land

• Jeremiah purchased a piece of land from his cousin hanamel.
•  This signified his faith in God’s promises of restoration to his people; Jeremiah had the title deed sealed by the Baruch.

​Jeremiah prophecy of the new covenant 

• God’s law would be written in people’s heart.
• The Israelites would brought back to their land from the exile
• God would restore peace and security in the land and the city of Jerusalem.
• There would be justice and righteousness in the land of Israel.
• The covenant would be initiated by God and everybody is expected to respond in faith.
•  The restored community would be ruled by an everlasting and righteous king from the house of David.
• The covenant would not be broken
• It would bring into being a new covenant with Yahweh.
•  There would be forgiveness of sins.
• There would be individual responsibilities.
• The Israelites would have personal knowledge with God.

​Relating the teachings and prophecies of Jeremiah to the New Testament and Christian life today       

1.      Hypocrisy in worship

• Jeremiah condemned hypocritical worship and Jesus also condemned the same in the New Testament.

2.      Jeremiah’s call for repentance

• Jeremiah lamented about sins of the people of Judah and called upon them too repents God’s judgement and punishment. 

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