Jeremiah, Who Were You?
If you think, “Uggh, the weeping prophet. How depressing,” think again. Jeremiah is fascinating. He’s so much more than a man who needs a box of Kleenex.
This blog post is part of a series on the inspiration for my inspirational fantasy series, The Prophet Chronicles.
We’ve talked about Josiah – how he was crowned at age eight. EIGHT! His dad was a rotten guy. He probably made disastrous choices when it came to marriage. He started following the Lord around age fifteen. Why? He became a godly king. Who or what influenced him. Who would he have listened to?
Jeremiah!
What do we know about Jeremiah?
The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin – Jeremiah 1:1
- Jeremiah was the son of Hilkiah.
Could Jeremiah have been the son of Hilkiah, the high priest? Scholars haven’t reached a consensus, but Abiathar, David’s high priest, was from Anathoth. And Jeremiah had access to the palace. Jeremiah doesn’t come right out and say he was the son of the high priest, but don’t you think he would have clarified if he WASN’T in the high priest’s line?
- Rabbinic tradition says Jeremiah compiled 1 and 2 Kings. How many times does the text say something along the lines of, “You can get all the nitty gritty details in The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel or The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?” Don’t you want to know what we’re missing? But those records were lost in the scattering of Israel and the destruction of Jerusalem. What Jeremiah preserved stands today.
I imagine him poring over scrolls, skipping over the petty land disputes and the mundane transactions to record what the Holy Spirit would have us know today.
…to whom the word of Yahweh came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. – Jeremiah 1:2
- Jeremiah and Josiah were contemporaries.
Jeremiah received his call to prophesy when Josiah was around twenty.
Now the word of Yahweh came to me saying,
“Before I formed you in the innermost parts I knew you,
And before you came out from the womb I set you apart;
I have given you as a prophet to the nations.”
Then I said, “Alas, Lord Yahweh!
Behold, I do not know how to speak
Because I am a youth.”
But Yahweh said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’
Because everywhere I send you, you shall go,
And all that I command you, you shall speak.
Do not be afraid of them,
For I am with you to deliver you,” declares Yahweh. -Jeremiah 1:4-8
- Jeremiah was a youth when he started prophesying.
Jeremiah may have been a year or two younger than Josiah. How kind of God to give a young king a young prophet.
Then Yahweh sent forth His hand and touched my mouth, and Yahweh said to me,
“Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms,
To uproot and to tear down,
To cause to perish and to pull down,
To build and to plant.” – Jeremiah 1:9-10
- The Lord was up close and personal with Jeremiah. He touched Jeremiah’s mouth.
Chad Bird had a great insight. How many times does Jeremiah say, “The Word of the Lord came to me…” What’s the Word of the Lord? Who is the Word of the Lord? From John 1, we know that’s Jesus! Did Jeremiah experience a Christophany when the Word of the Lord came to him? I think so. That blows me away.
- The Lord appointed Jeremiah over nations and kingdoms. He prophesied from Josiah’s reign until the fall of Jerusalem, from around 627 BC till 586 BC.
That huge responsibility came with huge danger. Because his message was unpopular, his life was in danger. But God promised to protect him.
Then I will make you to this people A fortified wall of bronze; And they will fight against you, But they will not prevail against you, For I am with you to save you And deliver you,” declares Yahweh. – Jeremiah 15:20
- Jeremiah was beaten, pursued, imprisoned, and half-starved, but God preserved his life.
He suffered in other ways, as well.
The word of Yahweh also came to me saying, “You shall not take a wife for yourself nor have sons or daughters in this place.” For thus says Yahweh concerning the sons and daughters born in this place and concerning their mothers who bear them and their fathers who beget them in this land: “They will die of deadly diseases; they will not be lamented or buried; they will be as dung on the surface of the ground and come to an end by sword and famine, and their carcasses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth.” – Jeremiah 16:1-4
- This harsh pronouncement was actually mercy.
My heart breaks every time I read Jeremiah 16. To be told as a young man that he wouldn’t have a wife or children must have been devastating. But, because Jeremiah was appointed to prophesy until Jerusalem fell, if he’d had a wife and children, he’d have watched them suffer and die.
When I studied Jeremiah, the phrase, “sword, famine, and pestilence” came up so often, I started marking it with “SF&P” in the margin. Then, as Jerusalem’s destruction drew near, wild beasts got added to the equation – “SFP&W.” So God, in His mercy, protected Jeremiah from the grief of losing his family.
Where does Jeremiah show up in The Prophet Chronicles?
In Daughter of Stone, I give my prophet good friends who become his found family, and in Book Two of the Prophet Chronicles, he’ll teach children and become their spiritual father. And because Yimri couldn’t be a romantic hero, I could make him quirky. He was an absolute delight to write.
He becomes good friends with the king’s sister, and she sketches him. The is how I imagine Jeremiah looking as he
Does Jeremiah capture your heart the way he did mine?
One of the reasons I’m so captivated by Jeremiah’s message is because of the parallels to our own culture. This article from Tabletalk Magazine says it best.
