2.01. Chapter 1 - Family and Calling

Chapter 1 - Family and Calling 1. Family (Jeremiah 1:1)

Although known as a prophet, Jeremiah belonged to the family of “the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin.” As far as we know, he never acted as a priest. His village of Anathoth, a little over three miles northeast of Jerusalem, had been given to the priests, descendants of Aaron, of the family of the Kohathites (Joshua 21:18; 1 Chronicles 6:60). Abiathar the priest was from Anathoth (1 Kings 2:26). In Zerubbabel’s time the village was repeopled by 128 of its inhabitants who had returned from captivity as a result of the edict of Cyrus, king of Persia. Jeremiah, although a Levite, was regarded as a Benjaminite since his birthplace lay in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin.

He was the son of Hilkijah. Was his father the high priest frequently mentioned during the reign of Josiah, or was he another Hilkijah? We do not know for sure. Let us remember, however, the following points about Hilkijah the high priest. In 1 Chronicles 6:13 he is named in the list of Aaron’s descendants. Gemariah his son is often mentioned by Jeremiah (for instance, in Jeremiah 29:3). Ezra, the scribe, was one of his descendants.

Hilkijah is especially known for having, along with Shaphan, recovered the book of the Law. In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, five years after Jeremiah began to prophesy, Hilkijah and Shaphan had collected the money gathered by the people and brought into the house of Jehovah to pay for the work performed on the temple. On this occasion the high priest finds the book of the Law in the house of Jehovah (2 Kings 22:3-8). Josiah, very impressed after hearing the words of the book, sends Hilkijah, Shaphan, and some others to Huldah the prophetess to receive from her mouth the word of the Lord in this respect. Huldah can only confirm the chastisements announced in the book toward the people that were abandoning God. However, the king humbled himself and, as a result, the judgment was suspended during the rest of his life.

Josiah took deeply to heart every instruction of the Scriptures, especially those of Deuteronomy. He read to the people “all the words of the book of the covenant” (2 Kings 23:1-31). Then he commanded that all the vessels that had been gathered and used for idolatrous purposes be brought out of the temple and burned (2 Kings 23:4). He abolished the high places in the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem. He ordered that the Asherah be brought out from the house of Jehovah and burned at the torrent Kidron. He abolished institutionalized prostitution in the temple, and tore down the houses used for this purpose. Gradually, he purified the entire country. He even carried out the prophecy of the man of God who was sent to Bethel in the time of King Jeroboam (1 Kings 13:1-34) to announce that the bones of the priests of the high places would be burned on an altar.

Once the country had been purified, Josiah commanded that the Passover be held in Jerusalem. The worship of God was restored and everything pertaining to idolatry and the occult was destroyed, in order to “perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkijah the priest had found in the house of Jehovah.”

Let us focus our attention once again on Jeremiah. Whether or not his father actually was the high priest, there is no doubt that he feared the Lord and His Word. On the other hand, Jeremiah’s family did not accept his prophecy, for we read, “Even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee, even they have cried aloud after thee” (Jeremiah 12:6). Jeremiah never married in accordance with God’s command: “You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place” (Jeremiah 16:2).

Disgraced by his brethren, Jeremiah led a solitary life, having neither wife nor children. This loneliness was a heavy burden for him. However, he occasionally enjoyed the support of friends who stood up for him. In all this he is a type of the One who was to come later - the humble, solitary Man who was rejected by His brethren in spite of all the grace he displayed.

2. Background (Jeremiah 1:2-3)

Jeremiah prophesied in Jerusalem and Judah during the 41 year period from 629 to 588 BC. The word came to him “in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign ... also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah . . . until the carrying away of Jerusalem captive.” After the final deportation, he continued his service in relative obscurity among the poor of the country whom Nebuchadnezzar had left. Subsequently he followed into Egypt the remnant of the people who took refuge in that country. Very probably he died there after having given his last known prophecy (Jeremiah 44:1-30).

Thus Jeremiah witnessed the entire sad history of the last kings of Judah.

After the death of Josiah, three of his sons and one of his grandsons ascended to the throne. First Jehoahaz, his third son, reigned for three months. Afterwards Jehoiakim, Josiah’s eldest son, occupied the throne for eleven years. Jehoiakim’s eighteen year-old son, Jehoiachin (also called Jeconiah) reigned for three months and ten days. Zedekiah, the last son of Josiah, at the age of 21 replaced his nephew on the throne and reigned eleven years. Among the descendants of Jehoiachin, the grandson of Josiah, we find a Shealtiel (Ezra 3:2; Haggai 2:2) or Salathiel (Matthew 1:12). This man was the father or grandfather of Zerubbabel, governor of Israel at the time of the return from captivity in accordance with the edict of Cyrus (Ezra 1:1-11 & Ezra 2:1-70).

JOSIAH

JEHOAHAZ third son

(3 months)

JEHOIAKIM

(eldest son)

(11 years)

ZEDEKIAH youngest son

(11 years)

JEHOIACHIN (JECONIAH) (3months, 10 days)

SHEALTIEL

ZERUBBABEL

Josiah reigned thirty-one years. It was during the thirteenth year of his reign that Jeremiah began to prophesy. The following eighteen years were a relatively easy period in the prophet’s life. The degree to which he felt the king’s death is well expressed in 2 Chronicles 35:25, “And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah.” These lamentations have not been kept for us. *

After Josiah, Judah sank into religious and political decadence. None of the descendants of this pious king feared the Lord. Invasions from the north increased in number. Three consecutive times the enemy looted the country and returned to Babylon with their captives and their treasures, including the vessels of the house of Jehovah (2 Chronicles 36:7). The departure of these vessels marks the beginning of the “time of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24). Daniel and his companions were carried away into captivity at that time. (Daniel 1:1-2,Daniel 1:6).

Habakkuk and Zephaniah prophesied in Judah during Jeremiah’s time. Daniel and Ezekiel, also prophets during this time, ministered in Babylon. In His grace, God was still speaking to His people despite their accumulated sins and hardened hearts. But they did not pay attention.

3. Calling (Jeremiah 1:9-10)

What a memorable day in the life of Jeremiah when God spoke to him, establishing him as a prophet! The calling of Isaiah had been different. Seeing the Lord on His throne in the midst of Seraphim proclaiming His holiness, Isaiah had cried, “Woe is me, for I am undone!” But the glowing coal taken from the altar where the victim had been burned provided propitiation for his sins. Then he could answer the Lord’s call: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” with the words, “Here am I! Send me.” (Isaiah 6:1-8)

Nothing like this happened to Jeremiah. God simply spoke to him in his early youth declaring in a few precise statements why He chose to send him: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:4-10). This is God’s foreknowledge. For us it is connected with His election before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:2; Ephesians 1:4). The motives of this great plan are not revealed to us. But to Jeremiah the Lord revealed more, “Before you were born I sanctified you.” Like the apostle Paul, Jeremiah was set apart from his mother’s womb (see Galatians 1:4, Acts 9:15; Acts 22:14). Then God spoke further to him, “I ordained you a prophet to the nations,” and finally “I shall send you.”

These passages seem to show that from past eternity there has been an election on God’s part. Furthermore, each servant of the Lord receives a definite call. This is followed by training in “the school of God” through various means before the servant is actually engaged in service (see Galatians 2:1).

Jeremiah, still quite young, is frightened at the prospect of this divinely appointed mission. He meekly protests, “Ah, Lord God! Behold I cannot speak, for I am a youth.” You will recall that Moses, when much older, made the same objection when the Lord chose to send him into Egypt (Exodus 4:10). Amos reminds us that he was not the son of a prophet nor a prophet himself, but a simple and poor shepherd. God, however, had taken him while he was tending the flock, and had said to him, “Go, prophesy unto my people Israel” (Amos 7:14-15). Timothy also was young and timid; nevertheless the apostle wanted Timothy to accompany him (Acts 16:3).

Isn’t it true that we make similar objections? Sometimes we feel too young or too ignorant to pray in the presence of others. Often, in fellowship at the Lord’s Table, we feel too timid to pray in the assembly! The years go by and we still feel too young or perhaps too inadequate, and we remain silent until middle age and finally old age arrives! And what about the outward testimony? How often we feel our own inadequacy to speak of the Lord and to let the testimony of His grace shine! We forget that when the Lord invites us to serve in this way, there are resources in Himself sufficient to enable us to respond to His invitation. When the Lord miraculously fed the crowd in the desert, He commanded His disciples, “Give ye them to eat.” Hearing this order of the Lord’s, the disciples could not understand how five loaves and two fishes could possibly feed so many people. But what did Jesus say? “Bring them here to me.” Then He multiplied the meager resources of the disciples and not only satisfied the entire crowd, but had a number of baskets still left over. As for Jeremiah, the Lord deals with him in the time of his weakness by giving him words of encouragement as well as words of promise. First he gives him the definite order, “You shall go” (Jeremiah 1:7). He had spoken similarly to Gideon (who thought he was the least in his father’s house) with the words, “Go in this might of yours” (Jude 1:6: Jude 1:14). God says further to Jeremiah, “Whatever I command you, you shall speak,” Then, calming his mind still further He states, “I am with you to deliver you.” This same voice which encouraged Jeremiah and Gideon was heard by the great apostle Paul at Corinth, having arrived there “In weakness, in fear, and in much trembling” (1 Corinthians 2:3). It spoke to him in a night vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you” (Acts 18:9-10).

Jeremiah was not to speak on the basis of what he had in himself, God put forth His hand and touched the young man’s mouth saying, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.” God would reveal things to him which he must faithfully transmit to others. As for us, we should neither expect nor desire revelations, since we posses the entire Scripture which is “profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction.” In his last words to Timothy, the apostle said, “Proclaim the word; be urgent in season and out of season, convict, rebuke, encourage.”

What a contrasting message was to be preached by Jeremiah: “See, I have this day set you ... to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down.” It was the tragic element of his life to constantly prophesy judgment, destruction and captivity. In some pages of his book, it is true, Jeremiah forecasts a blessing, but this is far off in the future (Jeremiah 31:28). The essential part of his message consists of warning the people about the unavoidable judgments which they will endure because of their proud and obstinate hearts. But our situation as well as our message is much different. “How beautiful are the feet of them that announce glad tidings of peace, of them that announce glad tidings of good things” (Romans 10:15). Isaiah had had a vision of it, that is, of the feet of Him who announces glad tidings of peace (Isaiah 52:7). From that time on, in the steps of the Lord Jesus, how many messengers have been sent to proclaim the same gospel; and, to warn sinners of the dangers threatening them (Hebrews 2:3). Jesus entrusted to His disciples and to us after them, the mission to preach in His name “repentance and remission of sins” (Luke 24:47). When for the first time Peter preached to the nations, he presented Jesus as Judge of living and dead; and concluded by saying, “Whoever believes in Him receives remission of sins” (Acts 10:43). Back in Jerusalem Peter became the object of criticism on the part of the brethren “of the circumcision” who contended with him saying, “You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!” The apostle explained how he was led by the Lord. After hearing Peter out, they could only keep silent and conclude that “Then indeed God has to the nations also granted repentance to life.” In his ministry Paul proclaimed the same message, “testifying to both Jews and Greeks repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). A Christian preaching the gospel is expected to warn his hearers of the judgment coming to those who refuse the good tidings. His main purpose, however, is to present these tidings of grace, whereas Jeremiah’s task was primarily to announce judgment and destruction. In order to encourage His servant, the Lord shows him the rod of an almond tree, a tree which blossoms just about in the middle of winter. In the Hebrew language this tree is called the “watchful” or “vigilant” tree. It reminds us of God who watches over His Word and causes it to be proclaimed “early,” as is suggested by the word “arise” so frequently used in the book of Jeremiah. The almond tree reminds us also of Aaron’s staff, a dead stick which in one night “had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms” (Numbers 17:1-13). This is a type of the living power which was in Christ and which raised him from the dead. It is the same power which operates in every believer and causes him to pass from death to life (Ephesians 1:19-20) The vision of the almond tree was encouraging, whereas that of the seething pot filled the prophet with dismay. This “seething pot” (“the face of which is from the north”) was about to tip over and spill its contents on the ground. It typified calamity coming from the kingdoms of the north (i.e., Syria and Babylon) and about to break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. So imminent was the judgment that the prophet was compelled to deliver his message faithfully, however painful it was to him. The moment comes for the young man to begin his mission. “Therefore prepare yourself and arise, and speak to them” (Jeremiah 1:17). So that he might not be frightened, God presents to him three objects designed to give him confidence: a strong city, an iron pillar, and brazen walls. But He makes it clear to Jeremiah that He is imparting boldness to him, not in favor of the land and of its princes, but “against” the kings of Judah, the priests, and the people of the land (Jeremiah 1:18). Once more, how different with us! To us is imparted the joy of presenting the gospel not “against” those around us, but in their favor. The Lord renews his promise, “I am with you ... to deliver you.” The people and their rulers will undoubtedly fight against the prophet; persecution and suffering will occur, but “They shall not prevail against you.” This assurance of God’s presence with him encourages the young prophet and gives him boldness to deliver his message. The same promise accompanied Moses the law-giver (Exodus 3:13); Gideon the judge (Judges 6:2); Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the chiefs of the people returned from exile (Haggai 2:4). Likewise, so many others after them, such as Timothy with whom the apostle left this last wish, “The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit” (2 Timothy 4:22).

Thinking Things Through 1. What attitudes toward God were being held by the people of Judah during Jeremiah’s time?

What occurrences during the lifetime of Jeremiah evidenced these attitudes?

How did these things affect Jeremiah?

2. What was Jeremiah’s first response to his call? Do we make the same response to God’s calling?

What should our response be and why?

3. What was the nature of the message Jeremiah preached?

How is this message different from the news we bring to the world today?