AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH (Part I)

Jeremiah’s Call

In the introductions to the book of Isaiah, I said a couple of things about the prophets. This generation has a plethora of ministers under various titles, most of which are biblical and therefore lay and unsuspecting believers blindly follow whoever declares himself a minister and attaches a title to themselves.

I thank God for two reasons; the first is that personally am a very inquisitive person and ever since I met Jesus in my life, I have been in the business of questioning everything. I have questioned everyone including myself. It is both a good and bad thing. It is good because you ain’t easily swayed away like chaff, and bad because once not properly balanced with belief, you become a constant cynic. It, therefore, requires the Grace of God to live this life.

The second thing the Lord blessed me with is that when I became a minister of the Gospel, the Lord blessed me with a very inquisitive congregation and sometime back I had to debate with two of them about why I address myself as ‘Priest’. In my defence, I told them I address myself as a priest because that is what the Bible calls people who do what I do.

I am a priest not in the sense of Judaism that which is hereditary (Exodus 28:1-3) and not in that of Jesus Christ sense which is perfect (Hebrews 7:23-28; 9:11-14; 10:10-14) but a priest in the sense of 1Peter 2:9. This makes me distinguished in the non-believers world but equal to fellow believers who do what I do. I was called, commissioned and anointed for this purpose just as Jeremiah was 1:5. He was called to be a priest. He was called to stand in the gap.

Priest, Prophet and Poet

So why am I saying all this? It is because we are in the book of Jeremiah, generally known as a prophet Jeremiah. According to Jeremiah 1:1, this man was a son to a priest (Priests marry and have children, biblical priests are not celibates) and they stayed in Anathoth, the city of priests. So he was a priest by birth, (his father Hilkiah was a priest in King Josiah’s days 2Kings 22:8) and born in the city of priests.

A priest is one who perpetually stands between God and people. He/she is an intermediary; he represents the position of God in his sociology and circumstance. This priesthood could be exercised through various assignments, capabilities and divine endowments as a man is granted by God. A priest can be a teacher (as I am), a saviour like Jesus of Nazareth was or a prophet like Jeremiah was.

Jeremiah was commissioned to prophesy but his call as a priest (intermediary) was since his birth (Jeremiah 1:5).  Jeremiah is known and occasionally mentioned throughout the Old Testament as a prophet who delivered God’s message to his people (Daniel 9:2; Ezra 1:1; 2Chronicles 35:25; 36:12, 21, 22). In the New Testament, Jeremiah is known as Jeremiah the prophet (Matthew 2:17; 16:14; 27:9).

As a prophet, he ministered when the Northern Kingdom had been long demolished and the southern Kingdom was in its last days at the verge of demise too. Historians tell us that his ministry began in 627 BC and ended sometime around 582 BC with his prophecy to the Jews who fled to Egypt (Jeremiah 44:1). The southern kingdom of Judah fell during Jeremiah’s prophetic ministry (586 BC), after constant blows from foreign powers; first Assyria and Egypt, and then by their eventual conquerors, Babylon.

The prophetic ministry of Jeremiah was a controversial one to the existing status quo. He was opposed to four audiences of his time. He rebuked the politics and political leaders of then (Jeremiah 36), he rebuked the Israelites (Jeremiah 5:1-28; 8:6; 22:17), he rebuked fellow Prophets (Jeremiah 23:9-40; 28:1-17) and he rebuked the nations (Jeremiah 46–51). The prophet and his message were very unpopular and he was the most persecuted prophet due to his message. He was exiled to Egypt and arrested several times due to his rebukes and doom-oriented predictions on the nation (Jeremiah 20–22; 24–29; 32; 34–45; 52)

The delivery method of Prophet Jeremiah message was in poetic form. The prophet was a poet and the book is largely in poetic form. He almost sang or rapped his messages and due to the bitterness and rebuke in his message, that is why the prophet has been known as the ‘weeping prophet’. The Prophet was a poet and had a scribe by the name Baruch Ben Neriah who helped him write his works which include 1&2 Kings, Jeremiah and Lamentations.

The poetic portions of the book of Jeremiah are: chapters 2-5:26-29; chapters 7-19; chapters 46-51 and the book of lamentations. Poetry is not an exclusive method to this prophet but it is what we see through all the Jewish wisdom literature.

Book Outline

The book is the third-largest book in the whole Bible and second largest in the prophetic section. Jeremiah is one of the major prophets (major due to the size of his book). He was born during the reign of Manasseh (longest regime) who killed Isaiah, and his ministry began during the reign of Josiah, through Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah during the exile period.  Here is how the book can be broken down:

• Chapters 1-24: Prophet’s call, then launch of internal accusations and warnings to Israel.
• Chapters 25-45: Prophets declares the inevitable Judgment from God and a conditioned Hope to Israel.
• Chapters 46-51: The Prophet now turns to all other nations (as represented in the heathen Assyria, Egypt and majorly Babylon) and declare an impending Judgment and a conditional Hope as well.
• Chapter 52: Destruction in the form of exile is emphasized (2Kings 25). Nevertheless ‘hope’ is signaled as well.

Throughout the book, JUDGEMENT and HOPE are almost two sides of the same coin. However, the coin is flipped based on the action and reaction of the people (Israel and the nations). It is important to note that the narrative structure of the book has Judgment and Hope as the literal motifs and the issue of the covenant as the underlying leitmotif (Jeremiah 30-33).

Next, I will say a few words about this to ensure we understand the theological importance of this book beyond its time to ours.

God bless you I invoke TRUTH, WISDOM and FAITH (2Tim 2:7)

Priest Isaiah White (+256-793/775 822833 for further inquiries)

iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24)

@Think & Become