I have often wondered how I would react to Jeremiah’s preaching week after week from the pulpit of my local Reformed church. Jeremiah’s preaching and prophesying was, at least to our ears, depressing! In an age where we want to be encouraged and empow­ered, where preachers need to be up­lifting and upbeat, Jeremiahs preaching would go down like the proverbial lead balloon. Jeremiah was about as popular in his time as he would be now – out of favour!

Maybe we are not so much different from the ancient covenant people after all! It is little wonder that Jeremiah’s prophecy isn’t one of the first books we read when we open our Bibles.

I think we will see as we look at Jer­emiah himself that while Jeremiah was not preaching a popular message, he was preaching the message of the Lord nonetheless. This did not make him the most sought-after preacher. He was beaten, put in stocks, thrown in prison, starved, and thrown in a muddy disused well; all because he had a burden to tell God’s people God’s Word.

Let’s look at Jeremiah the man.

Early Ministry⤒🔗

Jeremiah was called to be a prophet from a very young age, probably when he was still financially dependent on his parents. His family was from the defrocked priestly line of Abiathar (the line that Solomon had removed from the priesthood in 1 Kings 1:28-2:26),¹ and he was born in the small town of Anathoth, about 5kms north of Jerusa­lem. So Jeremiah was born of humble beginnings, but called to be a mighty prophet to Judah and the surround­ing nations.

Jeremiah was a reluctant prophet. Like Moses before him, he tried to excuse himself: “Ah, sovereign Lord ... I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.” (1:6). But God would equip Jeremiah for this great and difficult task of prophesy­ing, “...do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you ... I have put my words in your mouth...” (1:8, 9).

Jeremiah began his ministry in the thirteenth year of the reign of the godly king, Josiah (2 Chronicles 34). One can imagine the glory of this period – for not only for the godly people of the land, but also for Jeremiah. Under his proph­ecy people heard and, at least on the surface, listened. There was a wonderful revival of the worship of the Lord under the reign of King Josiah.

After the death of Josiah, Jeremiah continued to prophecy through the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, the last kings of Judah. During this time the real hearts of the people were exposed. They were a rebellious people that had only an outward formal religion, emptied out with no heart. The temple worship was in full swing but was a mere formality. The people of Judah viewed the temple as a bit of a ‘good luck charm’ as Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 7:3-4 “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.” The people thought that because they had God’s temple in their midst all would be well.

This is what Jeremiah spent his life­time preaching against. He was very blunt about the sins that the people of Judah were committing. “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” (2:13). In their hearts they had rejected God and turned to other means of security. If they did not turn, the Lord promised to destroy Jerusalem and the temple.

Opposition←⤒🔗

This unpopular message made Jeremi­ah a very lonely figure (15:17) causing him doubt and depression. In fact he became so depressed that at one point he exclaimed “Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!” (20:14) “Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame?” (18).

Jeremiah’s God-given message made him unpopular with his prophet col­leagues and the common people, as well as with the authorities. As a result of this, his life was in danger more than once. Even his own hometown plotted against him (11:18-23).

We read a lot about his unpopu­larity with the last king of Jerusalem, Zedekiah. Jeremiah repeatedly warned Zedekiah to surrender to the troops of the Babylonians who were besieging the city. But Zedekiah was a man-pleaser rather than a God-pleaser. He gave in to the ancient opinion polls and tried to hold his ground against the truth of God’s word from Jeremiah. Despite that, Zedekiah sometimes asked if Jeremiah had any new revelations from God. Even in his wickedness and rebellion, Zedeki­ah realized Jeremiah was a true prophet of the Lord.

Despite all this opposition, Jeremi­ah loved the people of Judah. He was called by God to preach destruction because of their wickedness, but he earnestly desired that God would not destroy Judah. He wanted God to deal with the nations that threatened Judah, but not Judah itself – they could never survive if God would punish them the way they deserved. (Jeremiah 10:23-25).

Later Ministry←⤒🔗

As Jeremiah’s ministry and life pro­gressed, the days of the nation became gloomy and dark. Gradually more and more of Judah’s territory was destroyed. Increasingly the people hardened their hearts against the Lord. In the end, Je­rusalem and the temple were destroyed. All the people, save some of the poor, were deported to Babylon.

Even after the Lord destroyed Je­rusalem through the Babylonians, the people did not listen and turn back to him. Jeremiah continued to proclaim God’s message to the people who were left, but they still disobeyed the Lord. When Jeremiah told them not to go to Egypt, they did anyway and forcefully took him along.

The last recorded message of Jeremi­ah was the release of Jehoiachin from prison, which would mean that he was between 85 and 90 years old.²

Success in Ministry?←⤒🔗

If there was ever a prophet who saw little success in his ministry, it was Jeremiah. There are only two recorded converts in Jeremiah’s ministry: Baruch his friend and scribe, and Ebed-Melech, an Ethio­pian eunuch who served the king (Jere­miah 17: 7-13). These are the only two who we know responded to Jeremiah’s message of a change of life and heart.

Did this discourage Jeremiah? At times it did, but Jeremiah could not stop his prophetic ministry. He felt ridiculed as people insulted him whenever he spoke God’s Word. But he could not stop. He could not be silent, for “...(God’s) word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed I cannot.” (Jeremiah 20:9)

A Spiritual Giant?←⤒🔗

Jeremiah is often referred to as the “weeping prophet” but let that not cloud your vision of a tough Jeremiah. Jeremi­ah had a deep love for his people, the people of Judah. He wept over them and their sin and the knowledge that God would destroy them for their sin. But as one commentator puts it, “Jer­emiah was a determined, dedicated, longsuffering, and visionary follower of God. His courage and stamina serve as examples to even the most faithful of all God’s embattled servants.”³

Of course that strength was not a natural characteristic. He was upheld, supported and encouraged by the Lord.

However, that does not mean that he always felt wonderfully helped and supported by the Lord. He had his valleys of distress and hardship just like we do. Sometimes we place human beings on a spiritual pedestal and think they don’t struggle like we do. Jeremiah was, like all of us, a man with periods of doubt. He also struggled to see God’s work in his life. At times he also wondered what the Lord was doing. In Jeremiah 12 we hear his anguished plea, “...Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?” (Jeremiah 12:1) He continues: “You have planted them, and they have taken root...” and, “...you are always on their lips but far from their hearts.” (Jeremiah 12:2).

His enemies had also ridiculed him and thrown him in prison. Even during his latter ministry there was no great revival and turning to the Lord, though he kept proclaiming God’s Word. I think we would all forgive him for wondering what God was doing.

But God reminds Jeremiah, as he does all of us, that justice will be done. God’s ways are always right. Things might not go the way we think they should, but in God’s time and in God’s way, his will be done.

Conclusion←⤒🔗

I hope that from this short account of Jeremiah’s life that we can see why he was the kind of prophet he was. God uses all kinds of people to proclaim his word. The Bible has John, the ‘prophet of love’, Moses, the ‘prophet of the law’, and Jeremiah, the ‘weeping prophet.’ Through all of them God has brought us his Word.

So, yes, on the surface Jeremiah’s message might have been a bit “depress­ing”, but it is the Word of the Lord. It might not on the surface be uplifting and upbeat, but I trust that as you study Jeremiah’s prophecies you will see it as it is, the Word of the Lord. Surely then we will see it is true, real, and through Christ, applicable to our lives.