Jeremiah was the prophet who predicted and witnessed perhaps the worst tragedy in ancient Jewish history—on a scale with the Holocaust of the 1940s.
Israel erased from world map
Jeremiah, a man perhaps in his mid-50s, watched helplessly as Babylonian invaders from what is now Iraq erased his nation from the map. These invaders executed Judah’s government and religious leaders. Then they deported Jewish survivors from the Promised Land, exiling them to what is now Iraq.
The prophet wrote that he was “just a young boy” (Jeremiah 1:6) when God called him to become a prophet. He may have been as young as just 13, when Jewish boys began taking on adult responsibilities.
He spent about the next 40 years warning the kings and people of Judah that if they didn’t shape up, God would ship them out.
Jeremiah told them to quit worshiping idols and to start showing a sense of justice and mercy to the most vulnerable people among them: widows, orphans, and immigrants.
Roleplay prophecy
Jeremiah acted out some of his prophecies.
- He hid a cloth belt outside and left it there until it started to fall apart. Then he showed off the rag and quoted God: “Just as Jeremiah’s waistband became ruined, I will ruin the reputation of Judah and destroy the pride of Jerusalem” (13:9).
- He didn’t get married. He predicted, “Children and parents will die by swords and famine….Their dead bodies will feed the birds and wild animals” (16:4).
- He bought a clay jar and broke it in front of a crowd. Then he quoted God: “I’ll break this city and its people just like you break a clay jar. After that, there’ll be no picking up the pieces” (19:11).
When Jerusalem fell
Judah reached the point of no return, when it was too late to save the nation.
Babylonian invaders wiped out the walled cities of Judah, leaving Jerusalem for last. They freed Jeremiah because he had advised Judah’s King Zedekiah to surrender.
Babylonians appointed a local man as their approved governor of what was new the Babylonian province of Judah. All that remained of the Judeans were the poorest of the poor, whom the Babylonians left to tend the crops and livestock.
Murder and escape to Egypt
A member of the royal family who survived the war, probably by hiding, assassinated the governor. He may have hoped to become the next king. But the core population feared Babylon’s retaliation, so they fled to Egypt.
Jeremiah warned that if they went there, they would die in that foreign land from the sword, starvation, and disease. They went anyhow and forced Jeremiah to go with them.
Jeremiah is never heard from again.
Writer
“A professional writer, a scribe named Baruch son of Neriah, helped Jeremiah with the project. Jeremiah dictated the content, and Baruch wrote the words on a scroll. He wrote down all the words God spoke to Jeremiah” (Jeremiah 36:4).
King Zedekiah burned the first copy. He didn’t approve of Jeremiah’s predictions.
Jeremiah dictated an expanded edition of the prophecies, which scholars say is the Bible book of Jeremiah we read today.
Jewish tradition credits him with writing the anonymous book of Lamentations, a book about the suffering of the Jewish people. Second Chronicles 35:25 reports that he wrote some songs of lament compiled into the Book of Laments, possibly an early name for Lamentations.
Timeline
Jeremiah served as one of Judah’s prophets for about 40 years, spanning the reigns of five kings: Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, the last king of Judah. Jeremiah may have served alongside the prophet Habakkuk for a time.
Location
Jeremiah grew up in the town of Anathoth, about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) northeast of the Jerusalem Temple. Jerusalem seems to have served as his base of operations, but he reportedly traveled throughout the kingdom of Judah, in what is now southern Israel and Palestinian Territory.
