Lord came to me thus: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you. “Ah, Lord God!” I said, “I know not how to speak; I am too young.” But the Lord answered me, Say not, “I am too young.” To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak. Have no fear before them, because I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.
– Jeremiah 1: 4-8
JEREMIAH THE PROPHET:
Ancestry: Jeremiah came from a priestly family in Anathoth, a town about 4 miles northeast of Jerusalem. His ancestry was traced to Abiathar, the great-great grandson of Eli and a priest who had been exiled by King Solomon to Anathoth. Jeremiah’s father Helkiah, may have been the one who found the book of Deuteronomy during the repair of the Temple (2 Kings 22: 8). This could have been the reason why Jeremiah was influenced by the book of Deuteronomy.
Politics: The politics of the period shaped the message of Jeremiah. As the last great Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal slipped into old age, opposition against Assyrian power and control began to emerge on all sides. As one consequence of his religious conversion, King Josiah was emboldened to openly repudiate the Assyrian gods. In the Assyrian king’s heyday this rejection would have been treated as treason and cost him his throne. And when Ashurbanipal died in 627 B.C., civil war broke out in the empire and Babylon successfully wrested its independence. This was the same year that Jeremiah received the call to prophesy. In 621 B.C. King Josiah introduced his “Deuteronomic reform (2 Kings 22: 1-23-23: 27)” Both politics and prophecy were seizing the day, each for their own separate purposes.
Ministry: Jeremiah’s ministry began in 627 B.C., and he dealt with three kings. As the Assyrian empire collapsed, Jeremiah announced with much hope the return of the northern tribes who had been carried off into exile some hundred years earlier. This ecstatic note is expressed in Chapters 30-31. Jeremiah also condemned idolatry that was prevalent in Jerusalem (Chapters 2-6). During King Josiah’s Deuteronomic reform, Jeremiah turned silent. He was in favor of its goals but disagreed with the king’s ruthless ways (2 Kings 23: 4-20).
In 600 B.C. Josiah was killed in battle by the Egyptians and was eventually succeeded by his son Jehoiakim. Jeremiah despised him as he was a wily and unprincipled man (Jeremiah 22: 13-19). At this juncture, Babylon had become the world power in place of Assyria and Nebuchadnezzar was king. When Jehoiakim revolted, the Babylonians retaliated ruthlessly by capturing Jerusalem, plundering it, and taking many prominent Israelites into exile. Jehoikaim died in the massacre, and his son, Jehoiachin, along with the prophet Ezekiel, were among the deportees. Jeremiah urged the next king, Zedekiah, to refrain from joining the Egyptian party in another revolt. Zedekiah was weak and easily swayed. He went against Jeremiah’s advice and in July, 587 B.C. the Babylonians stormed Jerusalem and a month later burned it to the ground (2 Kings 25; Jeremiah 52). The Babylonians treated Jeremiah well because he persistently spoke against revolt. They gave him the choice of either living in a palace in Babylon or remaining behind in Judah. The prophet chose the latter (40: 1-6). When the remnant in Jerusalem rejected his advice and fled into Egypt, they dragged the prophet with them (Jeremiah 42: 1-43:7). Jeremiah died in Egypt.
Character: The Book of Jeremiah gives us a vivid portrait of his character. There is the joyful optimism in Chapter 31 when he prophesies the joyful return of the northern tribes from exile, courage in confronting kings in Chapter 37, to honest, painful struggle with God in Chapters 12, 15, and 20, where he appears as petulant and even revengeful. Celibacy was not an easy decision and he felt its loneliness severely (16: 1-4). Paradoxically, it bonded him with the people in their most difficult moments of loss.
THE MESSAGE OF JEREMIAH:
Jeremiah’s message shows up in compassion and prayer as well as in fidelity to a covenant inscribed upon the heart. Let us look at some themes within his message:
The New Covenant: The key passage is found in Chapter 31: 31-34: “The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah… I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts… No longer will they have need to teach their friends and kinsmen how to know the Lord… I will forgive their evil doing and remember their sin no more.” The phrase “the days are coming” had a strong impact on the Jewish community that produced the Dead Sea Scrolls, on Jesus and the New Testament writers, as well as on the early church. Before Jeremiah’s time the Israelites thought mostly in terms of a future fulfillment of promises in a single great day of the Lord. Under Jeremiah’s influence this future “day” began to appear in stages: an initial time of suffering at first; then an in-between period; and finally, the absolute and definite completion of hopes and promises. The in-between period offered consolation to the followers of Jesus when his ministry and especially his passion-resurrection, did not immediately usher in the final age. These events of Jesus’ earthly life initiated the messianic age and led to the “in-between period,” but we still await Christ’s second glorious coming.
Jeremiah’s “new” covenant written upon the heart is closely tied with the Mosaic covenant of Mount Sinai: Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today. (Deuteronomy. 6:4-6). And in the New Testament the old became new within the “coming days” through the death and resurrection of Jesus. This new covenant is commemorated in each Eucharist (Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11: 25).
Sin and Atonement: The prophet suggests that sin inevitably brings its own sorrow: “What fault did your fathers find in me that they withdrew from me, went after empty idols and became empty themselves? (Jeremiah 2: 5” We are changed for good or bad into that which we desire. In chapter 31 Jeremiah draws our attention to another aspect of sin and atonement through the Hebrew word for “chastise” (yasar): “I hear, I hear Ephraim pleading: You chastised me, and I am chastened; I was an untamed calf. If you allow me, I will return, for you are the Lord, my God. I turn in repentance; I have come to myself, I strike my breast; I blush with shame, I bear the disgrace of my youth. Is Ephraim not my favored son, the child in whom I delight? Often as I threaten him, I still remember him with favor; my heart stirs for him, I must show him mercy, says the Lord (31: 18-20).” This sequence of sin-suffering- repentance-forgiveness-new life stresses the purifying and strengthening results of punishment as well as God’s compassion. In this movement from sin to suffering, Jeremiah was never far removed from the agony of Israel (3: 19-25). He understood their suffering in his own call to celibacy, and hope was always stirring within the barren earth (17: 5-8).
Faith and Prayer: Jeremiah is continually laying bare the anguish of his heart. He wrestles fiercely with God in his “confessions”: 12:1-5; 15: 10-21; 17: 12-18; 18: 18-23; 20: 7-18. He confronts God with defiant questions, but is always standing on the solid ground of faith in God’s fidelity and concern. God answers Jeremiah’s question by posing his own question: “If running against human beings wearies you, how will you race against horses? If you are secure only in a land of peace, what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?” Jeremiah understands that things must get worse before they can get better. He will continue to live his life in faith and trust.
HELPFUL ATTITUDES FOR PRAYER:
· Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you. “Ah, Lord God!” I said, “I know not how to speak; I am too young.” But the Lord answered me, Say not, “I am too young.” To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak.
· “The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah… I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts.
· Sin inevitably brings its own sorrow: “What fault did your fathers find in me that they withdrew from me, went after empty idols and became empty themselves? We are changed for good or bad into that which we desire.
· This sequence of sin-suffering, repentance-forgiveness-new life stresses the purifying and strengthening results of punishment as well as God’s compassion.
· God answers Jeremiah’s question by posing his own question: “If running against human beings wearies you, how will you race against horses? If you are secure only in a land of peace, what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?” Jeremiah understands that things must get worse before they can get better. He will continue to live his life in faith and trust.
GUIDELINES FOR PRAYER:
· Be faithful to your time of prayer, and make it between 20 and 30 minutes daily.
· Begin every prayer session with an earnest prayer to the Holy Spirit like the one I have composed for you: Come, Holy Spirit, and overshadow me with your gentle wisdom and power as I endeavor to sit at the feet of Jesus during this period of prayer. Purify my mind and heart as I seek to make the teachings of Jesus my priority in life, thinking, speaking and doing as He desires. You are the keeper of my soul, leading me into God’s heart. May I be docile and submissive to your wisdom and guidance. May my life be a pleasing offering in your sight. Amen.
· Take one of the passages suggested for prayer. During the week you might want to ponder the question, “As Jeremiah was characterized as the “weeping prophet,” how would you describe your own pain and sorrow at the existence of evil in your own heart and in the world?”
· Lastly, during your prayer make sure you also address God directly and listen for the Holy Spirit’s responses.
· You can end your prayer with the following: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I thank you for your gracious companionship. I praise you for being my Creator, Savior and Lord. May I take your blessings to my day, and may your presence envelop and permeate all my thoughts and actions. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
PASSAGES FOR PRAYER:
Jeremiah 1: 4-10: Call of Jeremiah
Jeremiah 2: 1-13: Infidelity of Israel
Jeremiah 3: 11-18: Restoration of Israel
Jeremiah 8: 18-23: The Prophet’s Grief over the People’s Suffering.
Jeremiah 12: 1-23: Jeremiah’s Lamentation
Jeremiah 20: 7-18: Jeremiah’s Interior Crisis
Jeremiah 31: 31-34: The New Covenant
SPIRITUAL READING:
The Imitation of Christ:
After the Bible, this classic is the most widely read. There are four books and 114 chapters in all. You could savor this book three times over if you read a single chapter each day of the retreat. For this week the following chapters might be useful:
Book I: Useful Reminders for the Spiritual Life:
Chapter 21: Of Heartfelt Remorse
Chapter 22: Of Human Misery
Chapter 57: Of Judgment and Punishment
SCRIPTURAL READING
Old Testament:
The Second Book of Kings
Jeremiah: Chapters 1, 2-6, 12, 15, 17, 18, 20, 31, 37-38
New Testament:
1 Corinthians 11: Institution of the Eucharist
Luke 22: Institution of the Eucharist
JOURNALING
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