Who was Jeremiah?

Grant, Almighty God, that as You have not only provided for your ancient Church, by choosing Jeremiah as Your servant, but have also designed that the fruit of his labors should continue to our age, O grant that we may not be unthankful to You, but that we may so avail ourselves of so great a benefit, that the fruit of it may appear in us to the glory of Your name; may we learn so entirely to devote ourselves to your service, and each of us be so attentive to the work of our calling, that we may strive with united hearts to promote the honor of Your name, and also the kingdom of Your only-begotten Son, until we finish our warfare, and come at length into that celestial rest, which has been obtained for us by the blood of Your only Son. Amen.

In studying the book of Jeremiah, it's helpful to know as much as possible about its author. Jeremiah tells us in the first verse of the book that he was the son of Hilkiah, "one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin..." Hilkiah the high priest is mentioned in 2 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 34. In those two passages (two accounts of the same event), King Josiah is reigning in the kingdom of Judah and has undertaken a reformation project to rid the land of altars and idols to Baal and other false gods. Ten years into that project, Hilkiah found the Book of the Law of the LORD given through Moses. He gave the book to Shaphan the secretary, who then presented it to king Josiah. Upon hearing the words of the Law, Josiah tore his clothes and gathered all the elders of the land, and reinstituted the Passover in obedience to the Law. Was this Hilkiah (the high priest) the same Hilkiah who was Jeremiah's father (the time frame would have been the same for both)? Many theologians and commentators, including John Calvin and Matthew Henry, think not. If he were, they say, Jeremiah would probably have identified himself as "the son of the high priest" instead of "one of the priests". Is it possible then that there were two Hilkiahs serving in the priesthood at the same time? Sure. The name Hilkiah means "The LORD is my portion", and based on Deuteronomy 18, in which God says that He Himself will be the portion of the Levites and priests, it may have been a common name among the priests of the time. Other commentators think that argument is inconclusive and that it probably was the same Hilkiah. Whether Jeremiah's father was the high priest or not, we don't know for sure. We do know that he grew up in and among the priesthood and in a village that had been set aside for priestly residence as far back as the time of David (1 Kings 2:26). This godly upbringing certainly gave young Jeremiah a good idea of what service to God entailed and what he could expect as he began his own ministry.

Jeremiah tells us (1:2) that he began his ministry in the 13th year of King Josiah's reign. Josiah began his national reform in the 8th year of his reign (when he was 16 years old); five years later Jeremiah began preaching, and five years after that the Book of the Law was found. In one sense, it may have been advantageous for Jeremiah to begin his preaching ministry during the reign of a king who was committed to godly reform. However, we read in Jeremiah's prophecies that, although the reforms were nation-wide edicts handed down from the king himself, they didn't cut to the heart of the people. Josiah's kingship and Jeremiah's ministry came on the heels of the reign of Manasseh, probably the most wicked king in Judah's history. Manasseh was committed to personal and national idolatry and evil. He reigned for fifty-five years, and his son Amon regned for two more, carrying on the evil traditions of his father. So the evil, idolatrous practices were ingrained in the people of Judah. All through Jeremiah's prophecy, we see that the people quickly reverted to their old habits. Jeremiah had quite a bit of reluctance to fulfill the ministry God had given him, and probably some timidity as well. However, courage is not the absence of fear, it's when you do what God has called you to do, in spite of your fear. Jeremiah went anyway. He was called to preach a message of repentance to a hard-hearted people who were set in their idolatrous ways. He was hated for it. He dealt with hatred and cursings (15:10), isolation (15:17), imprisonment (37:15), being thrown in a muddy cistern (38:16), beating (20:2), and plots against his life (11:19). Yet he often wept on behalf of the people when God told him that He was going to send judgment on the nation. Jeremiah also served during the reign of the wicked king Jehoiakim and the very weak king Zedekiah. So he had a very difficult ministry. In fact, in his forty years of preaching, he only had two converts (Baruch and Ebed-melech). By modern standards, Jeremiah's ministry would be considered an utter failure.

However, almost 3000 years later, we're still reading and studying his words. The book of Jeremiah is still very relevant to our time. He addressed the same issues that we face (hypocrisy, blatant heresy, traditionalism). He also serves as an example of how to live a godly life in the face of persecution. From his example, we can learn to weep for the sins of our nation and intercede for them, rather than sitting on a religious high horse and condemning them to hell. We can learn to remain faithful to our faithful God without ever doubting His goodness. May we all learn from the model of Jeremiah.