Jeremiah is known as the “weeping prophet” and in turn has authored the longest book in the Bible apart from the Psalms. It is fascinating to note that Jeremiah is the first of three biblical writers who were depicted as “eating” the Word of God (Compare 15:16 with Ezek. 3:1-3; Rev. 10:9,10).
Jeremiah’s hometown was Anathoth which was located in the land of Benjamin.
Jeremiah lashed out against and also wept bitterly over the sins of his people Judah, before, during, and after the Babylonian invasion.
Through Jeremiah we find an autobiography of the most persecuted prophet in the Old Testament. Jeremiah sufferings in many ways foreshadowed the sufferings of Christ. We know and read that they were both mistreated by their own families (12:6; John 7:5), they were both plotted against (11:21; Luke 4:28-30), they were hated by the religious world (26:7-8; John 11:47-53); and they were both denounced by leading synagogue leaders (20:1, 28, 1 John 18:13, 24).
There are many other interesting things we can compare with Jeremiah including a relation to the depression witnessed from Job, Jeremiah also suffered from extreme depression on occasion (Jeremiah 20:14-18; Job 3). Jeremiah during his journey not only had to deal with his own mental health issues his scribe “Baruch” had to be reassured by the prophet after becoming discouraged.
If that all was not enough, interestingly enough Jeremiah was also the only biblical writer who was forbidden by God to marry (16:2). And Jeremiah was the only prophet to record an eyewitness account of Jerusalem’s fall (39,52).
There are many facts about Jeremiah to heighten our understanding of who he is, his calling, and writings. Jeremiah had an interesting journey including being thrown into a filthy prison and having his original scroll burned by a godless Judean king.
Although this is not an extensive look into the Hebrew Prophet Jeremiah, I am in hopes that you will find it encouraging and will dive into this biblical character to gain a better understanding of who he is, and the calling God had for him.
Blessings,
Pastor Jonathan W. Pannell
Rev. Jonathan W. Pannell III 