BOOK OF JEREMIAH : THE WEEPING PROPHET!

Jeremiah is called the weeping prophet. He preached judgment and doom, which could be avoided if the people had a sincere repentant heart. He was a youth when he received his call and he told the Lord he was too young and he couldn’t speak! But the Lord told him not to say he was a youth: He was sending him where he was to go and would put His words in his mouth.( Jeremiah 1: 6-7). According to Hayford 1 Jeremiah began his ministry in the reign of Josiah, a good king who temporarily delayed God’s judgment promised because of the frightful rule of Manasseh.

He preached about the new covenant where God would put His law on a person’s heart! This was fulfilled with Jesus incarnate, where a person, if they believe in Jesus in their hearts, then there will be a personal relationship between him/her and God! Jesus does make reference to Jeremiah’s prophetic words ( Jeremiah 31: 27-40) where he is saying there would be a new covenant, which is fulfilled by Jesus with the shedding of His blood; and where he mentions that the law would be in our hearts , is when we believe that His words ( His body) would become part of our hearts. Where we seek continually for the Word as we read the Scriptures! “ And Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying “ This is My body with is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me. Likewise He also took the cup after supper saying, “ This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.” Luke 22: 19-20.

“Jeremiah saw that religion was essentially a moral and spiritual relationship with God, a relationship that required the devotion of each individual. Each person is responsible for his or her own sin. The new covenant is the spiritual bond between God and the individual . This is a new and unconditional covenant that involves God’s writing the law on human hearts, the forgiving of iniquity, and the remembering of sin no more. All this was fulfilled in the Incarnation of Christ and in the gospel He preached.”2

Jeremiah portrays a lifestyle similar to that of Jesus, so he may be called a type of Christ in the Old Testament. He showed great mercy for his people and wept over them. He suffered much at their hands, but forgave them. In Jeremiah’s message, we see that sin always must be punished, but true repentance brings restoration; and obedience leads to blessing and joy! So when we repent sincerely and ask Jesus to forgive our sins, for we all have sinned and fallen short of His glory (Romans 3:23), then we will be saved, restored and redeemed!

NOTES
1 Jack W Hayford, general editor, Hayford’s Bible Handbook, ( Nashville: Thomas Nelson Pub., 1995),188.
2 Ibid., 189.