With the single exception of the Book of Isaiah, which contains the works of more than one prophet, the Book of Jeremiah is the longest of the prophetic books of the Old Testament. Jeremiah contains a considerable amount of material of a biographical and historical nature in addition to the prophet’s own words. This material is especially valuable because it reveals the personality of the prophet more clearly than any of the other prophetic books reveal their writers’ personalities. Furthermore, the text provides information concerning the more important events in Jeremiah’s career.
Jeremiah’s life and teachings had a profound effect on the future development of both Judaism and Christianity. In the New Testament, many passages indicate that both Jesus and Paul not only accepted certain ideas from Jeremiah but gave them a central place in their own interpretations of the meaning of religion. For this reason, along with others, Jeremiah is often regarded as the greatest of the Hebrew prophets.
The period in which Jeremiah lived and worked was one of the most critical in Hebrew history. His public ministry began during the reign of King Josiah (640–609 B.C.) and lasted until sometime after the fall of Jerusalem and the beginning of the Babylonian captivity. He encountered strong opposition from King Jehoiakim (609–598 B.C.) and King Zedekiah (597–586 B.C.), and on more than one occasion, his life was threatened. After the fall of Jerusalem, the Babylonians permitted him to remain in his homeland; many of his fellow countrymen were taken into captivity. Later, he was taken to Egypt against his will by a group of exiles who found it necessary to flee Jerusalem for their own safety. In Egypt, Jeremiah died after a long and troublesome career.
The collection of writings that make up the Book of Jeremiah includes oracles, addresses, prayers, and exhortations, all of which were spoken by the prophet himself. Arranged without any reference to either topical or chronological order, the text is interspersed with materials that, though relevant to Jeremiah’s work, were contributed by other persons. We shall attempt only a brief summary of the more important ideas set forth in Jeremiah’s teachings.
The book begins with an account of Jeremiah’s call to be a prophet. These passages are written from the perspective of Jeremiah’s later years, when it seemed clear to him that even before Jeremiah was born, Yahweh had a plan or purpose for him to fulfill. Jeremiah’s earliest prophecies, like those of Zephaniah, are believed to be concerned with the threatened invasion of Judah by the Scythians. He felt that his country would be completely devastated as proper punishment for the sins that its citizens committed. That his predictions in this respect were not fulfilled was seized upon by his critics as evidence that he was a false prophet. One of the important events that took place a few years after Jeremiah began his prophetic work was the discovery of the law book in the Temple at Jerusalem. This book, the main part of what we now call the Book of Deuteronomy, was declared to be the word of Yahweh, and King Josiah made it a part of the law of the land. For a time, Jeremiah was enthusiastic about King Josiah’s decision: The laws were intended not only to correct many of the social injustices that prevailed in the land but also to protect the worship of Yahweh from contamination by the evil influences of heathen forms of worship. It was hoped, and apparently with good reasons, that the enforcement of these laws would spark a great and sorely needed reformation. Jeremiah observed the situation both before and after the new laws were introduced. He became convinced that the conduct of the people was no better under these laws than it had been before, an observation that led to some very important consequences in Jeremiah’s conception of religion and its purpose in the lives of the Hebrew people.
The reason for the failure of the Deuteronomic reformation was to be found not in the character of the laws but rather in the motives that were dominant in the lives of the people. The prophet’s conception of human nature is well expressed in his statement “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.” Humans are so constituted that they follow their desires rather than their intellect; for this reason, they cannot change their evil ways until they experience a change of heart. Furthermore, Jeremiah contended that humans cannot change their nature by themselves. Such reform can occur only through cooperation with Yahweh, and Yahweh can act on human hearts only when humans recognize their need for it. Without this inner transformation in human nature, all reformative movements are destined to fail.
