Jeremiah was separated to God, and ordained a prophet unto the nations before his birth, in this, like John the Baptist. He was of Aaronic descent, his father being a priest residing in Anathoth, a place about four miles from Jerusalem. He began his prophetic ministry at a very early age—in the 13th year of the reign of the godly King Josiah; his extreme youth, and the gravity and arduous nature of the service to which he was called, evidently appalled the young prophet, as he shrank from his commission, saying, "Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child." Strengthened and reassured that it was Jehovah's mission, Jehovah's word, and Jehovah's presence (Jer. 1:4-10), he began and continued his service, which was one of almost uninterrupted suffering for a period of about 40 years, all through the successive reigns of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah.
We have a good deal of the personal history of the prophet interwoven with his ministry; in this he resembles the great apostle of the Gentiles, whose personal biography and inward life and feelings are inseparably linked with truths and revelations of everlasting and vital importance. Another point of resemblance between the prophet and the apostle is in their sufferings, and as recounted by themselves; probably no Old Testament prophet suffered so much and so continuously as Jeremiah, and, certainly, no New Testament servant suffered as did the great apostle. In Isaiah, the glorious predictions and magnificent prophecies leave us transported amidst visions and glories and grandeurs, and we never once think of the man; but in Jeremiah the ground is lower, the atmosphere very different, our hearts are drawn to the man whose messages are treated with contempt, and the faithful unfolder of the mind of Jehovah thrown again and again into the filthy underground dungeons of Jerusalem. Apparently too, the mission of Jeremiah was fruitless, no present results were effected. Solemnly he warned the nation of impending ruin; plainly he told them of their sin, uncovered their wickedness, and spared neither king, priest, nor people. The appeals to the conscience of Judah are of the most searching character. His rebukes and remonstrances most stern and unqualified. Again, we see him breaking his heart over their impenitence and hardness, saying, "Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people" (Jer. 9:1). But all were unavailing to win back to God the alienated heart of Judah; the tears, words, and prayers of the prophet seemed fruitless. Judah was bent upon her own way and upon her own destruction. Even during the closing years of Judah's last king, Zedekiah, Jeremiah in the name of the Lord, again and again counseled submission to the Chaldeans then besieging Jerusalem; the dungeon and nearly death was the answer.
After the capture of the city, and when the Word of the Lord had been fully vindicated, and the predictions of the prophet been fulfilled to the letter, no reward or inducements could lead the faithful Jeremiah to forsake the feeble remnant left in the land by the Chaldean conqueror, for a life of honor and ease in the imperial city of Babylon (Jer. 40.). Jeremiah would cling to the land and the people on whom the eyes of Jehovah rest perpetually; most touching proof of a heart devoted to Jehovah and His people! Upon the murder of Gedaliah, the Babylonian governor of Judah, the people terrified, fled for protection and safety to Egypt, and that in spite of the earnest remonstrances of the prophet, who assured them of safety by remaining in the land (Jer. 41, 42). But the Word of the Lord which had been so often disregarded, was again set at defiance; they went to Egypt, but thither the sword of the Chaldean reached both them and Egypt; and again, as always, the Lord vindicated His own blessed Word. The last notice of our prophet is with the apostate remnant in Egypt, lifting up his voice in testimony against their idolatry (Jer. 44.).
There is not at all the comprehensiveness of Isaiah in these prophecies, but there is much more direct appeal to the conscience and touching heart-breaking expressions of sorrow; Judah, too, is very specially the subject of testimony, and the object to whom these moral appeals are immediately addressed. The anticipations of future blessing for all Israel are very full; their moral condition occupying a prominent place in these latter-day prophecies (Jer. 30-33.). It is in this book also that the duration of the Babylonian captivity—70 years—is stated; and, further, that at its close the Chaldean Empire would be utterly destroyed (Jer. 25:11-14; 29:10-14). The prophecies of Jeremiah also formed the ground work of those wonderful communications bearing upon the full blessing of all Israel at the close of the 70 weeks or 490 years, seven years of which have yet to be accomplished (Dan. 9). The sins of the people—of Judah—and impending judgments, with details of the condition of things in Jerusalem before the Babylonian attack, and after the capture of the city amongst the poor of the people left in the country under the administration of Gedaliah, with judgment of the nations immediately or remotely connected with the Chaldean invasion of Judah, and promises of full latter-day blessing for all Israel—are the main subjects of the book; only it is well to see that the great effort is to reach the conscience of all to whom the prophecy refers.
The various dates of the prophecies are not given chronologically, hence moral sequence must be sought. The following simple threefold division may assist in the understanding of the book as a whole.
GENERAL DIVISIONS.
1.-In this section the moral appeals to the heart and conscience of Judah are numerous and forcible. The history does not go beyond the capture of Jerusalem; but in the closing chapters of the section, Babylon and all the surrounding nations come in for judgment. Jer. 1-25.
2.-Here many interesting details are given of the siege of Jerusalem, and of the state of things previous to that important epoch. Israel as well as Judah are embraced in the prophecies of Jer. 30.-33.; the promises of future blessing are very full and rich, Jer. 26.-38.
3.-Jerusalem captured; Jeremiah released from prison; and the history and fate of the people who went to Egypt; Babylon, Egypt, and other nations all judged with the most blessed intimations of future mercy and blessing for all Israel. Jer. 39.-52.
NOTE.
The heathen are abruptly informed in their own language, the Chaldee, that their gods are doomed to utter destruction (Jer. 10:11); the rest of the book is of course Hebrew.