Jeremiah 1:1-3, Introduction to Jeremiah’s Prophecy

If you were an Israelite living in Jeremiah’s time you would probably be very focused on international relations. You might be a poli-sci major by necessity. Your country was nestled between two competing superpowers, Egypt to the south and Assyria to the north, with an ascending superpower to the east, Babylon, and you were the playground between.

^1:1 The following is a record of what Jeremiah son of Hilkiah prophesied. He was one of the priests who lived at Anathoth in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. ² Yahweh’s message came to him in the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon ruled over Judah. ³ It also came in the days of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah, and continued until the eleventh year of Zedekiah, son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the people of Jerusalem were taken into exile in the fifth month of that year. (Jeremiah 1:1-3, NET)

If you are from a priestly family, like Jeremiah was, you were steeped in the Law and its requirements, especially for approaching God (sacrifice, clean and unclean, ritual celebrations, etc.), and being near Jerusalem you were very connected, emotionally and spiritually, to the Temple. Yahweh’s message came to Jeremiah during the reigns of:

• Josiah (640-609 BC), who was killed in battle by Pharaoh Neco, and remember, you’re counting down towards zero, towards the birth of Messiah
• Jehoahaz (609 BC), a son of Josiah who isn’t mentioned here because he reigned only a few months before being deposed by Pharaoh Neco
• Jehoiakim (609-598 BC), a son of Josiah put in place by Pharaoh Neco
• Jehoiachin (598-597 BC), son of Jehoiakim who only reigned 3 months after his father was taken by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon after defeating Egypt, along with many of the highborns like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah
• Zedekiah (597-586 BC), son of Josiah, uncle of Jehoichin, who was put in place by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

Though Josiah had led a spiritual reform in Israel, after the horrible defections and apostasies of king Manasseh, it was superficial and did not last past his death. Israel was in spiritual decline and political decline, finally resulting, as God had promised in Leviticus 26, in total exile of the nation in 586 BC.

What a challenging time to be God’s prophet!

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Discussion Questions

1. What aspects of Jeremiah’s environment could you identify with?
2. What do you suppose would have been challenging about being a prophet at this time?
3. Is there someone you think is speaking prophetically into your own culture, challenging your spiritual and political conditions?
4. Do you think Jeremiah might speak prophetically to your own culture?