Jeremiah (-650 to -570)

The process of Jeremiah's calling to become a prophet began in 627/626 BC, or enters the 13 year period of King Josiah's reign over Judah. According to the Bible's description, Jeremiah was called a prophet when he was young and could not speak well (Jeremiah 1:6). In this verse, the word youth in Hebrew is written as "na'ar" which has a double meaning, namely the period of childhood (Genesis 2:6) or youth (1 Samuel 30:17). If generally a prophet was called when he was between 20-30 years old and over, but according to analysis it can be seen that Jeremiah was called before he was 20 years old.

At the start of Jeremiah's prophetic activity, King Josiah was already beginning to improve the lives of the inhabitants of Judah, but the pagan religious customs that had become prevalent during King Manasseh's reign, have not yet disappeared. - Idols, holy prostitutes, child sacrifices, and injustice were still prevalent among the inhabitants of Judah.

Jeremiah prophesied that if an enemy from the north would come, they would experience quite a catastrophe (Jeremiah 1:14). Jeremiah reminded the people of Judah how God showed His lovingkindness in the history of their lives. Jeremiah criticized the people of Judah for being unfaithful to God. Although Jeremiah prophesied the arrival of an enemy from the north that would bring great calamity, he also hoped that the people of Judah would repent. Jeremiah tried his best to encourage them to turn to God so that they could avoid God's punishment.

King Josiah had different attitudes and views from his predecessors towards foreign cultures. He undertook religious reforms (2 Kings. 22-23; 2 Chronicles. 34-35). Jeremiah began his ministry as a prophet and delivered his prophecies before Josiah's Reformation culminated in 621 BC (Jeremiah. 2-3).

Josiah's Reformation reached its peak in 622 BC. This reformation was encouraged by the discovery of the law book in the Temple of God. Josiah's religious-political life had a huge influence since the discovery of the law book in the Temple of God. King Josiah gave orders to bring out of the Temple of the LORD all the utensils that had been made for Baal and Asherah and for all the armies of heaven, and burn them. He stopped the priests of foreign gods from burning sacrifices on the high places, he at the same time tore down the plots of religious prostitution that were in the Lord's Temple. King Josiah also ordered to celebrate the Passover for God as written in the book of the law.

The Reformation covered not only Judah but also extended to former North Israel such as Bethel (2 Kgs. 23: 14-15) and the city of Samaria (2 Kings. 23: 8,19; 2 Chr. 34: 6). According to the prophet Jeremiah, King Josiah's reforms were supported by prophets and priests (Jeremiah. 3: 12-14; 31: 2-6, 15-22). Jeremiah supported the reforms (Jeremiah 11: 1-17). Jeremiah had great respect for King Josiah, and he was pleased with the efforts to eradicate the long-standing religion of fertility and unethical practices.

In the year of King Jehoiakim's rapture, namely in 609 BC, Jeremiah preached a sermon on the temple (Jeremiah 7: 1-15). When the Babylonians became a threat to the nation of Judah (605 BC), Jeremiah dictated his prophecies to Baruch. In the following year when the danger from the Babylonians increasingly threatened them, Baruch read the prophecies in the temple (Jer. 36).

Jeremiah delivered a prophecy to the king of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem that the LORD would bring calamity. The people of Judah had abandoned the Lord, burned sacrifices to Baal in the Lord's temple, built high places for Baal, and sacrificed their children. When Jeremiah delivered his prophecy in the courtyard of the house of the LORD, Pashhur son of Immer, who at that time served as head of the house of the LORD, beat the prophet Jeremiah and locked him up (Jeremiah 19: 1-20; 6). In the same year, Jeremiah also took the Rechabites to the temple (Jer. 36).

Jeremiah attacked King Jehoiakim for being so open destroyed his father's reforms and violated the provisions of the law book found in the Temple (Jeremiah 7: 5-10, 30-31). Jeremiah also denounced Jehoiakim's foreign policies. Necho, who had won at Megiddo, now also ruled Judah and the surrounding area. At this time also Jeremiah delivered prayers to God which were complaints about the truth of God's ways (Jeremiah 11: 18-20; 12: 1-6; 15: 15-18; 18: 19-23. ; 20: 7-18).

King Jeconiah's reign which lasted only three months from 598-597 BC (2 Kings 24: 8-17) was immortalized by Jeremiah. The invasion of Jerusalem, the arrest of the king and his family, the looting of the treasures of the Lord's temple, the exile of Judah's warriors and craftsmen were recorded by Jeremiah as sad events. 

Jeremiah saw the hand of the LORD Himself in Nebuchadnezzar's plunder, but Jeremiah also saw hope and punishment. He saw two baskets of figs, one basket of fresh fruit, and another basket of rotten fruit. Jeremiah's other preaching can be seen in his warnings and threats (Jeremiah 13: 15-27) and prophecies (Jeremiah 22: 20-30).

The events of Jeremiah's life during the reign of King Zedekiah, relate to three important events in the history of the people of Judah (597-587 BC), namely: the revolt of the Philistines and Phoenicians in 594 BC (Jeremiah 27-29), Zedekiah supported the rebellion. , as a result, Jerusalem was besieged by Babylon from 588 - 587 BC (Jeremiah 21:1-10; 32-34; 37-40: 6), Fall of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 40:7-44:30).

Before the siege of the city of Jerusalem began in 589 BC, Jeremiah's most important task was to fight the false optimistic beliefs that had arisen among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Jeremiah urged Zedekiah not to participate in the revolt and surrender to Babylonian rule (Jeremiah 27: 8). As a result, Hananiah was so angry that she took an axle from Jeremiah's shoulder and broke it. Jeremiah also prophesied the fall of Jerusalem, the plunder of the Lord's temple, and the captivity of Zedekiah (Jeremiah 39: 1-18; 52: 1-30). Jeremiah was also sent by God to Anathoth to redeem some of his ancestral lands as a sign that the last word of God was not a punishment. The exile would be followed by the return of the captives (Jeremiah 39: 11-12).

Sometime later, God told Hananiah that she would die because of her rebellion. In the seventh month, Hananiah, the false prophet, died just as God said.

There is no definite time when the prophet Jeremiah died, but it is thought he died in 570 BC. In the last period of Jeremiah's life as a struggling prophet, he lived in Egypt and prophesied about Egypt's defeat of Nebuchadnezzar and rejecting the worship of the Jews who lived in Egypt who were possessed by idolatry (Jeremiah 44:1). It is not known about the events that followed in his life or how he died. However, it is strongly suspected that the prophet Jeremiah breathed his last in Egypt. According to Hieronymus, a priest and theologian born in 347 and Tertullian, a second-century church writer and leader, it is believed that Jeremiah was stoned in Egypt by the Jews.