The “Weeping” Prophet

Would anyone want to be the Old Testament prophet, Jeremiah?

I’ve recently been studying his life and it’s certainly not one of prestige, fame and popularity. No talk shows, book contracts or guest preaching gigs for him. Instead, Jeremiah, from a young man in his twenties, was chosen to call his people back to Jehovah, the true God of Judah. He didn’t see much success in his life, as is with many prophets. Some of his prophecies took decades to manifest. His calling was, in many eyes, grim.

But still he called out evil. A suburban boy from Anathoth, a town outside of Jerusalem, his mission was to speak to his fellow countrymen and tell them to stop worshipping false gods, and turn back to the God who graciously let them out of Egypt.

Oh yeah …Egypt. Remember Egypt…the parting of the Red Sea?

Sadly, his warnings fell on deaf ears. His fellow citizens continued on, trying to fit in with the current culture around them. “Go along to get along,” as they say. This man continued his exhortations. He tried to warn them they would be taken away to a foreign country if they didn’t change. It must have been lonely and exhausting for the weeping prophet. He didn’t see change. And still, the man persevered.

How many of us would have continued on? Year after year, his passionate message fell on apathetic ears as his fellow countrymen pursued other religions, in spite of King Josiah discovering the ancient scroll of the Law, buried from years of disuse. And still Jeremiah persisted.

I love this passage which sums up Jeremiah’s message. He compares Judah’s relationship to God as a marriage.

“I remember when you said, ‘I do:’ I remember when you said you loved me at our wedding …I brought you out of a wilderness and into a garden… out of a desert and into paradise …out of a hovel of poverty into a mansion of plenty…But you have polluted My land; you have defiled everything I have lovingly given you. I even provided you with a fountain of sparkling water, but you walked away from it. Instead you dug for yourself a cistern in the sand.” Jer. 2:1-13.

Sometimes I wonder if the ancient words of this prophet are reaching forward to describe the American church. Have we forgotten our first love?