Jeremiah is the prophet of my heart. He was a prophet of suffering
called to cry repentance among a people for whom there was no hope. Jeremiah preached
for 40 years to the unrepentant Jewish nation. He faced continuous opposition and insults
from the priests, the King and the army (Jeremiah 20:2; 36:19; 38:4). During his
ministry he was accused of political treason, put in stocks, thrown in prison,
persecuted, and hunted by men of his hometown who sought to kill him (Jeremiah
11:19). Because his prophecies came true, he so angered the elders of the Jews that
they cast him into a dungeon which is often called 'a pit prison'. Jeremiah was
lowered into this dungeon with cords through a hole in the top. As there was no
drainage in this pit, the bottom was a sea of mud into which Jeremiah sank
(Jeremiah 38:6).
Jeremiah was in continuous suffering for the sake of the word. In the
midst of his afflictions, his humanity made him wish he was never born but his
persistence in preaching despite the persecutions he suffered and his love for the stubborn and unrepentant people
he tried to save speaks ever so loudly of his worth as a righteous vessel of
God and a prophet of Israel (Jeremiah 9:1; 20:9; 14-18).
Jeremiah was ‘chased like a bird, without cause’ (Lamentations
3:52) all the days of his ministry, until he met his end in Egypt where the
remaining Jews took him after the fall of Jerusalem and where they stoned him
to death (Jeremiah 43:6; see also Bible Dictionary). Despite it all, including
his horrific death, Jeremiah remained devoted to the God of heaven.
Upon his call to the ministry, the Lord told Jeremiah: “Before I
formed thee in the belly I knew thee…” (Jeremiah 1:5). The word ‘knew’ in
Hebrew is “yada” which connotes a very personal and intimate relationship,
suggesting that Jeremiah resided in Jehovah’s bosom long before he was born,
and I am certain this is where he is still.
Give me Oh God Jeremiah’s heart
That I might weep day and night
For the salvation of my people;
Ignite the fire in my bones
That I might speak of Thy name to
Thy praise forever.
Give me Oh God lips
that they may speak the truth
And a heart that it may seek Thy favour
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