Text: Jeremiah chapters 1 - 26
Supplemental Text: The Fourth Thousand Years chapter 24
BYU Lecture 43
Jeremiah received his prophetic calling and open revelation from God when he was just “a child.” This is similar to many prophets, such as Enoch (“a lad”), Abraham (unmarried youth), Samuel (shortly after the age of 12), Nephi (“exceeding young”), Mormon (“fifteen years of age”) and Joseph Smith (“in my fifteenth year”).
The book of Jeremiah opens during the reign of the righteous King Josiah, putting his calling at 626 BC.
God tells Jeremiah the He knew him before he was born. And because of his youth, Jeremiah was to prepare himself with Godly knowledge for 5 years prior to his mission. Then, he was commanded to go before the rich and powerful, not to be timid nor intimidated by them but boldly declare the word of God.
The Lord charged the rebellious Israelites of gross idol worship, heathen practices, murderers of His holy prophets, shedding innocent blood, offering their children as human sacrifices, addicted to gross immortality and adultery, relying on the security of Egypt instead of God, taught for commandments the doctrines of men, corrupt judges, false prophets and trusting in their own learning and intellect rather than God.
Following the death of King Josiah, Jeremiah warned the leaders and people of Israel that God would destroy this backsliding nation unless they repented. Murderous conspiracies surrounded Jeremiah, even from his own friends and family. As a result, Jeremiah went into hiding and was silenced. Therefore the Lord had Jeremiah write all the words on a scroll by his scribe Baruch which were then read to the people and to the wicked King Jehoiakim. The king was so insulted, he had the scrolls burned, yet God had Baruch write them again, which we have today as the book of Jeremiah.
Although Jeremiah told the king the Lord wanted Israel to ally with Babylon, the king allied with Babylon’s enemy, Egypt, and refused to pay Babylon their tribute. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was so angry he conquered Jerusalem in 598 BC, taking 10,000 of the brightest Jews back to Babylon, and placed a puppet king over the now ravished and starving Jerusalem, named Zedekiah.
