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About Jeremiah
Jeremiah 1:1 “The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin”
Jeremiah is known as “the weeping prophet“, due to his deep sorrow and grief over his people’s wickedness and the impending destruction of Jerusalem and Judah, a sorrow he expressed both in his prophetic messages and in personal prayers. His Hebrew name YirmaYa is made up from two words Rum H7311 – rûm and Ya H3050 – yâ (short for YHWH). The word Rum means to be lifted up, or called, or to raise (like a raising a child). So Jeremiah means “Lifted up by YHWH“.
Bible scholars estimate Jeremiah was in his teens, approximately 17-20 years old when YHWH called him to be a prophet in the 13th year of King Josiah’s reign, around 626 BCE. Jeremiah had a really hard life.. his family turned against him and even plotted to kill him (Jeremiah 1:8, 11:21-23, 12:6). Over the years, he was whipped and put in the stocks (Jeremiah 20:1-3), attacked by a mob (Jeremiah 26:1-9), threatened by the king (Jeremiah 36:26), and ridiculed (Jeremiah 28). Some of Zedekiah’s princes had Jeremiah arrested, beaten, accused of treason, and thrown in jail (Jeremiah 37:1-15), from whence he was then thrown in a deep empty well (Jeremiah 38:1-6). He lived through the siege of Jerusalem along with the rest and was there as the people were taken away as captives. Perhaps worst of all, Jeremiah was alone. He was not allowed to marry (Jeremiah 16:2), and his family abandoned him. The people turned against him and didn’t believe him. He was alone with the knowledge of the horrors coming for Judah. Jeremiah spent forty years delivering God’s messages to Judah. His early messages focused on condemning false worship and social injustice, with calls to repentance – which is perhaps why people despised him, as people only want to hear good prophecies. Jeremiah preached a lot of doom and punishment. However, his message was ultimately one of repentance and restoration.
Jeremiah is quoted often by Yeshua, for example when Yeshua got angry in the Temple, quoting Jeremiah 7:11, “Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith YHWH.” The “new covenant” described in Jeremiah 31 is echoed in the Last Supper accounts, found in Luke 22:20. And Revelation 18:23 refers to the city’s merchants using the phrase, “Your merchants were the great ones of the earth” which is a quote from Jeremiah 51:43.
Forgotten
Jeremiah 2:13 “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken H5800 me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”
The theme of forgotten and forsaken is heard quite strong in the beginning of Jeremiah’s prophecies. The Hebrew word Azab H5800 – ʿāzaḇ means forsaken, depart, leave behind, abandon. The Hebrew word Sakah H7911 – šāḵaḥ means to forget, ignore, or to wither away, or not to care anymore. The word is related to Sikor H7910 – šikôr, which means to be in a drunken state – not caring and forgetting. There are always two themes that YHWH draws from in His words against those who forgot and forsaken Him – they are compared to drunkards and to prostitution. The meaning of this is to get drunk on the pleasures of the world, and to betray YHWH with searching for help from others and not YHWH, and loving things of the world more than Him.
Fountain of living water
Jeremiah 2:13 “they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” This fountain is repeated again in Jeremiah 17:13 “O YHWH, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken YHWH, the fountain H4726 of living waters.
The Hebrew word for fountain is H4726 – māqôr, is where the water comes out from, the eye, to dig, to search, to find the source. These two verses are the only two verses in the old testament, both from Jeremiah about the fountain of living water. And this is the same fountain that Yeshua offered, in John 4:10-14, “If thou knewest the gift of YHWH, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.” Also from John 7:38, “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”
What is this living water? Some would say it is the Holy Spirit, others would say the Word of God, but if we take these verses that were given – YHWH says HE is the Fountain, and Yeshua says FAITH in Him would release the living water. True Faith and Trust in YHWH and Yeshua gives life, because they are Life, and YHWH gives Life. The secret and search is not for “what is the living water”, but the search should be for YHWH Himself, the Maqor H4726 – the eye, to dig, to find the source.
Ark of the covenant
Jeremiah 3:16 “And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith YHWH, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of YHWH: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.”
Back in Genesis we got a picture of the meaning of the ark (click here to read more), and what is inside the ark from Exodus 25:16 “And into the ark you shall put the Witness which I give you”. The WITNESS is the Laws/Instructions/Tablets with commandments on. Click here to read more about the Ark from Exodus. Amazingly the ark of the covenant disappeared sometime after Jeremiah made this prophecy, during the exile to Babylon in around 590BC. The ark was never seen again. There are people looking for it today, speculation that it has been found, and people trying to recreate it. However, the prophecy does ring true still – for those who has the covenant of YHWH in their hearts, do not worry or think about the ark that disappeared so long ago. The prophecy about the “new covenant” being on our hearts, is from Jeremiah 31:33 “For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares YHWH: I will put my law on their hearts, and write it on their minds“
Marriage & Betrayal
Jeremiah 2:2 “This is what YHWH says: I remember the unfailing loyalty of your youth, the love you had for me as a bride“
Jeremiah 3:1 “They say, ‘If a man divorces his wife, And she goes from him And becomes another man’s, May he return to her again?’ Would not that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the harlot with many lovers; Yet return to Me,” says YHWH.” And further in verse 7, “And I said, after she had done all these things, ‘Return to Me.’ But she did not return”
This “what they say”, is a law from Deuteronomy 24 (click here to read more), which is given to teach that it is not right just to jump/go between partners when you feel like it. This law is put in place to teach commitment. Polluting or defiling the “land”, is explained further in Jeremiah 3:8-13, meaning to betray YHWH with idolatry like worshipping trees, poles, stones, stars, etc.. “Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also. So it came to pass, through her casual harlotry, that she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but in pretense,” says YHWH. .. ‘Return, backsliding Israel, I will not cause My anger to fall on you. For I am merciful, I will not remain angry forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity..”
But even with the law in place, and defiling meaning to make yourself unclean, just like eating pork (it is the same word used – see the link above from Deuteronomy 24), YHWH still gives a chance to return to Him. And even though YHWH hates pork, hates divorce, hates worship of idols (which is compared to harlotry) – He still have mercy and wants His children back. It is never to late to return, but the return must be true in motive and heart.
See a previous post on Hosea the prophet, what YHWH taught there about how He feels even when the people behave like prostitutes. He tells Hosea to marry a prostitute, and still show her love and to prove his commitment to her, that maybe she will change her ways (click here to read more on that). Betrayal runs deep, and it is an act that has been made unforgiveable by today’s standards. And according to YHWH and His laws, does allow you to divorce. But YHWH’s love and mercy is so great, we cannot comprehend it. His love runs deeper than any betrayal, and His commitment to marriage and cleansing after defilement even more.
Teshuvah
Jeremiah 3:14 “Turn, O backsliding children, saith YHWH; for I am married unto you”
The Hebrew word for Turn, or as some translations say “come back“, is Teshuvah H7725 – šûḇ. See our previous post from Psalm 51 about Repentance – which actually doesn’t mean to be “just” sorry, but to Turn Around! The word Teshuvah, or Shuv, or turn around and come back is repeated 9 times just in chapter 2 and 3! Even though Israel split into the North and South, Israel and Judah, YHWH pleads with both of them here.. why did you leave Me? Please come back!
Remnant
Jeremiah 3:14 “and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion”
The phrase “one from a city and two from a family” (or “clan”) describes a selective, small remnant of YHWH’s people who will be chosen for restoration, emphasizing that even a few individuals from a large group will be gathered and brought to Zion despite their widespread and scattered state. Since Genesis, YHWH have had to save the last few remnants of people who were loyal to Him. Just look at the history of Noah, Abraham and Lot (Sodom and Gomorrah), etc.. click here to read more on previous posts about the Remnant. This is history repeating itself, like sifting the good from piles of bad. Testing loyalty, and YHWH keeps calling, knocking, to see who will answer the call. Yeshua said the Way is not the big path that everybody around you will be taking, in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
