Told the truth for forty years and wept the whole time.
Reluctant
Wounded
Faithful
“there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.”
Go deeper
Introduction
Jeremiah was a priest's son from a small town near Jerusalem (Jeremiah 1:1). God called him while he was young, and he said he did not know how to speak (1:6). God told him not to marry or have children (16:2). He lived alone with a message no one wanted.
He was beaten, put in stocks, thrown into a muddy cistern, and called a traitor (20:2; 37:13-15; 38:6). He argued with God out loud and cursed the day he was born (20:14). He also bought a field during a siege because God said houses and fields would be bought again (32:15). He felt everything and still obeyed.
“
there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.
Name means
Possibly “the LORD exalts”; the meaning is debated
Home
Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin
Role
Priest's son and prophet to Judah from Josiah to the fall of Jerusalem
Read in
Jeremiah's story
Sinking in the cistern
Beginning
Only a youth
God says he knew him before he was born. Jeremiah protests, and God touches his mouth.
Turning point
Beaten and in stocks
After he breaks a clay jar as a warning, the priest Pashhur has him beaten and locked up.
Low point
A fire in his bones
He accuses God of deceiving him, wants to quit, cannot, and curses his birth.
High point
Buys a field
With Babylon at the gates, he buys land at Anathoth as a sign that God will restore.
Turning point
The cistern
Officials drop him into a cistern to die. Ebed-melech, a foreigner, pulls him out.
Ending
Taken to Egypt
After Jerusalem falls, the survivors ignore his word and carry him off to Egypt.
Starts as a young man who said he could not speak. Ends as an old prophet carried away, still speaking.
Where Jeremiah lived and went
Only places Scripture records. Softer, dotted pins are traditional or uncertain sites. Tap a pin for the passage.
HomeMinistryKey momentTraditional or uncertainPinch or use + to zoom. Tap a cluster to spread it out.
How Jeremiah is wired
The Individualist
Enneagram 4, Investigator wing
To be true to what he feels and knows, even when it isolates him.
This one is debated. Here's why we land here.
At their best, toward 1 Under stress, toward 2
Why we think so
1
Deep feeling. He wishes his eyes were a fountain of tears to weep day and night for his people. ()
2
Alone and different. He sits alone because God's hand is on him, set apart from the merrymakers. ()
3
Honest lament. He asks why the way of the wicked prospers and argues his case before God. ()
He withdraws, studies, and works through symbols like the loincloth, the potter, and the yoke. ()
The Reformer. He obeys steadily and practically, buying a field and signing the deed as an act of faith. ()
The Helper. Afraid for his life, he goes along with King Zedekiah's request to hide what they discussed. ()
The case for 6
His fears, complaints, and arguments with God, joined to stubborn loyalty, could point to a Loyalist.
Other lenses
Big Five. Read from what is recorded in Kings and the prophets.
ReservedOutgoing
SteadyReactive
ChallengingAccommodating
SpontaneousDisciplined
TraditionalCurious
DISC style: faithful under pressure, feels deeply
Strengths & struggles
What's good in Jeremiah
Endurance, honesty with God, courage to speak against kings and priests, hope rooted in God's word ().
Where Jeremiah struggles
Can sink into despair and bitterness toward his enemies, praying for their ruin ().
What Jeremiah wanted most
For Judah to repent and be spared ().
What Jeremiah feared most
That his faithfulness was for nothing, and that God had abandoned him ().
Jeremiah's people
The Lord
The LORDCalled him from the womb and kept him through every attack.
Family
HilkiahHis father, a priest from Anathoth ().
Friends
BaruchHis scribe and companion, who wrote and read his words ().
Ebed-melechEthiopian official who rescued him from the cistern ().
Tension
ZedekiahKing who secretly asked his counsel but would not obey ().
Opposed
JehoiakimKing who burned his scroll piece by piece ().
PashhurPriest who had him beaten and put in stocks ().
HananiahFalse prophet who broke his yoke and promised quick peace ().
Family of Faith
See where Jeremiah fits
AbrahamJesus
c. 650–570 BC. Connected to Jesus through Jeconiah → Shealtiel → Zerubbabel → Abiud → Eliakim → Azor → Zadok → Achim → Eliud → Eleazar → Matthan → Jacob → Joseph of Nazareth.
Jeremiah promised a new covenant, and Jesus brought it in his blood.
God told Jeremiah that days were coming when he would make a new covenant and write his law on hearts (). At the Last Supper Jesus said, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (). Jeremiah wept over Jerusalem and was rejected by his own people, and so did Jesus ().
Questions to sit with
1
What would honest prayer sound like for you right now?
2
Where is God asking you to act on a promise you cannot yet see?
Study Jeremiah with your group
Ready-to-lead group studies with discussion questions and a leader's note are on the way.
