Image: Calling of Jeremiah, Marc Chagall, 1956.
Today, we begin a nine-week series on the book of Jeremiah. And as those of you reading the book in our Thursday Bible study already know, we’re not in for the calmest or soothing book of Scripture! Jeremiah is a text driven by the deepest human and divine emotions: fear, betrayal, abandonment, accusation, intransigence, rage, despair, hope, love, and profound joy. But to understand this particular presentation of God’s Word, we will do well to first learn about who Jeremiah is and his historical location.
First, Jeremiah is from a priestly family. But it is the “wrong” family. He is descended from Abiathar, who was thrown out of Jerusalem by King Solomon after ending up on the wrong side of a power struggle before King David died (For the whole soap opera, which rivals some of the stuff in Game of Thrones, read the beginning chapters of 1 Kings.). He is also descended from the priest Eli from the Shiloh Temple in the north, which was destroyed. Strike two.
Second, when God commissions Jeremiah, it’s during a time of religious revival. But it doesn’t last. According to 2 Kings 22-23, King Josiah implements a program of religious reform after a copy of “the book of the law” (maybe a proto-copy of Deuteronomy) was discovered in the Temple. He destroyed the shrines to Baal and Asherah in the hills and deposed their priests, going so far as to throw them out of their homes. This might strike us as a terrible abuse of power today, when we have the concept of rights and restrictions on official power, but not for the author of 2 Kings! While nearly every king of both Israel and Judah receives a big fat “F” for their conduct, Josiah is one of a handful of kings to be regarded favorably. However, things go downhill quickly. The last three kings of Judah, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, are given failing grades for their reigns. Jeremiah, for his part, is stuck between a rock and a hard place, speaking truth to power and being punished for it. As we get further into the series, we’ll see more examples of where this happens.
Third, Jeremiah is witness to the catastrophic collapse of the Judean state and the Davidic monarchy, occurring around 587 BC. In 2 Samuel 7, God promised David that David would always have a descendant on the throne. The destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple seemed to be the end of that promise. This kicked off not just a crisis for immediate survival, it also kicked off theological and identity crises. What could it mean if God permitted the city and Temple to be destroyed? Did that mean the Babylonian gods were stronger? Did it mean that the people were so sinful that God let their enemies win? Did it mean that God was too weak to prevent destruction from happening? And if any of those things were true, what did it mean for their identity as a people? Some probably thought they should just assimilate to the dominant culture. You know, when in Babylon, do as the Babylonians do. Others thought they should take up arms against their conquerors. And still others thought they should plant a life where they were, waiting for the Lord to bring them home. The book of Jeremiah struggles with these issues, too.
So, Jeremiah has a forty-year-plus prophetic career, from Josiah to post-exile. And it is anything but sunshine and roses. When God calls him, putting his words in Jeremiah’s mouth, it isn’t the end of Jeremiah’s problems. It’s only the beginning! Maybe you’ve seen those billboards on the interstate that say something like, “Jesus is the answer.” That’s not the case here! The word of God in Jeremiah’s mouth won’t be the answer to the problems of king and people. No, quite the opposite! God is going to become everyone’s problem! There will be prophecy after prophecy, urging the people to turn back from the gods they’ve given their hearts to. Urging the people to put their trust in God, not in the Temple, not in the king, and not in the nation. Urging the people to practice justice, kindness, and mercy, to stop exploiting the weak and vulnerable members of society. God is going to become a giant problem to king, state, Temple establishment, and even the prophet himself! We’ll hear more about Jeremiah’s complaints to God in the future.
So, that’s the context. And it’s worth noting that there is nothing that Jeremiah does to deserve this call. He doesn’t think he’s equipped for it. He can’t speak well, or so he says. In that way, he’s like Moses, who also resisted his call and said he couldn’t talk good! God, out of God’s sovereign freedom, chooses Jeremiah to deliver his Word—a Word which we know has been with God from before the beginning of time. A Word which emanated from God’s mouth and brought the cosmos into being. A Word which thundered from Mount Sinai. A Word in the mouths of prophets, preachers, communities, and congregations, both great and small. And a Word which was born in human flesh. This Word, given to Jeremiah, is the Word—Jesus Christ.
And this Word of God is given to us—not to make us happy after the way of the world. Not to put an end to our problems. No, the Word of God is given to us so that we can be saved. So that we can be turned from our destructive ways and embrace God’s way which leads to shalom and new life. Jeremiah objected that he was only a boy. A boy without good public speaking skills. We may have similar objections to speaking and living God’s word of shalom. “I am only one person.” “We are only a small congregation.” “We already have so much going on in our lives.” “There aren’t enough resources.” Perhaps we’re tempted to put our faith in our own objections! But God calls us to more. God calls us—individually but especially as a community—to step into our purpose as bearers and livers of the Word of God. And as bearers of the Word of God, we’re not offering another spiritual panacea, like so much on offer today. We’re not trying to make people just like us. We’re embodying the shalom of God, which is the forgiveness, mercy, love, peace, hope, and faith we find in Jesus Christ when the wider culture and world preach hatred, division, and despair. As Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote in his Six Principles of Non-Violence: “Beloved community is the goal.”
It was the goal for God. It was the goal for Jeremiah. It is the goal for all Christian community: beloved community under the lordship of Jesus Christ. As we walk through these weeks together, God help us discover more about what that beloved community can look like here—at Shalom, in Alex, in Douglas County.
And God also help us to love his word more than our objections. So that when we’re called, we don’t say, “Who, me?”, but “I will go.” Amen.
© 2025, David M. Fleener. Permission granted to copy and adapt original material herein for non-commercial purposes with appropriate credit given.
