Some Straight Talk about Jeremiah
Posted: Saturday, November 22, 2008
by Jean Purcell
OpineBooks.com
Have you noticed the word jeremiad in book reviews or editorials? If you were sure of what it meant, you were way ahead of me. Given the tone of its use and writers' contexts, I thought it meant "personal and dire predictions" or "pessimistic warnings," as in "Sammers Madd and Angular Angry delivered a jeremiad against the economic establishment."
Last week I started to read the Old Testament book of Jeremiah again, and that word, jeremiad, came to mind. I decided to look into Webster's Dictionary *for its definition after all these years of seeing it used in mass media. I now suspect that the media also use the dictionary meaning, rather than a biblical meaning.
Daniel Webster's book says that a jeremiad is "a lamentation or a tale of woe: an allusion to the Lamentations of Jeremiah." Jeremiah's laments were in the form of poems. The poems were like tears, sorrow for what was happening to the people of God as a result of their choices of evil over good. In his lamentations, Jeremiah gives a clear picture of a man dealing with God, the One beyond man's complete understanding, the One unlike man, One far above man's grasp in his own strength, and yet One worthy of absolute trust.
So, what does Webster's tell about Jeremiah, the man? It says that he was a Hebrew prophet of the 7 th and 6 th centuries before Christ and that the biblical book that bears his name contains his prophecies.
Now here is where the dictionary starts to blend in with my original assumption about "dire predictions" of jeremiads, for it says that Jeremiah means "a person pessimistic about the future."
But, wait a minute. Is Webster's right in this case, completely? Was the prophet Jeremiah a pessimist? And what is a pessimist anyway?
A pessimist is one prone to expect the worst, one who sees evil as more powerful than good, Webster's says, and one who habitually looks on "the dark side of things."It's an attitude thing.
By those definitions, Jeremiah was definitely not a pessimist. He was not speaking from his own views, attitude, or temperament. He was speaking the words of God. And as a man of faith, he knew that evil is not as strong as good, that this is not a yin/yang world, where good and bad are balanced, warring against each other as equally matched forces.
Jeremiah believed no claim of evil's equality with good, for he followed the sovereign God. Yet, his record shows that he did not delight in warning people of the serious and woeful consequences that would result from their rebellion. In fact, he kept longing for better days, because to be a true prophet meant to be scorned by those who did not want to hear the truth of God, and that was almost everyone in power.
Jeremiah sought to obey God. For that, he was rejected. He kept hoping for the people to change, so he could be free of the difficult words he had to deliver.
Jeremiah did not choose his perspectives. God gave him words and messages of specific advice and outcomes to announce, to prepare His people, to warn them of outcomes connected with refusals to repent. God could see the evil days ahead and wanted to save His people from them.
Jeremiah was a realist, not a pessimist. He knew that God had given him the job, or burden, of speaking for God to a rebellious people. Jeremiah had not applied for or desired that job, yet he fulfilled it.
In Jeremiah 19 there is the record of one instance that speaks strongly of Jeremiah's obedience and character. He was beaten and put in the stocks next to the temple in Jerusalem.
Can we fully comprehend the ridicule and shame Jeremiah faced there, or the cold desert night he endured, imprisoned in loneliness?
The next morning, he was released. Did he remain quiet after such punishment? The first words out of his mouth were what God told him to speak. Then he praised God: "Sing unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers" (Jer. 20:13).
Then, humanly, that man of God cried out to God about the difficulty of his tasks, prophesying. He asked why he had been born, why his mother or father had not killed him before or at birth. Yet, as ever, he was unstoppable.
We can assume, I think, that Jeremiah never forgot how God had called him. It happened this way, as told by him:
"Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."
Jeremiah was young, and he replied: "Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child."
God answered him, "Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD."
"Then," Jeremiah wrote, "the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth."
From Jer. 1: 4-9
Anyone who reads Jeremiah's Lamentations finds a mixture of human grief and godly hope there:
And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:
Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.
My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.
This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD."
From Lamentations 3:18-26
How can a man or woman of God, so severely tested, continue? The remembrance of the God of hope keeps them going, by faith.
Jeremiah was eventually killed because of his faithful obedience to God's call. All that God gave him to speak to the people came to pass; the words of the false prophets pleased for a while, until events disproved their claims of true prophecy.
That's some straight talk of introduction or reminder about Jeremiah, the prophet who served God all his life. I am now in chapter 26, and Jeremiah has reported by then, about midway, that he has prophesied for God already for over 30 years. A jeremiad seems to me to be a word of merciful advice with warning, however hard to hear, that is from God.
Jesus fulfilled God's plan to show His salvation. Jeremiah and other prophets, not knowing when the fulfillment would come, nevertheless did their part in their time, called of God.
* Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, Simon & Schuster, 1984
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Top-level comments on this article: (4 total)This is a fantastic book report. You have made the book of Jeremiah actually seem interesting. I say this with jest, as many people stay away from reading the Prophets because they may find them boring or confusing. The way you have approached your reading is to find out more about the prophet rather than about the prophesies. The prophesies are important, but knowing the prophet can also give us strength in our own faith.Hi, David, I'm glad for that feedback. You know, I'd never thought of it that way, exactly, and I'm glad that approach helps. This reading for me started at a time when I knew I wanted to make more time every day just to read the Bible, not analyzing or studying per se. Just to let it surface and speak, as God leads. I can't explain why I started in Jer., around chapter 22. I've been working backward and forward from Jer. 18 up to Jer. 36 so far last week and up to this a.m. You are so right: there is so much there! Thank you so much for your thoughts.
Hi Jane,
Thanks for your insightful analysis of Jeremiah. Jeremiah seemed to be very human, like all Bible characters. He complained but obeyed nonetheless. And he prophesied of a time when the Holy Spirit would enable believers to obey. Yes, he definitely was no pessimist.
Blessings,
Joel
Hi, Joel, it's so good to hear from you again. Thanks for the encouragement your comments give. Hope this finds you well and still writing.
Jane
hi jane,this was a well written and interesting article.thank you for taking the time to share it with us,my best regards,sueHello, Sue,
I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for your comments!
Blessings always,
Jane
Jane, I agree with all the others about this article. It's more than an article. It is a written sermon appropriately researched and enthusiastically shared. I enjoy this Book as much as the others but I think in time of trouble, I run here most to build my faith. I can remember, like Jeremiah, 'when' I was called. Like you, I was not as familiar with the term jeremiad but have been well-informed.
I love coming to SW for rich Bible study. We have jewels and gems in this writers' community. What a blessing you all are! I'm thankful! -AvisDear Avis,
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comments about this article. I take them to ponder. I agree with you about the SW community, and am thankful to get to know writers like you there! The Lord is encouraging all of us in many ways. God bless you!
~Jane
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