The book of Jeremiah is an excellent source of inspiration and hope for the Christian living today. I didn’t used to think this way. At one time, Jeremiah was the sad prophet with a severe case of melancholia and a knack for depressing poetry, like a tragic composer of neo-grunge pop living in Seattle in his mother’s basement. He was the Hunch Back of Notre Dame, living with no friends and only appearing when it was time to rain on everyone’s parade. In my Bible reading, I skimmed and longed for Proverbs, or Philippians, the book of joy.
If you have profiled Jeremiah without getting to know him personally, as I did, this blog will help. He was one of the strongest leaders in all of the Bible. He stood like a redwood in a tornado as everyone he loved went in the wrong direction. In the face of ridicule, persecution, beatings, and death threats, for 40 years, he was faithful to speak God’s Word, a message no one wanted to hear.
Romans 12:2 says, “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold…”
Christmas is a time to give and receive gifts and to make cookies. At the Whitlow house, we do sugar ones. You roll the dough flat enough to prepare it for the cookie cutters. Our kids choose their molds and have a blast pressing them into the dough to cut identical little shapes.
In our world, we are like the dough, and the world has chosen a mold. It wants to make identical little cookies out of us by shaving off the distinctiveness of our faith. We all feel the pressure to receive the world’s stamp of approval to find acceptance, success, and provision. But if we submit to the mold, it will squeeze the life right out of us. Jeremiah’s life and message will give us courage and boldness to resist the pressure coming down from all sides.
So, who was Jeremiah?
Jeremiah 1:1 says, “The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.”
In this one verse, we find out two important things: who his father was and where he grew up. His dad’s name was Hilkiah, and he was “one of the priests.” He was just one of hundreds of priests charged with serving in the temple. In our day, he would be a staff pastor for a mega church, leading a serving team, and filling various roles. It seems that Hilkiah was a devout and godly man, for from a very early age, his bright son had a sensitivity and hunger to know the Lord.
Anathoth was a tiny priestly town three miles from Jerusalem, the epicenter of religious activity. As it turns out, Anathoth had a sketchy past that put it in a negative light with the big wigs in Jerusalem. It was the hometown of the high priest Abiathar, who long before made an unfortunate choice that cost him his job, and made him as infamous as a disgraced TV evangelist.
Before King David appointed Solomon as his successor, Adonijah promoted himself and grabbed the place of king. Abiathar sadly decided to back Adonijah in his bid for the throne. But when Solomon was crowned, Adonijah was put to the sword for his presumption and pride. For what looked like insubordination, Abiathar was fired, and his role as high priest was given to Zadok and his family. King Solomon sent the disgraced priest and his family out to pasture in the sticks of little Anathoth (1 Kings 2:26).
Shunned by the king, Abiathar and his descendants lived in that shadow. You might say there was “bad blood” between the clans of Zadok and Abiathar. In Jeremiah’s day, it is highly probable the Levites in Anathoth looked with suspicion and scorn at the ruling priests in the temple.
More to come…