Mims Chapel Church 

LESSON 1 • First Week

Jeremiah, The
Weeping Prophet

Background Reading
2 Chronicles 20:20; Psalm 30:5,
119:136; Ecclesiastes 3:1-
8; Jeremiah 16:1-4, 19-21;
Ephesians 4:11;
1 Corinthians 14:32

Devotional Reading

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Central Verse
"But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the Lord's flock is carried away captive."
Jeremiah 13:17 KJV

"And if you still refuse to listen, I will weep alone because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears because the Lord's flock will be led away in exile."
Jeremiah 13:17 NLT


Key Terms
Foreboding —A feeling or inward conviction that something especially un­fortunate is about to happen.
Inescapable— Incapable of being avoided, ignored, or denied.

Authenticity—The quality of being genuine; implies actual character that is not counterfeit or adulterated.
Relevant— Having to do with the matter being considered, thought about, or discussed.

Introduction

There are five major prophets, including Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Lamentations. They are called major prophets because their written books are longer than the twelve minor prophets that follow them in the Old
Testament. The main message of the major prophets is that the Messiah is coming to establish His rule.
They emphasize that Israel and the nations must repent for failing to meet God's righteous standards. If they repent, they will be able to receive God's salvation and avoid His judgment on that fateful day.
God ordained the ministry of the prophets to help the Church. They must be tuned into God, so that they can hear from God. None of the prophets had easy lives, but Jeremiah had an especially tough time.

Discussion

Jeremiah, a priest, was born and raised in the priestly village of Anathoth, four miles northeast of Jerusalem, during the reign of the wicked King Manasseh. Jeremiah was a young lad when he began his prophetic min­istry during the thirteenth year of the reign of the young King Josiah. He supported Josiah's reforms but found that the people were not responding favorably with a change of heart. His prophetic ministry was directed to the Southern Kingdom of Judah during the last 40 years of its history (626-586 B.C). He lived to witness the Babylonian invasions of Judah that resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. He was the one who proph­esied to God's people and told them that they would be under captivity for 70 years, but many did not believe him.

God sends prophets to let His people know about the things that are to come upon them. He does not want His children to be unaware of the times that they are living in. The Book of Jeremiah is filled with much gloom and foreboding because Jeremiah prophesied about God's inescapable judg­ment for an unrepentant Judah.

The Lord had told His people in the Book of Chronicles if they believe in the Lord their God, that they would be established and if they believed what the prophets say, then they would prosper. It is the will of God for His children to prosper in every area of their lives, but their prosperity is based on their trust and obedience.

Jeremiah prophesied mostly to Judah, but he did include nine other nations where he focused on judgment and, for some, restoration. Jeremiah was an unusual man who obeyed God's instruction because certain restrictions were put on his life. God told him not to marry and have children, illustrating that in the coming affliction, many families would die. The second restriction was not to mourn or show sympathy at a funeral meal, revealing that God had withdrawn His blessing, love, and compassion from the people. The third was not to take part in the festive occasions, showing that God would bring an end to all joy and gladness in Judah.

Jeremiah was often called the weeping prophet, because even though he had a harsh message, he had a sensitive and broken heart. He had a heart like Jesus, the Son of God who was yet the Son of Man, whose heart was sensitive and tender to the hurts of others. For when Jesus's friend Lazarus died, and his sisters Mary and Martha were so broken and sad, Jesus wept also.

Jeremiah's tender spirit made his suffering more intense as the people he prophesied to spurned God's prophetic Word. It can be very difficult to min­ister negative messages to people you know and love, and they reject them. Jeremiah knew the danger that the people were in, and he wanted them to hear, receive, and do what God had commanded. But instead, they were like so many today, who see the signs of destruction, who hear the words of warning, but ignore them. Jeremiah preached to deaf ears and reaped hate in return, but he was faithful to God and his assignment.

After preaching and prophesying to God's people for twenty years, God instructed him to put his messages in vvritten form. He obeyed God and dic­tated his messages to his faithful secretary Baruch. Because of the manner of his prophecies, Jeremiah was banned from appearing before the King, so he sent Baruch to read the prophecies in the temple. Later they were read by Jehudi to King Jehoiakim, who showed much contempt for Jeremiah and God's Word by cutting the scroll in pieces and throwing it into the fire.

But fire cannot destroy the Word of God. It may hinder God's move, but it cannot stop what God plans to do. When God's anger is turned toward a people, the King's disdain cannot move God. Repentance and obedience are what move God.

Because of Jeremiah's steadfastness to God's assignment to him, he would not allow the King's action to stop him. He dictated again to his secretary, Baruch, but this time he added more than what was on the first scroll.

Conclusion

The Book of Jeremiah was written for three reasons: 1) to provide an en­during record of Jeremiah's prophetic ministry and his message, 2) to reveal God's plan of judgment for His people when they broke the covenant and continued to rebel against His Word, and 3) to demonstrate the authenticity and authority of the prophetic Word.

Jeremiah lived to see many of his prophecies fulfilled during his lifetime. Some were fulfilled later, and many are yet to be fulfilled. Some of his proph­ecies seem to be timeless because they are relevant in this season.

Questions

Who was the Prophet Jeremiah?
Why was he known as the "weeping prophet?"
Why was God so angry with Judah?
Why did King Jehoiakim hate Jeremiah so much?
What did he do to the scrolls?
How did Jeremiah react to the King's actions?

Essential Thought- "God loves His children so much that He sends warnings before destruction."

Copyright © Mims Chapel COGIC. All rights reserved.