In Jeremiah, chapter one, verse one, “The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin.” Jeremiah, called by God to be a prophet to the southern kingdom of Judah. His ministry spanned the last forty years, including the days immediately before the destruction of Jerusalem and the carrying away of God’s people to Babylon. He ministered
during the reigns of Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. During that time, the nation was rebelling against God and relying on political alliances to gain deliverance from its enemies. Jeremiah urged the people to repent of their sins and warned them that they would indeed suffer punishment for rejecting God and His law. Due to his message and his devotion to the Lord, Jeremiah experienced much opposition and suffering.
Jeremiah’s early call to the work and office of a prophet is stated. He was to be a prophet, not to the Jews only, but to the neighbouring nations. He is still a prophet to the whole world, and it would be well if they would attend to these warnings. Jesus Christ is our greatest example. “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously, “as in First Peter one, verses twenty-one through twenty-three. An example of a prophet in James five, verse eleven, “Behold, we count them happy. which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.”