Jensens survey of the old testament adam 201
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since the divine judgment of captivity was
inevitable.
The various prophecies of Jeremiah,
spoken at di erent times in his ministry, are
more understandable when this international
setting is kept in mind.
E. HIS CHARACTER
Jeremiah’s personality did not seem to
match the severe task for which he was
commissioned. Jeremiah, in the words of
one writer, was
afraid of people’s “faces,” one whom
we should consider singularly un tted
for the work placed upon him. That he
tenaciously clung to his assigned task
through the succeeding years of
rejection and persecution is a tribute
both to the mettle of the man and to
the grace of God, without which his
personality surely would have gone to
pieces.1
Though Jeremiah was timid by nature, he
was given a bold message to proclaim—and
he proclaimed it. Though he was very
sensitive, his task was to pronounce drastic
and extreme judgment. He was sympathetic
and loyal to his fellowmen, but these
qualities did not surpass his loyalty to God
and his love for God’s righteousness.
Jeremiah had a keen awareness that God
was real; his faith was dauntless; he believed
in prayer; he was willing to su er for God’s
sake. The prophet was by nature gentle and
meek, patient and brave, candid and
passionate. His honesty would not let him be
bribed; his deep emotions would not give
place to a stony resignation to judgment. He
was utterly devoted to one task, that of
preaching the message of God. As someone
has put it, he was the “bravest, grandest
man of Old Testament history.”
F. HIS LIFE AND MINISTRY
Jeremiah was born when the very wicked
King Manasseh was still ruling Judah. He
was raised in a small town called Anathoth,
located just a few miles north of Jerusalem.
His father was a priest, Hilkiah by name.
Following in the footsteps of his father,
Jeremiah entered the priesthood at an early
age. When he was still a young man,
probably around twenty-one, God made
known to him that he had been divinely
ordained to be a prophet, and that his duties
as priest were terminated (Jer 1).
Jeremiah immediately embarked on his
new course and for about fty years stood as
the representative and spokesman for God.
Kings, rulers, priests, and politicians, as well
as the false prophets, vehemently opposed
the policy which he recommended to the
nation.
Jeremiah has recorded some of the trying
experiences he endured when he was
ridiculed, ignored, beaten, misrepresented,
starved, mocked, threatened, and cursed by
all classes of people, even by those whom he
