Jeremiah The Weeping Prophet

If any one thing could be said of the prophet Jeremiah's life then surely of a truth it is" that he earned his stripes" and" paid his dues" as it were! And primarily due to two things beloved (1) his broken and contrite heart and secondly "the burden of the Lord" (which weighed heavily upon him" at all times). other ways in which the prophet can be aptly described is " mr perpetual tears" ( which is how the tag of weeping prophet probably stuck fast )

( The prophets were known for there strong crying and weeping)

And this man JEREMIAH carried a burden - - a burden mind you that was deep seated, perpetual, ongoing and continual.

When i reflect on the prophets life two things spring to mind immediately and they are (a) a life bathed in tears and secondly the absolute authenticity of his *sure* word of prophesy.

That said in effect jeremiah was confronted with the plight of Israels compromise, and her idolatry, there going after of "other gods" there sins, there wickedness, and there constant perpetual backslidings.

However Once confronted with the situation at hand jeremiah could not dismiss it lightly nor could he merely walk away from the dilemna at hand: ( he was a man possessed ...and .yea with israels plight)

Knowing what was in front of him the prophet begins to call israel back to God, back to repentance, and back to sweet communion with the Lord. There was no candy- coating the gravity of the situation.

Israel had forsaken covenant with God - and it was jeremiahs calling to point out there waywardness, and restore her back. (Period)

In order to achieve this the prophet would have to invoke tough love, he would have to tell it - like it is! No white washing the matter. Indeed jeremiah would have to step up to the mark and tell the people what they need to hear - - - and not necessarily what they wanted to hear.

In the true form of a prophet he must "man up" and not be afraid of there faces. He must call a spade a spade and let the chips fall where they fall. Being God's prophet Jeremiah found out it was no place for the fainthearted , the fearful, or the afraid.

And when the going gets tough ... the tough get going. And get going .. as in "pro-active" is exactly what the man of God did. He rolled up his sleeves and pulled no punches. He told it straight. And Without fear or favour to man.

Remembering At the time Israel was in a mess! ( a big mess) She was backslidden and given to whoredoms, bribes, and corruption.
And poor old Jeremiah is thrown into the deep end with a God given mandate to sound the trumpet with a clear clarion message " turn and repent Israel" or be chastened and judged by your God:

Did Israel hearken? Did they heed the warning? Or did they shoot the messenger and pooh pooh - - - thewarning ???

The weeping prophet sadly however was dismissed lightly and lampooned by (even) his fellow countryman ( the jews).

A deepening crisis was unfolding and Israel had sunk even lower into the abyss of idolatry and constant whoredoms with other gods.

The prophets pleas and prophesies were falling on deaf ears and worse israel was turning to sooth saying prophets at the time that tickled ears and prophesied (smooth things)

The situation was critical and dire and Gods people were slipping into quick sand ( so to speak ) but the prophet was no quiter and therefore it literally was a case of "no retreat ... no surrender"

He would carry the burden to the very end and come hell or high water israel was going to be confronted with her iniquities and her Sins !!

Why was he called the weeping prophet ? well because of this * oh that my head were rivers, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that i might weep for the daughter of my people ( Jer 9:1)

The situation he confronted was also this " there was no balm in Gilead
And no healing for the hurt of my people Israel. In essence the head was sick and the wound incurable. ( not good)

One way or another though ( come what may) israel would know her condtion, her state, and her plight. The messenger would deliver the burden of the lord ...and israel would know a prophet has visited them.

True prophets dont always deliver a people pleasing message, but rather they burn ears and speak the truth without hesitation and/or trepidation.

Because of this they are not popular or well liked and may be subject to imprisonments and even torture. They can be stoned to death and locked away For long periods in dungeons - - and for what? all for speaking the truth and delivering... God' s clear concise clarion message -- which is a call to old fashioned but biblical repentance and revival. Amen and Amen

God bless all

Bro stephen

AKA ( SON OF THUNDER)

Great post about Jeremiah. And it goes without saying that he had to learn the obedience, repentance he was calling Israel to through his own acts of obedience and repentance.

The misconception that these people are born with a better nature than others has to be eradicated also. They are just given no chance of living their lives the way they would like to. The only way has to be complete obedience.

And the brokenness which he felt wasn't a special anointing,
it was that of having his heart crushed and broken and moulded.

Good post. Just this week I was following a truck that appeared to have a gas tank leak that was dumping fuel at a pretty fast rate. My concern was that tail pipe area. I chased down this truck and tried to get their attention, but all my efforts were to no use as they sped away. I just could not keep up in the traffic and they got away. When things like this happen in my life I often take time to reflect on "what just happened". I think our journey is often like that though. We see the danger we make the moves and cry out warnings(in my case I started blowing the horn and tried to get the drivers attention), but often times to no use.The driver was so pre-occupied with where he was heading and the conversation with his passenger, that he never did look up to see my waving/pointing and hear my blowing horn. To anyone who didn't see the gas dumping out of his tank...my actions would have appeared much like one who is either very angry, mad or what ever.....In the same way Jeremiah was faced with a people who was about to enter into judgement with God. The cry thus saith the Lord is made more in his book than any other book in the OT. The trouble was that the people were pre-occupied with where they were heading and the people in their lives.They had become the soil that allowed for the thorns and thistles to choke the Word...Hebrews says they didn't mix it with faith.
In America we are seeing the same thing.Life is moving at an incredible pace, we talk in sound bites these day and quick information blips, the trouble is since the pulpit no longer fits the congregations for acts of discernment and righteousness, in the near future(I believe very near future) many (most) professing Christians will follow the leading of the soon to be revealed false prophet with his lieing(sp?) signs and wonders and his eventual endorsement of that man of sin, the anti-Christ. I see America as prime for such a time.This truly saddens me.