Jeremiah, the Man Who Felt God’s Anguish

Jeremiah had hoped for a permanent reformation under Josiah. He had been called by God to the prophetic office while still a youth. As a member of the priesthood, Jeremiah had been trained from childhood for holy service. In those happy years he little realized that God had chosen him from birth to be “a prophet to the nations.” When the divine call came, he was overwhelmed. “Ah, Lord God!” he exclaimed, “I cannot speak, for I am a youth.” Jeremiah 1:5, 6.RR 145.1

In the young Jeremiah, God saw one who would be true to his trust and stand for the right against great opposition. In childhood he had proved faithful, and now he was to endure hardship as a soldier of the cross. “Do not say, ‘I am a youth.’ ... Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you.” “‘Speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before their faces, lest I dismay you before them. For behold, I have made you this day a fortified city and an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land. ... They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you,’ says the Lord, ‘to deliver you.’” Verses 7, 8, 17-19.RR 145.2

For forty years Jeremiah would stand as a witness for truth and righteousness. In a time of unparalleled apostasy he was to give an example in life and character of the worship of the true God. He was to be the mouthpiece of Jehovah. He was to predict the downfall of the house of David and the destruction of the beautiful temple built by Solomon. Imprisoned, despised, hated, rejected by others, he was finally to share in the sorrow and woe that would follow the condemned city’s destruction.RR 145.3

Yet Jeremiah was often permitted to look beyond the distressing scenes of the present to the glorious future, when God’s people would be planted again in Zion. “Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden, and they shall sorrow no more at all.” Jeremiah 31:12. Jeremiah wrote, “The Lord said to me, ‘Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.’” Jeremiah 1:9, 10.RR 145.4