The Prophet Jeremiah was born into a wealthy family in Anathoth, in Benjamin, in 655 BCE. He was the son of Hilkiah, a Jewish priest. He started prophesying around 626 BCE. He was called to be a prophet because the Jewish people turned away from God and began worshipping the Baals; they built altars for sacrifice to the gods. They also turned their backs of the rules of the covenant. All of the these things caused God to have Israel be attacked and be taken into Babylonian exile.
Jeremiah was a prophet for the span of five different kings of Israel: Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. Jeremiah saw the fall of the Assyrian Empire and the rise of the Babylonian Empire. Jeremiah was known as the “Weeping Prophet”. He is known as this because he preached destruction, doom, and hardship for the people of Israel. He was …show more content…
Jeremiah complained to God about the persecution and God told him that it was going to get worse. Jeremiah did not care about his popularity with people but only with warning people of the coming destruction. The false prophets of the time were angry at him because he only preached bad news while they preached good news. As retaliation, God had Jeremiah preach against false prophets.
Jeremiah prepared the people of his time for the coming of Christ by putting them on the right path. He told people that sacrifices were not necessary to go the heaven; instead, a more personal relationship with God is what is most important. He also turned the Israelites being exiled in Babylon into a message; that God could be worshipped even if they were not in Jerusalem with the Temple. This message helped the Israelites realize that an intimate relationship with the deity not rituals. Jeremiah’s view of religion was minimalistic and rituals were considered unimportant. After a while Jeremiah’s teachings were tossed to the side and people went back to their rituals and