Preaching From Gloom to Glory: Hope in the Footsteps of Jeremiah

The United States of America is celebrating its 250th anniversary. The nation remains one of the world’s dominant military powers, but Bible prophecy tells us things will not stay this way. Sin and immorality are set to bring the nation down as it did with ancient Israel and Judah.

The nation of Judah had the prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel as contemporaries. Jeremiah and Ezekiel were also priests. And Daniel—of the royal family of the tribe of Judah—was in significant measure practically running the Chaldean (Babylonian) empire during Jeremiah’s time.

These spiritual giants helped to keep the people—to some degree—sufficiently on track so there could be a repentance, a restoration and a return to Jerusalem after 70 years of captivity in Babylon.

Let’s take a look at how Jeremiah’s life parallels the role of the Church of God in the end time. It seems likely things will come to a stunning conclusion with Jesus’ return before much longer.

Jeremiah’s calling

Jeremiah is often referred to as the weeping prophet. Many talk about the doom and gloom that he preached, but he was also a prophet of hope. He was a prophet of encouragement, leading God’s people to eventual glory. He warned his people of a coming catastrophe, but he also had a hand in rebuilding and restoring the nation.

Jeremiah is the prophet of the New Covenant, foretold in chapter 31 of the book that bears his name. The prophecy is repeated in the book of Hebrews. Yes, Jeremiah did prophesy of punishment and gloom, but also of hope and glory with the good news about the Messiah and the ultimate restoration He will bring.

Jeremiah’s work spanned the reign of many Jewish kings. One of them was the great and righteous leader Josiah, who led a renewal in Judah. Because of the nation’s sins, King Josiah needed guidance on what to do, so he sent his advisers to Huldah the prophetess, asking for guidance from the Lord (2 Chronicles 34:21-28).

Huldah gave the king’s men a message: Disaster would strike the nation because the people had forgotten God and were worshiping idols. Thankfully, King Josiah tore down idolatrous shrines in Jerusalem and throughout Judah. Because of this, the destruction of Judah would not occur during his lifetime (2 Chronicles 34:28).

Jeremiah mourned Josiah’s death (2 Chronicles 35:25) and the punishment his people would incur for their sins. The book of Lamentations, which he evidently wrote, gives added testimony to that. In addition to the book that bears his name, he is traditionally identified as an author of the books of Kings as well.

Jeremiah had a long work in Judah spanning around half a century. He was ultimately imprisoned by his own people because of his preaching. He was persecuted and almost killed. Strangely enough, he was finally released by his nation’s enemy, the Chaldeans!

Jeremiah’s mission

Jeremiah may have been in his mid- to late-teen years when God first called him to his mission (Jeremiah 1:4-6). Even from his mother’s womb, God had an important job in mind for Jeremiah:

“But the Lord said to me: ‘Do not say, “I am a youth,” for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you,’ says the Lord . . . ‘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 1:7-10, emphasis added throughout).

God told Jeremiah that he was going to face great opposition in his work, and he surely did.  He had a very difficult life as a prophet. Jeremiah saw the kingdom torn down. And yet he was commissioned to be part of raising it back up again.

In Jeremiah 7, we see a very serious condemnation of the nation. It’s exactly what is happening among our nations today. God warned Judah:

“Yet they [Judah] did not obey Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers. Therefore you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not obey you. You shall also call to them, but they will not answer you” (Jeremiah 7:26-27).

We have a similar situation today, where efforts to proclaim the gospel and a call to repentance fall on deaf ears. Most people don’t want to hear it, and they go on with their lives. In Jeremiah’s time, this brought destruction and punishment on the nation for its sins.

“So you shall say to them, ‘This is a nation that does not obey the voice of the Lord their God nor receive correction. Truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth . . . For the children of Judah have done evil in My sight,’ says the Lord . . . ‘And they have built the high places . . . to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire . . . I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. For the land shall be desolate’” (Jeremiah 7:28-34).

It sounds like a dead-end job given to Jeremiah, doesn’t it? Jeremiah is told his words will fall on deaf ears, with a very tragic end prophesied for Judah.

This mirrors society today! We essentially allow child sacrifice for personal convenience. We promote lifestyle abominations throughout our land—even in churches that should know better. Truth has perished. Jeremiah’s mission seems to have been a hopeless one, as does the mission of God’s Church today. Yet God’s directive to continue the mission persists.

Imprisonment and eventual release

As we read in Jeremiah 38, he wound up being imprisoned by his own people, who didn’t want to hear what God was telling them. They didn’t want to change their ways or repent of their sins.

Leaders of the people pressed the king, “Please, let this man be put to death” (Jeremiah 38:4). While he didn’t die then, he was made to suffer: “So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon . . .  And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire. So Jeremiah sank in the mire” (Jeremiah 38:6).

King Zedekiah finally brought Jeremiah out and asked him to tell all that God had prophesied. Jeremiah told the king about the Chaldeans being the ones who would attack and destroy Jerusalem because of Judah’s terrible sin. Zedekiah then imprisoned Jeremiah again! (Jeremiah 38:28).

As foretold, the country was soon conquered. You can imagine the scene. In today’s setting, it would be like a weakened United States of America overrun by China or Russia while you, having warned of the calamity, languish in jail.

A commander of the Chaldeans then spoke to Jeremiah: “The Lord your God has pronounced this doom on this place. Now the Lord has brought it, and has done just as He said. Because you people have sinned against the Lord, and not obeyed His voice, therefore this thing has come upon you” (Jeremiah 40:2-3).

This Chaldean captain knew exactly why Judah was being conquered. He knew it was a punishment on Judah for their idolatry and sin. He knew it better than the Jewish nation did!

The captain then freed Jeremiah and said he could live anywhere he chose—either move to Babylon or stay in Judah. He was free, but he still mourned for his people.

End of exile

But this was not the end. Jeremiah was yet a prophet of hope, and there are words he wrote for us to consider today—which apply to us in preaching the gospel of the Kingdom. It’s a story of preaching from gloom to glory.

“Thus says the Lord: ‘Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope in your future, says the Lord, that your children shall come back to their own border’” (Jeremiah 31:16-17).

Jeremiah is ultimately a prophet of hope. And we, too, ultimately preach and announce the gospel of the Kingdom of God—a message of hope for our world today.

In Jeremiah 33, we read: “Again there shall be heard in this place . . . the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who will say: ‘Praise the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for His mercy endures forever’” (Jeremiah 33:10-11).

There was indeed a partial restoration of Jerusalem in the days of the Persian ruler Cyrus. A portion of the nation of Judah returned and remained in the Holy Land for quite some time, and the covenant was renewed under Ezra and Nehemiah.

Sadly, the renewed commitment did not last. Thankfully, there is coming an ultimate redemption for Israel and Judah. Jeremiah 33 is also an end-time prophecy. The message of gloom eventually led to a message of future glory.

When 70 years are completed

The prophet Daniel was a Jewish captive taken to Babylon while Jeremiah was imprisoned in Jerusalem. Jeremiah 25 is a chapter that encouraged Daniel greatly. “‘Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,’ says the Lord; ‘and I will make it a perpetual desolation’” (Jeremiah 25:12).

You see, the Chaldeans were not righteous either. Their empire would only last 70 years. Daniel was there for the fulfillment of the Jewish return to follow. Jeremiah himself didn’t get to see it happen, this being after his time there.

Daniel read Jeremiah’s words and recognized his people might have an opportunity to go home after all! He prayed deeply about it (Daniel 9:2-19), and eventually God inspired the Persian King Cyrus to allow the Jews the opportunity to go back and rebuild the city of Jerusalem and the temple.

Just like Daniel, we too should pray for our nations to repent. The rest of Daniel 9 talks about the eventual time of the Messiah to save the whole world. This is the ultimate message of hope—from gloom to glory.

Preaching gloom to glory in the last days

In keeping with the spirit of Jeremiah’s prophecies, let’s examine a comparison of Jeremiah’s role with that of the New Testament Church of God. We will particularly consider how similar it is to what Jeremiah experienced. In many ways, we walk in similar footsteps to Jeremiah, preaching from gloom to glory.

The time is soon coming when there will be a very powerful message from God, an indictment against our world (Revelation 11:1-11). This message will be particularly powerful right before the second coming of Jesus Christ (as pictured by God’s annual festival, the Feast of Trumpets). At that time, the sins of the world are going to be exposed. Humanity is going to be condemned, and the right way of life will be expounded.

As with Judah, the consequences for sin will be revealed. Yes, we have the good news of God’s Kingdom, but the fulfillment of this good news will be preceded by some terrible events. Because of sin, the world is going to go through a great cataclysm and time of punishment. God will finally intervene in the most powerful way ever to judge this world and our civilization. That time is coming, but beyond it is coming a wonderful world tomorrow (as pictured by God’s annual festival, the Feast of Tabernacles).

Jeremiah was left to die in prison for bringing God’s warning message to his nation. The people and the king did not want to hear it. Likewise, Christ prophesied hardship would come on His Church in the end time, as its message is not popular either.

Just like Jeremiah, the Church has a responsibility to preach God’s message. What is the gospel message? It includes proclaiming the need to repent from sin, accompanied by a warning of consequences. But it is foremost a message of hope—announcing the Kingdom of God, with a wonderful world tomorrow and ultimate destiny beyond. Each of us must pray each day for the gospel to be preached successfully around the world to all nations.

With the Church’s responsibility to carry out this mission, persecution will come. Jeremiah survived. The Church will survive as well.

Jesus Christ proclaimed: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). This tells us there’s going to be a very powerful witness to all nations. Not just to Judah as done by Jeremiah, but to all of humanity through God’s Church in the last days.

The gospel is to be preached throughout all the world—to all people God has created (Mark 16:15). It’s to be a Jeremiah-like work. The unpopularity Jeremiah’s preaching resulted in will be similar for the Church. Christ said if they hated Him, they would hate His followers.

It’s going to come to the point outlined in Revelation 12 where a great persecution will come on the Church. Christ’s followers will have to flee to a “place prepared by God” (verse 6). At the same time, God will send two witnesses to proclaim His message (Revelation 11), and they’ll be protected as Jeremiah was. Through their work, many will turn to God.

Jeremiah and God’s Church today

Jeremiah was one who restored the confidence of the people through his encouraging prophecies of a better time to come. He inspired Ezekiel and Daniel in their work. Through their words, God gives us a view of what He will ultimately do in a better world to come.

Just as Jeremiah survived on the other side of the destruction of Jerusalem, as disciples today, we can be encouraged that not only will we continue to keep the truth alive, but we will have the opportunity to literally be part of the solution when Jesus Christ returns.

Together with Jeremiah and all of those God has used over time, we can do even more than Jeremiah did in his time. We have the opportunity of serving with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords—Jesus Christ—as we walk in the footsteps of Jeremiah when humanity is delivered from gloom to glory.