Jeremiah 1:2
To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
The verse dates the beginning of Jeremiah's prophetic ministry to the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah. From that starting point he ministered as a later prophet than Isaiah through the closing days of Judah under its last kings from Josiah onward, through Jehoiakim to Zedekiah and the Babylonian captivity. His messages came as the word of Jehovah, divinely given through the human prophet, and first came to him when he was very young and called himself a child. He shrank from the grave responsibility in a sense of his weakness and unfitness, and God met him with the assurance of His presence and set him over nations to pluck up and break down and to build and plant, to reprove a rebellious people until he became immersed in tears. The warnings and promises he then gave against backsliding and disobedience apply in larger measure to the professed people of God now, from the same God who is as willing to pardon now.
Timing and Historical Setting
The verse dates the beginning of Jeremiah's prophetic ministry to the time when the word of the Lord came to him in the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah. That beginning is dated to about 626 B.C., and his ministry continued through the years leading up to the exile to Babylon. Those who reckoned it more precisely placed the first coming of the word to him as a young man in the thirteenth year of Josiah at about 629 B.C., with a ministry extending to about 588 B.C.
It places him as a later prophet than Isaiah, prophesying in the closing days before the Babylonian captivity. He was God's faithful prophet in Jerusalem through Judah's last kings from Josiah onward, beginning under Josiah and continuing under Jehoiakim and ending under Zedekiah. Zedekiah was the last king who was carried away into Babylon and taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar.
The verse stands at the start of the section of Jeremiah that runs in fairly chronological order up to chapter 20, beginning with the thirteenth year of Josiah. From chapter 20 to chapter 46 the messages are out of time order, with some from Zedekiah's reign placed before others from Jehoiakim's days.
Calling Message and Application
The verse marks Jeremiah's messages as coming to him as the word of Jehovah, which means his prophecy was divinely given. Its words were both the words of the Spirit of God and the words of the prophet, for God used the human instrument according to its limitations just as a master musician plays upon various instruments.
It introduces God's call of Jeremiah when he was very young, when he called himself a child and said he was not able to go. He was a youthful priest who bore God's yoke from youth. His calling shows that God chooses servants while still youthful, and selects and equips those He chooses from varied backgrounds.
He shrank in humility from the grave responsibility of his mission and felt unqualified for the work throughout. This illustrates that those called to sacred work know their weakness and need God's authority and strength. God encouraged him with the assurance of His presence.
God set him over nations to pluck up and break down and to build and plant by the words he would speak. This set him to a hard and awful task before a rebellious and gainsaying people, to point out the sins of Judah with reproof after reproof. He was to stand as a fortified city, an iron pillar, and brazen walls, where they would fight against him and he would suffer yet they would not prevail. His heart was constantly immersed in a fountain of tears, hence the weeping prophet.
Through him the Lord gave many warnings and exhortations and declarations concerning the awful backsliding of Judah. The opening message set out promises of blessing if the people obey the Lord and warnings of destruction if they persist in disobedience.
The prophecies given then apply to the professed people of God now, and the judgments pronounced against sin then are applicable in larger measure now. The same God who was willing to pardon then is as willing to pardon now.