The Orthodox Church commemorates today the Prophet Jeremiah and Venerable Nicephorus of Chios.
The Prophet Jeremiah was born around 650 BC and was raised in a pious family. He was called by God to become a prophet at a very young age and, despite his objections, he obeyed God’s will. His name, Jeremiah, means “God exalts”.
The Assyrian polytheism had influenced the Jews, who were devoted to religious syncretism and idolatry. Jeremiah disapproved of polytheism. On the contrary, he was preaching the Word of the One and Only True God and criticising corruption. He opposed false prophets, who had been deceiving the people with intimidation and misleading teachings.
The Prophet had a feeling that the destruction was near due to the Black Death, that is the plague epidemic, which caused drought and the people suffered a lot of hardship. Even though the Prophet was in despair, God’s forbearance was unlimited because he loved humans. So, he decided to withdraw from society after having put so much effort for nothing. He had foreseen that humans were leading themselves towards destruction and damnation as they were unrepentant.
He opposed the local lord, who was responsible for the disaster. But everyone was against the Prophet, who lost his courage because he thought he had been abandoned by God. He soon pulled himself together and continued peaching, as he had pinned his hopes on the Lord. He was preaching the destruction of the local shrine. His preaching was disturbing and, therefore, he was arrested and imprisoned. As a punishment, he was not allowed to visit the shrine.
At the end of 605 BC, after the defeat of the Egyptians, he gave his disciple to read out a prophecy, through which he preached again the destruction of the shrine. Everyone revolted against him. Jeremiah and his disciple found refuge elsewhere in order not to be arrested again. At the meantime, his prophecy was fulfilled. The Prophet Jeremiah was found and stoned to death by his compatriots in Egypt in 568 BC.
The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah in the Old Testament is about his theological teachings in which he spoke of God and the people of God.
Source: Church of Cyprus