Yes — Jeremiah is called the weeping prophet because he saw the judgment that Israel was heading into, and he grieved over a people who refused to listen to God's warnings.
Les Feldick says the reason for the title is that Jeremiah “could see what Israel was heading into.” The people were going deeper into idolatry, rejecting Jeremiah's prophecies, and throwing him into a prison dungeon. When the Babylonians came, they found Jeremiah in that dungeon. His tears came from watching his own people refuse to heed the warning before the judgment fell.
Jeremiah 44:16 — This verse records the people's direct refusal to listen to Jeremiah's warning, a central reason for his sorrow.
Jeremiah 44:17 — It shows the people's determination to keep burning incense to the queen of heaven, the idolatry that was pulling Judah away from God.
Jeremiah 30:6 — This verse pictures the deep distress of Israel's coming trouble, the judgment Jeremiah saw coming and wept over.
Jeremiah 44 records the people's response to Jeremiah's warning. Instead of listening, they answered, 'As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee' (Jeremiah 44:16). They insisted, 'But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven' (Jeremiah 44:17). Jeremiah 30:6 pictures the anguish of the time ahead: 'Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?' This is the kind of distress Jeremiah saw coming upon Israel.
Les Feldick identifies Jeremiah as the weeping prophet because he could see what Israel was heading into. The people were going deeper into idolatry — with the women of Israel leading the way in burning incense to the queen of heaven, a female goddess. Rather than listen to Jeremiah's prophecies, they threw him into one of the dankest, deepest, and wettest dungeons in Jerusalem. Jeremiah had foretold these things and tried to warn Israel as well as Judah. Les notes that Jeremiah was predominantly in the southern kingdom, but what applied to one kingdom applied to the other. When the Babylonians finally took Jerusalem, they found Jeremiah in that dungeon. His tears were the result of a nation that would not listen to what God was saying through him.
Les Feldick directly states, 'this is why he's called the weeping prophet. He could see what Israel was heading into.' Jeremiah saw that God's covenant people were not turning back to Him but were going deeper into the same kind of sins that Paul later describes in Romans 1. He wept because he knew what was coming and because the people refused to hear the warning.
Jeremiah was warning about the judgment that Israel was heading into — specifically the coming Babylonian siege. He lived at the time of the Babylonian siege, and Les points out that when the Babylonians took over Jerusalem, they found Jeremiah in prison. Jeremiah also confronted the people because they had turned their backs on everything God had done and were burning incense to the queen of heaven.
The people did not respond with repentance. In Jeremiah 44:16 they said, 'As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee.' Instead of listening, they threw Jeremiah into prison because they did not like what he said. When the Babylonians found him, he was still in that dungeon.
Les acknowledges that Jeremiah was predominantly in the southern kingdom of Judah, but he also says Jeremiah 'tried to warn Israel as well as Judah.' Les explains that what was for one was for the other, so the warning applied to the whole nation.
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And He has providentially kept at least this many young Jews fairly pure in their tribal bloodline so that He can say, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben. 12,000 from the tribe of Gad. 12,000 from the tribe of Asher. And right on down the line, He's going to be able to finger them and say, you're from that tribe.
Why Jeremiah Earned the Title 'Weeping Prophet'
Les directly says this is why Jeremiah was called the weeping prophet: he could see what Israel was heading into, and the people were going deeper into idolatrous sins.
Jeremiah Warned Both Kingdoms
Les explains that Jeremiah was predominantly in the southern kingdom, but his warning applied to Israel as a whole — what was for one was for the other.
Jeremiah's Dungeon Imprisonment
Les describes how Jeremiah was found in one of the dankest, deepest, wettest dungeons in Jerusalem because he prophesied things Israel did not like to hear.
Babylonians Found Jeremiah in Prison
Les reminds his class that Jeremiah lived at the time of the Babylonian siege and that when the Babylonians took Jerusalem, they found Jeremiah in prison.
The People's Defiant Answer
In Jeremiah 44, the Israelites respond to Jeremiah's plea by declaring they will not hearken to the word of the LORD, showing the stubborn rejection that grieved the prophet.
Jeremiah's Picture of Coming Distress
Jeremiah 30:6 shows the anguish of a man in travail, illustrating the deep distress connected with Israel's coming trouble that Jeremiah foresaw.
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He kept them more or less hidden from view. But now, beginning with His dealing with Israel, everything becomes prophetic, and God tells it before it happens. And then, after the crucifixion, and we get in here after the book of Acts has begun, again the Lord Jesus, even before He's crucified, foretold that within just a little while the city of Jerusalem would be destroyed.
Jeremiah 44:15: Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,
This verse sets the scene for the people's defiant refusal to listen to Jeremiah's warning.
Jeremiah 44:16: As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee.
This is the people's direct rejection of the word Jeremiah spoke in God's name.
Jeremiah 44:17: But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
The people insist on continuing the idolatrous worship that Les connects to the female goddess behind their sin.
Jeremiah 30:6: Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
This verse pictures the deep distress and anguish of Israel's coming trouble, the backdrop of Jeremiah's weeping.
Les Feldick says Jeremiah was called the weeping prophet because he could see what Israel was heading into. He saw the coming judgment and grieved because the people would not listen to God's warnings.
No. The people told Jeremiah, 'As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee' (Jeremiah 44:16). Instead of listening, they threw him into a dark, wet dungeon.
When the Babylonians took Jerusalem, they found Jeremiah in the dungeon where the Jews had put him because they did not like what he was prophesying.
Les says Jeremiah was predominantly in the southern kingdom, but his warning applied to both Israel and Judah. What was for one was for the other.
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