All the people gathered about Jeremiah in the house of the Lord wanting to put him to death. Jeremiah had finally “crossed the line.” His prophecies and oracles had been tolerated as long as they remained generic and “vague.” But when he prophesied against Jerusalem, God’s holy city and throne, and against the Temple, God’s house, the people couldn’t take it anymore. While the priests’ anger must have arisen from the knowledge that without the Temple they will be out of their jobs, the people’s anger arose from Jeremiah’s insinuation that their fortunes were soon to be overturned: from being a people whose name is used as a blessing to a people whose name would be used when issuing a curse. Jeremiah had been tolerated long enough. It was about time he was taught a lesson.
The fate of Jeremiah speaks of the fate of God’s prophets whose messages challenge the status quo while calling the people to action (a change of life). Most of the time, as Jeremiah’s accusers had done, we select the parts of the message that we would want to hear. Jeremiah’s accusers chose not to hear God telling them the good news that God was ready to repent, if only the people would turn away from their evil ways and come back to God. God’s good news will often come to us even in the midst of not so good news: “ I have always sent you my servants the prophets. If only you will listen to them and turn away from your sinful ways,” says the Lord. The Lord will always be looking out for God’s people, always wanting what is good for them. But God’s people have always rejected God’s messages, and by doing so, have always called upon themselves the wrath of God.