Jeremiah was chosen by God before birth to be a prophet to the nation of Judah (Jeremiah 1:4–50). He spoke the words of the Lord during the reigns of Kings Josiah (2 Chronicles 36:1), Jehoiakim (2 Chronicles 36:5), and Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:18–19). Jeremiah grieved over the wickedness of his people and the impending judgment the nation’s sins had provoked. Jeremiah’s warnings went mostly unheeded, and he responded to Judah’s rebellion with tears of mourning (Jeremiah 13:17). Jeremiah has been dubbed “the weeping prophet” because of the often gloomy nature of his message and the grief he expressed for his people.
God’s plan for Jeremiah called for loneliness and suffering, but the Lord was never far from him (Jeremiah 1:7–8). Because of the impending judgment on Judah, God forbade Jeremiah to marry or have children (Jeremiah 16:2). While that prohibition may have increased the prophet’s loneliness for a time, it was also a blessing as he did not have to watch his family torn from him when the Babylonians invaded Judah and destroyed Jerusalem (Jeremiah 16:3–4).
Jeremiah the weeping prophet stood alone declaring God’s words while his beloved nation continued to reject the path of life. That ongoing rejection and personal isolation cost him greatly, as many in ministry understand. Those who heed God’s call on their lives may suffer many abuses from an ungodly world. A. W. Tozer wrote, “Always remember: you cannot carry a cross in company. Though a man were surrounded by a vast crowd, his cross is his alone and his carrying of it marks him as a man apart” (Man—The Dwelling Place of God).
Jeremiah’s cross to bear was obedience to his role as Judah’s prophet, and he bore it with courage as the weeping prophet. Many today who’ve been called by God are coming to understand Jeremiah’s position. In our tumultuous world, our voices often seem lost in the wind. Some Christians respond to the cultural insanity with angry tirades and name-calling that do nothing to further the cause of Christ. But many weep, as Jeremiah did, for the fate of people who have been deceived by the evil one (see Psalm 119:136). In his sorrow, Jeremiah the weeping prophet revealed the heart of God. The Lord Jesus also wept over those upon whom judgment was coming: “As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes’” (Luke 19:41–42). It should comfort us to know that, when we weep for the fate of lost people, God Himself joins us (Jeremiah 9:1, 10). When Jeremiah wept over Judah’s rebellion, He was not alone. The Lord wept with Him.
There came a day when the Lord called a halt to the mourning over Judah, and Jeremiah the weeping prophet delivered a message of hope: “This is what the Lord says: ‘Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,’ declares the Lord. ‘They will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your descendants’” (Jeremiah 31:16–17).
The Lord never leaves His people hopeless. In judgment there is mercy. Even in our rebellion, God offers an open door (Revelation 3:8). There is a season for everything, including weeping (Ecclesiastes 3:1–8). Though we may weep now, a day will come for God’s people when He will “wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:17; cf. 21:4). Although Jeremiah was a weeping prophet during his faithful ministry on earth, he is now comforted for eternity. He has discovered, as we will, too, that “weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).
In Jacob’s blessings of his twelve sons, he says this about Judah: “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his” (Genesis 49:10).
In ancient times a scepter was often a full-length staff—note that, in the poetry of Jacob’s prophecy, the words scepter and ruler’s staff are used in parallel. A scepter was usually made of carved wood and sometimes embellished with fine metal or gems; it symbolized a ruler’s absolute power and authority over a tribe or nation. The same Hebrew word translated “scepter” is sometimes translated as “club,” “staff,” or “rod,” all of which can be used as weapons. Scepters symbolized the irresistible civic and military power that a ruler had at his command.
When Jacob said, “The scepter will not depart from Judah,” he was giving, in part, a divine prediction concerning the children of Judah. Centuries later, when Jacob’s descendants formed a nation in the Promised Land and kings began to rule, it was the line of Judah that became the royal line. Starting with David, the line of Judah’s kings continued through Solomon, Rehoboam, Abijah, and many others, all the way through Zedekiah, the last king of Judah. Jacob’s prophecy came true: the tribe of Judah possessed the scepter—the kings of the Davidic dynasty were all descended from Jacob’s fourth son, Judah.
When Jacob said, “The scepter will not depart from Judah,” he was also giving a divine prediction of one Descendant in particular who would come from the line of Judah. Jacob says the tribe of Judah would possess the scepter “until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will honor” (Genesis 49:10, NLT). Some more literal translations, such as the KJV and the NASB, render the prophecy as “until Shiloh comes”--Shiloh being a title of the Messiah.
Later in biblical history, God tells King David, a descendant of Judah, that his throne would be established forever, confirming that the Messiah would be descended from him (2 Samuel 7:8–16). The One who fulfills this prophecy is Jesus Christ, the Son of David, whose kingdom is eternal (2 Peter 1:11). Jesus is “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David” (Revelation 5:5). Because of Jesus Christ, the scepter has not departed from Judah.
Worldly authority, symbolized by the scepter, is temporary, and earthly kings often find their scepters slipping out of their grasp. But the scepter wielded by the Messiah, Jesus Christ, will never be lost, stolen, or set aside. When He establishes His kingdom on earth, it will be one of perfect justice: “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness” (Hebrews 1:8–9; cf. Psalm 45:6–7). Jesus’ reign will include a final judgment of the nations, and He “will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery” (Revelation 2:27; cf. Psalm 2:9; cf. Revelation 19:15).
Just before they crucified Jesus, Roman soldiers mocked Him, placing a crown of thorns on His head and a staff in His hand as a royal scepter. They bowed before Him in jest, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” then struck Him repeatedly with the fake scepter (Matthew 27:27–31). How supremely ironic that the scepter, a symbol of worldly authority, was used to batter the One who holds the highest authority in heaven and on earth!
A 4,000-year-old prophecy, “the scepter will not depart from Judah,” will be fully realized some day when Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, returns with His saints and angels. The Lion of the tribe of Judah will wield the scepter: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him” (Jude 1:14–15).