Jeremiah, the Deviant Prophet

Jeremiah was a prophet of violence and destruction. Contrary to Jeremiah, Judean religious establishments maintained shalom. Shalom prevailed over Jerusalem and Judah. Shalom, thus, represents the collective consciousness of Jeremiah’s era. Shalom was also a “common social space” for the variety of religious orientations. The gods of Judah could form “a social God” who maintained different cults but shared a common social goal, divine and human welfare. It is, therefore, obvious that the devotees of the social God did not listen to the prophecy of Jeremiah. For them, doom-prophecy was a treason against national security and social morality. His prophecy was a blasphemy against the social God on the one hand and a violence against collective sentiments on the other hand. The period of Jeremiah is generally said to be under a critical situation because Judah was afflicted by the menace from Babylonia and Egypt. In this pathological situation, Jeremiah came to be sensitive to socio-political transition, for he was located on the most outer border of social boundaries. He anticipated vaguely that Judah would be destroyed. However, even he could not determine whether his anticipation was true or not because he, as an individual and a corporate personality at the same time, had been also overwhelmed by the communal hope for shalom.