Jeremiah - Prophetic Parables

Prophetic Parables

The biblical narrative includes a number of cases of Jeremiah being given unusual instructions requiring him to act out parables or behave in ways contrary to expectations of prophetic office. Much like the prophet Isaiah who had to walk stripped and barefoot for three years and the prophet Ezekiel who had to lie on his side for 390 days and eat measured food, Jeremiah is instructed to perform a number of prophetic parables to illustrate the Lord’s message to his people. For example, Jeremiah buys a clay jar and smashes it in the Valley of Ben Hinnom in front of elders and priests to illustrate that the Lord will smash the nation of Judah and the city of Judah beyond repair. The Lord instructs Jeremiah to make a yoke from wood and leather straps and to put it on his own neck to demonstrate how the Lord will put the nation under the yoke of the king of Babylon.