Ep. 373: Yirmiyahu Ch. 15 by Rabbi Joe Wolfson | The Prophet's Personal Struggle

An incredibly moving chapter in which the prophet, after delivering a particularly harsh message, breaks down as he laments the loneliness of his mission. In the audio today I try to draw out the personal side of Yirmiyahu as he is caught between the love of God's word within him on the one hand, with the pain of what it entails to be the transmitter of those words. I also had half a chiddush which I forgot to share in the recording. Hashem references Moshe and Shmuel at the beginning of the chapter, saying that even if those two great prophets were to arise at this time, even they would not be able to bring God back to Israel. Although the reason for them being referenced together at the beginning of the chapter is that they are two prophets who had previously succeeded at bringing God back to Israel after the people had strayed, by the end of the chapter a different connection emerges between the two of them. Both Moshe and Shmuel are prophets who had struggled with their mission wishing that they did not have to do what God was asking of them - the same state that Yirmiyahu finds himself in now. Text for this chapter can be found here: https://www.sefaria.org/Jeremiah.15