Jeremiah - Background

Jeremiah is called to prophecy when he was preparing for the priesthood around age 20, in the reign of King Josiah, the great reformer. Jeremiah is reluctant and protests that he does not know how to speak, but God tells him that He watches over His words, but does not hide from Jeremiah that this will take many years, which will turn out to be forty years. Under Josiah, Jeremiah is somewhat protected, but ultimately, the Babylonians capture Judah, and Jeremiah joins his kinsmen in captivity. The Northern tribes of Israel had had a line of non-Davidic kings and had created two false sanctuaries in Bethel and Dan.