Jeremiah was a remarkable prophet of judgment and hope. Divinely called as a youth, his 40-year ministry foretold and witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem and the deportation to Babylon. He saw this as the judgment of God upon a nation that had abandoned its covenant with Yahweh for the worship of fertility gods. Jeremiah anguished over his confrontational role and what he could so clearly see coming. Yet he also anticipated the restoration of God's people and foresaw the era of the new covenant and the coming of the Messiah.