February 2, Jeremiah 1
Then I said, “Ah, Lord, GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.’” - Jeremiah 1:6-8
From the time God called and commissioned Jeremiah until after the destruction of Jerusalem, the man who is known as God’s “weeping prophet” faithfully delivered the word of God to a nation that did not want to hear it. For more than forty years, Jeremiah warned of coming judgment and called Israel to repentance and righteous living. He also spoke of some future time when God would change people’s hearts and lives. But his unwelcome message to the last portion of the nation of Israel was mostly negative and mostly rejected by the people God sent him to address.
God’s foreknowledge and sovereignty shines in the way he knew and set Jeremiah apart to be his prophet to the nations before Jeremiah was born. Jeremiah was a prophet by God’s selection. His first reaction to God’s call was to disqualify himself. He claimed he didn’t know how to speak and that he was too young. In this, Jeremiah was like Moses, who discounted himself as a poor speaker when God first called him to deliver Israel out of Egypt. It also sounds like Gideon’s first reaction to God’s call. But as God did with all his chosen vessels, the Lord equipped Jeremiah with the words he would speak. He confirmed his calling with two visions and encouraged the young prophet to trust that God would be with him when he faced powerful enemies. He did not have to look to himself for the strength and ability to do this job. God gave him the words, the ability and the authority to faithfully proclaim his word to his people. The LORD touched his mouth, since Jeremiah has cited his ignorance about speaking and gave him words to say. Many of Jeremiah’s words from God were negative messages of impending doom and judgment (pluck up and break down, destroy and overthrow). But there was also a word of hope for the future (to build and to plant).
The last surviving portion of the nation of Israel had gone into complete apostasy. Their hearts were hard, eyes and ears closed. They no longer honored God or listened to God’s prophet. God warned the nation through Jeremiah that the time was near (the blossoms on the almond tree signified that spring was coming soon) and that the menacing invaders would pour into the
country from the north. Babylon was actually east of Palestine, but the road they traveled would approach from the north. The invaders would bring death and destruction down on what was left of the nation because of the great
wickedness of the people. The Israelites took it from the Canaanites because God cast them out for their wickedness. Now that Israel was as bad or worse than the former tenants, God would cast them out as well.
God told Jeremiah in advance that the nation would resist and reject his preaching. But his instructions to the young prophet were clear. Let’s rephrase it: “Go where I send you. Say what I tell you. Trust I am with you.” As Jeremiah relied on God for words to speak and strength to say them, he was in many ways the last light Judah had an opportunity to see before being cast into dark decades of captivity. Like Jesus would tell Nicodemus centuries later, folks who don’t want to do right hate the light and won’t come to it. It was a hard task, but Jeremiah undertook it, and remained faithful to it throughout his lifetime.
We will learn more about Jeremiah’s life from this book than we know about any other prophet. You and I can learn and apply so many lessons from watching his sterling character and faithful devotion to God.
Copyright © 2024 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—February 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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