Jeremiah 1:1-19. Today we embark on a journey which will take us several weeks to complete. We are going to join Jeremiah as he attempts to encourage the people of Judah to turn their lives whole heartedly back to God. Jeremiah is sometimes called the “weeping prophet” perhaps because of the content of his other book, Lamentations, which is a collection of 5 poems reflecting his sadness over the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC. Over his lifetime, though, Jeremiah had a lot to be sad about, he got to see the spiritual decline in the final days of the piece of the nation of Israel. It’s very difficult to love God and to watch others turn their back on him. Be sure to read the “Intro to Jeremiah”.
The first three verses describe who Jeremiah is and when God had him speaking to the kingdom of Judah. Jeremiah was from a family whose responsibility it was to represent God to the people and the people to God, priests. In those days God could only be approached through a priest. According to the author of Hebrews we now have access to God directly because of what Jesus did for us, he is the only priest we need (Hebrews 10:19-22). Jeremiah lists the reign of three kings, Josiah, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah. Jeremiah began speaking for God in the thirteenth year of the Reign of Josiah (627 BC) and kept bringing God’s message until the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC. Actually we will see that his writings extend past that time but that was his main period of ministry or service to the kingdom.
In verses 4-10 we see God giving Jeremiah the job of representing him to the nations. I think that is cool, God is not just talking to the people of Judah but to all the nations of the world. The job of the nations or Israel, the Israelites or Jews, was to inform the world of God’s existence, reality, and expectations. They didn’t do a very good job, personally, but because of their history and the words of guys like Jeremiah, the world did come to understand Yahweh.
Most people think of prophets as people who predict the future, and in the Bible prophets do talk about future events, but most of what a prophet in the Bible does is represent God by reminding the people of things God has already told them. Often these reminder include coming consequences, and in that sense they do contain predictions of the future. Most of the future events happen fairly quickly, but some of the predictions involve things that happen centuries of even millennia after the prediction.
In verse 5 we see that God had Jeremiah in mind for this job before he even created him in the womb. Notice that Jeremiah was considered a person from the time his mother first became pregnant. The language God uses in describing giving Jeremiah this job of being a prophet include the idea of setting Jeremiah aside specifically for the job and then actually putting Jeremiah in the position. Jeremiah is not so sure though, he complains that he is too young to be a spokesperson for God. I’m not sure how much younger you can be than a baby in a womb but he thinks he is too young though he is now a young man (he was probably under 20).
God’s answer to Jeremiah is that it doesn’t matter how young he is because God is sending him and God will supply the words. You see we are not alone in doing what God gives us to do, he is there to guide us and back us up. He also promises to protect Jeremiah, he does not need to be afraid.
In verses 9-10 we see God empowering Jeremiah. He symbolically gives power to his speech and he gives him authority over kingdoms of the earth. Notice that his authority can be destructive or constructive. An interesting thought is that, though he as the power to build up, his description of the timing of his prophesies includes the destruction of Jerusalem. So his power to build up was not used to protect his beloved kingdom. He clearly used his authority in a way that honored the one who gave it to him.
This next section makes it very clear why Jeremiah did not use his authority to save Judah. In verses 11-12 God shows Jeremiah a branch from an almond tree. In Hebrew the word for Almond tree is related to the word for watch and the tree was called an “awake” tree because it returns to bloom very early in the spring. Like the “awake” tree God is watching over the events of history and is making sure it all follows his ultimate plan, the one he has communicated to mankind thorough his words.
Next Jeremiah is shown a boiling pot, a symbol in ancient times of war. In this vision the pot is from the north and we can clearly see that there are kings coming against Jerusalem and the surrounding cities in Judah. We also see the reason for this war. It is God dealing with unfaithful followers who have walked away from him, turned to other gods (including fake manmade idols) and have generally done “evil”. So we see that the destruction that is coming in the history of Jerusalem and Judah is because they have not followed God and that it is part of God’s plan for dealing with their cheating.
God then tells Jeremiah to “suck it up” and get going. He even implies that if Jeremiah doesn’t do the job that he will be the one suffering for disobedience. He assures Jeremiah that he doesn’t have to worry about negative reactions from the people because he (God) will make him like a fortified city, like a steel post, or like a bronze (a mixture of brass and iron, a symbol of strength) wall. Verse 18 tells us that his strength will be in relationship to the king, the princes (or assistant rulers), the priests (or religious rulers), and even the people. That about covers it (maybe a few stray dogs could get to him) but implied in that list is the fact that Jeremiah will be attacked by all of these groups. Verse 19 make is clear that these groups will all attack him but they will not defeat him. Verse 19 ends with God using his personal name, Yahweh, in verifying how it will all go down for Jeremiah. Pretty heavy load for a high school kid to have place on him, but remember if he tries to walk away then the load will be even greater because then it will be from God. It must be reassuring to know that God is for you but still quite a burden to know that everyone else will hate you, no wonder he is known as the weeping prophet.
There are several cool things in this first chapter. First I like it that God has a plan, one he made before hand know all that was going to go down in human history. It’s cool that his plan is ultimately is to restore our relationships with him, in spite of our evil. It’s pretty scary thought that in-between that he will deal with us, punish us, for our disobedience and rebellion (sin). I like it that he considers us a person from the moment of our conception, he has a high regard for human existence and treats us as human beings from the very start. It’s scary to think that Jeremiah didn’t have a free pass; he had to be obedient too or suffer God’s punishment. I like it that Jeremiah respected God and would only use his power in a way God would want it used. Finally I like it that God has the back of his servants, though it would be hard to be the only guy on the team.
God thank you for making each one of us and having a plan for our lives. It seems clear to me that we can turn our backs on the plan you have for us and that that is why you warned Jeremiah of the consequences of not following you. I also like it that you will give us clear instruction son which way to go and what to say. Help me understand the way you have for me to go each day and give me the courage to follow that path. Let my life be a clear picture to the world of who you are and that you love us. Let me be a faithful spokes person for you. Let me encourage young people to be the same.
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