Backstory
As quickly as we moved to the New Testament, now we revert back to
the Old Testament and pick up the story of another prophet. {This
is the year for reading prophets, so hopefully you like reading them!} Today we start with the prophet Jeremiah.
Whereas Isaiah prophesied around the reign of King Hezekiah and
the Assyrian assault on Jerusalem, Jeremiah prophesied during the reign of
Josiah and the Babylonian assault on Jerusalem.
In fact, Jeremiah likely lived to see exile post 586 B.C. This is a key understanding to remember as we
go through this book. Jeremiah is often
called the “weeping prophet” because he is present for the final decline and
the need for God to bring Babylon in as a temporary judge over His people. This means that the end of Isaiah’s prophetic
career and the beginning of Jeremiah’s prophetic career was separated by
roughly 60 years.
The Famous Verse
I recall the first time I ever remember hearing Jeremiah 1:5. I must have been 7 or 8 years old at the
time. My mom was having a conversation
with someone in our church in Minnesota about abortion and she pulled this
verse out to illustrate that God knows us from before we are formed in the womb. Obviously, I don’t have too many memories
from being that young. But the idea that
God knew me from before egg ever met sperm touched me deeply as a child and
left quite a substantial imprint even at a young age. {Mental
Note: Take heed to what children hear.
They listen.}
I have always loved this idea.
God knows me prior to conception.
As we read Jeremiah, it almost reads like a love poem. God was anticipating the birth of Jeremiah to
bring Jeremiah’s gifts and talents into the world. This is such an inspirational idea. If God felt that way about Jeremiah, who is
to say that He doesn’t feel that way about me or you? Isn’t it really neat to think that God was
just waiting to “spring you onto the world?”
Isn’t it inspiring that God may well have been sitting in heaven saying,
“I can’t wait to introduce this person to the world and see what they will do
with me!”
Yet, it is also a sad verse.
I genuinely believe God feels that way about every person that is
born. I believe God genuinely
anticipates every relationship with every person – even the ones that He knows
will reject Him. I can only imagine how
God must feel as He genuinely desires to introduce people to this world, only
to have them turn their backs upon Him.
Even if He knows it is going to happen, it still has to hurt.
Don’t Underestimate Yourself
So how does Jeremiah respond to such an incredible introduction at
the mouth of the Lord? Jeremiah says,
“But, I’m too young!” “I don’t know what
to say!” “I’m not trained!” “I’m not mature enough!” “I haven’t read enough!” Okay, he doesn’t say all of those
things. I took a little poetic
license. Mea Culpa!
And then the Lord lays down a little smack. He says, “Jeremiah, shut up.” No, literally. He says, “Do not utter.” God essentially tells Him to shut up and
listen. There is no excuse for when God
comes to us with a plan. {That doesn’t mean we don’t make
excuses. Ever hear of Moses? Paul made His share of excuses in the
beginning. Peter made excuses at the vision
atop Cornelius’ house. We all make
excuses … when there really is no excuse to be made.}
After all, who is Jeremiah to say what God can and cannot do
through him? Ah, you see? There’s the change in thinking that is
required. Jeremiah is thinking about
what Jeremiah can do through Jeremiah.
God is thinking about what God can do through Jeremiah. So often it is our limited perspective that
causes us to have limited results.
Rather than worrying about what we can do, perhaps we should spend more
time worrying about what God can do through us.
Set Over the Nations
God tells Jeremiah that Jeremiah is to “pluck up, break down,
destroy, overthrow, build, and plant.”
Notice that the first 4 are quite negative. Only the last 2 are positive. The work of God’s messenger is not all good
news. Also notice that the tough work
comes first. How many of us can say that
our spiritual walk began in ease and only got tougher? No, our spiritual walk begins with challenge
and only when working through the challenge do we see the positive
results. To say this in terms of the New
Testament, only after we are crucified with Christ do we know the true building
presence of the Holy Spirit.
So there is some bad news for spiritual people out there. Want to grow?
You’re going to have to pluck up, break down, destroy, and overthrow
those pesky bad habits and relationships and addictions and well, you get the
idea. If you want to get to the building
up and the planting, you have to go through the tearing down.
But it’s bad news for spiritual mentors, too. If you want to be a mentor, your’ going to
have to follow the example to God sets up here in Jeremiah. You’re going to have to go through the rough
spots and be there to help others tear down before they can build up.
Conclusion
As we close this first chapter, we see that Jeremiah is told by
God to dress himself for work. The time
for bringing God’s message is at hand.
Judgment is coming, and when it comes it will be destructive. But God will protect Jeremiah. God will make Jeremiah strong. So long as God is in the Lord and doing the
Lord’s work, nothing will be done to Jeremiah outside of the will of God.
<><
No comments:
Post a Comment