Jeremiah was despised and detested by most of his contemporaries. There were other prophets who went round proclaiming ‘Peace, peace, there is nothing to worry out. All will work out fine. The vessels of the Lord’s house will soon be returned from Babylon and those taken captive at that time will soon be back with us. We are the Lord’s people. Judah will not be defeated and Jerusalem will not be destroyed. We have a great future before us’. They were very popular but the day came when they were seen to be the false prophets. They themselves suffered in the siege, they experienced the famine, the disease and the destruction and those who survived were taken captive to Babylon to live out their days learning that all Jeremiah said was true. Today Jeremiah is regarded as the archetype of the prophet of doom and gloom. People are looking for encouragement and positive preaching. Those who proclaim a cheap gospel and easy believism are popular. The ‘fire and brimstone’ preachers of the past have had their day. It is asserted that there is probably no such place as hell. It is assumed that God exists to make us happy. How totally wrong! Surely no book of the Bible is more relevant for us to study than that of Jeremiah. It is so contemporary.

Jeremiah’s Background⤒🔗

Jeremiah was born in Anathoth, a priestly city in the land of Benjamin, two or three miles north east of Jerusalem. Belonging to a priestly family he would receive a good education in the religion of Israel the sacrifices, the priesthood, the temple and indeed the Scriptures which were available up till that point. The word of the Lord came to him in the days of Josiah, in the thirteenth year of his reign and on until the carrying away of the people to Babylon, i.e. from 627 to 587BC. In his childhood Manasseh was king. He reigned for fifty-five years and was Judah’s most wicked king, encouraging idolatry and persecuting the prophets of the Lord. In God’s amazing grace he was converted at the end of his life. His son Amon reigned for just two years and did evil in the eyes of the Lord. Then came Josiah, crowned at the tender age of eight, beginning to seek the Lord at sixteen and starting his great reformation at twenty. How this must have filled the heart of young Jeremiah with overflowing joy after the dark days of king Manasseh! But then what sadness came over him when Josiah was killed at thirty-one in a foolish battle with Pharaoh Necho. His successors were wicked and judgment was certain.

Jeremiah Loved←⤒🔗

God said to Jeremiah, ‘Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee’ (Jer 1:5). But where was Jeremiah before he was in his mother’s womb? Obviously only in the mind of God. It does not say that God knew something about him but that God knew him. It is the intransitive use of the verb. We find an example of this use of ‘love’ in Amos 3:2: ‘You only have I known of all the families of the earth’. God, of course, knows everything about every family on the earth. But Israel is special. God loves them. Here God is stating that he had a loving relationship with Jeremiah even before he was born. It speaks of foreknowledge on the basis of which He elects, and that foreknowledge is nothing short of infinite love.

Jeremiah Sanctified←⤒🔗

Amazingly God adds, ‘Before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations’ (v 5).The unborn child is not a mere lump of the woman’s body but a real human being with body and soul. When Elisabeth was carrying John for six months Mary visited her and Scripture states that ‘the babe leaped in her womb’ (Lk 1:41). Elisabeth explains that it was for joy (v44). There can surely be no clearer evidence of faith on the part of the yet unborn John. He is already a prophet and the forerunner of Jesus. Even more wonderful is the fact that, although the foetus Jesus could just have been days old, Elisabeth calls Him my Lord, ‘the mother of my Lord is come to me’ (v 43). How wicked abortion is! There is no doubt that it is murder.

While still in the womb Jeremiah was ‘sanctified’ i.e. set apart for God, just as vessels in the temple were taken from secular service and devoted to religious use (Jer 1:5). He was ordained a prophet before he was born. He was regenerated or born again before he was born the first time. Normally faith comes by hearing (Rom 10:17) but in the unborn child or in an infant who is unable to understand the gospel message God can and does operate directly applying the redemption of Christ to the souls of the elect whom He has chosen to save at that point.

Jeremiah — A Prophet to the Nations←⤒🔗

Jeremiah’s parish was first and foremost the house of Judah but he also had a role to the nations. God gave him words to speak to Babylon, Moab, Ammon and Egypt. He is of course today a prophet to the whole world. God’s ministers must be careful not to confine their ministry to their congregations and must realize that the world is their parish. They are never off duty.

Jeremiah’s Response←⤒🔗

Jeremiah feels totally inadequate for the task: ‘Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child’ (v 6). Moses too felt he was unfit to speak for God. Isaiah cried ‘Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips’ (Is 6:5). Paul exclaimed ‘Who is sufficient for these things’ (2 Cor 2:16). There is something far wrong if we feel we are fit for the great work of proclaiming the Word of the Lord. Inadequacy forces us to cast ourselves on God in faith.

Jeremiah Reassured←⤒🔗

The Lord reassures Jeremiah:

But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.Jer 1:7-9

We must obey the call of God even when we feel totally unfit for it. As far as speech is concerned Jeremiah is assured that God will provide him with the message and words. God states that He will be with him. God’s hand touched his lips. Isaiah was touched on his lips with a live coal from the altar. Then he was ready to go — ‘Here am I; send me’ (Is 6:8). If we are sure God is calling us to the great work of the ministry what a help that will be when the opposition is crushing! The call to the ministry is not simply a matter of gifts. There must also be the inward call of God: ‘How shall they preach except they be sent?’ (Rom 10:15).

Jeremiah’s Great Task←⤒🔗

God clearly explains to Jeremiah what is expected of him: ‘See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant’ (v 10). Four verbs describe the destroying work that Jeremiah must do and only two the positive work. When a large building is being constructed in one of our cities, there are often weeks of excavation in order to lay a solid foundation. The actual building can go up in a very short time. In the building of the church of Christ it is the same. People’s false hopes must be described and destroyed. Hypocrites must be shown that what they have will not stand the test of time. No one likes being shaken to the point where only that which cannot be shaken remains. Thankfully Jeremiah’s task does not end with destroying people’s hopes and making them miserable; it goes on to plant and build. Christ says ‘I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it’ (Mt. 16:18).

Jeremiah Strengthened←⤒🔗

God shows Jeremiah a branch of an almond tree, the first tree which flowers in the spring. His word will soon be performed (v 12). He then reveals to him a seething cauldron pouring southward. A terrible invasion is coming. ‘Gird thy loins’, Jeremiah. Get ready for action. ‘Do not be frightened or ashamedest I confound thee before them’ (v 17).We love our dignity and out of concern to retain it we are afraid to speak in certain situations, but if that is the case God threatens to confound us and make us truly ashamed.

Great words of comfort are added: ‘For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee’ (vv 18-19). This is the case for every servant of the Lord. As God’s servants doing God’s work we are ‘more than conquerors’ (Rom 8:37). ‘Be strong and of a good courage’ (Josh 1:18).