Jeremiah 1
Welcome to Our Jeremiah Devotional
I like having the text close at hand when I think about it and pray about it. So here is chapter one of the Weeping Prophet. Commentary/questions follow.Jeremiah 1
1 The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. 2 The word of the LORD came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, 3 and through the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, down to the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.The Call of Jeremiah
4 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew [a] you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
6 "Ah, Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child."
7 But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD.
9 Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."
11 The word of the LORD came to me: "What do you see, Jeremiah?"
"I see the branch of an almond tree," I replied.
12 The LORD said to me, "You have seen correctly, for I am watching [b] to see that my word is fulfilled."
13 The word of the LORD came to me again: "What do you see?"
"I see a boiling pot, tilting away from the north," I answered.
14 The LORD said to me, "From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land. 15 I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms," declares the LORD.
"Their kings will come and set up their thrones
in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem;
they will come against all her surrounding walls
and against all the towns of Judah.
16 I will pronounce my judgments on my people
because of their wickedness in forsaking me,
in burning incense to other gods
and in worshiping what their hands have made.
17 "Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. 18 Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 1:5 Or chose
- Jeremiah 1:12 The Hebrew for watching sounds like the Hebrew for almond tree .
I can count on one hand the number of prophets I have known. At least they made the outright claim to be prophets. I've known dozens more who wanted to be called prophets but seemed to know that claiming the title would bring a scrutiny with it that they could not withstand. The tendency to claim that God has spoken to us has become a claim that only a few wish to announce but many wish to claim.
Why did God need a Prophet anyhow? In older times, God did some direct communication with His people. Moses, Clouds, Fire in the Sky, High Priest's with Stones on their garments that lit up with Yes or No answers. All of these were more direct than building a Communications Department of prophets and spokespeople which spent their time pushing words uphill, often seemingly into a landfill, not the open minds of the intended hearers.
It all starts in my mind with the Word of God. As vs. 4 says, "The word of the LORD came to me, saying," God's word is the center of gravity in this passage. It is the central mass which holds everything together. The Word came to Jeremiah. In his case, it was very specific and pointed, very personal for that matter. It was sometimes meant for him in the form of assurance that God was with him like 7-10 and other times it was a Word that needed to be shared with power and influence in the community such as 13-17.
This pattern will not change much as we continue our devotions. Let me recap the pattern. God starts with His Word. Then He works on me with my fears and shortcomings. Then He uses me to use His Word to work on others. His Word is Central and powerful. At least that is how I apply what happened to Jeremiah to myself. Mind you now, I'm not claiming to be a prophet.
See you tomorrow.
vs. 5 I appointed you a prophet to the nations. How cool God sent this message to us all for all time.
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