Jeremiah, the Reluctant Prophet

MEMORY VERSE: “Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.” —Jeremiah 1:8

JEREMIAH 1:1-10

JEREMIAH was of a priestly family, but he did not enter active service for God until he was called. That call is outlined in our lesson. Jeremiah was reluctant to accept the appointment, but, as our memory verse indicates, God assured the young man that he would be with him to deliver him, and therefore he was not to be afraid of the people’s faces when he prophesied harsh things concerning them.

Jeremiah served Israel just before its government was overthrown and the people taken captive to Babylon. This calamity came upon the nation because of its sins. Jeremiah forecast this, and since the calamity came as a result of the nation’s sins, there naturally was much in Jeremiah’s message that the people did not like to hear. Because of the nature of much of his message Jeremiah is sometimes referred to as “the prophet of doom.”

The Lord’s commission to Jeremiah summarizes the substance of his message. It reads, “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. 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.”—vss. 9,10

Actually, Jeremiah himself did not do any pulling down or destroying of nations. Neither did he “build” nor “plant.” He was commissioned merely to proclaim the Word of the Lord concerning these events, and this he faithfully did. He forecast the pulling down of Israel as well as of the other nations of earth, and he also foretold restoration, both for Israel and for all mankind.

In chapter 31 Jeremiah presents a comprehensive prophecy of restoration—one which indicates a complete change in man’s relationship to the laws of God. He declares that a time is coming when it shall no more be said, “The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.”—vss. 29,30

In the larger vista of human experience it was Adam who ate the “sour grape” of sin, and as a result the entire human race was plunged into death. But Jesus took the sinner’s place, and as a result, as Jeremiah points out, a time is coining in the outworking of the divine plan for human recovery from sin and death when no one will die for another’s sins. That will be during the thousand years of Christ’s reign. Then, the only ones to die will be those who themselves willfully transgress divine law.—Acts 3:23

Verses 31-34 of chapter 31 present another of Jeremiah’s “building” or restoration prophecies. He tells of a New Covenant which the Lord will make with “the house of Israel and the house of Judah.” Other prophecies reveal that Gentiles will also be brought into this covenant. Concerning this New Covenant the Lord, through Jeremiah, says, “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts. … And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, … saying Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord.” This describes a time when the human race will be restored to its original perfection, and when the image of God will be reflected in the hearts and lives of all mankind, even as it was in Adam when he was first created, and before he fell into sin and was sentenced to death. And at that time all shall “know the Lord.”

Jeremiah encountered much bitter opposition to his messages, and at one point he decided that he would no longer continue to serve. He said, “I will not make mention of him [the Lord], nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.”—Jer. 20:9

Many of the Lord’s people have at times felt much as Jeremiah did, especially when they encounter opposition and indifference to the glorious message of truth which they are commissioned to proclaim far and wide. They feel that there is no use proclaiming a message that the people do not want to hear.

However, also like Jeremiah, those who have received the Lord’s words into their hearts soon find that they cannot keep from proclaiming it. This is especially true concerning the glorious Gospel of the kingdom which it is our privilege to proclaim at the present time.

QUESTIONS

Who was Jeremiah, and at what time in Israel’s experience did he serve as prophet?

What great calamity upon Israel did Jeremiah forecast?

Mention some of Jeremiah’s prophecies of future restoration.

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