Jeremiah 1:1-10 (NASB)
Last week’s sermon focused on the need for faithfulness as seen in the example of the Rechabites as recorded in Jeremiah. This week, I want to look closer at Jeremiah and how the Lord used him to speak to the people of Judah. Jeremiah's book can be a challenging read, as you may have discovered if you've gone through it. Or maybe all you know of Jeremiah is that he was a prophet, and you know verse 29:11 which says, “’For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’” But there is a lot more to be gleaned from this book, and from the words that the Lord spoke to this prophet. The Book of Jeremiah records the final prophecies to Judah, warning of oncoming destruction if the nation does not repent. The heart of Jeremiah’s message as a prophet, though, is a call for the nation of Judah to turn back to God. This call is not only for Judah, but for all nations and for all people today.
Let’s read the first 10 verses:
1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the exile of Jerusalem in the fifth month.
4 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” 6 Then I said, “Oh, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, Because I am a youth.” 7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ Because everywhere I send you, you shall go, And all that I command you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid of them, For I am with you to save you,” declares the Lord.
9 Then the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me,
“Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. 10 See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, To root out and to tear down, To destroy and to overthrow, To build and to plant.”
Jeremiah begins and the first thing we are told about him is that he is “the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah.” That seems pretty straightforward to me, and yet in reading different commentaries, Bible scholars dispute whether Hilkiah is the same Hilkiah who found the Book of the Law when the temple was being restored when Josiah was king. Multiple commentaries said that it is not the same Hilkiah because of the way he is mentioned so casually and not with special dignity. Barnes Commentary says, “had he been in reality the high-priest, he would doubtless have been mentioned by that distinguishing title, and not put upon a level with the priests of an ordinary and inferior class.” Maybe. I disagree, though, for I see in the text that it specifically states that this Hilkiah is the priest “to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah.” I don’t see any reason not to believe that is the same Hilkiah. In fact, because his name is mentioned so casually, I think that testifies to the fact that the Bible was not written later on, giving special designations to the people we give greater honor to: it just recorded the things it was to record, without partiality.
Given that Hilkiah, Jeremiah's father, served as the priest during Josiah's reign, it's no wonder Jeremiah pointed out that he is just a youth when the Lord called him. If he is still young and his father is priest, I am sure he would have wondered why the Lord did not just use his father to speak to the people. As he is still young, it makes sense that he would have thought that it was not yet time for him to move into a place of authority; he still needed to grow up. He probably thought: shouldn’t my father be the one to deliver the message?
To give a little background on King Josiah, 2 Chronicles 34:1-3 says about him: “Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his father David and did not turn aside to the right or the left. For in the eighth year of his reign while he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, the carved images, and the cast metal images.”
King Josiah was 16 when he began to seek the Lord, and 20 when he began purging Judah and Jerusalem of all the idolatry in the land. The Lord called Jeremiah in the 13th year of Josiah’s reign, when Josiah was 21, so he had already started cleaning up the land. So why did God have Jeremiah prophesy during his reign when he was already leading as a good and godly king? I think this shows the immense effort the Lord was making to call His people back to Him. I think it is remarkable how the Lord used both of these men, from their youth, to serve Him at the same time. He not only gave the people a godly king in King Josiah who repented and led some of the people to repent and read and follow God’s law again, but He also gave the people a prophet who, though apprehensive at first, fully committed himself to giving the people God’s message.
Thinking of both of these young men and their youth reminds me of Timothy in the New Testament. In Paul’s letter to Timothy, in 1 Timothy 4:12, he writes, “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.” This tells us that God has never excluded someone from being used powerfully because of their age. In fact, as we see in the first words of God to Jeremiah in verse 5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
God wanted Jeremiah to know that his call went back even further than his youth. Jeremiah’s whole life was planned before he existed in his mother’s womb. God told Jeremiah this so he could let go of hesitations and trust in God’s plan.
God gave the people of Judah, both King Josiah and the prophet Jeremiah, and yet it obviously was not enough to turn the hearts of all the people to Him. The destruction of Judah still takes place. The Babylonians still capture them and send them into exile for 70 years. It wasn’t enough to reach the people, probably because they had lived for so long in rampant idolatry. Manasseh was Josiah’s grandfather, and he was a vile, evil king. Josiah made so many important changes, but it was not enough.
2 Kings 23:24-27 says, “Moreover, Josiah removed the mediums, the spiritists, the household idols, the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, so that he might fulfill the words of the Law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart, all his soul, and all his might, in conformity to all the Law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him. Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. And the Lord said, ‘I will also remove Judah from My sight, just as I have removed Israel. And I will reject this city which I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the temple of which I said, “My name shall be there!”’”
The problem was, after King Josiah died, another king ascended and he did not follow God the way Josiah did. One righteous king was not enough to change the course the people of Judah were on. Jehoahaz, Josiah's son, became king but did evil and only reigned for three months. Then, a pharaoh made Jehoiakim, another son of Josiah, the new king. He also did evil in the Lord’s sight. He reigned for 11 years. Then, as 2 Kings 24:6 says, “So Jehoiakim lay down with his fathers, and his son Jehoiachin became king in his place.” He was also evil. Finally, as 2 Kings 24:17 says, “Then the king of Babylon made [Jehoiachin’s] uncle Mattaniah king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.”
During all of these kings’ reigns, Jeremiah continued as a prophet. While Josiah followed the Lord, no king after him did. It was dangerous for Jeremiah to give the word of the Lord to these kings who did not follow God. He suffered for it greatly. But right from the beginning, as we see in verse 8, the Lord told him, “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to save you,’ declares the Lord.”
A lesson to be gleaned from Jeremiah’s life is that while it’s normal to feel fear and apprehension when God calls us to something new, the important thing is that we do what the Lord has called us to do. Jeremiah was surprised that God would call him to be a prophet; he felt inadequate for the job because of his age. Yet, when God gave him a message, he spoke it faithfully. Even when faced with suffering and the threat of death, Jeremiah stayed faithful to God.
Today, just as in Jeremiah’s time, there seem to be a lot of people who take the name prophet. But I think a true prophet of God is a rare thing. 1 Corinthians 12:28 says, “And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, and various kinds of tongues.”
Continuing in that chapter of 1 Corinthians, verses 39-40 say, “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But all things must be done properly and in an orderly way.” Here we see we should desire to operate in the spiritual gifts. But we should know, the gift of prophecy, along with other spiritual gifts, is given by God and not chosen by individuals.
I think the gift of prophecy gets misused and misunderstood more than any of the spiritual gifts, but I don’t think it’s that complicated. While certainly not all of us believers are called to be a prophet in the sense that Jeremiah was, we all can speak like a prophet because we all can speak God’s Word to people. We all can prophecy as well. Martin Luther goes so far to say that “those who believe in Christ are all prophets” and “in addition, we can also talk about future events insofar as it is necessary for us to know about them. For example, we can say that the Last Day will come and that we will rise from the dead.” (Vol. 30: Luther’s works, vol. 30: The Catholic Epistles)
Whenever we speak God’s Word to someone, we are speaking the Word of the Lord. The Lord told Jeremiah in verse 9, “Then the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, ‘Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.’” When we share a Bible verse with someone, we are prophesying in the sense that we are speaking God’s message to that person. Just the other day, a man who shares these sermons with his church in Kenya sent me a message and shared a Bible verse with me. When I read that particular Bible verse, the Holy Spirit spoke to me at that moment and filled me with peace about a particular situation I had been praying about. God used that Bible verse to speak to me prophetically and answer a prayer that I had been seeking the Lord about. That man, brother Josephat, who sent me that verse, most likely did not send it to me because the Lord specifically told him to, or maybe he did, but what is important is that he shared a verse with me and the Lord spoke to me through it. He was acting as a prophet, sharing God’s message, and I received it as a word from the Lord.
When we know God’s Word, then the Lord can bring verses to our mind and He can use us prophetically in people’s lives. We can speak what the Lord is saying, in any situation, if we speak what He has said in His Word. Living prophetically means that no matter what is happening in the greater world, or in our personal lives, we view all circumstances through the lens of God’s Word, and then we speak and act accordingly.
God gave the prophet Jeremiah specific messages to speak to the people of Judah and to specific people. He shared with them what the Lord wanted him to say. God gave him pictures and visions of what He was going to do in the future.
Mostly, though, the Lord had him prophecy to the people of their impending judgement. Jeremiah 16:10-13 says, “Now it will happen that, when you tell this people all these words, they will say to you, ‘For what reason has the Lord declared all this great disaster against us? And what is our wrongdoing, or what is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’ Then you are to say to them, ‘It is because your forefathers have abandoned Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and have followed other gods, and served and worshiped them; but they have abandoned Me and have not kept My Law. You too have done evil, even more than your forefathers; for behold, each one of you is following the stubbornness of his own evil heart, without listening to Me. So I will hurl you off this land to the land which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers; and there you will serve other gods day and night, because I will show you no compassion.’”
As verse 10 in chapter 1 says, “See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to tear down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” And this is what the Lord had him do. He pronounced the judgement of God, which was going to root out and tear down the kingdom of Judah. But that wasn’t the end, as verse 10 mentions. God also appointed Jeremiah to build and to plant.
Even after all the judgement is pronounced, Jeremiah 29:10-14 says, “For this is what the Lord says: ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will let Myself be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’”
God planted hope into the hearts of those who would listen to Jeremiah. God would not abandon them forever. He was going to bring them back to the land. He was still going to let Himself be found by those who would seek Him.
God even had Jeremiah prophesy of Jesus coming to earth as the Messiah. Jeremiah 23:5 says, “’Behold, the days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land.’” That speaks of the greatest hope yet. Not only would the Lord restore Judah to Jerusalem, which He did after 70 years in exile, but He had an even greater plan for the whole world. He was sending Jesus, the righteous Branch of David, to be our King. Roughly 500 years later, Jesus did indeed come to earth, lived in perfect righteousness, and suffered and died on the cross to give us the greatest hope ever: that all who would believe in Him might be saved.
That is why today we can prophesy to people the same message Jeremiah spoke: “’For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’” Because if anyone would put their faith and trust in Jesus, our Savior, they too may look forward to a glorious future and hope. The message of Jeremiah to Judah is still the message the Lord speaks to all nations today: turn from false idols and worship the only true Lord. There is impending judgement and punishment for all who do not worship and obey the Lord, but there is hope for all who repent and call on the name of the Lord for salvation. That is still the message, and we still must speak it to the world. When we do so, then we are prophets like Jeremiah.
Let us lay aside our fear and trepidation. Let us boldly speak God’s message of hope to the world.
Pray: Heavenly Father, we love You and thank You for loving us. Thank You for giving us Jesus, who forgives our sins, so we can be with You. We desire to be used by You. We pray that by Your Holy Spirit working inside of us, You would give us spiritual gifts, so we can effectively share Your message of hope with our world. We pray these things in Jesus’ name, amen.
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