Jeremiah

Chapter One

Introduction

Billy Graham once said, "If God doesn't judge America, then He owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology."

In studying Old Testament history this week, I think it would be more appropriate to say, "If God doesn't judge America, then He owes Judah an apology."

It's true, the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah are commonplace in America. Nevertheless, America has more in common with the kingdom of Judah. Judah was the southern kingdom of Israel, from 950BC to 586BC. Judah was a country with a rich spiritual heritage that had the outward testimony of knowing God. America is a country with a rich spiritual heritage that has the outward testimony of knowing God. Spiritually God said that Judah had forsaken Him, that she burned incense to other Gods and worshipped the works of her own hands. As we will see in verse sixteen, those same things could be said of our own nation today.

America is like Judah in another heinous way. One of Judah's kings, Manasseh, is described in the book of Second Kings as "making his son pass through the fire." Later you read,

2 Kings 21:15 'because they have done evil in My sight, and have provoked Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.'"

2 Kings 21:16 Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the LORD.

And again, further on in Second Kings you read,

2 Kings 24:4 and also because of the innocent blood that he had shed; for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the LORD would not pardon.

King Manasseh of Judah had "filled Jerusalem with innocent blood" which the Lord would not pardon and must judge. Beloved, no country has ever filled its cities with as much "innocent blood" as our own nation has, with the legalized slaughter of millions of innocent children while they are still in their mother's wombs.

The Book of Jeremiah chronicles the death of a nation due to its spiritual and moral, decline. It is as contemporary for America today as it was for Judah in the fifth century BC.

But it does more than simply chronicle death: It challenges disciples! In Jeremiah you have a pattern of how you as a believer are to behave during your nation's spiritual and moral decline.

As we begin our journey through Jeremiah, we will see three things in Chapter One: #1 God Still Says, "I Have Prepared You To Proclaim My Living Word In A Lost World," #2 God Still Says, "I Am Prepared To Perform My Living Word In A Lost World," and #3 God Still Says, "Prepare Yourself To Prove My Living Word In A Lost World."

#1 God Still Says, "I Have Prepared You To

Proclaim My Living Word In A Lost World

Americans are criticized for their ignorance of history. Many high school students cannot properly date the century of the Civil War. One student interviewed on television, when asked to tell when the Civil War occurred, answered, "In 1964, with Martin Luther King."

Christians - myself included - need to be less ignorant of Bible history, of the history of Israel and Judah in particular. As Jeremiah opens his book he sets the historical context:

Jeremiah 1:2 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.

Jeremiah 1:3 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 carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.

After King Solomon died, the nation of Israel split into two kingdoms. In the north was the kingdom of Israel; in the south, the kingdom of Judah. The northern kingdom of Israel continued from 950BC until she was overrun by the Assyrian Empire in 722BC. The southern kingdom, Judah, went on until 586BC when she was overrun by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

Jeremiah was a prophet in the southern kingdom of Judah. The time he prophesied, from King Josiah until King Zedekiah, was a period of about forty years - the final forty years of Judah before the Babylonians came and destroyed her.

Assyria and Babylon were God's instruments of judgment and discipline against His people in Israel and Judah. Isaiah called Assyria "...the rod of [God's] anger And the staff in whose hand is My indignation." The prophet of Habakkuk was told by God that it was He who was "raising up the Babylonians."

God is sovereign over nations and uses them to accomplish His purposes in the world. A truer understanding of His dealings with Israel and Judah would help our own nation towards repentance. We are not a sovereign nation under God; we are a nation under a sovereign God!

What does God do when a nation is in spiritual and moral decline? He raises up a man!

Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations."

Jeremiah was intimately known by God before he was ever created in his mother's womb. Further, God had already set him apart for his life's work in the kingdom of Judah. You read similar accounts of God's dealings with John the Baptist and with the Apostle Paul.

The truth is, this is the account of the life of every child of God. You were intimately known by God before you were ever created in your mother's womb. God has already set you apart for your life's work in His kingdom.

God saw and sees the spiritual and moral decline of America. What is He doing about it? He created you; He chose you; and He is calling you to be set apart for your life's work in His kingdom.

When you put it that way, it's not hard to understand Jeremiah's reaction:

Jeremiah was certain that no one would listen to him on account of his youth. He may have been a teenager, or in his early twenties at the time.

You can always think of an excuse to exclude yourself from God's call to service...

If God saw you before you were even formed in your mother's womb, can He be wrong about the mission He is sending you forth on into the world?

Jeremiah 1:8 Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you," says the LORD.

God's calling is God's enabling. He is the only King Who accompanies His ambassadors wherever they go.

Jeremiah 1:10 See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, To root out and to pull down, To destroy and to throw down, To build and to plant."

God's words in Jeremiah's mouth would shake kings and kingdoms to their foundations - "rooting out, pulling down, destroying, and throwing down." God's words in Jeremiah's mouth would also "build and plant," as he confidently assured the Jews of their continuing as a nation, and of God's future dealings with them, and of their kingdom of heaven on earth.

Notice that a nation in spiritual and moral decline must first "root out, pull down, destroy, and throw down" anything that is contrary to God. Only then can they "build and plant." We would say that repentance must precede reform. Reform alone is not enough. Indeed, Judah did reform under godly King Josiah. In the eighteenth year of his reign, the book of the law - probably Deuteronomy - was discovered hidden in the Temple. Josiah, who had already initiated reforms, repented for Judah's sin and went on a national campaign to restore true worship of Jehovah. But the reforms were outward, and after his death the people returned to their wickedness.

What is true of a nation is true of its individuals. If you are in spiritual and moral decline, you must "root out, pull down, destroy, and throw down" by repenting. Then God can help you to "build" and to "plant."

Beloved, you are God's Jeremiah! Do you look around at the spiritual and moral decline of America and wonder what God is doing? From eternity past God knew you; He created you and chose you. Now He is calling you to speak His words in these difficult days. You are what God is doing about America's downfall.

#2 God Still Says, "I Am Prepared To

Perform My Living Word In A Lost World

When you speak of God's judgment, you mostly meet with scoffing. People today are like those described by the Apostle Peter when he quotes them as saying, "Where is the promise of His coming [in judgment]?"

God revealed to Jeremiah both that He was ready to perform His word, and the reasons He was ready to perform His word.

God was ready to perform His word:

Jeremiah 1:12 Then the LORD said to me, "You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word."

The Hebrew word for almond is "shaqed." It means early, awake, or watcher. The almond is called the "awake tree" because it is the first to bloom in the Holy Land, indicating the coming of spring.

God gives Jeremiah the interpretation: Just as the almond is awake and watching the Holy Land, so is He awake and watching Judah! He is always "ready to perform His word."

What is God ready to perform? There are two ways of answering. On the one hand, the budding almond tree was the announcement of a new spring. Had the people of Judah repented, it would have brought about a spiritual springtime of revival, renewal, and restoration. God is always ready for nations to repent; just remember Nineveh!

If not national repentance, then God is ready to perform His word of judgment. In Jeremiah's time, what God was ready to perform is shown to the prophet in the next vision:

Jeremiah 1:14 Then the LORD said to me: "Out of the north calamity shall break forth On all the inhabitants of the land.

Jeremiah 1:15 For behold, I am calling All the families of the kingdoms of the north," says the LORD; "They shall come and each one set his throne At the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, Against all its walls all around, And against all the cities of Judah.

Jeremiah saw a wide-mouthed cooking pot resting on rocks on three sides. The fourth side was open so that wood could be placed under the pot for the fire. The pot wasn't level; it was leaning to the south, and its contents were seething, about to boil over and spill on the ground.

Again God gave the interpretation: Enemies were coming from the north to besiege and destroy Judah and Jerusalem.

Today, God is just as ready to perform His word. He is just as ready to bring a revival, a renewal, a spiritual spring upon our nation. For lack of repentance, He is ready to pour out a boiling pot upon us.

God's longsuffering is always the reason judgment seems delayed. Judgment is never really delayed; it is only deferred, because God prefers that all would come to repentance!

For what things does God judge a nation? You are told in verse sixteen:

The reason a nation is judged is because it "forsakes God." The evidence that a nation has forsaken God is twofold:

They "burn incense to other gods..."

Today we do this by exalting the ideas and philosophies which are contrary to God, which proceed from the lusts and the imaginations of ungodly men and women. Take, for example, modern psychology and psychotherapy. No one in those fields speaks of sin as the root problem, and of the Cross as the solution. Instead we have invented therapies based on the philosophies of men who could not even contain their own lusts and imaginations. Spiritually speaking, we burn incense to these ungodly men by adopting their methods.

Whenever we act contrary to God's revealed word, we are burning incense to other Gods.

The second evidence that a nation has forsaken God is that they "worship the work of their own hands..."

We would simply call this humanism; exalting man above God. Humanism is the prevalent mindset of our age, certainly of our nation. The Book of Romans tells you that exalting self leads to the wreckage of society. In Chapter One of Romans, the Apostle Paul surveys the wreckage of a society that worships the works of their hands:

Romans 1:27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;

Romans 1:29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,

Romans 1:30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

Romans 1:31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;

Romans 1:32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

These verses read like a newspaper reporting the current condition of America. We are a nation that exalts self; we are a nation in the wreckage of humanism.

God is awake and watching! He is ready to perform His word. While His judgment is pending, His longsuffering is waiting. We could still know a spiritual springtime if we would come to a point of national repentance. If not, the boiling pot will one day spill over.

#3 God Still Says, "Prepare Yourself To

Prove My Living Word In A Lost World"

God tells Jeremiah,

"Prepare" is gird up your loins. It is the picture of gathering up your long robe into your belt so you can serve without being encumbered in any way. "Arise" has a variety of meanings, one of which is get going. God said to Jeremiah, "Gird yourself and get going!"

Many things can encumber you as you seek to obey the Lord. If something is hindering you from serving the Lord, it has become an encumbrance. Get rid of it, gird up, and get going!

Jeremiah was to speak "all that [God] commanded [him]." Likewise you are told to declare the "whole counsel of God." You are not left to yourself to come up with an appropriate message. Besides the Word itself, you have the indwelling Spirit to guide you in the Word.

The only real hindrance for Jeremiah was himself! "Do not be dismayed...lest I dismay you before them." God told Jeremiah He would give him over to his fears if he gave in to them. You give in to your fears when they paralyze you - when they keep you from obeying God, from serving God. Faith overcomes fear as we walk by faith in fear's face.

Warfare in those days involved besieging walled and fortified cities. Who's ever resources lasted the longest was the victor! God tells Jeremiah that he would be a fortified city whose resources could never be exhausted:

Yes, Jeremiah would be besieged; but Judah could never prevail against him! Jeremiah had a supply the likes of which no one could exhaust. God Himself, His presence with Jeremiah, was his inexhaustible supply.

Beloved, all of heaven's resources are your supply. You have all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. Though you stand against an entire nation, you can and you will withstand the siege.

Jeremiah was to speak boldly to politicians, priests, and people. God's Word is a universal message for a universal need. All men everywhere need to repent.

God promised to "deliver" His prophet. Whether God delivers you from trouble, or through trouble, is of no real consequence; He nevertheless delivers you for your good and for His glory.

God would prove Himself to Judah through Jeremiah. They would besiege him, but he would prevail. God's presence and power in Jeremiah's life would prove to Judah that He could be their God, that they could know His presence and have His power, too.

Beloved, God wants to prove Himself to America through you and I! Here's one way He does it: The unbelievers around you will besiege you, but you will prevail. God's presence and power in your life will prove to them that He can be their God, that they can know His presence and have His power, too.

Conclusion

Every believer is God's Jeremiah.

Jeremiah was known to God before he was born. He was carefully formed in his mother's womb. He was chosen by God and called to a specific task.

Psalm 139 says the same about every believer:

Psalms 139:15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Psalms 139:16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.

In Judah's spiritual and moral decline, God raised up one Jeremiah. In America's spiritual and moral decline, He has at His disposal millions of Jeremiah's!

God is ready to perform His word. Will it be national repentance? or national judgment?

I don't know! All I know is that God is longsuffering. While His longsuffering waits, we are to prove His word even though besieged. No person, no nation, can prevail against us. Ours is the inexhaustible supply of His Spirit, every spiritual blessing in heavenly places.