LESSONS FROM JEREMIAH – PART 3 – JEREMIAH COMMISSIONED; TWO VISIONS; AND GOD DEMANDS ACTION
PART 3 – Jeremiah 1:9-17
CHAPTER 1
{{Jeremiah 1:9-10 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. See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, TO PLUCK UP AND TO BREAK DOWN, TO DESTROY AND TO OVERTHROW, TO BUILD AND TO PLANT.”}}
I was in the tropical rainforest recently near my home after consistent heavy rain and the water was streaming down the paths and from the higher ground becoming stronger as more little water channels joined the flow. In some areas there was a chasm where a month before, you could walk across a tiny bridge built for bicycle riders.
So much material is carried away and deposited lower down or more often, out to sea by the rivers. In time (a long period of time [sorry young earthers!]) the rainforest ranges are eroded away and new land is built up in other places. The old material on the sea bed can be subjected to heat and pressure to form metamorphic rock, and can be pushed upwards by plate tectonics. The land is in a constant state of change.
When I was thinking about all that as I was watching the water rushing in the rainforest, the way God works became evident. God breaks down and rebuilds. Among the nations He plucks up and breaks down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” Verses 9 and 10 above say God was going to do this by His word through Jeremiah.
[A]. JEREMIAH IS COMMISSIONED
Sometimes just the faithful word of the Lord alone is sufficient, but at other times God’s touch is needed, and in this case the Lord touched Jeremiah’s mouth. It was a confirmation and an assurance for Jeremiah. In Isaiah’s case, a burning coal from the altar was needed for his lips as God gave him the words for his mouth also. Isaiah was the fiery prophet of judgement, and Jeremiah was the tender, compassionate prophet of his people. For one, the burning coal of fire was needed, but for the other, just the touch of the Lord’s hand.
I suppose there are countless stories of ways the Lord uses to commission His servants. It would be most interesting if someone ever collated these calls to service. Moses was confronted by a burning bush. Paul was arrested by the Lord on the Damascus road. Matthew was sitting at a tax office when the call came to him. Simon and Andrew were casting a net and James and John were mending nets.
Jeremiah was appointed to the task affecting nations and kingdoms but we are also appointed with authority in society and families. Jeremiah had that authority in verse 10 to pull/pluck up, to break down, to destroy, to overthrow, to build and to plant. His prophecies would be against nations and would speak of destruction and overthrow and restoration. In our lives, and in our church life, and in our family life, and in our society’s life, we have the same authority as God directs us, but not to the same extent that Jeremiah was appointed to.
May we count for much in our service for the King of Kings. We need to listen and obey and to have confidence in the Lord, and go forth! Sadly some go half-heartedly, some like the esteem of the call, some start well but end up apathetic about their call. Others are faithful to the commissioning call from the Lord Jesus Christ, faithful all their lives.
[B]. THE VISION OF THE ALMOND ROD
{{Jeremiah 1:11-12 The word of the LORD came to me saying, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” and I said, “I see A ROD OF AN ALMOND TREE.” Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I AM WATCHING OVER MY WORD TO PERFORM IT.”}}
God has declared a concrete truth set for all time and eternity – {{Isaiah 55:10-11 “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth. IT SHALL NOT RETURN TO ME EMPTY without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”}} There is nothing more powerful than God’s word that breaks the rock in pieces. The word of the Lord created the whole universe. His word will perform the purpose for which it was given and entrusted into the hands of faithful men.
We now come to a vision given to the prophet where he saw an almond rod, or like a branch, shooting. The bowls on the Golden Lampstand in the Tabernacle were to be shaped like almonds, and Aaron’s rod which budded, was an almond rod. When we studied the Tabernacle we saw that the almond spoke of the firstfruits of the resurrection. The Lord was the Firstfruits, heralding the first of those who will be raised from the dead, to be realised at the Rapture. This rod that Jeremiah saw, he recognised, so it probably had flowers (pink ones), buds and green leaves on it, much like that same rod of Aaron’s. The Hebrew word for this “almond” is “shâkêd” which is all connected with, “intent, on the watch, awakening, to be awake” as the almond tree is the first to awaken out of winter sleep and put out its buds before other trees even look like springing to life. The message here is that God is going to hasten the execution of the nation. Judgement on Judah has awakened out of sleep and is now sprouting. It is at hand. The nation must not ignore the sign and warning. But it did.
God then interprets the vision for Jeremiah. After commending him for the almond recognition, He proceeds to tell the prophet that He is watching over His word to perform it. The word for “watching over” is “shôkêd”, so close in pronunciation to “shâkêd” and it is supposed to be quite striking when the passage is spoken in Hebrew. It was God’s word through the prophet, and other prophets, that Judah was to come under the hand of God’s judgement. Some of those past prophecies were quite old and the godless might scoff about the promises of God, but now to Jeremiah, God is declaring that JUDGEMENT HAS NOW COME BACK TO LIFE, and He will perform all the promises in line with His word. Peter speaks about the attitude of the godless of our day to God’s promises – {{2Peter 3:3-5 Know this first of all, that in the last days MOCKERS will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming for ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation?” When they maintain this, it escapes their notice that BY THE WORD OF GOD the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water . . .}} (note the expression, “the word of God” – it is His word which will be performed). Never, ever, will any of God’s promises fail.
[C]. THE VISION OF THE BOILING POT
{{Jeremiah 1:13-15 The word of the LORD came to me a second time saying, “What do you see?” and I said, “I see A BOILING POT, FACING AWAY FROM THE NORTH.” Then the LORD said to me, “Out of the north THE EVIL will break forth on all the inhabitants of the land, for, behold, I AM CALLING ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE KINGDOMS OF THE NORTH,” declares the LORD, “and they will come, and each one of them will set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its walls round about, and against all the cities of Judah”}}
On top of that vision comes another and this time it specifies the nation assigned to bring the judgement on Judah, though not by name. The vision follows on from the first, because the “awakened” word of God is approaching fulfilment, and that will be at the hands of Babylon. The vision was of a boiling pot facing away from the north, that is, it will empty its boiling contents before it to the south. The reference is to Babylon, which will consume all the lands around it, including Judah. God describes that move as “evil” for the land will reap the evil it has sown.
I feel so bad for Australia because it is piling up evil upon evil. The extent of evil of those in Parliament, the wickedness of their satanic decisions, all so many acts that smack any vestige of decency down, will one day soon have the boiling pot poured out on it. One day it will face this “boiling pot” in the form of the great tribulation upon the whole world. Verse 15 is clear that the Babylonian invasion is at God’s command for He calls them to execute Judah’s destruction. Nebuchadnezzar is called “My servant” and used by God for this purpose. God is specific about the intent of this confederate kingdom of Babylon, for they will target the gates of Jerusalem for entry, and will set their attention on the walls of the city and against all the cities of Judah. It will be a great devastation and biblical accounts record that, such as 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles and the end of Jeremiah. The greatest impact of the aftermath is found right through the book of Lamentations where Jeremiah details the great pain of the devastated nation.
Great danger is in the world. Sin is growing really quickly and dictates its hatred against Jews and Christians in these last days. The Australian Prime Minister refuses to acknowledge Hamas as a terrorist organisation, and is anti-Jew and anti-Christian. He is bringing the nation into socialism/Marxism. We need to get the message out about the boiling pot to be emptied in the Tribulation in order so that men and women might flee the wrath to come.
[D]. GOD DEMANDED JEREMIAH REVEALS JUDAH’S SINS
{{Jeremiah 1:16-17 and I will pronounce My judgments on them concerning all their WICKEDNESS, whereby THEY HAVE FORSAKEN ME and have offered SACRIFICES TO OTHER GODS, and WORSHIPPED THE WORKS OF THEIR OWN HANDS. Now, gird up your loins, and arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, lest I dismay you before them.
Now God makes known the pronouncement against the nation and it concerns His judgement. Jeremiah is assigned the task of announcing all that to Judah. There are four clauses in the judgement writ. The FIRST is the opening summary of “all their wickedness”, and the next three elaborate on that opening revelation. The SECOND charge is that they have forsaken God. For nearly all Israel's history it has forsaken God, turning away so many times it is almost without number. The THIRD charge is what the forsaking led to, that is, it resulted in the offering of sacrifices to other gods. Hosea treats that as adultery and likens it to a wife going off with many lovers. It is spiritual adultery and both kingdoms of Israel ran after Baal and Molech and all other evil abominations. Not only did they offer up sacrifices but they embraced all the practices of those evil gods – cult prostitution both male and female; offering up children in the fire; drunken orgies; self-flagellation; idolatrous rituals. The FOURTH charge is that they worshipped what their hands had made. The idols of wood and stone were fashioned by human craftsmanship, and the objects made, so captivated them that they started to adore them, then worship them. It took control over them, but don’t forget Satan was the one stirring up their evil, unconverted hearts into a total deception. Deception became the reality.
Jeremiah was commanded to go to the nation to declare God’s purposes and what God was going to speak to him, then through him. This happened possibly at the beginning of Jeremiah’s ministry and was his call to service. I think the expression “gird up your loins” means there was a great urgency in this task and there was no time for delay. Judgement was hanging over Judah and even at that late hour, God would forgive if the nation repented in contrition, and He would remove the instruments of judgement that were coming. Of course we know Judah disregarded Jeremiah and the repentance never happened. Jeremiah was commanded not to be dismayed as he faced the people, for God was on his side. Nevertheless he had to proceed in faith and trust. God would deliver his faithful servant when that was necessary. There was a warning here too for Jeremiah, for the dismay would be turned on the prophet’s head if his faith failed. God will always honour faithfulness.
One catch phrase of mine is “FAITHFULNESS AND COMMITMENT” and Jeremiah walked according to that principle all of his life. God demands no less of us. The time is short. How much are we giving to the Lord who gave everything for us?
