“The Training Ground Called Life”
Jeremiah 12:1-6 2/15/26 A.M.
I read this week about a young man who was a new employee and he was somewhat confused about one of the benefits of his NEW JOB. He said, “I signed up for the 401k but I’m not sure I can do it, I’ve never ran that far before.”
I kind of remember those days when I got out of school not knowing much about the JOB MARKET. There was a lot to learn and so life became a TRAINING GROUND. I had to learn something new everyday. And 40 years later, life is still a training ground. I’m still learning life skills but the problem is I think I’m forgetting more than I’m learning. This morning I want to bring a message about the Prophet Jeremiah. A man called by God to PREACH against the WICKEDNESS of that day. Our message today will be out of Jeremiah Chapter 12 but before we go there I want to get us caught up.
In the Book of Jeremiah Chapter 1, Verses 5 and 6, the Lord speaks to Jeremiah and then Jeremiah answers back,
“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
6 Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.”
Most scholars believe Jeremiah was between 16 and 20 years old when he was called to be a PROPHET of GOD. That’s why in Verse 6 he says, “I cannot speak for I am a child”
But yet he did speak. He did prophesy against the WICKEDNESS in the land. And it seems that he began preaching in his hometown. Jeremiah Chapter 1, Verse 1 tells us that Jeremiah was from Anathoth in the Land of Benjamin.
And so now we’ll go all the way up to Chapter 11, and the men of Anathoth are SICK of hearing JEREMIAH. And so let’s read the last THREE VERSES of Chapter 11. Verses 21-23.
This is important to get us up to Chapter 12.
“Therefore thus saith the Lord of the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying, Prophesy not in the name of the Lord, that thou die not by our hand:
22 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will punish them: the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine:
23 And there shall be no remnant of them: for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, even the year of their visitation.”
And so to bring this all together. God has called Jeremiah to be one of his prophets and to PREACH AGAINST the Nation of Judah. Jeremiah is a YOUNG MAN around 16 years old and he does what God wants him to do. He preaches against the LEADERS and FALSE PROPHETS of his day there in his own HOMETOWN of ANATHOTH. And the LEADERS, the PROPHETS, the MEN of ANATHOTH get so tired of Jeremiah that they THREATEN his life. They’re going to KILL HIM. But yet God promises to protect him.
And so this morning I want to bring a message from Jeremiah Chapter 12. We’ll begin reading at Verse 1 and we’ll read through Verse 6.
“Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?
2 Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.
3 But thou, O Lord, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
4 How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our last end.
5 If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?
6 For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they have called a multitude after thee: believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee.”
And so Jeremiah is doing what God wants him to do.
In Chapter 2 he reminds the people how that God had brought them in to this beautiful fertile land but they had forgotten Him and defiled the land. Verse 7,
“And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.”
In Chapter 3, Verse 6, he tells Israel that they are a BACKSLIDING NATION and that they are playing the role of a HARLOT.
In Chapter 4 God offers them forgiveness. Look at Verse 1,
“If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.”
And this type of PREACHING continues on throughout this BOOK. And we see there in Chapter 11, that evidently the people living around Jeremiah couldn’t take it any longer and were threatening to KILL HIM. And so we’re going to look at how Jeremiah responded and what God had to say here in Jeremiah Chapter 12.
But before we do, let’s go to the Lord in Prayer.
Brother ______. would you lead us?
I. It’s kind of FUNNY the way Jeremiah starts out here.
“Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments:”
Do you see what Jeremiah is saying here?
At first he’s having a little PRAISE and WORSHIP time.
“God you are a RIGHTEOUS GOD. You are a GOOD GOD. I can ask you anything and you ANSWER. You are a wonderful God BUT!!!.... Let’s talk about your JUDGMENTS.”
“I sure appreciate you and everything you do .... BUT!!! can we talk about your JUDGMENTS?”
“I am YOUR SERVANT, I’ll do what you ask .... BUT!!! can we talk about those JUDGMENTS of yours?”
Do you see what’s going on here? At the end of Chapter 11, Jeremiah’s HOMIES were ready to KILL HIM. These fellows that he had grown up with there in his HOMETOWN, HATED HIS GUTS. Things were getting BAD. And so Jeremiah begins to question God. Look at the rest of Verse 1 and then Verse 2.
He basically UNLOADS on God.
“Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper?
Wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?
Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit:
Thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.”
WHY ARE YOU BLESSING THEM GOD?!!!
You know, I believe Jeremiah was having a little personal pity party. He was comparing his situation to their situation.
A. They were prospering and and he was struggling.
B. They were happy and he was not.
C. Look at that third part about God planting them.
They may have had NICE HOUSES and BIG BARNS. Big FAMILIES with lots of kids and Jeremiah had NONE.
Look at Jeremiah 16:1 and 2,
“The word of the Lord came also unto me, saying,
2 Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.”
D. All the while Jeremiah heard them TALK about God, He was near in their MOUTH but He was NOT in their LIFE. They were HYPOCRITES. And Jeremiah asks. WHY ARE YOU BLESSING THEM?!!!
Can I say something here? I get it. I understand Jeremiah’s frustration. Here you got a young kid OBEYING GOD and you have another group who are NOT OBEYING GOD. They’re mean to you. They threaten your life. And GOD BLESSES THEM!!! I can hear them now,
“Hey Jeremiah, get a REAL JOB and you can have a nice home. Hey Jeremiah, there ain’t NO GIRLS want to marry you if you can’t provide her a home. Hey Jeremiah, just GO WITH the FLOW, DON’T MAKE WAVES, QUIT PREACHING!!! and your life will be a lot easier.”
I know there’s some folks here who are struggling right now. You’ve gone through some really hard times. Sometimes we go through TOUGH TIMES of LOSS and HEARTACHE and it’s because we’ve made mistakes. We ALL pay a PRICE for MISTAKES in LIFE.
But many times, we go through the DARK VALLEYS because we’re on the TRAINING GROUND called LIFE.
When Jesus spoke the words of Matthew 5, it was long after Jeremiah had already lived and died but the words were still true. Look at Verses 43-48 of Matthew 5,
“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”
There in Verse 48 it tells us to be PERFECT as GOD is PERFECT. The Greek word used there is Teleioi which means: maturity and fulfilling a purpose rather than sinless perfection. God is SINLESS but we are NOT. But we can GROW and MATURE. God had a PURPOSE for JEREMIAH but He also has a PURPOSE for you and I today.
And fulfilling the PURPOSE that God has for you and I may be really hard. But listen, we ALL need to MATURE and GROW and that’s one PURPOSE of GOD’S TRAINING FIELD called LIFE. Things may not seem FAIR. And they’re NOT.
Justice IN THIS LIFE doesn’t always PREVAIL. It SHOULD but it doesn’t.
God allows the SUN to come up in the EAST and SHINE on ALL OF US. Including the WICKED. If it was up to me and Jeremiah we’d put up some SUNSHADES to keep the GOODNESS of GOD off of those who don’t serve Him.
And God allows BLESSINGS to FALL on the JUST and the UNJUST alike. Not me, I’d say, “You GET NO RAIN!!! You’re wicked, mean, bad and nasty and you get NOTHING.” But God allows it. And that’s part of God’s Training Ground called LIFE.
Jeremiah is having a really hard time LOVING HIS TORMENTORS and in the SAME WAY we have a hard time LOVING our TORMENTORS. But with God’s help ... we can.
II. Now look at Verses 3 and 4.
“But thou, O Lord, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
4 How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our last end.”
Jeremiah continues on with his PITY PARTY. And, like I said, I get it. He’s in a TOUGH SPOT. Here in these two Verses he’s trusting in the fact that GOD KNEW HIS HEART. God has SEEN HIM and TRIED HIS HEART. That’s GOOD. I really do think that Jeremiah wanted to SERVE the TRUE GOD JEHOVAH. He wanted to do the RIGHT THING and he wanted the PEOPLE of the LAND to do the RIGHT THING.
But then he kind of goes off the RAILS AGAIN. I’m gonna paraphrase this.
“OKKKK ...... So GOD, SIC’EM. GO GET’EM!!! Yank them out like a SHEEP for the SLAUGHTER. Cut their THROATS and let me watch them BLEED OUT.
Because, maybe you don’t see this God but, the LAND is paying a TERRIBLE PRICE for their SINS. The GRASS and all the plants have WITHERED. The animals have all been KILLED, DIED or LEFT. Things are really getting bad but all the while these WICKED FOLKS are saying everything is OK. ‘He shall not see our last end.’ So God, when ever you’re ready to GET’EM, I’m ready to WATCH.”
Maybe I’m exaggerating this a little bit but I think this is really the way Jeremiah felt. Not a LOT OF LOVE there but we’re seeing what was in Jeremiah’s heart. A LOT of ANGER and SELF PITY.
And I think today, if we don’t watch out, we can get into the same situation.
I FEEL a lot of anger toward people who support ABORTION. The MURDER of the UNBORN is PURE EVIL.
I FEEL a lot of anger towards those who support GENDER ALTERING SURGERY for CHILDREN. I mean, if you want to DESTROY your own body OK, but leave the kids alone.
I FEEL a lot of anger toward people who harm CHILDREN. And I am ALL FOR JUSTICE. I’m ALL FOR SEVERE PUNISHMENT. As a Christian, I support CAPTOL PUNISHMENT. There is NOTHING in the BIBLE that FORBIDS the KILLING of PEOPLE for HEINOUS CRIMES.
But I said all of that to say this. There is NO ROOM for the HATRED of OTHERS in our LIVES. God is on the THRONE. And He is JUST. And HE will be the ULTIMATE JUDGE. He doesn’t need our HATRED for others.
And the HARD TIMES that we face as we deal with WICKEDNESS around us is part of GOD’S TRAINING GROUND called LIFE. It’s NOT EASY but yet it’s NECESSARY.
So YES, CRY OUT TO GOD. Tell Him your most inner thoughts. Lean on Him. Vent your ANGER. But then let HIM have His way in your life.
III. This last point is kind of HARD to PREACH. Jeremiah is finished talking. He has poured out his heart to God. And now GOD begins to speak. Look at Verses 5 and 6.
“If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?
6 For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they have called a multitude after thee: believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee.”
In a battle, the foot soldiers would come first. They would march out across a battlefield with their swords and shields. The battle would begin. This might sound harsh but basically they were expendable. They were the least trained and the easiest to kill.
And then you had the Archers who would hold back and launch arrows from a safe distance.
But then you would have the Horsemen come in. They would drive into the BATTLE way above the FOOTMEN. They would come in slashing and destroying as they drove through the FOOTMEN. The HORSEMEN were hard to deal with.
And look what God is telling Jeremiah here.
“You’re GROWING WEARY, getting tired, dealing with the footmen, what are you gonna do when the horsemen come?
It’s TOUGH PREACHING TO the HOMETOWN BOYS but what are you gonna do when you have to GO PREACH down by the SWAMPY JUNGLE areas of the JORDAN where people don’t know you?
Jeremiah, you’re having a hard time preaching in a TIME of PEACE, what about when there is NO PEACE?”
This was probably during the early part of Jeremiah’s Ministry when Good King Josiah still reigned. And to paraphrase this, God was basically saying,
“Suck it up, Buttercup. Things are not gonna get any easier. This is the TRAINING GROUND called LIFE.”
I’ve never really thought much about Jeremiah. I just assumed he was an old man. Married and had kids. He had a tough life but that’s the way it was with a prophet of God in those days. But when I really look at his life it hurts me. The LIFE he lived was tough.
He had NO WIFE to confide in. Folks, I can tell Rachel all of my problems and she listens and she cares. I can confide in her and I don’t have to worry that she’s gonna go tell everyone what’s going on. He didn’t have a comfortable family to come home to. Jeremiah had none of this.
I have a great family that has my back. I have two boys that will take care of their OLD MAN. I have 3, now ALMOST 4 SONS-IN-LAWS that will help me out if I need them to. (Kyle, that will be one of your jobs) 4 daughters that actually love me. Jeremiah was on his own. Look at the first part of Verse 6,
“For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee”
With family like that who needs ENEMIES right?
So HOW could God tell Jeremiah to just SUCK IT UP?
Well, let’s look back to when God first called Jeremiah in Chapter 1. If you remember in Verse 6, Jeremiah said I’m just a little child. But then in Verses 7 and 8 God tells him,
“But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.”
And then at the end of Chapter 1, God ends with Verse 19,
“And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee.”
In this Training Ground called LIFE, God would be with him. And he was. Historically Jeremiah lived to be 80 years old. He was exiled to Egypt where he continued to Preach. He preached repentance for 40 years, more than any other Prophet. No one knows how he died but some traditions say he died as a martyr from being stoned to death in 570 B.C. A man of God whose words still matter today.
And I’m not gonna set here and tell you to SUCK IT UP if life’s hard right now. That doesn’t help. But I will tell you that you have people who LOVE YOU and care about you. You have people who will LISTEN and HELP even when the TRAINING GROUND called LIFE gets very hard. You have a PASTOR who LOVES YOU and cares about you. But most importantly,
YOU HAVE A GOD WHO WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU!!!
He will be with you through all of the STORMS in your life.
Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”
And that’s a promise you can take to the bank.
Can I give you my own personal testimony about a God who will always be with you? Back in August of 2021, Covid was rampant and we had already lost several folks from our church to it. It was heartbreaking and probably the hardest time of my life. And there in the week of August 15 through August 21, I had 4 funerals to preach. One of them was my mama. And I look back now and I think, how did I do that? 4 funerals along with our regular services. And there’s only one way. I had a Father in Heaven who was with me. He never left me. He never forsook me. And he gave me the strength to continue on in the TRAINING GROUND called LIFE.
My Father loves me but NO MORE than He loves you.
If you don’t know Him, He wants to know you. Come to Him today.
If you’re going through a really hard time, you can give it ALL to Him today. 1 Peter 5:7,
“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you”
Let’s Pray
