The Training Ground Called Life

“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,