As an introduction to the ministry of Jeremiah the
prophet of God we need to establish a few basic facts about him and the context
of his calling and how it fits into the history of Israel. In the first verse in chapter one the fact of
his priesthood and genealogy from the tribe of Benjamin are established. We
then learn of the inception of his ministry of some forty years beginning
during the reign of Josiah, king of Judah and preceding all the way to the end
of the kings of Judah which was Zedekeiah. The kingdom of Judah was terminated
and carried away by the Babylonian captivity. Jeremiah’s some forty years of
prophesying to Judah was in large part related to that captivity of Judah by
the Babylonians as a judgement executed by the hand of the Lord as a
consequence of their apostasy and departure from the precepts of their covenant
with God. But it also extended to other peoples
in the entire region for the Babylonian Empire was vast. The captivity of Judah
was to last specifically for a period of seventy years as relates to Judah and
Jerusalem as their sovereignty as a nation was brought to an end. Thus
Jeremiah was commissioned by the Lord and “whatsoever
I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with
thee to deliver thee saith the Lord.” (Jer. 1:7-8).
God
had set his servant over the nations and over the kingdoms, “to root out, and to pull down, and to
destroy, and to throw down, to build and to plant.”
“Out of the
north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.”(Jer.1:14). “And
I will utter my judgment against them touching all their wickedness, who have
forsaken me…”(Jer. 1:16 in part).”Hath
a nation changed their gods? but my people have changed their glory for that
which doth not profit.”(Jer. 2:11).”Therefore,
the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou
hadst a whore’s forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.” (Jer. 3:3).
“The Lord came unto me in the days of Josiah
the king, Hast thou not seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? She is
gone upon every high mountain, and under every green tree, and there hath
played the harlot. And I said after she had done all of these things, Turn thou
unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. And ,
when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put
her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah
feared not, but went and played the harlot also. And it came to pass through
the liteness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery
with the stones and the stocks. And yet for all this her treacherous sister
Judah hath not turned to me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the
Lord.” (Jer. 3:6-10).
Above
we see Israel (the Northern ten tribes) brought in as an example and point of
comparison for Judah of the righteous judgment of God. They had undergone a similar fate at the
hands of the Assyrians some one hundred and fifteen years prior to the onset of
Judah’s captivity at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon. There was a
difference however between the two captivities in that the Assyrian captivity
of Israel did not result in a recovery whereas, the Babylonian captivity
produced a remnant of faithful Jews who after the seventy years of the
captivity returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the temple and there was a
resumption of the Old Testament covenant.
So we
come to understand that Jeremiah’s cry to Judah which now constitutes the
remnant of Israel was that they should repent and turn back to the Lord their
God and put away their abominations and transgressions. “If thou will return, O Israel saith the Lord, return unto me: and if
thou will put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shall thou not
remove, And thou shalt swear, the Lord lveth in truth, in judgment, and In
righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall
they glory,” (Jer. 4:1-2).
It is
necessary to understand that Jeremiah’s words to the people of Judah were
quickened and made powerful by the Spirit of the Lord. Otherwise they could not
effectively produce a result. Later in the text of Jeremiah we see this
principle proclaimed. “The prophet that
hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully….Is not my word like as fire
saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces.” (Jer. 23:28-29).
The word of the Lord has power both to convict as well as to condemn. We see this principle being expressed again
at the end of the age in the testimony of the two witnesses at Revelation 11:5.
“And if any man will hurt them (the
witnesses prophesying); fire proceedeth
out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies; and if any man will hurt them,
he must in this manner be killed.” In this passage it is not to be
understood the enemies of the witnesses are killed physically by literal fire
because it is a metaphor. What is being
expressed that the word of the Lord being spoken in the power of the Spirit
will bring conviction which leads to repentance; or if resisted it will bring
condemnation and judgment to those who would resist it or stand against it.
David Lance
Dean websiteandblogs:authordavidlancedean.com
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