The Struggle To Keep Going
Case Study Of The Prophet Jeremiah
I don’t know about you but I don’t like making people angry. I realize it’s part of life but it’s something I do my best to avoid. Jeremiah was a true prophet, which means God’s word would come to him and he would tell others. Sadly, most of what he said angered those around him. The picture we get from the book of Jeremiah is of a man who stands alone in a society that has lost its way.
Conditions Jeremiah Faced
During his times, around 650 BC, Temple worship was in full force. In chapter 7 we find him standing at the gate of the temple proclaiming,
“Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place.” Jeremiah 7:2–3
He called on them to repent of their ways. They had no problem dividing their worship between God and idols, and their actions towards each other were evil as well. He told the people,
Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever. But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless. Jeremiah 7:4–8
Included in his words are warnings that they will lose Jerusalem as their home, and that includes the temple. He acknowledged that they rejoiced that “this is the temple of the Lord,” yet he called them out on their unfaithfulness. Their temple worship could not save them. He told them to repent and they will keep their land and keep the temple.
As Christians, we can get caught up with the routine of going to church, but that alone does not save us. God wants us to turn from our wicked ways and walk in relationship with him every day of the week.
“Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe” — safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord. Jeremiah 7:9–11
If what followed was that the people listened and turned from their wicked ways that would have been great. But that’s not the case. They were stubborn and they even encouraged one another in their disobedience.
Then the Lord said to me, “There is a conspiracy among the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. They have returned to the sins of their ancestors, who refused to listen to my words. They have followed other gods to serve them. Both Israel and Judah have broken the covenant I made with their ancestors. Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them (chapter 11:10–11)
Therefore God tells Jeremiah,
“Do not pray for this people or offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their distress. (11:14)
Jeremiah had been praying and even weeping over the decadence of his people, but now he is told not to pray for them. No prayers would help. The time for praying for them and calling them to repentance has passed. It’s a reminder to us that we cannot mock God by saying, “One day, we will repent.” There must be an urgency about getting right with God that this passage shows that once we pass a certain point, there is no turning back. All that awaits us is certain judgment.
So his preaching changed from “Repent and return to God,” to “Surrender to the Babylonians.”
This is what the Lord says: ‘Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague, but whoever goes over to the Babylonians will live. They will escape with their lives; they will live.’ And this is what the Lord says: ‘This city will certainly be given into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.’” (Jeremiah 38:2–3)
This was an unpopular message and Jeremiah suffered greatly in this spiritually dark period. They beat him up, locked him up, tied him up. They threw him into a muddy well, threw him into a make-shift prison in someone’s home, threw him in the dungeon. They did whatever they could to silence him.
They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison.
Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time. (37:15–16)
They even sought to put him to death.
Then the officials said to the king, “This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin.” (38:4)
King Zedekiah, sensing pending doom, secretly met with Jeremiah and asked for a word from the Lord. This was a golden opportunity to say something nice and possibly get out of jail.
“Yes,” Jeremiah replied, “you will be handed over to the king of Babylon.” Jeremiah 37:17
Jeremiah did not blink an eye and told him exactly what he had been saying all along. What an amazing man, who spoke the truth regardless of the consequences!
This brings us to the main idea of the story. Jeremiah was committed to telling the truth. Even though his fellow prophets promised victory, he refused to join the crowd. He did not hesitate because of persecution.
But if I say, “I will not mention his word
or speak anymore in his name,”
his word is in my heart like a fire,
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;
indeed, I cannot. (Jeremiah 20:9)
Takeaways
#1 Let Tensions Stand
What can we learn from him in terms of perseverance? I tend to have a thin skin and if someone is upset with me I immediately look for ways to resolve it. But sometimes we have to let the tension stand. It’s not right to back away from what is true and we know that. But yet all these obstacles tend to influence us.
A good example of this is Abraham Lincoln who said,
“I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have.”
#2 Find The Silver Lining
After seeking God Jeremiah realized that God was refining his people, not disowning his people. He found meaning in his suffering.
Corrie Ten Boom’s family hid Jews during WWII and as a result they were caught and taken to a concentration camp. She and her sister were later transferred to a flea infested dormitory. It looked bleak, but then they observed that the cruel guards did not come by because they feared the fleas, so they were able to minister the gospel message without interruption to their fellow prisoners. They came to view the flea infestation as a blessing.
#3 Stay In Constant Communion With God
Where do people like Corrie Ten Boom summon the strength to continue under such difficult conditions? If you take time to read her story you will notice that she seemed to have a continual conversation with God, non-stop. That characteristic shows up in Jeremiah as well. Here he is bringing a complaint before God.
You are always righteous, Lord,
when I bring a case before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your justice:
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all the faithless live at ease?— Jeremiah 12:1
God is not disturbed when we come to him with our concerns. In this case, Jeremiah wants to know why the consequences for sin are not immediate. There are other examples of prophets in the Bible who do the same thing. God’s response was not what he wanted to hear: Don’t worry, things are going to get worse.
“If you have raced with men on foot
and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble in safe country,
how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?”— Jeremiah 12:5
As a result of this continued dialogue, Jeremiah gained insight into the terrible situation. He understood that these things were happening as a form of refining the people of God. As a result, he spoke of hope.
#4 Stay Anchored in Hope
Later in the book we read that a time of restoration is coming.
This is what the Lord says:
“Restrain your voice from weeping
and your eyes from tears,
for your work will be rewarded,”
declares the Lord.
“They will return from the land of the enemy.(Jeremiah 31:16)
That’s why we can take comfort in the teachings of the book of Jeremiah. That even in the midst of chaos around us God is at work. Jeremiah’s message ends on a positive note, that the captivity will not last forever. That God will restore his people and make a new covenant with them one day, pointing to the coming of Christ.
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31–34)
To conclude we must stick to the truth and never back down just like Jeremiah. What a case study in commitment and loyalty to God!
