Article for February 2, 2025
Jeremiah 1:4–5 4Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 5“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah was not a bullfrog. Though he might have drunk wine. God tells Jeremiah that He knew him before he was formed in the womb. I would ask, if so, did God also know each of us before we were in the womb? The answer may be yes in that God does not live in time but lives in the always and now, and that which is yet to come. He is the great I AM!
Hard to conceive, but God lives in a dimension where everything already is. And this might not be an accurate means to explain where God exists because He exists everywhere even though we cannot see Him. Now that we are completely confused, Thank God He knows everything past present and future as these exist to Him all at the same time.
God not only knew Jeremiah but had already assigned him to be a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah was consecrated, that is sanctified to deliver the messages of God to the people of the nations. Not just to the Jewish nation but to other nations as well.
Jeremiah 1:6–7 6Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” 7But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.
There are somethings God wants done and just does not let one out of what He has ordained. If God has need for you to do something, then you will do His will for those He sends you to. What God says He does, and if He tells you what to say then you will say it. For us it may not be the same as Jeremiah as we have the written word of God. That is, the written word of God is our prophet as well as our guide.
God says go here and you will go here, and when God says go there, you will go there. And remember this is not on your time schedule but it is His time and, on His need, and command. In other words, this is all about God’s will and not our will.
Jeremiah 1:8–9 8Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.” 9Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
Was this Jesus our Lord who reached out to touch the lips of Jeremiah. Here God assures Jeremiah He has nothing to fear. Where the Lord sends Jeremiah, He will give him what to say. The Lord also lets Jeremiah know that He will be delivered!
Yes, this promise of being delivered given to Jeremiah is a foretelling of the Christ’s mission for salvation. The Lord also promises while Jeremiah is delivering God’s message to the people, God will protect Jeremiah. This is the touch of God upon the lips of a youthful man who God made wise to spread the word of God to a vast but small world in the Middle East.
Maybe God does not come to us and touch our lips with His hand and give us His word upon our lips, but He does reach out to us with His Holy Spirit and His Holy Word. We have read the warnings that Jeremiah and the other prophets have delivered to God’s people Israel, and His people Christian, and His people non-believers. We too should heed these warnings as they mean as much to us today as they did in the prophet’s time.
The word given to us is one of law and gospel, consequence and grace, doom and mercy. Through the Holy Spirit and God’s word we learn of our sin and the consequences of our sin. But we also learn of the curse we were given when Adam and Eve fell to sin in the Garden of Eden. We are all cursed with a sinful nature that we ourselves cannot overcome.
To say that we learned just the law would be a shame, but to say we also learned of the saving love our God has for us, lets us know of God’s grace and mercy given through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though we are cursed with a sinful nature Jesus Christ brings us the cure in His righteousness. We will soon all be clothed in the righteousness of our Christ.
Jeremiah 1:10 10See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
The nations, meaning the people, and in particular the people who are self-righteous, exceedingly proud, and those who think they no longer have a need for God. These are the people who will be overthrown, destroyed, broken down by the prophesies of Jeremiah.
Not that there is no escape for those who are warned, but that they are given a means of escape. The means of escape is to turn to the Lord and follow Him. It is still the same for us. We know we have salvation only through Jesus Christ. The love of Christ was to suffer and die for our sins. It is not that we turn back to God and try to earn our way, but that we turn to God and accept that He, Jesus Christ, is the way. Christ is our salvation and our escape from our captivity of our sinful nature. Amen.
Written by Pastor Curtis A May
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