Good Morning!
Jeremiah was a son of a priest. There is no indication that Jeremiah was a priest, but it was his linage. I don't know what influence being a preacher's kid brought upon his life, but, I am sure it had some influence. I speak by experience. I, too, am a preacher's kid. My father was one of the greatest influencers in my life. It has been a linage in my family. My father was a preacher's kid. His father was a preacher's kid. His father was a preacher's kid. I'm sure you get it.
When I was a teenager I had made the decision that I was NOT going to be a preacher. The events of one certain day in my life was the nail that sealed it. It was New Year's Day. I remember my father sitting in the recliner in our living room when someone called him on the phone. It was a deacon's wife. She began cutting my father apart because she was angry that I had broken up with her daughter. My mother knelt beside my father trying to be a comfort to him. These people had been good friends with my parents. It hurt my parents terribly. That picture never left my mind. It was ungodly. It was hurtful. It was something that I had determined that I did not want in my life. I was sure God did not call my father into ministry to hear such garbage and to feel so much pain.
I am sure Jeremiah saw some things in his upbringing that influenced his life. God called him to be a prophet...not a priest...a prophet. Initially, Jeremiah told God that he was too young and did not speak well. God answered that problem when He literally came down and touched his mouth and put His words into his mouth.
Jeremiah began his ministry when he was around 20 years old. He was a young man. He was forbidden to marry. His companion was God, Himself, and a scribe to write all God's messages onto a scroll by the name of Baruch.
The messages that he wrote were not pleasant. They emotionally and physically scarred both men. They were responsible for informing their nation of the impending judgments of God and eventual destruction because of their sin. They were threatened and ignored by the people but, they continued to be faithful to deliver God's messages. By the way...people are no different today. If they hear something they do not like they will call in the squad called the "Cancel Culture."
Jeremiah is important to us because we are given the perspective of a man who had a heart for God even when his emotions were ripped apart. He never stopped even when threatened to be killed for standing for his faith.
It is also important to know that Jeremiah did not quit but had the faith and perseverance to do God's work until the end. He was reluctant when he received his call, but, he gained strength and confidence in God the further he traveled in his ministry.
It is also important to know that it was Jeremiah who brought us from understanding the Old Covenant to the introduction of the New Covenant. The fall of Jerusalem came just under a thousand years after the Old Covenant was given. For those who cared enough to pay attention...God shined the light of the New Covenant on the people to whom Jeremiah was preaching. It took 900 plus years for God to bring an end to the sin and folly of the Jews. God was extremely patient with them. Yet, He did inform them that a greater day was coming by prophesying the New Covenant...which included JESUS!
What does this book tell us today? It tells us that God still calls people into His work. It tells us that there are people around us who are committed to God's work and the Gospel that has come to us as a result of the New Covenant.
This book reveals to us that God is patient with us. When we stumble...He cares. He picks us up and brushes us off and says to continue for "I am always with you."
This book shows us the error of a nation and the leaders that are making decisions without listening to God. We live in that kind of nation today.
It tells us that a nation has an end. Yes, our nation will one day end. But, God will be our guide and our strength when we settle into being His faithful servant. We are His children. We are His family. God told Jeremiah that He "loves him with an everlasting love." 31:3
He loves us with that same kind of love...eternal!
May God Bless You!
Don Betts
DBEA/campus320
DBEAWINNING.COM
TO GOD BE ALL GLORY!