How God Builds Men: The Weeping Prophet
(By Rob McLeod)
Life as a prophet in the nation of Israel during Biblical times was anything but enviable. During the course of their lifetimes, most prophets were frequently socially and economically maligned, threatened by their listeners and, sometimes, martyred. The office of the prophet, though theoretically revered by the nation of Israel, was very risky business indeed when it came to delivering a difficult and convicting word from the Lord.
In this article I want to look at the life of the prophet Jeremiah. This man delivered the word of the Lord to the nation of Israel for over five decades during a time of pronounced economic and spiritual lethargy in the nation. During this time span, Jeremiah served under the reign of three kings (Josiah, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah). Jeremiah became known as the “weeping prophet” (Jeremiah 9:1; 13:17; 14:17) as he prophetically foretold the destruction of Jerusalem by the invading Babylonians. His was a difficult life. Due to his predictions of God’s discipline upon apostate Israel, Jeremiah was threatened, put in stocks, banished into the bottom of a well, suffered frequent hunger, and forced to move a number of times against his choosing.
As I read the scriptural account of Jeremiah’s life I asked myself, “How does this apply to my life in the 21st century?” I have come to understand that there a number of crucial applications that may be drawn from the life of this faithful servant of the Lord.
1. The Lord places a call on our lives long before we even realize it
Although the call of the Lord was made known to Jeremiah while a young man (Jeremiah 1), the Lord had foreordained this moment many years before. Jeremiah 1:4-5 says: “Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you [set you apart]; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.’” The Lord has profound concern for all of His children and His plans for our lives begin in eternity past. Consider also Ephesians 1:4 — “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” Psalm 139:3-4 clearly emphasizes the degree of knowledge and concern that the Lord places upon our daily lives: “You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.” Even though we may be aware of the intensity of the Lord’s concern for us, we typically struggle placing our trust in Him. Jeremiah was no different.
2. Looking only to ourselves for strength to fulfill the Lord’s calling will result in failure
You may think that the Lord’s direct speaking to Jeremiah, as recorded in Jeremiah 1:4-5, would immediately inspire him to step out and fulfill his calling as a prophet. On the contrary. In the moment, Jeremiah only looked to himself for strength. His reaction is typical, really, to how we shrink back at times. Jeremiah 1:6 records his response: “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.” Looking at ourselves is truly disheartening and the sooner we see our inadequacy without Him the better off we will be. Thankfully the Lord responded with a promise to accompany and strengthen Jeremiah for the daunting task at hand: “But the LORD said to me: ‘Do not say, “I am a youth,” for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you,’ says the LORD. Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: ‘Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.’” (Jeremiah 1:7-10) The only way we can properly go forward is to throw ourselves upon our Saviour for His daily supply. Looking in the mirror and thinking that it all depends on us will induce panic from the outset and eventual failure in our responsibilities. Remember, Jeremiah’s public ministry spanned multiple decades. We simply cannot walk a lifetime of faithful service by merely clenching our teeth and trying harder.
3. Living a life devoted to the Lord comes with a cost
No one gets up in the morning hoping to be an outcast and shut off from the rest of society. Nevertheless, Jeremiah had to frequently walk this lonely road. At the onset of his ministry the Lord had warned Jeremiah not to fear the people’s reaction to his message: “Therefore prepare yourself and arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before their faces, lest I dismay you before them.” (Jeremiah 1:17) One of the more unpopular things that Jeremiah had to do was to confront King Zedekiah, the final king of Judah before the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. Due to the apostasy of Israel, the Lord had providentially prepared the nation of Babylon to overthrow Israel. Many in Israel, however, kicked against the punishment of the Lord and prepared to fight against the Babylonians who were besieging Jerusalem. Jeremiah was told to confront King Zedekiah with the message to not resist their attackers but rather to surrender and make the trip as captives to Babylon. Jeremiah prophesied: “Thus says the LORD: ‘He who remains in this city [Jerusalem] shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes over to the Chaldeans [Babylonians] shall live; his life shall be as a prize to him, and he shall live.’” (Jeremiah 38:2) This message was not well received by the princes in Jerusalem who advised King Zedekiah to execute Jeremiah: “Please, let this man be put to death, for thus he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man does not seek the welfare of this people, but their harm.” (Jeremiah 38:4) Zedekiah spared Jeremiah’s life, but feared his princes and officials. So Zedekiah allowed them to imprison Jeremiah in a dungeon. Without any intervention, Jeremiah would soon die of hunger.
It is unlikely that any of us will be tasked by the Lord to deliver an extremely unpopular message to the Prime Minister or President of our own country. So what is the application here to our lives? I believe the general principle from this scriptural account is that we must count our lives as ‘nothing’ when it comes to obeying a difficult call from the Lord. Surely Jeremiah knew that the Lord’s word to King Zedekiah could be poorly received. Yet Jeremiah obeyed the prompting of the Lord. Jeremiah surely knew the potential of punishment from the king. Jeremiah was not a young man at this time, perhaps around 60 years of age. The temptation to live out his final years with some level of ease (despite the imminent Babylonian attack) must have come across his mind. Men, sometimes we are highly tempted to take what seems to be the easy route out of something that the Lord has placed in front of us. We must not shrink back, no matter the cost. The temptation to live our life with ease is especially present in our North American culture where we treasure personal comfort and owning the newest things. But what if the Lord has other plans? Would we rather pad our retirement funds or continue on with our time consuming pet hobbies at the expense of being a godly example to our family, our co-workers, or others that the Lord has placed in our lives? Is there something that the Lord has called you to follow Him in but you are holding back? Do you want to hit the metaphorical ‘eject button’ via disobedience to the Lord’s call? Let us not shrink back simply to ease the pressure in the moment. The apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3:7, “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.” Yes, there may be temporary pleasure by doing things our way but the end is definitely spiritual ‘death’ for ourselves and often for those around us as well.
4. The fruit of the Spirit is endurance
None of us can endure difficult situations for very long simply by trying harder. It is only a work of the Holy Spirit that provides our daily supply to faithfully obey the Lord’s calling in our homes, marriages, and workplaces. If you read through Jeremiah chapters 38-43 you see further evidences of the Lord supplying Jeremiah with strength for the task at hand. Jeremiah was eventually released from the dungeon and furthermore given permission by Nebuchadnezzar and his captain of the guard to remain in the Jerusalem area. On the other hand, King Zedekiah was imprisoned in Babylon after a failed night-time escape attempt from Jerusalem. Zedekiah remained in Babylon until his death.
If you have not previously read the biblical account of Jeremiah’s life you may be thinking that Jeremiah lived ‘happily ever after’ his release by the Babylonians. This is not exactly how things unfolded. The Babylonians had left a man named Gedaliah in charge of the remnant of poor Jewish people permitted to remain in Israel to tend the land. This was a motley crew of men, women, and children who were more or less deemed unfit to carry away captive to Babylon. Regardless the Lord seemingly began to bless this group and Jeremiah lived amongst them in Mizpah, near Jerusalem. Unfortunately, this growing group attracted some unsavoury characters and Gedaliah was murdered by a fellow Jew named Ishmael. Ishmael then carried away captive all of the remnant people living in Mizpah. Shortly after this a supporter of Gedaliah, named Johanan, in turn rescued all those kidnapped by Ishmael. Despite the bravery evidenced by Johanan in effecting the people’s rescue, he was too afraid to return to the Mizpah area. Why? Johanan was afraid that the Babylonians would get wind of the assassination of their appointed governor, Gedaliah, and out of spite would murder the rest of the Jews remaining in the land. So Johanan had a ‘brilliant’ plan to save his Jewish family and friends — they would go to Egypt and live out their days there. Now if you know anything about Scripture, Egypt was a nation that Israel was forbidden to seek help from (Deuteronomy 17:14-17; Isaiah 31:1). Egypt had been Israel’s captor many centuries before and they had spent hundreds of years there as slaves. The Lord did not want Israel to regard Egypt as useful help or a viable ‘plan B.’ Any return to Egypt would be indicative that Israel had rejected God as their deliverer.
5. Don’t go back to your Egypt
The Lord instructed Jeremiah to warn Johanan and the people against making the journey to Egypt. “If you still remain in this land [Israel], then I will build you and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not pluck you up…do not be afraid of the king of Babylon…for I am with you, to save you and deliver you from his hand.” (Jeremiah 42:10-11) The Lord further instructed the people that if they were to go to Egypt then “the sword which you feared shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; the famine of which you were afraid shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there you shall die.” (Jeremiah 42:16)
I believe that there is an obvious application to our lives today. Are there difficult things in your life that you want to run away from instead of properly dealing with them as the Lord is leading you? Are you tempted to turn back to your old fleshly ways when under pressure or temptation? This is your fight or flight moment. By faith and obedience will you stay in the ‘land’ that the Lord has brought you to or will you return to your old fleshly habits and spiritual captors? Brothers, through the strength of the Lord, do not travel that well-worn path again. Rather, as the writer in Proverbs strongly remarks: “Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn away from it and pass on.” (Proverbs 4:15) I also think here of the instructions of Paul in Romans 6:11-14: “Likewise you also, reckon [consider] yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
6. Taking the Lord’s grace despite other people’s poor decisions
Sadly, Johanan rejected Jeremiah’s warnings and traveled to Egypt with the remnant of Jews left in the land. Jeremiah was also forcibly taken to Egypt. This must have been quite the trip for Jeremiah knowing the impending doom that would befall them there. Yet Jeremiah ‘took the grace’ and still pursued the Lord in these new surroundings. The word of the Lord still faithfully came to Jeremiah in this new land and Jeremiah was obedient to declare it. For Jeremiah, the Lord’s peace overcame the difficult situation that was imposed upon him by others.
There may be difficult situations in our lives that have occurred because of the poor choices or disobedience of others. People can intentionally or unintentionally impose undesirable circumstances upon us and these situations may exert huge implications upon our lives. If you are old enough I’m fairly certain that you can name one or two such situations right off the top of your head. Yet the Lord remains faithful. As we seek Him for strength in these situations the Lord can give us “beauty for ashes” and the “oil of joy” instead of mourning. (Isaiah 61:3) If we have been forced to take a fork in the road that we did not prefer the Lord is still with us and He will enable us to eventually say: “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good.” (Genesis 50:20) It is in these situations that Romans 8:28 can take on a deeper meaning: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
I don’t believe that Jeremiah has any regrets now for obeying the Lord. Although his frequent trials were extremely intense they were, in the view of eternity, quite brief. Undoubtedly these trials shaped Jeremiah into the godly man that we read about, and have high regard for, today. I believe that along with the apostle Paul, Jeremiah could say the following towards the end of his life: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)
