20150824 Monday, August 24 2015
Jeremiah 01: A Faithful Winner Among Unrepentant Losers

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"The fact that so many in his time chose to be losers had no effect on Jeremiah's choice to be a winner"

Jeremiah was a Levite (see When Were The Levites Set Apart? and The Levites Of Christ) whose father served in the territory of Benjamin (see The Land Of Benjamin), in the Kingdom of Judah, after the time of the division of the united kingdom of Israel into two separate kingdoms - "Israel" (the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph/Manasseh and Joseph/Ephraim; see Israel In History and Prophecy: The Lost Ten Tribes) and "Judah" (Judah, Benjamin and Levi; see Israel In History and Prophecy: Kingdom Of Judah and Jews - Three Tribes and Three Meanings).

Jeremiah was made a prophet of the LORD, by the LORD (see The LORD God Our Saviour), before he was born ("Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations"). The practical reason is that Jeremiah's ministry would span forty years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah to the fall of Judah under Zedekiah in 586 BC (see Kings of Israel and Judah) - as well as afterward (see What Did Jeremiah's Letter To Babylon Say?).

The first chapter of the Book of Jeremiah documents the LORD's commission and mandate of Jeremiah's life and ministry. While the unrepentant people that the LORD sent Jeremiah to warn failed to heed the Word of God, Jeremiah was a steadfast and faithful servant of the LORD through his entire life. The fact that so many in his time chose to be losers (see Iniquity In History And Prophecy and Decadence In History And Prophecy) had no effect on Jeremiah's choice to be a winner (see Which Way Is Right And Left? and Strait And Straight).

"1:1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: 1:2 To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 1:3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.

1:4 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

1:6 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.

1:7 But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. 1:8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.

1:9 Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. 1:10 See, I have this day set thee 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.

1:11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou?

And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.

1:12 Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.

1:13 And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou?

And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north.

1:14 Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. 1:15 For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.

1:16 And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.

1:17 Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. 1:18 For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. 1:19 And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee." (Jeremiah 1:1-19 KJV)

Fact Finder: What happened to the Levites of the Kingdom of Israel ("the lost ten tribes")?
See No Levites In The Lost Ten Tribes?