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UNION GROVE CHURCH OF CHRIST, CLEVELAND TN. |
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GOD’S COMMISSION TO THE WEEPING PROPHET
Near the end of the 7th century B.C. Jehovah sent a marvelous prophet to preach to the nation of Judah. This man of God, Jeremiah, is often referred to as "the weeping prophet." Such a term was coined for him because his writings often reveal that he was moved to tears because of the transgressions of his fellow countrymen. No prophet of the Lord ever faced a more difficult task than did Jeremiah. The book of Jeremiah shows us how this messenger of God faithfully proclaimed His word for at least five decades to a people that for the most part had no interest in hearing the truth. The message of the book of Jeremiah is a stirring one, and any person that digs in and studies it with diligence cannot help but be moved by its contents. It all began with God’s charge or commission to Jeremiah that is recorded in Jeremiah 1:4-10,17-19. To this charge we now turn our attention to see what lessons we can learn from it. (1) At first Jeremiah was reluctant to speak in the Lord’s name, saying, "Ah Lord God, behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child" (1:6). Later, however, he had within him a burning desire to speak forth God’s truth and he could not be satisfied unless he did. "Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forebearing, and I could not stay" (20:9). For whatever reason, if you and I have been reluctant to sound forth God’s word to a lost and dying world, then we need to have a change of heart like Jeremiah did! We must with boldness proclaim His word now! (2) God clearly commanded Jeremiah, "Whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak" (1:7). Jehovah continued His charge to Jeremiah, telling him to speak "my words" (1:9). Jeremiah could not speak any other message and be pleasing to God – only Jehovah’s word would do. In the Christian age God also knows the message that man needs to hear. Jesus has declared that the message to be preached is the gospel – "preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). We must preach that message. Congregations need to quit sending out and supporting men and women who teach another doctrine (1 Timothy 1:3). Sure, ceasing to support such teachers would cut down on the number of workers, both in and out of the U.S., but what do numbers matter when the message propagated is not the pure gospel of the Christ? Like Jeremiah, we need to stick with what God says! (3) We read that God not only told Jeremiah what to preach, He also told him where to preach it: "For thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee" (1:7). Mark it down. When God tells man where to preach His message, then man is obligated to preach exactly where He said. This principle is seen in both the Old and New Testaments. Think of the Lord’s charge to Jonah. He was to preach in Nineveh (Jonah 1:2; 3:1,2), so Tarshish or anywhere else other than Nineveh just would not do! What about the apostles of the Christ? His angel told them clearly, "Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life" (Acts 5:20). On that particular occasion no place other than the temple would do, because God specified the temple as the place where He wanted them to preach. When our Lord said to go and preach the gospel in all the world to all nations (Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:19), He meant for us to give our most diligent effort to do just that! Where does He want us to preach His word? Everywhere. (4) Further, Jehovah exhorted Jeremiah not to fear those who heard his message and rejected it for God would be with him (1:8). God has never wanted His people to fear the consequences of doing His will. Yea, if God be for us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31)? Let us say, "The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me" (Hebrews 13:6). Jesus’ words "… lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20) certainly encourage and comfort us. May God help us have the courage to do His will, regardless of the reaction of others. (5) Jeremiah’s work and message had aspects that people often see as "positive" and "negative," as he was "to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant" (1:10). He would have to tear out and remove the evil thinking and wicked ways of his listeners before their hearts would be ready to obey the Lord. His only hope for doing this was to preach the powerful word of Jehovah. In our day there is still a need for God’s preachers to "reprove, rebuke and exhort" (2 Timothy 4:2). Those first two items (reprove and rebuke) may not be popular with some people, but they are necessary. Why? Because God commands them. Woe unto the congregation whose preacher and overseers refuse to point out sin and will not "speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority" (Titus 2:15) (6) God went a step further when He told Jeremiah to "speak unto them all that I command thee" (1:17). Judah needed to hear all of God’s message. No doubt it would have been easier and more pleasant for Jeremiah to just leave off part of God’s denunciation of Judah’s errors, but Jeremiah could not be true to God without speaking all of His message. Today we need to imitate the preaching of Jeremiah and the apostle Paul, who said, "For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God" (Acts 20:27). Surely Satan would love for us to be silent about the evils of humanism, denominationalism, gambling, divorce, apostasy in the church and scores of other topics. He would also love for us to back off when it comes to exhorting brethren to put God first in their lives, yet we cannot be true to our Lord without speaking His whole counsel. (7) Please observe that Jeremiah knew from the very outset that his task would not be an easy one. People would not welcome him or his message, no, not by a long shot. God’s prediction to Jeremiah "they shall fight against thee" (1:19) certainly came to pass, as Jeremiah was rejected and abused by the people of his hometown (11:19-21), his own family (12:6), priests and prophets (20:1,2), friends (20:10), all the people (26:8), and kings (36:21-23). Sounds awfully disheartening, does it not? Brethren, when we know ahead of time that most people of the world will not receive the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is a tremendous challenge to our faith, courage, and patience to go out and preach the word anyway. It is not easy to keep on keeping on, but God being our Helper, that is just what we have to do. May we never forget that though the world might be against us and the Lord’s truth, nobody fights against God and wins! The world needs the word of the living God, so let us not grow weary in preaching it (Galatians 6:9). The prophet Jeremiah lived and preached over 2500 years ago in a culture that is foreign to most of us. Yet God’s charge to him is truly loaded with lessons for us to learn and apply in our service to Him wherever we might live today. For God’s children to live faithfully to Him and preach "thus saith the Lord" are still very much "in style" with the One that matters. -- Roger D. Campbell |
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