"God Calls Jeremiah"
Jeremiah 1:4-10
Quick Facts:
Jeremiah – one of the Major Prophets prophesying to the nation of Judah (The Southern Kingdom)
A prophet both foretold the future and proclaim God’s Word and will for the present. They were generally black and white (told it like it was) in their communication and revelation of God’s message.
Dates: Approximately 620-586 BC
Jeremiah ministry spanned five kings: Josiah (a good king/reformer), Jehoahaz (Wicked), Jehoiakim (wicked), Jehoiachin (wicked) and Zedekiah (wicked). Most of Jeremiah’s ministry was met by the rejection of his message because he prophesied doom and gloom. He was on many occasions beaten, punished, and imprisoned; however, he remained faithful to the Lord’s calling.
The name “Jeremiah” means Yahweh (God) exalts or Yahweh (God) uplifts
Jeremiah’s call was young in his life (He referred to himself as a child)
God was at work in the life of Jeremiah prior to his birth. God was conforming Jeremiah for the call.
Pastor’s Notes:
This is not evidence of Calvin’s “predestination.” As demonstrated in the call of Jeremiah, when God calls, He equips
It is not our ability that matters, but our availability …
Confidence to accept the call results from knowing God is with those He calls for success.
What is your excuse for rejecting God’s call upon your life?
Note all the times in this passage God draws attention to Himself (It wasn’t about Jeremiah’s ability, but God’s presence and power in Jeremiah’s life). The pronoun, “I” dominates the passage.
Success is not measured by the response to what we do, but rather, our obedience to the Lord.
The calling of God is not restricted to the more mature … God can and God has used youth to accomplish His will …. Consider David and Goliath. See: “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry” (1 Timothy 1:12).
Called the “Weeping Prophet” because his heart broke over the spiritual condition of Judah and the certain coming judgment of God. We need to be more like Jeremiah weeping over the spiritual condition of our country
“It is difficult to conceive any situation more painful than that of a great man, condemned to watch the lingering agony of an exhausted country, to tend it during the alternate fits of stupefaction (confusion) and raving which precede its destruction, and to see the symptoms of vitality disappear one by one, till nothing is left but coldness, darkness, and corruption.”
Lord Macaulay
Relate Jeremiah’s brokenness with Christ’s weeping over Jerusalem …
Jeremiah overlapped the ministry of Isaiah … Isaiah’s ministry held out hope for Judah if the nation would return unto the Lord … Jeremiah’s ministry withdrew hope and laid out God’s calendar of judgment.
Question: Are we living in the season of Jeremiah (Too late)?
Like Jeremiah, we need to realize that it is not our words, but His word, that matters
In a political environment we don’t need to hear the promises of the politician but the Word of God.
Verse 10 – Note before there could be a rebuilding/planting there had to be destruction. How and when this message was fulfilled (God sent Judah into captivity … after 70 years of captivity a remnant returned to Jerusalem and began rebuilding the city.) How might this apply to the church?
What does this passage teach about the beginning of life? Jeremiah’s life was valued by God previous to his birth. What does this passage say about abortion?
Theological Theme
God calling is never absent His enabling. See “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). Also see: Ephesians 2:10; Hebrews 13:21.
Christ Connection
Like Jeremiah, Christ grieved over the nation of Israel, and by default, our sin.
Missional Application
Faith in God will lead us to faithfulness to God’s call.