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Jeremiah 1 Commentary

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KEY THOUGHT: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you [Jeremiah 1:5a NKJV]

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Jeremiah 1 NKJV

Jeremiah Called to Be a Priest

1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, ²to 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. ³It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.

The Prophet Is Called

⁴Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

⁵“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you were born I sanctified^[a] you;
I ^[b]ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

⁶Then said I:

“Ah, Lord God!
Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.”

⁷But 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.
⁸Do not be afraid of their faces,
For I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord.

⁹Then 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.
¹⁰See, 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.”

¹¹Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?”

And I said, “I see a ^[c]branch of an almond tree.”

¹²Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am ^[d]ready to perform My word.”

¹³And the word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying, “What do you see?”

And I said, “I see a boiling pot, and it is facing away from the north.”

¹⁴Then the Lord said to me:

“Out of the north calamity shall break forth
On all the inhabitants of the land.
¹⁵For behold, I am calling
All the families of the kingdoms of the north,” says the Lord;
“They shall come and each one set his throne
At the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem,
Against all its walls all around,
And against all the cities of Judah.
¹⁶I will utter My judgments
Against them concerning all their wickedness,
Because they have forsaken Me,
Burned incense to other gods,
And worshiped the works of their own hands.

¹⁷“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.
¹⁸For behold, I have made you this day
A fortified city and an iron pillar,
And bronze walls against the whole land—
Against the kings of Judah,
Against its princes,
Against its priests,
And against the people of the land.
¹⁹They will fight against you,
But they shall not prevail against you.
For I am with you,” says the Lord, “to deliver you.”

Footnotes

a. Jeremiah 1:5 set you apart
b. Jeremiah 1:5 appointed
c. Jeremiah 1:11 Lit. rod
d. Jeremiah 1:12 Lit. watching

New King James Version (NKJV)

Jeremiah 1 Commentary

The introduction to the Book places the work of the prophet Jeremiah somewhere between 627 B.C and 587 B.C. But God’s work began way before the prophet was born. This is significant! The LORD God isn’t making Boardroom decisions every day. He knows the end from the beginning. Nothing surprises Him.

Jeremiah was in a ‘destiny’ situation. The LORD wired him for a special assignment. But how little he knew about it! And how unprepared he felt! It didn’t matter. The LORD ignored Jeremiah’s feelings of inadequacy and fear.

Verse 8. “I’m with you and will rescue you.” In the background is an admission of the presence of trouble for the prophet’s work, but the LORD would rescue him. The presence of the LORD with the prophet didn’t translate into an absence of trouble.

Of course, it confuses our reasoning. The prophet will have trouble regardless of the fact that the LORD is with him. It is a Boardroom decision made long before the prophet was even born!

The first message the LORD gives Jeremiah is an announcement of a pending disaster in the nation. You want to think twice before delivering such a message. But Jeremiah doesn’t have this option. The LORD warns the prophet against fear. It would be his undoing if he entertained it.

Fear destroys the purposes of the LORD. It’s never an innocent feeling! You are not preserving anything other than the purposes of the evil one!

We all remember the words of the LORD to Joshua: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9.

There is a space to watch. Jeremiah will definitely get in trouble because of God’s work. The LORD God has already mentioned it. But we are also aware of the promise to rescue the prophet. We are interested in the means the LORD deploys to rescue Jeremiah.

This book, therefore, becomes an interesting laboratory to investigate the “whats”, “whens”, and “hows” of God’s rescue operations.

Loving Scripture….

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25 thoughts on “Home”

It has been exciting learning how God can make things happen to his choosen one, God workout something wonderful and fulfils the promises he made to the father of Joseph.

God’s words remains true so are his promises and indeed it has been God working out the salvation of man Kind by Grace through Faith alone.

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Quite thought provoking. Thank you for the passage of scripture.