Jeremiah

Jeremiah is a book that had its beginning writings written by the prophet in 612 Bc.  Chapter one of the book deals with Jeremiah's calling and commission by  God as a young boy.  God tells Jeremiah that before he was conceived in the womb he was known and appointed by God to carry out a task as a prophet to the nations.  Jeremiah basically deals with the state of the nation of Judah after they had turned their backs on God.  If Jeremiah could be given another, it could be the culmination of Judah's sin that brought upon the wrath of God.  The prophet deals with many issues in this book.  Mostly he deals with how Israel has continuously baclkslided from God.  Jeremaih speaks about how the Jews have turned to false prophets and worthless idols.  In the sense of speaking lin literary terms, the book of Jeremiah presents the dualistic struggle of a prophet within the nation of which he came out of and that he loved dearly.  Jeremiah could be called the Martin Luther type figure of his time.  Much like Martin Luther loved the Catholic church but couldn't help but speak out against its sins, Jeremiah did the same with the nation of Judah.  One significant portion of the book is where God tells Jeremiah that even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before him on behalf of the nation of Israel, he would not listen to their pleas at  such a time in which Israel had shifted their hearts so far away from God.  A frequent phrase used by Jeremiah is when he refers to prophets who promise peace when there is no peace.  During the time that Jeremiah prophesied, people were offering up their children as sacrifices to fertility gods and goddesses.  Jeremiah 18:3-6 speaks of the Potter's House which is the place where the potter works on the clay and molds it into what he wants it to be.  The symbolism being applied here is that God will make us into what he wants us to be much like he made Israel into what he wanted it to be but when we like Israel shift from the work of his hands and we try to form ourselves, then God will throw us to the side and stop messing with us like playdough.  Rather than pray to God for the protection of Israel during the time that the babylonian Captivity is advancing, Jeremiah realizes that he must prepare the people for what is ahead.  he therefore speaks the message that destruction is inevitable for the nation of IsraelIn doing such, he is stood up to by many of the false prophets of the land.  One such false prophet of the land is Hananiah who is promising Israel great victory even in the midst of turmoil.  The Israelites are thus receiving what Hananiah says and not repenting of their sins much in the same way that the church also listens to leaders of the Word-Faith Movement which promise victory and the false prophets among us today.  Jeremiah tells Hananiah that because of his prophecies which are flawed God will bring about his destruction.  Jeremiah speaks to the people about the captivity and what to do in the midst of the captivity.  In this he promises that they will someday return to their Promised Land.  He tells them that God knows the plans he has for them and that he is doing this for their good.  Often times, we don't like the discipline God lashes out. Yet, in the end all things work together for those who love God.  Jeremiah was a prophet that was imprisoned by his people and bythe priests within the temple.  he was put in one of the darkest prisons of Jerusalem in the temple area.  Yet, his prophecies came true and later the Jews realized their mistake in mistreating him.  One king even burned Jeremiah's scroll yet somehow some way as an testimony to the preservation of scripture in the midst of fire, we still have the copy of the book of Jeremiah.  After his prophecies against the nation of Israel, Jeremiah speaks prophecies against other nations such as Egypt, Philistines, , Moab, Ammon, Edom.  he cloes out by saying that yes Judah will go into captivity, but babylon will be judged fort their actions as well when the cup of their wrath fills up.  Jeremiah's exhortation to the people in chapter 29 can be significantly applied to our own lives.  When we are in a foreign place of which the people have burned down our temple much like the Babylonians burned down the temple in Israel, we can learn to praise God and to help him guide us through the path.  There is no need to fight the system, when indeed you can try your best to reform it. Basically, there is no need for speaking words of hatred and judgment against President Clinton or whomever fills the office when you can easily tell them you are praying for them.  It is difficult to do in the midst of a church society that predicts that every political leader that gets in office is the antichrist.  We need to learn to see things from a much cleare perspective and know that God will bless us even when we are subject to people who live in a different worldview.  All we can do is pray for the pace of the people that now control us and pray that God will reveal himself to them.  Jeremiah closes out his book with the destruction of the city of Jerusalem.