The call and commission of Jeremiah Jeremiah 1:1-10

 

  In the study that we have been doing on Experiencing God, one of the things that is said is that God calls us to work with him and that calling leads to a crisis of belief which will lead us to make adjustments in our lives.  This is obvious in the life of Jeremiah and in his calling and commission here in Jeremiah 1:1-10.  It clearly indicates that God is the one who initiated the call and that God is the one whose words Jeremiah spoke.  This calling resulted in Jeremiah having to make major adjustments because his calling was not going to be an easy one.

   There is evidence that during Jeremiah's ministry he was never married (16:2), his family opposed him (12:6) people in his hometown threatened to kill him (11:19,21) and that he was flogged (20:2; 37:15).  More than once he was imprisoned (32:2; 37:15-16) and he was lowered into a muddy cistern to be left to die (38:6).  Not only this, but he was ridiculed daily and the people did not listen to his words.  It must have been a very discouraging position and I think this is why God himself tells Jeremiah that he is the one who appointed Jeremiah to this position.

    There is plenty of evidence in this passage to show that Jeremiah didn't think he was qualified to do the work that God had called him to do.  He said that he was only a youth alluding to his age.  Moses said similar things when God called him and complained that he was not eloquent of speech (Exodus 4:10).  Yet, God in this vision reaches out to Jeremiah and touches his mouth, symbolizing that he is putting the words that Jeremiah will say in his mouth.  He tells Jeremiah that he has "consecrated" (verse 5) Jeremiah to be a prophet before Jeremiah was even born.  The word "consecrated" means to set apart.

    While I admire Jeremiah and his staying power (his ministry lasted 40 years), I would not want to have been in his position.  By speaking the words of God to the people he put himself in opposition to many of the people he was speaking to.  Not only that, but when Jerusalem was under siege he had to experience all the hardships that everyone was experiencing including drought and famine, along with persecution.  It was a tough calling for Jeremiah and that just tells me that it will not always be easy to do what God calls you to do.  It doesn't guarantee that people will listen or that you will be popular or always have a positive word.  Jeremiah would ultimately be judged as faithful because he did what God told him even though not many responded to his words in Jeremiah's lifetime.  Yet, we have him as an example to us of what being faithful to God in hard times is all about.