Sometimes it just doesn’t seem fair. We love the Lord, doing what His Word says, and closely following His plan for our life, and yet we face nothing but opposition, and even physical threats. This is what faces many believers, and as we read in the Book of Jeremiah, this is what faced that great prophet. As we look at our Scripture passage, we read Jeremiah’s prayer to the Lord, and God’s response.
The prophet Jeremiah, whose life spanned approximately from 650-570 BC, lived during the final years of the Kingdom of Judah, right prior to, and during the fall of the nation to the Babylonian Empire, and the exile of many of the population to that eastern empire. Jeremiah was called by the Lord to speak His message to the people of Judah who, for the most part, had forsaken the Lord. The people, including the religious and political leaders were not obeying God’s Word, and were mixing their worship of Yahweh with that of many pagan gods and goddesses, which is strictly forbidden in Scripture. Jeremiah called the people on this, and also warned them that because of their sins, the nation would be overtaken by foreign powers. That was not a message that the people wanted to hear, especially by the religious and political leaders. They only wanted to hear positive messages, such as ones of peace, and that God loved them and would never allow anything bad to happen to them. However, that was not the real message that God had given His true prophet to bring to the people, and that message did not make him popular. He faced much persecution from the leaders, and this often cause Jeremiah to face depression and discouragement.
As our Scripture passage opens, Jeremiah prayed to the Lord, pouring out his despair over how his enemies were both attacking him and the message that the Lord gave him (vs. 15-18). The torment he felt was even becoming like physical pain, and brought endless tears. He reminded the Lord of his faithfulness, his love for God’s Word, and his separation from the wicked.
Jeremiah had great reverence for God’s Word, so much so that he figuratively ate it (vs. 16). The Scriptures were so important to him, just as much as any daily food he ate. The message that Jeremiah received from the mouth of God, he took in for himself, and then he faithfully gave to the people. He knew that the Lord had called him, and that he had the privilege and the responsibility to be His spokesman in bringing this message in His Name.
The prophet also reminded the Lord that he did not join with those who did not faithfully follow Him (vs. 17). Because of Jeremiah’s determination to stay true to God, and not go along with those who mixed worshiping Yahweh with the many pagan idols, or to water down His message to please others, he often ended up standing alone. Often that is a challenge of believers today. If they want to be popular, have many friends, or much applause for their message, they feel they must compromise what they say. Because the message from the Bible isn’t always accepted by society in today’s world, they feel they must water it down, or eliminate some of it altogether. Those who do not cater to whatever is being popularly talked about on social media as the favorite narrative of the day will often end up facing the same treatment that Jeremiah faced. However, the Lord does not wish His children to compromise their ways to that of the world, but rather people should change their ways to follow the Lord and His Word.
Part of the reason that Jeremiah was feeling so discouraged at this time was that he had momentarily taken his eyes off of God and His purposes, and instead he was letting the lies, verbal, and sometimes physical attacks of his enemies affect him. Jeremiah was angry, hurt, and afraid of what he was facing day by day. However, the Lord reminded His prophet that He was there with him through each and every trial. He would fight for Jeremiah, and his enemies would not prevail (vs. 20-21). God promised to save and deliver him from every trial. God helped Jeremiah get his priorities straight. His assignment from the Lord was to bring His message, which hopefully would influence the people, to bring them back to Him, and not let the world’s message turn Jeremiah away from Yahweh.
How about you? Do you find days where you feel you might be like that great prophet, where you are following and obeying God, but find yourself opposed on every side? Stand true to God’s Word! He promises to fight for us and deliver us, just as He did for Jeremiah. Are the Scriptures as important to us as our daily food? Stay true to His Word, even when society may come against us for doing so!
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