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14 May. Jeremiah chapters 1-3
Like Isaiah and other prophets, Jeremiah had a clear call from the Lord. Even more than other spiritual gifts, true prophesy is something that cannot be imitated or made up. It is different from preaching (which is taking the scriptures along with common sense and a degree of specialist knowledge, and applying them to everyday life) and evangelism (persuading people of the truth of a particular faith). Prophesy is always something that God puts in someone’s mind and heart and mouth, a message for a specific situation or person or group that applies directly to them.
As both Isaiah and Jeremiah found, receiving a prophetic word to speak to one’s contemporaries is very challenging. Not only is the word likely to be rejected by many of them as too difficult or even offensive to accept, but the prophet himself is made to feel sinful by delivering it. Both these great prophets had to feel that God had touched their mouth in order to make it clean enough to deliver his message.
Jeremiah’s message was, in one sense, nothing new: throughout the history of God’s people he was constantly challenging them about worship of other ‘gods’, spirits or idols. Unlike other sins such as lust, anger or greed which can afflict even the most faithful of believers, and be repented of, the sin of idolatry – believing that there is something that is more deserving of worship than God – is a fundamental betrayal.
That is why the form of Jeremiah’s words is so hard-hitting. Many times over in different ways he uses the image of Israel and Judah as women who have committed adultery, not just with one lover but as prostitutes with many. What man would accept his wife back in such circumstances? Why would God ever accept his people again?
Israel and Judah had indeed gone so far from true religion that they would be banished from the land. But God never gives up completely, and even in these opening chapters (2:11-18) there is the hint of a future restoration.