The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. The word of the Lord came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, and through the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, down to the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.
The word of the Lord came to me, saying,
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”
But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”
The word of the Lord came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?”
“I see the branch of an almond tree,” I replied.
The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.”
The word of the Lord came to me again: “What do you see?”
“I see a pot that is boiling,” I answered. “It is tilting toward us from the north.”
The Lord said to me, “From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land. I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms,” declares the Lord.
“Their kings will come and set up their thrones
in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem;
they will come against all her surrounding walls
and against all the towns of Judah.
I will pronounce my judgments on my people
because of their wickedness in forsaking me,
in burning incense to other gods
and in worshiping what their hands have made.
“Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
- Jeremiah 1:1-19
Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments
Jeremiah 1:1-3 ‘a prophet to a disobedient people’: “Jeremiah was called to prophetic office to help the young king Josiah. Jeremiah’s public life opened somewhat happily. But after the death of Josiah, wicked kings sat on the throne, and Jeremiah’s painful lot was to be sent to a disobedient people who repaid him only evil while he sought their good.”
- Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes
Jeremiah 1:1 ‘who was Jeremiah?’: ”Jeremiah was born during the reign of King Manasseh, the most evil man who ever reigned over the kingdom of Judah (2 Kings 21:1—18). The son of godly Hezekiah, Manasseh came to the throne when only twelve years old, and the officials around him easily influenced him toward idolatry. ‘Manasseh seduced them [the people of Judah] to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel’ (v. 9 NKJV). When Manasseh died, his evil son Amon continued his fathers evil practices.
“Thus, Jeremiah grew up in Anathoth at a time when idolatry flourished in Judah, children were offered in sacrifice to idols, the law of Moses was disregarded and disobeyed, and it looked as though there was no hope for the nation. Godly priests were not greatly appreciated.”
- Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Decisive
Jeremiah 1:2-3 ‘promises and warnings’: ”Jeremiah preached to the nation for forty years, giving them God’s promises and warnings; yet he lived to see Jerusalem and his beloved temple destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar’s army and his people taken captive to Babylon. Jeremiah ministered in turbulent times and yet remained faithful to the Lord. He exposed the futile foreign policy of the rulers, pleading with them to turn to the Lord with all their hearts and trust God instead of trusting their political allies. Jeremiah is one of Scriptures greatest examples of faithfulness and decisive action in the face of physical danger and national decay.”
- Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Decisive
Jeremiah 1:4-6 ‘what we lack and what we need’: “When young people are called to be ambassadors for God, they need to be conscious of their lack of experience and of their need of fitness for the Lord’s work.”
- Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes
Jeremiah 1:5 ‘Before I formed you …’: “This is not reincarnation; it is God’s all—knowing cognizance of Jeremiah and sovereign plan for him before he was conceived (cf. Paul’s similar realization, Gal. 1:15).”
- John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)
Jeremiah 1:6 ‘Oh! The awesomeness of God’: “To be articulate at certain times we are compelled to fall back upon “Oh!” or “O!”—a primitive exclamatory sound that is hardly a word at all and that scarcely admits of a definition. … ln theology there is no “Oh!” and this is a significant if not an ominous thing. Theology seeks to reduce what may be known of God to intellectual terms, and as long as the intellect can comprehend, it can find words to express itself. When God Himself appears before the mind, awesome, vast, and incomprehensible, then the mind sinks into silence and the heart cries out ‘O Lord God!’ There is the difference between theological knowledge and spiritual experience, the difference between knowing God by hearsay and knowing Him by acquaintance. And the difference is not verbal merely; it is real and serious and vital.
“We Christians should watch lest we lose the ‘Oh!’ from our hearts. … When we become too glib in prayer we are most surely talking to ourselves. When the calm listing of requests and the courteous giving of proper thanks take the place of the burdened prayer that finds utterance difficult, we should beware the next step, for our direction is surely down whether we know it or not.”
- A. W. Tozer, Born After Midnight
Jeremiah 1:6 ‘hesitance’: ”Jeremiah hesitated as he looked at the work before him and the wickedness around him, and when he looked at the weakness within himself, Jeremiah was certain that he wasn’t the man for the job.
“When it comes to serving the Lord, there’s a sense in which nobody is adequate. ‘And who is sufficient for these things?’ (2 Cor. 2:16) asked the great apostle Paul as he pondered the responsibilities of ministry. Paul then answered his own question: ‘Not that We are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God’ (3:5).”
- Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Decisive
Jeremiah 1:7 ‘utter the Master’s message’: “This is the Christian’s principal work. The world needs believers who do not come to utter their own thoughts but to deliver their Master’s message.”
- Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes
Jeremiah 1:8 ‘God is with us’: “When a king sends an ambassador to a foreign court, he cannot go with him, but God’s ambassador always has his King with him.”
- Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes
Jeremiah 1:9 ‘God’s thoughts come from God’s word’: “God’s thoughts are best delivered in God’s words; and the more of Scripture there is in our message, the more true, the more divine, and the more powerful it will be.”
- Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes
Jeremiah 1:10 ‘a master of nations’: “Jeremiah was often in prison, frequently at death’s door, yet he was the master of nations and kingdoms over which the Lord gave him authority to root up or to plant, to throw down or to build up.”
- Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes
Jeremiah 1:10 ‘tearing down and uprooting’: ”Jeremiah’s ministry was difficult because he had to tear down before he could build, and he had to root up before he could plant. In too many ministries, there are organizational ‘structures’ that don’t belong there and should be torn down because they’re hindering progress. Some ‘plants’ are taking up space but bearing no fruit, and they ought to be pulled up. Jesus said, ‘Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted’ (Matt. 15:13 NKJV).
“Any servant of God who feels himself or herself too weak to serve needs to consider these three encouragements. Has God called you? Then He will equip you and enable you. Are you obeying His commands by faith? Then He is with you to protect you. Are you sharing the Word? Then He will accomplish His purposes no matter how the people respond. Jeremiah’s name means ‘Jehovah establishes,’ and God did establish His servant and his ministry and cared for him to the very end. ‘But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one’ (2 Thess. 3:3 NK]V).”
- Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Decisive
Jeremiah 1:11-12 ‘’: “Before Jeremiah becomes a speaker for God, he must be a seer. The original name for a prophet was ‘seer,’ one who could see with spiritual insight. Those who try to speak for God must be seers before they can be speakers. Next the true speaker for God must see what God sets before him. In this case the Lord had set before Jeremiah’s eye ‘a branch of an almond tree.’ Jeremiah did not merely say, ‘l see a branch’ but ‘I see a branch of an almond tree.’ He distinguished at once the kind of branch that was revealed to him in the vision, for he was a man who had those powers of discernment and discrimination that are most necessary in the Lord’s servants. Those who see what they can see and take care to see it well are the people who will receive further instruction.”
- Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes
Jeremiah 1:16 ‘the result of idolatry’: “Jeremiah was not merely to foretell their doom; he was also to tell the reason of it—that it was the result of their sin, especially the sin of idolatry.”
- Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes
Jeremiah 1:16 ‘Three messages, three promises’: ”When you study the Old Testament prophets, you discover that three strands of truth wove their messages together: (1) past sin: the nation has disobeyed God’s law; (2) present responsibility: the people must repent or God will send judgment; and (3) future hope: the Lord will come one day and establish His glorious kingdom.
“The Lord didn’t give Jeremiah a joyful message of deliverance to announce, but rather a tragic message of judgment. So dangerous was this message that people hearing it called Jeremiah a traitor. He would be misunderstood, persecuted, arrested, and imprisoned—and more than once, his life was in danger. The nation didn’t want to hear the truth, but Jeremiah told them plainly that they were defying the Lord, disobeying the law, and destined for judgment.
“God gave Jeremiah three promises to prepare him for this dangerous mission.”
- Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Decisive
Jeremiah 1:17-19 ‘requirements for Jeremiah and God’: “Jeremiah’s part involved proclamation, as God’s mouthpiece (v. 17); God’s part was preservation in defending the prophet (vv. 18, 19). God did protect him often, e.g., 11:18—23; 20:1ff.; 38:7-13.”
- John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)
Jeremiah 1:17 ‘so committed that we are not afraid’: “There must be no waiting, no idleness when God commissions a servant. ‘Tell them everything that I command you.’ The Lord’s servant must not trim the message, pare it down, or omit distasteful portions. ‘Do not be intimidated by them.’ We ought to be so committed to God that we are afraid of nobody else.”
- Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes
My Thoughts
Jeremiah was a priest, son of a priest, Hilkiah.
God told Jeremiah that He knew Jeremiah before he was born and had set him apart for this mission to prophesy before evil kings.
Jeremiah said that he was too young, but God reassured him that he would be appropriately prepared for this work, and God says that Jeremiah should never say that he was too young.
Then God tests Jeremiah by showing him an almond branch and Jeremiah identifies it. This was to show Jeremiah that what God reveals, Jeremiah should say to the people. Then God shows Jeremiah a boiling pot, tilted from the North. God says that He will unleash the northern kingdoms against the people of Judah.
God also says that Jeremiah should not be afraid of the kings and the people. God will protect him. Jeremiah will become an iron wall. Odd, living in the Pittsburgh area of Pennsylvania in the USA, a remembrance of the Steel Curtain defense for the Pittsburgh Steelers comes to mind, but God’s defense was much better.
Jeremiah is reluctant as Moses and others had been before him. The fact that God knew Jeremiah and hand picked him for this mission before he was born shows the omniscience of God and His sovereignty. Volumes have been written about what this might mean, but let us take it at face value. God knows those who love Him or will love Him, and He orchestrates things so that we can see Him.
This is a short introduction to the book of Jeremiah. More chapters will be covered in the following weeks.
Some Serendipitous Reflections
“Jeremiah 1: 1. How do you feel about the things which have been planned or designed for you by others? Do you trust that God has an auspicious plan for your life? Or do you feel somewhat like Jeremiah—dubious and fearful?
“2. What did you want to be when you grew up? Which future plans did your parents encourage? Discourage?
“3. ln what ways are you special? If you are too shy to say so, allow the group to affirm you in any way they see fit.
“4. How does the Lord communicate with you: Are his plan’s for you always clear, sometimes clear, or never clear? In this regard, what role does Scripture play? What about advice, hunches, prayer, circumstances?”
- Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups
Jeremiah 1 has one set of questions.
Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.
If you like these Thursday morning Bible studies, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Thursday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory.
Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley 
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