Jeremiah 15:19
Therefore thus says the Lord: “If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them.
In our last few posts on this topic, we have considered the message of Zechariah (a post exilic prophet, a man that prophesied after the Jew returned from captivity in Babylon), the message of Moses as he provided a warning in Deuteronomy 29 to the newly formed nation and Ezra (who many think wrote 1 Chronicles) as he documented King David’s warning to his son.
There is a certain theme that may be observed in many of these Old Testament texts. Although King David’s message to his son doesn’t apply, the theme I speak of is that these Old Testament passages may be aimed at sending out a plea for a national response, addressing the national backsliding of Israel, and calling for a national repentance.
Some may think the application of a conditional security may not be found in these calls to the nation of Israel to repent. Yet, nations are made up of individuals, and the application of this truth of a conditional security seems to be readily transferred to the individuals who hear this message.
Our passage today is not addressed to the nation, but to the very prophet of God, the weeping prophet who had been calling the nation to repentance for many years. He had stood firm as God’s spokesman in front of the people, but at this point in his ministry, he was in deep sorrow, confused with the bitter response he had been receiving, and the seemingly obvious failure he was becoming in bringing the nation to it’s knees.
A bit of context may help.
Jeremiah is in prayer to God, speaking of his experience of the Word of God being a joy and delight, and of Jeremiah’s willingness to separate himself from the “revellers”, much like the Psalmist spoke of in Psalm 1:1.
Jeremiah 15:16 Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.
Jeremiah 15:17 I did not sit in the company of revelers, nor did I rejoice; I sat alone, because your hand was upon me, for you had filled me with indignation.
Jeremiah 15:18 Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will you be to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail?
But Jeremiah reveals his condition in verse 18. He has stood with God, but has unceasing pain, as if a wound unhealable. He has stood with God, but has received trials.
What is worse, is that Jeremiah speaks of God as a deceitful brook. The quiet part came out and Jeremiah is on the edge of loosing his trust in God, speaking of Him as waters that fail.
Did not Jeremiah speak of waters earlier on in his ministry, as he sought to describe the people he had been sent to minister to?
Jeremiah 2:13 for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.
It seems obvious that Jeremiah is tasting of his own rebellious heart, and may I ask, how many of my readers can relate to this pain as Jeremiah describes it? Such a low point, so low that he is actually mimicking those who he declared judgement on rather than being the prophet he has been called to be.
In a word, Jeremiah is in deep trouble in his soul, for as he is coming clean to God, he speaks of how he struggles with the situation he finds himself in, and confesses his doubts to the God who called him into this life of hardness.
Does this not speak of Jeremiah’s honesty before the Lord, and how the communication between God and his prophet was open and available. Jeremiah must have known that God was willing to hear of the truth in his soul. Jeremiah was not looking to simply cover it up with regulatory actions, with religious observance. Jeremiah was utterly raw with the Lord, and as we may have expected, God judged him, condemned him and removed him from the office of prophet.
My friend, this is not the God we know of, for though Jeremiah was on the precipice of loosing his faith, God sought his prophet to return , (meaning Jeremiah had left God in some manner), and He promised to restore his prophet.
Jeremiah would stand before the Lord again, if he returned.
One evidence of this return would be that which Jeremiah would utter. If Jeremiah returned, he would stand before the Lord, and if He uttered what was precious, Jeremiah would be His prophet.
Jeremiah’s open and frank admission before the Lord must have been very difficult for this prophet, for he knew of the judgement of God on those who walked away, yet he spoke truthfully to God, and God replied with a hopeful, yet specific message for Jeremiah.
It is a blessing to see that the God we serve, or at times the God we struggle with, is the God who listens to our complaints, our concerns, our lack of understanding and understands our lack of strength. After all, He is the Almighty, the All Knowing and the Ever Living God who is never surprised with the pain, struggles and doubts we experience.
He is the God who seeks us even as we are in the midst of falling from Him. He is good, and He is good all the time!
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