Almost twenty years before the death of King Josiah of Judah, the Lord called out a prophet to deliver His word to the kings and to the nation. This was the great prophet Jeremiah, who would serve and warn all the remaining kings before Judah was finally overthrown and carried off into exile by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. Like the great prophet Isaiah before him, Jeremiah would deliver both stern words of warning for Judah to turn back to the Lord, as well as far-reaching prophecy, to all people, about the coming of the eternal kingdom of God.
The book of Jeremiah begins with a description of his call by the Lord.
4 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you were born I sanctified you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:4-5 (NKJV)
Jeremiah’s call bears witness to the time-transcendent, all-seeing vision of God, as also recorded in the words of King David in Psalm 139.
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them. Psalm 139:16 (NKJV)
Scripture tells us that the Lord sees us, knows us, and tenderly loves us, even before we are born. We are His creation, brought into this world by His Will for His good pleasure and delight. His loving thoughts are also expressed to our neighbors, friends, and yes, even to our opponents and enemies.
In the midst of a people who had turned their back upon Him, the Lord saw something special in Jeremiah. He was not perfect – the Lord had to sanctify and purify him, just like He must with us – but there was something in Jeremiah’s spirit that pleased God, and He chose him for this vital and difficult task of being prophet to a rejecting nation.
It has been relatively easy for me to believe that the Lord was always there as I can see the great favor that He bestowed upon my family, even in the years before I was born. My dad survived a brutal war despite being in many sea battles. Before he had joined the service, he took over a war-material factory lathe for another man, named Bernie, who then went off to join the Navy, and died a hero. Before he perished, Bernie’s brave fire-fighting actions after being mortally wounded were credited with helping to prevent his burning ship from sinking, thus saving many lives.
Here is where an even more extraordinary part comes in. After the war, my dad returned home to our good-sized city. A few years later, he randomly met and then married my mother. As it turns out, unknown to my dad at the time – five years earlier, she had been the fiancée of Bernie at the time he was killed. Many decades later, my father told me of this man, “I not only got his job, I got his wife”.
God’s hand was so evident in the coming together of my parents, the mysterious intertwining of apparent coincidence and foreshadowing. This is how the Lord often chooses to reveal Himself to us – with events that come together to bring about a blessing, with joy, healing, and peace where perhaps turmoil, fear and grief had been before.
God picked Jeremiah to be His mouthpiece to a rebellious nation. Just as the Lord knew all about Jeremiah before he was born, He also knew that his short-term mission would not be terribly successful. But amongst Jeremiah’s frustrating interactions with Judah’s last kings, who would not heed God’s warnings, his prophecies would help lay the foundation of a future kingdom of God that will have no end. This foundation helps today to give all believers around the globe the strength and encouragement they need to carry on with the building and expansion of God’s kingdom. And that is no coincidence.
Reflection
Sometimes, because of a difficult youth, we may not believe that God was there, or if He was, that He was against us and not for us. Nothing could not be further from the truth.
It is a sad but common tragedy when the sins of other human beings are laid at the feet of a loving God and used as a lifelong reason or excuse to reject Him. He was there for us, even in the most painful times, such as when my mother lost her fiancée in the war. He is there for you today, and is entirely for you, not against you! I say it again, He is for you!
Perhaps we are the one who has committed the unthinkable sin which we can never take back. The grace and mercy of God covers even these when taken to the cross of Christ.
Lord, if there be any barriers in my past that prevent me from recognizing Your loving presence throughout my life, even before my birth, please remove them from me. Take away the sting of any hurtful words or actions that were inflicted on me by the sin of others, or by me. Open my eyes that I may see You and Your great love for me in a fresh and new way, and learn of Your grace and mercy so that I may forgive others as I have been forgiven. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Have a beautiful, blessed day in the Lord today.
Daily Meditations from the Genealogy of Jesus 