Reading: Jeremiah chapter 1 verses 1-8.
• I won’t embarrass you this morning;
• By asking when was the last time your read through the book of Jeremiah?
I GUESS THERE ARE THREE REASONS WHY WE DON’T READ IT:
(a). Daunting.
• The book is 52 chapters long (second only to Isaiah 66 chapters),
• In fact it is the longest book in the Bible, containing more words than any other book.
• For many people it is too long a book to tackle with any enthusiasm.
(b). Difficult.
• The book is neither chronological nor in topical order,
• And so it is hard to follow.
• The writings have been bunched together in what seems an arbitrary fashion.
• We might call it a collection of collections.
(c). Depressing.
• As you read Jeremiah’s book it all seems to be bad news,
• His message to Judah is mainly negative.
• There is good news in his prophecy
• But it is hidden among so much bad news that it is easily overlooked.
• And Jeremiah himself experiences major heartache;
• And is treated with incredible cruelty by the people, priests, prophets and kings.
Oddly enough:
• Although we don’t read his book too often;
• Jeremiah is a key figure in the Old Testament & is one of the best known of all the prophets.
• The people of Jesus’ day certainly knew about him,
• And saw qualities in him that were also in Jesus himself.
5 Similarities:
(1). Both were set apart for a mission before they were born.
Jeremiah (chapter 1 verse 5):
“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”.
Ill:
• Even his name "Jeremiah" means;
• "Whom Jehovah appoints." or “God sends”.
When we read those words in verse 5:
• We are straight away drawn away from Jeremiah;
• And back to God himself, where we see the creator, one who has a master plan.
• God informs Jeremiah that he was handmade for his task.
• His life was not down to chance but to design.
Ill:
• Friends round on Wednesday they have four children;
• Between the first two and the second two there is a nine year gap
• The experts had told them during those nine years;
• That it was impossible for them to have any more children.
• Then one day to their and the ‘experts’ surprise;
• She discovered that she was pregnant!
• In every sense of the word that baby was an ‘unplanned pregnancy’.
• Yet no-one could ever accuse Jeremiah of being an ‘unplanned pregnancy’.
Notice: twice in this verse God says “Before”:
• The first time it is used to reassure Jeremiah.
• That he is known by and created by the eternal God.
• The second time it is used is to give him confidence regarding his ministry.
• In fact two distinct things are mentioned.
• He is ‘set apart’ (consecrated) and ‘appointed’
• Jeremiah is first related to the Lord and then to his world.
Jesus:
• Would use the exact same wording concerning his own ministry,
• Ill: John chapter 10 verse 36:
“What about the one whom the Father SET APART as his very own AND SENT into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ’I am God’s Son’?”
In John chapter 10:
• We are breaking into a very passionate and dangerous argument;
• Between Jesus and what verse 22 calls “the Jews”:
• They are out for his blood and about to stone him;
• In verse 32: Jesus says “I’ve done great miracles, for which one will you kill me for”.
• In verse 33 they make it clear that they are not about to kill him for something he did,
• But for something that he said.
• These Jews had understood clearly that Jesus was claiming to be God.
• And to them that was blasphemy (refused the evidence of their own eyes it could be true!)
Ill:
• We tried to get Kathy to eat some curry on Monday.
• But she just kept saying; “I don’t like curry”
• We would say; “Try a little bit, you might like it”.
• But she would not because her mind was already made up!
In a similar way:
• These Jews could not entertain the idea that Jesus was who he claimed to be,
• Their minds were already made up!
So in answering them Jesus said in verse 36:
“What about the one whom the Father SET APART as his very own AND SENT into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ’I am God’s Son’?”
Jesus made it clear to his hearers:
(1).
• That he did not operate on their agenda!
• ‘He marched to the beat of a different drum!’
• His orders came from a higher authority;
• And he was ‘set apart’ (sanctified, consecrated) to God the Father!
(2). As a result he was a man on a mission.
• He had a purpose in his daily living;
• He had a heavenly agenda to put into practice.
• He is ‘set apart’ (consecrated) and ‘appointed’
• First related to the Lord and then to his world.
(2). Neither of them married.
• Both Jeremiah and Jesus remained single all their lives.
• But their singleness was for different reasons.
Jeremiah (Chapter 16 verse 1-4a):
“Then the word of the LORD came to me:
2 You must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place”.
It’s hard for us appreciate the impact of these words on Jeremiah.
• In our culture and times singleness is not a problem.
• Ill: ‘Bachelor to the rapture!’
But in Bible times the bachelor would have been an unknown figure in ancient Israel.
• Marriage in normal circumstances was not optional.
• It was a family matter and usually arranged and sorted at a fairly early age.
• Only through marriage was there the hope of the family name living on across the years.
• Celibacy was not an ideal, it was an abnormality.
So Jeremiah’s celibacy marked him out as ‘odd, different, unusual’ from other people:
• But God was not being cruel to Jeremiah there was a reason for his singleness.
• Through it God would speak in the form of a parable to the people.
Quote chapter 16 verse 2-4a:
2 You must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place
For this is what the LORD says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers:
4 They will die of deadly diseases.”
Ill:
• This was a dramatic way of saying to the people that normal life was coming to an end;
• There was no future for the community.
• As Jeremiah had no hope in producing a family,
• So the people who had rejected the true God had no hope of survival.
Jesus:
• Jesus too was single but his singleness was for other reasons.
• We know that Jesus valued marriage.
(a). Reflected in his teachings.
• Jesus believed in marriage as an important institution given by God;
• This is reflected in his teaching e.g. Matthew chapter 19 verse 4:
"Haven’t you read the Scriptures?" Jesus replied. "They record that from the beginning `God made them male and female.’[1] 5And he said, `This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’[2] 6Since they are no longer two but one, let no one separate them, for God has joined them together."
(b). Reflected by his actions.
• Jesus gave his blessing on marriage by attending weddings & joining in the celebrations;
• e.g. John chapter 2 and the wedding at Cana in Galilee (water in wine miracle).
Yet Jesus remained single! 3 reasons why.
(1). Service to God.
• Being single meant that he did not have family responsibilities,
• That would restrict his ministry and take up time and energy that was spent elsewhere.
• For those of us who are married, the call is first to our spouses and children,
• Being single gives the opportunity to give time and energy to other areas.
(2). Jesus lived with the cross always before him.
• Knowing this marriage would have meant subjecting his wife & children;
• To his shameful, horrible death on the cross?
• Marriage would have been a selfish act for Jesus,
• Who was of course the most selfless person who ever lived.
• For Jesus to have married would have been completely contrary to his character.
• For he came not to please himself but for others!
(3). Theological reasons.
• I am not sure what the theological consequences would have been;
• Had Jesus married and produced children!
What we do know and can be 100% sure of is this.
• Jesus acted in perfected obedience to the will of God,
• And for him to fully fulfil God’s plan meant for him to remain single.
Noting the contrast between Jeremiah and Jesus:
• Jeremiah’s singleness spoke of death, the end of the family line.
• Jesus singleness speaks of life, and entrance into his family - the Church!
(3). Both were rejected by their own towns.
Ill:
• In 1888 Campbell Morgan was one of 150 young men;
• Who sought entrance to the Wesleyan ministry.
• He passed the doctrinal examinations,
• But then faced the trial sermon.
• In a cavernous auditorium that could seat more than 1,000 people,
• Sat three ministers and 75 others who came to listen.
• When Morgan stepped into the pulpit,
• The vast room and the searching, critical eyes caused him to preach poorly.
• Two weeks later a list was published;
• Among the 105 REJECTED for the ministry that year was Campbell Morgan.
• Jill Morgan, his daughter-in-law, wrote in her book, A MAN OF THE WORD,
• “He wired to his father the one word, ‘Rejected,’
• And sat down to write in his diary: ‘Very dark everything seems. Still, He knoweth best.’ Quickly came the reply: ‘Rejected on earth. Accepted in heaven. Dad.’”
• Like Campbell Morgan, Jeremiah & Jesus;
• Would be rejected on earth, yet accepted in heaven.
Jeremiah:
Jeremiah had experienced rejection from the very beginning of his ministry.
• The first attempts to kill him came from his own relatives in his home area,
• The village of Anathoth (4 miles north of Jerusalem).
• They tried to kill him because he had ruined their family reputation with his message;
• And he had upset the whole of Jerusalem.
• God did have a little word of encouragement for him;
• To paraphrase: “I’m only training you for worse things” what a comfort!
REJECTED BY HIS PEOPLE:
Chapter 11 verse 21 (CEV):
21”Then the LORD said:
Jeremiah, some men from Anathoth say they will kill you, if you keep on speaking for me”.
Chapter 12 verse 6
“Your brothers, your own family--even they have betrayed you; they have raised a loud cry against you. Do not trust them, though they speak well of you”.
Jesus:
• Luke chapter 4 verses 16-30:
• Is the well-known account of when Jesus went to his home town synagogue.
• He was invited to read the scriptures and to comment on them;
• Jesus read from the book of Isaiah (understood to be about the Messiah),
• And to everyone’s surprise applied the words to himself.
• Verse 21:”Then he said, "This Scripture has come true today before your very eyes!"
• At first the people admired the way Jesus taught;
• But it did not take long for their admiration to turn to antagonism.
• The people present became angry;
• Because Jesus went on to talk about the God’s goodness to the Gentiles.
The Jews who had an exclusive mentality could not handle this:
• This was their home town boy,
• Basically saying that Jews had to be saved by grace just like the pagan Gentiles!
Quote: Luke chapter 4 Verse 28-29:
“All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this.
29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff.
30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way”.
• Rejected on earth by his own people,
• The gospels also tell us his own family thought he was out of his mind.
• Rejected on earth yet accepted in heaven.
(4). Both were considered traitors by their people.
Jeremiah:
• Jeremiah was viciously opposed by the false prophets,
• No OT prophet faced more opposition from false prophets than Jeremiah.
(2:8, 26; 4:9; 5:31; 6:14; 14:13-16; 18:18; 23:9-40; 26:8-19; 27:9-16; chaps. 28 and 29).
• Jeremiah became very unpopular.
• Because he seemed to change his message.
• He is totally against Babylon in the early years,
• But then later on he advised people to submit to Babylon.
Ill:
• 2nd world war somebody preaching;
• Don’t fight against them it’s useless, instead surrender to them!
• And he was labelled a traitor;
• Because he urged the people to give in to Babylon.
• The truth is that over 40 years his message changed;
• According to the circumstances and the course that God had intended him to follow.
As a result Jeremiah was branded a traitor:
• He was rejected by the other prophets;
• Because they were false prophets.
• He was shunned by the priests;
• Because he spoke against their service, the temple & their sacrifices.
• The king regarded him as a political traitor;
• And they all hatched various plots to end his life.
Jesus:
• As Jeremiah was viciously opposed by the false prophets.
• So Jesus was viciously opposed by the scribes and Pharisees, the false leaders of His day.
The Pharisees’ Opposition to Jesus was certain because he went against their beliefs.
(a). Regarding the Messiah.
• The Pharisees believed in a Davidic king.
• They did not believe that he would be Divine.
• They believed that he would be ruler over Israel the Jewish nation,
• And certainly not a friend of Gentiles and sinners.
(b). Regarding the Law and the Sabbath.
• The Pharisees were totally convinced that their laws (both written and oral)
• And their religious observances were correct.
• To them;
• The idea of the Messiah therefore breaking these laws was unthinkable to them.
• Yet throughout His ministry,
• Jesus deliberately seemed to violated many of their oral laws.
Examples:
• He mixed freely with tax collectors and sinners,
• Making Him ceremonially unclean (Luke 7:39).
• He ate and drank with them, and was called a glutton and a drunkard (Luke 7:34).
• He ate with ceremonially unclean hands (Luke 11:38).
• He broke their Sabbath laws by healing people,
• And gleaning corn to eat (Luke 13:14, Matthew 12:1-2).
• He forgave peoples’ sins,
• Which to the Pharisees was blasphemy (Luke 5:21).
• He also freely criticised the Pharisees for their hypocrisy and self righteousness
• (Luke 11:37-52).
In the Pharisees’ eyes, Jesus was a traitor to the truth.
• He was guilty of law breaking;
• And guilty blasphemy.
• They also saw Him as a threat both to their popularity;
• And their authority over the people.
(5). Both wept over the city of Jerusalem.
Jeremiah:
• Jeremiah is frequently called the ’weeping prophet’,
• Because of all the troubles he endured and saw happen to his homeland and people
Ill:
• Jeremiah is the origin of our English word ‘jeremiad’
• Referring to a denunciatory tirade or complaint
Ill:
• Jeremiah wrote another book called ‘Lamentations’
• Which means ‘to lament, to cry, to grieve’.
• This Book shows us the pain in his heart for his people,
• For the land lost and for the city of Jerusalem destroyed.
But even in the book of Jeremiah we see the pain in his heart:
• Jeremiah is a prophet of the heart.
• There are 9 prayers of Jeremiah recorded in his book;
• These prayers reveal his heart.
• In fact the word heart is used 66 times in his book.
Jesus:
Luke chapter 13 verses 31-35:
“At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.
32 He replied, Go tell that fox, ’I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’
33 In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day--for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!
34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!
35 Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ’Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”’
• Strangely in verse 31:
• It is the Pharisees that come and warn Jesus that his life is in danger.
• Maybe like Nicodemus these too were a few ‘good ones’;
• Who still cared for the things of God.
This passage also shows us that Jesus was not concerned about Herod’s reputation and power:
• In verse 32 he calls Herod “a fox” (sly, cunning, crafty creature).
• It was a derogatory description, but a true one.
How sad for Jerusalem the city:
• In verse 34 Jesus offers Jerusalem his protection;
• He was like a chicken holding out its wings to gather in all her chicks.
• What a contrast between a chicken and a fox!
• Yet the people chose the fox (Herod) ‘they were not willing to come!”
Notice:
• Verse 35: Jesus calls the temple “your house”.
• As a child he had called it “My Father’s house”
• But in rejecting the Son of God, the house was no longer God’s house;
• His glory had departed!
Conclusion:
• Both were vindicated.
• Proved by time to have been right!
Jeremiah:
• Jeremiah’s book ends by vindicating its author,
• Showing that the Word of the Lord is true all along.
• Jerusalem was ravaged, the temple raided and burned,
• And the people taken away in chains.
Jesus:
Paul could write in 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16:
“Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great:
He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory”.
