As I continue with my Bible reading plan for the year, Jeremiah is a book that can seem gloomy and repetitive. However, the Lord has such rich lessons to teach us within this portion of Scripture. Today we are going to study three lessons we can learn from the book of Jeremiah.
Fun Facts about Jeremiah
Bible Charts shares some interesting facts about both the prophet and book of Jeremiah.
- There are 52 chapters in the book
- Jeremiah wrote all of the book of Jeremiah, except the final chapter, 52
- Jeremiah’s ministry lasted over 40 years
- Jeremiah is known as the “weeping prophet”
- Before he was born, Jeremiah was called by God in the womb to be a prophet
- Jeremiah knew what it was like to be persecuted
- Jeremiah’s main message was judgment from God on Judah by the Babylonians
Lesson 1: God Can Call Anyone and Anytime
Something really beautiful that Jeremiah teaches us is that the Lord can truly give a calling to a person at any point in their life. Jeremiah was in his mother’s womb. Jeremiah 1:5 says, “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.”
Maybe you are someone who feels insignificant to be used by the Lord. However, God could be calling and leading you to be His instrument for a very specific time in history and in a certain way. Never be afraid to ask the Lord how He wants to use you.
Jeremiah did not always enjoy being a prophet and telling people the hard truths, but he knew that his job was to honor the Lord and obey Him in what He asked him to say to the people. I think of others like the apostle Paul, Samuel, Matthew the tax collector, or Mary Magdalene. These people were surprised by the calling of Jesus in their lives and He transformed them.
The Lord is still calling us today and inviting us to follow Him and share His gospel to others so that His name will be glorified in this generation.
Lesson 2: Following God Means Sharing the Hard Truths
Although we have the privilege to share the good news, we also have the challenge, like Jeremiah, to tell the hard truths. We live in a culture that is quickly running in the opposite direction of following Christ. This is very similar to the time in which Jeremiah was living. The people were turning to idolatry left and right, their hearts were evil, and they continually rejected God generation after generation.
Jeremiah had the difficult task of sharing the hard truths among a people who did not listen to him.
Ephesians 4:15 says, “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”
We may not be prophets, but we have all been given God’s words through the Bible. When someone says something contrary to the Bible, we need to make sure that we stand by the truth. Of course, do this kindly and with grace. How we approach others represents how they see Christ. Jeremiah was teaching in a time before Jesus came. The Messiah was coming but not yet there. The Israelites were rebelling against the Lord.
Jeremiah 17:9-10 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.”
This is a sobering reminder to us, that we too have sinned, made idols of other things and people, and turned away from God. However, while we were still sinners Christ died for us. The beautiful gift of eternal salvation that we have is given to us and we do not have to stand under the eternal wrath of the Lord. He is perfectly just and we see Him live that out, but God is also perfect in mercy and He shows that to His people time and time again, even before the time of Christ.
Even at the end of Jeremiah’s book, we read of God’s great gift of hope for the future.
Jeremiah 31:17 says, “There is hope for your future, declares the LORD, and your children shall come back to their own country.”
When we share hard truths with others, let us do so humbly and with hope, knowing that we are equally sinful and Jesus has given us grace. We can extend the hope of Christ to those whom we are pointing to God’s Word on the matter. We cannot control responses, but we can control our presentation of difficult topics and do so in love while standing on the Word of God.
Lesson 3: Following Jesus Is Not an Easy Path
Although there is great spiritual blessing that comes with being a believer in Jesus and the great gift of eternal life to come, this life can be challenging. Jeremiah was known as the “weeping prophet” because he underwent a lot of persecution and sacrifice to be God’s witness in his day. In fact, he was even commanded not to marry or have children in those times because of how evil it was and the coming destruction. Jeremiah faced a lot of grief and loss. These were his people and they were running away from the God who loved them and set them apart as a people. He could not force them to follow the Lord, but he had to be obedient to what God was asking him to do in the midst of a wavering culture.
It is not always going to be easy for us either. People will hate us because we follow Jesus. Society will not understand why we cannot approve of their ways and their idols. Loved ones will make fun of us and belittle our beliefs. However, we are called like Jeremiah to stand firm on the foundation of God and not to give up.
I love how the Lord welcome Jeremiah’s emotions on the journey. Jeremiah was honest with the Lord and He was kind to him in his suffering. I think about all the tears that Jeremiah had and think of Psalm 56:8 which says, “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.” In all of Jeremiah’s tears, maybe he thought on this verse and how the Lord collected them, and his hardships were not wasted. We too can be reminded through Jeremiah that our sorrows and difficulties can be used for the glory of God.
More from this author
Why the Church Needs to Step Up in Evangelism
How Does All Creation Glorify God?
7 Important Prayers to Say First Thing in the Morning
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Emma Danzey’s mission in life stems from Ephesians 3:20-21, to embrace the extraordinary. One of her greatest joys is to journey with the Lord in His Scriptures. She is wife to Drew and mom to Graham. Emma serves alongside her husband in ministry, she focuses most of her time in the home, but loves to provide articles on the Bible, life questions, and Christian lifestyle. Her article on Interracial Marriage was the number 1 on Crosswalk in 2021. Most recently, Emma released Treasures for Tots, (Scripture memory songs) and multiple books and devotionals for young children. During her ministry career, Emma has released Wildflower: Blooming Through Singleness, two worship EP albums, founded and led Polished Conference Ministries, and ran the Refined Magazine. You can view her articles on her blog at emmadanzey.wordpress.com