May 8, 2001
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD,
"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to
give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:10-12
"Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."
The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him."
Lamentations 3:21-25
As I study the book of Jeremiah looking for new glimpses of God I am struck again by things that have caused me to admire this prophet in the past. I have studied several biblical personalities in depth over time to gain conviction in and growing in a godly confidence. This man is one of my heroes but this time I study him and his writings with a different focus.. he is obviously timid and not self-confident (chap 1). God calls him to prophesy primarily to the nation of Judah for 40 years, he endures through the reigns of 5 different kings, during the last of these he does see Jerusalem destroyed and Judah taken captive by Babylon. He is given a message to preach over all these years that makes him increasingly unpopular and often he fears for his life. During the time he's preaching the nations around Judah are falling to Babylon so the people can see and feel the impending doom... however... Jeremiah never compromises the message... he is faithful to the task God has given him and I'm convinced its because of the way he saw God and I want to capture his 'glimpses of God' for myself. The book of Jeremiah can be challenging to read and understand.. there are parts of it that are out of sequence and in general not knowing Israel's history makes it a little more difficult to comprehend... nonetheless God can be clearly seen because Jeremiah was faithful to his calling.
Despite dark times and a somber message... Jeremiah's writings are full of hope. He continually portrayed before the people a God who loved them, was faithful to them, would never give up on them no matter what happened or how the circumstances looked. Not only would God not give up but he was building a new future for them... while they were busy destroying what they had God was still holding out hope for what he would do in their lives again!