Jeremiah - Complaints and Confidence

Lesson 6 - Jeremiah - Complaints and Confidence

• Jeremiah's Service
• Jeremiah's Failure
• Jeremiah's Prayer Journal
• And the Lesson Is . . . ?

Jeremiah's Service

What a mess! Jeremiah looked around him and simply could not believe what he saw. Israel, the mighty nation that subdued all her enemies under David and received tribute from many others under Solomon was no longer. The larger part of the country lay in ruins, devestated by the Assyrians in 722 BC.

Jerusalem, the City of David, the center of Solomon's Empire, was little more than a bit player surrounded by even lesser actors on the world stage. The key political and military powers lay to the east in Babylon and to the south in Egypt. How the mighty had fallen!

Jeremiah knew why this had happened. He had read and heard many of God's prophets cry out against the ungodliness of the people and warn them of certain judgment if they continued in rebellion. They continued, and God's judgment fell.

Yet Jerusalem survived, miraculously delivered from an Assyrian siege and somehow spared the onslaughts of the growing powers of Babylon. Jeremiah looked out over Jerusalem's walls and toward Solomon's temple. It's as though God was waiting, hoping his people would return. Like a patient lover he kept singing to his people, trying to win them back.

"What God needs," he may have mused, "is a good prophet!"

Well, if Jeremiah didn't think that, God did, and Jeremiah was "da man"! Jeremiah wasn't too keen on the idea. "Hey, I'm only a child!" he gently protested (1:6), but to no avail. A prophet he would be!

Claimed by God as a young man Jeremiah served for many years. He survived three successful Babylonian campaigns against Jerusalem, witnessing countless tragedies and atrocities. Finally Nebuchadnezzar had had enough of Judian perfidity and leveled the city walls and destroyed the temple. He marched most of the population off to Babylon and captivity, leaving behind a small remnant, Jeremiah included.

Rotten to the core, the remnant ignored Jeremiah's advice to remain in the land and serve the Babylonians. They fled to Egypt, taking the prophet with them. As one of his final acts the old man piled up some stones, then turned and looked at the people. "You have fled here for safety? I tell you, Nebuchadnezzar himself will set his throne on this pile and judge you himself."

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Jeremiah's "Failure"

The prophet was a failure? Yes, by all outward evidence. Who listened to him? Almost nobody. Every time he opened his mouth to speak God's word the people booed, hooted, and threw things. Sometimes what they threw was him into jail!

Jewish kings imprisoned him, hunted him, and, at times, secretly helped him. His enemies haunted him, filed frivolous law suits against him, and tried to kill him. He had no family, for God told him not to marry, and few friends.

Under his ministry the nation continued in rebellion, fell to the Babylonians, and disappeared into captivity.

Yes, as measured by results, his life was a failure.

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Jeremiah's Prayer Journal

Jeremiah was one of the most complex of God's prophetic corps. He seems to have accepted the prophetic role, albeit with the "minor" complaint "I am but a child." (1:6) - Ouch! Bad pun - with a natural expectation of success. After all, if God be for me, who can be against me? As it turned out - the entire Jewish nation, that's who! The more he prophecied to the people, the more they turned against him and his God.

Actually, that's not too surprising. Jeremiah's message was one of present judgment and future restoration. "God's judgment will come from the north - from Babylon! Repent and turn from your wickedness!"

When the people persisted in their wickedness his messages became "Surrender and live!" That's treason in any language. No wonder he was hated, hunted, and haunted.

So how did he handle this? With great difficulty and lots of open, honest prayer, that's how! The book is full of detailed narratives of his prayers, more so than just about any other. Jeremiah not only pours out his heart, liver, and spleen to God but he records his words.

I won't bother listing everything, but here are some select phrases from Jeremiah's devotional journal -

12:1-3

18:19-23

These, my friends, are strong words from an anguished heart.

Probably no prayer shows the depths of Jeremiah's internal turmoil than 20:7-18. Here are some exerpts -

Did you catch that last reference? In his head he knows God does and will rescue, but in his heart lies only dispair. If this isn't human, I don't know what is!

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And the Lesson is . . . ?

I can add a dozen or more references to the list, but I'll let you find them for yourself. Just find Jeremiah in the Old Testament and scan through it, noting the places where he talks to God. Then go back and read his prayers in detail. When you've done that, see if you agree with my conclusions.

1. Jeremiah did not suffer in silence!

He complained, cried, and griped to God in perfect openness and honesty. There is no sin in this. Note that he asked God to strike his enemies. He did not ask God to give him a chance to clobber them! He told God exactly what was troubling him and what he wanted God to do about it.

Can you do that? Can you cry out to God and tell him exactly what the problem is and what you want him to do? I have a hard, extremely hard time doing that. Honesty and openness were not really welcome in my family. I learned to keep my mouth shut and try to solve my problems by myself. Today I have a very hard time speaking my feelings.

Thanks, Jeremiah, for showing me that I can. Now I need to do it.

2. Even a prophet can be overwhelmed by life!

Things hadn't turned out the way he wanted. God, he complained, had deceived him. He couldn't keep quiet, but every time he spoke he suffered! Not only did the people reject God, they rejected him. Since they couldn't persecute God, they persecuted his messenger.

Through Jeremiah I learn that even godly men, even prophets, can be overwhelmed with life. They can hurt, they can suffer, they can doubt. I also see that they don't quit, even when they want to. Overwhelmed by life, yes, but they don't stop living and serving.

3. Prophets can feel dispair!

Chapter 20 - there's about 18 inches between verses 13 and 14. In his mind Jeremiah knows certain truths about God. In his heart he feels something quite different. Can you imagine a greater contrast than these two statements - one after the other?

Yes, believers, true believers, can and do go through times of emotional upheaval, manic-depressive ups and downs, and the whole gamut of emotions when they come under great stress.

4. Jeremiah's one life-line was his constant connection to God

What Jeremiah does that so many of us don't is that he finds an outlet in his direct, emotional, honest verbal communication to God. I usually suffer in silence and end up acting out my frustration in totally wrong ways.

Jeremiah learned to speak up and cry out, grabbing God by the lapels so he could get face to face with him. Once he told God what he felt and what he wanted, he could relax and get back to trusting, at least for a while.

OK - that's what I've learned.

Now, what have you learned?

Lesson 7