Prophecy – Jeremiah 1-6

After the short chapters of Job yesterday, we now move to a new book of prophecy – the Book of Jeremiah.

And these are not very short chapters 🙂

Bible Passage: Jeremiah 1-6

The book of Jeremiah marks one of the lowest point in the history of the Jews.  The wickedness of the people meant that judgement was surely coming upon the Jews.  Despite the many warnings of Jeremiah, the people refused to repent and change their ways.

This sounds a bit like the world that we are living in.  And the example of Jeremiah can serve to encourage us that we can all play a part in the salvation plan of God.

Just consider Jeremiah 5:1…

“Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem;
See now and know;
And seek in her open places
If you can find a man,
If there is anyone who executes judgment,
Who seeks the truth,
And I will pardon her.

It seems as though the prophet was comparing Jerusalem with ancient Sodom.  God destroyed Sodom for her persistant sins and refusal to repent.  However, God would have spared the city had Abraham found just 10 righteous people there.  Apparently he could not.

And reading 5:1, it seems that even just ONE righteous man in Jerusalem would have spare it from destruction.  But despite the best efforts of the prophet, he could not even find a single person that met the criteria.

So Jerusalem was bound for judgement.

What hope then for us in the world today?

Jeremiah was a prophet who was called to serve despite his protests that he was too young.

But in Chapter 3, it is a call for the nation of Judah to turn away from idols and sin.  The people were described as committing spritual harlotry and adultery; they were treachorous and backsliders and often transgressed against the Lord and disobeyed Him.

Yet, in spite of this all, God extended His invotation to the nation to be reconciled with Him.  Look at 3:17…

At that time Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the LORD, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem. No more shall they follow the dictates of their evil hearts.

In the middle of His call to the nation to repent, there is an invitation to other nations to be reconciled with God.

First Israel will gather to Him.  Then all nations will return and be gathered together in Jerusalem.  Everyone will obey and follow Him rather than commit evil.  And thus be saved.

This tells us the significance that each of us can be.

God will save even if there is just one.  Just one doing the work.  Just one that takes the chance of repentance of the people to evangelise to them and draw them to God.

We can be important to the salvation plan of God – just like Jeremiah.  The question is: do we want to continue ignoring it or just simply take up the evangelism mantle?