Been a while since my last post--sorry!
Grant, Almighty God, that as You have not only testified what is right by the Law and the Prophets, in order that we may form our life in obedience to Your will, but have also made more fully known to us by Your gospel what is perfect righteousness--O grant that, being ruled by Your Spirit, we may surrender ourselves altogether to You, and so acquiesce in Your Word alone that we may not deviate either to the right hand or to the left, but allow You alone to be wise, and that acknowledging our folly and vanity, we may allow ourselves to be taught by Your Word, so that we may really prove that we are truly obedient to You until, having at length completed the course of this life, we shall reach that heavenly rest that has been obtained for us by the blood of Your only begotten Son. Amen.
After irrevocably calling Jeremiah to the office of prophet, God gives Jeremiah two visions to convey to him the gravity of the coming events and the need for Jeremiah's obedience. Judah's rampant disobedience had provoked God's wrath, but He would forgive them if they would repent. Jeremiah was God's man to bring them God's message. God also warns Jeremiah that the people would reward him for bringing them God's gracious offer of forgiveness by fighting against him. But God reminds Jeremiah that He will protect him and that they will not prevail against him.
In 1:11, the Word of the LORD came to Jeremiah again (this is a recurring theme throughout the book). God shows Jeremiah a branch of an almond tree, which buds earlier in the spring than all the other trees. There is a play on words here: the Hebrew word for almond (shaqed) is similar to the word for watching (shoqed). God is using this device to tell Jeremiah that He is watching and will carry out His word. Jeremiah can be assured that he won't be spouting empty threats, but that every word he says will come to pass. It is a source of comfort for a messenger to know for certain that he is carrying a true message from a true source. Although it would break his heart, Jeremiah would live to see many of his prophecies fulfilled. Throughout Jeremiah's ministry, God watched over His Word, and performed all that He said He would.
In verses 13 through 16, God gives Jeremiah his first view of the impending disaster. God shows Jeremiah "a boiling pot, facing away from the north." In verses 14 through 17, God tells Jeremiah that the tribes of the north (Babylon) would attack Jerusalem, and that this is God's judgment on Judah for idolatry. What is striking here is that God uses Babylon, a wicked pagan nation, to bring judgment on His own people. Can God use wicked people to chastise the righteous? Absolutely. This is just another example of His sovereignty in the affairs of men. Also striking is that God is using Babylon to judge Judah for the sin of idolatry--the very thing Babylon was notorious for! When this attack was carried out and many people were carried away and exiled in Babylon (see Daniel 1), they were forced under the threat of death in a fiery furnace to worship a golden statue built by King Nebuchadnezzar. The government of Babylon was built on idol worship, but they would be the nation God used to punish Judah for idol worship. Perhaps in their exile in Babylon, the people of Judah would be able to see the ugliness and wickedness of idolatry and would begin to miss the worship of Yahweh. As God's chosen people, Judah should have known better.
We are very often shocked when "Babylonians" act like Babylonians. But we shouldn't be. It shouldn't surprise us when non-Christians behave in non-Christian ways. However, it should be shocking-even heartbreaking-when "Israelites" behave like Babylonians. When professing Christians live lives that are virtually indistinguishable from those of the unbelieving world, we should be shocked and dismayed. This is intolerable to God, and He may even use "Babylonians" to bring shame and reproach upon "Israelites" (see Abraham and Abimelech, Genesis 20:9-10). May God help us to be Israelites indeed, in whom there is no deceit (John 1:47).
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