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The Call of Jeremiah
Jeremiah 1.4-10
Good News Translation (GNT)
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4 The Lord said to me,
5 "I chose you before I gave you life, and before
you were born I selected you to be a prophet
to the nations."
6 I answered, "Sovereign Lord, I don't know how
to speak; I am too young."
7 But the Lord said to me, "Do not say that you
are too young, but go to the people I send
you to, and tell them everything I command
you to say.
8 Do not be afraid of them, for I will be with you
to protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!"
9 Then the Lord reached out, touched my lips,
and said to me, "Listen, I am giving you
the words you must speak.
10 Today I give you authority over nations and
kingdoms to uproot and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to
plant."
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Commentary taken from BRF New Daylight
'The Call of Jeremiah'
Jeremiah 1.4-10
The book of Jeremiah is a complex work; it is prophetic, but is difficult to date with any degree of precision.
The introduction identifies Jeremiah as the central figure of the book and begins by describing both his prophetic call and his reluctance to accept it.
The vision accompanying this call suggests some kind of hostile threat coming from the north, but at this point the enemy is not clearly identified.
Most of the prophecies that follow declare God's judgement on Judah and Jerusalem, with detailed reasons given as to why that judgement has come about.
It was Jeremiah's unenviable task to announce God's judgement to his own people, causing much personal pain and suffering as the people turn against him.
Although most of these early prophecies are difficult to date, as the book progresses the focus does become somewhat clearer.
Towards the end of the narrative Judah's enemy is identified as Babylon, a nation that God is using to inflict judgement on Judah and Jerusalem.
A number of themes recur, including Judah's apostasy and the stubbornness of the people and their unwillingness to accept correction.
Powerful images are employed, such as the depiction of the people as an unfaithful bride, an image also used to great effect elsewhere in the Old Testament
(Hosea 1:1 - 2:1).
The persistent reality of chronic lying by the people runs through every aspect of their lives like a poisonous thread.
Time and again Jeremiah calls on the people, urging them to repent and turn away from their evil ways.
But their wrongdoing is deep-set and not to be rooted out that easily. As the oracles continue, the sounds of lament become increasingly prevalent - for the people, from the Lord and from Jeremiah himself.
The book ends with a flurry of divine retaliation against Babylon for all the indignities the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem have suffered at their captors' hands
There are no neat and tidy endings to this book, but our reflections conclude with a piece that is to be found in the midst of these promises of retaliation.
It is a piece that proclaims and celebrates the sheer power, wisdom and awesomeness of God, 'the one who formed all things'
(Jeremiah 51:19 NRSV)
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