God's Calling Is Not Always Easy

Jeremiah 1:7b-8: "(The Lord said to Jeremiah) Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid to them, for I am with you and will rescue you, declares the LORD."

If there has ever been a prophet who had a most difficult ministry calling, it would be Jeremiah. The prophet was likely about 20 years old when the Lord summoned him to herald the coming judgment to the most rebellious people of Judah. This people were full of "wickedness in forsaking (the Lord), in burning incense to other gods and in worshiping what their hands (had) made" (Jer. 1:16).

The Lord first revealed to Jeremiah that He had set the prophet apart even before birth to present to the people the coming wrath of the Lord. And though Jeremiah's ministry would be full of personal rejection and suffering, God assured the prophet that He would be with him. The Lord commanded the prophet to "Stand up and say to them whatever I command . . . . (assuring Jeremiah that he would be a) fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land (even the) kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land" (1:18). The Lord warned Jeremiah in advance that the people would not put up with his proclamations of judgment and would fight against him; still, the Lord reassured that He would be with the prophet throughout his ministry.

As God predicted, Jeremiah's ministry was not easy. He was "ridiculed and mocked all day long" (Jeremiah 20:7); even his friends turned on him and waited for him to say or do something that could be used against him with the officials (20:10). Eventually, the religious leaders seized Jeremiah and determined that he should die for his very unpopular proclamations (26:7-9). Whereas Jeremiah escaped from death in this instance, the prophet later would find himself before an angry King Jehoiakim of Judah. The king was enraged at the prophet's written scroll of God's Word of judgment against the people of Judah . As the words were being read, the king stopped the reading and threw the scroll into a firepot, until the entire scroll was burned up. Jehoiakim then ordered that Jeremiah and his scribe be arrested. I'm sure that Jeremiah often reflected upon the compounding episodes of rejection and persecution, but he was strengthened by the Lord's fulfilled promise to rescue him. (Jer. 1:19; 36:23-26).

Later under Zedekiah's reign over Judah, several of Jeremiah's enemies determined to start a false allegation that the prophet was deserting to the Babylonians. Despite Jeremiah's defense to the contrary, the officials of Judah had Jeremiah beaten and imprisoned in a "vaulted call in a dungeon, where he remained a long time" (37:16). Of course, even this beating and extended imprisonment did not appease Jeremiah's enemies; some time later, the officials approached the king and suggested that the prophet be put to death. The weak king acquiesced to the wishes of his leaders, and these officials decided that Jeremiah should die a slow, painful death in a deep cistern . . . essentially starving to death in the dark hole in the ground. As Jeremiah was lowered down into the dark pit, he sank into the deep mud and was left there to die. Still, the Lord was true to His word and rescued the prophet from the cistern. Whereas the prophet was delivered from an abysmal fate in the cistern, still, Jeremiah remained shackled in chains in the courtyard of the guard until Jerusalem was captured by the Babylonians (37:28, 40:4).

When Nebuzaradan, commander of the imperial guard of Babylon rescued Jeremiah, he offered the prophet asylum in Babylon, and would give him personal care and protection. As tempting as this was to a man who for years had been subject to persecution at the hands of his own people, Jeremiah knew that his calling was not complete. He graciously refused the offer from the commander of the army and returned to the Jewish remnant that remained in the land. The army officers of Judah in a change of heart petitioned Jeremiah to pray to the Lord for guidance as to what they should do. Ten days later, Jeremiah received a word from the Lord for the people to stay in the land and be subjected to the Babylonians, rather than flee to Egypt (which is what they were planning to do). When Jeremiah shared this word with the army officials, they accused the prophet of lying and forced the Jewish remnant (including Jeremiah) to Egypt in direct defiance to the will of the Lord (43:2-7).

When they arrived in Egypt, these rebellious Israelites continued to worship their pagan gods. Again, Jeremiah warned the people of God's coming disaster upon them for their wickedness, but these people would have none of it. They determined to continue offering incense to their pagan deities. God then speaking through his prophet gave these wicked Judeans over to their rebellion, and vowed by His Great Name, that the Israelites living in Egypt would not escape destruction by "sword and famine until they are all destroyed" (44:27).

By this time, Baruch (Jeremiah's faithful scribe who had been with Jeremiah through most of this persecution), had just about all he could handle, claiming that he had been "worn out with groaning, finding no rest." There seems to have been a moment when Baruch thought he had served the Lord enough, and now was his time to seek "great things for himself." God, speaking through Jeremiah, encouraged Baruch to keep to the assigned call, knowing that the Lord ultimately would bring deliverance. And this was the end of the recorded ministry of Jeremiah.

Again, as we look at the historical account of Jeremiah's ministry, we find that it was not a very popular one . . . the prophet had no converts and he was subjected to ridicule, persecution, imprisonment, kidnapping, and near execution for faithfully fulfilling his calling given to him by the Lord. His ministry resume' would not have been very impressive; still, we find that Jeremiah's faithfulness honored the Lord, for he did exactly what was asked of him, even though it cost him severely.

We must remember today that when our Lord calls us to a task, He never promises that our journey will be easy; in fact, our calling may involve rejection, persecution, and tremendous hardship. As we face these turbulent waters, may we have the resolve of Jeremiah to press on in our commitment to the Lord so that His purposes might be fulfilled in and through us. We can know that if we are faithful to the Lord, He will bless us. We may have to wait until His glorious return to see the fruit of that blessing; still, we by faith press on, knowing that our obedience is not in vain.