As Jeremiah shared these words from the book of Lamentations, one might conclude that the prophet was reflecting upon the very difficult experiences that he endured for his warnings of God's coming judgment against the wickedness of Judah. To be sure, the leaders of Judah hated the prophet's declarations against their wicked ways and they determined to destroy this man of God for his meddling in their affairs. None of these events came as a surprise to God, for in Jeremiah 1, the Lord commanded the prophet not to be afraid of these men who would fight against him when he shared the Words that God wanted uttered against them (Jeremiahs 1:19). Still, these persecutions were very real and very painful to the prophet, as he expresses to God in Jeremiah 20:
"I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me.
Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction.
So the Word of the LORD has brought me insult and reproach
all day long . . . . I hear many whispering, 'Terror on every side!
Report him! Let's report him!' All my friends are waiting for me
to slip, saying, 'Perhaps he will be deceived; then we will prevail
over him and take our revenge on him.'"
The listing of persecution against Jeremiah is long and exhausting:
1. As soon as Jeremiah finished telling all the people everything the LORD had commanded him to say, the priests, the prophets, and all the people seized him and said, "You must die! (Jer 26:8).
2. King Jehoiakim had Jeremiah and his scribe, Baruch, arrested for the words of judgment written on a scroll (Jer. 36:23).
3. Jeremiah was arrested again under the reign of King Zedekiah. The officials of the king were so enraged at the prophet that they had him beaten and imprisoned in a vaulted cell, where he remained for a very long time (Jer. 37:1-15).
4. Later the officials instructed King Zedekiah that Jeremiah should be "put to death." They lowered Jeremiah into a cistern of mud. Their hope was that he would waste away in the dark, dank pit, eventually starving to death (Jer. 38:4-9).
It is in this latter event that Jeremiah recounts his thoughts and feelings in the book of Lamentations. Not only was he lowered into the pit to be left to waste away, but his accusers pummeled him with stones as he stood helpless beneath them. Jeremiah wondered if he was about to perish, and so he called out to God, pleading that the Lord's ears be attune to the prophet's fretful circumstances. And it was just at that time that the LORD called out to His chosen messenger and exclaimed, "Do not fear." God intervened at just the right time to comfort and encourage Jeremiah to press on and be faithful to the calling to which he was assigned. God assured Jeremiah that He was with His prophet. All Jeremiah needed to do was trust his Lord and obey His calling.
This did not mean that Jeremiah from that point on would be immune to the difficulties that he previously faced, for though he eventually was freed from the pit, the prophet later would be taken by army officers against his will to the land of Egypt (Jer. 42-43). God still had before his prophet certain challenges; still, the Lord would not abandon Jeremiah. In Egypt is where the story of the life of Jeremiah ends. It was not a wonderful storybook ending for the prophet; still, it was right where the Lord determined him to be . . . being used for His glory.
This is a good word for us, for we know that in our own lives we face many different and difficult experiences along the way. And though we are not assured that we will be delivered from the calamities that befall us in this life, we are reminded that our Lord is with us in the midst of our circumstances and we too know that He calls out to us not to fear but to trust Him. So when we face the painful trials in our lives, let us do as the prophet Jeremiah did . . . let us cry out to the Lord to hear us and intervene in our circumstances, and let us attune our ears to His response, knowing that He will comfort us in our difficulties and will remind us to press on in our faith and trust in Him.
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