Jeremiah had a rough assignment: he would be preaching an unpopular message and would be unpopular with the people to whom he ministered. They would terrorize him and fight against him, and he would need rescued by God. His life shows that God doesn’t always send His servants into easy places. Are you prepared to be sent into difficult places to be God’s hands and feet and voice in fulfillment of His purpose for you?
Recall the historical context of the prophet: Josiah commanded the people to worship and obey God, and they did during his lifetime. Jeremiah ministered during the last eighteen years of Josiah’s reign, and for 22 years beyond that, through the reigns of kings who did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. These were the last forty years of Judah’s existence as an independent nation.
The people to whom Jeremiah ministered were not fully devoted to God, loving Him with all of their hearts, all of their souls, all of their minds, and all of their strength. They called God, “My Father, my friend,” and claimed that they were “doing okay,” but their worthless idols were more important to them than God was. Their devotion waned until they didn’t even bother seeking Him; they forsook God in favor of following after what they had constructed. In times of trouble they sought the Lord, and that was enough for them to believe that they were following Him and worshiping Him. They didn’t perceive the truth of their ways’ revealing that they had forgotten God; if they had, they would have wept and been appalled.
Does this description of God’s Old Testament people make you wonder whether we have dull perception as well? Are we any different than those people, drifting away from God while claiming we’re okay? What is the remedy for mankind’s tendency toward faithlessness? God said He would cure them of backsliding. That means that we are helpless to cure it ourselves; we need to look to God for our cure! Since the days in which Jeremiah prophesied, God has provided the cure for sin; it is up to us to accept it and put it to use to be cured.
God didn’t want to judge them; He wanted to treat them like sons and enjoy intimacy with them like a father and son. Again He points out that it was not His choice to judge them, but rather, their choice. These are important truths for us to remember so that we are not deceived by the enemy into despising God. Instead we should be drawn to Him in love for His love for us.