Jeremiah’s ministry lasted for about 41 years and here is how is began:

Jer. 1:4-2:1 KJV

4
Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
5
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the
womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
6
Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
7
But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall
send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
8
Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
9
Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto
me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
10
See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to
pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

Here God calls Jeremiah to speak His message. Jeremiah did not feel competent to carry out the
mission God has called him to perform. He felt like he was too inexperienced, claiming to just
be a child. This reminds me of Moses’ hesitancy to accept God’s mission when God called him.
God reassured Jeremiah that He would be with Him and that He would look out for him and
deliver him when he had a need. God touched His mouth and gave him the words to speak. God
has touched our hearts and enabled us to speak in our day and time.

Look at Jeremiah’s mission. It’s given in verse 10 – to root out, and to pull down, to destroy, and
to throw down. Those don’t sound like very pleasant tasks. There’s more, some positive things
– to build and to plant. How was Jeremiah going to do all this? With his words. Let’s read
further.
11
Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou?
And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.
12
Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to
perform it.
13
And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou?
And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north.
14
Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the
inhabitants of the land.
15
For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; and
they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of
Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of
Judah.

God tells Jeremiah that an evil shall come from the North. Jerusalem and Judah would fall to
Babylon 41 years later. God was providing ample warning to his people about this impending
disaster if they did not change their ways.
 16
And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have
forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their
own hands.
What were they doing wrong? They had forsaken God and they were worshipping false gods,
the work of their own hands. When God’s people turn away from God to worship false gods,
they are headed for trouble. God is being gracious and loving enough to warn them well in
advance. There is plenty of time to change!
17
Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command
thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.
18
For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen
walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof,
against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.

God is very concerned about his people, so he encourages his prophet to stiffen his resolve and
strengthen his determination in order to carry out his task of speaking an undesirable message to
a people who weren’t inclined to listen to it.
19
And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with
thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.

This chapter concludes with God telling Jeremiah that the people would fight against him. How
would you have felt about that? Even before you begin your mission for God, God already
warns you that those you are going to minister to are going to fight against you. God didn’t just
warn Jeremiah of the difficulties ahead, He comforted Jeremiah that the people would not prevail
against him. God promised that He was with him and would remain with him to deliver him.

Imagine God coming to you with this sort of mission. Jeremiah faithfully stood for God for 41
years. He stood against false prophets and ungodly leaders. He spoke a message that wasn’t
popular. Those who believed his message obeyed his words and went into captivity in Babylon.
That sounds bad, but those people prospered as long as they continued to worship the one true
God. That doesn’t mean they didn’t deal with some persecution in the process, but God took
care of them. Daniel is one example of someone who prospered during his life in Babylon.

What I saw in these records was God’s patience with his people. He is willing to warn and
correct them over and over again. It seems to me that God never really gives up on anyone. He
wanted his people to repent before the Babylonians came and began attacking the land. Jeremiah
began warning them about 20 years before the first Babylonian attack. It took 20 years from
then for the Babylonians to finally finished the job. God spent all that time trying to convince
his people to turn away from their evil ways, to turn away from their idols and to return to Him.
When people turned to God, He took care of them.

We have so much more available to us today. Jesus Christ died for our sins. As servants they
could fall completely away from God. As sons we can’t ever do anything to lose our sonship.
We have God’s seed within and it is incorruptible! We can get out of alignment and harmony
with God, but all we have to do to get back into fellowship is to confess our sin of being out of
fellowship. How easy could it get? (Although I have to admit that it is easy to fool ourselves
into thinking we are in fellowship with God when we are not.)

The most important thing in our lives is our fellowship with God! We need to get to the place
where nothing distracts us from our fellowship with God. Good things can distract us. Busyness
can distract us. Bad things can also distract us. Nothing is so important that it is worthy of
coming before our fellowship with our Heavenly Father.