Chuck Larsen

It’s so easy to forget what God has done for us. We are all children of Israel and need reminders of what God has done for us. Jeremiah gave Israel a fairly strong reminder in Jeremiah 2:6. He says, “They did not say, ‘Where is the LORD who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that none passes through, where no man dwells?’” During our trips to Israel we have looked out over the vast waste land where God provided for His people for 40 years! We did not venture far into that desolate land. But for 40 years God fed them there. He kept their clothes from wearing out. He sent them water and supernaturally provided for their every need. He was the perfect husband providing for His bride.

It is human nature to take much for granted in our lives. Jesus understood that and established the Lord’s Supper and instructed us to do that to help us remember all that He did for us. Israel was delivered from slavery and guided patiently through some difficult circumstances into the Promised Land. God was with them through all the hardships and met their every need. Guest explains this: “He brought her out of bondage. By bringing her out of Egypt, God signified that here was a people destined for so much more. They walked on dry ground through the Red Sea between high walls of roaring water standing back in obedience to the Hand of the Husband. Yet now they walked after idols (v. 5).”^[1] It is so important for us to establish “thanksgivings” in our lives wherein we remember the many blessings God has bestowed on us. It’s important for us belong to a band of believers who share the memory and celebrate it together in communion.

Ryken observes, “The marriage between God and his people is dying of neglect. God’s people no longer seek after God. They no longer say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ (Jeremiah 2:6a). They no longer recount and recite the mighty acts of salvation. They forget the love that saved them. They suffer from self-induced spiritual amnesia. This is a reminder for Christians to thank God daily for salvation in Jesus Christ. Recount and recite the saving acts of God in history. Remember what God has done in your life. The road to spiritual adultery begins when you stop reveling in the love of God. Few Christians plan to fall into grievous sin. It is only after falling that they realize they have drifted away from the God of love.”^[2]

Chuck Larsen

For all previous daily devotions go to www.chucklarsen.com

^[1] John Guest and Lloyd J. Ogilvie, Jeremiah, Lamentations, vol. 19, The Preacher’s Commentary Series (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1988), 33.

^[2] Philip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations: From Sorrow to Hope, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001), 40.

In His relationship with the children of Israel, God had always been faithful. He always kept His promises. He always came through for them in their time of need. He was in all respects the perfect husband. Therefore, God asks his unfaithful wife to point out where He had failed. Jeremiah 2:4-5 says, “Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel. Thus says the LORD: What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me?”  As Gingrich points out, “The marital relationship soon soured but certainly it was not because of unfaithfulness on God’s part for He fulfilled his part of the covenant and brought His people safely through the wilderness into a land of plenty, to partake of the goodness thereof.”^[1] Then why were they unfaithful?

According to one website definition, a “No fault” divorce “describes any divorce where the spouse asking for a divorce does not have to prove that the other spouse did something wrong. All states allow no fault divorces. To get a no fault divorce, one spouse must simply state a reason for the divorce that is recognized by the state. In most states, it’s enough to declare that the couple cannot get along.”[2] God is simply asking for their reason for the divorce. Ryken puts the problem in simple language: “God did not leave his people—they dumped him. God’s people were the ones who walked out on the marriage. They used to love him, but it’s all over now.” They had no complaint! There was no failing in God’s part regarding the covenant arrangement. They were unfaithful, but God remained faithful in every way!

All the problems, pains and hardships that came upon Israel and would come upon Israel and Judah according to Jeremiah’s prophecy came and would come as a result of their unfaithfulness to God. Jeremiah makes that clear in Chapter 2, verse 17. He says, “Have you not brought this on yourselves by forsaking the Lord your God when he led you in the way?” It’s often said that for every person who moves away from God because of adversity, there are 100 who do so because of prosperity. Davidson says, “A bond, forged and tested in the harsh life of the desert, snapped with the coming of prosperity in the land of Canaan.”^[3] Ryken finishes his remarks on this verse. He says, “As the saying goes, ‘If God does not seem as close as he used to, who moved?’ Why would anyone ever move away from God? It makes no sense! Why would a bride leave a perfect husband? Why would she abandon a spouse who fulfilled all his vows to her? There is no explanation, no excuse. God’s bride separated from her husband without the slightest provocation.”^[4]

^[1] Roy E. Gingrich, The Book of Jeremiah (Memphis, TN: Riverside Printing, 2001), 8.

[2] http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/no-fault-divorce-vs-fault-divorce-faq-29080.html

^[3] Robert Davidson, Jeremiah, vol. 1, The Daily Study Bible Series (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1983), 25.

^[4] Philip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations: From Sorrow to Hope, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001), 39.

There is an argument that says humans are not really human until they become self-aware. The Wikipedia dictionary says, “Self-awareness is the capacity for introspection and the ability to recognize oneself as an individual separate from the environment and other individuals.” That is to suggest that the beginning of life is a subjective issue. We become who we are only when we become capable of comprehending it. Eugene Peterson has a great answer to this. He writes, “My identity does not begin when I begin to understand myself. There is something previous to what I think about myself, and it is what God thinks of me. That means that everything I think and feel is by nature a response, and the one to whom I respond is God. I never speak the first word. I never make the first move.” Now speaking of my favorite Old Testament Prophet Peterson continues, “Jeremiah’s life didn’t start with Jeremiah. Jeremiah’s salvation didn’t start with Jeremiah. Jeremiah’s truth didn’t start with Jeremiah. He entered the world in which the essential parts of his existence were already ancient history. So do we.”

Jeremiah 1:1-5 is a passage filled with significance for every person. It speaks to us of a personal God who knows each of us and desires intimacy with each of us and has a plan and a purpose for each of us. Although these words were spoken by God to Jeremiah, God preserved them for each of us as well. He wrote, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” We’ve not been called to be a prophet to the nations in the same sense as Jeremiah was, but we are called by God specifically to a personal relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ. As followers of Jesus we are then called to “make disciples” according to Matthew 28:19-20. Now this mission, appointed by God, is a corporate one. No one is in on it alone! It’s the mission that Jesus gave the church as a whole. As Adeyemo says, It’s “…a direct call to believers to participate in God’s ministry as prophets rather than merely as passive spectators. In the midst of superhuman forces, the church as a whole has a prophetic role.”

We become all that God intended for us to be when we embrace Christ in faith and hear the call of mission He has given us and participate in the process. As Ryken observes, “Jeremiah’s calling is not for everyone. The first chapter of Jeremiah is mainly about his call for his times, not your call for your times. But you do have a call. God not only knows you and chose you, he has a plan for your life.” My favorite verse in the whole book of Jeremiah says more about God’s plan for our lives. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Responding to God’s love for us on the cross and to His call to believe and participate in the corporate mission of the church is what makes us truly all that God wants us to be. In it we prosper. In it we find hope and a bright future.

Yesterday I talked about how, like Jeremiah the Prophet, we were created by God for a purpose. God has a unique plan for each of us. God’s plan and purpose for our lives precedes our existence. Although Jeremiah’s father was Hilkiah, and although we all have human parents, we were nonetheless created by God personally. Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” The Living Bible translates this verse, “I knew you before you were formed within your mother’s womb; before you were born I sanctified you and appointed you as my spokesman to the world.” This verse bears looking at from several different perspectives because it’s so important. You see, as Ryken observed, “A fetus is a person.”

Each of us, like Jeremiah, are created by God in the image of God to live in relationship with God. This verse makes it clear that God “knew” Jeremiah before he was born. This verb implies intimate knowledge and a relationship. We did not begin at our birth. Our conception is not even our true beginning. Ryken goes on to say, “In some ineffable way, God has a personal knowledge of the individual that precedes conception. …What a beautiful thing for God to say to his children! ‘I loved you and cared for you in eternity past. I made a personal commitment to you even before you were born.’ And what a beautiful thing for parents to say to their children: ‘God knows you, God loves you, and God has entered into a personal relationship with you.’ This verse holds special comfort for mothers who have had miscarriages. It gives hope to parents who have lost children in infancy, and even for women who aborted their own babies. God knew your child, and he knows your child.”

He knows you and He knows me! Ryken continues his comments, “God’s choice is not unique to Jeremiah; it is true for every believer. This is known as the doctrine of divine election. ‘You did not choose me,’ Jesus said to his disciples, ‘but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit’ (John 15:16a). ‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.… For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight’ (Ephesians 1:3–4). This promise is for the whole church. Therefore, it is for the comfort of every Christian. God not only knows you, he chose you; and he did so long before you were ever conceived.”

We named our youngest son “Jeremiah.” It wasn’t after the Old Testament prophet by that name. It was after Admiral Jeremiah Denton who was the senior Prisoner of War released in 1973 around the time of our son’s birth. Our son was the first birth at the New Naval Hospital at the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas. Jeremiah Denton survived over seven years in a Vietnam POW camp. It was seven years of torture and sub-human treatment. In a famous TV interview from the prison camp, Admiral Denton blinked out (with his eyes!) in Morse code the word “torture” while answering the questions of a Vietnamese interrogator. He was once quoted as saying, “If I had known when I was shot down that I would be there more than seven years, I would have died of despondency, of despair, but I didn’t. It was one minute at a time, one hour, one week, one year and so on. If you look at it like that, anybody can do anything.” Jeremiah Denton passed away earlier this year.

I think Jeremiah the prophet must have looked at his experiences in a similar way. He died as a prisoner of war in Egypt. But even before his own captivity he had suffered much abuse. One commentator said, “Shunned and embarrassed by his own family and friends, the prophet was no stranger to persecution. Often the ministry of the prophet was sealed with his own blood. But of all the Old Testament messengers, none is more lonely, none more maligned, none suffered the pains of his message more than the prophet Jeremiah.” I was not a believer when I named my son Jeremiah. Had I known about the prophet’s life and suffering, I probably would not have given him that name. Who would wish that kind of suffering on anyone?

God spoke to Jeremiah when he was a young teenager. In Jeremiah 1:5, God tells him, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Please note this profound truth: God makes us all. Kathy and I are the parents of our Jeremiah. Jeremiah Denton had parents also. We’re told in Jeremiah 1:1 that he is the son of Hilkiah. But the parents of these Jeremiahs did not make them. God made them! It’s wonderful theology, and biblically sound to tell children when they ask, “where did I come from, Mommy?” to tell them that they came from God. They did! And so did you and I. God had a purpose for Jeremiah’s life and he has one for each of us as well. Hopefully it won’t contain the sorrow and suffering the POW and the Prophet went through but you can be assured there will be some sorrow. Ryken observed, “God did wonderful things for Jeremiah before he was even born. He knew him. He formed him. He set him apart and appointed him…” He has done the exact same thing for us as well. Long before we were conceived in our mother’s womb or took our first breath or shed our first tear, God knew us and loved us just as He did Jeremiah!