Jeremiah

July 16, 2017 Background Scripture: Jeremiah 1 Lesson Passage: Jeremiah 1:4 – 10 At one point in his life, Jeremiah seems to have been the most unpopular of all of his contemporaries. The reason for this is quite simple: he spoke the truth when the people preferred to hear a lie. Many of his contemporaries told the people what they wanted to hear and Jeremiah refused to go along with it. He even became angry with God because when he told the people what God told him to say, it caused trouble for him. Jeremiah decided to not say anything to the people that God told him and he thought his life would be less complicated as a result of it. However, God’s calling upon Jeremiah’s life was too much and he could not ignore God’s voice or commission to prophesy. Jeremiah was called by God at a very young age. In fact, God told Jeremiah that his calling was established before he was born. Jeremiah was literally born to be God’s prophet to Israel during what would become one of the nation’s darkest times. The Bible does not give us the specific age Jeremiah was when he learned of his calling but the terms used to refer to Jeremiah suggest that he was either a teenager or a very young man. God informed Jeremiah that he had called and commissioned him before He formed him in his mother’s womb. Again, Jeremiah was born to do God’s bidding no matter how difficult the task would become. Whatever Jeremiah would suffer would be for God’s sake. God told Jeremiah to not be afraid to look the people in their faces and declare God’s word to them. God gave Jeremiah a sign of a boiling pot and told him what it meant. God was going to judge His people harshly for their unrepentant sin and Jeremiah was going to be an eyewitness to the judgment. Jeremiah does not appear to be a person who ever wrestled with whether God called him to be a prophet or not but instead he wrestled with whether he would be better off not doing God’s will. As was the case with the other prophets whose calling is detailed in the Bible, Jeremiah clearly heard God’s voice commission him for the work of prophecy and he was given visual signs to accompany the oral calling. Every prophecy God sent to Israel by the mouth of Jeremiah came to pass. The people hated the message but they could not deny that the future unfolded exactly as God declared it would through Jeremiah. This was probably of little consolation to Jeremiah because the fulfillment of the prophecies sometimes happened years later after he had endured much ridicule. And besides that, Jeremiah was an eyewitness of the account so that whatever Israel was suffering because of the oracle of God, Jeremiah had to live through as well. As a result of this, Jeremiah wept over Jerusalem as he witnessed the devastation that occurred. When you live through the pain, there is no room for “I told you so.” Jeremiah was ultimately vindicated by history because it unfolded according to the prophetic word he spoke. As an eyewitness, later he became popularly known as the weeping prophet of Israel. Robert C. Hudson May 26, 2017

Isaiah

July 9, 2017 Background Scripture: Isaiah 6 Lesson Passage: Isaiah 6:1 – 8 Sometimes people get in our way. No, not the rude or disruptive type people but rather the type of people we look up to and admire. Our admiration and respect for our chosen role models will sometimes make it difficult for us to see anyone else. The prophet Isaiah could really give us a lesson in understanding this. Isaiah has the distinction of being the greatest of the writing prophets of Israel. It has been noted that his writing covers the same span of time as the Bible. The writing even includes the time beyond a new heaven and a new earth. Some have considered Isaiah’s writing as a miniature bible because of the numerous parallels that are found between the two. As with the other prophets of Israel, Isaiah’s calling was unique. In spite of the uniqueness, all of the prophetic callings shared many similarities. They experienced the calling through their physical senses. Some heard, saw, felt and even tasted something at the time of their calling. Isaiah shares with his readers what he heard and what he saw when he was called. Isaiah dated his calling by a significant historic event in his life. It was the year that King Uzziah died. Tradition states that King Uzziah was either Isaiah’s uncle or cousin. Uzziah had been enthroned as king of Judah at the age of sixteen and ruled for fifty two years. He had literally matured as a man on the throne of Judah. King Uzziah’s death was a tragedy for Isaiah in several ways. Not only did Judah lose its king of over half a century but there are many perks that go along with being part of a royal family. There is also much insecurity that arises at the death of a patriarch in the family who is also a good king. Into this sadness and confusion in Isaiah’s life, God stepped. God was not there to replace King Uzziah in Isaiah’s life but to elevate Isaiah to a level that exceeded many of the prophets of Israel. The first sight in Isaiah’s vision during his calling was the Lord enthroned above the temple. This was significant in that it should have reassured Isaiah that although human kings come and go, the Lord does not abdicate his throne and he continues to rule throughout history. The Lord was not in the temple but was high above it. Although Israel had become a monarchy at their request to be like other people, the Lord continued to rule over the monarchy with his theocracy. Put another way, Israel desired a manmade government but God only allowed that because man’s government is overruled by God’s government. Isaiah also observed the heavenly court praising the Lord continuously for his holiness. Isaiah trembled as the temple began to quake and fill with smoke. All of this caused Isaiah to reflect on his own unworthiness to be in the Lord’s presence. When Isaiah confessed his shortcoming, one of the heavenly beings came and purged it. The seraphim assured Isaiah that his iniquity had been forgiven. At this point, Isaiah heard the Lord ask for a volunteer to go as his messenger. Isaiah answered the call and Judah now had the greatest of its writing prophets called and commissioned by the Lord. Robert C. Hudson May 26, 2017