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Scripture Reading: Jer. 15:10-21; Jer. 16; Jer. 17:1-27
In this message we will begin to consider Jehovah's further commission to Jeremiah and His further statement of Judah's sins.
Jehovah's further commission to Jeremiah is covered in 15:10 through 16:9.
In 15:10-14 we see Jeremiah's remorse and Jehovah's encouragement and strengthening. In these verses there are three parties: Jeremiah, his mother, and God. Jeremiah was disappointed and said to his mother, "Woe is me, my mother, because you bore me, / A man of strife and a man of contention to the whole land. / I have not lent with interest, / Nor have they lent to me; / Yet everyone curses me" (v. 10). Surely, no mother would be happy to hear such a word from her son. Whereas Jeremiah's mother was silent, God came in to say something to him.
I feel that it is very significant that as Jeremiah was speaking to his mother, God came in to speak to him. This indicates that God was always with Jeremiah. Wherever Jeremiah went, God was there with him. Whenever Jeremiah spoke, God was present to participate in the conversation. God was with Jeremiah even when he, in his disappointment, was talking to his mother. She might have been very happy about how God spoke to her son to encourage and strengthen him.
In His speaking to Jeremiah, God spoke not as the Divine Being, as the mighty One, but almost as if He were a man, talking in a very human and personal way. According to the record of this book, as God dealt with His people, He often spoke to them in such a way. For instance, when He addressed Israel as His apostate wife and lovingly pleaded for her to return, He spoke in a human way.
After Jeremiah told his mother that everyone was cursing him, Jehovah intervened and said to him, "Surely I will set you free for your good; / Indeed I will cause the enemy to make supplication to you / In a time of trouble and in a time of distress. / Can one break iron, / Iron from the north, or bronze?/Your wealth and your treasures/I will give as plunder without price,/And that for all your sins,/And within all your borders. / I will cause your enemies to bring it / Into a land which you do not know; / For a fire is kindled in My anger, / Which will burn against you" (vv. 11-14). We need to pay attention to the pronouns your and you in verses 13 and 14. In verse 13 God refers to "your wealth" and "your treasures." Whose wealth and treasures are these? They must be the wealth and treasures of Israel. However, God spoke this word not directly to Israel but to Jeremiah. Surely, the word your here includes the addressee. This means that God regarded Jeremiah the prophet as being one with Israel. Israel's wealth and treasures were also Jeremiah's wealth and treasures. This indicates that God considered the entire nation of Israel as one entity. Because Jeremiah was a part of this entity, when the wealth and treasures of Israel were given to their enemies, Jeremiah also became poor. The wealth and treasures of Israel, and also of Jeremiah, would be brought to a land which they did not know. God had kindled a fire in His anger, which would burn against them. In this matter also, Jeremiah was included.
Here we have not only three parties — Jeremiah, his mother, and Jehovah — but also a fourth party — Israel. God's word was addressed to Jeremiah, but in speaking to Jeremiah He included the children of Israel together with Jeremiah. In speaking to Jeremiah and to Israel, God spoke as if He were a human being talking to other human beings. He spoke as one of the four parties participating in this conversation.
Jeremiah responded to Jehovah's speaking by petitioning Him for His care. "O Jehovah, You know; / Remember me and visit me, / And avenge me of my persecutors. / In Your longsuffering do not take me away; / Know that for Your sake I bear reproach" (v. 15). By using the word know in his petition, Jeremiah seemed to be reminding God concerning his situation. Jeremiah's petition indicates that no matter how strong and spiritual he might have been, he was still human. As he asked God to remember him and visit him, he seemed to be saying, "O Jehovah, do not forget me. Do not give me up. I need You to remember me, to visit me, and to avenge me of those who are persecuting me for Your sake."
In particular, Jeremiah prayed that, in His longsuffering, Jehovah would not take him away. Jeremiah seemed to be saying, "Jehovah, You are a God who can suffer a long time. I ask that in Your longsuffering You do not allow my persecutors to kill me. You are kind and compassionate, and You may allow my persecutors to go on doing evil things for a long time. I ask that, during the time of Your longsuffering, You will not allow my persecutors to take my life."
The next verse (v. 16) is very unusual and does not seem to fit here. In this verse Jeremiah says, "Your words were found and I ate them, / And Your word became to me / The joy and rejoicing of my heart, / For I am called by Your name, O Jehovah, God of hosts." According to the entire revelation in the Holy Bible, God's words are good for us to eat, and we need to eat them. When we eat God's words, His word becomes our heart's joy and rejoicing.
In this verse Jeremiah says not only that he found and ate God's words but also that he was called by Jehovah's name. The Hebrew words translated "I am called by Your name" may also be rendered "Your name is called over me." In either case, Jeremiah was saying that he belonged to Jehovah and was under His name.
In verse 17 Jeremiah goes on to say, "I did not sit in the assembly of mockers, nor did I exult. / Because of Your hand I sat alone, / For You have filled me with indignation." The word mockers here does not denote despisers but those who mock others by rejoicing in a light way. Such mockers were probably mocking Jeremiah, who did not exult and who was not happy. Furthermore, because Jehovah's hand was upon Jeremiah, he sat alone. Jehovah's hand held him down and constrained him to sit quietly and endure the mocking. Although Jeremiah was quiet, he was filled with indignation. It was impossible for him to have joy or to rejoice.
Verse 17 depicts Jeremiah's suffering. Because of his suffering and disappointment, he said to his mother, "Woe is me." She was silent, but Jehovah talked with Jeremiah to encourage and strengthen him. I cannot tell from Jeremiah's answer whether he accepted or rejected God's encouragement. It seems that God spoke in one way according to His feeling and that Jeremiah responded in a different way according to his feeling. Jeremiah seemed to be saying to Jehovah, "I am not happy, and I am not rejoicing. I am suffering, and I am full of indignation because Your hand is upon me."
Verse 18 continues, "Why is my pain unceasing, / And my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? / Will You indeed be to me like a deceitful brook? / Like waters that fail?" The Hebrew word for fail literally means "are not sure." Jeremiah had been hurt, wounded, and he made his complaint to God, asking Him if He would be like a deceitful brook or like waters that fail.
In verses 19 through 21 we have Jehovah's response to Jeremiah's complaint. In His response He gave Jeremiah a further commission. Verse 19 says, "Therefore thus says Jehovah, / If you return, I will restore you; / You will stand before Me; / And if you bring out the precious from the worthless, / You will be as My mouth; / They will turn to you, / But you will not turn to them." The pronoun you here may be a further indication that God considered Jeremiah as being one with Israel. Surely Israel needed to return to God and be restored by Him. We may also say that Jeremiah, who was quite disappointed, also needed to return to God in order to be restored by Him. God told Jeremiah that if he returned to Him, he would be restored and would stand before Him.
God went on to tell Jeremiah that if he brought out, that is, uttered, the precious things from the worthless, he would be as His mouth. Jehovah's word concerning uttering precious things may indicate that He regarded Jeremiah's speaking in the previous verses as worthless. God might have been saying, "Jeremiah, what you have just said is not precious — it is worthless. You cannot be My mouth if you speak worthless things. You need to bring out the precious things from the worthless. If you do this, you will be My mouthpiece, My prophet, to speak for Me and to speak forth My word." God continued by telling Jeremiah that if he would be as His mouth, the people of Israel would turn to him. However, he was not to turn to them.
In verse 20 Jehovah told Jeremiah that to the people of Israel He would make him a fortified wall of bronze. They would fight against him, but they would not prevail against him, for Jehovah would be with him to save him and deliver him. He also promised that He would deliver Jeremiah from the hand of the wicked and redeem him from the grasp of those who terrorize (v. 21).
In 16:1-9 we see Jehovah's restrictions to Jeremiah for His further commission. Jehovah said to him, "You shall not take a wife for yourself nor have sons or daughters in this place. For thus says Jehovah concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place and concerning their mothers who bear them and concerning their fathers who beget them in this land: They will die grievous deaths and will not be mourned nor buried; they will be as dung on the surface of the ground and will be consumed by sword and by famine, and their corpses will become food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth" (vv. 2-4). Because this was to be the future and destiny of the land, Jeremiah was not to take a wife or have children. If he had had a wife and children, they certainly would have suffered.
Jehovah's word to Jeremiah about not having wife or children surely was a restriction to him. This indicates that if we would be a mouthpiece of God and speak for Him, we must be restricted. Others may have the freedom to do certain things, but we will not have such freedom.
Verses 5 through 9 tell us of the further restrictions placed upon Jeremiah by God. He was to be restricted from both mourning and feasting. Jehovah charged him not to enter the house of mourning and not to mourn or lament for the people of Israel, for He has taken away His peace, lovingkindness, and compassions from them (v. 5). Both the great and the small would die in this land. They would not be buried, and they would not be mourned (v. 6). The people would not break bread in mourning to comfort anyone for the dead, and they would not give them a cup of consolation to drink for mother or father (v. 7). Concerning feasting, Jehovah said to Jeremiah, "You shall not enter the house of feasting to sit with them and eat and drink. For thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will cause to cease from this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of gladness and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride" (vv. 8-9). This reveals that instead of joy there would be suffering.
In these verses Jehovah was indicating to Jeremiah that, as God's mouthpiece, he would suffer. Throughout the generations, those who have been used by God to speak for Him have always suffered. This was the situation with Brother Nee. I was with him for many years, and I can testify that he suffered greatly. There was hardly a day of peace, a day without misunderstanding, criticism, and opposition. Because he was one who spoke for God, he was one who suffered many things from many people.
If we do not speak for God, we may not encounter problems. But speaking for God will bring problems. The more we speak for Him, the more problems we will have. However, our speaking for God should not depend on our choice. On the contrary, our speaking for God should always depend on God's revelation.
