Scriptural Highlights

• Jeremiah is called of God to be a prophet.
• Many people oppose Jeremiah and try to prevent him from fulfilling his mission.
• Jeremiah is strengthened in adversity by his love for the word of God.

A study of this lesson should encourage us to remain faithful in times of opposition and adversity.

Jeremiah Is Called Of God To Be A Prophet

Introduction To Jeremiah

1. Who was Jeremiah?
• Born about 645 BC.
• He was the son of Hilkiah, the priest.
• Came from the little town of Anathoth near Jerusalem.
• His ministry:
• Began about 626 BC, the 13th year of Josiah's reign.
• Continued until about 586 BC.
• One of the few prophets who lived to see the fulfillment of his prophecies.
• Jeremiah preached in support of Josiah's reformation, 621 BC.
• Jeremiah was tried for prophesying the fall of the temple, 609 BC.
• He continued to prophesy through the fall of Jerusalem.
• He was caried captive into Egypt after the fall of Jerusalem.
2. Contemporary prophets:
• Zephaniah.
• Probably: Nahum, Obadiah, Habakkuk (we know little about them).
• Lehi.
• In Babylon: Daniel & Ezekiel.
3. Brother Duane S. Crowther: "Jeremiah was probably a descendant of the priestly line, and his forefathers apparently were from Israel rather than Judah. Unlike Zephaniah, Jeremiah had no political connections and was not influential in the affairs of the royal court during Josiah's time. Like Zephaniah, Jeremiah was a young man in the days of Josiah. The recorded ministry of Jeremiah extended over fifty years and during the reign of five kings of Judah. Jeremiah was of an introspective and emotional temperment." (Prophets & Prophecies of The Old Testament, p437)

Jeremiah's Call

• READ JEREMIAH 1:4-5. Jeremiah ordained to be a prophet before his birth.
• WHAT SIGNIFICANT DOCTRINES ARE REFERRED TO IN THIS VERSE?
• Pre-existence.
• Foreordination.
• DO YOU SUPPOSE THE KNOWLEDGE OF JEREMIAH'S PRE-EXISTENCE & FOREORDINATION HELPED JEREMIAH MEET THE DIFFICULTIES OF HIS MINISTRY?
• Orson F. Whitney: "A prophet's name, place of birth, and the character of his everyday calling, are matters of little moment compared with other things pertaining to him. What of his state and standing before he came on earth? This is a far more important consideration. God's prophets are chosen before they are born,f and are sent into the world as He needs them. Their aims are high and holy. They desire the welfare and happiness of the race. Yet almost invariably their motives are misunderstood, and they and their followers are opposed and persecuted." (Saturday Night Thoughts, p14)
• Joseph Smith: "Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very purpose in the Grand Council of heaven before this world was." (HC 6:364)
• DOES THIS SAME KNOWLEDGE SUPPORT US AS WE FACE DIFFICULTIES IN LIFE AND IN OUR CALLINGS?
• As we begin to understand this doctrine, it cannot help but strengthen us as we step forward to fulfill our callings. If we come know that we were foreordained, it can give us the courage for forge ahead when things are frustrating or even seem impossible. As we reflect upon this principle, we are reminded that we were chosen in the pre-existence because we had the talent necessary to fulfill this calling. As we exercise our faith, we will find the strength necessary to continue.
• READ 1:6-10. Jeremiah expresses his weakness and is reassured by the Lord.
• Summary:
• V6 - Jeremiah feels inadequate.
• V8 - Reassured by the Lord.
• V10 - His charge from the Lord.
• HAVE YOU FELT INADEQUATE WHEN CALLED IN THE PAST? HOW HAS THE LORD HELPED OR STRENGTHENED YOU?
• Several years ago, while I was still in my 20s, I was called to teach early morning seminary to the kids in our ward. To me, this was a formidable task. There was the challenge of having a quality lesson prepared each day. But even more challenging to me was the prospect of teaching teenagers. I didn't think I could do it, but I accepted the calling and took on the challenge. I was blessed. When I look back at that year of teaching, I don't remember the challenge of getting up early, having lessons prepared, or even facing teenagers. I remember the association of those kids. I remember their strength and testimonies. The Lord does bless us if we have the courage to do as he asks.

Jeremiah Faces Opposition

1. Jeremiah preached to the people in an effort to turn them from idolatry and immorality.
• Consider the opposition he faced as he fulfilled the mission given to him by the Lord:
• Jeremiah 20:1-6: Pashur, the chief governor of the temple, "smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks". Even after this, Jeremiah had the courage to prophesy that Pashur, his family, and friends would be taken captive by the Babylonians and would die in Babylon.
• Jeremiah 26:7-15: Jeremiah went up to the temple and gave the Lord's message of repentance. After Jeremiah had finished preaching, the priests threatened Jeremiah with his life. Jeremiah continued his preaching after this harsh opposition, "Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard. Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you" (26:12-13).
• Jeremiah 36:1-6, 20-32: The Lord commanded Jeremiah to write his message of repentance on "a roll of a book". Jeremiah had Baruch write down the words of the Lord as he spoke them. He then had Baruch go read to Judah the words which he had written. When the king heard the words of the book "he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire" (36:23). The Lord then commanded Jeremiah to rewrite His message on another roll and this additional prophesy was added, "And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them" (36:31).
• Jeremiah 37:12-15; 38:4-13: As Jeremiah was leaving Jerusalem, he was arrested in put into prison. "Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them" (38:4). Jeremiah was then taken in put in a dungeon where "there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire". Eventually, King Zedekiah returned Jeremiah to the prison, which was better than the dungeon.
• DO YOU SUPPOSE JEREMIAH WAS FRUSTRATED WITH SUCH OPPOSITION TO HIS MISSION?
• READ JEREMIAH 20:14-18. Jeremiah's frustration.
• WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM JEREMIAH WHEN WE EXPERIENCE ADVERSITY?
• Doing the will of the Lord is not always easy. We often face great obstacles. Fortunately, our obstacles are not as formidable. Few of us face threats to our life or are cast in dungeons.
• Jeremiah shows us that carrying out the will of the Lord is most important. He put it ahead of his own desires, his comfort, and everything else in his life. He was a man of great courage.
2. Jeremiah 2:13: "For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water."
• WHAT TWO EVILS DID THE LORD SAY HIS PEOPLE HAD COMMITTED?
• They had forsaken him, he who is the fountain of living waters.
• They made for themselves broken cisterns that could not hold the Lord's living water.
• WHAT ARE THESE BROKEN CISTERNS?
• These ancient Jews had sought fulfillment and security in worldly things.
• WHY WOULD PEOPLE WITH THESE CHARACTERISTICS HAVE DIFFICULTY ACCEPTING THE WORDS OF JEREMIAH?
• A person cannot go opposite directions at the same time. It is another way of saying that one cannot serve to masters. They were busy in their wickedness and did not want to give up their ways.
• HOW DO WE SOMETIMES CREATE "BROKEN CISTERNS" THAT CANNOT HOLD THE SAVIOR'S LIVING WATER?
• Any pursuit that leads us away from Christ.
• Marion D. Hanks: "Material objectives consume too much of our attention. The struggle for what we need or for more than we need exhausts our time and energy. We pursue pleasure or entertainment, or become overinvolved in associations or civic matters. Of course, people need recreation, need to be acheiving, need to contribute; but if these come at the cost of friendship with Christ, the price is too high.
       "'For my people have committed two evils,' said the Lord to Israel; 'they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.'
       "The substitutions we fashion to take the place of God in our lives truly hold no water. To the measure we thus refuse the 'living water,' we miss the joy we could have." (Ensign, July 1972, p105)
• Brother Stephen R. Covey wrote a wonderful book entitled, The Divine Center. In his book he lists a number of areas on which we may center our life, rather than on God. Many of these areas are good, but when our focus is taken from the Divine center, then we are hewing out "broken cisterns". Consider these areas:
1. Spouse centeredness: This is the one of the most important relationships in all eternity. But when our spouse becomes the center of our life, it may come at the expense of our relationship with God. It might cause one to postpone children or to frequently miss Church in order to spend weekends away with one's spouse.
2. Work or money making centeredness: This is part of life, but when it leads us away from Christ, we have become too focused on this pursuit. When one centers his/her life in this area, they neglect their relationship with God, avoid their family, and may be minimally active in the Church.
3. Possession centeredness.
4. Pleasure centeredness.
5. Leader centeredness: What happens when we put our faith in the teachings of a political leader or a self-improvement guru or even a bishop. Brother Covey says they "then build their security on such expectations and hopes and thereby become dependent and vulnerable." This does not happen when our life is Divinely centered.
6. Friend centeredness.
7. Enemy centeredness: Do we every become possessed with how someone has crossed us?
8. Self centeredness.
9. Church centeredness: Brother Covey says, "the Church is a means to an end, not an end in itself." He goes on to say that, "Many LDS marriages are in real jeopardy even though both parties are very active in the Church." When even the Church becomes the center of our life, at the exclusion of spouse, family, or gospel study, we are in jeopardy.
10. Family centeredness: Brother Covey, "Ironically, the ultimate result of family-centeredness can be the loss of the family. As an example, a family-centered person may come to resent Church demands and callings and may becom a law unto himself in judging and turning down properly inspired calls."
11. The Divine center: Brother Covey maintains that this is the only way we can maintain proper perspective in the above areas. If we have properly centered our lives, we will seek to find a proper balance between spouse, family, church, work, etc. In his chapter entitled The Divine Center, he quotes this verse from Helaman, "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall" (Helaman 5:12). This is the only way we can build "cisterns" to hold the living water.
12. NOTE: Please see Brother Covey's book for a full explanation of the above ideas related to various centers in our lives. He does a magnificent job of teaching the importance of centering one's life on Christ and Heavenly Father. If I were to recommend one book to add to the scriptures and the teachings of the apostles and prophets, this would be it.
3. These ancient Jews centered their lives on the wrong things and refused to change when called to repentance. As a consequence, Jeremiah's prophecies that the Babylonians would destroy Jerusalem were fulfilled.

Jeremiah Is Strengthened In Adversity

1. Jeremiah 1:9: "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."
• WHAT DID THE LORD PUT IN JEREMIAH'S MOUTH?
• His words.
2. Jeremiah 15:16: "Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts."
• WHAT DID JEREMIAH DO WITH THE WORDS OF THE LORD?
• He ate them, which is poetic language meaning that the word of God became part of him. I suppose this is what it means to feast upon the word of God.
• HOW CAN WE "EAT" THE WORDS OF THE LORD AS JEREMIAH DID?
• By studying the scriptures and the counsel of latter-day prophets.
• Turning again to Brother Covey's book, consider what he had to say about studying the scriptures or feasting upon the words of Christ.
• "Grasping and holding on to the rod of iron (the word of God) is that discipline which will gradually bring unity and integrity to our lives." (p186)
• "Regular and prayerful scripture study is like putting on the glasses of the Lord. It will influence all you look at, see, and do." (p187)
• "I suggest that prayerful scripture study is the key to being given personal revelation." (p187)
• "I believe that the habit of prayerfully searching and pondering the scriptures (feasting) is the single most vital spiritual discipline in life. What food is to the body, prayerful scripture study is to the spirit. We physically die without food, and we spiritually die without the Spirit and word of God." (p188)
3. Jeremiah 20:9: "Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay."
• WHAT DO YOU THINK IT MEANS TO HAVE WORD OF THE LORD BE A BURNING FIRE IN YOUR BONES? WHY DO YOU THINK JEREMIAH COULD NOT HOLD BACK FROM TEACHING THE WORD OF THE LORD?
• As we seek to know and understand the word of the Lord, we are moved. There were times on my mission when I was so moved by the "fire shut up in my bones" that I was constrained to bear witness of the gospel. As we "feast" on the scriptures, this will happen to us. We will be strengthened, as was Jeremiah, to fulfill our missions in life, even during times of adversity.

Summary

Jeremiah lived in a time of great wickedness. He was called to preach to gospel of repentance and though it was not easy, he was strengthened by the Lord and fulfilled his mission. We also live in a time of great wickedness. Living in the world exposes us to the carnal desires of man and they are made to look attractive. We must be careful not to get caught up in the ways of the world and "hew" out "broken cisterns". One way to do this, to keep our lives Divinely centered, is by eating or feasting upon the words of the Lord through prayerful, meditative scripture study on a daily basis. If we do this, like Jeremiah, we will be able to endure adversity and fulfill our missions.

Next Week

Lesson 42: Jeremiah 16; 23; 29; 31.

Additional Reading: Jeremiah 3-9; 13; 30; 32:37-42; 33; 35.