GOD’S WORD OF CALLING (2)

“Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am ready to PERFORM MY WORD” – Jeremiah 1:12

Jeremiah experienced confirming encounters with GOD’S WORD of CALLING: “Moreover the WORD of the LORD came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.” Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am ready to PERFORM MY WORD” (Jer.1:11-12). This first chapter in the Book of Jeremiah details the commissioning, confirmation, and charge of Jeremiah’s Calling, by the Word of the Lord! Here he received his call to ministry to perform the unique role that God had prearranged for him before conception and birth. The faithful prophet was to draw courage from His divine Calling to communicate all that God had revealed.

God had intimate personal connection with His servant: “I knew you.” He set him apart for divine purposes: “I sanctified (consecrated) you.” He invested him with divine authority: “I ordained (appointed) you” (v.5). God dealt with Jeremiah’s reluctance and sense of inadequacy, based on his inexperience and youthful hesitancy: “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth” (v.6). God gave him divine direction, enablement and reassurance: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you” (vv.7-8). When God gives His servants a clear calling, He does not accept any excuses. He gave Jeremiah two prohibitions to nullify his excuses: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth’” and “Do not be afraid”!

Our human inadequacy is always the backdrop for God’s Grace: “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God” (2Cor.3:5). With His calling comes His gifting. With His gifts comes His Grace! Moreover, God never sends anyone out alone. His greatest provision is His Presence: “They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you,” says the Lord, “to deliver you” (v.19). God goes along to help and equip for the tasks assigned. As tangible evidence that He had empowered Jeremiah, in a spiritual experience God touched his mouth to speak His Truth (v.9). He was commissioned with two major themes: “To root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down” – Judgement; and “to build and to plant” – Restoration (v.10).

God reinforced Jeremiah’s calling with two confirming visions, both of which came by the Word of the Lord. The Rod of an almond tree spoke of the Certainty of Fulfilment: “I am ready to perform My word” (vv.11-12). Just as the early bursting into leaf and bloom of the almond tree heralded the springtime, so the spoken word pointed to its own rapid fulfilment. The almond tree was the waking-tree; the first tree to wake up after a long winter’s nap. It was also the watching-tree; the first tree to bud in spring; the tree one watched for in the spring. The Boiling Pot “facing away from the north” depicted the Indictment of Judgement: A boiling pot, about to spill over and dump its contents from north to south, symbolizing the invasion of the Babylonians (vv.13-16). Jeremiah was instructed to disabuse the people of their false hopes of safety.

God’s Charge followed the commission and confirmation: “Therefore PREPARE yourself and ARISE, and SPEAK to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before their faces, lest I dismay you before them” (v.17). Jeremiah was told to ‘roll up his sleeves,’ gird up his loins, get ready for action, and receive courage. In contrast to Jerusalem, which would fall to the enemy, God promised to make Jeremiah a fortified city, with iron bolt and brass walls, absolutely invincible in the coming struggle (v.18). This implies that God’s protection of us may consist, not in removing us from trouble, but in strengthening us to endure and overcome. Jeremiah did, and for over forty years, lived as a Victor!