Tuesday April 21, 2015

Read Jeremiah 1:4-5

The role of a priest in the Old Testament was relatively an easy job. It was routine and would roll on year after year. Though the sacrifices and offerings could be complicated in and of themselves, they were done so regularly that the repetition would alone make one proficient at the job. Throughout the centuries of the tabernacle and temple being used by the nation of Israel, the role changed very little.

The role of a prophet was far different. It was both taxing and demanding. When we think of the word ‘prophet’ we might be tempted to think of clairvoyants or fortune tellers, palm readers and the like who predict the future in such banal and vague terms that their prophesy could apply to anyone and everyone. Being a prophet of God in the Bible was far different. A prophet was called by God often to reveal the sins of the people and to exhort them to repent. The past sins of the people featured more and got more air time than the future of the people. The prophet would tell the future but often in terms of the choice people made. If the people chose to do this then God would do that. If they did not choose to do this then God would…They predicted judgement and blessing, weal and woe, blessing and curse in terms of the covenant that Yahweh had made with the people.

Jeremiah was called to be a prophet of God and God had ordained this from before he was born. King David uttered the same sentiment in Psalm 139:15-16.

My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me

were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

Interestingly we are told that God knew Jeremiah before he was formed in the womb - presumably meaning that God knew him before the pregnancy had come to full term or at least, before the body of the baby had fully formed. As an aside to Jeremiah’s call to prophesy, this verse speaks to the abortion debate because the not-yet fully formed body is able to be known (read the Hebrew sense of relationship) by God. If we ask, is the unborn baby human? then this sense of knowing and relationship has to cause us to answer ‘yes, the unborn baby is human’. Food for thought, yes?

Even though each one of us today are not called to be prophets, the same sentiment applies to us. God knows those who are His and assigns them a calling and work to do before each one is formed in the womb. In Ephesians 2:8-10 we read:

Ephesians 2:8–10 (NIV84)

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

God chose to save us from before creation (Eph 1:4) and prepared for us a series of good works that He wanted us to do. Jeremiah persevered through 40 years of tough and rugged ministry because he knew the calling of God. How encouraging that we too have the calling of God in our lives. We too can persevere. We too can keep at it. We too can have that staying power that Jeremiah had because God’s call is upon our lives.

Prayer Points:

Using today’s Bible passage and reading notes spend time in adoration, confession, thanks and supplication.

Adoration:

Confession:

Thanks:

Supplication:

· Pray for the MOPS/Playpals ministry that runs each Wednesday at ChristLife Presbyterian Church. Ask the Lord to bring forth much fruit from this ministry and that many families will come to know the Lord God Almighty through these ministries.

· Pray that your church would grow as more and more people are converted to Christ through the proclamation of the Gospel.

Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. How can a modern day believer be assured that God knew them in the womb and even before creation?

2. Josephus was told by his parents for his entire life that he was just an accident that nobody wanted. Now as a believer he wants to know if he was an accident or not. What does the Bible say to Josephus?

3. What verses would you use to encourage Josephus?