Going With The Grain, vol. 12
What matters is the word.
A bit of background…
The year is 626 B.C. Thirteen years ago, a boy, Josiah, became king. He was only 8 years old! His father, Amon, worshiped and served the idols that his father, Mannasseh, had made. But unlike Mannasseh, Amon did not humble himself before the Lord; there was no repentance in his heart.
Can you imagine the uneasiness an child-king brings to a nation? Can you imagine the fears that inspires, the questions it raises? Or worse, the guile of those ready to take advantage of the moment? Transitions of power are marvelous opportunities for nefarious schemes. How much more when the new king is only 8 years old! (Or 78 years old.)
Perhaps the young Josiah remembered the repentance of his grandfather. Perhaps his example was just enough to give Josiah the courage to break the cycle of waywardness in his family and in the nation. Five years ago, while still a youth, he began to seek the Lord and to purge Judah of her idols and high places.
Revival was on its way…
“I am only a youth!”
Jeremiah was roughly the same age as the young king. The son of a priest in Anathoth, he likely remembered Josiah’s enthronement. He surely would have been aware of the “changes” Josiah was bringing to the nation’s worship. Nevertheless, when God approached Jeremiah to make him a prophet, he wanted no part of the budding revival.
Like Moses before him (see Ex. 3:1-4:17), Jeremiah seemed to think God had chosen poorly. “I am only a youth!” (1:6) he protested. (A strange thing to say when your king was anointed at 8 years old, no?)
What fears lie behind a statement like that?
Incompetence? Inexperience? Failure? Those are all possible. But the fear of man seems most likely: the fear of Jeremiah’s friends and family who would inevitably not take him seriously as a prophet (Mark 6:4). You can imagine the ridicule of his fellow Anathothians, “Jeremiah...that teary-eyed runt of Hilkiah’s? He’s speaking for God now is he? Get out of here!” (Jeremiah would in fact have his share of hometown haters.)
God will be with his word.
But God wasn’t deterred. Before Jeremiah emerged from the womb, God had chosen him to be his mouthpiece to a wandering and adulterous people (1:5). God rebuked Jeremiah’s fear and promised to be with him to deliver him (1:7-8). Then God stretched out his hand and put his word into Jeremiah’s mouth (1:9-10).
God did still more to encourage Jeremiah. He gave him two visions: one of an almond branch to signify that God was “watching over [his] word to perform it” (1:11-12; the Hebrew word for “almond” sounds a lot like the word for “watching”), and another of a boiling pot facing south to signify the judgment that God would pour out on Judah from the north (1:13-16). A vision of judgment might not sound encouraging on its face, but it’s what came next that would inspire Jeremiah’s courage.
Jeremiah’s mission was simple: speak everything that God told him (1:17). But that’s easier said than done. God knew his wayward people would not welcome Jeremiah’s message (i.e. God’s message). So, he prepared Jeremiah, saying:
And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you. (Jer. 1:18-19, emphasis added)
A fortified city, an iron pillar, bronze walls… Jeremiah would be impregnable, an unstoppable force for righteousness. The people would protest, his haters would hate, the rabble would rebel; but they would not prevail against him. Why? Because God was with him. For the second time, God promised his presence to Jeremiah.
Better to stand with God.
Though we may not share Jeremiah’s prophetic office or have had God’s word put into our mouths by his own hand, we do have his word in our hands. And insofar as we declare it with courage and clarity we can have confidence that God is with us, that he will do immeasurably more than we imagine through it.
What matters is not our age, our training, our office, or frankly, our opposition. What matters is the word. For where the word is God is. And to stand with God is surely better than to kowtow to those who stand against him.
Oden’s oracle:
At almost 2 years old, Oden is still regularly mistaken for a puppy. I realize 2 years is still borderline puppy stage, though adolescence seems more apt. But given his size (a modest 30 lbs.), this honest mistake is quite forgivable. For better or worse, he will probably look perpetually like a puppy.
But less forgivable is mistaking him for a female, as a very sweet lady did this weekend while out on our walk. Nothing about Oden presents as female. So, I never quite know what to do in this scenario. I always feel awkward correcting people of a pretty demonstrable fact.
Anyway, I’m not sure where this “oracle” is going… Just another day with boy wonder.
One more thing…
I recently came across this hymn from Sovereign Grace Music. It’s a beautiful adaptation of the well-known chorus Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.
Lift your eyes and be blessed!