Whatever I Command!

At the beginning of the prophecy of Jeremiah God gives Jeremiah a message to deliver to the nation of Israel. It is not a pleasant message, for it is a message that documents the history of their faithlessness to the covenant. Jeremiah is commissioned to say words that nobody really wants to hear.

After God discloses the message, or at least a summary of it, he says to the prophet, “Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them.”

Jeremiah might find himself asking, “Just who is this judgment directed towards? I thought I was supposed to be the good guy in this story, the obedient one!”

 God is telling the prophet that He is with him, and when God is with a person they have nothing to fear at all. Don’t water down the message! Don’t dilute it! Say exactly what I command you to say! If you get scared, if you back down, if you diminish the message I am giving to you, then you will indeed be terrified before the people.

 What must it have felt like to be caught in the middle? You were about to go and tell a king that he was responsible for leading a people astray and that the punishment for this failed leadership would be the downfall of his kingdom? This king could have you executed on the spot!

On the other hand we have God who is saying that the consequences of delivering anything other than exactly what you have been told to say will have personal and severe as well. What can a poor prophet do?

 God has good news though. God, Himself, prepares the prophet for the audience. “Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land – against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land.” You shall be stronger than all of them put together! They shall not touch you because I have forbidden it!

God knows that much of what we are called to do may play to our weakest personality traits. The task is not about making us look good. The task is about delivering the Word of God to people who need to hear it. To this end, God has equipped you with everything you could possibly need to get it done. You are a strong tower, even though you feel like a leaf tossed on the wind. You feel like the Cowardly Lion, but God has given you a courageous new heart! Walk boldly from this place led on by the power of the One who has put His message in your heart and on your lips!

 Pastor Craig