![]() His prophetic work began under the good king Josiah. Part of his assignment was to oppose the idolatry and evil practices that had become part of worship in Judah. Like an outside consultant hired to shake up the status quo in a business, he was called to disrupt business as usual in the kingdom of Judah. God was making an attempt, through Jeremiah, to call them back before disaster struck. God’s messages given through Jeremiah were not gentle and affirming, for the Jews were coming disastrously close to abandoning their faithfulness to God. His job description was to carry God’s messages “over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jer. The year was 626 B.C., the 13 th year of King Josiah’s reign (Jer. In his early twenties, Jeremiah received God’s call to be a prophet. The Reluctant Prophet's Call and Job Description (Jeremiah and Lamentations) Those who face cultural, ethnic, racial, linguistic, religious or other prejudices in today’s workplaces can identify with what Jeremiah faced every day of his life. ![]() Jeremiah remained a suspicious and disliked outsider throughout his long career in Jerusalem. When God called Jeremiah to be his prophet in Jerusalem, the prophet found himself in the midst of priests who did not accept his inherited priesthood. ![]() Solomon had removed Abiathar from authority centuries earlier (1 Kings 1:28 – 2:26) and replaced him with the priestly line of Zadok in Jerusalem. Jeremiah was born into the priestly line of Abiathar, but had little standing with the priests in Jerusalem. While close geographically, the two communities were far apart culturally and politically. Jeremiah grew up in the small town of Anathoth three miles northeast of Judah’s capital, Jerusalem. His perseverance reminds us that perhaps we can learn how to experience God’s presence in the most difficult workplaces. Yet he could see God’s presence in the most difficult situations. His workplace (among the governing elites of Judah) was corrupt and hostile to God’s work. One of the appeals of the book of Jeremiah is that the prophet’s situation was extremely difficult. Most of us find our workplaces to be difficult, at least at times. Jeremiah and His Times (Jeremiah and Lamentations) Back to Table of Contents Back to Table of Contents He encouraged them with God’s promise that he would eventually restore their joy and prosperity if they would return to faithfulness.Īlthough Jeremiah lived about 600 years before the apostle Paul, what he said about work could easily be summed up in the words of Colossians 3:23, “Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, as done for the Lord and not for your masters.” When disaster came, he taught them how to live out God’s law in their new - and bleak - situation. He then admonished God’s people that they were not following God’s law and warned that this will bring disaster upon them. Instead, he accepted those revealed in earlier books of the Bible, especially in the Law of Moses. In his work-related oracles, Jeremiah did not introduce many new principles or commands. Within the framework of faithfulness to God, Jeremiah offers a number of passages directly related to work and many other passages that deal with faithfulness to God in the wholeness of life, with clear implications for our work. This is not unlike those today who attend church on Sunday, place their offerings in the collection plate, but live the rest of their lives as though God were not involved. They still, on the whole, came to the temple, offered sacrifices and called on the name of the Lord, but failed to acknowledge God in the way they lived the rest of their lives (Jer. From kings and princes to priests and prophets, all were unfaithful to God. Jeremiah had to deal with the unfaithfulness to God of virtually all of the people. ![]() We’re called to be faithful to God in our work, but it’s not easy to follow God’s ways in many workplaces. We face a similar issue as workers today. Jeremiah is concerned with faithfulness in every aspect of life, including religion, family, military, government, agriculture and other spheres of life and work. The fundamental issue in the book of Jeremiah is whether the people will be faithful to God in the midst of a difficult environment. Introduction to Jeremiah and Lamentations Back to Table of Contents Back to Table of Contents Learning From the Psalms How to Pray Through Your Work.Beyond Rank and Power: What Philemon Tells Us About Leadership.Evangelism - Sharing the Gospel at Work.10 Key Points About Work in the Bible That Every Christian Should Know.
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