Bible Study Reflection #29: Broken-Hearted Prophet

More often than not, these strange reflections of mine focus on the Gospel, and I suppose that’s good since the Gospel is the Good News of Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of God’s revelation to humanity. We should, therefore, never neglect the Gospel and the other New Testament books that offer valuable and prophetic insights into the teachings and life of Jesus revealed in the Gospel. But we must also remember that the entire Old Testament foreshadows the New Testament and provides many equally valuable insights into God’s plan, thus helping us better understand and appreciate all that He has revealed. This understanding of and appreciation for the entirety of God’s revelation will only deepen our faith and lead us along the path to the salvation He desires for us.

Today, then, I’ve decided to focus on the prophet Jeremiah and, specifically, the opening verses of the book of his prophecy. As we begin this reflection, I ask you to open your Bible to Jeremiah and read the opening verses from chapter one: Jeremiah 1:1-19.

A little background...To our knowledge Jeremiah was still a young man, probably only in his twenties, when God called him in the year 626 B.C. He was preceded by several earlier prophets – Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah – by a hundred years or so.

Only a few years after Jeremiah’s call, King Josiah (640-609 B.C.) began a major religious reform after a restoration of the Temple led to the re-discovery of the Law, especially the Book of Deuteronomy. During Josiah’s reign, the Assyrians, who had conquered the northern kingdom of Israel, began to decline and were ultimately defeated by the Babylonians (Chaldeans). King Josiah, in an attempt to reclaim lands that were once part of David’s kingdom, claimed Samaria and a number of other cities, but died in a battle with the Egyptians at Megiddo in 609 B.C. (You can read a tribute to Josiah in Sirach 49:1-4.) Two decades later, in July of 587 B.C., Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians. The city’s destruction was followed by the exile or Babylonian Captivity. Although the exile officially ended with the decree of Persian King Cyrus in 537 B.C., the Jews considered it a 70-year captivity from 586 B.C. when the Temple was destroyed until the Temple was rebuilt in 516 B.C.

The years of Jeremiah’s prophecy, then, were a time of dramatic change and upheaval. They were a time of religious reform, a time of tension and threatening storms, and a time of horrendous defeat. It was a difficult time to be a prophet of the Lord.

Many have called Jeremiah God’s broken-hearted prophet, and I can certainly join them in that. He was a man who lived what can only be described as heart-rending life and whose prophecies of dire warning went largely unheeded by the people of Judah. But God had prepared him for all that he would face:

They will fight against you, but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you – oracle of the Lord [Jer 1:19].

When you speak all these words to them, they will not listen to you either. When you call to them, they will not answer you [Jer 7:27].

And, of course, God was correct. Very few, and especially none of those in power, listened to Jeremiah. Like so many of us, the people of Judah really didn’t want to hear bad news, and unfortunately for Jeremiah, most of what God revealed to him wasn’t very pleasant. But the people and their rulers had only themselves to blame. What did God tell Jeremiah in our passage?

I will pronounce my sentence against them for all their wickedness in forsaking me, in burning incense to other gods, in bowing down to the works of their hands [Jer 1:16].

Listening to this Word of God spoken by Jeremiah, once again we encounter the great sin of the Old Testament: idolatry. But perhaps, surprisingly to some, it’s also the great sin of today. Whenever I talk about this, many people respond with disbelief. Apparently, they assume idolatry requires the worship of statues or images, large and small, of pagan gods. But to engage in idolatry simply means placing something or someone above the worship of God. It’s to violate God’s first commandment:

I am the Lord your God…You shall not have other gods beside me. You shall not make for yourself an idol or a likeness of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or serve them [Dt 5:6, 7-9].

Today the world serves many idols: money, possessions, fame and celebrity, power, sex, …the list goes on. Not surprisingly the list hasn’t changed much since the time of Jeremiah. The people, and especially Judah’s leaders, didn’t want to hear God’s judgment and refused to accept it. Neither did they want to hear what God had planned for them: the invasion of Judah by the Babylonians and the destruction of Jerusalem. And so, they simply vented their anger on Jeremiah – much easier to blame the messenger than listen to the message. In fact, Jeremiah’s prophecy angered the princes so much they threw the prophet in prison. And that’s where he was when Babylon took the Holy City. Ironically, the Babylonians treated Jeremiah with more respect than his own people. They released him from prison, showed him great kindness, and allowed him to choose where he wanted to live.

But let’s focus on those opening verses of Jeremiah’s book of prophecy, a passage that describes his call by God, his call to be a prophet. The passage reveals many interesting things about this call, things that relate not only to Jeremiah, but also to each of us.

First of all, Jeremiah was set apart for God’s work from the very beginning – not just from his birth, but before he was even in the womb.

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you… [Jer 1:5]

I knew you -- I loved you and chose you -- God revealed to Jeremiah. I dedicated you – I set you apart to do my work in the world. I made you a prophet. I called you. And I did all this before you existed in the world. What a wonderful revelation!

But God was speaking not only to Jeremiah, because God’s love is both infinite and universal. Yes, He loves prophets and apostles. But He loves you as well. He loves all whom He has created. And He calls each one of us to do His work in the world.

We must never forget this. God has a plan for every person He has created. This revelation by God, one repeated frequently throughout Sacred Scripture, lays the foundation for the consistent Church teaching on abortion as an intrinsic evil. To willfully destroy the life of an unborn child, a life for which God has a plan, is no different from the destruction of any innocent human life.

God’s plan for each of us is as different as the variety of the gifts he bestows. St. Paul reminds us that the Holy Spirit manifests different gifts in His people. How did he put it?

There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom; to another the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit; to another mighty deeds; to another prophecy; to another discernment of spirits; to another varieties of tongues; to another interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes [1 Cor 12:4-11].

God, then, has given each of us gifts. All are not called to be prophets like Jeremiah, but each is called to be, as St. Teresa of Calcutta liked to say, “something beautiful for God.” Our life’s work as Christians consists in allowing God to show us those gifts and then using them to further God’s work in a sinful world. One warning: God will often ask you to do what you thought impossible. He will call you to your weaknesses, and by doing so, demonstrate to you and to others His remarkable power.

We see this when Jeremiah responds to God’s call. Like most of us, Jeremiah is more focused on himself and the personal demands of this call. It’s a very human response, isn’t it? As I mentioned earlier, Jeremiah was young when God called him. The thought of being a prophet must have terrified him, so much so that he protested, telling God that he neither spoke well nor was old enough to earn the respect of the people. Isn’t it interesting how often we consider it necessary to tell God things that He already knows. But God dismissed Jeremiah’s fears:

Do not say “I am too young.” To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak [Jer 1:7].

These concerns of Jeremiah’s mirror those of Moses when he was called by the Lord in the Book of Exodus:

Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? [Ex 3:11]

…and

If you please, my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and tongue [Ex 4:10].

But it was through the weakness of Moses, Jeremiah, the Apostles, and so many others that God accomplishes His work in the world. It is through your weaknesses and mine that He will accomplish much today. But first, like Moses and Jeremiah and the Apostles, we too must respond to God’s call.

Jeremiah’s youth also offers us insights into God’s plan for the salvation of the world. Let’s recall those words that St. Peter used on the day of Pentecost when he quoted the prophet Joel:

I will pour out a portion of My Spirit on all mankind: Your sons and daughters shall prophesy; your young men shall see visions [Acts 2:17; Joel 3:1-5].

Yes, indeed, brothers and sisters, God will raise up young people in a special way to renew the face of the earth. And just as He chose Jeremiah to speak His truth to the people of Judah, He will empower new Jeremiahs to speak to the world today:

Today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms to uproot and to tear down, to destroy and to demolish, to build and to plant [Jer 1:10].

As young as these modern-day Jeremiahs may seem to us old folks, they are not too young for God. You and I must never cease telling our young people – telling our children, our grandchildren, the youth of our parish – the same words St. Paul addressed to his spiritual son, St. Timothy:

Let no one have contempt for your youth, but set an example for those who believe, in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity [1 Tim 4:12].

I am convinced this young generation today is destined to do great things. I know this because Satan has tried so hard to destroy it. He fears what the Lord can do through this new generation that he has helped kill a third of them even before their birth. And what of those who managed to escape the evil of abortion and survive until birth? Satan has tried to abuse, brainwash, and enslave them through dysfunctional families, secular humanism, substance abuse, and sexual promiscuity. But the survivors of the survivors are here; they know God's love and believe in Him. It is these, the young ones who have survived Satan's onslaught, that God will use to renew the face of the earth. Pray for them.

Since we’re unable to meet – at least for now – you might want to take some time this week and read the rest of this wonderful book of prophecy. There is so much to learn from Jeremiah, a prophet who suffered much and like so many who did God’s work in the world, opened his soul to God. As you will discover, Jeremiah didn’t hesitate to tell God what he thought, to share his troubles with the Lord and plead for help and strength. Perhaps soon we’ll take another look at this special Prophet and walk through at least some of the key portions of the book he left for us.

God’s peace be with you all.