The Bible Binge: Word! (Jeremiah 1:1-10)

Words

The average person living to the average age will speak around 800 million words in a lifetime. That’s equivalent to 20 sets of Encylopedias. 60% of our words are about ourselves. Only 20 percent of our words are productive. We do a lot of talking. And it isn’t surprising that a lot of our talking is about ourselves. What’s surprising is how little of our words are actually doing something positive.

We are a reflection of our Creator, who was talking from the very beginning. The very first chapter of the Bible is God speaking the entire world, including our first parents, into existence. This week we continue our Bible Binge in the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah follows the prophet Isaiah in our Bibles. Isaiah was a prophet to the kings. Jeremiah lived about 100 years later and was originally in a family of priests… but God has other plans for Jeremiah.

The idea of a prophet in the Bible is someone who speaks on God’s behalf. A prophet speaks God’s words. Here is a video that gives us a better understanding of just how we are to understand these prophets in the Old Testament.

Prophet Video

That gives us a better understanding of the role of a prophet in Israel. And all of that is true for the prophet Jeremiah. But if there’s one thing unique about Jeremiah is his emphasis on God’s words, God’s speech. So much so, that his entire first chapter is an explanation of how God’s Word and God’s speech are responsible for everything that happens to Jerusalem and Israel.

Words from Jeremiah/Words from God

The very first words in the book of Jeremiah are these:

Jeremiah 1:1 The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests

The words of Jeremiah. The book of Jeremiah has more words in it than any book in the Old Testament, including Psalms. Jeremiah has a lot to say. But that’s not all Jeremiah says in this opening. In the very next verse:

Jeremiah 1:2 The word of the Lord came to him

So which are they? The words of Jeremiah are the word of the Lord. They are both. This is Jeremiah speaking. But what Jeremiah is saying didn’t come from him. Jeremiah didn’t initiate this. This isn’t something he made up. This isn’t original with Jeremiah. His words, his speech, his message is not from this world. It is from another world, outside of Jeremiah, outside of Jerusalem. Outside and above. External to Jeremiah, not from inside of Jeremiah. Over and over and over again, in this first chapter Jeremiah is making sure that his audience knows that he’s not the one with the bad news.

The Word of the LORD came to me

Multiple times Jeremiah says in this chapter, the Word of the LORD came to me. The Word of the LORD came to me. The LORD said to me. And it is accompanied by this phrase, which is like an exclamation point:

This is the LORD’s declaration

Multiple times, Jeremiah finishing a paragraph with “this is the LORD’s declaration”. It’s almost as if Jeremiah is saying “Don’t shoot the messenger”. But this is important: Jerusalem… the kingdom of Judah, what is left of Israel is supposed to be hearing Jeremiah’s words as God’s words.

The book of Jeremiah is one of the longest books in the Bible. It’s also one of the most negative books in the Bible. Jeremiah doesn’t have a lot of positive things to say to Jerusalem. But here’s a key thing to remember as you read Jeremiah. Verse 3 of chapter 1 tells us that:

Jeremiah 1:3 The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah until the people of Jerusalem went into exile.

This means the book is written after the fact. Jeremiah compiles his words together after the people have been hauled away into captivity. It’s almost like the book is a scrapbook of what God said through Jeremiah. One of the biggest movies of all-time is James Cameron’s Titanic. Some of the story is based on actual events. But a lot of the story is a historical novel, a love story between two fictitious people. Let me ask you this… before you even went to the theater or before you even watched the video, did you know how it was going to end? Yes. Of course, we did. The title of the movie gave it away: the boat will end up on the bottom of the ocean, and many will lose their lives. We know how it ends.

That’s the book of Jeremiah. The audience knows how this is going to end:

Jeremiah 1:3 the people of Jerusalem went into exile.

The bad news in Jeremiah is relentless. Verse after verse. Chapter after chapter. The word that came to Jeremiah is one of judgment. Babylon is coming. There will be no grace period this time. It’s over. But why is this?

It becomes apparent that as you read the book of Jeremiah, the #1 question the people have in exile is this, whether they are in Egypt or Babylon:

Jeremiah 9:12 Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a wilderness?

Why is Jerusalem in ruins? Why is our temple destroyed? What is the land flowing with mike and honey now a wilderness? And it all comes back to chapter 1: the Word of the LORD came to Jeremiah. This is the LORD’s declaration. God told you if you didn’t not believe, if you did not have faith, if you did not repent, this is what would happen. Jerusalem is in ruins because you chased after other Gods. Because you didn’t take care of the poor and oppressed.

But this isn’t simply God predicting through Jeremiah what would happen if they didn’t change their ways. You heard it in the video… prophets aren’t really “predictors”. You read up on Jeremiah and the storyline is something along the lines of God bringing to pass what Jeremiah predicted. Or even God making good on his threats. In fact, there’s a verse here in chapter 1 that typically gets that treatment:

Jeremiah 1:9–10 Then the Lord reached out his hand, touched my mouth, and told me: I have now filled your mouth with my words. See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and demolish, to build and plant.

That verse is typically explained as Jeremiah’s message would be about uprooting and tearing down Jerusalem and the land and a message about how God was going to demolish and destroy Israel. But that’s not what this says. God is saying, I have filled your mouth with words… my words in your mouth will uproot, tear down, demolish and destroy, and then build and plant. God’s Word that came to Jeremiah is active. It is doing things. The Word itself is what will uproot and tear down.

That raises the prospect of this… we long to hear God’s promises and we talk about His promises giving us life. What if that speech and that Word were ever used against us? God’s word spoke all things into existence. His Word used in the very act of creation. Here in Jeremiah we are confronted with the very real and very scary reality that His Word can also dismantle creation.

And as if to emphasize his point, God, through Jeremiah, doubles down on what he has just said:

Jeremiah 1:12 The Lord said to me, “I watch over my word to accomplish it.”

I watch over my word to accomplish my word. Not accomplishing the predictions. Accomplishing or actually doing His Word in real time and space. You want to know why Jerusalem is in ruins? You didn’t receive my Word in faith and my Word has now been used against you. God’s Word that came to Jeremiah has done this.

Jeremiah is relentless with the bad news. In fact, it’s a contrast with Isaiah. Isaiah starts with the bad news and ends with the Good News. Jeremiah starts with bad news and he ends with bad news. About half-way through he takes a break from the bad news for some good news before returning to the bad news. But that same word that tears down is also a word of hope:

Jeremiah 1:10 I have filled your mouth with my words… to build and plant.

After the demolishing there will be building. After the scorching there will be planting. And it will be the Word through Jeremiah doing this.. providing planting and building. But Jeremiah would not live to see it. In fact, none of them would.

The WORD became flesh and dwelt among us

About 700 years later, there comes a Word that is active.. it is the same Word that was active through Jeremiah only this time, He is coming as Himself.

John 1:14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

One of the more interesting things about Jesus is that the people of his day considered him a prophet… just like Jeremiah. But this prophet isn’t simply speaking the words of God. This is the Word of God himself. This is the Creator who has come speaking life, forgiveness, and salvation. This Word spoke and people were healed. This Word spoke, and people were forgiven. This Word did not come to condemn us, but to speak us alive… the Word who is our life, giving us life. This is the Word Jeremiah talked about… who builds and plants his church.

This is our fifth anniversary. Five years ago at Los Fresnos United, we held our first Word and Sacrament service. We ask this question often: what is it the makes a church? What is the definition of church? Here’s how we have defined it:

church/(chûrch): a church is where the Word is faithfully preached and the Sacraments are rightly administered.

Among the things we can say about this is church is where The Word is. Just like Jesus, we preach and teach the Word because this is how Jesus heals and gives life. It is Jesus speaking forgiveness to us that Jesus gives us his love and his grace and his favor. But it’s not just for us.

This is what the Son of God, the second person of the Godhead, whom we now know as Jesus, says to us through Jeremiah:

Jeremiah 1:10 I have filled your mouth with my words… to build and plant.

This happens through Jesus’ word. We hear it this way: I have filled The Table’s mouth with my words… to build and plant here in Los Fresnos. His Words are in our mouths. This world, including our own lives, lacks love. We know it in our relationships. We see it on our screens. Jesus uses His Word through us to give people hope and healing and reconciliation. He has been doing this through The Table for five years. We continue to have the opportunity to speak into people’s lives providing hope and healing. Especially in our inner circles. Whatever or whoever your inner circle is, that’s where Jesus is going to use you, like Jeremiah to build and plant through His Word using your words. Using many of the 800 million words of your lifetime to providing healing and hope. He has placed his words in our mouths for Los Fresnos.

Let’s Pray.

The Table

This Table is Jesus’ Word. FOR YOU. This is where His Word is providing life, salvation, and forgiveness again. This is where Jesus is building and planting His kingdom. This is His declaration… that this Word is himself, the Bread of life that he has given for you.

Benediction

Numbers 6:24–26 May the Lord bless you and protect you;

may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;

may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.