As a single woman, I had a list of things I wanted in my “future husband.” I wanted someone patient and hard working like my dad, a good mentor like my coach, a wise person like my pastor, etc. I had things I was “looking” for in a spouse and knew I would recognize the right person when I recognized those signs, i.e., godly traits (James 1:17). My husband is a gift from the Lord and I’m grateful for those “clues” along the way for what God wanted for me. God wants us to “see” what He sees, what He is looking for in any given circumstance. That requires that we pause to get Gods’ perspective.
Did you know God left clues in the Old Testament prophets, so that people could recognize His Savior when He came? While reading the Nativity story this month, I noticed similarities with Jeremiahs’ story. It was not all roses, there were terrifying dangerous events in both of their lives. Then I stumbled upon a brilliant commentary (The Expositors Bible Commentary, Vol.6) where Charles Feinberg makes 16 points on how the life of Jesus is foreshadowed by the life of Jeremiah. The similarities are shocking: [1]
Compare their historical setting, their message, their mention of nature, their priest and kingly family backgrounds, their call, their condemnation of commercial worship, their persecution and imprisonment, their foretelling of the destruction of the Temple, they both wept and prayed over Jerusalem even after being told to stop, they both condemned other priests of their day, they were both rejected by their kin, they were both tenderhearted suffering servants, they both loved Israel deeply, they both knew deep loneliness, they both enjoyed unique fellowship with God.[2]
We are given clues to recognize the Lord’s work and plan. While they were waiting to see the future hope, God was working.
While Jeremiah renounced the sins of his day and announced that judgment was coming, God was working. With every mention of judgment, they were told that if they repent and return, then blessings and hope would come. Sadly, they refused to hear. When they beat Jeremiah, he was still holding out hope they would change. When they mocked him, he was still continuing to pray for them. That didn’t mean Jeremiah missed God.
Jeremiah can be a hard read. It is the longest book in the Bible and sometimes a bit heavy. But we, like the people in the Old and New Testament, need the reminder. If we do not think we need it, then we need it most. We would much rather read the promises and hear of hope. Hope in Jeremiahs economy looks like this- first God will break the skewed foundations, that which is built on human ingenuity, personality, or idols (substitutes) and then when the rubble is cleared, He will rebuild a correct foundation. The hope and promises are guaranteed because God, the sovereign God will build it the way it should have been built in the first place- masterfully and according to His will. Break, build, remake, seems to be Gods’ thing. Let me give some examples for us to consider and apply:
- God has a surgical knife and will use it if necessary.
Whether it is China, Russia, or North Korea we are always aware that other nations have the potential to harm our nation. The news has been full of possibilities lately. God reaches nations when we pray. Babylonians with new names, are still a threat. Huang Sabin writes in his commentary that Jeremiah told the people God was going to use a heathen nation as a “surgical knife” to fix their infectious disease of sin. Ouch. They would be a tool in Gods’ hand. God is still capable of that today. God can send Babylonians our way if we do not continue praying and watching, repenting for our sins. We need to find God and see what He is doing –personally and in the nations! We need to watch and pray. - God is a jealous God and will not “share” us with other gods. No substitutes.
Several large ministry leaders fell morally this past year. It grieves our hearts. Not only did these leaders not turn to God for their needs but they wrecked other marriages. H. Sabin in his commentary on Jeremiah writes, “God never blames us for being thirsty, only for drinking from the wrong source. He will not tolerate us looking for “substitutes.” God has to break us in order to remake us.” Moral failure is a sure way to have your life and ministry crumble. If you stack pressure on top of integrity issues or misplaced values, it will all topple. Jeremiah warned us of this. Repentance is the key. Repentance is not a word we hear of very often in our culture but it was a staple in Jeremiahs’ messages. It simply means to go back to God and His ways, His will. Jeremiah’s message of a future hope (29:11) comes on the heels of God first telling His people they will be utterly destroyed and all their idols removed. They ignored the “if” statements and continued on with business as usual.
It’s like on Christmas morning, your kids get that special toy new out of the box but it won’t work. You read the directions, and it states: Batteries required. You were told but raced forward without doing the basics. Yes, there is hope and yes God intends to bless but FIRST insert repentance, cleansing and turn back to God. Where there are no altars or crying out to God– there will be no revival – batteries are required. The Maker told us that, it should be no surprise. It’s foundational to Gods’ plan. Good luck trying it any other way. It will be costly, wearisome and a colossal waste of time. The” juice or energy” is surrendering and yielding to God alone – repentance. Removing all other sources of energy and wisdom and solely relying on God for our strength and life is the message Jeremiah preached. His family was not thrilled but it was still truth.
The two sins Jeremiah targeted were rebukes from the Lord, “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the Spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water (Jer.2:13).” All the special “Christmas toys” are rubbish if they don’t have fresh batteries. All the hype and pomp of churches and Christians will be rubbish if we do not have a living fountain flowing inside–Personal salvation and regeneration. “The Temple, The Temple” they cried but their personal walks were abysmal. Jeremiah’s clues to us shout loudly through history.
Walter Kaiser in his commentary on the Old Testament tells us:
“For Jeremiah, the sole remedy for the sin of the nation lay in sincere repentance and following a life of obedience to the divine will. Jer.9:3 …. the vital necessity for the implementation of this hope of survival was the engraving of the divine law in the human heart and will, rather than on tablets of stone. …Jeremiah had nothing to say about a restored Temple and cultus, for his predominant concern was with a future that would be characterized by spiritual regeneration and moral purification in the lives of the Chosen people.”[3] (Give the people spiritual batteries or “the Temple” will not work).
- Serving God requires testing and rejection, not popularity or man’s approval.
During a prayer time earlier this year the Lord spoke to us that He was going to take down many in government and replace them with men and women after His heart. We, by accident or providence, were driving around Washington D.C. when the word came. It was hard to believe, especially in a short time period. The next Monday, everything started to change. We are now seeing that word come to pass. There are also many leaders being pulled into service who were outcasts even five years ago. I’m beginning to wonder if the ones’ God chooses to use are very far from the trendy folks seen on television today. Gods’ mouthpiece then, looked like “single, disliked by family, unpopular and constantly misunderstood and slandered”. What a job description! Persecution and opposition followed both Jeremiah and Jesus– yet they lived a holy life. They were both ridiculed and probably thought to be rebels or mentally ill, but they were God’s choice and divine messengers. They also both scrutinized the “political, social, moral, and spiritual life of the people”. Prophets, priests, kings, nobles, and even relatives could expect no favoritism from him.”[4] Maybe we have looked at our own models of leaders, instead of Gods’ and that is why we are missing the moral compass in our nation? Maybe we’ve exchanged Gods voice for sound bytes? Gods will shall prevail.
God forewarned Jeremiah that exile is coming. He told him, “you will be single, mocked, your works will be burned, your journals scattered”. Jeremiah waits because he has hope. His life was not amazing, or first glance successful, it was difficult – yet God used him greatly because Gods’ highest goal is not to make us happy but to make us HOLY. It’s truly not about us. His Kingdom shall have no end.
In your lonely place of prison, confinement, solitude Jeremiah, judgment is sure. Your messages will be ridiculed, your connections will be broken. Jeremiah waits because he has a promise of a holy Messiah deep within his veins. [5]
While in the miry, smelly, muddy earth, he may have hoped the leaders would be supportive, but they were part of the hit squad–they were fallen, unrepentant. LOOK TO ME, says the Lord to Jeremiah and us today, NOT THEM. They smote him, not the beggar or thief –but the ones pontificating on righteousness and rule. Yikes! But God still had HIS way, in spite of the people’s rejection and slander. God’s plan then and now will not, never be thwarted. Jeremiah waits because he knows, he watches because he hopes, that the only true One who is holy has promised him that He will come. That hope keeps his nose above the watery, muddy grave he stands in. That hope reminds him that only One is clean. Only One can cleanse, and that hope is his salvation. Jeremiah waits, hopes because he knows that God is true. God is holy.
We wait, we hope, we long for the Savior to appear. O come; o come Emmanuel. Then one night the Messiah, Emmanuel in a safe baby body is born, and the long, dark night of Jeremiah is enveloped in the promise he waited and watched for – and Hope personified appears. It is the night of our dear Saviors birth. Long lay the world, in sin and error pining, till He appeared, and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices. Suddenly an angel appeared, but for years and years the words of Jeremiah hung in silence, waiting for vindication.
Holy night came with a price. Holy night came after repentance reconnected a grieved God and a sinful soul. Jeremiah waited for God’s answer, promise and hope. We saw all of that in Jesus. Now, we eagerly wait for His return. May we repent, wait in hope, and receive all the promises and salvation He can give.
Batteries were provided for this precious Holy night.
Without sin and judgement, no salvation would be necessary. (Hear Cains song What a Friend and Michael Boggs song Oh Come Ye unfaithful). May we remember Jeremiah had a glimpse of God and what He was doing, but he could not clearly see through history for the deliverance of His people. He could see the sign of the Almond Tree and boiling pot but could not clearly see the Redeemer born in a manger. He could only HOPE the message was true. You and I have that advantage. We know HOPE personified in Jesus has come and will come again.
I prefer not to be smote or mocked or persecuted. Being smote is not in my Dayplanner for 2025. I’m pretty sure Jesus preferred to not go to the cross or go through the pain of being a suffering servant. But that holy night Jesus came into this world; He brought with Him the long awaited HOPE Jeremiah had been promised. He came for you and me and gave us what we needed, truly needed– to be reconnected to our holy Father. Forgiveness, reconciliation, wholeness for the unworthy was provided. Judgment and hope in one man for the redemption of all. No substitutes, no idols.
Find time to reconnect with Jesus this season. The real one, not the television version. Repent of all sins and seeking other “solutions.” Lay down all your strengths and weaknesses. Maybe even repent for looking up to Hollywood heroes (or preachers) , or actors, who have since fallen and for placing them on a pedestal in the first place. Accept the real hope that Jesus is returning and has prepared a place for you. A righteous God longs for fellowship with you, to give you a Hope and a Future.
O Come all ye unfaithful.[6] God sees your heart, your desires. He wants you now to see His.
May the words and life of Jeremiah inspire you. May his message come alive in your heart as you see Jesus afresh this season – hope that came alive on that O so holy night. Hope was no longer a dream, a prophecy, a fantasy. Hope was proven, provided. God came down, healing judgement and sin, providing a wonderful Future here and beyond. What do you see child of God? In this season, in this hour, what do YOU see?
Seeing Him with you this season,
RenaeRoche2025
*Edited 12/19/24 for clarification
[1] Expositors Commentary of the Bible. Vol.6 Jeremiah by Charles Feinberg (summarized for space).
[2] Ibid.
[3] Kaiser, Walter. Old Testament Theology. P.820
[4] Feinberg, Charles. P.361
[5] See the Movie “Jeremiah” with Patrick Dempsey on Netflix.
[6] Boggs, Michael. O come all ye unfaithful. YouTube. New Christmas song 2025.