Journey
Jeremiah and Baruch
A prophet who said he was a child, and the scribe who wrote his words twice. A field bought during a siege, a scroll in the fire and a man in the mire.
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Opening stop: Before I formed thee, Jeremiah 1:4
Jeremiah was the son of Hilkiah, of the priests in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin (Jeremiah 1:1). His protest echoes Moses, who also said he could not speak and was promised words (Exodus 4:10-12), and Solomon, who called himself but a little child (1 Kings 3:7). Of the six verbs in verse 10, four tear down and only two build. An almond rod is not new in Scripture: Aaron's rod yielded almonds when God chose the house of Levi (Numbers 17:8).
Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
King James Version
The chapter opens by naming Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, and by setting his words in the days of Josiah, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, down to the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month. The word of the Lord then comes to him: before he was formed in the belly the Lord knew him and ordained him a prophet unto the nations. Jeremiah objects that he cannot speak because he is a child. The Lord answers that he must go wherever he is sent and speak whatever is commanded, and that he need not fear their faces. The Lord touches his mouth and says he has put his words there, setting him over nations and kingdoms to root out, pull down, destroy, throw down, build and plant. Two visions follow. Jeremiah sees a rod of an almond tree, and the Lord says he will hasten his word to perform it. He then sees a seething pot with its face toward the north, and the Lord says an evil will break forth out of the north on all the inhabitants of the land, with the families of the northern kingdoms setting their thrones at the gates of Jerusalem. The judgments answer the people's forsaking of the Lord and burning incense to other gods. The chapter closes with the command to gird up his loins and speak, and with the promise that he is made a defenced city, an iron pillar and brasen walls against kings, princes, priests and people, who will fight against him but not prevail.
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This journey has 11 stops. The opening stop is free. Premium opens the rest of the guided path, and every Scripture chapter stays free to read.