Memory Text: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5, NKJV).
Read for This Week’s Study: Isa. 1:19, Jer. 7:5–7, 1 Kings 2:26, Jer. 1:1–5, Isa. 6:5, Jer. 1:6–19, Matt. 28:20.
We know more about the life of Jeremiah than we do about any other Old Testament prophet. The biographical facts in his book help us understand better his work as a prophet. Jeremiah had such an effect on history that, even at the time of Jesus, he was a revered prophetic figure. At the same time, the prophet’s work, judged by human standards, shows only slight success. Despite decades of fervent warning and pleadings, the people for the most part didn’t listen to the messages he gave them from the Lord.
Nevertheless, despite the opposition, Jeremiah could not be bought or sold; he stood as “a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall” (Jer. 1:18, NIV), not in his own strength but in the Lord’s. Jeremiah’s lot in life wasn’t a happy one in many ways.
His calling brought him suffering, woe, rejection, even imprisonment. Worse still was the fact that so many of these troubles came from the very ones whom he was seeking to help, seeking to point in the right direction. Thus, in his own way, Jeremiah prefigured what Jesus Himself would face hundreds of years later in the same land.
* Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, October 3.
Adventist Sabbath School Lesson for Adults
Q4 2015 «Jeremiah»
Lesson 1 – The Prophetic Calling of Jeremiah
