Study
13 From the Book of Jeremiah is: Jeremiah 19: and 20
1.
Reflect on Jeremiah’s courage, and what it must have cost him to
deliver the message of 19:1-13. What was
his immediate reward? See 19:14 – 20:6.
2.
The strain and tension caused the prophet to break out into a
more bitter lament than he had yet uttered (20:7-18). In the midst of it his faith triumphed in the
assurance of God’s protection, and he was able even to sing His praise
(20:11-13). Then once more waves of
sorrow swept over him. In the light of
this passage, try to enter into the loneliness, hardship and suffering of
Jeremiah’s life. Note especially verse 9. Do we know anything of this almost
irresistible constraint to speak God’s word, even when we are daunted by the
costliness of speaking? Cf. Acts 5:27-29.
Notes
1.
19:5, 6, 11b. See 7:31 – 33 and Note on 7:32.
2.
19:13. ‘Defiled’: i.,e., by dead bodies
3.
20:16. ‘The cities’: i.,e., Sodom and Gomorrah; see Gn. 19:24,
25.
LINK TO THE VERSES LISTED
