“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
~ Jeremiah 1:5
Hi James and Ellen,
It is 626 B.C. Hilkiah’s son Jeremiah has gotten the call up from God from the minor development priest and prophet league to join God’s major prophet league. Jeremiah comes from a family of priests. Hilkiah’s name means ‘the Lord is my portion’. Jeremiah gives his side of the story in Jeremiah 1 of how his call up took place. As he was going about his normal daily tasks, Jeremiah hears God’s ‘still small voice’ speaking to him. Jeremiah recounts in verse 5 what God’s ‘still small voice’ told him ““Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”” Jeremiah relates that he told God that he is still just a kid and that he really has not learned how to talk yet. Jeremiah continues to say that God told him not to think of himself as kid – that He really did want him to be in His major prophet league as one of His impact prophets who He knew would do exactly what He – as his life Coach, told him to do. Jeremiah details God telling him that there would be guys who He would be sending him to with words that He had already scripted for him to say – that he had no reason to be afraid of doing what He was asking him to do because He said that He would be going with him to see these guys and that He would even rescue him if a situation unfolded where his life was endangered. Jeremiah says that he sensed – or maybe saw in a supernatural way, God reaching out His hand to touch his mouth. Jeremiah reports that God then told him that He had just put the words in his mouth which he was to use as His major league impact prophet to uproot, tear down, destroy, overthrow, build and plant nations and kingdoms – that his primary play action calls were to be calls of doom and restoration for the different nations and kingdoms of guys and gals.
Jeremiah for forty years was a hardworking, dedicated major prophet league player. Jeremiah’s first challenge as a major impact prophet was to come alongside Josiah to have influence in Josiah’s life. Josiah was appointed as king to rule over the guys and gals who lived in Judah’s land area. Josiah had ruled for about thirteen years as a God appointed king over the guys and gals who live in Judah’s land area when Jeremiah got the call up from God to call out His calls on planet Earth. Josiah was a good guy. About five years after Jeremiah was called up by God to join the major prophet league, Josiah implemented a spiritual reformation and renewal game plan. Your grandpaa thinks that Jeremiah was behind Josiah’s desire to see his people group of guys and gals – God’s specially chosen guys and gals, refocusing on their temple worship standards and following through on the life assignments that their Owner was expecting them to complete. Your grandpaa thinks that Jeremiah coached Josiah. Jeremiah’s charge as a major league impact prophet was not challenged during the years that Josiah was a God appointed king to rule over the guys and gals who lived in Judah’s land area. It was after Josiah suffered the consequences of having made a rash compromise that Jeremiah found himself with a couple of new players to try to coach. The first guy was Jehoiakim in 609 B.C. and then Zedekiah in 597 B.C. Both guys were adamant about not wanting Jeremiah to speak into how they wanted their team – who were God’s specially chosen guys and gals who were living in the city of Jerusalem, to play the spiritual life game with their lives. God tells/warns Jeremiah that he was going to witness times when he would see Him use His holy wrath on His specially chosen guys and gals because of their ongoing wickedness and unchecked sins as wake up calls for them to at least give a fleeting thought to their self-centered life styles. God tells/warns Jeremiah that a time would soon arrive when a northern enemy nation of guys would come against the city of Jerusalem and that this nation of guys would be His judgment bat that He would use to punish His specially chosen guys and gals for playing their life game plan their way instead of playing His spiritual game plan His way.
When your dad was about fifteen years old, your dad could shoot the basketball really well. Your dad played soccer when he was at Tambo. Tambo is the name of New Tribes’ boarding school in Bolivia. Even though your dad was not a fast runner, your dad would still run in races. Your dad may have participated in more field events during Tambo’s field days without ever winning a point for his team than any other kid who has been a student at Tambo. United States culture has made the success or the lack of success or the winning or not winning the completion of a goal, task, objective or game – as the measuring tool for placing a quantifying value on where a guy or gal is to fit in society. United States life game plans or survival rules – which have evolved to winning by whatever means as the criterion, have superseded God’s life game plans or survival rules – which are individual specific for the purpose of the betterment of the whole team – whatever that team is, with hope defining winning. Your grandpaa was invited a number of years ago by the European Christian Mission to fly to Slovenia to participate in their annual missionary conference. European Christian Mission has about 200 missionaries scattered in different countries in Europe. What really impressed your grandpaa during the weeklong series of reports from the different European Christian Mission missionaries was the positive affirmation each missionary received from his or her peers. As different reports were being presented, your grandpaa roughly guessed that the European Christian Mission missionaries represented less than 100 Christ-follower communities of guys and gals with a total baptized attendance among these communities to be a couple thousand guys, gals and kids. The United States quotient grid for achieving would have Jeremiah, your dad and European Christian Mission being task challenged losers. But in God’s game plan, they are all His winners.
Jeremiah 1 (645)