Jeremiah is still a young man. But he doesn’t hang out with other young people. Whatever the ancient equivalent of sitting by yourself at the lunch table was, that’s his lot.

😐 Maybe the stinky underwear had something to do with it. Personal hygiene goes a long way in making friends, ya know.

Well….Can’t argue with that. But even after a shower and clean clothes, nobody likes the young doom & gloom preacher. Jeremiah gives a different reason why he avoided the “in-crowd” and they avoided him:

“I never joined the people in their merry feasts. I sat alone because your hand was on me. I was filled with indignation at their sins.” Jeremiah‬ ‭15‬:‭17‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Sometimes God calls His chosen vessel to walk alone. It’s something that many men of God have commented on over the years. The great evangelist and author, Leonard Ravenhill, once wrote:

“Great eagles fly alone; great lions hunt alone; great souls walk alone-alone with God. Such loneliness is hard to endure, and impossible to enjoy unless God accompanies them. Prophets are lone men; they walk alone, pray alone and God makes them alone.”

And then there’s this fantastic poem by an unknown author; untitled, but sometimes called “When God Wants To Make A Man.”

Jeremiah is alone in his suffering like Job. He even sounds a little like Job for a moment:

“Then I said, ‘What sorrow is mine, my mother. Oh, that I had died at birth! I am hated everywhere I go. I am neither a lender who threatens to foreclose nor a borrower who refuses to pay— yet they all curse me.’”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭15‬:‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jeremiah had a really thankless job. He’s the guy who is chosen to tell the people of Judah that they’re all about to die or be deported. The sins of Manasseh were SO bad, and the people didn’t genuinely repent, so God is done.

“You have abandoned me and turned your back on me,” says the Lord. “Therefore, I will raise my fist to destroy you. I am tired of always giving you another chance.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭15‬:‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The Enemy can use God’s own good mercy to lull people into a false sense of “I can continue to do this sinful thing now and smooth things over with God later.” Or, “God is loving. He understands my human weakness. So I can keep doing this sinful thing and He’ll keep on forgiving me.”

And God IS merciful and loving but He will NOT be manipulated. He will NOT have His kindness abused. And humans do not know when “the last straw” comes. All we know is that when it does, it wouldn’t matter if Moses himself was interceding for you. You’re toast.

“Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.” Galatians‬ ‭6‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Let me be direct. If you’re messing around with sin (hidden or otherwise), you’re as good as playing Russian Roulette. Repent now while you are just a stinky dirty pair of underwear. You can still be washed clean. Because if you get to the point of being utterly ruined (and you won’t have any idea when that is; Judah didn’t), that’s past the point of no return. And you wouldn’t wish that fate on your worst enemy.

People who are committed to their sin can’t stand it when someone tells them to repent. Jeremiah has people trying to kill him and the rest curse him.

“Then I said, “Lord, you know what’s happening to me. Please step in and help me. Punish my persecutors! Please give me time; don’t let me die young. It’s for your sake that I am suffering.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭15‬:‭15‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The Lord’s reply to his plea has a word that is repeated four times:

“Therefore thus says the Lord: “If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭15‬:‭19‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The word is…

This Hebrew word has been translated into a much longer list of words than what you see here. I had to scroll down in the app to see them all. It is used a lot in the OT. I mean a LOT. I scrolled down the concordance list of other uses in the Bible and after a bit I got kinda tired of scrolling. Then I realized I was only up to like the letter F.

This word seems to consistently carry the concept of “again.” “Repeat.” And, obviously, “turning.” The letters Shin (teeth), Vav (tent peg/and/conjunction), and Bet (house/inside) imply the place where you eat and go inside. Home. A place you return to. But it can be a very temporary home – like home plate in baseball or a campsite. When you return that item you ordered on Amazon, you’re sending it back to its home.

There are four shuwbs:

• Jeremiah needs to shuwb (to Yahweh)
• Yahweh will shuwb (to Jeremiah)
• “They” could shuwb (to Jeremiah)
• Jeremiah should not shuwb (to them)

🤭 Now all I can hear is Whitney Houston singing shoop shoop shoop shoo be doo…

Different translations handle this differently, but the basic idea is turning toward. It makes me think of James 4:8, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…” And that’s the solution for Jeremiah’s despair (and anyone else’s). Turn to the Lord.

It would be good for the people if they would turn toward Jeremiah and listen, instead of rejecting him and his message. But, the Lord warns Jeremiah not to turn toward them. The NLT has it as “You must influence them but don’t let them influence you!” That’s good advice for any young person. Paul put it like this:

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

We remember what it was like being a teenager and a young adult. Most of us wanted to be accepted. Liked. The pressure on Jeremiah to conform to the world must’ve been tremendous. We’re not just talking peer pressure. He had death threats!

And as if he wasn’t isolated enough, God tells him he isn’t allowed to:

• Get married or have children
• Go to funerals or mourn
• Go to parties or celebrate

😐 Gee. And I thought you had no social life.

I know. Compared to Jeremiah I’m a regular social butterfly. 🦋

Of course, Jeremiah’s behavior is a sign for the people. And it’s going to raise questions. So Jeremiah will explain why he won’t socialize with them. It’s basically because they’re all gonna be dead or gone soon.

“When you tell the people all these things, they will ask, ‘Why has the Lord decreed such terrible things against us? What have we done to deserve such treatment? What is our sin against the Lord our God?’”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭16‬:‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

🤯 Can you believe these people?! Do they really not get it? What part of “Idolatry is sin” do they not understand?

I think what we have here is the response of people whose conscience is seared. And no, at this point, they really don’t get it.

But at this bleak point, there is a ray of hope. The LORD says He is going to bring the exiles of Israel back to their homeland.

That’s it. No date. No timeline. Nothing Jeremiah can measure. Just a seemingly impossible promise; a pinprick of light.