{"id":69049,"date":"2020-01-25T08:58:27","date_gmt":"2020-01-25T06:58:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=69049"},"modified":"2023-08-20T13:44:42","modified_gmt":"2023-08-20T10:44:42","slug":"a-little-help-from-gods-hand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-little-help-from-gods-hand\/","title":{"rendered":"A Little Help From God\u2019s Hand"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[384,840,390],"acf":{"old_id":"69049","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34250,"related_cahpter":"401","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"At the beginning of a lonely journey... \r\n","content":"

\u201cBefore I created you in the womb, I knew you; before you exited the womb, I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet concerning the nations\u201d (1:5). And before God confers this weighty task upon Jeremiah, He tells him all this.<\/span><\/p>\n

He tells him He knew him even before he was him.<\/span><\/p>\n

He tells him he was a prophet even before he was born as a person.<\/span><\/p>\n

God knows Jeremiah so well that He knows he needs this reassurance at the outset.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And He probably knows that even with this reassurance, even with the embrace of God\u2019s intimate knowledge and selection of his very essence, Jeremiah will hesitate: \u201cI don\u2019t know how to speak, for I am a youth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

God doesn\u2019t get angry; He gets it. He knows Jeremiah, and He knows that indeed, the young prophet has a rough road ahead of him. \u201cAnd the Lord said to me: Do not say, \u2018I am a youth\u2019 \u2026. Have no fear of them, for I am with you to save you \u2014 declares the LORD\u201d (vs. 6-7).<\/span><\/p>\n

From whom will Jeremiah need saving? Who should he not fear?<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe those who won\u2019t like his prophecies, and will seek to do him harm. And maybe the job itself scares him: the challenge of formulating his words effectively, the responsibility of serving as God\u2019s mouthpiece. \u201cI don\u2019t know how to speak.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeremiah\u2019s resistance is not unique among prophets and other biblical leaders: Moses, Gideon, Saul, Jonah. Each had their own reasons for reluctance, and each received a different divine response, ranging from patience to anger. Saul, for instance, is rebuked sharply by Samuel for not asserting his authority over his people to faithfully fulfill God\u2019s mandate: \u201cYou may be small in your own eyes, but you are the head of the tribes of Israel!\u201d (I Samuel 15:17).<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeremiah, too, sees himself as small. Young. But God doesn\u2019t yell at him. \u201cTeach the youth according to his way\u201d (Proverbs 22:6) \u2013 and with His most intimate knowledge of Jeremiah, God knows the soft touch this youth needs.<\/span><\/p>\n

He reaches out a [metaphorical] hand and touches Jeremiah. \u201cSee? I\u2019ve put my words in your mouth\u201d (v. 9) \u2013 reminiscent, perhaps, of how a parent might give a child a hug to hold onto during time apart, a tangible sense of connection that can be carried within. God\u2019s presence is no longer \u201cjust\u201d the warm embrace of being intimately known, but a force within Jeremiah.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even if he doesn\u2019t know it, God knows it. \u201cDon\u2019t say \u2018I am a youth!\u2019\u201d Because he\u2019s not? Or because it doesn\u2019t matter? If God is with him, a baby could do this job.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019What do you see, Jeremiah?\u2019… and I said\u2026 \u2018You have seen well\u2019\u201d (vs. 11-12).<\/span><\/p>\n

The road of prophecy will be rough, but with the soft, intimate touch of God\u2019s own hand, Jeremiah will travel it well.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":69050,"id":69050,"title":"jer1-hand","filename":"jer1-hand.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-hand.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-little-help-from-gods-hand\/jer1-hand\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer1-hand","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":69049,"date":"2020-01-25 06:58:10","modified":"2020-01-25 06:58:23","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":1271,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-hand-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-hand-300x199.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":199,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-hand-768x508.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":508,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-hand-1024x678.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":678,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-hand.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1017,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-hand.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1271,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-hand-1200x794.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":794,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-hand-634x420.jpg","home_baner-width":634,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"A Little Help From God\u2019s Hand","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"At the beginning of a lonely journey... 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