Answers to Prayer - JEREMIAH BEGINS

Jeremiah 1:1–3 (ESV) The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, 2 to whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

The prophet Jeremiah is from a priestly family in the territory of Benjamin from a town called, "Anathoth." The name of the town means, "answers to prayer." Jeremiah's own name is a Hebrew derivative of "whom Jehovah has appointed." All of this is ironic since Jeremiah's ministry will be mostly to weep and announce judgment for the sins of the nation. Through his ministry, they will be rightly prepared for a 70-year exile clothed in the hope he gives them through his multi-decade prophetic work.

We also learn through the introduction that his ministry spans the reign of Josiah, a righteous king who restored the nation to holiness yet could not save it from impending doom all the way to Zedekiah, the last and notoriously evil king who rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar thus assuring the nation's exile. 

I find it amazing that the prophets speak the loudest when the nation is the darkest. 

Also on the list of names in this opening is Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah. He was installed as king to replace his wicked brother because the Lord handed the land over to Pharoah Neco whom Josiah interfered with impetuously. His name was originally, "Eliakim" meaning "Whom God sets up" but Pharoah changed the name to Jehoiakim which means, "the LORD will rise up.". In these names, we have a message. 

Though the nation was in spiritual decline and her enemies were basically now calling the shots, What looked like a setup was the Lord actually preparing for a rise up. Through the discipline of God under Jeremiah's ministry, Israel would go into exile but come out with a decree from Cyrus to rebuild and establish themselves in the land once again. And the best part is, God would take the names the pagan Pharaoh changed to send a message to this nation. Though the sorrow seems to last for a night, joy comes in the morning. 

God is always doing something for our ultimate good even when it's on the other side of a painful episode. 

I heard a preacher say it like this. No one likes to vomit. But the body's work in expelling what we should not have in our digestive system is a set up for our health to rise up. You may want to vomit, and you may feel nauseated by your present turmoil. But God appoints this moment to establish the next. He has a plan that's bigger than you realize, will take longer than you want, but ultimately is better than you can imagine. 

Now ... get ready for a lot of weeping.