Weeping With Truth

So you want to be a prophet? 

Take note!

They weren't loved in their generation. In fact, as we study Jeremiah, we are going to see they were ignored, they were ridiculed and they were even tortured for the sake of their ministry to God's hard-hearted people. 

Worst of all, they were often depressed over the condition of the world they lived in. Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet because although his message was firm truth in times truth was not popular, he wept as he presented it.

Jeremiah 8:18–19 (ESV) My joy is gone; grief is upon me; my heart is sick within me. 19 Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people from the length and breadth of the land: “Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King not in her?” “Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images and with their foreign idols?”

Jeremiah sees God's people wondering where God is and he weeps even though He knows they are getting what their deeds deserve. Be careful of Christians who take pleasure in God's judgment on the wicked. They often forget that God's judgment is worse than we imagine and it often comes after sin has dulled our senses to right and wrong. 

Jeremiah was one among many prophets in his day. But most of them did not deal with the real issue of sin. Jeremiah uses colorful language to describe the ministry of the false prophets. 

Jeremiah 8:11 (ESV) They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.
What a powerful phrase. Like going to the doctor with a broken leg and he offers you a band-aid or skin ointment, so diluted truth is to those who are suffering the consequences of sin. It does not heal, it simply soothes for a moment.

Jeremiah 8:20 (ESV) “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”
Jeremiah looks at a nation that thinks their solution is a quick fix. But he knows 70 years of exile lay ahead.

Jeremiah 8:21 (ESV) For the wound of the daughter of my people is my heart wounded; I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me.

Notice the hurt of the people in Jeremiah is the hurt of God for His people in sin. God weeps through Jeremiah because God knows the pain sin causes to anyone. 

Jeremiah 9:1 (ESV) Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!

The prophet who claims to speak for God sees sin for what it is - a destructive force that costs God's people dearly. They weep with the Lord and they minister through tears. To deliver truth requires more than a desire to simply be right. It requires a holistic understanding of human nature, sin, and righteousness. 

If you want to be a person of truth be prepared to grieve over sin and long for righteousness with Jeremiah! You may weep as well, and in doing so, you join the heart of God.

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