God made it nothing less than completely clear that Jeremiah was in His thoughts and His Will before he was born, even before he was conceived.
Jer 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
And not only that, but also that Jeremiah was to accomplish specific tasks in his life, namely to root out, pull down, destroy and throw down… and also to build, and to plant! Now the prospect of persons existing before their birth is really interesting but, after all, that is not really our subject in this post. Our subject is on the following verse:
Jer 1:10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
We can read the book of Jeremiah and see that he accomplished to root out, pull down, destroy and throw down, but where does it tell of his building and planting? The last we know of Jeremiah is that, after the fall of Jerusalem and what remained of the house of Judah, he goes to Egypt and disappears from Biblical history.
The question “Did he finish his job?” is rhetorical, after all, either God’s Word is unreliable or Jeremiah did exactly what God ordained him to do. If His Word is unreliable, then we need not concern ourselves with it any further. But since His Word is reliable, then you have to be curious; how did Jeremiah accomplish the rest of his God ordained task?
Now to switch topics for a moment, but… not really. Please recall that God promised that David should not fail to have a descendant reigning over the people of Israel.
Jer 33:19-22 And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying, 20 Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; 21 Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. 22 As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me. 23 Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 24 Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them. 25 Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; 26 Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.
The remainder of the house of Judah (Jerusalem) was taken into captivity into Babylon in the early part of the 6th century BC. There are no recorded descendants of David reigning over the house of Judah from that time forward even up until our time. Many will be quick to say that Jesus is our King and Savior and to that I wholeheartedly agree. But still, from the time of the beginning of the captivity of the house of Judah until the entry of Christ into Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, there were no kings over Judah (a period of roughly 600 years). Now also remember that even to this day Judah (the Jews I mean) does not accept Christ as their King and Savior!
Unless you don’t believe that God is reliable to His Word, then we know that Jeremiah’s task was completed, we just don’t know how. So we have two apparent dilemmas, namely 1) that Jeremiah has a task to finish. and 2) the sun, moon and stars are still in the heavens and day and night are still on schedule so there must be continual descendants of David reigning over Israel since the days of king David to the present according to Jer 33:20,21 above.
A careful reading of Jeremiah (or a bit of research on the internet) will reveal a factoid that is little known in our day.
Jer 41:10 Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people that were in Mizpah, even the king’s daughters, and all the people that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the Ammonites. 11 Even men, and women, and children, and the king’s daughters, and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah
We were already prepared to assume that Jeremiah must have finished his work as set forth to him by God, and now we have an idea of how he was able to accomplish it seeing as he is in the company of royalty of the line of David.
Exactly how Jeremiah fulfilled the completion of his task is somewhat of a riddle, but I do now clearly see that he was well prepared by God to do just that. The book of Jeremiah doesn’t give an accounting of the rebuilding and planting portion of his assignment, but you may find the following very interesting.
In the book of Ezekiel, chapter 17 sets forth a riddle from God to the house of Israel. (Recall that Judah had two sons by Tamar and that the descendants of one of those sons is thought to have left Egypt shortly after the death of Joseph and migrated to Spain and onward. Also recall that the house of Israel was sent into captivity in Assyria by God long long before the house of Judah was carried away captive into Babylon in the days of Jeremiah.) Pay careful attention to the end of that chapter where God declares the He Himself will pluck up a tender twig from the highest branch of the cedar of Judah and will replant it. Where does He say that He will replant it?
Eze 17:22 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent: 23 In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. 24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the LORD have spoken and have done it.
In the mountain of the height of Israel! And all the fowl of every wing (both Israel and gentiles) shall dwell under it! And all of the kingdoms of the earth shall acknowledge Him. Israel has seen her King and Savior riding into Jerusalem and many of the gentiles as well. And one day, the Jews will accept Him too.
Praise God for His Word. Every day that He is with us is a good day for sure!
washichek 