Get yourself ready. Stand up and tell them everything that I command you. Do not be intimidated by them, or I will terrify you before them. But youThis phrase marks a direct and personal address from God to Jeremiah. The Hebrew word for "you" here is singular, emphasizing the personal nature of God's call to Jeremiah. It underscores the individual responsibility and unique role that Jeremiah is to play as a prophet. In a broader sense, it reminds believers of the personal nature of God's call to each individual, highlighting the intimate relationship between God and His servants. get yourself ready!
The Hebrew phrase here can be translated as "gird up your loins," a common biblical expression that means to prepare oneself for action or a challenging task. In ancient times, this involved tucking one's long garment into a belt to allow for freedom of movement. Spiritually, it signifies readiness and determination to undertake God's mission. For Christians, it serves as a metaphor for spiritual preparedness and the need to be equipped with God's truth and strength. Stand up
This command implies taking a position of readiness and authority. In the context of ancient Near Eastern culture, standing was often associated with delivering a message or taking a stance. For Jeremiah, it meant assuming the role of a prophet with confidence and courage. For believers today, it is a call to stand firm in faith and to be bold in proclaiming God's truth, regardless of opposition. tell them everything that I command you
This phrase emphasizes the completeness and faithfulness required in delivering God's message. Jeremiah is not to alter or withhold any part of God's word. The Hebrew root for "command" implies a divine mandate, underscoring the authority and importance of the message. It serves as a reminder to Christians of the importance of faithfully sharing the entirety of God's Word, without compromise or fear. Do not be terrified by them
Here, God addresses the natural human fear of opposition and persecution. The Hebrew word for "terrified" conveys a sense of dread or dismay. God is reassuring Jeremiah that he should not fear the people to whom he is sent, despite their potential hostility. This is a powerful reminder for believers to trust in God's protection and to not be swayed by the fear of man. or I will terrify you before them
This warning highlights the seriousness of Jeremiah's mission and the consequences of disobedience. The Hebrew construction suggests that if Jeremiah succumbs to fear, he will experience a greater fear from God. It underscores the principle that reverence for God should surpass any fear of human opposition. For Christians, it is a call to prioritize obedience to God above all else, trusting in His sovereignty and power. Persons / Places / Events 1. JeremiahA prophet called by God to deliver His messages to the people of Judah. Known for his reluctance and feelings of inadequacy, yet he faithfully carried out God's commands. 2. GodThe sovereign Lord who calls and commissions Jeremiah, providing him with the words to speak and the courage to stand firm. 3. JudahThe southern kingdom of Israel, facing impending judgment due to their disobedience and idolatry. Jeremiah's primary audience. 4. Prophetic CommissioningThe event where God calls Jeremiah to be a prophet, equipping him with authority and responsibility to speak God's truth. 5. OppositionThe resistance Jeremiah faces from the people of Judah, including leaders and false prophets, who reject his messages of warning and repentance. Teaching Points Preparedness for God's Work"Gird up your loins" signifies readiness and determination. As believers, we must be prepared to act on God's commands, setting aside distractions and hesitations. Courage in the Face of OppositionGod commands Jeremiah not to be terrified by the people. Similarly, Christians are called to stand firm in their faith, trusting in God's strength when facing opposition or persecution. Faithful Proclamation of God's WordJeremiah is tasked with speaking everything God commands. Believers are encouraged to faithfully share the gospel and biblical truths, regardless of societal pressures or personal fears. Divine AccountabilityThe warning that God will terrify Jeremiah if he succumbs to fear underscores the seriousness of obedience and accountability to God. Our actions and responses should reflect our reverence for Him. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Jeremiah's initial reluctance to accept his calling resonate with your own experiences of feeling inadequate for tasks God has given you? 2. In what ways can you "gird up your loins" in your daily life to be prepared for the work God has called you to do? 3. Reflect on a time when you faced opposition for your faith. How did you respond, and what can you learn from Jeremiah's example? 4. How does the concept of fearing God rather than man influence your decisions and actions in challenging situations? 5. What steps can you take to ensure that you are faithfully proclaiming God's truth in your community, even when it is unpopular or difficult? Connections to Other Scriptures Exodus 3-4Moses' calling parallels Jeremiah's, as both express reluctance and feelings of inadequacy, yet are reassured by God's presence and empowerment. Ephesians 6:14The call to "gird up your loins" is echoed in the New Testament as believers are instructed to stand firm with the belt of truth, emphasizing readiness and commitment. Matthew 10:28Jesus' teaching on fearing God rather than man aligns with God's command to Jeremiah not to be terrified by the people, highlighting the importance of divine reverence over human fear. People Amon, Anathoth, Benjamin, Hilkiah, Jehoiakim, Jeremiah, Josiah, ZedekiahPlaces Anathoth, JerusalemTopics Affright, Affrighted, Arise, Arisen, Cause, Command, Confound, Dismay, Dismayed, Faces, Fear, Gird, Hast, Lest, Loins, Orders, Overcome, Ready, Speak, Spoken, Stand, Terrified, Terrify, Waist, WhateverDictionary of Bible Themes Jeremiah 1:17 5184 standing
8329 readiness
8754 fear Library May the Fifteenth God is Wide-Awake
"Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree." --JEREMIAH i. 7-19. And through the almond tree the Lord gave the trembling young prophet the strength of assurance. The almond tree is the first to awake from its wintry sleep. When all other trees are held in frozen slumber the almond blossoms are looking out on the barren world. And God is like that, awake and vigilant. Nobody anticipates Him. Wherever Jeremiah was sent on his prophetic mission the Lord would be there before …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling YearJeremiah, a Lesson for the Disappointed.
"Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord."--Jeremiah i. 8. The Prophets were ever ungratefully treated by the Israelites, they were resisted, their warnings neglected, their good services forgotten. But there was this difference between the earlier and the later Prophets; the earlier lived and died in honour among their people,--in outward honour; though hated and thwarted by the wicked, they were exalted to high places, and ruled in the congregation. …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII The Writings of Jerome.
The following is a list of the writings arranged under various heads, and showing the date of composition and the place held by each in the Edition of Vallarsi, the eleven volumes of which will be found in Migne's Patrologia, vols. xxii. to xxx. The references are to the volumes of Jerome's works (i.-xi.) in that edition. I. Bible translations: (1) From the Hebrew.--The Vulgate of the Old Testament, written at Bethlehem, begun 391, finished 404, vol. ix. (2) From the Septuagint.--The Psalms as used …
St. Jerome—The Principal Works of St. Jerome Out of Sectarian Confusion
I was still a Methodist. The Methodist did not license women to preach; but when the preachers found out that God was using me in the salvation of souls and that I was not especially interested in building up any certain denomination, I had an abundance of calls. God had already begun talking to my brother Jeremiah about the sin of division, and he was beginning to see the evils of sectarianism. The winter after I was healed, he had attended the Jacksonville, Illinois, holiness convention, and had …
Mary Cole—Trials and Triumphs of Faith How those are to be Admonished who do not Even Begin Good Things, and those who do not Finish them when Begun.
(Admonition 35.) Differently to be admonished are they who do not even begin good things, and those who in no wise complete such as they have begun. For as to those who do not even begin good things, for them the first need is, not to build up what they may wholesomely love, but to demolish that wherein they are wrongly occupied. For they will not follow the untried things they hear of, unless they first come to feel how pernicious are the things that they have tried; since neither does one desire …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great The Servant's Inflexible Resolve
'For the Lord God will help Me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set My face like a flint.'--ISAIAH l. 7. What a striking contrast between the tone of these words and of the preceding! There all is gentleness, docility, still communion, submission, patient endurance. Here all is energy and determination, resistance and martial vigour. It is like the contrast between a priest and a warrior. And that gentleness is the parent of this boldness. The same Will which is all submission …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture The Baptismal Covenant Can be Kept Unbroken. Aim and Responsibility of Parents.
We have gone "to the Law and to the Testimony" to find out what the nature and benefits of Baptism are. We have gathered out of the Word all the principal passages bearing on this subject. We have grouped them together, and studied them side by side. We have noticed that their sense is uniform, clear, and strong. Unless we are willing to throw aside all sound principles of interpretation, we can extract from the words of inspiration only one meaning, and that is that the baptized child is, by virtue …
G. H. Gerberding—The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church That Sometimes Some Laudably Desire the Office of Preaching, While Others, as Laudably, are Drawn to it by Compulsion.
Although sometimes some laudably desire the office of preaching, yet others are as laudably drawn to it by compulsion; as we plainly perceive, if we consider the conduct of two prophets, one of whom offered himself of his own accord to be sent to preach, yet the other in fear refused to go. For Isaiah, when the Lord asked whom He should send, offered himself of his own accord, saying, Here I am; send me (Isai. vi. 8). But Jeremiah is sent, yet humbly pleads that he should not be sent, saying, Ah, …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great A Defence of the Doctrine of Justification, by Faith in Jesus Christ;
SHEWING, TRUE GOSPEL-HOLINESS FLOWS FROM THENCE; OR, MR. FOWLER'S PRETENDED DESIGN OF CHRISTIANITY, PROVED TO BE NOTHING MORE THAN TO TRAMPLE UNDER FOOT THE BLOOD OF THE SON OF GOD; AND THE IDOLIZING OF MAN'S OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS AS ALSO, HOW WHILE HE PRETENDS TO BE A MINISTER OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, HE OVERTHROWETH THE WHOLESOME DOCTRINE CONTAINED IN THE 10TH, 11TH, AND 13TH, OF THE THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES OF THE SAME, AND THAT HE FALLETH IN WITH THE QUAKER AND ROMANIST, AGAINST THEM. BY JOHN BUNYAN …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Letter Xlv (Circa A. D. 1140) to the Canons of Lyons, on the Conception of S. Mary.
To the Canons of Lyons, on the Conception of S. Mary. Bernard states that the Festival of the Conception was new; that it rested on no legitimate foundation; and that it should not have been instituted without consulting the Apostolic See, to whose opinion he submits. 1. It is well known that among all the Churches of France that of Lyons is first in importance, whether we regard the dignity of its See, its praiseworthy regulations, or its honourable zeal for learning. Where was there ever the vigour …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux Epistle iv. To Cyriacus, Bishop.
To Cyriacus, Bishop. Gregory to Cyriacus, Bishop of Constantinople. We have received with becoming charity our common sons, George the presbyter and Theodore your deacon; and we rejoice that you have passed from the care of ecclesiastical business to the government of souls, since, according to the voice of the Truth, He that is faithful in a little will be faithful also in much (Luke xvi. 10). And to the servant who administers well it is said, Because thou hast been faithful over a few things, …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great The Sin-Bearer.
A COMMUNION MEDITATION AT MENTONE. "Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls."--1 Peter ii. 24, 25. THE SIN-BEARER. THIS wonderful passage is a part of Peter's address to servants; and in his day nearly all servants were slaves. Peter begins at the eighteenth verse: "Servants, be subject …
Charles Hadden Spurgeon—Till He Come John the Baptist's Person and Preaching.
(in the Wilderness of Judæa, and on the Banks of the Jordan, Occupying Several Months, Probably a.d. 25 or 26.) ^A Matt. III. 1-12; ^B Mark I. 1-8; ^C Luke III. 1-18. ^b 1 The beginning of the gospel [John begins his Gospel from eternity, where the Word is found coexistent with God. Matthew begins with Jesus, the humanly generated son of Abraham and David, born in the days of Herod the king. Luke begins with the birth of John the Baptist, the Messiah's herald; and Mark begins with the ministry …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Jeremiah
The interest of the book of Jeremiah is unique. On the one hand, it is our most reliable and elaborate source for the long period of history which it covers; on the other, it presents us with prophecy in its most intensely human phase, manifesting itself through a strangely attractive personality that was subject to like doubts and passions with ourselves. At his call, in 626 B.C., he was young and inexperienced, i. 6, so that he cannot have been born earlier than 650. The political and religious …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Jeremiah 1:17 NIVJeremiah 1:17 NLTJeremiah 1:17 ESVJeremiah 1:17 NASBJeremiah 1:17 KJV
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