The prophesying of Jeremiah came at a time when judgment upon God’s people was imminent. The same dedication to the pure word of God that came forth in Jeremiah must be wrought in our spirits, for in this hour we are standing on the threshold of the same kind of ministry that Jeremiah had.
The prophecies of Isaiah might seem preferable to those of Jeremiah, because a positive note is found in Isaiah that is not found in Jeremiah. Isaiah wrote much about the Kingdom and the wonderful days that are to come. In his prophecies he was seeing ahead to the day which we are beginning to see now.
Nevertheless, before we pass into the glorious days of the manifestation of the Kingdom, it will be necessary to tear down a considerable amount of the old before God can build up much of the new. The nations of the world will enter into a period of judgment in which the prophecies and the ministry of Jeremiah will become important. As we read the following Scriptures from Jeremiah, we should remember that his dedication to speak a pure word from the Lord is exactly what God wants for us. Jeremiah received a simple word from the Lord that can be read in a matter of minutes, but it brought the downfall of one nation after another. We also should strive to have a free flow of that deep prophetic pure word.
The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, 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. It came also in the days of Jehoiokim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the exile of Jerusalem in the fifth month.
Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (The preparation for prophesying to the nations is not made by reading about them; it is made by having a pure heart toward the Lord.) Then I said, “Alas, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, because I am a youth.” (Jeremiah was about eight years old at the time God spoke to him.) But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ because everywhere I send you, you shall go, and all that I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares the Lord.
Then the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” And the word of the Lord came to me saying, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “I see a rod of an almond tree.” Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform it.
“And I will pronounce My judgments on them concerning all their wickedness, whereby they have forsaken Me and have offered sacrifices to other gods; and worshiped the works of their own hands. Now, gird up your loins, and arise, and speak to them all which I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, lest I dismay you before them. Now behold, I have made you today as a fortified city, and as a pillar of iron and as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests and to the people of the land. And they will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 1:1–12;16–19.
Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, used a penknife to cut up the scroll on which Jeremiah had written while he was in prison. Then Jehoiakim threw it into an open hearth where it was consumed by fire (Jeremiah 36:23). But God did not allow the rulers to prevail over Jeremiah. Jeremiah wrote down all the words of the prophecy again and added to it the fact that the dead body of the king, who had whittled up the word and thrown it into the fire, would be cast out into the heat of the day and the frost of the night; and none of his descendants would sit upon the throne of David (verse 30).
Jeremiah became invincible because he had an anointing from God to speak the word of the Lord. The phrases “the word came” or “the word of the Lord came” occur about sixty times in the book of Jeremiah. If there ever was a man who had a prolific flow of a word from God, it was Jeremiah. The whole known world was changed as a result of his prophecies. God is going to do that same thing again. The entire known world will be changed again by the prophecies of a great Jeremiah company, an apostolic company of the end time.
In the fifth chapter, God spoke to Jeremiah: Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, “Because you hove spoken this word, behold, I am making My words in your mouth fire and this people wood, and it will consume them.” Jeremiah 5:14. This shows the strength of the word that came. Jeremiah loved the word of God, but there were times when the very word that God gave him was a test to him.
In the fifteenth chapter, Jeremiah said, Thy words were found and I ate them, and Thy words become for me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I have been called by Thy name, O Lord God of hosts. Verse 16.
Therefore, thus says the Lord, “If you return, then I will restore you—before Me you will stand; and if you extract the precious from the worthless” (“the precious from the vile”—King James Version), “you will become My spokesman” (literally, “as my mouth”). “They for their part may turn to you, but as for you, you must not turn to them. Then I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; and though they fight against you, they will not prevail over you; for I am with you to save you and deliver you,” declares the Lord. “So I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem you from the grasp of the violent.” Verses 19–21.
The Lord told Jeremiah that he had to separate the precious from the vile until the contaminating human element that diluted the prophecy was eliminated. Then his mouth would be as God’s mouth, and he would speak God’s word. Jeremiah was to speak a pure word, and he was to be like a city with walls of bronze, which nothing could get through and nothing could batter down. A similar day is before God’s people. It is a day of the prophetic community, a day when the hosts of the Lord will prophesy the word of the Lord, a day in which He is pouring out His Spirit upon a vast company of people and commanding them to speak His word.
The difference between Jeremiah’s day and ours is the fact that today there will be multitudes, hosts of people in all the nations, who will hearken unto the gospel of the Kingdom. Joel prophesied, …whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call. Joel 2:32. Although there will be terrible devastations in the earth and awesome judgments filling the nations, yet it will be different from the day of Jeremiah because of the great host that responds to the gospel of the Kingdom.
Jeremiah faced a dismal future, for only a small remnant was to survive. But consider also that Jeremiah was involved with a small nation whose territory was about one-sixth the size of the state of Iowa. In this day the entire world will be filled with the operation of judgment that will come forth by the word of God. A remnant of God is now being raised up as the prophetic voice of God to the nations.
In the twentieth chapter, Jeremiah wrote that he was compelled to prophesy while all the people reproached him. For each time I speak, I cry aloud; I proclaim violence and destruction, because for me the word of the Lord has resulted in reproach and derision all day long. But if I say, “I will not remember Him or speak any more in His name,” then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire shut up in my bones; and I am weary of holding it in…. Verses 8, 9. The word must be like that to you. No longer do you have an option to speak or not to speak.
Jeremiah said that if he determined not to speak the word of the Lord, it began to burn deep within him, like a fire in his bones, until he became weary with trying to hold it in. God wants to bring you to the place where you no longer prophesy a word of the Lord at your own initiative. That word must burn in your heart until you cannot hold it in any longer, until you have to speak the word that God has given you.
In Jeremiah 23:29, this word came: “Is not My word like fire?” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?” To this question, a remnant of God’s people today could answer, “Yes, Lord, it is.” That word must first be a fire in their bones. When it is, and when all the dross is burned out, then that word in their mouths will be a fire that will consume the nations as kindling is consumed. To a remnant has been committed both the word of grace and the word of judgment. It is a word that speaks judgment upon everything that has been brought forth in the cunning and the wisdom of man.
In the days of Daniel, he saw in vision the great head of Babylon and all the successive empires, right down to this day (Daniel 2). We live in the day of which Jesus prophesied: Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. Luke 21:24b. They have been fulfilled. Jerusalem is no longer trodden down of Gentiles. Once again the nation of Israel controls all of Jerusalem. That area is the hot spot of the world, but it is also like a clock which says that the times of the Gentiles have come to an end. Russia is attempting to build a great empire, but it will not succeed because there is no more time; the mighty nations and kingdoms have come to an end.
A remnant of God is waiting upon Him, and His word is like a burning fire shut up in their bones. They will not be able to hold it back. They will speak that word, for the time has come for the judgments of God to be upon the earth.
If you want to be a part of the remnant and speak the pure word of the Lord, this simple parable will reveal a truth which will help you. A stream that flows can be defiled at its very source; yet as the stream keeps flowing, it becomes pure. Before the water flows over the beds of sand, microscopic forms of life that feed upon the impurities are found in the river. But when it has run many feet, it becomes purer. Farther down the stream the water becomes purer still. So, also, is the word of God. The more it flows, the purer it becomes, because the very word is a purification to the speaker. The word that you speak will bless you. And the words that flow from you will not fall to the ground, but they will increase.
When the pure word flows, it is like the water of Ezekiel’s vision. First there are waters to wade in; then after a while there are waters that cannot be passed over, waters to swim in (Ezekiel 47:1–5). Look to the Lord for that pure flow. Become dedicated to the flow of prophecy.
Are gifts and impartations and words from God resting over you that are being neglected, that need to be stirred up? Are there gifts that you do not know what to do with because you do not have the perception or the leading to use them? If you could be released into the flow of the prophetic word, the purity would begin to come forth. Even though the word may not come out in its purest form to begin with, believe that the Lord will purify you and purify the flow. The more you move in God, the purer the flow will be.
If you are disturbed about the shallow level of your own moving in God, you must realize that you cannot help the matter by not moving. Only by moving out in faith will you deepen the flow. Prophesy at every opportunity. When you are at home, even by yourself, prophesy. Speak prophetic prayers. Read the Word; fill your heart with it. Prophesy the word of the Lord. You can be loosed to flow in God until there is no longer a bottling up within your spirit.
There can be a release to your spirit until the fear of man is taken from you. There can be that which purifies and releases you from the human element which dilutes the effectiveness and the power of the word of God flowing from you. You can be like Jeremiah and believe that the Lord will lay His hand upon your mouth, so that your mouth will be as His mouth. The Lord will help you to enter in to separate the precious from the vile, so that you can be as the Lord’s mouth speaking in the earth.
Be loosed from the fear of man and from human reluctance. Be loosed from the pride and arrogance that holds you back and from the fear of rejection that keeps you from moving in the Lord. The Lord can make you as fearless as Jeremiah—so fearless that you will not be concerned about your own welfare. Be determined that you are going to speak the word of the Lord and do the will of the Lord with all your heart.