Jeremiah lived in difficult times as the prophet of God, struggling to deliver messages of repentance to Judah. He faced struggles with a faithless world as his warnings went unheeded, struggles with his difficult task as a prophet, and struggles with an uncertain future as Babylon destroyed Jerusalem. Despite these struggles, Jeremiah remained faithful to God and his calling.

1. Jeremiah the Prophet

2. Introducing Jeremiah1) Jeremiah was young when called by God.

3. Jeremiah 1:6[6] Then I said, “Alas, Lord GOD!Behold, I do not know how to speak,Because I am a youth.”

4. Introducing Jeremiah2) Jeremiah was told not to marry.

5. Jeremiah 16:1-2[1] The word of the LORD also came to me saying, [2] “You shall not take a wife for yourself nor have sons or daughters in this place.”

6. Introducing Jeremiah3) Jeremiah lived in difficult times.

8. Babylon destroyed Judah in 3 waves: the years606 BC597 BC586 BC

9. The word I think of for Jeremiah:“Struggle”

10. 3 Stories of Struggle1) Message at the TempleGate.

11. Jeremiah 7:1-2[1] The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, [2] “Stand in the gate of the LORD's house and proclaim there this word and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah, who enter by these gates to worship the LORD!’”

12. Jeremiah 8[4] “You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD,“Do men fall and not get up again?Does one turn away and not repent?

13. Jeremiah 8[5] “Why then has this people, Jerusalem,Turned away in continual apostasy?They hold fast to deceit,They refuse to return.

14. Jeremiah 8:22[22] Is there no balm in Gilead?Is there no physician there?Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored?

15. 3 Stories of StruggleStruggle with a FaithlessWorld.Jeremiah 15:19[19] 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,

16. Jeremiah 15:19You will become My spokesman.They for their part may turn to you,But as for you, you must not turn to them.

17. 3 Stories of Struggle2) Beaten and put in the stocks.

18. Jeremiah 20[1] When Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things,

19. Jeremiah 20[2] Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put him in the stocks that were at the upper Benjamin Gate, which was by the house of the LORD.

20. Jeremiah 20[7] O LORD, You have deceived me and I was deceived;You have overcome me and prevailed.I have become a laughingstock all day long;Everyone mocks me.

21. Jeremiah 20[9] But if I say, “I will not remember Him or speak anymore in His name,”Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fireShut up in my bones;And I am weary of holding it in,And I cannot endure it.

22. 3 Stories of StruggleStruggle with a Difficult Task.3 Stories of Struggle3) Buying a field in Anathoth.

23. Jeremiah 32[6] And Jeremiah said, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying, [7] ‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying,

24. Jeremiah 32“Buy for yourself my field which is at Anathoth, for you have the right of redemption to buy it. ’”

25. Jeremiah 32[16] “After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, then I prayed to the LORD, saying,

26. Jeremiah 32[25] ‘You have said to me, O Lord GOD, “Buy for yourself the field with money and call in witnesses”—although the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’”

27. Jeremiah 32[26] Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, [27] “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?”

28. 3 Stories of StruggleStruggle with an uncertainfuture.Jeremiah 29:10-11[10] “For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place.

29. Jeremiah 29:10-11[11] ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

30. Jeremiah 31:31-34[31] “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,

31. Jeremiah 33:14-18[15] ‘In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth.

32. A Good Lesson from Jeremiah: Let us hold our faith strong in a world of struggles!