Jeremiah
Jeremiah had a 40 year ministry with one main message. An end is coming to Jerusalem - the Babylonians will come and sack the city, terminate the Davidic line of kings, and take the nation into exile. Afterwards, a new beginning will come, a new covenant centred on the person of Jesus Christ, open to all nations, a new community of the Spirit spread across the world. An Ending, then a Beginning.
These themes of Endings and Beginnings run throughout the book of Jeremiah. These words "pluck up, break down, destroy and overthrow" (1:10) everything that is sinful and broken and unjust, and also "build and plant" fresh, hopeful beginnings.
As we read Jeremiah together, let's consider four key areas which might speak to us as a church community:
Faithfulness: Jeremiah is faithful and consistent with one message for 40 years. We can learn faithfulness from his story.
Emotion: Jeremiah is a very emotionally honest prophet. He wrote a book called Lamentations. Endings are painful and we need to be honest about pain and difficulty.
Endings and Beginnings: For God to do something new in our lives, often what went before needs to die. God is clearing away the old and ushering in the new.
A Prophetic People: What is individual in the Old Testament is often corporate in the New Testament. What does it mean for the Church to be a prophetic people, standing against what is wrong and declaring the word of God?
