Jeremiah - Lesson 15

• Chapters 1-6 The foundation of this book is established by the LORD’s calling of Jeremiah as a prophet to Judah in the final days of that kingdom. The LORD’s people, Israel and Judah, had rejected their God by worshipping false gods without repentance. The LORD is sending a nation from the North as judgment, but not for the complete destruction of His people.

  • Chapter 7-11 Jeremiah calls out the impending destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem. The people have been led into the worship of false gods, signs in the heaven and idols by their spiritual leaders, forsaking the LORD and violating His covenant. The necessity for discipline is not pleasing to the LORD just as Christ experienced as He declares the destruction that was coming on Jerusalem in His day. Many want to silence the LORD’s prophet.

  • Chapter 12 Jeremiah asks the LORD why it seems the wicked prosper in this life. The LORD prepared Jeremiah for the path ahead to get worse for the LORD’s people, and yet there will be grace offered to His people and the nations in the future. 

  • Chapter 13 Jeremiah buries a linen garment, again prophesies the LORD’s judgment is coming and calls out the leaders of Judah, specifically the king and queen mother.

  • Chapter 14 Drought is sent on the LORD’s people as a judgment of warning to the people for following the false prophets and leaders of Judah. The people did not remove the false prophets but followed them into gre  ater sin, leading to judgment of the LORD to remove His people; not accepting their false worship or prayer from Jeremiah to spare them.

Jer. 15:1 Then the LORD said to me, “Even though Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, My heart would not be with this people; send them away from My presence and let them go!
Jer. 15:2 “And it shall be that when they say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ then you are to tell them, ‘Thus says the LORD:
“Those destined for death, to death;
And those destined for the sword, to the sword;
And those destined for famine, to famine;
And those destined for captivity, to captivity.”’
Jer. 15:3 “I will appoint over them four kinds of doom,” declares the LORD: “the sword to slay, the dogs to drag off, and the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.
Jer. 15:4 “I will make them an object of horror among all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.

• Verse 1 The LORD speaks strong words to Jeremiah for both his comfort as well as the certainty of the impending judgments.

  • The LORD tells Jeremiah even if the mighty prophets Moses and Samuel were to intercede for this people, the LORD would not relent from judgment.

  • The mention of Moses and Samuel is given to Jeremiah because they had interceded in previous times when the people deserved the LORD’s judgment, but He relented for a time.

  • There is an overview of the times Moses interceded for the sons of Israel before the LORD in Deut. 9:19-29

Deut. 9:19 “For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the LORD was wrathfulagainst you in order to destroy you, but the LORD listened to me that time also.
Deut. 9:20 “The LORD was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him; so I also prayed for Aaron at the same time.
Deut. 9:21 “I took your sinful thing, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it very small until it was as fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the brook that came down from the mountain.
Deut. 9:22 “Again at Taberah and at Massah and at Kibroth-hattaavah you provoked the LORD to wrath.
Deut. 9:23 “When the LORD sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, ‘Go up and possess the land which I have given you,’ then you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God; you neither believed Him nor listened to His voice.
Deut. 9:24 “You have been rebellious against the LORD from the day I knew you.
Deut. 9:25 “So I fell down before the LORD the forty days and nights, which I did because the LORD had said He would destroy you.
Deut. 9:26 “I prayed to the LORD and said, ‘O Lord GOD, do not destroy Your people, even Your inheritance, whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
Deut. 9:27 ‘Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look at the stubbornness of this people or at their wickedness or their sin.
Deut. 9:28 ‘Otherwise the land from which You brought us may say, “Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land which He had promised them and because He hated them He has brought them out to slay them in the wilderness.”
Deut. 9:29 ‘Yet they are Your people, even Your inheritance, whom You have brought out by Your great power and Your outstretched arm.’

• Moses was a prophet to the people and had interceded with the LORD to prevent immediate judgment coming on the sons of Israel many times.

  • Samuel is recorded in the scriptures interceding for his people twice.

  • The first was Samuel calling the people back in repentance before the LORD from their idol worship, recorded in 1 Sam. 7:8-9.

1Sam. 7:8 Then the sons of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry to the LORD our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.”
1Sam. 7:9 Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it for a whole burnt offering to the LORD; and Samuel cried to the LORD for Israel and the LORD answered him.

• The second time was after the people asked to have a king appointed over them like the surrounding nations had, which was a rejection of the LORD their God.

1Sam. 12:19 Then all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, so that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king.”
1Sam. 12:20 Samuel said to the people, “Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart.
1Sam. 12:21 “You must not turn aside, for then you would go after futile things which can not profit or deliver, because they are futile.
1Sam. 12:22 “For the LORD will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the LORD has been pleased to make you a people for Himself.
1Sam. 12:23 “Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way.
1Sam. 12:24 “Only fear the LORD and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.
1Sam. 12:25 “But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king will be swept away.”

• Both men are also referred to in Psa. 99:6-8

Psa. 99:6 Moses and Aaron were among His priests,
And Samuel was among those who called on His name;
They called upon the LORD and He answered them.
Psa. 99:7 He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
They kept His testimonies
And the statute that He gave them.
Psa. 99:8 O LORD our God, You answered them;
You were a forgiving God to them,
And yet an avenger of their evil deeds.

• The LORD listened to these men in their request for intercession, yet the LORD is still seen as the avenger of the people’s evil deeds. There is always justice in the end.

Jer. 15:1 The LORD is saying to Jeremiah even if these men, who were the leaders of the people at the time they served the LORD’s people and were great prophets to Israel in their day, would pray for this people now His heart would not relent from the judgment to come.

• Verse 2 The LORD has a different message Jeremiah is to give to His people.

  • This message is not for rescue but for the people to accept the judgment sent by the LORD.

  • There are those who are destined to die by the sword, some to suffer from famine and others who will be taken into captivity.

    • The list of some being taken into captivity is still a sign of grace in that the people of the LORD will not be completely wiped out as a people; a remnant will remain.

  • Verse 3 For those who are doomed to death there are four ways their bodies will suffer their end.

    • The sword is listed first, meaning they will die by the swords of warriors.

    • Many who are killed by warriors have their bodies eventually rummaged over and everything removed as spoil for the victors.

  • The bodies will be left to rot and to be taken away by dogs and birds.

  • This would also happen to the bodies of those who die from the devastation of famine.

  • There is also the use of the wild beasts to devour and destroy some.

• Verse 4 The LORD’s intention is to make His judgment clear to the surrounding kingdoms so they will know that what happens to this people has come from the LORD.

  • In the past the miracles the LORD performed identified this people as the LORD’s people and so too will the judgment of this people be known to come from their LORD.

Lam. 1:1 How lonely sits the city
That was full of people!
She has become like a widow
Who was once great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the provinces
Has become a forced laborer!

• The LORD now specifically identifies why this judgment will be severe, as this is because of what Manasseh did in Jerusalem.

2Chr. 33:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.
2Chr. 33:2  He did evil in the sight of the LORD according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD dispossessed before the sons of Israel.
2Chr. 33:3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he also erected altars for the Baals and made Asherim, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.
2Chr. 33:4 He built altars in the house of the LORD of which the LORD had said, “My name shall be in Jerusalem forever.”
2Chr. 33:5 For he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.
2Chr. 33:6 He made his sons pass through the fire in the valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, practiced sorcery and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
2Chr. 33:7 Then he put the carved image of the idol which he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, “ In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever;
2Chr. 33:8 and I will not again remove the foot of Israel from the land which I have appointed for your fathers, if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them according to all the law, the statutes and the ordinances given through Moses.”
2Chr. 33:9 Thus Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the sons of Israel.
2Chr. 33:10 The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.

• Verse 2 The evil of the king of Judah was worse than the nations the LORD had removed from the land before the sons of Israel took possession of it.

  • Verse 3 Idol worship was brought back to the inhabitants in the land of Judah.

  • Verse 4-5 Idol worship was brought into the courts of the temple in Jerusalem.

  • Verse 6 The princes of Israel were sacrificed as burnt offerings in the valley of Ben-hinnom.

    • The practice of witchcraft, divination, sorcery and the use of mediums and spiritists was elevated by Manasseh.

  • Verse 7 The final item listed for the evil done by Manasseh is the carved image of the idol he made and put in the house of God.

    • The significance of the sin brought to Judah and Jerusalem by Manasseh is beyond imagination. The LORD declares to Jeremiah this is the reason He is bringing judgment on Judah and Jerusalem now.

Jer. 15:5 “Indeed, who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem,
Or who will mourn for you,
Or who will turn aside to ask about your welfare?
Jer. 15:6 “You who have forsaken Me,” declares the LORD,
“You keep going backward.
So I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you;
I am tired of relenting!
Jer. 15:7 “I will winnow them with a winnowing fork
At the gates of the land;
I will bereave them of children, I will destroy My people;
They did not repent of their ways.
Jer. 15:8 “Their widows will be more numerous before Me
Than the sand of the seas;
I will bring against them, against the mother of a young man,
A destroyer at noonday;
I will suddenly bring down on her
Anguish and dismay.
Jer. 15:9 “She who bore seven sons pines away;
Her breathing is labored.
Her sun has set while it was yet day;
She has been shamed and humiliated.
So I will give over their survivors to the sword
Before their enemies,” declares the LORD.

• Verse 5 The LORD brings the truth to His people saying there is no one who cares for Jerusalem and will have pity on them or mourn for them or even check on the welfare of the LORD’s people.

  • V 6 The LORD declares His people have forsaken Him and they continue to go backwards.

    • This going backwards refers to all the many times the kings and the leaders of the people and then the people themselves moved headlong into idolatry.

  • Then a new king would come along and be repentant before the LORD and attempt to bring the people back to the worship of the LORD.

    • In the narrative of the life of Manasseh the scriptures reveal he ultimately humbled himself before the LORD.

2Chr. 33:11 Therefore the LORD brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon.
2Chr. 33:12 When he was in distress, he entreated the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.
2Chr. 33:13 When he prayed to Him, He was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God.

• Jer. 15: 6 The LORD says it is time for the judgment to be brought on His people and Jerusalem for this continual backsliding away from Him and His covenant with them.

  • The LORD is faithful, and it was declared in His Law what the consequences for idolatry were to be for His people. The LORD is not willing to relent from the necessary judgment any longer.

• Verse 7 The imagery of the winnowing fork is used by the LORD.

  • A winnowing fork is used in the process of separating the usable grains of wheat from the useless chaff in agriculture.

  • This imagery is used when the LORD is speaking of judgment being brought to His people for separation and refining. The judgment is going to break the people of the LORD. They will not be able to hide from the LORD.

    • Their hearts will be exposed.

    • They will suffer and this will expose their hearts.

    • Their children will be taken from them. This would be either by death or by separation in exile.

    • The reason for this destruction upon the LORD’s people is because they would not repent of their ways.

    • As a people they kept returning to the idol worship.

    • There is a difference between confession of sin and repentance as the second is a turning away from the sin with a changed heart.

  • The reference to this taking place at the gates may allude to decisions by the conquerors about who would die and who would go into exile.

• Verse 8 There will be an abundance of widows left as the men will be removed, either by death or by forced removal. The destroyer will arrive at noonday.

  • The women will be left bereaved as their children are removed as well as their husbands.

• Verse 9 A woman who has birthed seven sons will pine away or wither away.

  • The picture of a woman having seven sons was considered the pinnacle of blessing in Israel.

Ruth 4:13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her. And the LORD  enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.
Ruth 4:14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed is the LORD who has not left you without a  redeemer today, and may his name become famous in Israel.
Ruth 4:15 “May he also be to you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”

• The women are reminding Naomi how blessed she was by the LORD to have Ruth who loved her and was better than if Naomi had seven sons.

  • Seven is a number seen as completeness in the scriptures.

  • In Jer. 15:9 The picture is of a woman who should be seen at the pinnacle of blessing from the LORD and yet she will pine away.

    • Her pain will be great, as one who labors in breathing near the end of life.

    • She will experience grief that usually happens near the end of life, described as, ‘her sun has set’, during her more productive years, described as, ‘it was yet day’.

    • The woman who had all will now be shamed and humiliated.

    • This may also be a picture of Jerusalem or Judah as the woman who will be shamed and humiliated.

    • The LORD will take the blessings of life away.

    • Those who did not die from famine will die by sword.

    • They will experience defeat from their enemies.

Jer. 15:10 Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me
As a man of strife and a man of contention to all the land!
I have not lent, nor have men lent money to me,
Yet everyone curses me.
Jer. 15:11  The LORD said, “Surely I will set you free for purposes of good;
Surely I will cause the enemy to make supplication to you
In a time of disaster and a time of distress.
Jer. 15:12 “Can anyone smash iron,
Iron from the north, or bronze?
Jer. 15:13 “Your wealth and your treasures
I will give for booty without cost,
Even for all your sins
And within all your borders.
Jer. 15:14 “Then I will cause your enemies to bring it
Into a land you do not know;
For a fire has been kindled in My anger,
It will burn upon you.”

• Verse 9 ended with, ‘declares the LORD’.

  • Verse 10 Begins with Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me.

  • Verse 11 will begin with, ‘The LORD said’

  • Verse 10 this is Jeremiah speaking about what he is experiencing as he brings the message from the LORD to the LORD’s people.

    • Jeremiah reveals his pain by declaring ‘Woe to me’.

    • The pain is felt by Jeremiah’s mother as well, and this reminds us that Jeremiah is a real man suffering real loneliness and the pain of rejection.

    • This is reminiscent of Job’s sorrow as he too said his pain was so great he wished he had not been born.

    • The suffering of Jeremiah would be felt by his mother as well. A son to not marry or have children. A son rejected by his own kinsmen.

  • Jeremiah describes himself as a man of strife and contention in all the land.

    • There is no one who wants to hear the words Jeremiah is bringing from the LORD.

    • They want to argue with him.

    • They want to say the LORD will not bring destruction on His people.

    • They have said the temple being in Jerusalem will prevent Jerusalem from falling into the hands of their enemies.

  • Jeremiah has avoided having financial entanglements with people by announcing he has not loaned money to anyone.

    • This means there is no one who can accuse Jeremiah of holding a financial burden over them to say or not say anything.

    • Also, Jeremiah says he is not beholden to anyone financially with the same impact being there is no one who can pressure Jeremiah to say or not say anything.

  • Jeremiah is free to speak only what the LORD speaks to him.

    • This may also give insight to the motivation of the false prophets in Judah and Jerusalem.

    • Jeremiah has no support among his countrymen as he says all curse him.   

  • Verse 11 The LORD says He is going to set His people free for purposes of good.

    • They are not pursuing purposes of good now.

    • There will be a time in the future when the LORD will cause the enemies of His people to make supplications to them. Now His people are making supplications to others.

    • They are paying others.

    • This is happening in a time of disaster and distress.

  • The LORD’s people will come to Him when reaching out to others has failed them.

    • The leaders will seek Jeremiah’s counsel when it is too late.

    • This will be seen later in the book of Jeremiah.

• Verse 12 The iron that is being brought from the north is too powerful for the people of Judah to resist.

  • Likewise, the bronze used will not be broken away from. 2 Chr. 33:11, 2 Kings 25:7

2Chr. 33:11 Therefore the LORD brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon.

2Kings 25:7 They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, then put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.

• These are specific verses referring to the bronze chains and fetters used to bring the kings of Judah into captivity.

  • The terms “iron and bronze” are used here to show the strength of the armies the LORD is sending against His people. The armies will not be stopped in the work the LORD has for them to accomplish.

• Jer. 15:13 The LORD will make sure all the valuable things He secured for His people will be carried away to other lands and peoples.

  • This is done by the LORD for all the sin of His people against Him.

  • The LORD will not exact revenge from the enemies for taking the things of value from the people. This is one way the LORD is paying their enemies for their services, for the sons of Israel’s judgment to be brought on them, described as ‘booty without cost’.

• Verse 14 The LORD prophesies through Jeremiah the wealth of His people will be taken away to a land they do not know.

  • This is described in detail in the scriptures of what Babylon carries away from Jerusalem.

  • Much of the details can be found in 2 Kings 25.

Jer. 15:15 You who know, O LORD,
Remember me, take notice of me,
And take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
Do not, in view of Your patience, take me away;
Know that for Your sake I endure reproach.
Jer. 15:16 Your words were found and I ate them,
And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart;
For I have been called by Your name,
O LORD God of hosts.
Jer. 15:17 I did not sit in the circle of merrymakers,
Nor did I exult.
Because of Your hand upon me I sat alone,
For You filled me with indignation.
Jer. 15:18 Why has my pain been perpetual
And my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?
Will You indeed be to me like a deceptive stream
With water that is unreliable?

• Verse 15 Now Jeremiah calls out to the LORD to remember him and take vengeance on those who have come against him.

  • Jeremiah does not ask the LORD to remove him, but to allow him to witness what the LORD is going to do.

• Verse 16 Jeremiah says he ate the words of the LORD; this is a description of taking in the scriptures and is like relishing good food.

  • Jeremiah says the words of the LORD became joy for him.

  • The words became the delight of his heart.

    • Jeremiah has known the LORD.

    • He has been called the LORD’s.

  • Jeremiah has been called by the LORD’s name.

    • He is identified as the LORD’s prophet.

    • Jeremiah calls out, ‘O LORD God of hosts’.

• Verse 17 There was some opportunity in which some leaders were gathered together and celebrated, here called merry makers.

  • Jeremiah says he did not participate.

  • Jeremiah says he now sees it was the hand of the LORD on him that kept him from participating.

    • The LORD filled Jeremiah with indignation in the midst of the celebration.

  • What a picture of strength Jeremiah is to stand up for the LORD even when he feels as if he is standing alone in this endeavor.

• Verse 18 Jeremiah still wonders why his pain continues with no relief.

  • The wounds Jeremiah feels seem to fester and not heal.

  • Jeremiah asks the LORD if he should expect the healing touch of the LORD to be intermittent, comparing the healing to a stream that does not always flow with water.

  • This is not a stream that one counts on to provide water in a life-sustaining way.

Jer. 15:19 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,
You will become My spokesman.
They for their part may turn to you,
But as for you, you must not turn to them.
Jer. 15:20  “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.
Jer. 15:21 “So I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked,
And I will redeem you from the grasp of the violent.”

• Verse 19 In response to Jeremiah’s concerns the LORD says to him, “If you return then I will restore you.”

  • The indication is Jeremiah has hidden himself away from the people out of fear.

  • The LORD tells Jeremiah he must return and only then will the LORD restore him to the position of prophet to the LORD’s people.

    • Jeremiah is told if he stands before the LORD then the LORD will sustain him to stand before the people.

    • The call to stand before the LORD would be done as a repentant act for desiring to walk away from the calling the LORD has placed on him.

  • The test of Jeremiah will be for him to separate the precious from the worthless.

  • The lies that are being spun by the false prophets will be the testing ground for Jeremiah.

    • Jeremiah will know the truth and will stand against the lies.

    • When Jeremiah does this, he will indeed become the prophet sent by the LORD, called ‘My spokesman’.

    • The people may turn away from the false words they have been listening to and listen to what Jeremiah speaks, but Jeremiah is not to listen to the false prophets or be influenced by what the people have to say.

    • The determination of Jeremiah being a true prophet sent from the LORD will not be determined by whether the people listen to him or not; it will be that he speaks the truth.

• Verse 20 The LORD promises to protect Jeremiah from the harm the people may want to inflict upon him.

  • The LORD tells Jeremiah He will put a protective wall around him that will be like a wall made of bronze.

    • The same promise was given to Jeremiah in Jer. 1:17-19.

Jer. 1:17 “Now, gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all which I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, or I will dismay you before them.
Jer. 1:18 “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.
Jer. 1:19 “They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.

• The LORD clearly warns Jeremiah the people will fight against him, but they will not prevail.

  • The LORD promises Jeremiah He will be with him, save him and deliver him.

• Verse 21 The LORD promises to deliver Jeremiah from the hand of the wicked. This would have been important to Jeremiah as he had specifically asked why it seemed the wicked prospered.

Jer. 12:1 Righteous are You, O LORD, that I would plead my case with You;
Indeed I would discuss matters of justice with You:
Why has the way of the wicked prospered?
Why are all those who deal in treachery at ease?

• Jer. 15:21 Jeremiah is also told the LORD would redeem him from the grasp of the violent.

  • Jeremiah will be saved from the violent, though the people of Judah and Jerusalem would not be spared.

  • That does not mean Jeremiah would not suffer.

  • His life reflected a man who knew grief and suffering from the time he became the last prophet to the kingdom of Judah until his death; but the LORD makes special promises to Jeremiah about which ways the LORD will protect him and what the LORD expects from Jeremiah as well.

• Jeremiah is a man demonstrating true spiritual leadership.

  • He is broken by the sin of his people.

  • He is heartbroken for the destruction that will be poured out on his people.

  • In the midst of false prophets and wicked men seeming to flourish, Jeremiah feels the pain of deception and loneliness, yet he does not forsake the truth sent through the word of the LORD.

• Jeremiah brings his Woe to the LORD and the LORD promises to be there for him, but Jeremiah must persevere to the end.

  • He can’t walk away from what he has been called to do.

  • Like Ezekiel, the word of the LORD is to be brought to the people whether they listen or not.

Ezek. 2:7 “But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.

• Like Jeremiah, we may be called to declare God’s truth in places and times where the truth will not be heard or received, but we are to be faithful to that calling.

2Tim. 4:1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:
2Tim. 4:2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.
2Tim. 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,
2Tim. 4:4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
2Tim. 4:5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

2Tim. 2:24 The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged,
2Tim. 2:25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,
2Tim. 2:26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.

• Like Jeremiah, we are to push through to the end no matter how difficult the journey or the calling is to follow what the LORD has called us to do.