The Lonely Prophet

The Lonely Prophet

October 31, 2018

My Bible reading these days is in Jeremiah. I have found myself giving thanks for the privilege of having comrades in ministry. I cannot relate to how lonely Jeremiah must have been.

Known as a prophet, today we would call Jeremiah a preacher. He had very little good news to share – most of it predicted a miserable future for the Israelites. They paid little or no attention to him, and when they did listen, they responded with rejection, rebellion and even persecution.

At one point, Jeremiah’s helper wrote down what Jeremiah said. The scroll was given to a rebellious king who sat by the fire listening as it was read and then cut it into pieces and threw it into the fire. Jeremiah had to do it all over again. They did not have computers that saved the information – it was all hand-written letter by letter. He must have been weary of his assignment.

Occasional statements of hope slip in as reminders that Creator God was not finished with His plan for Israel in the future. The immediate situation was without hope. Soon, Jerusalem would be conquered, the temple destroyed, the people carried away as captives and their joy in life only a memory.

As I consider life on Planet Earth, it is obvious that people are hurting. God is left out of the lives of many people and evil seems to be unstoppable. One could be discouraged and wonder if we are making a difference as we tell Jesus’ Story and try to be a light in this dark situation.

When I ponder all of this, I picture the people I work with, the church family I get to be a part of and the obvious evidence of followers of Jesus around the world, and I am encouraged. If Jeremiah could have known just a few like-minded people, he would have rejoiced.

Pastor Bill Ehmann

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

RECENT POSTS

“Youth and Aging”

By wvbaptist | June 1, 2016 | 0 Comments

June 1, 2016 Young people have a perspective on life that will change as they grow older. Most of them do not think about getting old because that seems so far away. They typically do not concern themselves with thoughts […]

“Memorial Weekend Memories”

By wvbaptist | May 26, 2016 | 0 Comments

May 25, 2016 Certain dates on the calendar provide reminders of special events in the past. This weekend is one of them. In my growing up years, our annual routine was to visit the cemeteries where family members were buried. […]

“Faithful in Hard Times”

By wvbaptist | May 18, 2016 | 0 Comments

May 18, 2016 I have a lot of respect for Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, along with the 12 other Prophets whose books in the Bible are shorter. Those men had a difficult assignment, and there is little, if any, […]

“Learning from Children”

By wvbaptist | May 13, 2016 | 0 Comments

May 12, 2016 The Prophet Isaiah had to deliver a lot of negative news to the Israelites as God declared His plan to discipline them for their rebellion. But throughout the Book of Isaiah, there are glimpses of the promise […]

“Mother”

By wvbaptist | May 5, 2016 | 0 Comments

May 5, 2016 The title “Mother” carries a sense of awe, maybe even reverence, that is both tender and profound. When Adam called his wife’s name “Eve,” he used a word that means “life-giver.” Genesis 3:20 says “she would become […]

Scroll to Top