“Thy words were found, and I did eat them.”
The condemnation of the people is so strong in Jeremiah 15 that the Lord declares the state of things now in Jerusalem and Judah was such that nothing could alter His fixed determination to judge the land. "Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me, yet My mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth.”
What then was the righteous man to do? What could the righteous man seek? We find the answer given by Jeremiah himself: "Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by Thy name, O Lord God of hosts."Jer. 15:1616Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts. (Jeremiah 15:16). This was his resource, and that of all the faithful in a day of apostasy.
The words of the Lord always become more precious to the true heart in a day of ruin when judgment is about to fall. So the Apostle Paul when warning the elders of Ephesus pointed out this resource. "I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace." Acts 20:3232And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. (Acts 20:32). Seducers, wolves, and perverse men, all these he anticipates will be spoilers among the flock, but his counsel commends them to God and the word of His grace. So in Timothy, where Paul speaks of the last days and of perilous times coming, he says, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God," conveying particularly this value for the Old Testament scriptures. "All Scripture" includes the New Testament as well as the Old.
Words of Truth
Peter points to the same feature of God's Word. He was about to depart and had this intimation from the Lord that he was soon to come to the end of his time on earth. In view of his absence as an apostle, he reminded them to keep in remembrance the words of truth they had heard (2 Peter 1). The Word of God is always to be the distinguishing mark, and the anchor of hope for the believer in God.
I remember that the famous Bishop Horsley some years ago made some good remarks about this very thing. He had a strong sense of the ruin of Christendom that was at hand. He ventured to think that when the things God wrought among His people came completely into the hands of men without God's fear, God would awaken in the hearts of His people such a sense of the value of His Word that it would bring them to a degree of intelligence unknown in the previous state of the Church.
This conviction is a remarkable statement of what, I believe, has always been true in the dealings of God. It was so in the days of our Lord. Destruction was hanging over Jerusalem then, and all the Annas and Simeons and those who looked for redemption and the destruction of Jerusalem were those persons whom Malachi prepares us for in the last words of his book. "Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another," and the Lord holds them in special remembrance. I have no doubt that in like manner the Lord does and will do for those who value His Word until judgment falls upon Christendom.
Select the Precious From the Vile
Back in Jer. 15:1919Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them. (Jeremiah 15:19), this love of God's words is followed up with: "Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before Me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as My mouth." The great concern of believers in an evil day is not to be meddling with the vile, but to be seeking to do good to the precious.
The gospel seeks the vile because it is God's way of making the vile to be precious. But the people of God are not to occupy themselves with what is bad, except to reject it. They are to seek what is good, to proclaim it. This is precisely what is pressed upon Jeremiah: "If thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as My mouth." That is, you will be enabled to utter God's truth and God's grace. You will be the vessel of His mind, which the mouth is. "Let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them." That is, do not meddle with them, but if you love His mind, His words, His truth, you will be made a blessing to them. The great point is the selection of the precious from the vile.
"And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brazen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee." The unfailing protection of God is with His testimony as long as there is one, and He Himself is with His witnesses.
W. Kelly