“The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month” (Jeremiah 1:1-3 ESV)
Why did Jeremiah note that he was “one of” the priests? Was it important that he was just one of many? Was it an off the cuff remark simply describing where he was when God’s revelatory word came to him? Or – was it more? Does it speak volumes to us about our lives? Might there be, as Max Lucado may identify it, a holy message included among humdrum words? These are words so common that we read them without giving them thought. We simply move on quickly to what we see as more powerful & even eternal.
I believe Jeremiah wrote intentionally, with meaning for all our lives. Think about this, being “one of” any group is difficult. Most of the readers of this email live in the USA, a culture focused upon fame. There is a huge difference in being “one of” a championship team, being a significant contributor to the team, and being the star of the team. Societal pressures on being labeled a “winner” are so great that universities are now firing head football coaches who average nearly 10 victories per season. It isn’t just sports fans either who take being important, successful, and noticed to extremes.
Sure, we know that the culture in which Jeremiah lived was different. There was no media driven frenzy about being famous at that time, but human nature was the same as it is today. Jealousy and bitterness drove people to commit all sorts of evil in the Old Testament days (e.g. the stories of Cain & Abel and the brothers of Joseph). It has always been hard to be “on of” when someone else is getting the publicity.
It is time for me to come to the point. God chose “on of” the priests to become a prophet. God chose someone who was just going about his daily business, doing what was right. God chose Jeremiah, because Jeremiah was available. If you are having a tough time being “one of” while someone else is getting all the attention…take heart. You are in GOOD company! You think about that!
