Few prophets–few men or women, period–lived through as much dramatic and consequential history as Jeremiah, but he’d rather have skipped it all. Most of us would–he was a living, breathing example of “shoot the messenger.” His ministry spanned King Josiah’s reformation (he wrote an elegy for the funeral) to King Zedekiah’s rebellion that ended it all for the southern kingdom.
But with the Lord, the end is not The End. As so many of the other prophets, Jeremiah saw a plan unfolding that was not quite within his understanding but it burned in his heart: “I have loved you with an everlasting love”:
I will bring them from the north and gather them . . the blind and lame . . . He who scattered Israel will gather them . . . and turn their morning into joy.
“At this I awoke and looked around,” writes Jeremiah, “and my sleep had been pleasant to me.” (31:36)
There’s day in which we all will awake, and look around, and reality will outshine our dreams.
For a download of this week’s challenge, with scripture passages, discussion questions, and activities for the kids, click here:
(This is a continuation of a series of posts about the “whole story” of the Bible. I plan to run one every week, on Tuesdays, with a printable PDF. The printable includes a brief 2-3 paragraph introduction, Bible passages to read, a key verse, 5-7 thought/discussion questions, and 2-3 activities for the kids. Here’s the Overview of the entire Bible series.)
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