The Real Meaning of Life

We are at a point in Biblical history when God has called on many prophets to warn the children of Israel of the natural consequences of their actions. We’ve been reading Isaiah, Nahum, Zephaniah, and now we come to Jeremiah, and because they all lived at the same time, we bounce back and forth between them as they prophesy from different angles.

Jeremiah is one of the major prophets. Not to spoil the ending, but the children of Israel are defiant, and eventually, they are invaded by Babylon and carried away for 70 years. Jeremiah was one of the primary prophets trying to warn the Israelites of what is coming.

If you remember, a priest named Hilkiah was one who found the Book of Moses’ Law that had apparently not been used for a long time and brought it to King Josiah. While I can’t guarantee and while I haven’t taken the time to research, this may be the same Hilkiah who was the father to Jeremiah as described in Verse 1.

Verse 5 is often used in the campaign against abortion. Pro-Choice proponents claim that a fetus in the womb is not an actually human being until it is born, while Pro-Life proponents argue that life begins at conception. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” This scripture verifies creation as it says that Jeremiah was “formed” by God, and confirms that God even considered life before conception. No only that, but God chose Jeremiah to be a prophet before he was born, so you can say that Jeremiah’s only purpose in life was to prophesy on God’s behalf.

This also provides proof that God doesn’t necessary call on the greatest, or strongest, or most intelligent people to be His servants. Remember, Moses was reluctant because he was not a good speaker. Now we see Jeremiah is reluctant because he is young and inexperienced. It really doesn’t matter, when God calls on you, you answer.

Please do not misunderstand my next remarks as it is not my intent to be judgmental. But I have concerns about Verse 9, where Jeremiah says that the Lord put out His hand and touched Jeremiah’s mouth. We can’t, in my opinion, take this literally because there is no other place in the Old Testament that I am aware of where something like this occurred. Yes, Jesus touched many people, but God didn’t. Even Moses never saw God because God told him “no man shall see my face and live.”

Was Jeremiah in a trance with this happened? Did it happen in a dream? Was it simply a feeling he had? I can tell you, I have not heard the voice of God and He certainly has not touched me. The Spirit has affected me with that little voice in my head called a conscience, but no other way. And I’m not saying something didn’t occur to Jeremiah. What I’m saying is that there are certain people who will use this passage to claim that the same thing has happened to them.

And again, it may happen to someone else, I’m not going to claim it isn’t or won’t. I’m just saying that God and Jesus warns us of false prophets. Compare what they say and do with scripture. I say this because I personally disagree with the denominations that “speak in tongues”. It may be real, I’m not saying it isn’t, I just personally don’t believe it. I think Paul makes it pretty clear that when he speaks of “speaking in tongues”, he’s referring to the fact that when Jesus sent the disciples out to share the word, He gave them the ability to speak the language of those they were talking to. That’s all. But I believe others have interpreted this as being able to go into a trance and speak languages not known to man.

So, just beware. Beware of everything except God. Put full trust and faith in Him. Beware of false prophets. Beware of those who claim to have healing powers. Beware of me. I’m not an expert, I’m just sharing my perspectives and hoping people will keep an open mind at looking at something other than what The Church, Inc. teaches, which I believe to be false.

I know, it’s hard. It’s extremely difficult for me. All I can do is pray for understanding. I don’t believe God would lead me down the wrong path, but Satan surely would, and I have to have great discernment when I study and when I write.

God is love. Love Him in return.