The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 224: The Weeping Prophet (2024)

Episode Date: August 11, 2024

Fr. Mike introduces us to the prophet Jeremiah, who is also known as the Prophet of Doom and the Weeping Prophet. He explains what makes Jeremiah different than the other prophets, and encourages us to cling closely to him as we hear about his difficult call. Today's readings are Jeremiah 1, Ezekiel 27, and Proverbs 14:5-8. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds, and I'll weave it into that story today. Congratulations, you guys, you made it today, 224 and the beginning of the book of the prophet Jeremiah, where we're reading today from Jeremiah chapter one and Ezekiel chapter 27. So only two chapters or one chapter apiece from both our prophets, Jeremiah and Ezekiel,

as well as reading from Proverbs chapter 14, verses five through eight. As always, the Bible translation that I'm reading from is the revised standard version, second Catholic edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. You can also subscribe in your podcast app to this podcast and receive daily episodes. I don't know if you knew that. Not many people say that, and I rarely have ever mentioned it. So if that's something that you are interested in, please feel free to follow that interest and unravel that piece of thread and keep pulling on it until you subscribe. As I said, it is day 224. We're reading from the beginning of the book of the prophet Jeremiah. We're going to hear today of the call of Jeremiah to be a prophet and his

commission is being sent by the Lord to be a prophet. We're also going to hear Jeremiah, you know, kind of push back a little bit on this call. And as well as we're going to go into the book of the prophet Ezekiel. Yesterday, I mentioned that Ezekiel had prayed that, you know, I didn't get the right line, but it was basically the idea that we want to love what God loves. We want to hate what God hates. And I mentioned a song. I just want to say it right off the bat. It was the line was, I was like, what, how did I not get this?

It's a line that says, break my heart for what breaks yours. And Ezekiel is going to be praying that. But today he's going to be lamenting over a foreign nation. He's going to be lamenting over the nation of Tyre, the city of Tyre, really. And we get to be part of that as well as Proverbs 14 verses 5 through 8. So once again, we're reading, it's day 224, 224, gosh, easy for me to say. We're reading Jeremiah 1, Ezekiel 27, Proverbs 14, verses 5 through 8. The book of Jeremiah, chapter 1, introduction. The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, 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 Ammon, king of Judah, in the 13th year of his reign. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of Jeremiah's call and commission. The word of the Lord came to me, saying, Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you were born, I consecrated you. I appointed you a prophet to the nations. Then I said, Ah, Lord God, behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth. But the Lord said to me, Do not say, I am only a youth. For to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Be not afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord. Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down,

to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, I see a rod of almond. Then the Lord said to me, You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it. The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, What do you see? And I said, I see a boiling pot facing away from the north. Then the Lord said to me, second time, saying, What do you see? And I said, I see a boiling pot facing away from the north. Then the Lord said to me, Out of the north shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord, and they shall come, and everyone shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of

Jerusalem, against all its walls round about, and against all the cities of Judah. And I will utter my judgments against them, for all their wickedness in forsaking me. They have burned incense to other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands. But you, gird up your loins, arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar and bronze walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you. The book of the prophet Ezekiel chapter 27, Lamentation over Tyre.

The word of the Lord came to me. Now you, son of man, raise a lamentation over Tyre and say to Tyre, who dwells at the entrance to the sea, merchant of the peoples on many islands. Thus says the Lord God, O Tyre, you have said, I am perfect in beauty. Your borders are in the heart of the seas. Your builders made perfect your beauty. They made all your planks of fir trees from Seneir. They took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you. Of oaks of Bashan they made your oars. They made your deck of pines from the coasts of Cyprus inlaid with ivory. Of fine embroidered linen from Egypt was your sail, serving as your ensign. Blue and purple from the coasts of Elisha was your awning. The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers.

Skilled men of Zemir were in you. They were your pilots. The elders of Gabal and her skilled men were in you, caulking your seams. All the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you, to barter for your waters. Persia and Lod and Put were in your army as your men of war. They hung the shield and helmet in you. They gave you splendor. The men of Arvad and Halak were upon your walls round about, and men of Gamad were in your towers. They hung their shields upon your walls round about.

They made perfect your beauty. Tarshish trafficked with you because of your great wealth of every kind. Silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your wares. Javan, Tubal, and Meshech traded with you. They exchanged the persons of men and vessels of bronze for your merchandise. Bet-Togarmah exchanged for your wares horses, warhorses, and mules. The men of Rhodes traded with you. Many islands were your own special market. They brought you in payment ivory tusks and ebony. Edom trafficked with you because of your abundant goods. They exchanged for your wares emeralds, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and agate. Judah and the land of Israel traded with you. They exchanged for your merchandise wheat, olives, and early figs,

honey, oil, and balm. Damascus trafficked with you for your abundant goods because of your great wealth of every kind. Wine of Helban and white wool and wine from Uzal they exchanged for your wares. Wrought iron, kaja, and calamus were bartered in your merchandise. Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding. Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your favorite dealers in lambs, rams, and goats. In these they trafficked with you. The traders of Sheba and Ra'ama traded with you. They exchanged for your wares the best of all kinds of spices and all precious stones and gold. Haran, Kenah, Eden, Ashur, and Kilmad traded with you. These traded with you in choice garments, in clothes of blue and embroidered work,

and in carpets of colored stuff bound with cords and made secure. In these they traded with you. The ships of Tarshish traveled for you with your merchandise. So you were filled and heavily laden in the heart of the seas. Your rowers have brought you out into the high seas. The east wind has wrecked you in the heart of the seas. Your riches, your wares, your merchandise, your mariners and your pilots, your caulkers, your dealers and merchandise, and all your men of war who are in you, with all your company that is in your midst, and merchandise and all your men of war who are in you, with all your company that is in your midst,

sink into the heart of the seas on the day of your ruin. At the sound of the cry of your pilots, the countryside shakes, and down from their ships come all that handle the oar. The mariners and all the pilots of the sea stand on the shore and wail aloud over you and cry bitterly. They cast dust on their heads and wallow in ashes. They make themselves bald for you and put on sackcloth, and they weep over you in bitterness of soul with bitter mourning. In their wailing, they raise a lamentation for you and lament over you. Who was ever destroyed like Tyre in the midst of the sea? When your wares came from the seas, you satisfied many peoples. With your abundant wealth and merchandise, you enriched the kings of the earth. Now you are wrecked by the seas in the depths of the waters. Your merchandise and all your crew have sunk with you. All the inhabitants of the islands are appalled at you,

and their kings are horribly afraid. Their faces are convulsed. The merchants among the peoples hiss at you. You have come to a dreadful end, and you shall be no more forever. The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 14, Verses 5-8 A faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness breathes out lies. A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain, but knowledge is easy for a man of understanding. Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not meet words of knowledge. The wisdom of a prudent man is to discern his way, but the folly of fools is deceiving. Father in heaven, we thank you and give you praise.

And man, Lord, thank you so much. Thank you for this day. And thank you for your words, your words of conviction, even your words of condemnation, because Lord God, we never want to be on the receiving end of those words. We never want to be on the receiving end of your judgment, of your justice. We just, God, we deserve your justice, but we need your mercy. And so when we hear your words to the city of Tyre, when we hear what you are going to do with Jeremiah's life,

we just, we give you thanks that you spoke these words and you revealed your longing for justice and the fact that you are a God of justice and you do not delay in your judgment. Lord God, in the way that you do not delay in your judgment, please also do not delay in your judgment. Lord God, in the way that you do not delay in your judgment, please also do not delay in your mercy. Those of us who have, we failed you, we've fallen and we need your mercy more than ever right now in this moment in our lives, this moment in my life. I just ask you for your mercy today, Lord. Your mercy is new every morning and help me to turn back to you. Help us all to turn back to you in whatever way, great or small, that we have wandered away or fallen away or run away. Help us always find the way back to you in Jesus. We'll make this prayer in the name of Jesus, in the name

of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Okay, awesome. Yeah, so when it comes to Ezekiel, we're just going to let you know that for the next number of days, we know we already have Ezekiel. He's prophesying, not just right now to the people of Judah, right? The people, God's people, the chosen people. He's also preaching now to Tyre. He's preaching the word of the Lord against Tyre. He's going to talk against the king of Tyre in the next couple upcoming days.

He's going to give a prophecy to Egypt and to the Pharaoh of Egypt. And so it's going to be this kind of situation where, as we know, Ezekiel has been kind of spreading the word of God has been going out, not simply to the people of Judah or to the exiles, but has been now to those other nations that have been false to the Lord as well. So that's Ezekiel. That's what's going to be in the next couple of days as well. But when it comes to the book of the prophet Jeremiah, we left behind Isaiah. Well, we didn't leave him behind. We always have him. We always have our friend Isaiah, the prophet. But we now have Jeremiah, the prophet. Ezekiel, remember, he's the performance art prophet. So he's the one who acts out a lot of things. Jeremiah is going to do some things similar. He's going to act out some things too, but he's going to be a little bit

different as well. So remember that Ezekiel was a priest. He came from the priestly family. He had this vision of the Lord. Remember at the very beginning of the book of the prophet Ezekiel, had a vision of the Lord that lasted for quite a while. In fact, there's a number of visions that Ezekiel is given because he has this really, really hard message that he's given to the people. So he has this incredible, multiple times he sees this vision of God and he's a priest. Jeremiah is also a priest. As it says very clearly at the very beginning of the book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. So Anathoth is a town out just outside of Jerusalem. And that's where Jeremiah was born. Now it also talks about how Jeremiah

was not only a prophet under one King, he was a prophet kind of like Ezekiel under a number of Kings, except unlike Ezekiel, that Jeremiah was a prophet in the land of Judah for almost his entire life. I mean, basically he gets at the end of the story, spoiler, he gets carted off to Egypt and it's not great. The book of the prophet Jeremiah is not going to be one where not a lot of wins for our buddy Jeremiah. So we need to stay close to him because Jeremiah is known as the prophet of doom. It says in the great adventure Bible notes, he's also known as the weeping prophet because Jeremiah has a, he has a sensitive heart to the people. He loves them.

He has a sensitive heart to the Lord. He loves God. Yet God, in this incredible call, we heard it today. We heard God speaking over Jeremiah and saying, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you were born, I consecrated you. I appointed you a prophet to the nations. womb, I knew you. And before you were born, I consecrated you. I appointed you a prophet to the nations. So here's God saying, I mean, this is a great scripture verse for you to know for yourself because yes, this is to Jeremiah specifically, but this is how God knows all

of us. God knows every single one of us before we were formed in the womb, before we were born, that there's a consecration, there's a call that he places upon every one of our lives. And that's exhibited here in Jeremiah. Now that's a great news and it's an encouraging word. And yet at the same time, the Lord says this to Jeremiah, knowing what's going to happen. He's saying, basically, even in this very first chapter, he says multiple times, do not be afraid of them. Do not be dismayed by them. Do not be discouraged by them. Why? Because I'm going to send you to this people and you're going to speak my words to them and they will not listen to you. I mean, this is one of the reasons why Jeremiah is the weeping prophet is not only because he has a hard message to give, but because this hard message will not be received. This is just, it's the worst. It's the worst. Isaiah, he had some moments

of beauty, some moments of glory. Like, listen, remember the book of Woe and the book of Consolation? Ezekiel has some, even some really powerful things that God says to the people. And yet, Jeremiah, it's the prophet of doom because he is preaching in the last legs, last days, last gasp, essentially, of the people of Judah before the Babylonians come in and destroy everything. Remember that Ezekiel, the prophet we've been going through, we just read chapter 27 today, Ezekiel, he was carted off. Remember those three waves of deportation.

The first wave of deportation to Babylon was Daniel and some of those bros. And then the second wave was Ezekiel himself. And that third wave had not yet happened. And so Ezekiel's preaching about this third wave had not yet happened. And so Ezekiel's preaching about this third wave, basically saying that complete destruction of Jerusalem doesn't have to happen kind of a thing. You can repent and turn back to the Lord. People aren't necessarily listening to him either, but there at least is some hope. Jeremiah, he's in Judah during this time. So he lived to see these deportations and he lived to see the destruction of Jerusalem.

And he also, again, he got to be part of that in being exiled to Egypt. He got to be hated. And this is the thing, again, this is the word of God. That's why I'm saying that incredible line of before I formed you in the womb, I knew you before you were born. I consecrated you. I pointed to you and profit to the nations. Incredible, beautiful, powerful. You know that the Lord sees you. He knows you. He loves you. He's to you and prophet to the nations, incredible, beautiful, powerful.

You know that the Lord sees you. He knows you. He loves you. He's commissioned you for a great task. And yet you will go to them and they will not listen to you. And so Jeremiah preaches, I think for 50 years, five, zero preaches for 50 years over the course of what it says in the very first couple of verses in the book of prophet Jeremiah. He was there when Josiah was the king. He was there when Jehoiakim was the king. He was there when Zedekiah was the king. And for 50 years, Jeremiah preached this word of repentance to the people of Israel, people of Judah, and they did not listen. And just, you can imagine this as we begin, as we begin, oh gosh, Jeremiah accepts this call. And I don't know that he knew exactly what it would, what it would cost, but this is

part of what it is to belong to God. Part of what it is, is to say, I will do what you ask me no matter what. And then this is, this is the call for every one of us. Again, God, before he formed you in the womb, he knew you. And before you were born, he consecrated you. And we don't know, I don't know what his mission is for you. But belonging to the Lord basically means saying, I am yours, no matter what. I will do what you ask of me, no matter what. And Jeremiah is a great example of this

because we're gonna walk with him for a lot of chapters. We're going to walk with him for the next 50 years of his life and the next 50 years of what the people of Judah had to endure and to go through as well as what he had to go through. So it all begins with this call and this commission, which is incredible and beautiful and powerful. And yet at the same time, it is not one that I think many of us would want. In fact, one last note about Jeremiah. Jeremiah, we remember Ezekiel was married and we just had the chapter where Ezekiel's wife had died and he was to not mourn her because

the people of Israel wouldn't mourn when they heard about the destruction of the temple. Well, Jeremiah doesn't marry. And one of the ideas behind this is that Jeremiah's life is too marked with pain for him to get married. Like it's, it's one of those people have posited this, right? People have offered this as maybe this is the idea that Jeremiah's life is so marked by pain that God is sparing the wife of Jeremiah and saying, I'm going to limit the amount of pain he goes through to just one person. I'm not going to have it be he and his wife. And in that is something worth reflecting on.

I'm not sure what it means when it comes to reflecting on for your life or for my life, but it's one of those pieces of just, but for Jeremiah's life, just reflect on that for his life, that God had called him to this intimacy with him and him alone,

knowing that he would be very alone as he walked through this world. And there are people who are alone every day. Maybe you're one of those people, part of this community who you walk through life alone. Maybe you see someone on a regular basis, maybe someone you work with or someone you see at the store or out on the street and see him at church and you realize that person is alone. Now, Jeremiah, he didn't have to have a wife in order to have friendship or have a relationship to be able to love, but to have someone in your life, to have that friend in your life or that family that takes you in can be an incredible gift. I know it is for many priests to have that family that kind of takes you in or to have your own family. Like I have my siblings, my parents that just love me really well. And I am so grateful for that gift. But there are people around us who

don't have those siblings. They don't have those parents or those children. And maybe this is a word that we're looking for at Jeremiah. Maybe we're looking for someone who they walk through life and they've been called by God. They, they, they're known by God and they're loved by God, but, but they walk alone. And maybe we just today say, God, keep my eyes open so I can see those that you see. And I can maybe get to know those that you know, and maybe you're calling me to love those that you love someone walking alone that doesn't have to walk alone because you and I can walk beside them. I don't know.

I don't know if that's the case today, but it could be. And so let's pray for that. Let's pray that God opens our eyes, opens our hearts and opens our lives that we can maybe open our homes to those among us who are alone. I don't know.

That's something worth praying about. And I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.