Consider the Call(er)

As I begin my periodic re-study of the book of Jeremiah, in just reading the first chapter I am reminded of the deeply transformational nature of this portion of God’s Holy Word. This book has shaped my understanding of Jesus Christ and practical theology more than any other book of the Bible I’ve read*.

*I think we all can and should say this of each book of the Bible as we study it. :)

Chapter 1 helps us understand not only Jeremiah’s call, but also the nature of the God who called Him. I think it’s important that we consider these things, in this order, as we read chapter 1.

1. The Caller (God)

2. The Calling (the mission)

3. The Called (Jeremiah)

4. The promised to the Called

I think that perhaps I am learning that each and every time I approach this text, I am, like Jeremiah, reminded to see the Caller as the rightful focal point. Being honest, I tend to think about the called (Jeremiah/myself) or the call itself much more ‘naturally’ that I do about the God who does the calling and makes the promises. If nothing else comes from this re-read of Jeremiah, I am praying that I will see the God who calls and promise much more vividly than the last read through.

I think it’s a worthwhile exercise to compare the Caller (God) by looking at the calling of the other authors of the major books of prophecy. Read and compare:

• Isaiah’s Call

• Jeremiah’s Call

• Ezekiel’s Call

• Daniel’s Call

In this first pass on looking at the call, I’d like to pencil down a few characteristics of the God who calls. Let’s first pray and ask God to permit us to know Him and increase in our awe and affection towards Him. Father God, would you graciously permit us to see your face and your holiness as we examine the prophetic calls of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel? Allow us to see you as unchanging, faithful, and worthy of our wholehearted response to the call of your voice. Amen

Having read the vision and call of Isaiah in chapter 6, we see that God is:

• verse 1: sitting upon His throne, high and lifted up: yep, still true

• verse3: as the seraphim declared: 3x holy & the whole earth is filled with His glory

• verse 5: King

• verse 8: Three in one: Who will go for us? This is the triune God speaking to the undone prophet

• verse 9-12: just and perfectly within His rights to harden, deaden, and chasten sinners.

Let’s look at Jeremiah’s call in chapter 1, and observe just a few things about God’s character. We see that God is:

• verse 4-5: a God who knows men/women personally, intimately, and with foreknowledge

• verse 5: the one who forms life in the womb and assigns purpose to the lives of His people

• verse 6: willing to hear and respond to human objections with love and firmness

• verse 15: able to appoint kings & kingdoms and summon them to unwittingly do His bidding

• verse 16: a judge who judges justly and takes seriously the charge of forsaking Him, which all mankind has done

• verse 17-19: the one who strengthens us for the work He calls us to and He promises that He will be with us

Moving along, we now have to opportunity to distill a bit about God’s character from the prophet Ezekiel’s calling, which is a bit different from the account of Isaiah and Jeremiah. Found in the 2nd and 3rd chapters of Ezekiel, in Ezekiel's call, we see that God is:

• ch2, verse 2: speaking with the authority of His own Spirit (see also ch 3, verses 12 & 24)

• ch3, verse 12: interested in the integrity of message delivery by His messenger, whether it is accepted or not

• ch3, verses 4-11: sending His messengers to those of the same ethnicity as well as those of other ethnicities

• ch2, verse 6 | ch3, verse 9: requiring His messengers to be steadfast (don’t fear them or be dismayed; more on this next post)

• ch3, verse 27: speaking, by the authority of His Spirit, through the mouths of human messengers

Rounding out our survey of the God who calls in the major prophetic books, let’s look at Daniel 2:20-48. It’s hard to say exactly how Daniel was called, but this chapter certainly shows how he began his clear service to God by being elevated in position by King Nebuchadnezzar. Beginning with Daniel’s prayer and in the narrative that follows, we see that God is:

• verse 20: blessed forever and ever

• verse 20: the embodiment and epitome of wisdom and might

• verse 21-23: the one who gives His wisdom, knowledge, and understanding to whom He chooses

• verse 28: singular in truly being God- all other gods are lesser and in fact, are not gods at all

• verse 31-45: the one who appoints kings & kingdoms to rise and fall

• verse 47: truly, God of gods & Lord of kings (thank you, King Nebuchandezzar for making this observation of God’s character so plain for us!!!)

If you’ve made it this far in today’s long post, I praise God for that. Make a written list of these and other observations of who God is in these passages. Ruminate in the character of God, look how He is described in the same or complimentary ways in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Consider, also, that these descriptions of the God who calls are the same today, in 2023. Drop by again and we will look at the call(ing), the call(ed), and the promised to the call(ed) in the next write-ups.