Behold!

Jeremiah 1:9-10
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 this day appointed you to the oversight of the nations and of the kingdoms to root out and pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.

Are we to assume, simply because this book was about Jeremiah’s time of prophecy, that it is nothing more than an historical account? Or could it be that the words God spoke to Jeremiah serve the exact same purpose to the Christian who reads them with understanding today? I ask these questions because I think we get caught up in the history of the JB (Jesus Book-see earlier post) and forget its purpose.

What is the purpose of the JB? Well, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us that all scripture is good for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, so that we are complete and equipped for every good work. That being the case, this scripture is for us to use for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness so that we can be complete and equipped for every good work.

An interesting fact: the word “words” used in this scripture can either be singular or plural (Strong’s 1697). I find that fascinating because we refer to the Jesus Book as “The Word of God” yet it’s full of words. Is it one single word or is it a bunch of words put together? It’s both. It is both the Word and a grouping of words. Either way, it’s about Jesus. That being said, what does the rest of this scripture mean?

Well, we (Christians) have been appointed as the overseers of nations and kingdoms. This isn’t a worldly appointment; this is God ordained through the cross of Christ. As appointed overseers for the King we have a list of duties: to root out, pull down, destroy, overthrow, and (seemingly off topic) build and plant. The questions I have, the questions that I think derail most Christians, are these: what and how? What/how do we tear down and destroy? What/how do we overthrow? What/how do we plant and build?

The answers are found in your knowledge of Christ and His word. We root out, pull down, and overthrow false doctrines. We don’t do this with our own might or force, but by using the Word of God to reveal the King of kings, who is Jesus Christ. In doing this, the power of sin, which comes through the law, that the Devil has in the lives of unbelievers will be removed. By preaching and proclaiming Jesus and His finished work we overthrow the powers of sin, condemnation, guilt, and regret in our lives as well as the lives of others.

We, with the grace of Christ and His name alone, tear down the walls of shame and rebuild mansions of blessings with a firm foundation on the finished work of Jesus. All around our blessed homes we sow seeds of encouragement, righteousness, forgiveness, and redemption and sit back to reap the 30, 60, or 100 fold harvest that God has in store.

On this day the Lord has put His Word in your mouth. He’s given you and me Jesus to proclaim to the world. We will be overseers of nations and kingdoms and will prevail against our enemies, not with force or fight, but with the name of Jesus! We will build His body based on the confession of His finished work and plant churches established not on the works of man, but on the righteousness of Christ!