By: Obed Pineda
“And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” (Matthew 24:11-12)
When the Word of God is examined carefully in its entirety, the parallels that can be found in its sacred pages between both Testaments, are extraordinarily astonishing. The significance of discovering these links between Scripture reveals the flawless consistency of God and time after time validates the Master’s affirmation that “the Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35b, emphasis added). Thus, when we take a moment to analyze the words uttered by our Lord as quoted above, it is curious to learn that His exhortation of persevering until the end, had already once been exemplified by the man recognized by the moniker, “the Weeping Prophet.” The Bible teaches us that when Jeremiah was called to the office of a prophet by the Lord, Judah was deeply immersed in wickedness. He was sent by Jehovah God to a nation that no longer feared Him (Jeremiah 5:20-24), avidly practiced sin, without shame (Jeremiah 6:13-15), and was terribly devoid of God’s sacred Word (Jeremiah 8:4-9). Needless to say that this unholy mixture brought forth a nation who “is given to covetousness…everyone deals falsely” (Jeremiah 8:10b, emphasis added). Undeniably, the inspired words written by Jeremiah provide a portrait of what abounding lawlessness looks like and why the love of many can grow cold in a world surrounded by spiritual apathy. It is difficult to disagree with Biblical scholars who state that of all of the prophets of old, Jeremiah was placed in the direst and heart-breaking period of Judah’s history. Yet, his iron resolve and unwavering loyalty to his God radiates in his boldness to never stop preaching against sin to an impenitent and obdurate nation. Jeremiah’s fearlessness to speak out against the sinful nature of his beloved people is etched by the Holy Spirit as He describes one event where “it happened, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, ‘You will surely die!’ Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without an inhabitant?’ And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord” (Jeremiah 26:8-9, emphasis added). There is no question that to speak Divine truth is never a simple matter, especially if it is reprimanding wicked actions. This reality did not go unnoticed by another faithful servant of Christ, who similar to Jeremiah, was very unpopular among those of his own nation. The parallels between these holy men’s experiences are at once revealed in the apostles’ rhetorical question, “Have I, therefore, become your enemy because I tell you the truth” (Galatians 4:16, emphasis added)? Like Jeremiah, Paul was often persecuted and despised for speaking God’s word unadulterated. Never did the apostle compromise the sanctity of Holy Scriptures for the sake of convenience or to appease a violent mob. His query to the Galatians serves solid proof of this truth. Although once a proud, zealous Pharisee, the apostle Paul did not allow his past to be used against him to return the Law of Moses. Instead, his entire focus in the Galatian letter is to renounce this erred doctrine warning his beloved brethren that, “as we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other Gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ” (Galatians 1:9-10, emphasis added). Behold the source of Jeremiah’s and Paul’s iron will! Both of these godly men sought to please God before men. They were not intimidated by what man could do to them, for they were aware “that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28, emphasis added). Through these two men and several others like them, Holy Writ provides those “called according to His purpose” with a paradigm (“pattern”) to follow. It is wise to mention that in addition to their fearlessness, Jeremiah and Paul were resilient in their respective ministries as well. The challenging crowds that these men faced would have very easily discouraged any common man from continuing to preach. The constant persecutions, mockery, false accusations, but most of all to witness the great disrespect for God and His Holy Word can be an enormous deterrent to “everyone who partakes only of milk [for he]
is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe” (Hebrews 5:13, emphasis and addition mine). It is a known fact that the book of Jeremiah is not written in chronological order. The reason this is so was because of King Jehoiakim’s irreverent approach to God’s words that did not please him (Jeremiah 36). Holy Writ declares that “it happened when Jehudi had read three or four columns, that the king cut it with the scribe’s knife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. Yet they were not afraid, nor did they tear their garments, the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words” (Jeremiah 36:23-24, emphasis added). Jehoiakim’s disdain for the Lord’s words lamentably illuminates the horrid attitude of Judah toward God. However, despite the king’s atrocious attempt to rid his kingdom of God’s righteous judgments, he did not succeed in doing so nor did he silence the prophet from speaking God’s words (Jeremiah 36:27-32). The apostle Paul, too, was often targeted by his adversaries who tried to silence him from preaching the Gospel. Even after he was forewarned by the prophet Agabus that he would be unjustifiably arrested at Jerusalem, Paul declared, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21:10-13, emphasis added). No matter how often these saints encountered indifferent crowds who despondently rejected them and their preaching, it was never enough to persuade them to give up. They were fully convinced that truly, “he who endures to the end shall be saved” (Matthew 24:12, emphasis added). Their faith in this immutable promise becomes resplendent when learning how both men perished. Jeremiah, after Jerusalem’s destruction, was stoned to death by his fellow countrymen who escaped with him to Egypt; Paul, a prisoner of Caesar, was beheaded at Rome. Amazingly, both of these men were martyred for boldly and lovingly preaching the whole counsel of God. They died the way the lived; faithful in their service to God. For this reason, they are unequivocally a paradigm to all who preach the Gospel in an ever-growing, apathetic world.