Be Not Scared Of Them Or I Will Scare You In Their Presence

 "But you, get ready for action; stand up and say to them all that I command you.  But not scared of them or I will scare you in their presence!

See, I will make you a fortified city, a pillar of iron with walls of bronze, against all the nations, against the kings and princes of Judah, against the priests and the people of the land.  They will fight against you but shall not overcome you, for I AM with you to rescue you--it is YAHWEH who speaks." - Jeremiah 1:17-19 

(Be not scared of them or I will scare you in their presence.  This is an amazing revelation of the demanding love of YAHWEH.  HE has decided to make this lad HIS chosen one and forces him to overcome and forget his human weakness.

I AM with you to rescue you.  YAHWEH repeats what HE said to Moses when HE called him [Exodus 3:12] and what HE will also say to Paul [Acts 26:17].  Moreover, Jeremiah is assured that the LORD destined him for this mission, of which he had never thought, and which frightens him: Even before I formed you in the womb I have known you; even before you were born I had set you apart [verse 5].  Later, the same will be said of John the Baptist [Luke 1:15], of CHRIST [see Isaiah 49] and of Paul [Galatians 1:15].

These words spoken to Jeremiah are, somehow, also meant for us: we are not the product of chance.  In Ephesians 1, Paul praises this foreknowledge of GOD who called us from eternity to know CHRIST and to have a share in the divine riches.  But  what is said to Jeremiah urges us to reflect that GOD, in HIS eternal designs, clearly sees--next to CHRIST-- those who are given a more transcendental mission.  It would be difficult for them to escape GOD's irresistible call.

GOD seems to force Jeremiah's freedom, but that is but an impression of ours because we have not experienced the real freedom, and words rarely fully express reality.)

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