Jeremiah-not the bull frog one, was a one of the major prophets of the Old Testament.

He prophesied about the impending Babylonian captivity during the 600bc era.

In Sunday school we are studying the book of Jeremiah and I was fascinated to learn about one of their religious occupations. Did you know you could grow up to be a prophet? Imagine that! You didn’t even need a true message from God. You could just decide to spout prophecies. And, like, people, royalty, kings even, would believe you. No questions asked.

Of course it helped if your prophecies were beneficial and positive towards the one you were prophesying towards.

Funny how that works huh?

“My heart is broken within me; all my bones tremble… This is what the Lord Almighty says: Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes”

Jeremiah 7:9 & 16

Can anyone become a prophet? What even is a prophet?

According to an article from thegospelcoalition.org a prophet is merely a communication source that allows God’s word to be spoken through a person to another person, group, or nation. The bible is pretty specific when it comes to prophets and prophesying. Check out Exod. 4:12, Duet 18:18, Jer. 1:9, and Ezek 2:7 to name a few.

If you’ve heard about Jeremiah, then you’ll know they’ve nicknamed him the weeping prophet. His whole book is a warning to Israel to repent and turn back to God instead of worshiping idols or their country will fall into captivity. But the people won’t listen. Instead, they laugh, ridicule, even try to kill him. His message wasn’t very positive or feel good, after all.

The people instead chose to listen to the light and happy message that the House of Prophets were “prophesying”. Convenient wasn’t it?

Did anyone ever think why Jeremiah went out of his way, even prepared to die to deliver this message from God? I can’t even imagine the heaviness he must have felt. He was even rejected by his hometown, friends, family. Think of the conviction you must have to keep spreading a message that everyone is ignoring.

The House of Prophets teaches us that anyone can tell you anything and you can totally believe it if you want to. You can choose to ignore hard things, run from complications, or live completely oblivious to truths. That is our gift of free-will. But it takes conviction, dedication, faithfulness, humility, and sometimes weeping to stay true to your message from God.

Maybe He’s calling you to turn from a bad habit, or trust that he will take care of you financially, or to quit your job and become fishers of men. Take comfort knowing God has your best interests at heart and He’ll be with you every step of the way.