Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
One of the sections of scripture God used when HE was teaching me in the office of prophet was Jeremiah.
These verses in Jeremiah are excellent instructions for prophets, both OT and NT prophets.
For the main role of a prophet of God is to hear what God says and to take God's message to other people.
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18 Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
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Jeremiah 19
2-3 (God says to Jeremiah) And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee, And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.
15 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear MY words.
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Jeremiah 20
1-2 Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things. Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.
4-6 (Jeremiah says to Pashur) For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword
Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.
And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.
7-10 O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.
For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.
Then I said, I will not make mention of HIM, nor speak any more in HIS name. But HIS word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.
For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.
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This is not at all an unusual feeling for prophets to have. We speak in the name of the Lord the Word from God which is a word to save them from their own ways, from their own destructions. They rise up against us. We can become discouraged and decide we will not speak anymore in HIS name.
One time I decided this. I said, "I will no longer think on God nor on things of God. I will think of other things." And I said, "What will I think of?" I decided I would think of the alphabet. I started thinking of this ... "A" ... "B" ... "C". That is as far as I got for the "C" caused me to think of the word, "Christ."
Remember how discouraged the prophet Elijah became when Jezebel swore to kill him?
I Kings 19
1-4 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.
And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.
But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
Instead of allowing Elijah to die, God sent an angel to prepare food for Elijah. The angel told Elijah to eat. Then a little later God showed HIMSELF to Elijah and gave Elijah a job to do for HIM.
15-16 And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.
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Jeremiah 20
In his discouragement, Jeremiah said ...
18 Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?
But Jeremiah regained his bearing when the king, Zedekiah asked him to inquire of the Lord.
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Jeremiah 21
1-10 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,
Enquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for us; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us; if so be that the LORD will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us.
Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah:
Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.
And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath.
And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence.
And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.
And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death.
He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey.
For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.
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This would have been a very difficult message to have to deliver. It would have been like us, during WWII, if we had to tell the people to surrender to Hitler.
But this was the message of that time of Jeremiah ... Surrender to the king of Babylon and go into captivity and save yourselves.
Of course the leaders and the people of Jerusalem were furious with Jeremiah over this instruction, saying Jeremiah weakened the hands of the people. Later they would throw Jeremiah into the pit and some wanted to kill Jeremiah because of this message.
It is hard to imagine danger in delivering messages to today's churches, but when I was speaking strong judgments messages against Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, and other big-time ministers, God gave me a dream showing me I was in great danger.
And in the dream I heard these words: "Don't go until you see Exodus 15."
I cancelled all meetings that were scheduled for the remainder of that year and stayed at home in my apartment in Dallas where I delivered messages in writing to the radio audience around the United States.
I knew I was in very great danger at that time.
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Jeremiah 22
1-5 Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,
And say,
Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:
Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.
For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.
But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.
7 And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.
8-9 And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city?
Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.
13-14 Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work; That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
15-16 Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him? He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know ME? saith the LORD.
17 But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
20-26 (Then God gave this assignment to Jeremiah.) Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed. I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not MY voice.
The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.
O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!
As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;
And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.
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Jeremiah the prophet of God lived during the time of the captivity where the children of Israel were taken into Babylon because of their sins against God.
The captivity was ordained by God and lasted 70-years as was appointed by God.
At the end, God returned the remaining people to their country.
In saving the people during their captivity, Jeremiah delivered a word from the Lord that this was to be a long captivity and they should go on with life, marrying and giving in marriage, planting vineyards to eat the fruit thereof, for they would be in Babylon long enough for the crops to grow and children to be born and grow to maturity, thus keeping the nation alive during the time.
Jeremiah spoke many unpopular messages. He told them to surrender to the enemy. He told them not to flee into Egypt, which many resisted that word and were killed in Egypt as a result. Jeremiah was kept in prison by his own king and his own people. They desired to kill him.
The grief in what Jeremiah saw and endured was enormous.
It was his calling, even before he was conceived.
And Jeremiah fulfilled his calling, serving God as God's prophet.
The grief in what Jeremiah saw and endured was enormous.
It was his calling, even before he was conceived.
And Jeremiah fulfilled his calling, serving God as God's prophet.