Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying,
Jeremiah 33:1.
1. The Contradictions of God
This passage provokes many questions. Firstly, the fact that the word of the Lord came to Prophet Jeremiah “the second time” suggests that he often heard God. Secondly, that he heard God so often suggests that he had a cordial relationship with God.
If those propositions are correct, why did God let such a holy man get into the trouble that landed him in prison, a prison as terrible as that of the king? If God spoke so often to him, why didn’t He warn the prophet about whatever was going to put him in prison? If it was the Omnipotent God who spoke so often to him, and not a different spirit, why didn’t He protect that cherished prophet from the crisis? Why let it happen to Jeremiah, and keep talking to him – in prison?
In that prison, God said to the prophet, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not” (v.3). Was that a convincing ‘prophecy’? What prayer was God going to “answer” in the prison that He didn’t or couldn’t have answered before the imprisonment? What other “great and mighty things” was He going to show a man He couldn’t prevent from a mere prison? If God couldn’t save His own prophet from prison, should anyone else trust His ability to answer other prayers?
2. Can I Trust this Boss?
How many servants would keep serving a boss like that, who had the power to save them from trouble but watched them get into that trouble, then comes around to continue conversations with them, about doing ‘great and mighty things’ that he couldn’t or didn’t do in their circumstance? How many would not have lapsed into suicidal depression at such a ‘disappointment’? How many would not have taken offence at the public ‘embarrassment’ caused them by such a weak or neglectful boss?
3. Shackled Bodies and Boundless Souls
The other side of the coin is another nugget: if God spoke so frequently with Prophet Jeremiah, even in prison; if Jeremiah was still very connected in spirit to his God despite the travails in his flesh, then the walls around his body had not succeeded to limit his spirit. In other words, chains and walls have their limits in the life of the man who knows his God. Jeremiah’s flesh was restricted, but his soul was boundless. The limits imposed by malicious mortals had not limited his loving God. No prison of men can keep out the Almighty from His own, who will not forsake Him even in their prison.
Jeremiah has made a point: even in prison, one can still hear God, and hear Him clearly and regularly, too. God does not neglect His own because men cast them into prison. He does not judge them by the standards of merciless men. Beloved, watch out for your next Guest at that unlikely place, who has assured, “I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him” (Psalm 91:15). Amen. Presence (fellowship), deliverance, honour. Amen. Where are you at now?
From The Preacher’s diary,
August 8, 2026.
Thank you Sir for the write up.
In actual sense, Jeremiah is far fetched because he operated under the law in the old testament when the Spirit of God comes and goes.
In Christ, His Spirit is permanently resident in a Believer. Moreso, He promised ‘ I will not leave you nor forsake you’, and as a matter of fact, we have His assurance of ever abiding presence ,be it in the water, fire, prison, dungeon, or the valley of the shadow of death.
Apostle Paul wrote most of the epistle from prison which means that his deepened relationship with the Lord was in the prison.
The thorn in his flesh was another kind of ‘prison’ yet God’s voice was too audible to him.
I relate more with Believers in Christ because Jesus said ‘ the least in the Kingdom is greater than John the Baptist who was greater than all the prophets including Moses and Abraham , even without performing a single miracle. His greatness…….he showed Jesus.
JESUS CHRIST, now the Focus, the center of attraction in this dispensation.
Amen and amen.
Thank you Preacher for this piece. So often our bodies are shackled in prisons of sickness and limitations which make us question God. But God keeps speaking. It is encouraging to know God is not limited by anything happening in or around us.