When I was a child, I could not wait to be old enough to do a lot of things—to me, thrilling things like drive a car, travel, date, get married and raise a family. Yet I rarely thought about the money and responsibility required to make it possible to do those things. Then came a day of shock.
My dad informed me that I had to get a job to help defray the costs of my private high school education—clothing, lunch money, tuition and activity fees. “It is time you become more responsible for yourself,” he said. I could not believe I had to face that cold, harsh reality—going to work during summer break.
In June, July and August, while my school friends went to the community pool; I went to work. Silently I protested—I was too young to take on the responsibility of going to work every day! In time, I learned I got it wrong. Nearly everybody else I knew at that time got it wrong, too. What about you?
The common, seriously flawed thinking of youth in every age is: “We are too young to take on responsibility.” Who wants to think about a job or a career when a swimming pool or amusement park is so much more inviting? Yet God wants you, as a teenager, to be hard-working, responsible and preparing for the rest of your life. Today, the majority of people actually believe that life can only be exciting when they are free from work and responsibility. Maybe you think this way. If you do, it is time to start thinking differently.
What makes human life adventurous—a real thrill? Believe it or not, it is the challenge that comes from meeting obligations. You may be thinking, Come on, can’t you come up with something better than that? Hear me out. I know responsibility can sound boring, especially if you don’t have any. But if you want adventure in your life, take on responsibility.
Tumultuous Times
Consider what God did with the Prophet Jeremiah. Just like you, Jeremiah was born into a depraved time—one of the most depraved for God’s nation of Judah. Jeremiah’s time was an exact type of your time today. It was so bad that God planned to destroy the nation because of the incredibly wicked, idolatrous sins of King Manasseh. Judah followed his horrible example (2 Kings 21:10-15). He had built altars to false gods right inside God’s house, he sacrificed his own children to one of these gods, and then he slaughtered the people who would not join him in his religious folly, causing the streets of Jerusalem to run with blood. He got into astrology, divination, witchcraft and wizardry (2 Chronicles 33:4-9). Sound familiar? Astrology, divination, witchcraft and wizardry are popular again among teenagers today.
The young king glutted the kingdom with idolatrous, lust-filled pleasures. Throughout the nation, Manasseh allowed people to worship the gods of their choosing. You could say there was a continual party atmosphere throughout the land. Manasseh led the Jews into extremely wicked sin.
God sent prophetic warnings to this evil king and to the people. Yet no one listened. So God had to get tough. He sent the Assyrian army to punish Manasseh and Judah. The army captured the king, bound him in chains, took him out of Judah, and put him in an Assyrian prison. While locked up, Manasseh repented of his crimes against God and the nation.
Mercifully, God allowed him to return to Judah and his throne. Manasseh removed the idols from Jerusalem and, for the remainder of his life, worked to turn the nation back to God. Yet the nation would not return!
When King Manasseh died, his son Amon brought idol worship back into Jerusalem. He reveled in sins like his father had done before captivity and repentance. Amon’s servants conspired and assassinated this evil king. His son, Josiah, the prophesied reformer-king, took over the throne as an 8-year-old (2 Chronicles 34:1). This was the tumultuous world into which Jeremiah was born.
Teenage Prophet
Josiah was obviously too young to rule. One of his most important counselors was the priest Hilkiah. This wise priest also had a son named Jeremiah who was somewhat younger than Josiah. Reading between the lines of Bible history, we can safely surmise that the two boys grew up together and were likely well acquainted. They received excellent religious training from the same man. Under the good influence of Hilkiah, at the age of 16 Josiah began to really seek God. By the age of 20, he began to purge Judah of its idols and pagan worship.
Around the same time, God called Jeremiah to be His prophet—much to his surprise!
At age 17, Jeremiah was stunned into a cold-sweat stupor. He tells us, “Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations” (Jeremiah 1:4-5). That is a lot of responsibility; he was to be a prophet to the nations—plural! The young Jeremiah had obviously been observing Josiah’s actions. He had to have been in awe. Yet now God wanted to thrust him into an office even weightier than Josiah’s. What was his response?
“Then I said, “‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth’” (verse 6; English Standard Version). Jeremiah excused himself from God’s call, claiming he was too young. Jeremiah probably thought, Really, how could I deliver God’s messages to adults? No one will listen to someone my age. Prophets are not liked. In fact, prophets are often killed! Maybe Jeremiah was satisfied to just sit on the sidelines and let his father and Josiah do all the hard work.
God did not accept Jeremiah’s dodge. He came right back at the teenager: “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatsoever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord” (verses 7-8; esv). God had already invested a lot of time in Jeremiah—planning what He needed him to do; building talents and abilities in him so he could be successful; then setting the precise time to let Jeremiah know about his calling—much of which was before Jeremiah was born! With unnerving intensity God told the young man that he was going to go where God wanted him to go and he would speak what He wanted him to speak. The fact that we have the book of Jeremiah shows that this teenager willingly changed his attitude and obeyed God.
What is your position toward responsibility? Do you think you are too young to carry weighty responsibility, to be a king or a prophet of God? You are not too young. In reality, God is inviting you to high office—right now! In fact, you can share directly in the commission God thrust on Jeremiah.
Take on Spiritual Responsibility
This is a serious subject and you need to think deeply about it. In Jeremiah and the Greatest Vision in the Bible, Gerald Flurry writes: “Jeremiah’s message has been revealed only to God’s Church. The foundational part of the message was delivered to Herbert W. Armstrong. But only God’s little remnant today can deliver the full message of Jeremiah, because only we fully understand this book. If God reveals His message to us, we have a heavy responsibility to deliver that message. Only we can! So the command to Jeremiah [Jeremiah 1:7] becomes a command to God’s loyal remnant today.” Read that quote again. Take some time and meditate on it. What should it mean to you?
If you are willingly attending Church services; are in a positive attitude toward God, obedient to His laws and to your parents; diligently praying and studying on your own without your parents forcing you, then you are a part of God’s loyal remnant. You have a job to do for God—just like Jeremiah did. How well do you see the opportunity God has laid at your feet? He wants you to take on spiritual responsibility. In other words, Get your heart in this Work! Put in the effort to understand what God is doing through the Philadelphia Church of God. This is not your parents’ Church. This is not a Church of No and Don’t. This is the group of people that God has set apart—called out of a sin-sick society—and is relying on to take His message to kingdoms! Nothing on Earth could be more exciting—or more difficult.
Do you want to have a thrilling life? God’s mission for you is not a challenge for the faint, fearful, lazy or worldly pleasure-seekers.
Jeremiah’s Thrilling Life
Jeremiah’s life was anything but boring. Here was his mission: “… Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:9-10; esv). God put His words—His message—into Jeremiah’s mouth and then added an incredible adventure.
Jeremiah’s commission to pluck up, break down, to destroy, to overthrow, to build and to plant is a magnificent vision tied directly to David’s throne. Mr. Flurry continues, “It’s one thing for God to call a man to do a job. It’s quite another thing to choose him from the womb. Then God revealed a major message to him. That message is the greatest, most inspiring vision in the Bible—the key of David (Revelation 3:7-8).”
Mr. Armstrong explained further in The United States and Britain in Prophecy: “But note it! See it in your own Bible! Jeremiah was divinely commissioned to pull down and to overthrow that very throne of David in Judah—but notice the second half of the commission. To build and to plant! … He was used in ‘rooting out’ that throne from Judah. Then what was Jeremiah commissioned to do in Israel? Notice the second half of his strange and little-understood commission—to build and to plant!”
Saying yes to God’s call proved to be a lifelong undertaking. Jeremiah not only had to prophesy to a sin-swept nation that was facing war and captivity, he also had to take David’s throne out of Judah and then replant it—at that time, that meant far away in Ireland. Use your imagination to picture what an exciting job this must have been. It was challenging and full of thrills every step of the way.
It truly was an adventure. God wants to give you incredible adventures. Jeremiah faced hardship and hazards; he solved problems and escaped perils; there were huge risks nearly every step of the way. Then at the end, there was incredible achievement! The biblical script laid out for us is the basis for a great movie. You will have to do some deep Bible study and a little reading in the annals of Irish history to flesh out every scene. The cast of characters is amazing. Besides Jeremiah, there was his assistant Baruch, a beautiful Jewish princess married to a handsome Irish prince, and their young son. Surrounded by the ravages and calamities of war, the tiny ragtag band had to flee captivity and escape the dangerous betrayals of countrymen. They had to sail to a new and strange land to find safety.
Mr. Armstrong painted a colorful picture for you in The United States and Britain in Prophecy. Referring to the ancient annals of Ireland, he wrote: “[W]e glean from various histories of Ireland the following: Long prior to 700 b.c. a strong colony called ‘Tuatha Dé Danann’ (tribe of Dan) arrived in ships, drove out other tribes, and settled there. Later, in the days of David, a colony of the line of Zarah arrived in Ireland from the Near East.
“Then in 569 b.c. (date of Jeremiah’s transplanting), an elderly, white-haired patriarch, sometimes referred to as a ‘saint,’ came to Ireland. With him was the princess daughter of an eastern king and a companion …. The princess had a Hebrew name Tephi—a pet name—her full name being Tea-Tephi. …
“This royal party included the son of the king of Ireland who had been in Jerusalem at the time of the siege. There he had become acquainted with Tea-Tephi. He married her shortly after 585—when the city fell. Their young son, now about 12 years of age, accompanied them to Ireland. Besides the royal family, Jeremiah brought with them some remarkable things, including a harp, an ark and a wonderful stone called ‘lia-fail,’ or ‘stone of destiny.’” Put yourself in the place of Tephi or the Irish prince. How trying and exciting that time must have been.
Adventure Awaiting You
Some mistakenly think that all adventure is over when God comes knocking at the door. The truth of the matter is, the sound of the knock means the real adventure is about to begin. Jeremiah’s life is a testament to this fact. God knocked, the young Jeremiah responded, and his life was filled with adventure.
Yet it does not stop there. Even though Jeremiah is dead, his work is not over. There is still more adventure just ahead.
Jeremiah’s message must still be delivered. You have a part in this. At this time your part is to pray for Mr. Flurry, aided by the ministry and the headquarters personnel, to get that message out effectively and quickly. God is currently testing you to see if you’ll give of your time to help get the message out. In addition, you must study to get to know God and the Work He required Jeremiah to do.
In The Key of David, Mr. Flurry writes: “The stone of destiny is really the symbol of David’s throne—not the chair that sits in Westminster Abbey. That chair was constructed by men rather recently—but the stone has been around for millenniums! It goes all the way back to Jacob! It was at one time called God’s house—where God dwelled!”
Jeremiah’s prophecies and work revolved around moving David’s throne from Judah to the British Isles. Since then, God has moved the throne to His Church and given us a new stone of destiny.
Until 2017, the Church supposed that Jacob’s pillar stone would be present in the place of safety in order to establish the throne of David. But new revelation about the new stone of destiny clarified this verse for God’s Church. With Herbert W. Armstrong’s prayer rock as the coronation stone, Pastor General Gerald Flurry has the office of king—not just symbolically or spiritually as a human leader of God’s “kings and priests”—but as the literal king on this new throne of David.
Understand: This throne is still the throne “of David,” as it is still occupied by a physical descendant of David. Mr. Flurry’s lineage traces back to an Irish king. Even Herbert W. Armstrong was a descendant of the Davidic house through the line of England’s King Edward i. And this throne is the same throne of David that Christ will soon sit on.
You need to read and understand the contents of three important books: The United States and Britain in Prophecy, Jeremiah and the Greatest Vision in the Bible and The New Throne of David. Get your mind in these books.
If you truly want adventure, you will find it here. Take on the spiritual responsibilities that God has laid at your feet and then hang on—the adventure is about to begin!