The lecture presents a deep image of His Holiness Pope Shenouda III speaking about the Prophet Jeremiah, the prophet of sorrow and tears, who was chosen by God before birth to carry a difficult message of warning to a harsh people, evil kings, and corrupt priests, while also calling them to repentance and return.

1. Divine choice before birth

• His Holiness Pope Shenouda III explains that Jeremiah was chosen and sanctified from the womb, just like John the Baptist, Samson, and the Apostle Paul.

• God knows a person before his existence and chooses him according to His knowledge of his future and nature.

2. The difficulty of the calling and the weakness of the prophet

• Jeremiah felt his weakness and said, “I am a child,” but God encouraged him: “Do not say I am a child… do not fear for I am with you.”

• His Holiness notes that some excuses are accepted because they are humble, while others are rejected because they are an escape from service.

3. A dark age and a difficult ministry

• The people were drowning in evil, the kings in idolatry, and the priests and shepherds had gone astray.

• God sent Jeremiah to warn them of destruction and captivity, and the prophet faced persecution, mockery, imprisonment, and being thrown into a pit.

4. The meaning of obedience and acceptance

• Jeremiah is an example of difficult obedience: carrying a message no one wants to hear, yet walking in it because it is the voice of God.

• His Holiness teaches that the kingdom of heaven needs “men” in the spiritual sense: strength, endurance, and steadfastness.

5. Rebuke as a sacred mission

• His Holiness explains that rebuke is not harshness but a biblical command: “Exhort, rebuke, admonish.”

• A shepherd who spoils his flock without correction does not benefit them, just like a parent who fears upsetting his children and does not raise them properly.

6. A call to repentance amid divine anger

• Despite severe warnings, God kept the door of hope open:

  • “Turn me and I shall turn”

  • “I will put My law within them”

  • “I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more”

• The purpose of warning is not destruction but return.

Spiritual conclusion

Jeremiah was a witness to the truth in an evil generation.
He teaches us steadfastness in truth regardless of resistance, that loving rebuke is a path to salvation, and that God always opens the door of repentance even to the hardest hearts.
A spiritual person does not take the shape of a corrupt generation but remains a light, just as Jeremiah was among a people who rejected the truth.

For better translation support, please contact the center.