Jeremiah was called as a prophet as a young man. He served in Jerusalem for about forty years, in the decades before Babylon destroyed the city. He lived at the same time as Lehi. His prophecies were on the brass plates Nephi carried to the promised land. See 1 Nephi 5:13 and 7:14. The people of Judah worshipped idols and ignored the poor. Yet they still felt safe, because the temple stood in their city. Jeremiah warned them again and again. Most refused to listen. In chapter 20, a temple officer named Pashur had him struck and locked in the stocks overnight.
The block opens with one of the most important verses for children in all of scripture. Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee… and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” We lived with Heavenly Father as His spirit children before we were born. He knows each of us personally. Many were chosen for their earthly missions before birth, as Abraham 3:22–23 and Alma 13:3 teach. Being foreordained doesn’t take away our choices. We still decide whether to accept the work. Jeremiah’s first answer makes him a perfect hero for this class: “I cannot speak: for I am a child.” That’s 1:6. The Lord didn’t argue that he was old enough. He said, “Say not, I am a child… for I am with thee.” That’s 1:7–8.
Jeremiah’s chapters are packed with object lessons. In 1:11–12, there’s an almond branch. In Hebrew, “almond” sounds like “watching.” The Lord was saying He watches over His word to fulfill it. In 1:18, there’s an iron pillar and brass walls. In 7:4–6, people chant “The temple of the LORD” while ignoring the widow and the stranger. In 2:13, people trade the Lord, “the fountain of living waters,” for “broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” A cistern was a pit cut in rock to store rainwater. A cracked one slowly lost everything. In 18:1–6, the potter doesn’t throw away marred clay but makes it again. It’s a picture of repentance. And in 20:9, God’s word burns in Jeremiah’s bones until he can’t keep quiet.
Jeremiah also saw the latter-day gathering of Israel. He saw “one of a city, and two of a family” in 3:14. In 16:14–16, the Lord sends “many fishers” and “many hunters” to find His scattered children. President Russell M. Nelson called this gathering the most important work on earth today. It happens on both sides of the veil. It happens through missionaries, through temple and family history work, and through every kid who invites a friend. Your 11-year-olds can start doing baptisms for their ancestors in the temple in January. Help them see they were sent to earth at exactly this time to be fishers and hunters.
