But now I will send for many fishermen," declares the LORD, "and they will catch them. After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks. – Jeremiah 16:16

Today's Scripture Reading (May 28, 2023): Jeremiah 16

It was a simple little song that some of us learned in Sunday School when we were children. It is very repetitive, which works when you are trying to teach young children to sing. And it is easy to memorize. The song was written by Harry D. Clarke, maybe best known as the song leader for the Billy Sunday Crusades. The song? Fishers of Men.

            I will make you fishers of men,

            Fishers of men, fishers of men

            I will make you fishers of men,

            If you follow me;

            If you follow me, If you follow me,

            I will make you fishers of men,

            If you follow me;

Of course, as children, there were actions to the song, which included pretending to cast a fishing line with a fishing rod into a body of water. The song is based on Matthew 4:19. Jesus is beginning to call his disciples, and according to Matthew, as he calls Andrew and Peter, Jesus makes this invitation; "Come, follow me and I will send you out to fish for people" (Matthew 4:19). The New International Version translation of the passage has given us a more gender-neutral language than the King James Version's "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." But the idea remains the same regardless of the specific language. Jesus's invitation is that they are invited into the process of telling people about God and expanding the base for God in Israel during the First Century. Jesus is speaking their language. I know that you fish for a living. And I still want you to fish; I just want you to find people, and instead of killing what you are fishing for, I want you to make a difference in their lives for the better.

But even this isn't an original thought for Jesus. He is reaching back into the book of Jeremiah and paraphrasing what the weeping prophet had said there. As God speaks to Jeremiah about the coming captivity and exile, he says that he is sending for fishermen and hunters. And God has some specific fishermen and hunters in mind. The fishermen lived in Egypt, where fish formed the basis of their diet. And the hunters were coming from Babylon, where they hunted for the food that they would eat. But God was repurposing these hunters and anglers. The people of Judea were wrong if they thought they could escape the coming time of struggle. The hunters of Babylon and the fishers of Egypt were on their way to round them up. And it was God who had sent them.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 17

Personal Note: Happy Birthday to my Wife, Nelda.