Jeremiah 1:17

"Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at them, lest I dismay thee before them. For, behold, I have made thee this day a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, and against the people of the land. And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee, saith Jehovah, to deliver thee."

"Gird up thy loins ..." (Jeremiah 1:16). This is the equivalent to the modern admonition for one to "roll up his sleeves" and go to work. The loose robe-type garment generally worn was shortened and made less cumbersome by tightening the thong usually tied around the middle.

Although Jeremiah 1:5 had made the fact of predestination a sure factor in Jeremiah's life, Jeremiah 1:17 "Enunciates the requirement of obedience. The prophet who is ashamed to stand forth with the word will soon have no word to proclaim; but the Lord of the word can make his servant impregnable, unlike the disloyal state of Judah."[17]

"Against the people of the land." (Jeremiah 1:18). The Anchor Bible renders this "`The landed gentry'; because this is a technical term for the important landholders."[18]

The manner in which God did indeed protect and bless Jeremiah is truly amazing. In spite of being sentenced to death, the king of Judah was powerless to execute the sentence. "The astonishing thing is that Jeremiah lived as long as he did. How long he lived is an unexplained miracle of history."[19]

It happened to Jeremiah, exactly like it happened to God's "Two Witnesses" in the Apocalypse. God said. "I will give power unto my ... witnesses. These have power ... to smite the earth as often as they will ... and when they have finished their testimony ... the beast ... shall overcome them and kill them" (Revelation 11:3,6,11). So it was with Jeremiah who was immune to every danger until his work was done; and then "the beast" (Apostate Judah) put him to death by stoning; but Jerusalem nevertheless continued in captivity until her sentence ended.