Jeremiah 1:10

See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.
Jeremiah 1:10

According to the SDA Bible Commentary the word set in this verse means to "make" a man an overseer, superintendent, or governor. God was telling Jeremiah that Jeremiah would be in a position of authority of the nations and kingdoms. Jeremiah would not personally rule over them, but would speak to them God's words, explaining how God would rule over them and use them to do His will with the nations. Jeremiah was to stand in the place of God as an assistant to God with authority deriving from God's ultimate authority over all nations and kingdoms. The purposes of God would be fulfilled and Jeremiah would be the one who would be the voice to the world's kingdoms of God's rule in the affairs of not just Judah, but also the surrounding nations. There were four phrases of destruction in God's commission to Jeremiah; 'root out', 'pull down', 'destroy', and 'throw down'. God was going to use Babylon to root the sin out of the nation of Judah, pull down the peoples lofty attitude of superiority, destroy their lives of decadence and wickedness, and throw down Judah's pride into the humbleness of captivity and slavery. With these words of the coming punishment upon Judah, God also included the promise of the future restoration of His people. God told Jeremiah that he would 'build' and 'plant'. God's people would learn valuable lessons while they as a people were in subjection in Babylon, and God in His mercy and love would bring them back to the land of promise and plant the nation again. God, through the tribulation of captivity, would build a character of hope and love in the people. They would once again be planted as a nation at the crossroads of the world as a shinning beacon of God's love for the world. Jeremiah was to be the spokesman for what God was going to do to, and for, the nation of Judah. Jeremiah would speak the words of warning and the call to repentance that God wanted the people to hear. God also would have Jeremiah speak of the hope of the new covenant that God would establish with His people, a new covenant where the people would truly love God and obey Him from the motive of love because of the recognition of God's love for them.

Lord,
Help me today to be willing to say the words you give me to say, whether they are words of destruction or words of building. Help me to not speak any words that either tear down or build up unless they are the words you give me to speak.