Jeremiah for planters

I'm not aware than anyone has done a sustained study on the relevance of the "planting" theme in Jeremiah to church planting. Someone should.

In the absence of that, here are a few initial observations:

1. Fourteen times the verb nāṭaʿ (to plant) is used in the Hebrew text of Jeremiah. Four of these are literal - speaking of the people of Judah planting gardens and vineyards (29:5, 28; 31:5; 35:7) while 10 are metaphorical (1:10; 2:21; 11:17; 12:2; 18:9; 24:6; 31:28; 32:41; 42:10; 45:4). All these references come in the first three quarters of Jeremiah, before the turn to address the nations in the final section of the book (chp. 46-52).
2. What is intriguing in relation to the New Testament is the tying together of building and planting. Among the literal nāṭaʿ references, 3 of the 4 bring together building and planting. Among the metaphorical references, 6 of the 10 co-locate building and planting (1:10; 18:9; 24:6; 31:28; 42:10; 45:4). Then in 1 Corinthians 3 what do we find? Planting and building. The root verbs are the same as in the LXX - φυω and οικοδομεω [in the LXX the prefix κατα is sometimes added to φυω (plant down) and ἀνἀ sometimes to οικοδομεω (build back) while in 1 Cor 3 ἐπί is added to οικοδομεω (build upon)]. 
3. The literal uses of planting and building in Jeremiah are suggestive for the metaphorical uses. They suggest permanence (not a temporary thing but something that is intended to last a lifetime) and also usefulness (houses are for living in; vineyards are supposed to grow and produce good fruit). When the Lord plants his people he is establishing/fixing/rooting them in fertile ground and he is intending that they grow and produce fruit for him.
4. While it is consistently the LORD who is the planter it is notable that with the first use of the verb in the programmatic 1:10 text it is Jeremiah the prophet who is the one who is set over nations and kingdoms to build and plant. Clearly it is the Word of God in his mouth that will really do the building and planting but the direct agent (or at least conduit) should be taken seriously. Similarly in the NT it is Paul who will "open eyes" (Acts 26:18) and Timothy who will "save his hearers" (1 Tim 4:16). While it is clearly Jesus who is the "light to the Gentiles", Paul can say that it is also "us" (Acts 13:47). Is Paul similarly appropriating the word of the LORD, "I planted" (Jer 2:21 LXX - ἐγὼ ἐφύτευσά) when he says, "I planted" (1 Cor. 3:6 - the same Greek)?
5. What is being planted (the object in the metaphorical uses of the verb) is consistently a people [generally God's people Israel & Judah - Jer. 2:21; 11:17; 31:28; 32:41; 42:10; sometimes nations more generally - 1:10; 18:9; 45:4; sometimes specifically the wicked in Israel (12:2) or the exiles in Babylon (24:6)]. In the NT the idea of the church as the vine/olive/fig/tree (as well as the building/temple) can be found throughout. So there is an argument to be made that Paul in 1 Corinthians 3 is not sowing the seed of the gospel (a different lexical and metaphorical set) but rather planting a people - a church (who are then watered with the gospel word by Apollos).
6. The context of planting is consistently judgment and destruction. The book of Jeremiah is famously full of it. The key verse 1:10 has 4 negative verbs (beginning with 'uproot') followed by the positive verbs of 'build' and 'plant'. Looking at the metaphorical uses of nāṭaʿ through the book, 4 of the 10 speak of a past planting (cf. Ex. 15:17) that is now facing the impending threat of being uprooted (particularly in the Babylonian conquest) - Jer. 2:21; 11:17; 12:2; 45:4. Another 4 references speak of a (re)planting post-judgment, on the far side of exile and destruction - 24:6; 31:28; 32:41; 42:10. Then in the middle (18:9) there is the conditionality of the potter's house - that uprooting or planting can be cancelled by obedience or disobedience. How does that flow into the NT? I'm not sure but here are three suggestions: a) The great and primary emphasis in Jeremiah is on the judgment of God's people (with the judgment on the nations being almost an appendix). Judgment begins with the household of God (1 Pet. 4:17). Jesus judges the fruitless tree/building (Mark 11:12-21). The lampstand/tree which refuses to heed the voice of Jesus and repent will be removed (Rev. 2:5). b) Planting regularly follows judgment/uprooting. There needs to be the humbling brought by John the Baptist to prepare the way for the Lord. The Law-Gospel preaching of the 18th century revivalists which slays and then raises the dead. The call to "Repent and believe." c) Rev. 13:10 quotes Jeremiah's prophecy of judgment on Israel and applies it to the persecution of the church. It is notable that the story of church planting in the book of Acts is inextricably interwoven with the story of persecution. Many of the church plants flow directly from the suffering of God's people which, while not judgment, has the flavour of the 'disaster', 'calamity' and 'scattering' that Jeremiah is so full of. Glory comes through suffering; life through death; the plant follows the way of the Branch.