![]() How good is our God that He mingles marvelous mercy with His judgment!īut God’s prescription also included that they “seek the peace of the city” where they found themselves to be captives. In the midst of His judgment, He wanted them to settle down, have children, and live in their own homes. In the midst of God’s judgment, God wanted them to be prosperous. They were to plant gardens and eat the fruit of them. His prescription also told them to succeed. In other words, God said, “Accept the situation in which you find yourself and make the best of it.” If they built a house, they had to build it in Babylon. If any of them were to own a house, they had to own it in Babylon. A 50-year-old would be 120 years old before the captivity ended. They are told to settle down to build houses. And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.-Jeremiah 29:5–7 Listen to God’s instruction to His people who were in captivity in a pagan land:īuild ye houses, and dwell in them and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. I’m glad that whenever we “draw nigh unto God,” He will “draw nigh unto ” (James 4:8).īut Jeremiah’s message of comfort also included a prescription for the people of God. I’m glad that our God “is not far” from every one of us. ![]() And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:12–13). God has a hopeful end for His people.īut this message of comfort also was a message about the presence of God: “Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. The word expected means “hopeful.” It is used that way by Charles Dickens in the book Great Expectations, which tells the story of a young man who was in limited and modest circumstances and yet had hope for a more substantial and prosperous future. God’s purpose was that they have an expected end. He genuinely wants us to be safe, well, and happy. When I looked it up, the first three synonyms were “safe”, “well”, and “happy.” How wonderful that our God wants us to have peace. The Hebrew word for peace is, of course, the word shalom. There are those who “prophesy falsely” in the name of our Lord (Jeremiah 29:9).īut in the midst of all this, Jeremiah came with a message of comfort: “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” This message dealt with the purpose of God. There are “so many voices”-from the pop psychologists to the talk show hosts to the “experts” who would weaken the church’s message, eliminate its stand against sin, and water down its gospel. The devil has been trying to sow discord, encourage disobedience, and deceive God’s people since the Garden of Eden. Ours is not the only day in which divergent messages confuse sincere people. “Something good is going to happen to you!” they said to the people who were experiencing the judgment of God. There were those who “prophesied” that the captivity would be short-lived, that in a few years they would get out. Jeremiah said, “…Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you…” (Jeremiah 29:8). ![]() They would pay it to Him from Babylon.Īnd it was a message of confusion. God’s sentence was that they would spend 70 years in captivity. Judah’s sin was that they had, for 490 years, neglected to keep the Sabbath. ![]() It was a message of rest in a time of turmoil.īut it was also a message of correction. In the midst of this seventy-year captivity, Jeremiah came with a message of hope, help, and encouragement. Their songs were not sung, their language was not spoken, and their God was not worshipped. They had been uprooted from their homes, separated from their families, and placed in a pagan land. The Bible says in Jeremiah 29:11, “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” It was a dark and difficult time for the children of Judah.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |