Great Promises from the
Prophecy of Jeremiah #1 :
“For I know the
plans I have for you ... plans for welfare
and not for evil, to give you a
future and a hope… You will seek me and find me , when you seek me with all
your heart …”
[Jer. 29: 1-14]
I am thinking of a
number of reasons
for preaching from the book of Jeremiah
during this month of prayer and in preparation for 2017. Here are some...
1. Jeremiah gives perspective and encouragement in spiritually
challenging times, and we need
such insight today.
2. There are a number of wonderful texts and promises in Jeremiah, such as this one in
verse 11,12 which are quoted easily out of context. We do not want to minimize
the joy and comfort that this texts brings, but we do want to use them thoughtfully and responsibly, combining the
text with our own situation, as the
Word of God is applicable to all ages.
3. We find ourselves at the beginning of a new year.
The future is always daunting, and we
always need to trust the LORD for that which is to come. As for myself, I am
commencing my 28th year with
you. My desire, as always, is to
enter into this year thoughtfully and prayerfully, knowing myself
to be in the hands of a Sovereign God
who knows what He is doing. May the
message of Jeremiah contribute to that understanding.
In Chapters 29-31, we find a series of messages to the Jews who were carried into exile in
Babylon, under the rule of King
Nebuchadnezzar, around the date 586 BC. Whilst this is not a happy situation, God has
a message of hope to His people who are
in exile. God’s ultimate purpose is to
bring them back in to their land. He assures them that He continues
to love them with an everlasting love (31:3), but the demonstrations
of true love can sometimes be tough. So, Chapter 29 is a chapter in which God
says some hard,realistic but loving things by
way of a letter written by Jeremiah to His
beloved people in exile. Jeremiah
has to remind them that they are in Babylon, a place not of their
choice, by God’s design, and that this
design was meant for their good.
Vv.1-3 This is a letter from God
by the hand of Jeremiah from
Jerusalem to the exiles in Babylon.
Vv.
4-23 contain the message of the letter.
The message in essence was that the
Jews would be serving a 70 year exile in Babylon (v.10),
and God wanted them settle down in this
time, and to stop living in the past. He wanted them to lead productive lives : “Build houses… plant gardens… marry… have children… increase and do not
decrease…”. God commanded them not to be dissatisfied and
militant, but “to seek the welfare of the city… to pray for it… since in its welfare
would be their welfare!” (vv.5-7)
Wise words, and utter applicable to us.
For many of us, Windhoek is not our home town, or choice of city to live in. But we have been placed here
by the providence of God. Settle down and
pray for the welfare of Windhoek,
for in its welfare you will find your welfare!
There was another
matter to consider. False prophets were
trying to deceive them, making them
restless and dissatisfied, telling them
that they would not be in exile for long
and that they wouldreturn to Jerusalem soon (vv.
8,9). The
problem of false prophets is a perpetual problem for us.
Who is talking to you at this time? God, by
His Holy Spirit inspired Word, or is it your sinful nature/desires or some false
prophet talking to you? The rest
of the chapter, from vv. 15 - 31 deals with this scourge of misinformation,
which so often undermines the godly tranquility and rest to which God calls His people.
In this context false prophets
cannot stand the thought of God sending His people into a long exile. They do not like the
thought of suffering for the purpose
of sanctification at all. They do not see the value of the cleansing effects which suffering and trials under the hand of a good God can bring. Like the modern false prophets they preach that everyone
deserves health, wealth and
happiness. In Jeremiah’s own words, they
constantly preach “peace, peace , when there is no
peace” [1].
This certainly is not true of Jeremiah.
As the true prophet of God , he must speak
the Word of the Lord. A key phrase in Jeremiah is the phrase “the
WORD of the LORD came to me”, which
is used over 50 times. The Word of God
teaches us that God uses suffering in a sanctifying way.
In 1989 John Piper presented a biographical
paper on the life of Charles
Simeon (1759 -1836), an Anglican
Evangelical pastor, at the annual
Bethlehem Baptist Church Pastors Conference. In his fifty-four years at
Trinity Church, Simeon became a powerful force for evangelicalism in the
Anglican church. However for much, if not for most of his long and effective ministry, Charles Simeon endured incredible hostility. John Piper’s
paper was entitled “Brothers, we must not mind a little
suffering” . This is an excerpt from his paper:
“In April, 1831, Charles Simeon was 71 years old. He had been
the pastor of Trinity Church, Cambridge, England, for 49 years. He was asked
one afternoon by his friend, Joseph Gurney, how he had surmounted persecution
and outlasted all the great prejudice against him in his 49-year ministry. He
said to Gurney, "My dear brother, we
must not mind a little suffering for Christ's sake. When I am getting through a
hedge, if my head and shoulders are safely through, I can bear the pricking of
my legs. Let us rejoice in the remembrance that our holy Head has surmounted
all His suffering and triumphed over death. Let us follow Him patiently; we
shall soon be partakers of His victory".[2]
God’s purpose for the
little suffering that Israel had to endure at this time was never designed
for evil, but for good, and this thought forms the background to our text in verses 10 -14 :
God promises them here that, although they would not return quickly to their homeland,
they would certainly return in time,…
after a 70 year period. Now, in the life of a person that is a
lifetime. Imagine, having to live a lifetime in a place not of your choice. It
naturally begets discontent, and so godly men and women have often cried, “How
long, sovereign Lord?”[3]
We, in Southern Africa ourselves have
lived in a spiritual drought for at least 30 years. We have been pummelled by
false prophets, and the spread of a
pseudo - Christianity has been
alarming. Many sincere Christians are asking that question, “How long, oh Lord will we have to endure
this?” How long will the true church
be scattered and disunited? Martin Luther in his time, saw the Roman Catholic as a
type of Babylon, as He spoke about the Babylonian captivity of the church. The
16th century Reformation broke the
Roman yoke as many men and women
were led into the freedom that the
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ has brought.
Now, please take note, and take courage. Although we may sense frustration with the general state of the church, not
being in the place that she should be, be
assured that it will come in God's time, and be assured that will be the best time- the right time. With regard to
the supreme promise of God regarding the
coming of a Messiah, to deliver not only
Israel, but the whole world , i.e. all nations from the bondage of sin, the apostle Paul said,
“… when the fullness of time
had come, God sent forth His Son….” (Gal. 4:4,5);
“For
while we were weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly”
(Rom. 5:6)
The promise here to
Israel in exile in Babylon, a foreign land of
foreign customs and foreign religions,
is that God will fetch them and bring them back. Though they
are dispersed, among the nations, God will gather them from all the places where He
has scattered them, and He
promises to gather them and gather them again into one body. The supreme
fulfilment of this promise is of course when the whole church, past,
present and future shall be gathered in
heaven!
This is God’s promise in
v. 10. This is in accordance with God's purposes concerning them in v.11: "For I
know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for
evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
God knows the plans that He has
for us. Very often we do not know our
own thoughts. We struggle to understand
and make sense of events that seem to be contradictory in terms of our understanding of God’s
goodness. Now we may
be uncertain, but God is never unsure or uncertain within himself. He, the omniscient, all knowing God knows the
beginning from the end for He is the Alpha and Omega. He knows the way, for He is the Way , the
Truth and the Life! Sometimes we doubt whether God’s plans and designs for us
are good, but we must trust God. He
knows what He is doing, and we must believe that his designs for us are beneficial,
even when it seems that God's designs are all against us. The fact
remains that He says that He does these things for our good and not for evil. There will be a beneficial outcome in
time, though perhaps not when we expect it. We need to be patient until the fruit is ripe.
And this is true for ourselves. To
illustrate, I would like to quote again from John Piper’s biography on the life of Charles Simeon.
Piper writes …
The most fundamental
trial that Simeon had —and that we all have — was himself. He had a somewhat
harsh and self-assertive air about him. One day, early in Simeon's ministry, he
was visiting Henry Venn, who was pastor 12 miles from Cambridge at Yelling.
When he left to go home Venn's daughters complained to their father about his
manner. Venn took the girls to the back yard and said, "Pick me one of
those peaches." But it was early summer, and "the time of peaches was
not yet." They asked why he would want the green, unripe fruit. Venn
replied, "Well, my dears, it is green now, and we must wait; but a little
more sun, and a few more showers, and the peach will be ripe and sweet. So it
is with Mr. Simeon."
We need to learn that in God’s economy things take time,
and we must always remember that every soul is made for eternity. And even if
you do not get to your earthly Jerusalem , the city of your dreams
in this life , then , if you have hoped
in Christ in this life you certainly
will find it in the New Jerusalem, where
the Lord Jesus has gone now to prepare a place for you. In the
exercise of His plan, Peter says that
God is not slow to fulfill His
promise (1 Peter 3:9), and if it
is a trial like these Jews underwent in
Babylon, or whatever trial you may find,
be assured that this trial will not last forever. Even death will not separate you from the
promises of God.
This shall be in answer
to their prayers to God. (Jer. 29:12-15.
) In exile, Israel
will learn to pray: Then you will call upon me and come and pray
to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with
all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD.
Matthew Henry’s commentary upon this is lovely:
“When
God is about to give his people the expected good, he pours out a spirit of prayer, and it is a
good sign that he is coming towards them in mercy. Then, when you see the
expected end approaching, then you shall call upon me. Note, Promises are
given, not to supersede, but to quicken and encourage prayer: and when
deliverance is coming we must by prayer go forth to meet it.
So, let us enter 2017
prayerfully, fully expecting deliverance
from our own Babylonian captivity. God, in His goodness sometimes
gives temporary relief on this earth by
sending us into a pleasant arbour (Pilgrims Progress), but we always remember
that this earth is not our true home.
In
the meantime we settle down, have families, grow gardens and multiply. We shall be content, knowing
that our heavenly Father is directing all of history
and all of the future to a
glorious end. Amen.
