Thursday
Night Bible Study
December
17, 2020
Introduction
His name means
“Yahweh appoints”
Jeremiah was
the chief prophet during the days of the destruction of the nation of
Judah. There were other prophets around
at the time as well: Daniel, Ezekiel,
Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, but Jeremiah was the main prophet. His ministry began
about 60 years after the death of the prophet Isaiah.
His ministry would last over 60 years.
Jeremiah was
born into a family of priests, but he would function more as a prophet.
His ministry
was destined from the beginning to be a ministry of “failure”. The people were not going to pay attention to
him. The people were on the way downhill
and destined for judgment.
One of
Jeremiah’s nicknames is the “weeping prophet”.
It’s possible this nickname comes
from the book of Lamentations, also written by Jeremiah.
Lamentations is Jeremiah’s weeping over the destruction
of Jerusalem.
It’s not a bad thing to keep in
mind though as you read this book. We
don’t often hear the “emotion” of the writer as we read.
The prophecies
are not in chronological order. That’s
good to know as you work your way through the book.
We know this because he dates many of his prophecies.
Jeremiah 29
29:1-3 First Letter to Babylon
:1 Now these are
the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the
remainder of the elders who were carried away captive—to the priests, the
prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from
Jerusalem to Babylon.
:2 (This happened after
Jeconiah the king, the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and
Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.)
:3 The letter was sent by
the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom
Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,
saying,
:1 Jeremiah the
prophet sent from Jerusalem
In 605 BC the
nightmare began.
King Nebuchadnezzar had conquered the Assyrians at the battle of
Carchemish, then made his way down south where he set up his own king on the
throne of Judah, and then took smartest people with him back to Babylon,
including the prophet Daniel.
In 597 BC, after
the nation of Judah had tried rebelling against Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar came
back and took about 10,000
people captive off to Babylon (Jeremiah
recorded over 3,000 males taken captive, Jer. 52:28).
These people had been ripped from their homes and forced to relocate in a distant land hundreds of miles away.
(warning to those watching on FaceBook, we might
lose you with this clip…)
In that classic
movie “The Wizard of Oz”, Dorothy and her dog Toto have been caught in a
tornado, and when the storm calms down she finds
herself in the colorful and beautiful land of Oz.
If we’re not
careful, we might tend to neglect the truth of what these Jews in Babylon were
going through.
They weren’t transported to Oz or somewhere over the
rainbow.
They
were war refugees living far from home.
I see some parallel with our lives in this – nine months of Covid has changed the world we’re
living in.
We’re not in Kansas anymore. And
we’re definitely not somewhere over the rainbow.
This is a letter that was written to those people.
This passage is Jeremiah’s 1st letter to these exiles.
We know that Daniel (living in Babylon) knew of this letter – he uses this
letter as part of his prayers (Dan. 9).
29:4-9 Settle down
in Babylon
:4 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to
all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from
Jerusalem to Babylon:
:5 Build houses and dwell
in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit.
:6 Take wives and beget
sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to
husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished.
:5 Build houses and
dwell in them
Lesson
Bloom where you’re planted
The captives in Babylon
wondered how long they were going to be there.
They even had prophets telling
them not to get too comfortable in Babylon because soon they would
all go home.
Sometimes we too get to
thinking that we are not going to be happy where we are, and we need to move on
to “greener pastures”.
Some folks are convinced their life won’t improve until they change jobs,
change spouse, or move to another state.
It’s hard to not get caught up in wishful thinking about the pandemic we’re
living in.
Maybe something
magical like a good fairy come and it will all be over
tomorrow.
I think some of us were thinking of this last March when
we hit our first quarantine, but perhaps we are a little wiser now.
Things could still get a little worse before it gets better.
So what do we do?
Do we despair over our sad, scary world?
I think there’s a time to learn to bloom where you
are planted.
I may have to change my thinking about some things, perhaps accept some
things.
Yet maybe there are some things I can be doing to
take advantage of the life we’ve found ourselves in.
Join the
prayer team
You may not realize it, but I’m convinced that the prayers
of the saints are what’s holding some of us together right now.
You can be a part of that.
We have about 25 folks right now who are praying for you.
James wrote,
(James 5:16 NLT) Confess your
sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The
earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful
results.
Text or email the church office and it will get to me and I’ll add you to our weekly email prayer team updates.
Be an influencer
I don’t mean an Instagram influencer/model – but a friend
influencer.
Jesus said,
(Matthew 5:16 NKJV) Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good
works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Use your social media accounts to point people to Jesus.
Share Scriptures online.
Encourage people to watch “The Chosen” – a free video
series on Jesus.
Serve others
Paul wrote,
(1 Corinthians 9:19 NKJV) For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a
servant to all, that I might win the more;
Caleb has been interfacing with the city and the school district and some amazing doors are opening.
We could use a few of you who like to shop to spend some
of the church’s money and shop for the needy families we’ve been connected to.
A few of you may want to sign up to help deliver the food.
If you are okay with leaving the house, come and help us
set up our outdoor service – come early on Sunday at 10:00, and help us move
and set up our equipment. Please wear a mask
Reach out to a neighbor or a friend in need.
:7 And seek
the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and
pray to the Lord for it; for in
its peace you will have peace.
:7 pray to the Lord for it
Lesson
Pray for our nation
Have you noticed what a mess our nation is in?
Yes, there’s
the pandemic.
Yesterday 3,300 people died of Covid in the U.S.
alone. Almost 300 people died in
California yesterday.
There’s also a
huge economic mess.
Businesses have closed.
People are out of work.
There’s a mess
when it comes to race.
There’s a mess
when it comes to understanding right from wrong.
I imagine there
are a few people who are not happy with the outcome of the election.
So what can we do?
Paul told Timothy:
(1 Timothy 2:1–2 NKJV) —1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and
giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings
and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in
all godliness and reverence.
Paul didn’t ask Timothy to pray for good kings.
The guys in power at the time included Caesar Nero in Rome and
the Herods in Palestine.
You may not be able to completely change the place you’re
at, but you can affect the “atmosphere” when you pray.
You can move things towards “quiet” and “peaceable”.
I find that sometimes that’s a daily battle in my prayer
time – I wake up stressed and depressed, then I go on my walk and I pray.
Jesus taught us to pray,
(Matthew 6:9–10 NKJV) —9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be
Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
Pray for God’s kingdom to advance on this earth.
What does that look like?
Does that mean all the problems will go away? No.
Keep in mind that God’s purpose for the Jews was to go
through difficulty in order to refine them.
Could that be at work in our nation?
Pray that God’s work will be done in people’s lives, that
they will turn to Jesus.
:8 For thus
says the Lord of hosts, the God
of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst
deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed.
:9 For they prophesy
falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the Lord.
These false prophets were causing the people to keep their bags packed when
God wanted them to settle down.
They were telling people that the trouble would be over any minute.
Yet the truth was that they were going to be in Babylon
a long time.
Let’s say you
take your car in for repairs, and the guy that checks you in says it will just
take ten minutes. So
you decide to wait. And you wait. And wait.
When it ends up taking three hours, aren’t you a little frustrated?
That’s what was happening to the Jews in Babylon.
It kind of reminds me of the
Palestinians living in Israel (I’m not trying to get political here).
Many have purposely continue to
live in “camps” instead of settling down.
Entire generations have grown up in
the poverty of these “camps” instead of trying to better themselves.
29:10-14 Seventy
years then restoration
:10 For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed
at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you,
and cause you to return to this place.
:11 For I know the
thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord,
thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a
hope.
:11 to give you
a future and a hope
Lesson
God’s plans
Keep in mind, this is being written to people who have lost everything,
people who have been taken off to Babylon as slaves.
If anything,
they must think that God’s plans are to destroy them.
But that is not God’s heart towards His children.
(Romans 8:28 NKJV) And we know that all things work
together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according
to His purpose.
If we love God, then we can have confidence that a promise
like Rom. 8:28 or Jer.
29:11 applies to us.
Paul gives us a
key to understanding what God’s will is all about. Is
it good?
(Romans 12:1–2 NKJV) —1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is
your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is
that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
When we give ourselves completely to God, we will “prove” to
ourselves that God’s will for us is “good”, “acceptable”, and “perfect”.
You may be going through difficult times, but if you are God’s child, then
you don’t need to be afraid. You don’t need to be afraid of what God is
thinking. He’s thinking thoughts of peace. He’s got a future and a hope for you.
Illustration
Have you ever
heard of the unusual account of how the news of the battle of Waterloo (England
vs. France) reached England? The
word was carried first by sailing ship to the southern coast. From there it was relayed
by signal flags to London.
When the report was
received at Winchester, the flags on the cathedral began to spell it out: “Wellington (the British
general) defeated...” Before the message could be completed, however, a heavy fog moved in. Gloom
filled the hearts of the people as the fragmentary news spread throughout the
surrounding countryside. But
when the mists began to lift, it became evident that the signals of Winchester
Cathedral had really spelled out this triumphant message: “Wellington defeated the enemy!”
Too often we allow the future to be colored by what we understand at the moment. We have a tendency to
become so absorbed with our current difficulties that we forget God’s
faithfulness in the past.
:12 Then you
will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
:12 I will listen
to you
Lesson
He hears you
It was near the end of the seventy years when we find
Daniel reading and pondering Jeremiah’s prophecy.
(Daniel 9:1–3 NKJV) —1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of
the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans—2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books
the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that
He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. 3 Then I set
my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with
fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
Daniel could have heard about the
seventy years from an earlier prophecy of Jeremiah (25:11)
(Jeremiah
25:11 NKJV) And this whole land shall be a desolation and an
astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
It’s more likely that he heard about the seventy years
from this very letter we’re reading.
Daniel responded to the Scripture by turning and praying
for God’s people.
This was a specific prayer that would find at least a
partial fulfillment in the life of the prophet Daniel.
What is going
on behind the scenes in the life of the Jews was a repentance that would take
seventy years.
The people were in Babylon because they had turned their
back on Yahweh, and nothing else was left for God to do in
order to get his people to turn around.
While
they were still unrepentant, God was not going to be listening to their
prayers.
Sin blocks the effectiveness of our prayers.
God even told Jeremiah
(Jeremiah 7:16 NKJV) “Therefore
do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or
prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you.
In regards to our own personal
lives, sin, and the effectiveness of prayer, David said,
(Psalm 66:18 NKJV) If I regard
iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.
Do
you remember those old Verizon cell phone commercials where the guy is
going all around the country with his cell phone and he says to the other
person he’s calling, “Do you hear me now?”
Video: Verizon – Do you hear me now?
Do
you ever wonder if God “hears you”?
Are you in a good place with God?
Are you struggling with God?
Turn around. Come to Him. It’s time to get serious about your sin.
(1 John 1:9 NKJV) If we
confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Is it that simple?
Yes and no. Sometimes we are not
so willing to admit we’ve got a problem.
When we confess our sins, He hears us.
:13 And you will seek Me
and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
:14 I will be found by
you, says the Lord, and I will
bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and
from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause
you to be carried away captive.
God promises that one day there will be restoration for the nation.
God promises the same for us, His people.
He is for you, not against you.