Daily Posts

Everyone wants to claim Jeremiah 29:11 as a promise from God, because we all like the idea that God wants to bless us with prosperity. I challenge such claimants to examine the context of that verse to determine whether they can rightly claim it as God’s promise of prosperity. What do you think – can you rightly claim it as God’s promise to you? In case you need some guidance on that, let me ask some helpful questions. To whom was the promise given? Are you included in the group of recipients?

Although the promise clearly isn’t given to us, but to a specific group of God’s Old Testament people, we can still cherish it because it gives us precious insight into God’s character. The recipients of the promise, the exiles to Babylon, were not living in the place of God’s promise. They had been sent away by God in judgment for their sin, suffering the consequences of their breaking their covenant with God. According to the terms of that covenant, they had no reason to expect God to continue pursuing a special relationship with them now that the covenant was so broken that He had to send them away from the Promised Land. But God wasn’t finished with them. He had given them hope for another chance after seventy years of exile. But in the meantime, He didn’t intend for their exile to be utter misery; no, in that place of exile He wanted to give them hope and prosperity.

Another feature of this promise that we shouldn’t miss is the nature of the prosperity with which He intended to bless them. Ultimately it wasn’t about material prosperity, as we generally think of prosperity, but about relationship with Him and restoration to the place of living in His promises.

His phrasing when He said that He will be found by them, indicates that He wants to be found by them. Even though God had to exile them, even though they were not living in the place of His promise, God wanted to have relationship with them. Nevertheless, as eager as He was for relationship with them, it would only happen if they sought Him with all of their hearts. They had to really want to find Him.

So what application can we draw from this promise for our lives? We can understand that God wants to see His people prosper, not suffer harm. While we New Testament people are not given the same promises as God’s Old Testament people, we understand that it isn’t because He wants to see His New Testament people suffer. He wants to bless us with prosperity even though He doesn’t give us those promises. We can also see that His idea of prosperity isn’t necessarily the same as ours; while we think primarily of material prosperity, He thinks first of relationship with Him. And even though He wants us to prosper, the kind of prosperity He most wants to give us is conditional upon our seeking Him. So He gives no promise to the one who wants the gifts and not the Giver.

There are some important prophecies in today’s reading that we shouldn’t miss. But first, let’s make sure we’re fully aware of the historical context of these prophecies. The northern kingdom of the split nation of Israel, which retained the name Israel, had been carried into exile by Assyria and ceased to exist as a nation. The southern kingdom, Judah, had miraculously escaped deportation by the Assyrians, then by another miracle the world-dominant Assyrians were destroyed by the Babylonians. The Babylonians took over the vast empire built by the Assyrians, and sought to expand it. God used their aspirations to judge Judah. The exile to Babylon that He foretold happened in three waves: the first ended the reign of Josiah’s son Jehoiakim with deportation to Babylon. The second ended the short reign of Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin in the same way. In both of these deportations, Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar carried away the leading people of the land, some of whom we’ll read more about, and their treasures. He placed Judah’s last king on the throne, expecting him to be his puppet. This was King Zedekiah. Jeremiah lived and prophesied through all of this and beyond. Chapter 24 places the first important prophecy of today’s reading at this point in Judah’s history.

Understand the situation of the exiles. They clearly had suffered God’s punishment. Think about what God had told them in Deuteronomy: exile was the ultimate judgment, and there was no hope of correction at that point. They believed they had been forsaken by God because exile meant the covenant between God and Israel was broken. They were living outside the place of God’s promise. Exiles and remnant both believed that those still living in the Promised Land had not been rejected by God and thus were the favored ones. They thought that the remnant were superior to their exiled brothers who were obviously more sinful and deserving of punishment. The people who had not been carried away were still living in the Promised Land, still possessed their inheritance, still enjoyed God’s presence in their midst. They believed that God would be with them forever and allow them to retain the land because of His promise to Abraham, no matter what they did. The remnant grew more corrupt in their pride and security, contrary to God’s intention that they would be corrected and would humble themselves and seek Him.

The first important prophecy in today’s reading was introduced in yesterday’s reading: the incredible pronouncement that God would be with not the people who remained in the land after the exile, but with those who were carried away into exile. That situation was counter to the people’s and their leaders’ expectations. That God would be with the punished exiles instead of the favored remnant was startling both to the remnant and to the exiles themselves, who feared that God was done with them. Contemplate God’s mysterious ways revealed in this startling plan. We’d better never think that we have God’s higher ways and thoughts figured out. We’d better never grow prideful thinking that we are God’s chosen remnant and all others have been forsaken; that prideful state leaves us deserving of God’s judgment and too corrupted to be able to discern our rejected standing before God.

The second important prophecy in today’s reading is that God intended the exile to last seventy years. He doesn’t always make such clear pronouncements in prophecy. We can measure that one to see how reliable God’s prophecy was.  History will prove it to be accurate.

Imagine how the remnant and the exiles received these prophecies. The former wouldn’t hear them; they were deaf in their pride, comfort and security. Some of the humbled exiles would find the prophecies too incredible to believe – could God really be that forgiving and merciful?! Others would cling to them in hope. If God’s Old Testament people are examples to us of what all mankind is like – indeed, what we are like, which group are you most like?

We may get rather bored with the repetition in Jeremiah, for sometimes it seems like the many words don’t say anything new. Jeremiah’s original audience felt the same way, and got tired of hearing it. His friends became his enemies. The prophet himself felt deceived, that God would foretell destruction and foretell destruction that never came about. One wonders why God would sort of discredit His word by foretelling disaster so long before He actually brought it about.

The account of King Zedekiah gives us one reason. Jeremiah had been prophesying openly, foretelling destruction like a broken record, gaining many enemies in high places and a bad reputation, when Zedekiah sent for him to inquire of the Lord about the looming threat from Babylon. If he had heard the message Jeremiah preached, he should have humbled himself and led the nation in doing the same; however, he acted as if he had not heard a word Jeremiah had said. “Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to all his wonderful deeds and will make (the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar) withdraw from us,” was his hope. If the king, the leader of the people, didn’t get the message, not many would.

This seems incredibly obtuse, but it is what God meant when He spoke to many of the prophets about people who had ears to hear but didn’t hear, and had eyes to see but failed to see. He called them the deaf and the blind. People are no different today. The example of God’s Old Testament people challenges us to examine ourselves: do we hear God any better than they did? Are we hearing only what we want to hear from Him, or are we hearing what He wants us to hear? How do we know if we are hearing Him, or are only thinking we hear Him when we are truly putting our words in His mouth? He alone can tell us, but will only do so if we are seeking Him. How would a true seeker respond to the challenge presented in today’s reading?

Jeremiah changes voice abruptly and skips around a lot. In many cases that change in voice is not indicated; we simply have to discern from the clues that a change of speaker has taken place – and then go back and read that part again from where the speaker changed. This book is not easy reading! So if you are struggling to follow it, there is a good reason. I encourage you to go back and read passages whenever you grasp the fact that there is a change of speaker halfway through it, and who that speaker is.

Since Jeremiah ministered during the last forty years of Judah’s existence as a nation, he obviously has much to say about upcoming judgment and God’s reasons for it. Jeremiah seems caught in the middle between God and his people. He’s sometimes appalled at the people’s sin and sometimes appalled at God’s harsh judgment. He is the perfect person to be the intercessor. What will an intercessor ask for? Mercy! Help! This is where we see Messiah in the book.

Look what Jeremiah has the nerve to ask in chapter 14: “Although our sins testify against us, O Lord, do something for the sake of your name. For our backsliding is great; we have sinned against you. O Hope of Israel, its Savior in times of distress….” Jeremiah is also a very emotional man. (Don’t think that he’s girly for that; people of that ancient Near Eastern culture didn’t hold back their emotions.) He felt Judah’s pain acutely, and his deeply-felt emotions made him cry out on their behalf. As grieved as he was, he understood that there was no justification for their behavior, and not nearly enough good in them to outweigh the bad. There was nothing to plead on their behalf but God’s mercy and help. That’s the place where any human being needs to be: helpless, hoping only in God.

Think about that and offer praise to God. In our hopelessly sinful state, God is approachable. He’s beyond approachable – He’s our hope, hope for salvation from sin and healing from sin’s wounds. Do you grasp how important hope is to us? We may have the luxury of taking that for granted, and thus don’t value it as we should. I encourage you to offer God thanks and praise now for His help for us and the hope He offers us.

God’s pronouncement of judgment on the sins of His Old Testament people continues from yesterday’s reading, and is specifically addressed to “all you men of Judah who enter these gates (of the Temple) to worship the Lord.” He complained about their trusting in “deceptive words.” Their trusting, their denials, would not save them from judgment. They were trusting in the idea that God would not forsake and destroy His Temple. They were trusting in their assertions that they were saved, even as they continued to sin. They were trusting in God’s promise to give Abraham’s descendants that land forever, which translated to them that they would never lose it. God has not changed; do you suppose that He will accept our deceptive assertions any more than He accepted theirs?

Continue to take a close look and give thoughtful, inquiring consideration to the sins of God’s Old Testament people. In what ways do they sound like what is going on in the church? In your own heart and life? God doesn’t want us going through the motions any more than He wanted it from His Old Testament people.

Jeremiah wasn’t being overly dramatic when he wrote, “Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the agony of my heart!” in chapter 4. He was genuinely anguished by what he saw would happen. Let’s not forget that the judgment of God on Judah was horrible. Think about what it would be like to have a fearsome army march on your home, topple buildings, set the city on fire, and leave it a flattened ruin. That is what happened to God’s Old Testament people. Jeremiah gets pretty emotional throughout this book. Whenever you are tempted to feel exasperated by his drama, think about how traumatic his visions would be.

A just God would not impose judgment more harsh than the sin deserves. As horrible as the judgment was, it indicated how awful the sin of the people was. Consider as you read, of what were they guilty? They felt no pain when struck by God in correction; how often do you claim, “I’m okay,” when you really are cold spiritually? They made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent; how readily, how frequently, do you repent? They complacently chose to believe that God would not do anything in correction or judgement – they didn’t honor Him as the all-powerful, holy God He is; how big is God in your eyes? They didn’t acknowledge God’s good provision; how thankful are you? They grew fat and sleek yet failed to take care of the needs of the poor and helpless. They didn’t want to hear the truth; do you give the Holy Spirit quiet in which to speak to you? They were greedy for gain. They were not ashamed of their conduct; do you make excuses or shift blame rather than acknowledge shameful conduct? They brought lavish sacrifices to God, of things that He had no interest in, and refused to give Him what He wanted from them; what do you give to God? These are sins that could be prevalent in our churches, even perhaps in our own lives; they aren’t the biggies we think are worthy of the harsh justice God dealt His Old Testament people. So we either have to believe that God is not just, or we have to rethink our estimation of these sins. Today’s reading challenges us to consider how closely our thoughts align with God’s.

Jeremiah had a rough assignment: he would be preaching an unpopular message and would be unpopular with the people to whom he ministered. They would terrorize him and fight against him, and he would need rescued by God. His life shows that God doesn’t always send His servants into easy places. Are you prepared to be sent into difficult places to be God’s hands and feet and voice in fulfillment of His purpose for you?

Recall the historical context of the prophet: Josiah commanded the people to worship and obey God, and they did during his lifetime. Jeremiah ministered during the last eighteen years of Josiah’s reign, and for 22 years beyond that, through the reigns of kings who did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. These were the last forty years of Judah’s existence as an independent nation.

The people to whom Jeremiah ministered were not fully devoted to God, loving Him with all of their hearts, all of their souls, all of their minds, and all of their strength. They called God, “My Father, my friend,” and claimed that they were “doing okay,” but their worthless idols were more important to them than God was. Their devotion waned until they didn’t even bother seeking Him; they forsook God in favor of following after what they had constructed. In times of trouble they sought the Lord, and that was enough for them to believe that they were following Him and worshiping Him. They didn’t perceive the truth of their ways’ revealing that they had forgotten God; if they had, they would have wept and been appalled.

Does this description of God’s Old Testament people make you wonder whether we have dull perception as well? Are we any different than those people, drifting away from God while claiming we’re okay? What is the remedy for mankind’s tendency toward faithlessness? God said He would cure them of backsliding. That means that we are helpless to cure it ourselves; we need to look to God for our cure! Since the days in which Jeremiah prophesied, God has provided the cure for sin; it is up to us to accept it and put it to use to be cured.

God didn’t want to judge them; He wanted to treat them like sons and enjoy intimacy with them like a father and son. Again He points out that it was not His choice to judge them, but rather, their choice. These are important truths for us to remember so that we are not deceived by the enemy into despising God. Instead we should be drawn to Him in love for His love for us.