Jeremiah 29:11 - God Disciplines the One He Loves
Straight Outta Context • Sermon • Submitted
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· 46 viewsJeremiah 29:11 is an often misquoted passage. In this passage God is reminding His people of his faithfulness in their disobedience. God reminds Israel they are helpless without Him and that though they may not see it, God has a plan for their discipline and repentance.
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduce series and intention for series
As I begin this series titled “Straight Outta Context” I want to begin by looking at Jeremiah.
11 For I know the plans I have for you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
You have probably seen this on mugs, in Christian stores or coffee shops, displayed in a friends home, or perhaps even as a desktop background on a computer. Taken for face value we will often immediately associate Jeremiah 29:11 to ourselves and make ourselves the “you” of the passage. We look at this passage and say to ourselves “Self, God knows what is happening in your life, he knows the struggle you are going through, and anything you are facing in your life is going to make you a better person.” or we may even quote this verse to a friend who has experienced a loss in their life, say the loss of a family member or friend, and we try to comfort them with this passage to remind them that even this tragic event is for our good.
But is this the real message of this passage?
At the onset I want to caution us in a few ways. What we are going to be talking about specifically throughout this sermon series is context. Now, as we talk about context of verses we need to be careful in a couple of ways.
Do not become a context warrior (hyper-critical)
Don’t immediately become the person who has to interject and correct everyone the moment they speak a verse by demanding the context.
Do not be lazy about studying and understanding Scripture
Don’t think all of Scripture applies to all of us at every moment.
Be a student of the Bible, study the Bible, know the Bible, and lovingly engage others with the Bible.
This is my aim in life and that is the aim of this sermon series. We need to find a balance between being context warriors and being lazy because there is what is called a unifying bridge between the context of the passage and ourselves for almost every passage of Scripture.
There are 5 steps of understanding a passage
Grasp the Text in Their Town (What did this text mean to the original audience?)
Measuring the Width of the River to Cross (What are differences between the original audience and todays audience?)
Crossing the Principlizing Bridge (What is the theological principle in this text?)
Consulting the Biblical Map (How does our theological principle fit with the rest of the Bible?)
Grasping the Text in Our Town (How should individual Christians today live out the theological principles?)
This is the approach we will take in order to understand this passage and to better understand how it applies to us.
Historical Context:
Walk through timeline
Important Dates
1051 BC - Saul anointed King of Israel
1025 BC - Samuel anoints David King of Israel
1011 BC - Saul and Jonathan Die
1005 BC - David installed as King of Israel
971 BC - David dies and Solomon becomes King
931 BC - Solomon dies
931/930 BC - The Kingdom of Israel splits into two nations - 10 tribes of the north, 2 tribes in the south (Judah and Benjamin) (Israel and Judah)
880 BC - Omri makes Samaria capital of Israel
722 BC - Northern tribes go into Assyrian Exile
621 BC - The book of the Law is found (2 Kings 22:8)
609 BC - Jehoiakim appointed king by Pharoah Necco II of Egypt.
605 BC - beginning of Babylonian Exile - Jeremiah 25; Daniel 1.
598 BC - Nebuchadnezzar II invades Judah - Zedekiah is made King of Judah
597 BC - Jeremiah 29.
587 BC - Nebuchadnezzar II destroys Judah and the 1st Temple in Jerusalem is destroyed.
You may ask yourself, why on earth are all these years important. Im not in school right now.
These are important because they give context to the verse we are about to study.
What do we need to understand?
Before Jeremiah gave them the word that was written in Jeremiah 29, he had already given them the word which was recorded in Jeremiah 25.
What word was given to Israel in Jeremiah 25?
Read Jeremiah 25:1-14.
Jeremiah warns the people of Israel if they do not turn from their ways then God will discipline them for their disobedience
In Jeremiah 27 - Jeremiah is sent to warn Zedekiah to submit to Babylon and King Nebuchadnezzar because they are instruments of God’s discipline for Israels disobedience against God.
In chapter 28, Jeremiah rebukes Hananiah, a false prophet, and gives the prophecy of Hananiah’s death for his false prophecy
Then we come to chapter 29.
Read Jeremiah 29:1-14.
Verse 11 is seated in the context of all of this. And what does verse 11 tell us? God is faithful to discipline the one He loves.
Turn to Hebrews 12:3-12.
What is the author of Hebrews conveying to believers today?
6 for the Lord disciplines the one he loves and punishes every son he receives.
What does this discipline look like?
Discipline can take many forms, sometimes discipline is self imposed, like spiritual disciplines, and sometimes, like the case of Israel, discipline is imposed by God on the life of the one he loves because of their disobedience.
Being held accountable for our actions is discipline.
When we are going through hardship, it is important to consider what God is doing in the waiting.
Jeremiah 29:11 is a reminder to the people of Israel that it is because of their own disobedience that He disciplined them through the tool of Babylon. Jeremiah 29:11 is a passage of hope, but it is a passage of hope to those who are under the discipline of God.
Many times when we go through hardship we question the presence of God. We question the validity or actuality of God. Jeremiah 29:11 should instead point us to the reality that God is present in our discipline. This does not mean that all suffering is discipline, there are other verses which support the reality that God suffers alongside us, take Jesus Himself as an example, but Jeremiah 29:11 is not that passage.
Some may also hear what I am saying about discipline and our sin and think God inacts judgement on believers because of their sin. No, the judgement we deserve has been placed on the only one who could endure God’s judgement when Jesus Christ bore our sins on himself. By bearing our sins, Jesus made us worthy of being called God’s children and worthy of being disciplined because when God looks on believers he doesnt see our sins, he sees the blood of Jesus, and when he looks on us as believers he sees the one he loves.
So believer, if you are experiencing hardship in your life, perhaps it is the discipline of God, but remember, if this is the discipline of God then we need to take joy because it means we are “one He loves.”
If you are an unbeliever, then the reality is, you are not under the discipline of God, you are instead under the wrath of God. For believers, Discipline is the worst we will see in this life as a result of our sin because Jesus has already paid the price. However, if you are an unbeliever, then the wrath of God is waiting for those who continue to hear the call to repent and continue to turn their ears away from the ones who is calling them “come, come to Jesus.”
Why is context important?
How can I maintain the balance between a context warrior and a lazy Christian?
Why does God discipline believers?
How can we take encouragement in Jesus Christ as we endure suffering and discipline?