I know the plans I have for You
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State:
In the second deportation (597 BC), Judah was exiled to Babylon
PICTURE OF BOTH Kingdoms
The first deportation was in 721 BC, 10 tribes of Israel were deported and never returned.
Scattered over the world. But will be brought back with Messiah
Why wasJudah taken into captivity?
2 Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people in Judah and Jerusalem, 3 “For the past twenty-three years—from the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, until now—the Lord has been giving me his messages. I have faithfully passed them on to you, but you have not listened. 4 “Again and again the Lord has sent you his servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention. 5 Each time the message was this: ‘Turn from the evil road you are traveling and from the evil things you are doing. Only then will I let you live in this land that the Lord gave to you and your ancestors forever. 6 Do not provoke my anger by worshiping idols you made with your own hands. Then I will not harm you.’ 7 “But you would not listen to me,” says the Lord. “You made me furious by worshiping idols you made with your own hands, bringing on yourselves all the disasters you now suffer.
goes on to say
9 I will gather together all the armies of the north under King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, whom I have appointed as my deputy. I will bring them all against this land and its people and against the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy you and make you an object of horror and contempt and a ruin forever. 10 I will take away your happy singing and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard. Your millstones will fall silent, and the lights in your homes will go out. 11 This entire land will become a desolate wasteland. Israel and her neighboring lands will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
State:
God gave them another chance to change their behavior before he deported Judah to Babylon
Somewhere within an 8 year period before they were attacked by Babylon, this was spoken to Judah.
Jeremiah 26:1–3 (NLT)
1 This message came to Jeremiah from the Lord early in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah. 2 “This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard in front of the Temple of the Lord, and make an announcement to the people who have come there to worship from all over Judah.
They were worshipping God and idols
Give them my entire message; include every word. 3 Perhaps they will listen and turn from their evil ways. Then I will change my mind about the disaster I am ready to pour out on them because of their sins.
State:
For 23 years God was warning Judah
They already saw what happened to Israel and they did not change
Yet here, one more time, God is willing to forgive and change his mind.
State:
What does this tell us about our God?
6 The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
State:
This is good news for us
We should be very thankful that this is the personality and character of the God we serve
State:
While they were in captivity in Babylon, Jeremiah wrote a letter to them
In the letter he said this.......
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. 14 I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”
State:
1)God had a plan for every single person in captivity
But we need to do something to inherit that plan
2)God is trying to encourage them about what he is doing.
It is not about destroying them as a people..but refining them
He wanted to purge their heart through suffering to make it wholely after him.
God knew how long it would take to go from a divided heart to a whole heart after him. 70 years
He did not want them seeking him just for relief, but for their relationship with him.
State:
Here…God explains why he allows refining.
8 In the whole land,” declares the Lord, “two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it. 9 This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’ ”
State:
God knows your heart better than you do
He knows what will make it turn towards him
He knows how to make us truly holy- and not just religious
The Pharisees were excellent at being spiritually correct in their behavior and knowledge....but they killed Christ
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 5 And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. 6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. 7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
State:
Job said about this process:
8 I go east, but he is not there. I go west, but I cannot find him. 9 I do not see him in the north, for he is hidden. I look to the south, but he is concealed. 10 “But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold.
State:
God knows where you are going.....
State:
Job true heart is revealed through this process and Job says this to prove it.....
Job 13:15 (NASB95)
15 “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.