WORKING AND WAITING Jeremiah 29:4-14

Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles

If we don’t see the point of an activity...we usually don’t want to keep doing it.— However...if we can see the long term payoff...we’re more likly to embrace it.— In todays message...God’s people had been forcefully taken from their home to a foreign and frightening place.— Who would be able to find purpose in such a terrible situation? But the exile wasn’t the end for them.— God comitted to protect and prosper His people...and He promised that one day...He would bring them home.— God’s people needed long-term vision...to comfort them...and help them see...that their future in Him...could focus their faith in their present situation.

Jeremiah 29:4-23 contain the contents of Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles

Jeremiah 29:4-7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

(Verse 4)

It is note worthy…that the LORD...not Nebuchadnezzar…said…I have sent.

It was God…in the first person…speaking to all the exiles.

What had recently taken place...was under God’s sovereign control.

(Verse 5)

Build houses…the exiles...were to treat their situation...as a permanent move…they were going to be there for awhile

(Verse 7)

seek the welfare of the city...The Hebrew term used here...shalom...conveys all aspects of peace...safety...security...welfare...and prosperity.

Jeremiah’s advice...to seek the well-being of their enemy’s homeland...would have been surprising and offensive.

This is the only place…in the Old Testament…where prayer for the enemy… and unbelievers is commended.

but the success and prosperity...of the exiles...depended on the peace and stability...of their new home.

1 Timothy 2:1-2 tells us...Pray for All People

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.”

By doing this the exiles would thrive.

Jeremiah 29:8-10 “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, 9 for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord.” 10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.

(Verse 8)

your prophets and your diviners who are among you...There were prophets in exile...but God insists... that He did not speak through them...to promise peace and restoration (v. 9).

dreams...The prophets were falsely claiming to receive divine revelation in dreams.

Jeremiah 23:32.

“Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord.”

God opposes those who falsely claim to speak his words…through their lying dreams...and harmful lies.

(Verse 9)

it is a lie that they are prophesying to you…let’s compare this to...

Jeremiah 23:25-26 Where it says...

“I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart,”

(Verse 10)

Jeremiah couould have only known through revelation…that the empire days of Babylon would be so brief.

seventy years…when Babylon fell…the period of Judah’s punishment would end…and the restoration would begin

Jeremiah 25:11-12.

“This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, making the land an everlasting waste.”

Persia conquered Babylon in 539 BC…God punishes sin wherever it exists…539 BC— 2023 AD…I’m gonna leave it right there!

God would keep his promise to Judah and return the exiles to their own land.

“They shall be carried to Babylon and remain there until the day when I visit them, declares the Lord. Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.” Jeremiah 27:22.

Jeremiah 29:11-14 ”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. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.”

(Verse 11)

At that moment…Jerusalem was a place of destruction.— In the future…Jerusalem would experience full restoration.

At that moment…Judah’s sin had brought about disaster.— In the future…God would restore Judah’s well-being.— This would not be the end of God’s people.

(Verse 12)

pray to me, and I will hear you…God encourages His people to pray…

If we go back to Jeremiah 11:14…God tells Jeremiah...

“Therefore do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble.”

Do you believe…God listens to the prayers of this ungodly world?— When they only call on Him in the time of their trouble?

Judah had dishonored…and rejected God for centuries.

But God...in His incredible mercy...still extended His hand to Judah.— God made it clear…that Judah still had His favor.

(Verse 13)

“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Compare this text to...

Deuteronomy 4:29.

“But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

God is accessible to us…when we seek Him…we will find Him.— But we must want Him…more than anything else...”with all your heart and with all your soul.”

The exile...was not intended...to close off the relashionship between God and His people…God used it to wake them up.

The sin in our lives...is like an addiction…it’s power is intoxicating.— When you cut it off…you are able to sober up.

The air...around the people...was becoming clear.— God was getting their attention…pray to me, and I will hear you.

(Verse 14)

I will restore…this is a promise of salvation…based on Deuteronomy 30:3

Repentance and Forgiveness

  “then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.”

God will gather…those who repent…from all the nations...

God says...”I will restore you to the place from which I deported you”…this is a promise Judah…and all people...to this very day

If we have trusted in Jesus as Savior…we have been born again…into God’s forever family.

We can trust...that a day is coming...when Christ will return…and we will know Him...face-to-face forever.

This world is broken…and I long for the day...that sin…death…and destruction will no longer exist.— and I will live...in the full blessedness of God.

I believe…we are All here for a reason…Christ has commissioned us...to share the Gospel…and to bring as many people as we can...home with us.

(Closing)

We may not be able to understand it…but God loved Judah…even after His people...had rejected Him for centuries.— God had made a covenant...with Abraham...to love...and to bless his family…He also made a covenant with David...to establish his children...as rulers over God’s people.— God does not forget the covenants He has made.— Infact...God forgets nothing…and His power is not diminished by anything.— God does not grow older...or weaker.— His mood…and His values never change.— Cultural and societal shifts...will never affect God…God will always be…who He has always been…and He will never go back on His word.— Jesus Christ…the Son of God …was sent into this sinful world…to redeem us from our sin…forever.— His life…death…and resurection leave no doubt…that God loves each of us…and He is commited…to spend eternity with us.