Jeremiah 29 Verses 10-14 Human Flourishing October 27, 2024

Jeremiah 29 Verses 10-14 Human Flourishing October 27, 2024 Lesson 4 Sacred Life Series Class Presentation Notes AAAA

Background Scriptures:

· Ephesians 2:4-10 (NASB) 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Main Idea:

· God created us in His image not merely to survive, but to find purpose and flourishing in Him.

Study Aim:

· God’s plan for His children is to flourish not merely to survive in all circumstances.

Create Interest:

· An entire generation would dwell in Babylon, but the years would be for discipline and for preparing them for a much brighter future for the nation (vs. 11). The lessons the people would learn would help them to get their spiritual priorities in order, to call on God, and seek Him with all of their hearts (vs. 12–13).[1] God wanted to the people to flourish. But they could not see how in that harsh foreign land? Can we adapt and flourish in our challenging times?

Lesson in Historical Context:

· Jeremiah was called a prophet during Judah’s darkest days. His ministry stretched from 627 to about 580 B.C. and was a contemporary of Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Daniel, and Ezekiel. He was known as the weeping prophet (9:1; 13:17)-lonely, rejected, and persecuted. His word from God 7:23-24 and 8:11-12 summarized “But this is what I commanded them, saying “Obey My Voice and I will be your God, and you will be my people, and you will walk in all the way I commanded you, that it may be well with you.”

o The message was not taken seriously, Jerusalem was invaded, and the rulers and people taken to Babylon. Jeremiah announced the duration of the captivity as seventy years in contrast to the prophets who said it would not happen.

o Initially, Jeremiah stayed in Jerusalem after the city fell. The emphasis of his ministry shifted to some degree from one of warning to declaring hope. Chronologically, the content in chapter 29 comes after the initial wave of exile. He wrote a letter to the exiles encouraging them to settle into their new environment and to believe the promise of the Lord that a day of restoration would come. The covenant the Lord had made with them to be their God and they His people was still in force.

· The letter was not from Jeremiah per se, but rather from none other than the LordAlmighty, the God of Israel. The letter is addressed to all the exiles. Of interest in the description of the addressee is the fact that God tells them that it was he (all those I carried into exile) that sent them to Babylon, again making clear that it was God’s ultimate responsibility, and that Nebuchadnezzar was the unwitting tool of his judgment.

· The message is forcefully stated. The exiles will be in Babylon for a long time. They are not coming back in the near term. Thus, they should settle in by building houses and planting gardens. They should marry, have children, and then find spouses for their children. They should not hold back on having children but should numerically increase while they are in Babylon. These commands imply that their exile will be multigenerational.

· Perhaps even more striking is God’s command to pray for the peace and prosperity of the city, Babylon, where they are in exile. One would think that it would be hard to pray for one’s enemies who had just deported them. However, the command is not totally unselfish. The divine reasoning appeals to the exiles’ self-interest and once again indicates that their stay is not temporary. As Babylon prospers, so will they.

· Finally, God warns the exiles against the fraudulent hope offered by the false prophets. Interestingly, these prophets are not speaking a divinely-inspired message, but rather they are having or at least reporting dreams that the people want them to have, hopeful messages of return to their homeland. But it is all a fantasy.[2]

· The restoration of the exiles to Judah would happen only when God’s 70 years of judgment were completed (cf. 25:11–12). Then God would fulfillHis gracious promise to restore the exiles to their land. The 70-year Exile was a part of God’s plans to give Judah hope and a future. The judgment prompted the exiles to seek God wholeheartedly (cf. Dan. 9:2–3, 15–19). Once they had turned back to their God, He would gather them from all the nations where they had been banished and return them to their land. The larger purpose of the Exile was to force Israel back to her God (cf. Deut. 30:1–10).[3]

Bible Study:

Jeremiah 29:10-14 (NASB) 10 "For thus says the LORD, 'When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. 11 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12 'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 'You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 'I will be found by you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.'

· In our study of John 10:7-11 last week, we focused on the “abundant” life God wants for His children. Our short study this week takes that concept to the idea of flourishing as His children even in difficult times.

· True hope is based on the revealed Word of God, not on the “dream messages” of self-appointed prophets (v. 10, NIV). God gave His people a “gracious promise” (v. 10, NIV) to deliver them, and He would keep His promise.

o God makes His plans for His people, and they are good plans that ultimately bring hope and peace. Therefore, there is no need to be afraid or discouraged.

· In every situation, however, God’s people have the responsibility to seek the Lord, pray, and ask Him to fulfill His promises, for the Word and prayer go together (Acts 6:4). The purpose of chastening is that we might seek the Lord, confess our sins, and draw near to Him (Heb. 12:3–13).

o According to Jeremiah 29:14, these promises reach beyond the Jews captive in Babylon and include all of Israel throughout the world. Jeremiah was looking ahead to the end of the age when Israel will be regathered to meet their Messiah and enter their kingdom (Isa. 10:20–12:6).[4]

Thought to Soak On

· A parallel in the life of the Western churchmight be that if God has taken it into exile so that the church no longer counts in our culture, we need to settle down in that position until God wants to restore us, rather than trying to turn the church into something the culture wants. Maybe we have prophets who tell us we can return from this exile sooner rather than later, and maybe we have dreams of this kind, and the prophets might be right, and the dreams might be God given.

o In Jeremiah’s day, however, such dreams came out of people’s own heads. They hadn’t taken seriously enough the reason that God had taken his people into exile. But the people also needed to beware of becoming demoralized.

· When you’ve been taken off into exile, can you be bothered to build and plant? Do you want to bring children into this godforsaken world? Actually, the message says, your job is to flourish.

o The destiny of the people of God is to increase, not decrease.

· Christians also “claim” the promise about God having plans for the people to give them a future and a hope, and again we do so in ways that have nothing much to do with Jeremiah’s point but more to do with the Western church’s position in exile.

· Once again Jeremiah’s words presuppose that there’s no quick fix for the community’s situation. This doesn’t mean the situation is hopeless. It will be a while before normal communication is restored between Yahwehand Judah, communication that involves the expected Old Testament pattern of their bringing their needs in prayer to Yahweh and of Yahweh’s responding. At the moment, there’s a time-out.

· We Westerners like to think of hope and a future as applying to us as individuals and as implying that things will soon change. Jeremiah’s point is that hope and a future apply to the community and means taking the long view.[5] This is a good place for discussion about our time and culture.

Let’s move on……………and look back a few scriptures😊

Jeremiah 29:4-9 (NASB) 4 "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; and plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 'Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. 7 '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 have welfare.' 8 "For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream. 9 'For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them,' declares the LORD.

· Thinking about the concept of our loving Heavenly Father looking after his rebellious children…What did he want them to do?

o Take adequate care for your physical needs, Vs. 5;

o Plan for a next generation of God-fearing people, Vs.6; (

o Be as good citizens as possible where you live, Vs. 7;

o Don’t be easily swayed by rumors and rebellions, Vs. 8–9;

o You are still under God’s providence, and He has plans for your lives, Vs. 4, 10–11 (A. F. Harper).[6]

· The Lord’s thinking about them was focused on their best interest. While the people might have thought the Lord had cast them aside, their current status as exiles was part of God’s plan to prepare them to be restored not just to a land but to a right relationship with Him.

What are some lasting truths from Jeremiah 29:10–14?

· Even in the darkest of times, the Lord is working on our behalf and for His glory.

· The Lord desires the best for His people.

· Those who earnestly desire the Lord will find Him and be found by Him and will enjoy the benefit of being in right relationship with Him.[7]

· The people must not lose heart, for the Lord understood their plight and their sufferings.

To build on these truths, consider the following:

· His ultimate purpose for them was to pour out His richest blessings upon them. To all who truly trusted Him, the Lord gave four wonderful promises:

To all who truly trusted Him, the Lord gave four wonderful promises:[8]

· First: The Lord promised to restore the nation, to bring His people back to the promised land (v. 10). But their return would not take place until after seventy years (25:11–12; 2 Chr. 36:21; Da. 9:1–2.) Since the people were to be in exile in Babylon for seventy years, it was important for them to adjust to their new environment.

o They needed to follow the instructions of the Lord: settle down, build houses, plant gardens, marry, start families, and increase their numbers.

o They needed to do all they could to build the peace and prosperity of Babylon so that they themselves could live in peace and prosperity.

§ If they obeyed the Lord, the Lord would restore their nation. Although most of the parents would die in Babylon, they could place their hope in their children.

§ The Lord was promising to return their children to the promised land, where they would restore and rebuild the nation of Israel.

· Second: The Lord promised the people that His plans for them were not to harm them, but rather to bring them peace and prosperity. Note that God’s plan offered them a very bright hope and future.

o If the people placed their trust in the Lord, He would deliver them from their captivity in Babylon and return them to the promised land. God could have promised them no greater hope and future.

· Third: The Lord promised to hear the prayers of His people (vv. 12–13).

o However, the people first had to call upon Him and seek Him with all their hearts. That was why the people had to remain in Babylon. God’s discipline had to have time to do its work.

o Through the suffering of the exile, the hearts of the people would be made soft, broken to the point that they would sincerelycry out to the Lord for deliverance. If the people were allowed to return to their homeland too soon, their hearts would still be hard and stubborn against God. The people would still trust their own power—the power of the flesh—to deliver them. And they would still live wicked lives and worship false gods.

o Thus, God was using the Babylonian captivity to break the people.

§ In their suffering and distress, they would beg Him to save them, and they would recommit their lives to Him.

§ They would turn from their wickedness and their false gods and dedicate themselves to follow the Lord and to obey His Holy Word.

· Fourth: The Lord promised that once the people were truly broken before Him, He would set them free from captivity (v. 14). But keep in mind the condition for being set free: the people had to seek the Lord with all their hearts (vv. 12–13).

o When their hearts were truly broken before Him, He would gather them from all the nations and bring them back to the promised land.

Thought to Soak On

· God instructs us to make the most of our circumstances no matter how bad they are.

o Whatever hardship or misfortune we confront, we are to stand strong for the Lord and bear witness to the strength He places within us.

o God will always provide for His people.

o He will always give us the strength to conquer whatever confronts us.

o Even when we make mistakes and bring bad circumstances upon ourselves, if we truly turn to God in repentance and renewed commitment, He will deliver us from the crushing weight of the suffering.

· Listen to the encouragement of God’s Word to be both content and more than conquerors in whatever circumstances we face:

o Romans 8:35-39 (NASB) 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written, "FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED." 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

o Philippians 4:11-13 (NASB) 11 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

As we wrap up this study……………………..

· One reason God’s plans are best is because God knows all about them.“ ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord” (v. 11a). God’s plans are known plans.

· God makes and God knows God’s plan. This fact is stressed by the grammar of Jeremiah 28:11, where the “I” is repeated in Hebrew for emphasis: “I, I know the plans I have for you.” We do not know what the plans are, but God does.

· These are God’s plans for us, not our plans for God, or even our plans for us. God insists on his right to know and fulfill his plans, which is why the plans are so good. They are God’s plans rather than ours.[9]

o Matthew 28:19-20 (NASB) 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Blessings as you flourish in God’s kingdom each day

[1]Rod Mattoon, Treasures from Jeremiah, vol. 2, Treasures from Scripture Series (Springfield, IL: Rod Mattoon, 2018), 247. [2]Tremper Longman III, Jeremiah, Lamentations, ed. W. Ward Gasque, Robert L. Hubbard Jr., and Robert K. Johnston, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2012), 193–194. [3]Charles H. Dyer, “Jeremiah,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 1166. [4]Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Decisive, “Be” Commentary Series (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 124–125. [5]John Goldingay, Jeremiah for Everyone, Old Testament for Everyone (Louisville, KY; London: Westminster John Knox Press; Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2015), 145–146. [6]C. Paul Gray, “The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah,” in Isaiah through Daniel, Beacon Bible Commentary (Beacon Hill Press, 1966), Je 29:19. [7]Ronald K. Brown, Bible Studies for Life, Summer 2013, Herschel Hobbs Commentary (LifeWay Christian Resources, 2013), 78–81. [8]Leadership Ministries Worldwide, Jeremiah (Chapters 1–29), vol. I, The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible (Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 2006), 255. [9]Philip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations: From Sorrow to Hope, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001), 420.