2024.12.08 Beautiful Waiting?
Notes
Transcript
Beautiful Waiting?
Beautiful Waiting?
Jeremiah 29:3–14
3 He entrusted the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It said:
4 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:
5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.
6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.
7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
8 Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have.
9 They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord.
10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to 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 will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”
We church folk often quote one verse from today’s passage, and then we try to apply it outside its original context, so I want to return this passage to its context today, and see what it may tell us about our Advent “waiting” season.
►►►CLICK [Jeremiah 29:11]
You have likely heard this single passage quoted numerous times:
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
When you’ve heard it, I would suggest it’s usually applied to a present-life circumstance and in a very general sense … as if to suggest that calamity should never befall God’s people. Yet, calamity befalls God’s people ALL THE TIME!!!
So have the Scriptures lied to us?
This demonstrates why context is so important!
Look at the beginning of this chapter: [not on screen]
1 This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
Where are the people Jeremiah is writing to? [IN EXILE]
The circumstance is that the nation of Judah is living in exile. If you think your life stinks … imagine being removed from your home, taken out of the country, and transplanted into a foreign land where you don’t know the people, the geography, the language, or anything else! THAT is the situational context for this passage.
In verse 1, who all was exiled? [Elders, Priests, Prophets and some collection of regular people]
Now look at verse 2. It says this is AFTER the first set of people were taken away! [King Jehoiachin, the queen mother, court officials, other officials, and ALL the craftsmen and artisans]
2 (This was after King Jehoiachin and the queen mother, the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the skilled workers and the artisans had gone into exile from Jerusalem.)
Every figurehead, and all of the craftsmen and artists have been taken away. They’ve lost a war, and Jerusalem lies in ruins. Who's gonna LEAD a rebuilding effort? Certainly not the established leaders! Who will DO the actual rebuilding? Certainly not the craftsmen or the artisans!
The country is destroyed, and there is NO HOPE for a recovery. No one is coming to help them. Babylon has removed anything and anyone of value, and all that’s left is a remnant of people likely in survival mode. They’re left to just survive on their own.
3 He entrusted the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It said:
Nebuchadnezzar has destroyed Jerusalem, he took away the real king, and he set up a puppet regime under Jehoiachin’s uncle. His original name was Mattaniah, but when Nubuchadnezzar made him King of Judah he also renamed him Zedekiah. Jeremiah was left behind as an advisor to Zedekiah.
So, this remnant is sending ambassadors to the Babylonian king, and the prophet Jeremiah sends this letter with them, as ambassadors of the Jewish remnant.
There’s the context:
Life is awful!
We’ve lost EVERYthing!
We have no real leaders left, so we send the son of a priest to plead … um … I mean … negotiate with Nebuchadnezzar. And he already conquered us, so we have ZERO negotiating position.
For what it’s worth, one of the people Jeremiah sends his letter to is Gemariah son of Hilkiah. Jeremiah is also son of Hilkiah … so this one brother was taken and the other has been left behind. When the Babylonians conquered Judah, Jeremiah was in prison because the people didn’t like him warning them about the exile that was coming. Jeremiah was left behind. He was seen as a nobody by the conquerors, while his brother was taken away as a person of value!
Do you see the desperation?
And verses 5-7 tell us Jeremiah’s letter says, Yahweh is saying this to those who’ve been taken away to Babylon:
settle in
build houses
plant gardens
marry and have children
plan to be here a long time
Verse 10 says “You will be in Babylon for SEVENTY YEARS!”
10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.
THEN … I will come to you and fulfill my promise. and then we finally arrive at the famous verse 11.
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Well --- whoopity dooo! Thanks a LOT, God!
If I were the one receiving this letter, I would probably be tempted to walk away and look for another God … there were plenty around. I’ll be dead in 70 years, so maybe I can just pull a new god off the shelf and give him a shot.
►►►CLICK [title]
Beautiful Waiting?
Beautiful Waiting?
Well let me suggest that we have a lot more in common with the remnant in Jerusalem than we may think.
Has our economy been devastated?
Is our infrastructure crumbling after years of neglect?
Does it feel like the good leaders have all been taken away?
Hear the word of the Lord:
settle in
build houses
plant gardens
marry and have children
plan to be here a very long time
►►►CLICK [Henri Nouwen quote]
“Patience comes from the word “patior” which means to suffer. To wait patiently therefore means to allow our weeping and wailing to become the purifying preparation by which we are made ready to receive the joy which is promised to us.” —Henri Nouwen
"On that day!” On that day, all will be set right. The unrighteous will be judged. The righteous will be rewarded. On that day, our God will set in place the reign of his son! … but we must wait.
►►►CLICK [Psalm 27:14]
14 Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.
►►►CLICK [title]
Beautiful Waiting?
Beautiful Waiting?
The culmination for which we wait is not a military victory, or a return to ‘normal’ after an exile, or recovery from any other disruption.
The culmination for which we wait is the return of Jesus … the second coming of Christ!
So, friends … Wait patiently for Yahweh’s promise to be fulfilled! Be brave and courageous, and wait patiently.
My first car was a beater. It was a piece of junk … but it was mine! It was sweet because my work and waiting had paid off.
Perhaps your first house was similar.
I spent a LONG time in school. Graduation was sooo sweet for me!
Friends, there is a day coming. The Jews were told they would wait seventy years. We don’t know how long we’ll wait. We just know the day grows closer with each passing day.
The waiting is miserable at times. But our god has been faithful with all of his other promises, so waiting seems like our only reasonable option.
I know the plans Yahweh has for you. Plans for a future. Plans for good stuff. Plans for blessings. Even in the middle of exile, our God is good to us, and that goodness is a shadow compared to what we’re told about the new Earth and Heaven.
We may not see it in our lifetime on Earth. But the Son is coming back some day.
I hate waiting, but his delivery on that promise will be worth the wait. That’s what he told the exiles in Babylon … and that’s what he tells us this Advent.
Let’s pray.
