God’s Promise to His People

INTRODUCTION:

*Maybe have the question of the day be this — Which animal makes a better pet: dog / cat?

How many of you have a pet at your house? Have your pets ever done anything dumb?

*show a picture of Mei Mei.

This is our puppy. She’s almost 5, and she sheds a ton! Here are some dumb things that Mei Mei has done: - Got her head stuck in our star railing — both upstairs and downstairs. - Run into our sliding glass door and screen door. - Always hits her head when she turns. - She runs, trips, and falls on her head.

Raise your hand if your pet has ever done anything dumb before.

Mei Mei drives me nuts… But I love her so much!

*show the two sheep videos.

The sheep keep putting themselves in danger. They keep getting stuck. If it were me, I’d just leave them there after they did it the second time. It’s their own fault that they are stuck. But their master values them, and loves them.

In today’s session, we’ll learn that God’s people were in captivity because of their own sin, but God chose to be merciful and promised to save them.

God’s people acted just like these sheep. Yet God doesn’t forsake them, he rescues them.

*Pray

Let’s grab our Bibles and turn to Jeremiah 30.

Our lesson today is entitled — GOD’S PROMISE TO HIS PEOPLE.

And here’s the main point — One day God will bring ultimate freedom, healing, and restoration to His people.

THE DAY OF THE LORD WILL BRING FREEDOM. (Jeremiah 30:8-11)

Jeremiah 30:8–11 KJV 1900

8 For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, That I will break his yoke from off thy neck, And will burst thy bonds, And strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: 9 But they shall serve the Lord their God, And David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. 10 Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord; Neither be dismayed, O Israel: For, lo, I will save thee from afar, And thy seed from the land of their captivity; And Jacob shall return, And shall be in rest, and be quiet, And none shall make him afraid. 11 For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: Though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, Yet will I not make a full end of thee: But I will correct thee in measure, And will not leave thee altogether unpunished.

vs.8 — The phrase “the day of the Lord” often refers to a time when God brings righteous judgment to His people to make things right — whether from the consequences of their own sin or someone else’s. When Jeremiah wrote to God’s people, they were being forced to serve the nation of Babylon, and they looked forward to the day when God would save them.

vs. 8 — “that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds… — FREEDOM (the day of the Lord will bring Freedom!)

*give an illustration about me desiring freedom as a teen (freedom to do whatever I want)

How do we understand FREEDOM biblically? How does the Bible frame FREEDOM?

John 8:34–36 “34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. 36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” Romans 6:18 “18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.” Romans 6:22 “22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.”

Freedom in the Bible is not the privilege to do whatever we want; it is the ability to serve God without holding us back.

While the people were serving in Babylon, they had another leader’s rules to follow — one who didn’t know God. The day of the Lord would free them to serve God alone in land He gave to them.

When Jesus returns, can you name something he will save us from? In what ways are we servants or enslaved?

The day of the Lord is coming for us too, when no one will rule over us but Jesus.

vs. 11 — For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee! Let’s long for this day!

THE DAY OF THE LORD WILL BRING HEALING. (Jeremiah 30:12-17)

Jeremiah 30:12–17 KJV 1900

12 For thus saith the Lord, Thy bruise is incurable, And thy wound is grievous. 13 There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: Thou hast no healing medicines. 14 All thy lovers have forgotten thee; They seek thee not; For I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, For the multitude of thine iniquity; Because thy sins were increased. 15 Why criest thou for thine affliction? Thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: Because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee. 16 Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; And all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; And they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, And all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey. 17 For I will restore health unto thee, And I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord; Because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.

Let’s read these verses looking specifically for words that fall into the realm of health, healing, etc.

Why did the Israelites need healing? What caused their bruising and wounds?

God was helping the people of Israel look beyond their terribly oppressive circumstances — being servants of Babylon — and see the deeper issue: their sin.

Sin is a disease that brings ultimate death. God is a physician that brings life. One day, God will bring ultimate healing.

Why do you think God was more interested in healing sinful hearts than shortening his people’s captivity? What does this tell us about him?

THE DAY OF THE LORD WILL BRING RESTORATION. (Jeremiah 30:18-22)

Jeremiah 30:18–22 KJV 1900

18 Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, And have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and The city shall be builded upon her own heap, And the palace shall remain after the manner thereof. 19 And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: And I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small. 20 Their children also shall be as aforetime, And their congregation shall be established before me, And I will punish all that oppress them. 21 And their nobles shall be of themselves, And their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; And I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: For who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the Lord. 22 And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

In my Christian life, sometimes I can get frustrated with the world. Sometimes I ask questions like this (and maybe you have too): - Why do people that I love struggle with sickness or disease? - Why is life so hard and never seems to get easier? - Why do I feel so lonely? - Why do bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people?

Our world seeks justice yet is consumed with injustice. Our world seeks to make itself better while it’s getting increasingly worse. Our world puts people in power that promise to make things perfect, yet end up making things worse.

For unbelievers, this world is the best that it gets for them — they spend eternity in hell. For unbelievers, this world is the worst that it gets for them — we have something coming that is infinitely better than this world.

Why is it hard for us to believe things will get better?

God’s promise of restoration doesn’t simply mean restoring something to its original glory. To truly restore something, you make it BETTER.

When God restores us, He doesn’t bring us back to the best version of what we were in the past; He makes us better than ever! His promise to restore His people wasn’t about giving them the same kind of life they’d had before; He would give them a new and better life.

How do you think God’s restoration makes us better than before we knew Christ?

Essential Doctrine — Glorification

Glorification is the final stage in the process of salvation. It refers to the future time when a Christian reaches moral and spiritual perfection at the time of death or at Christ’s return (see Philippians 1:9-11; Colossian 1:22). Glorification also involves the physical perfection we will have once our bodies have been resurrected. When we are glorified, we will have a fuller knowledge and understanding of God and His Word (see Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Corinthians 13:12).

CHRIST CONNECTION

Feel the tension — God’s people were taken captive because they rebelled against the one true God. Through Jeremiah, God promised to save His people from a captivity that was their own fault.

In a greater way, all people are captives: slaves under the power of sin and death because we’ve rebelled against the one true God. Jesus came to lovingly set us free from our slavery to sin and death.

When Jesus returns, all who trust in Him will have the joy of serving and loving only One — the one true God — forever and ever.

What “solutions” does the world think will heal our brokenness? What solutions actually heal our brokenness?

Only one thing turns a sinner into the person they’re made to be: being set free by Jesus from the power and penalty of sin.

Why do we tend to be more concerned with the stuff of this life (food, money, friends) than with doing whatever it takes to know God more deeply?

When we find ourselves thinking more about the stuff of this life than about loving and honoring the Lord, we need to refocus our hearts and minds on Him.

What attitudes or actions could be getting in the way of you fully serving Jesus?