Rock Bottom

Second, when you finally do hit rock bottom, you know it. I don’t know how to explain it, but there’s like a sudden realization that hits you like a ton of bricks that says oh boy, I’ve really done it now. When you’re actually at rock bottom, there’s no ambiguity, there’s no wondering, well, have I reached the end, can I do any worse?

once you get to that point in your life, it’s like a light switch that turns on and says you have officially hit bottom, do not pass go do not collect 200.

And the third thing, about rock bottom, and I know this might sound cliche. But it really is true.

The silver lining to hitting rock bottom is that there is nowhere to go but up.

Transition

in our study today we’re going to be starting in Jeremiah chapter 30, if you have your bibles go ahead and start making your way there.

Jeremiah chapter 29, that we read last week, is Judah’s rock bottom moment.

And I would argue, that Jeremiah 29 is not only the rock bottom moment of the book of Jeremiah, but of the entire narrative of the old testament.

Not the actual exile itself, no I’m talking about in chapter 29, the letter that Jeremiah sends to the Exiles after they had been hauled away, I believe that is the lowest of the lows in the history of the people of Judah and israel.

Because it’s kind of the moment where the Denial really starts to wear off.

Up until this point, we as the reader are fairly certain that We know what God is going to do, but he keeps leaving little beacons of hope. Little beacons of, hey, last chance, if you turn back now I won’t send you into exile.

And we’re sort of left wondering, and hoping, will they? won’t they?

Maybe, maybe they’ll make a course correction at the last minute. We saw that with king Josiah, he instituted a bunch of reforms. Maybe there’s hope.

And indeed, even after the Exile there were prophets going around saying it’s ok, this is just a minor speed bump, we’ll be back in just a couple of years.

And in Chapter 29, Jeremiah sends them instructions that basically say “Get comfortable”

Sometimes I’ll pick up my kids from school, and we’ll have to swing by the house to grab something, and then go to an appointment right away. And in those cases, I tell them “don’t take off your shoes”

And that’s their cue, that hey, we’re not going to be at the house for very long, dad said “don’t take off your shoes”

But if we’re staying, we don’t have anywhere to be, then I tell them, take off your shoes, put them on the shoe rack, hang up your jacket.

And they know, Ok, we’re not going anywhere the rest of the day.

Jeremiah’s message to the exiles was basically “take off your shoes, you’re going to be there a while”

He says plant gardens, build houses, have kids, have grand kids. Be engaged in the community.

Because he’s signaling to them, you’re going to be there a long long time. Most of the people if they were over the age of 30 were probably going to die there.

And there’s some resistance in the second half of 29 we didn’t get to last week, but there’s resistance to Jeremiah’s letter by one of the false prophets, and God basically responds and says “you’re a false prophet, you’re going to die, I’m not arguing about this any more.

And it’s just this “rock bottom moment” in the bible, where it’s finally like wow. This is it, isn’t it.

Roadmap

And the question we have to ask ourselves, when we hit those rock bottom moments in our lives is

Where do we go from there?

Jeremiah 1:10 NET 2nd ed.

Know for certain that I hereby give you the authority to announce to nations and kingdoms that they will be uprooted and torn down, destroyed and demolished, rebuilt and firmly planted.”

And for 29 chapters we’ve been getting a LOT of the uprooting, tearing down, destroying and demolishing language.

And now, at the final rock bottom moment, this is like the Valley of the book, we get a taste of what that “rebuilding” and “firmly planting” is going to look like.

Big idea this morning, is that when we hit Rock bottom, God is there to Rescue, repair, and restore us to him.

When we hit rock bottom, god is there to rescue, repair, and restore us.

Point

Jeremiah 30:1–6 NET 2nd ed.

The Lord spoke to Jeremiah. “The Lord God of Israel says, ‘Write everything that I am about to tell you in a scroll. For I, the Lord, affirm that the time will come when I will reverse the plight of my people, Israel and Judah,’ says the Lord. ‘I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors and they will take possession of it once again.’ ” So here is what the Lord has to say about Israel and Judah. Yes, here is what he says: “You hear cries of panic and of terror; there is no peace in sight. Ask yourselves this and consider it carefully: Have you ever seen a man give birth to a baby? Why then do I see all these strong men grabbing their stomachs in pain like a woman giving birth? And why do their faces turn so deathly pale?

Now, first of all, can we just acknowledge, ladies, this is a complete side bar from the point of the passage, that in order to describe the worst anguish imaginable that a man could go through, God chooses to use a metaphor that is something women do all across the world, every day, many of them without any sort of pain medication.

So yeah, thank you ladies, we are all deeply grateful for everything you do.

But it’s not meant to be a dig at women in child birth, and it’s not even really meant to be mocking the pain of the men in the situation. It’s a recognition that they are—physically, spiritually, and emotionally at Rock Bottom.

Statement

When we hit Rock bottom, God is there to rescue us

Explanation

Jeremiah 30:7–11 NET 2nd ed.

Alas, what a terrible time of trouble it is! There has never been any like it. It is a time of trouble for the descendants of Jacob, but some of them will be rescued out of it. When the time for them to be rescued comes,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will rescue you from foreign subjugation. I will deliver you from captivity. Foreigners will then no longer subjugate them. But they will be subject to the Lord their God and to the Davidic ruler whom I will raise up as king over them. So I, the Lord, tell you not to be afraid, you descendants of Jacob, my servants. Do not be terrified, people of Israel. For I will rescue you and your descendants from a faraway land where you are captives. The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace. They will be secure and no one will terrify them. For I, the Lord, affirm that I will be with you and will rescue you. I will completely destroy all the nations where I scattered you. But I will not completely destroy you. I will indeed discipline you, but only in due measure. I will not allow you to go entirely unpunished.”

Argumentation

Two things, here

Number 1, I don’t want you to get the idea that God is rescuing them from something that He brought upon them in the first place

Because I could see how we might think that

But it’s not like that. It’s not like God is the firefighter who starts a fire so that he can get the credit for putting it out.

Illustration

It’s a lot more like, when you have children, and you warn them not to do something.

Because if they keep doing it they’re going to get hurt

And they don’t listen.

Eventuallly, you just let them do the thing that’s going to hurt them.

Because you know, hey my verbal warnings have done no good, maybe some first hand experience is going to help them actually learn.

So when they jump off the top of the bunk bed, and hurt their head, I’m right there to scoop them up, and rescue them, and make sure they’re ok.

Application

And the second thing is that we need to notice that when God saves them from foriegn rule, it’s not so that they can go back to Jerusalem and be “free” to do as they please.

Jeremiah 30:8–9 ... Foreigners will then no longer subjugate them. But they will be subject to the Lord their God and to the Davidic ruler whom I will raise up as king over them.” (Note, that’s code for “the messiah” by the way)

Because doing as they please is what Got them there in the first place.

God doesn’t rescue us from rock bottom so that we can go back there again.

We ought to think about that, when God lifts us out of the dark place we were in we ought to take time and recognize that we owe it to him, That we ought to be subject to him.

Transition

When we hit rock bottom, God is there to rescue us.

Point

Statement

And he’s there to Repair us.

Explanation

Jeremiah 30:12–17 NET 2nd ed.

Moreover, the Lord says to the people of Zion: “Your injuries are incurable; your wounds are severe. There is no one to plead your cause. There are no remedies for your wounds. There is no healing for you. All your allies have abandoned you. They no longer have any concern for you. For I have attacked you like an enemy would. I have chastened you cruelly. For your wickedness is so great and your sin is so much. Why do you complain about your injuries, that your pain is incurable? I have done all this to you because your wickedness is so great and your sin is so much. But all who destroyed you will be destroyed. All your enemies will go into exile. Those who plundered you will be plundered. I will cause those who pillaged you to be pillaged. Yes, I will restore you to health. I will heal your wounds. I, the Lord, affirm it! For you have been called an outcast, Zion, whom no one cares for.”

Argumentation

One of the fascinating things to study is the way different people from different cultures talk about the “sin” problem.

Because at the heart of it, that’s what we’re dealing with here in this passage. The result of their sin.

In western cultures (and by western I mean people who are descended from Europeans, Most protestant churches come out of a “western” worldview, they trace their lineage back to the Roman catholic church, and western europe.

Most western cultures talk about the Sin problem using court room and legal metaphors.

The way we describe sin is it’s like a crime we’ve commited, God is the Judge, there needs to be a balance of the scales.

And what Jesus did, is he came and paid the penalty for us on our behalf.

The book of Romans uses this type of language. Rome, is like the heart of western Christianity, so it’s no wonder that’s how Paul spoke to the Roman church

Romans 4:25–5:1 ESV

who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

But in eastern cultures

And I don’t mean like china and japan eastern, I mean like Corinth, Athens, Antioch, Jerusalem, that kind of “eastern” Christianity,

Historically uses medical metaphors

Where sin is a disease that is on all of us. And sure it’s probably a disease that we contracted by our own bad choices, but it’s a diseas nonetheless,

And it’s one that we are woefully ill equipped to treat

When Jesus is questioned about why he hangs out with sinners he says

Matthew 9:12 NET 2nd ed.

When Jesus heard this he said, “Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do.

Application

When we hit rock bottom, God is there to repair us. To remedy us. I couldn’t decide which was the better R word, repair, or remedy

But god is there to heal us from our sin.

And I think about those two different ways of talking about sin a lot, —either court room metaphors or hospital metaphors

And I think it matters.

I don’t think either one are theologically wrong.

But I do think that if we only ever focus on the court-room metaphors, we can sometimes miss the fact that we as the church exist to take in broken, hurt, spiritually sick people.

And we should recognize that. We should recognize that this is supposed to be like a spiritual hospital.

Transition

Where we are there to facilitate when God rescues people from rock bottom. When he repairs them, when he heals their spiritual ailment.

And then when he restores them to new life, so that they can continue on in the mission of saving the world

Which brings us to our last point

Point

Statement

When we hit rock bottom, God is there to restore us.

Explanation

Jeremiah 30:18-31:1

Jeremiah 30:18–31:1 NET 2nd ed.

The Lord says, “I will restore the ruined houses of the descendants of Jacob. I will show compassion on their ruined homes. Every city will be rebuilt on its former ruins. Every fortified dwelling will occupy its traditional site. Out of those places you will hear songs of thanksgiving and the sounds of laughter and merriment. I will increase their number and they will not dwindle away. I will bring them honor and they will no longer be despised. The descendants of Jacob will enjoy their former privileges. Their community will be reestablished in my favor, and I will punish all who try to oppress them. One of their own people will be their leader. Their ruler will come from their own number. I will invite him to approach me, and he will do so. For no one would dare approach me on his own. I, the Lord, affirm it! Then you will again be my people, and I will be your God. Just watch! The wrath of the Lord will come like a storm. Like a raging storm it will rage down on the heads of those who are wicked. The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he has fully carried out his intended purposes. In future days you will come to understand this. At that time I will be the God of all the clans of Israel and they will be my people. I, the Lord, affirm it!”

God is not content with just rescuing them and repairing them. He’s looking foreward to the day when they will be restored.

Illustration

Going back to the medical example

When you have a surgery. It’s not just the surgery.

You go to physical therapy to restore the use of that knee, or that shoulder.

And here’s where the metaphor sort of breaks down

Because when you go to physical therapy, there’s kind of the expectation that you’re never going to ever be quite as good as you used to be

It’s a sad reality of life, but it’s true.

Application

God’s restoration is different.

When God restores us, it’s not temporary, it’s not fleeting

It’s perfect and complete

God intends to restore us better than we ever were before.

It’s so much more than a restoration, it’s a renewal

Those of us who were Baptized into Christ were baptized into His death, so that we might be raised back to walk in newness of life.

And our Job is to let him

Our job is to allow the holy spirit to work within us

To be constantly in communication with God

To be constantly in his word

To be constantly in fellowship with other Christians

To take communion, and reflect on the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

Because it’s through those things that God works to restore us.

Transition

When we hit rock bottom, God is here to rescue, repair, and restore us.

And jeremiah truly believed that.

Conclusion

I want to end by looking at perhaps the most under-rated act of faith in the whole old testament.

Jeremiah 32:1–2 NET 2nd ed.

In the tenth year that Zedekiah was ruling over Judah the Lord spoke to Jeremiah. That was the same as the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. Now at that time, the armies of the king of Babylon were besieging Jerusalem. The prophet Jeremiah was confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse attached to the royal palace of Judah.

So again, remember, the book of jeremiah jumps all around the place, so this is before the exile took place again.

Jeremiah 32:6-12

Jeremiah 32:6–12 NET 2nd ed.

So now, Jeremiah said, “The Lord told me, ‘Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, will come to you soon. He will say to you, “Buy my field at Anathoth because you are entitled as my closest relative to buy it.” ’ And then My cousin Hanamel did come to me in the courtyard of the guardhouse in keeping with the Lord’s message. He said to me, ‘Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. Buy it for yourself since you are entitled as my closest relative to take possession of it for yourself.’ When this happened, I recognized that the Lord had indeed spoken to me. So I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I weighed out seven ounces of silver and gave it to him to pay for it. I signed the deed of purchase, sealed it, and had some men serve as witnesses to the purchase. I weighed out the silver for him on a scale. There were two copies of the deed of purchase. One was sealed and contained the order of transfer and the conditions of purchase. The other was left unsealed. I took both copies of the deed of purchase and gave them to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah. I gave them to him in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, the witnesses who had signed the deed of purchase, and all the Judeans who were housed in the courtyard of the guardhouse.

Now I’ll admit, when I read this when I was preparing for this, I almost saved it for the next sermon.

Because I was like Ok, obviously, this really doesn’t have anything to do with restoration, or rescue or anything like that.

It’s honestly kind of a weird passage right in the middle of all of this.

We’re like, why in the world are we reading about some random real-estate deal in the middle of all of this?

And then it dawned on me. I was listening to the news and they were talking about the stock market.

And right now investors aren’t sure what to make of everything that’s going on. With the forieng market, and tarifs and taxes, and China and all the rest of it.

And so they’re not buying into the market, because they’re worried that they ‘re going to buy and then the whole things going to crash, and they wasted their investment and lost all of their money.

And to be honest, I don’t understand how half of it works, I’m not really big into stock markets and all of that

so who knows how the economy is actually going to turn out.

But I do know this. You know when the worst time to buy in to the real estate market is? When there’s an angry army building siege ramps around your city who is about 24 hours from burning everything to the ground.

And I realized, this is the absolute worst financial decision.

Why would you go and purchase a plot of land while the enemies are at the gates?

You wouldn’t.

The only reason you would go and do something like that is if you had complete faith that when it all shakes out, after the battle, after the Babylonians burn it all down, and haul everyone away, after the exile. After all of that you would have to have complete faith that that piece of property was still going to be waiting for you or your descendant in one piece.

And that’s exactly what Jeremiah had.

Because God always delivers on his promise.

He promises not only to rescue them, not only to repair them, not only to restore them

But to Renew them. To bring them back to their land because Against all Odds, God’s not finished with them yet.

Jeremiah 31:31–35 NET 2nd ed.

“Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I delivered them from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” says the Lord. “But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel after I plant them back in the land,” says the Lord. “I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts and minds. I will be their God and they will be my people. “People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” says the Lord. “For I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.” The Lord has made a promise to Israel. He promises it as the one who fixed the sun to give light by day and the moon and stars to give light by night. He promises it as the one who stirs up the sea so that its waves roll. His name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

When you hit rock bottom, you need to know that God is not done with you yet.

He doesn’t quit on us.

Finish

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