Hope for the future

A Tyranical World

We live in a world obsessed with power.

On the world stage, we see Russia trying to dominate Ukarine.

In Israel and the various fronts they are fighting on, we see attempts at power and control.

Donald Trump boasts about his power.

China put on a massive military parade to say to the world - look at how strong we are.

But it’s not just on the world stage.

Multinational companies exert their power. Some of the big tech companies almost seem to yeild more power and influence than most nations. We might shake our heads at their abuse of powers, but the reality is, we actually laud these peoples as visionaries.

In churches, we’re also not immune for a lust for power. Sometimes it’s the leader, but sometimes there’s the power player behind the scenes calling all the shots.

Whether in the church or elsewhere in society, those that don’t exert power are commonly thought of as weak and ineffective.

This is the world in which we live.

But of course, we’ve been shown a better way.

Jesus came to this world and said: blessed are the poor, blessed are the meek, blessed are the peacemakers.

He told us that the first shall be last and the last shall be first.

He showed us a kind of leadership based on being a servant.

More than that, he created a way where we can live in a community where we actually live like this. Now it might sound like I’m contradicting myself when I just said how the big power plays are readily found in churches just like everywhere else, but here’s the thing… while the church does allow worldly ways in, we are a people who are being transformed. We live by different values because Christ lives in us.

But the more we grow into our Christ-likeness, the more we realise the clash that exists between this kingdom that Christ has created, and the world around us.

At times it can become very distressing. We say: love your enemy… but then we get trampled.

We’re told to turn the other cheek… but that just enables the powerful to become more powerful.

What do we do with this distress?

Well, that’s what I want to look at today. You see, one option is to just go along with the world. You might not end up on top, but at least you’re not figthing against the system.

But this just drives us further and further from God, and while it might seem better in the short term, it comes with big problems.

So how do we approach this?

Well, today, we come to the end of our series in Jeremiah. And we find ourselves in an interesting situation. So let’s explore that now.

Context

Well, we’ve been exploring the context throughout this series, so let me just give a really quick update for the benefit of those who haven’t been following.

We’re in the period of the history of Israel where the Isael had split into a Northern and Southern kingdom. The Northern Kingdom had been effectively wiped out some century and a half before Jeremiah, but Jeremiah warns the remaining southern kingdom that they are heading down the same path.

The Babylonians rise to power, and in the year 597 BC, about 10,000 of their best and brightest are taken into exile. At this point, Zedekiah becomes king, which lasts just over ten years when the Babylonians finally do get the knock out blow - Jerusalem is destoryed. The walls are pulled down and the temple is gone. It is devastation.

Now last week we looked at some of the events that took place in the ruins of Jerusalem shortly after these events, however, I want to wind back a bit when we were in the time between the first lot of exiles being taken, and that final destruction, that is to say - the time while Zedekiah is king.

Two Scrolls

Now, a few weeks ago, I did a message on Jeremiah 29. In that chapter, Jeremiah wrote a letter to those in exiles, and the message was kind of surprising.

Now just remember, Babylon are the bad guys. The Babylonians do horrible things. They are the enemy.

But when Jeremiah writes to them, he doesn’t say - keep up the rage. He actually says, settle down. Build houses. Marry. Have children.

You see, Jeremiah knew that they were going to be there for 70 years because God had revealed that to them.

Now, this letter was written during the fourth year of Zedekiah.

Today, I’m going to look at chapters 50 and 51, but if you can go right to end of chapter 51, in verse 59, it tells you that the message that we’ve just read, that is, the words in chapters 50 and 51, were actually a message sent to Babylon in the fourth year of Zedekiah.

In other words, the words of Jeremiah 50-51 are a letter to the people in exile.

Now, I’m not sure if you noticed, but this means that in the fourth year of Zedekiah, we actually get two letters being sent to the exiles from Jeremiah. The first one telling them to settle down, build, marry and have children. And the second being this one.

So what does this one say?

Well, the actual message itself is 103 verses long. I decided against reading it all, partly because it would have taken a very long time to get through it all, but also because it kind of repeats the main theme over and over again - and that is - that Babylon is going to cop it.

A time will come when a new enemy will arise and Babylon will fall.

When you hold this letter up against the letter we have in Jeremiah 29, we see two very different messages, and while the temptation might be to initially think they are contradictory, they’re actually not.

You see, you might recall that Jeremiah 29 encouraged the exiles to pray for the prosperity of the cities in Babylon. And then you put that up against the next letter which says - actually, this city is going to plundered.

What we have to realise, however, is that the two letter are answering two very different questions.

Jeremiah 29 is effectively answering the question - what do I do right now about my current situation? And the answer was, just wait because it’s going to be like this for a long time.

Jeremiah 50-51 is effectively answering the question - how do I square the fact that these Babylonians have been so brutal and horrific and yet seemingly get off scott free with no consequences for their behaviour? And the answer as we’ll see is, they don’t!

Babylon’s downfall

Well, before we think about how this applies to us, let’s have a look at what is said.

Verse 2: It starts with an annoucement - in fact, it even says, let’s put this announcement on a big banner - and the announcement is this “Babylon will be captured; Bel will be put to shame, Marduk filled with terror” - and in case you’re wondering who Bel and Marduk are, they were perhaps the two main gods that the Babylonians looked up to.

This letter is saying, these people might think their gods are strong because they gained all this strength - but you’ll soon see they are completely powerless to save them. This is a theme that will be revisited a number of times throughout the letter.

Now, interestingly in verse 3, it says a nation from the north will attack Babylon. If you’re a literalist, this might pose a problem, but actually, this enemy from the north has become somewhat of a rhetorical device. It’s effectively the way of saying that the same kind of terror that Israel faced before, will soon come on Babylon.

As you read on, it becomes apparent - vengeance is being carried out on Babylon for what they did to Jerusalem. Verse 15 even says: “this is the vengeance of the Lord”.

There’s more than just vengeance going on though - this is also an example of the arrogant being brought low. Look at verse 31 and 32: “See, I am against you, you arrogant one, declares the Lord… The arrogant one will stumble and fall and no one will help her up”. The problem with arrogance is that we think that strength means we can do what we want - but we’re actually not as strong as we think we are.

So, we’ve got this prophecy - how did it all eventuate?

In the year 539 BC, Babylon did fall. Interestingly, in a way, the fall happened when Cyrus, the king of Persia just marched into the city. You might recall in Daniel 5, there is the account of the writing on the wall (which incidentally, our Sunday Kids looked at just last week), and the very next day, Babylon had fallen.

That was effectively the end of Babylon. They were gone.

The great enemy of Jerusalem, that had terrorised and treated them poorly, will never again threaten them.

When the exiles are reading this, it might be a long time before it happens, but there is a sense in which justice will be done.

But more than that, this also signals the restoration of God’s people to their land. It will be a fresh start in their covenantal relationship. It will also be the first step towards establishing the new covenant that we saw back in chapter 31.

This picture of restoration is scattered throughout the prophecy we have in chapter 50 and 51. Jer 50:5 talks about turning towards Zion and binding themselves to an everlasting covenant. Verse 19 talks about coming back to their own pasture.

And this is exactly what does happen when Babylon falls.

You can read about this in Ezra and Nehemiah. Cyrus gives a decree to allow the Jews back to their homeland.

This might all be a long way off when they receive this message - but it’s the hope that they can cling to.

Revelation

Now, this was all happening in the 6th Century BC, but let me jump to New Testament times.

Actually, I want to go to the book of Revelation, because in chapters 17 and 18 we’re going to find a section that is going to draw many allusions to this message in Jeremiah 50-51.

In fact, in these chapters, it is Babylon that is in picture and the fall of Babylon is predicted again.

Now, Babylon never came back, and the book of Revelation is not predicting the return of Babylon - at least, not in the literal sense of that particular ethnic group.

Rather Babylon has become a symbol of an oppressive kind of nation.

For the first people listening to the message of the book of Revelation, they would have pictured Rome, and in particular the persecution that both the Jews and the new Christians were facing.

Rome in the first century, just like Babylon in the day of Jeremiah, was arrogant and loved power.

By using the language of Jeremiah 50-51, those first hearers of Revelation would be encouraged - there is hope. God is just, and the oppressors will face punishment.

It might not be straight away - but it will come.

By the time the hearers of Revelation get this message, they’re already living in the time after Jesus won the victory on the cross. They have become part of the spiritual kingdom that Jesus established.

But yet they were still facing oppression from those over them, and this message gave them hope to perservere. To not give up.

Our hope

Now if John, the author of Revelation, can use the message of Jeremiah 50-51 to apply to the situation of his listeners, we can likewise apply it to our situation.

You see, our situation may be different in it’s specifics to both the situation of the exiles in Jeremiah’s day, and the Roman’s of the first century, but we are in a time where we are surrounded by power hungry people.

When we looked at Jeremiah 29, the message might have been to make the most of what we have, but the message today is - don’t lose hope.

A Christian leader might get shot in front of a few thousand people - but we don’t lose hope, because God cares about justice.

Innocent civilians in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Congo, and many more, live with the constant fear that they could die - but yet, we can know that those committing the atrocities will face justice. It’s possible that the justice won’t happen for many years, for some it might be in the age to come, but God is a God of justice, and even in New Testament times, he is always just.

We might face increasing pressure from those around us because of our faith - but yet we don’t give up, because God hasn’t forgotten about us.

You know, even when we look at history over the last century or so, we see many brutal regimes that caused lots of terror to fall. The third reich. The Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. The Military Junta in Argentina. Apartheid in South Africa. This is just a few. When we look at some of the brutal regimes that still exist, I don’t know when or how they will fall, but yet, I know they will not last. There is hope.

Not being enticed

Now, here’s the thing. While in many ways, this is a message of hope, I also want to suggest there’s another element to all of this.

You see, in all of this, there is a great temptation. That is, we can be enticed to the ways of Babylon.

Now, you might initially think - no way! I’m on God’s side, there’s no way I’d get caught up in the wickedness of Babylon.

But what is the way of Babylon? It’s the way of power. Might is right.

This is what we have today.

And it’s such a massive temptation for Christians today, that power struggles are common place in churches.

This might be a message of hope that justice will be done - but it’s also a warning to stay on the right side.

In fact, I took us to the book of Revelation before, and that is one of the main messages we find in that book too. That is, there is the way of the Lamb (that is, Jesus), or the way of the beast - and you need to choose your side carefully, because there are big consequences.

Choose the way of the Lamb. You might be persecuted now, but the blessing of being with the Lamb is so much greater - and justice will always be done.

Final glory

Now, a few weeks ago, I used the analgy of the three horizons to help us think about the fulfillment of prophecies in Jeremiah. The first horizon is the more immediate fulfilment, and in this case, as already discussed, it was the literal fall of Babylon in 539BC.

The second horizon is the fulfillment when Jesus came to earth, and we saw the strongholds of this world being brought low as Jesus conquered death by rising from the grave.

But then we get the final horizon - and in many ways, this is what the book of Revelation ultimately points us to.

You see, a day will come when Jesus returns. We don’t know what day that will be, but when he does, it will be a day of judgement, and a day when we see what side you are on.

This will be a day of ultimate justice.

But what’s more, it will be a day when we will see the New Heavens and the New Earth.

There will be a final restoration.

Oh what a day that will be.

Conclusion

It is so easy to lose hope in a world that seems to be going downhill fast.

The evening news seems to be a horror show each night, and it’s hard to watch.

But don’t lose hope. God is still alive and active in this world - and though we might wish he’d hurry up about things, but his timing is always good and perfect.

In the meantime, don’t be enticed into the ways of this world. Don’t be lured by the power that is on offer. Instead, stay true to Jesus and his ways. It is in Him that you will find the most glorious future.

Let me pray...