Sermon Tone Analysis

*JEREMIAH*

*AN ANCIENT MAN WITH A MODERN MESSAGE*

*“Strangers in a foreign land”*

*Jeremiah 29:1-10*

 

*“These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem.

The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

It said: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce.

Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.

But 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 find your welfare.

For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord.*

*“For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.”*

*(Jer 29:1-10 ESV)*

* *

*“These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.”

(Heb 11:13 ESV)*

 

There is an important truth that we as Christians need to be reminded of.

We are not permanent residents of this world.

Our citizenship is not in this world it is in heaven.

Notice what the writer of Hebrews said we are “strangers and exiles on the earth”.

A Christian is a stranger in a foreign land.

This truth, this reality presents a problem for believers.

The problem that we are confronted with is how does my temporary status affect my life in this place at this time.

To say it in another way would be to say, to borrow the words from the late Francis Schaefer “How then should we live?”

There are different tensions that exist in the Christian life.

One of those tensions is the tension of being a foreigner in a strange land.

Every believer regardless of where they live on the earth are strangers in a foreign land.

The tension in our lives is how do I live out the reality of my Christian faith in a strange land.

Admittedly this issue takes some thought and perhaps therein lies the struggle for many.

Far too many Christians have tried to live with the tension of being a stranger in a foreign land by choosing to withdraw from this world.

Many Christians because they do not understand how to live in this world simply choose to withdraw and create a Christian community completely separate from this world.

I know of one church that had a desire to build their own rec center so that the people of the church go there and exercise and play basketball and not have to have any contact with non-believers!  I’m not saying that a church having a rec center is wrong, but if you simply use it to isolate the people of the church from the community that is wrong.

We cannot, must not deny the reality that as believers we must come to grips with this question; “How do I live as a Christian in an un-Christian world?”

Thankfully God has not left us to try and figure this out on our own.

His Word gives us guidance and understanding in answering the question of how to live as a stranger in a foreign land.

Jeremiah has been faithfully telling the people of Judah for the last two plus decades that unless they repent of their sins and turn back to God, judgment is coming.

Part of that judgment would be that many of the residents of Judah would be carried away captive to the city of Babylon.

There they would live as exiles for the span of seventy years.

You can read that pronouncement in chapter 25.

What was pronounced throughout the book of Jeremiah has now become a reality.

The invaders from the north had come to the land, they had conquered the land, and they have carried away captive the people of the land.

Their seventy-year exile has begun.

In Jeremiah 29 we see Jeremiah’s heart for the people of Judah.

For whatever reason Jeremiah was not among those who were exiled to Babylon.

For a time after the exile Jeremiah remained in Judah until he was taken against both his will and God’s will to Egypt where we believe he died.

We need to understand that not all the people of Judah were forced into exile.

The Bible mentions some 3,000 people of Judah that were carried away into captivity.

It seems as if Nebuchadnezzar took many of the best and the brightest that the land of Judah had to offer.

He probably did this to enhance his own kingdom and to use their skill to his advantage.

Remember among those who were taken into exile were young men like Daniel, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

We have an adage that says “out of sight out of mind”.

But that was not the case with Jeremiah.

How do we know that?

We know that Jeremiah was still concerned for the people who found themselves living as strangers in a foreign land because of a letter that he wrote to them.

The content of that letter is found in Jeremiah 29.

In his letter to the exiles Jeremiah instructs them how to live in less than ideal circumstances.

What the Lord said to Jeremiah applies to us a Christians; it applies to believers as we struggle with how to live as strangers in a foreign land.

First of all God wants them to…

 

 

 

 

*1.

PARTICIPATE IN THEIR COMMUNITY*

* *

Jeremiah begins by once again reminding the people that he is simply God’s messenger delivering God’s message.

In verse four Jeremiah writes

 

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:”  (Jer 29:4 ESV)

 

In our haste to get to the rest of the passage we may be tempted to skip over verse four.

But I believe if we would do that we would be making a mistake.

The reason that I think if would be a mistake is because of what we would miss if we would choose to ignore this verse.

The first thing that will be of benefit to us as we learn to live as exiles is to remember who it was who placed us here.

Once we begin to understand who it was that has positioned us we can begin to better understand why we are here and what we should be doing while we are here.

Who was responsible for the people of Judah being in exile?

We know that as a result of the poor leadership provided by both the civic and the religious leaders of the people that they sinned against the Lord and the exile was part of the judgment for their sin.

We know that Nebuchadnezzar was responsible for invading the land and carrying them into captivity.

But who was at work behind the scenes using the actions of the people to achieve His desired ends?

God was.

Quite possibly the people of God felt deserted by God!

After all He had made promises to them, after all he had always delivered them before.

The history of Israel up until this point had always been a history of deliverance.

He delivered them out of the land of Egypt.

He delivered them from the armies of Pharaoh.

Time after time the Lord had delivered them from the hands of the Philistines.

He had delivered them from the Assyrians.

God had always been there to deliver them.

Perhaps many of the people thought that because God did not deliver them that He had deserted them!

But that was not the case!

As God begins to speak to His people through Jeremiah the first words out of the God’s mouth were these.

/Thus says the Lord of Host, the God of Israel.

/ In using both of these titles God is re-assuring His people that He has not forgotten them.

He begins by reminding them that He is the Lord of Hosts.

He reminds them that He is Lord of all, He is Lord of everyone, He is the Lord of Hosts.

That title Lord of Hosts also reminds us that God is still a mighty warrior, that He has not lost any of His power.

He has not been overcome by the strength of mighty Nebuchadnezzar!

He is the Lord of Hosts and He has used the mighty Nebuchadnezzar to accomplish His good pleasure.

But not only does the Lord declare that He is the Lord of Hosts, He also reminds the people that he is still the God of Israel.

He wants to make it clear to them that He is still their God.

He has not deserted them, He has not cast them off to look for another people to call His own.

Yes, they had sinned, yes they were having to suffer the consequences of their sin and this was the time that they needed God the most and He reminds the that He has not forgotten them, He has not cast them off, He has not given up on them.

He reminds them that at the very time that they needed Him the most He was still there for them!

There are two implications of these truths for our lives.

First of all you are where you are at because God has positioned you there.

We may not like where find ourselves, we may regret the decisions that were made that set in motion the events that have brought us to this place in our lives.

But even in the midst of difficult circumstances and situations we can be comforted with the knowledge that God has placed us where He has seen fit to place us.

As hard as it was for the exiles to believe and possibly understand, the reality was that their time in exile, being strangers in a foreign land was actually going to be good for them.

This time of exile cured them of their idolatry.