Coffee Mug Christianity (2)

“God’s faithfulness transcends suffering”

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

I. Intro

Some verses that are taken out of context make us smile, like this one from 1 Corinthians 15:51 often found above changing tables in church nurseries around the country: “We shall not all sleep, but we all shall be CHANGED.” Other verses taken out of context should make us shudder when we realize who said them, like this one from Luke 4:7: “If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.” This is what Satan said to Jesus when he was trying to tempt Him. My fear is that while our text for today from Jeremiah 29:11 has been copied and calligraphied on plaques and posters, it has not always been clearly understood in context: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” God has used this verse in many of our lives to fan our faith to help us hang on with hope in hopeless situations. No doubt these words are a literal lifeline for many going through tough times. My aim today is that by considering this text in context, our understanding and appreciation will grow in depth and breadth so we can apply this text to our individual contexts. When we take Jeremiah 29:11 at face value, the meaning seems clear. The translation is good; even in the original Hebrew, the words communicate God’s good purposes for His people. But who are the people the prophet addresses? Whom is God speaking to? When we expand our reading to the verses and chapters surrounding this promise, we discover that the prophet is speaking to the people who have been carried into exile in Babylon. They have been stripped of their family and homeland. In other words, terrible calamity has already befallen them; their welfare seems entirely overlooked. The future God speaks of, the hope and peace He promises, is seventy years down the road. In other words, something that few listening will be alive to see; even their children will be old or deceased. We’re going to look at a couple ways that this verse is misinterpreted and then we’ll look at a better understanding of it.

II. Context

1. But first, we might need to do some deconstructing before we can reconstruct what it really means. Check out what God wanted Jeremiah to do in 1:10: “See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” Instead of plucking this verse out of context, we’re going to plant this passage in the garden of God’s glorious grace. Here’s a summary of what we’re going to learn today: God will not always do what we desire but He will always do what He decides. We’ll start with Jeremiah himself. Jeremiah was both a prophet and priest who ministered for 40 years during the reigns of 5 different kings. He’s been called the “weeping prophet” because of all the pain he experienced while proclaiming God’s message. His refrain was one of repentance but the people rejected both the message and the man. In fact, we know of only two converts. The book that bears his name is considered one of the “Major Prophets.” We’re also introduced to the Babylonians, who were a ruthless and barbaric people. They were the superpower and the terrorists of the ancient world, functioning much like ISIS does today. Their leader’s name was Nebuchadnezzar. Because of the idolatry of God’s own people, God used the Babylonians to discipline and destroy Jerusalem. The Book of Jeremiah reads more like a notebook or scrapbook of news clippings that are not necessarily chronological. The book is part sermon and part satire, containing both prophecy and preaching. Jeremiah calls for repentance over 100 times in his text as he warns people of impending judgment while offering grace and mercy if they would but turn back to God. I should give full disclosure – this is one of my favorite books! Shortly after I got saved, I remember being out on my parent’s porch reading about how Jeremiah preached faithfully and was pummeled as a result. After being put in stocks and thrown into a dark and dank well he thought briefly about just giving up. But then he wrote these words in 20:9: “But if I say, ‘I will not remember Him or speak anymore in His name,’ then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire shut up in my bones; and I am weary of holding it in, and I cannot endure it.” I committed this to memory in the NASB and have made it my life verse. Here are a couple more verses that have had a deep impact on my life…

• Jeremiah 1:4: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” We see once again the Bible’s ethic of life – God knows the preborn even before they are born!

• Jeremiah 2:13: “For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

Look at verse 1: “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.” In verse 2 we see that the king and queen mother, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, along with the craftsmen and metal workers all were forced to leave. That left no leaders to organize a rebellion and no craftsmen to rebuild.

III. Five Lessons We Can Learn

1. Submit to God’s sovereignty. The very first thing they needed to know is the same thing we must settle as well. Look at verse 4: “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.”

Recognize who God is. God refers to Himself with two titles – “the Lord of Hosts” is translated as “God of the Angel Armies” or “Lord Almighty.” He is YAHWEH, the transcendent, mighty and all-powerful God. And He is also “the God of Israel,” meaning He is in relationship with His special people. He is also ELOHIM, the creator and covenant keeping God. To put both of these names together, God is powerful and personal, He is resplendent and relational, He is majestic and mine, He is infinite and immanent.

Respond to what God does. Notice next from verse 4 that it is God who sent the exiles “from Jerusalem to Babylon.” This is repeated in verse 7: “I have sent you into exile.” In verse 1 we read that it was Nebuchadnezzar who took them into exile, but he was simply the instrument God used. I’m sure this made no sense to the people and sometimes what God does doesn’t make sense to us either. Listen. Settle this now. He is God and you are not. God’s train doesn’t run on your track. He does what pleases Him, not what pleases you. He is the potter and we are the clay. His ways are not our ways and we have to be OK with that. I love what Tony Evans says: “Everything is either caused by God or allowed by God, and there is no third category.” God will not always do what we desire but He will always do what He decides.

2. Bloom where you’re planted. It’s easy to lament how bad things are, how pagan our culture is and to retreat from where God has placed us. There was that temptation when God’s people were in Babylon as well as seen in Psalms 137:1-4 “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, When we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps Upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; And they that wasted us required of us mirth, Saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord’s song In a strange land?”

Settle down. What God says next is equally surprising in verses 5-6: “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.” Instead of chafing and complaining about their culture, they were to settle in and settle down and live out Genesis 1:22: “Be fruitful and multiply…”

Saturate around. They were to build their houses but they were also open to their doors. Verse 7 would have startled them: “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.” The word “seek” is active, not passive. They were to influence and impact by seeking the city’s success and prosperity as well as peace among the people. They were to live on mission where God had planted them by pressing on, knowing that God had a purpose for His people in the place where He had put them.

IV. Conclusion

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, by: Laura Hillenbrand, tells the true story of Olympic athlete, US Air Force lieutenant, and prisoner of war Louis Zamperini. During his service in WWII, Zamperini suffered one unbearable trial after another., with his trouble continuing even after the end of the war. Though beset with more suffering and discouragement than the human body and psyche is designed to survive, Zamperini continued on to the end with resolve. Perhaps this is a modern-day illustration of the people in Babylon; they too were prisoners of war, their suffering going beyond anything they dreamed possible. Perhaps in this story we can imagine what the words of God meant to these exiles. Are we willing to place our hope in God when His view of our welfare and future may not look like comfort in our lifetime? Let us continue to use this verse to claim God’s goodness, but as we do so let us also remind ourselves that much pain and trouble may come in the meantime, that God’s good future and redemptive plan are still at work even when all we see and feel is suffering.