November 4, 2020
Jeremiah 29:17 For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
This is a question on many hearts and minds this morning, it has been the question of millions down through the centuries.
I must admit that over the years I have probably always taken this verse out of context when quoting it, that is until yesterday, when my Bible reading plan took me to this chapter and I saw it so clearly. Jeremiah was speaking to a terrified people that were facing the judgement of God. There were faithful believers who were going to be swept into the torrent that was coming. This wasn’t going be just a little discomfort, they were going to lose everything, their entire life was going to change, they were going to end up in a land they didn’t know living among a people they didn’t know.
Listen to what God says between the pronouncement of judgement and the verse that is so familiar. Jeremiah 29: 4-6 “This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ‘Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their [produce. Take wives and father sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may give birth to sons and daughters; and grow in numbers there and do not decrease.
God’s directive and encouragement is to go on with their lives, doing what they knew He approved of before what they viewed as a calamity struck. Now, the last verse, the one that we need to put everything together in my mind at least.
Jeremiah 29: 7 Seek the prosperity of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord in its behalf; for in its prosperity will be your prosperity.’
This is along the theme of last Sunday in pastor’s sermon from 1 Tim 2: 1-7. If you haven’t heard it, I would encourage you to go to our website and pull it up.
I want to close with two illustrations because I like them both so much and can’t decide between them.
The first comes from the USSR. When the communists took over, one of the first things they decided had to be done was, Christians had to go. The ones that didn’t denounce their faith were either killed or put in work camps where they were abused in the hope of breaking their will. They didn’t only place Christians in these camps, there were many others in with them the government wanted to punish and get rid of. Over the years what became undeniable was that the Christians, in spite of the abuse, were producing most of the work. Not only did the communists see the disparity, the other prisoners did also, and an amazing thing happened. That “Church.” began to grow in those prison walls and ultimately it became a contributing factor in the collapse of communist rule in the USSR.
Second illustration, back in the 1980’s just a day or so after President Reagan had been elected, I think it may have been to his second term but I may have that wrong. There was, along with his election, controlling Republican majorities in both houses of congress. Genuine hope was held by me and many that finally there could be changes made to law in our country that would redirect us from things that were taking us in the direction of the place we find ourselves in today. I was driving and listening to a WMBI radio call in show with a man by the name of Donald Cole, absolutely one of the smartest men I’ve ever heard in his command of scripture. Someone called in and I can’t recall the exact question but, the gist of it was, they were looking for assurance that things were going to go in the direction of righteousness. The radio host’s answer pulled me and I’m sure many listeners up short, he said, “It wouldn’t matter if we had elected Jesus Christ as president unless there was a change in our heart, because that is where the problem lies.
We as believers know what the plan is, in reality we allow ourselves to stress over the details much as children who continually ask, “Are we there yet?”
Love in Him,
Ron Mathre