A Future and a Hope

Gtcotr/ss012421

God is not thinking like you are thinking, unless you are thinking like He is thinking. In other words … Most likely you and God don’t have the same opinion unless He has spoken to you and you agree with Him. How does God speak to people today? Same as always:

·        Through His Holy Spirit and Confirmed by His Word

This morning we are going to continue our series in the Book of Mark by reading an account in the second chapter. Then, as you may have heard, we are going to hear from a real bonified prophet before we conclude.

Mark 2

13 ¶  Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them.

14  As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.

15  Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.

16  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?”

17  When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Jesus is not afraid of tax collectors and sinners … in fact, the main desire of Jesus is still to get as close to sinners as He can. He often sat together with them while He ate … and many of them ended up following Him. The way Jesus thought and the things He did often opposed what others thought He should do.

Ever since Cain killed Abel in the very beginning of history, people have had divided opinions on what they think others should say and do. However, there is One voice which should be above the arguments and opinions which often divide us … That one voice is the voice of God.

About 600 years before Christ, there were two opposing political parties in Israel, and they were violently divided. There was the pro-Egyptian party in Israel and then there was the pro-Babylonian party.

A Quick History

·        In 610BC the Assyrian Empire ruled over most of the middle east.

·        Babylon, an Assyrian province, rose up and overthrew the Assyrians.

·        The Egyptian Empire was afraid the neo-Babylonians were going to swallow up the land. So the Egyptians conquered and laid claim all that was west of the Euphrates River. This included all of Israel.

·        King Josiah, a good king over Judah, was killed at the battle of Megiddo fighting against the Egyptians … but the Egyptians won.

·        King Nebuchadnezzar II launched a counterattack and defeated the Egyptians in 605BC. This is when people like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were taken back to Babylon.

·        Israel’s new King paid tribute to the King of Babylon for four years.

·        In 601BC the Egyptians defeated King Nebuchadnezzar II.

·        A large group of Jews in power were pro Egypt so the King stopped paying tribute to Babylon. He expected the Egyptians to protect him.

·        But King Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and ransacked the city, pillaged the Temple, and carried the King, his court, and even the prophet Ezekiel back to Babylon, and left a pro Babylon King in place.

We will stop here for the sake of time and brain freeze … however, suffice it to say that Egypt and Babylon continued to defeat one another every few years. They each claimed and reclaimed the land and the people of Israel with every victory. So in the end – some Jewish families felt like Babylon was their savior and some Jews hated Babylon. Some believed Egypt was the best and others felt they were the worsts. These two opposing groups were deeply, and at times violently, divided as to which empire they supported. It was a crazy mixed-up deeply divided world.

Into this mix came the prophet we will hear from this morning. His name is Jeremiah. He was called by God to preach repentance and redemption.

Jeremiah was neither pro Babylon nor pro Egypt … Jeremiah was pro God. Jeremiah saw the Big Picture plan of God while many from the two opposing political parties saw only what they wanted and believed only what their favorite sources were saying in support of their personal views. They were only tuned in to their favorite prophets.

Jeremiah served as a prophet in Jerusalem during the reign of 5 different Kings. Why so many? Because they kept getting killed or taken away captive or blinded, their families were persecuted, imprisoned, and exiled, their friends executed or led away in chains … who would ever want to be a King, even the King of Israel, in such politically divided times. Even Jeremiah the prophet was brought to trial and accused by a pro-Egyptian cabinet member in hopes the current king would execute Jeremiah. This counselor to the King felt Jeremiah was far too pro-Babylonian. Jeremiah was convicted but instead of being executed the current administration only threw the poor prophet down a well hoping he would starve to death so they could be rid of him but claim plausible deniability. However …

Jeremiah only got stuck in the mud and was there for a while until another prisoner from Cush, (I don’t know why the Bible tells it was a Black man who saved Jeremiah – a Black prisoner helping a Jewish prisoner – what will God think of next), drew the prophet out of the well and saved his life.

Two of my favorite Bible passages are quotes from Jeremiah. One of them is found in Jeremiah 1 where God calls Jeremiah as a young man.

Jeremiah 1

4 ¶  Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

5  Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

6  Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.

7  But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.

8  Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.

9  Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

10  See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

The other favorite passage of mine from the book of Jeremiah is one of the most quoted and perhaps one of the least understood verses in the Bible:

Jeremiah 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

This scripture tells us how much God loves and thinks about His children and how determined He is to give them a future and how He wants them to not lose hope.

I love the thought of this verse because it gives us hope for the future. This morning I would like to set it into proper context for us so that we might understand just how powerful this prophetic word was to the people of that day and how instructive it can be for us today.

Jeremiah 29 contains two letters sent those Jews who were living as prisoners in Babylon. The first letter, verses 1-14, is filled with instruction. The second letter, verses 15-22, encourages a warning against believing people who are only saying what you want to hear.

God’s concern here is simple. He does not want people to imagine that they have to do nothing and somehow, He is going to wave a magic wand and all hardship will be over in two years. God’s intent is to get His children to do their very best wherever they find themselves and to prosper and increase under every condition of life in which they may find themselves.

Just like Joseph in the land of Egypt … we must participate where we are and with what we have if we are going to prosper under these conditions.

Today, if I woke up in Communist China or North Korea, I would not attempt to overthrow the government … I would do my best to win souls for Christ. Which, in many places, is just as dangerous as trying to overthrow the government. We must embrace the Big Picture plan of God and remember that Jesus is not afraid of opposition and neither are we.

Let’s read what Jeremiah actually said to those under the rule of Babylon.

Jeremiah 29 NLT

4  This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem:

5  “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce.

6  Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away!

7  And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.”

8 ¶  This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let your prophets and fortune-tellers who are with you in the land of Babylon trick you. Do not listen to their dreams,

9  because they are telling you lies in my name. I have not sent them,” says the LORD.

10  This is what the LORD says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again.

11  “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

12  “In those days when you pray, I will listen.

13  If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.

14  I will be found by you,” says the LORD. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”

I am not saying and do not believe this passage is a definitive finite word for America or the world today. However, I do firmly believe that we should open our hearts to the overriding will of Almighty God and embrace the Bigger Picture and current part in God’s plan. Let me be plain:

It is the will of God today that His children … talking about you:

·        Build homes and plant gardens and eat the fruit of your labor.

·        Marry; have children; raise them to marry; enjoy grandchildren.

·        Increase and multiply in the land and do not dwindle away.

·        Work for the peace and prosperity of the country in which you live.

·        And Pray to the Lord for the welfare of the nation without regard as to who sits on the throne. For if the nation does well, so will you.

For God knows the thoughts and plans He has for you. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Don’t be afraid.