Making The Best of a Bad Situation

Jer 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. (KJV)

I think it's a good idea to be familiar with the promises contained in the bible. This is probably one that many of us are familiar with. I would be willing to bet that out of all the things that Jeremiah wrote/prophesied about, this one stands alone as the best recognized (and most quoted). I often caution my readers and listeners about how they read and apply passages of the bible. We quickly embrace quotes like Jeremiah 29:11, but we are more hesitant to embrace Jesus' promise that we will have trouble in this world (John 16:33) or Paul's promise that godly people will be persecuted (2 Tim 3:12). I know what you're thinking..."Henry, are you trying to depress me worse than I already am?". Hang on, we'll get to the good stuff in just a moment.

Now Jeremiah 29:11 says that God is thinking thoughts about us (yes, I believe that we can broaden the application, and that these words are not just written for ancient Israel's encouragement). However, I do believe it's important to consider the context of this particular promise, because it will affect the meaning or the interpretation. In order to explore this further, we need to go to the beginning of the chapter.

Jer 29:4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon; (KJV)

So these words were being delivered unto Israelites who were now captives in Babylon. Now if the scripture went from verse 4 right to verse 11 there would be no need for this blog today. But because it doesn't, I think we owe it to ourselves to dig a little deeper. So let's continue:

Jer 29:5 Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;
Jer 29:6 Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.
Jer 29:7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace. (KJV)

Now, wait just a minute. It sounds to me like the Lord is telling them to put down some roots where they are. I wonder if this is the prophetic word that they were hoping for? I can tell you that if they were like the average Christian in the year 2010, this is not the prophecy they would want to hear. Instead, we might hope to hear something like "hold on just a little longer, and I'm going to deliver you from Babylon and take you back to the promised land". After all, remember they are captives- they're not on a vacation (I resisted the temptation to use the popular buzzword "stay-cation" there). Instead of hearing that their deliverance was at hand, they were told to make themselves at home in Babylon. Furthermore, they are told to pray for the city and seek the peace of it. Now at this point, God cautions the people against receiving false prophecy.

Jer 29:8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.
Jer 29:9 For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD.

Before I get into the content of the message of the false prophets, I want to make a few remarks. First of all, the people of God must always be vigilant about the truth. False teachers and prophets do not only function in times of prosperity, but (dare I say it) also in times of recession. Not everyone who claims to speak on behalf of the Lord is actually one of His messengers. Before I go off on a tangent about the nature of false prophecy, I had better give you the next verse in the passage:

Jer 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

So now, we are ready for Jeremiah 29:11. And we are better able to understand this promise within the context. The people that heard this great promise "I know the thoughts that I think toward you..." would likely never leave Babylon in their lifetime. It would be a full seventy years before the captivity would come to an end (and praise God, it finally did!). So why does the Lord warn against false teachers and "dreamers" in this passage? Well, we can only speculate as to the specifics, but we can generally discern (because of the verbiage in verse 10 "For thus saith the LORD") that God didn't want the people to believe lies about the time frame of Israel's deliverance. The false prophets were likely telling the people to expect deliverance from Babylon "just any day now". And God gave them a reality check which formed the basis for His promise in verse 11. On the one hand, they needed to go ahead and get established in Babylon; building homes, planting crops, having children, etc.etc. But on the other hand, they needed to realize that all of this did not mean God had abandoned them or forgotten them. His plans were still on schedule!

So the real hope in Jeremiah 29:11 for the children of Israel (and for us) is not that they were going to be immediately delivered from their troubles. Obviously, I'm not saying that we shouldn't pray or have faith that God will deliver us from our trials speedily- hopefully that goes without saying! But God was letting them know that their captivity was all part of a bigger plan. God was not going to forget about Israel. At some point (in their case, after 70 years had been accomplished) they were going to leave captivity. But they were not to spend the next few decades living in misery due to faulty expectations delivered by phony prophets. Instead, they were to live productively, rear godly children, pray for their communities, and prepare for the next generation.

Some of you today may be in difficult circumstances. But you can rest assured that God has not abandoned you. He knows exactly where you are. And He's thinking about you. And where you are now is not where you will always be. Only God knows the times and seasons of our trials and deliverance. Sometimes six months can feel like six years when we're going through a storm. But even when things don't make sense, people that love God and are called by Him have this assurance:

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Until next time....

Who can tell what God will do?

Jonah 3:9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

We will continue today in our installment of blogs regarding Jonah. The story of Jonah is truly remarkable on so many levels. The mercy and grace of God often gets overshadowed in discussions about Jonah's ride in the big fish. When Jonah was finally released from the belly of the fish, a revival of biblical proportions took place. Jesus says that Jonah's arrival in Nineveh was a "sign" to the people (Luke 11:30). This prophet of God arrived in the city with a message of destruction; "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown". Jonah's message was not of the "repent or else" variety. It was merely a pronouncement of impending calamity.

And yet something remarkable happened. This city known for its wickedness and opposition towards the people of God had a great awakening. The king of Nineveh proclaimed a fast and instructed the people to "cry mightily unto God". When we fast-forward to the end of the chapter (3), we see that God changed his intentions based on their response. The book of Jonah sometimes presents a problem for those of us who demand that every ounce of theology be systematic. In this book, a prophet's message of doom does not come to pass. In this book, God changes his course of action based on human response. Did this take God by surprise? Of course not. But this shows that a relationship with God is dynamic- not static!

For me, one of the highlights of chapter 3 is this example of the king of Nineveh taking a chance on God's mercy. Remember that the people of Nineveh had no guarantee that anything would change their outcome. At this point, they could have simply mocked Jonah, or taken the attitude of "let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die" (I Cor 15:32b). But instead, they risk everything and cast their hopes upon the mercy of God. And they were not disappointed! Now contrast the people of Nineveh (those who had no promises or guarantees) with believers in Jesus Christ (those who have been given "exceeding great and precious promises" -2 Peter 1:4).

You cannot go wrong with God. Among our greatest fears, is the fear of rejection. But we have some wonderful and comforting promises from scripture that I want to share with you in closing.

Joh 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

Jam 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.