Trevor Ferguson
January 2, 2021
(Originally delivered May 31, 2020)
Jeremiah 29:1-14 (KJV)
1
Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from
Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and
to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar
had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;
2
(After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of
Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were departed from
Jerusalem;)
3 By the
hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom
Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon)
saying,
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;
5 Build
ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;
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.
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.
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.
9
For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the
LORD.
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.
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.
12
Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will
hearken unto you.
13
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your
heart.
14 And
I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity,
and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I
have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place
whence I caused you to be carried away captive.
INTRODUCTION
The COVID-19
crisis has produced unprecedented change in the life of almost every person in
the world. Never in our lifetime have we seen such massive change in such a
short space of time. Almost every country is affected, with most countries having
implemented some type of shutdown. In just six months, there have been over six
million cases and almost 370 thousand deaths. Global travel has come to an almost
complete standstill and nobody knows what the future holds! Countries are now trying
to reopen, some cautiously and some not so cautiously, at all. There are fears
of a second wave, which many believe could be worse than the first. There is
still no widely available effective treatment and little chance of a vaccine
becoming available before year end.
The crisis
is here, and the end is not in sight!
So,
what do you do during a pandemic? Do you become paralyzed by fear and do
nothing? Do you hide in your home and hope the virus never come to your house? Do
you act as if the virus does not exist, and carry on just as you were doing
before? Do you try to convince yourself that the virus will be gone soon, and
you will just get back to your old life?
The
fact is that none of these approaches are likely to be effective! We will have
to adjust to a new normal! We need a realistic response, built on clear
biblical principles, that acknowledges the crisis, but is not based on fear or
reckless abandon. Today we reflect on the passage from Jeremiah 29, where
Jeremiah wrote to the elders in Babylon, providing them with guidelines for the
Jewish people living in Babylonian captivity. I believe that the principles
then can be applied to today's COVID-19 crisis and will suggest a path for us
to Pursue Our Purpose During the Pandemic.
EXPOSITION
Let
us take a few moments to put this scripture in context. Jeremiah was one of the
major Old Testament prophets and prophesied during the period prior to, and
during the early phases of the Jewish exile in Babylon. Jeremiah prophesied
concern the judgment of Judah and Jerusalem, but was also a voice of hope,
proclaiming God’s plan for the restoration of his people. In the passage in
Jeremiah 29, Jeremiah writes to about three thousand Jews who were carried away
in the early phase of the exile in Babylon. These included elders, priests, prophets,
as well as members of the kings’ household. Jeremiah had previously prophesied
in Jeremiah 25:11 that the captivity would last seventy years, but false
prophets among the exiles had begun to prophesy that the captivity would be
short, and the people would soon return to Jerusalem. Jeremiah sought to
correct this false expectation and provided guidelines as to how they should
operate in while in captivity. Verses 5-7 provide clear guidelines:
“Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; 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. 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.”
In some ways then, we can liken the COVID-19 crisis to the situation faced by the Jews in captivity. They had experienced sudden and drastic change in their life circumstances; the future was very uncertain and there was no clear end in sight. Certainly then, we can learn something from what God said to them through Jeremiah at that time. I will use the instructions of Jeremiah as a guide to suggest an approach to the current crisis with four action points
Action point #1: Pause to Ponder and to Pray
Whenever there is a crisis, we must pause to see what God is saying to us. Firstly, we have to ask ourselves if we have departed from the path that God desires for us? Is God trying to get our attention? Human beings have a way of ignoring God when things are good. We feel self-sufficient and believe we can do anything and see no need for God. But when we get in trouble, our first tendency is to call on God. When we look in the Psalms, we see several passages stating that persons cried unto the Lord in times of distress. This can be summarized from Psalm 120:1: “In my distress I called on the Lord, and he heard me”. Psalm 107 chronicles the story of Israel and their various experiences. Many times, Israel went astray and found themselves in problems, but the Psalmist recounts on several occasions:
“Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he
saved them out of their distresses”. Again, we can summarize this from Psalm
107: 11-13:
“Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High: Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.”
C. S. Lewis puts it this way “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” So, when we see unprecedented events, whether in our individual lives, or globally as in this current crisis, our first activity should be to pause and ponder what God is saying to us. It is also important that we pray and seek his face. In 2nd Chronicles 7:13-14 the word of God promises that if we pray, seek his face, turn from our wicked ways, he will hear from heaven and heal our lands.
“If I shut up heaven that there be no
rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence
among my people; If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble
themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then
will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Let
us pause to ponder and to pray, so that God may hear from heaven and heal our
land.
Action
Point #2: Press on with Possibly Activities
This
action point is based on our focus text Jeremiah 29:5-6:
Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; 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.
The
verses say to us that we need to get on with our lives, despite the confines
and limitations of our circumstances. We must acknowledge the crisis and the
limitation of the COVID Pandemic, but we cannot allow ourselves to become
paralyzed by fear. We should not be reckless and behave as if nothing has
happened, but we must continue to lead full lives, adjusting to the
circumstances we face. So, we put on our mask, we maintain our physical
distancing, we wash our hands and cover our coughs, but we must keep going. If
we can’t come out to the sanctuary, we attend church online, we can’t go to the
classroom, we do our schooling online, we can’t go out to work, we work from
home, we can’t go out to exercise, we exercise at home, can’t link up with
friends, we link up online. In short, we adjust to our circumstances and keep
on living.
We find some examples of this in the early church as well – persecuted by the Jews, the apostles left Jerusalem and went everywhere preaching the gospel; Paul was imprisoned and could no longer go on his missionary journeys – he wrote letters to the churches. These letters continue to instruct us today! So, what do you do when limited by life’s circumstances? We press on with possible activities.
Action
Point #3: Peruse the Scriptures
As
we press on with our activities, we must take time to study the word of God, so
that we can understand the times and therefore know what to do. Often, the word
of God has clear answers to some of the questions we have in these times. In
Jeremiah’s time, false prophets had begun to prophesy regarding the exile and
proclaiming that the exile would end soon and they would return to Israel
within a few years, but Jeremiah had already prophesied that Israel would be in
Babylon for seventy years. If they were clearly reading the scriptures and
listening to the word of God, they would have had a much better understanding as
to what to do.
Today, the scriptures continue to provide guidance. I will just mention two passages which provides some context with regards to the times.
Firstly, Matthew 24:4-8
“And Jesus answered and said unto them,
Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am
Christ; and shall deceive many. And
ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all
these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation,
and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and
earthquakes, in divers places. All
these are the beginning of sorrows.
Secondly, Luke 21: 25-28
“And there shall be signs in the sun, and
in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with
perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear,
and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the
powers of heaven shall be shaken. And
then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great
glory. And when these things
begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your
redemption draweth nigh.
Time will not allow us to look in any more details on these passages but let us be reminded that it is time that we begin again to study the endtimes!
Action
Point #4: Personalize God’s Promises and Purse God’s Plan
For
this action point we reflect on verse 11 of Jeremiah 29.
“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.”
The NIV rendition says it well:
I want to reassure someone today that God’s plans are for your good! You may not understand the place you are in right now, but God did not bring you this far to leave you. The troubles you are experiencing now is for a set time! COVID is for a set time! You will get out of this crisis and God will prosper you. So, we acknowledge the troubles of today, but lift up your heads, tomorrow comes; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Let us say like David said in Psalm 42:11:
“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”
Let us personalize the promises of God and pursue his plans for us. His plans are for our good. He will prosper us, He will deliver us, He will save us and ultimately, he will take us to live with Him in heaven. We can lift up our heads, with great hope. The COVID crisis will not conquer us. God will come through for us and will give us joy and peace.
Trust him today!
APPLICATION
& CONCLUSION
The
word of God today reminded us that we can still pursue our purpose, despite the
current pandemic. While we must acknowledge its limitations, we can press on
with current activities and pursue God’s plan for our lives. Let us continue to
trust him today
If you have not yet started your salvation journey, you need to do so today. It is dangerous to live in these uncertain times without the assurance of God’s presence in your life. I implore you to put your trust in Jesus Christ today. Repent if your sins, accept water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ and ask God to fill you with his precious Holy Spirit. It is the best decision you could ever make and will give you the assurance of a home in heaven when Jesus comes back. God bless you today. In Jesus name.
