Episode Transcript
WEBVTT
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A scripture eating for this evening is
Jeremiah twenty nine. I'll read the first
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fourteen verses. Listen, for this
is the word of the Lord. These
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are the words of the letter that
Jeremiah the prophets, sent from Jerusalem to
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the surviving elders of the exiles and
to the priests, the prophets and all
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the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into
exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. This was
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after King Ja Jaconia and the Queen
Mother, the EUNUCHS, the officials of
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Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen,
the metal workers, had departed from Jerusalem.
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The letter was sent by the hand
of Alassa, the son of Schafen,
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and Gomaria, the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah, King of Judas,
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sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar, King
of Babylon. It said, thus
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says the Lord of hosts, the
God of Israel, to all the exiles
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whom I have sent into exile from
Jerusalem to Babylon. Build houses and live
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in them, plant gardens and eat
their produce, take wives and have sons
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and daughters. Take wives for your
sons and give your daughters in marriage that
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they may bear sons and daughters.
Multiply there, and do not decrease,
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but seek the welfare of the city
where I have sent you into exile,
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and pray to the Lord on its
behalf, for in its welfare you will
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find your welfare. But, thus
says the Lord of hosts, the God
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of Israel, do not let your
prophets and your diviners who are among you
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deceive you. Do not listen to
the dreams that they dream, for it
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is a lie that they are prophesying
to you in the name that in my
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name, I did not send them, declares the Lord. For thus says
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the Lord, when seventy years are
completed for Babylon, I will visit you
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and I will fulfill to you my
promise and bring you back to this place,
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for I know the plans I have
for you, declares the Lord.
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Plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a
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hope. Then you will call upon
me and come and pray to me,
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and I will hear you. You
will seek me and find me. When
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you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you.
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Declares the Lord. And I will
restore your fortunes and gather you from all
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the nations and all the places where
I have driven you, declares the Lord,
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and I will bring you back to
the place from which I sent you
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into exile. Thus far, the
reading of God's word me he blessed to
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us. Well, it's actually in
the New Testament that the apostle peter gives
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to you as the Urch of Christ. Peter gives to you a profound title.
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In his letter, Peter Calls you
the church exiles. He refers to
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you as sojourners, he calls you
to the life of a pilgrim, one
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who is living apart from their true
heavenly home. And therefore, by returning
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to this letter this evening here in
Jeremiah, as the Lord himself addresses his
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own exiled people in this letter,
we too find hope in this letter,
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we too find comfort in our own
pilgrimage. And now the context for this
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letter is Judas exile to Babylon.
This exile to Babylon, this destruction of
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Jerusalem, is one of the most
significant events in human history. Now,
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throughout human history there have been bigger
cities which have fallen to greater enemies.
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But what makes the exile of Israel
so severe is not the scale, but
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the theological significance. As we know, Israel is not just one nation among
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many. This people of God are
entirely unique. The Lord himself called them
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to be his chosen people and the
Lord had given them a Holy Land.
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The Lord defended them from all their
enemies. The Lord governed and ruled over
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Israel in a in a special way. The Lord himself was present in the
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land in a unique way. Israel
was a theocracy. So what does it
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mean that they have now been defeated
by the Babylonians? What does it mean
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that that her people have been carried
off into exile? Jeremiah's twenty nine chapter
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gives us gives us much insight into
this crucial event. Here we have a
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letter written to those captives carried off
into Babylon, and the chapter begins by
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giving us a lot of the details. It's kind of like the outside of
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an envelope, isn't it? Here
we're told who the letter is from,
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who it's to, it's it's given
a time stamp telling us when it was
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written and instead of a postage stamp, we have the name of the person
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who delivered this letter. These are
the words of the letter that Jeremiah,
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the Prophet sent from Jerusalem to the
surviving elders, to the exiles, to
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the priest, to the prophets and
to the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into
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exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. This
letter is from WHO, the Prophet Jeremiah,
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to WHO, all the people taken
in to exile? When was it
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written? After Jaconia and the Queen
Mother, the EUNUCHS, the officials of
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Judah and Jerusalem, craftsmen and metal
workers had departed from Jerusalem. And this
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is helpful because, even though we
often talk about the the exile of Judah
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as as one event culminating in this
destruction of the city, Judah was defeated
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twice by Nebuchadnezzar before he destroyed the
city. The first defeat was under King
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Jehoah Kim, and Whenebu Kannezzar one
he didn't destroy the city and said he
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made it a vassal, he made
a a servant city and he took some
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of the nobles to serve him in
his court. This is when Daniel and
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his friends were were exiled during that
first wave. Jeremiah Twenty nine here describes
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a second wave under the reign of
Jehoyah, Kim's son. In this second
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wave, even the king is taken
into exile. Now, King Zetechaiah will
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be the final king, and it's
during his reign that the Babylonians finally demolished
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the city. So this letter is
written between this, this second wave,
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and the final destruction of the city. Did yousease possible that Daniel would have
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been one of the elders to have
received this letter? He was already in
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Babylon when it was sent. And
then, much like the outside of the
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envelope telling us who it's from who
it's to, the first line of this
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letter also includes a from line and
a tow line. But did you notice
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that here it's it's a little bit
different inside the envelope than on the outside
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of the envelope. Their verse one
says these are the words of the letter
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that Jeremiah the prophet sent. And
yet here in verse four we read thus
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says the Lord of hosts, the
God of Israel, to all the exiles
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whom I have sent into exile from
Jerusalem to Babylon. I love this as
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just a just a little example of
what it means that the Bible is inspired
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by God. Here we have God
speaking by the Prophets. Who wrote the
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letter, Jeremiah the Prophet. But
who really wrote this letter? It's the
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word of the Lord. And who
is he addressing? Again, there's a
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slight difference from what's on the outside
of the envelope and what's on the inside.
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In verse two, the exiles are
described as those who were taken,
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taken by Nebuchadnezzar. It here,
in verse four, there's no reference to
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the Babylonian King. The exiles are
instead addressed as those whom I have sent
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into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon and
immediately were brought to a point that is
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so significant about this, this theological
exile. Who are these exiles? They
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are people under God's curse. For
Generations, the Lord had been sending prophets
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warning of the coming destruction of Jerusalem, and the Lord had been very clear
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on why this judgment was coming.
I was coming upon their unrighteousness. She
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was called to be a holy nation
and after so much wickedness, she was
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finally being cast out. It's because
of God's judgment that his people are being
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taken captive. They are prisoners of
war, not because of Babylon's superior might,
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not because they were so great and
powerful. They are merely instruments in
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the hands of God. It's the
Lord who's ultimately responsible for this exile.
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It's easy to gloss over how how
difficult this is to be exiled from your
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land. They aren't just moving away
may perhaps the words sending is a little
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soft, because we send things all
the time, right. We send our
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kids to school, we send our
kids to piano practice, but sending into
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exile is is of a very different
category. It's it's more like a banishment,
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right. What does it mean for
the Lord to send his people into
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exile? I mean, people move
all the time. We're used to that
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kind of thing, perhaps, but
the exile of God's people, it came
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as a result of a military defeat. Again and again, the people were
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conquered by the Babylonians. So they're
not just relocating, they're losing everything.
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They weren't asked to leave their being
forced out. They were forced to leave
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all that they knew, forced to
leave the land that had been theirs for
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generations. Banishment gets at how how
brutal this exile was. And remember,
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what makes this exile so so harsh
is that the land meant more to them
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than simply their possessions. The land
is tied to their identity. The only
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reason they were in the land is
because the Lord himself gave it to them.
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And as the land was wholly the
people were to be holly. And
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the same Lord who had then given
the land was now taking it away.
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This is the Lord's doing, this
is the Lord's judgment. He's removing his
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hand of protection, removing his shield
from the people. And so this letter
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begins with a reminder of this harsh
reality. Right off the map bat.
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The Lord's message to these exiles is, I did this to you. He
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doesn't mince words, he's unapologetic.
This is who you are, this is
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what you deserved, and this is
who I am. I'm the one who
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who banished. And yet already,
do you see the the blessed things in
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these words to these exiles? The
people have undergone this, this deserved punishment.
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They've been taken captive by foreign oppressors, headed off into a life of
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captivity. And yet, even though
they are under this severe curse. What
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else is God sending? He's sending
this letter. Isn't he God's word still
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follows them into exile. Here the
Lord is writing a letter to those under
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his curse. This is what makes
this letter so wonderful, because what the
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Lord is saying is that he is
still their God. Even though they are
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in exile, they are not abandoned. Though they're living in a difficult situation,
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the Lord has not forsaken them.
They may be exiles, but they're
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still his exiles, not. The
fact that the Lord writes to those under
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his curse may be surprising, but
it's not nearly as shocking as what the
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Lord actually says to them. What
is God's message to his exiles living in
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Babylon? Well, what would you
write to someone who'd been taken captive?
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What kind of letter would you address
to a prisoner of war? What kind
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of statements would you expect to hear
from such a letter? Maybe some kinds
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of encouragement, some kinds of platitudes
right, keep fighting the good fight,
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perhaps, or or word we're doing
all we can to get you out of
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there, or something like stay strong, don't give up, keep resisting,
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aren't those the kinds of encouragements you
just expect from a letter written to those
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who've been taken captive? And yet
what does the Lord tell his exiled people?
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Build houses and live in them,
plant gardens and eat their produce.
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Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give
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daughters in marriage that they may bear
sons and daughters. Multiply there and do
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not decrease. Can you imagine sending
this message to POW's? The Lord's message
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is not I'm coming for you really
soon, don't give up. Instead,
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he says get comfortable, have a
fruitful and productive life. What, and
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that's not the biggest bombshell of this
letter. The Lord goes on to say
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in verse seven, seek the welfare
of the city where I've sent you into
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exile. Pray to the Lord on
its behalf, for in its welfare you
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will find your welfare. This versus
is so startling because it seems so contrary
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to the life they were living in
the land of Israel. The mosaic law
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uses almost the exact opposite language to
teach Israel how to deal with foreigners within
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the land. In Deuteronomy Ten and
Deuteronomy Twenty three, sorry, verse six,
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as he's placing Israel into the Holy
Land, he tells them what to
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do with their neighbors. He says, you shall not seek their peace or
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their prosperity all your days forever,
as they're dwelling in the midst of Pagans,
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in a Holy Land. In fact, the Lord is likely referencing this
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very statement in Deuteronomy in order to
show how life in the exile is going
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to be very different from their life
in the land. The Lord is not
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calling his people to establish a replica
of the Promised Land. They were not
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to pursue their livelihoods as being entirely
separate from the Pagan nation that they're now
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dwelling it. Their lives were to
be intertwined with those of unbelievers, and
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notice they would prosper or suffer based
not on their progress in the law,
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but based on the prop the prosperity
or the failure of the city wherein they
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dwelt. And the reason they need
to hear this message is because of what
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the false prophets were telling them.
Do Not let your prophets and your diviners
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who are among you deceive you.
Do not listen to the dreams that they
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dream, for it is a lie
that they are prophesying to you in my
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name. I did not send them, declares the Lord. Well, what's
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the lie? That they are false
prophets are declaring. Well, one example
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comes from the previous chapter. Hand
and I, the Prophet declares that Judah's
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exile will breathe extremely short. Two
years and you'll be back in the land,
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he says. The false prophets message
not only contradicts the Lord's message of
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how long the exile will be,
but notice what kind of life it advocates
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in that exile. Here the Lord
says, to build houses and Plant Gardens,
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get married and have kids. Would
you do any of that if you
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thought you'd only had to be there
for two years? Why bother seeking the
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welfare of the city if you weren't
even going to be around to be blessed
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by it? The false prophets,
with their false message of hope, we're
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advocating a very segregated kind of lifestyle. And where the false prophets spoke of
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a short to exile, the Lord
responds with his own timeline. For thus
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says the Lord, when seventy years
are completed for Babylon, I will visit
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you and I will fulfill to you
my promise and bring you back to this
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place. Seventy years. It implies
a lifetime in exile, maybe a couple
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of lifetimes, and the message to
the exiles is that this is your life
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now. You're going to live in
Babylon until you die. So get comfortable,
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build houses, Plant Gardens, have
kids, have a life and seek
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the peace of the city in which
you dwell. For there's a commonality to
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the tasks that the Lord outlines here. Israel isn't unique in these things,
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that she's called to living, eating, marrying, future, tasks that everyone
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performs. Believers and unbelievers alike engage
in these things, and yet, even
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though there's a commonality on the cultural
level of of what daily life might look
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like, Israel is still unique,
for this commonality is is temporary. Seventy
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years and the Lord will bring you
back for his verse. Eleven says.
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I know the plans I have for
you, declares the Lord. Plans for
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wholeness and not for evil, to
give you a future and a hope.
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Then you will call upon me and
come and pray to me, and I
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will hear you first. Levin is
one of these famous verses that are that
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are very easy to take out of
context. I mean, it's a very
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beautiful verse and it Does Look Great
on a pillowcase or on a plaque on
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the wall, and yet it's even
more beautiful when we understand it here in
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this context. God is not addressing
graduates on their last day of class,
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saying think of all the wonderful plans
God has in store for you. Who
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is he addressing? Exiles? He's
addressing those who have come under his covenant.
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Curses those who don't deserve to be
called by people, my chosen ones.
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And yet even though he sends them
into exile, he sends them with
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these amazing words, with this amazing
promise that, though you deserve judgment,
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I will give you peace, that, though you deserve death, I will
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give you a future and to hope. And look at what this future includes.
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Seventy years of captivity at the hands
of a pagan nation. Yet this
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is not seventy years of abandonment for
your captive it he will come to an
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end. On the heels of devastating
judgments, we have a message of devastating
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hope. Notice that, while the
life of a sojourner is is probably a
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new experience for these Israelites being carried
off into exile, it is not unique
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in the history of God's redemption that
God's people are sojourners and exiles. Is
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is not a deviation from the norm. It's actually a return to the norm
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in a sense, for this is
exactly how Abraham was called to live,
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who'd been promised to the very promised
land, even though he never possessed it.
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He lived in Canaan, in the
very borders of that land, but
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he lived there as a foreigner,
for he himself was called out of his
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homeland to live in a new place. And how could we talk about the
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existence of exiles and not call to
mind that very first exile, Adam?
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As Adam and Eve were exiled from
the garden due to their sin, they
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too were sent away from God's most
Holy Land. And, when viewed in
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these larger categories, isn't this our
experience as well? This letter is not
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just a historical document for us to
hang on a wall of a museum.
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This is a message of hope for
you today. As descendants of Adam,
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we are all by nature exiles,
born under the guilt and curse of our
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first parents. The law testifies to
us what we deserve at the hands of
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a holy God, that we deserve
his just judgment, his just punishment,
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because the law still requires perfection.
God is still holy and like Israel and
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like Adam, we too fail.
This is why we need this word from
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God. We Need God to address
us as who we are, that we
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are sinners deserving of his justice.
And yet God sends his word to us.
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God speaks to us in the midst
of our exile, in the midst
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of our sin, and delivers an
amazing promise that he would send one to
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suffer our exile in our place,
because Christ was exiled, sent to suffer
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at the hand of Jewis and Jewish
and gentile oppressors and, more than that,
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to suffer the very justice of God, not because he deserved it,
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but because you did. He paid
the penalty for your sin and his righteousness
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has become your righteousness, so that
when you approach God, you can approach
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him not as exiles, but as
sons and as daughters, not so journeys
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from his presence, but as airs
of his Eternal Kingdom. And yet our
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life in this world largely models the
life of Abraham in his sojourning. Models
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the life of Israel exiled from the
Promised Land. For though we've been made
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heirs of an everlasting city, a
heavenly Jerusalem, we don't dwell there yet.
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Rather, we live in light of
an amazing promise that he will come,
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that he will gather us from all
across this earth, that he will
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bring us home. And how do
we live in light of this amazing promise?
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Well, with these same exhortations.
The fact that the Israelites were citizens
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of Babylon and Jerusalem made them better
citizens of Babylon. Their true citizenship was
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not to produce apathy and resignation.
Rather, their true citizenship was to produce
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peace. We find the same exhortations
in the New Testament. I love the
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transition that we see in the Apostle
Peter. This very same Peter who,
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at the arrest of Jesus, was
willing to take up a sword and chop
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off the ear of a Roman soldier, is the same one who later addresses
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the church as sojourners, as exile, saying but loved. I urge you,
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as sojourners and exiles, abstain from
the passions of the flesh which wage
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war against your soul. Keep your
conduct among the gentiles honorable. Be Subject,
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for the Lord's sake, to every
human institution, whether it's to the
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emperor as supreme or to governors,
as sent by him to punish those who
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do evil to praise those who do
good. There's a connection between being in
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exile and being a good citizen and
a good neighbor, because our identity is
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found elsewhere. That identity is to
influence who we are and how we live
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in this world, and so let
us take comfort in our heavenly citizenship,
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let us take comfort in who we
truly are. When this world is hostile,
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when this world doesn't make sense to
us, let us respond with the
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joy that this hope. This world
is not our home, and let us
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use our strength to seek the peace
of the city where we dwell, and
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let us pray for this city and
this nation, while at the same time
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praying for the arrival of Christ's heavenly
kingdom. Amen,
