Matthew C. Mitchell's Blog, page 17
December 31, 2022
Books I Read in 2022
Matt’s Books Completed* in 2022: 1. The Groote Park Murder by Freeman Wills Crofts2. Taking Charge of ADHD by Russell A. Barkley3. Taking Charge of Adult ADHD by Russell A. Barkley4. The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self by Carl Trueman [Audible]5. Murder on the Railways edited by Peter Haining6. The Late Scholar by Jill Paton Walsh7. The Judge’s List by John Grisham8. Drawing Conclusions by Donna Leon9. Fountain of Salvation by Fred Sanders [A Top Book!]10. Subversive by Crystal Downing11. Evangelism As Exiles by Elliot Clark [A Top Book!]12. Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L. Sayers13. Agent Running in the Field by John LeCarre 14. Transient Desires by Donna Leon15. 1 Peter for You by Juan R. Sanchez16. 1 Peter Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament by Karen Jobes17. 1 Peter New American Commentary by Thomas Schreiner18. The Golden Egg by Donna Leon19. Dorothy and Jack by Gina Dalfonzo20. LEAD by Paul David Tripp [A Top Book!]21. Furious Hours by Casey Cep [Audible] 22. White Nights by Ann Cleeves23. The Theology of Jeremiah by John Goldingay24. The Cask by Freeman Wills Crofts25. Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie26. Have His Carcase by Dorothy L. Sayers27. Fidelity by Wendell Berry28. The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie29. The Memory of Old Jack by Wendell Berry30. Nathan Coulter by Wendell Berry31. Gender: A Conversation Guide for Parents and Pastors by Brian Seagraves and Hunter Leavine [A Top Book!]32. Inspector French’s Greatest Case by Freeman Wills Crofts33. Abortion Rights: For and Against by Kate Greasley and Christopher Kaczor34. Tearing Us Apart by Ryan T. Anderson and Alexandra DeSanctis35. The Cheyne Mystery by Freeman Wills Crofts36. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel37. Mystery in the Channel by Freeman Wills Crofts38. The Golden Ball and Other Stories by Agatha Christie39. Silverview by John Le Carre40. The 12:30 from Croydon by Freeman Wills Crofts41. Straw House, Wood House, Brick House, Blow by Daniel Nayeri 42. Lord Peter by Dorothy L. Sayers43. Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr 44. The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd45. I Have a Psychiatric Diagnosis by Edward T. Welch [A Top Book!]46. The Christian Standard Bible, M’Cheyne Reading Plan
Last book of the Bible in the last month of the year.
---
* As I say every year--these are books I finished reading (or had read to me in Audible) this year, not the ones I started or the ones I didn't get done. That list would be a LOT longer (and kind of depressing)! I read a bunch of them for escapist fun, a few for/with my family, and a lot of them just to learn and grow. They aren't listed (perfectly) in the order I read them. Some of them I am reading for a second or third time (or more!).
And as I also say each and every year--I'm not endorsing these books just because they are listed here. Some of them are really good and some are really bad. Most are somewhere in between. Read with discernment.
Here's the article where I explain why I post these.
Lists from previous years:
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008 (first half, second half)
2007 (first half, second half)
2006 (first half, second half)
2005 (first half, second half)
Last book of the Bible in the last month of the year.---
* As I say every year--these are books I finished reading (or had read to me in Audible) this year, not the ones I started or the ones I didn't get done. That list would be a LOT longer (and kind of depressing)! I read a bunch of them for escapist fun, a few for/with my family, and a lot of them just to learn and grow. They aren't listed (perfectly) in the order I read them. Some of them I am reading for a second or third time (or more!).
And as I also say each and every year--I'm not endorsing these books just because they are listed here. Some of them are really good and some are really bad. Most are somewhere in between. Read with discernment.
Here's the article where I explain why I post these.
Lists from previous years:
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008 (first half, second half)
2007 (first half, second half)
2006 (first half, second half)
2005 (first half, second half)
December 30, 2022
My Top Books of 2022
For me, 2022 was not a good year for finishing books. I read at and from books, but I didn’t read through very many of them. I read fewer books to the very end than I can remember in recent decades (18 fewer than the previous year!), and I didn't publish any full book reviews. I’m not completely sure why the paucity. It’s definitely a holdover from the mental pressures of the pandemic and also a simple sign of the particular season of life I’m in–I have listened to many more podcasts as I’ve walked the streets of Lanse than I have sat in my chair and turned pages. A lot of my reading time in 2022 has been focused on studying the Prophesy of Jeremiah–a worthy effort, and those books will be on the 2023 list, Lord-willing!
Of the ones I did finish in 2022, these were books* that impressed and taught me the most:
I Have a Psychiatric Diagnosis: What Does the Bible Say?
by Edward T. Welch
Count on Ed Welch to cut right through the fog with the gentlest and most succinct choice of words. How do should we think about psychiatric diagnoses like anxiety and panic disorders, trauma, depression, and narcissism? In just 85 compact pages of careful and care-filled wisdom, Ed shows us the way.
After 25 years of reading his writing, I keep expecting to know what he's going to say, but instead I should be expecting to be surprised and learn something new. Highly recommended.
Fountain of Salvation: Trinity and Soteriology by Fred Sanders
I read everything I can read (and follow) by Fred Sanders when he's writing on the tri-unity of God. This collection of essays coordinating the doctrines of the Trinity and Soteriology (salvation) were incredibly rich and characteristically delightful to read. At times, I had to read parts of it out loud to Heather just because it was so insightful and well-constructed!
An added bonus was that in the Spring I got to take a class on this book with Fred through the Greystone Theological Institute online and on site--the richest theological learning experience I have had in long time.
Evangelism As Exiles:
Life on Mission as Strangers in Our Own Land
by Elliot Clark
Last winter I was preaching through 1 Peter, and I kept Evangelism as Exiles at my elbow the whole time. Elliot Clark caught the lightning of Peter's first epistle in a bottle and gives it to you to drink! Even though it was my second time to preach through 1 Peter (even at times the same passage 20 years to the day!), I never have understood what it means or how to apply it to our current situation like I did after digesting Clark's little book.
I'm really glad that The Gospel Coalition has made it available for FREE as a download from their website. Take up and read!
LEAD: 12 Gospel Principles for Leadership in the Church by Paul David Tripp
My pastor, Kerry Doyal, convenes a monthly book-discussion group on Zoom of district pastors, and Paul Tripp's LEAD was our book for half of 2022. At times Tripp made me uncomfortable because he was stepping on my toes!
I recommend LEAD for leadership teams, especially for challenging conversations about how healthy your team is and how truly transparent you are with one another.
Gender: A Conversation Guide for Parents and Pastors by Brian Seagraves and Hunter Leavine
I have been doing a lot of reading on gender and identity this year to better understand and respond in our current cultural moment, and I thought this 77 page book was a really helpful starting place.
Seagraves and Leavine give parents and church leaders foundational truths and insightful conversation starters appropriate for kids of different ages. This isn't the last word, but it's a good first one.
[Similar (and free!) resources come from Andrew Bunt of LivingOut: Quick Guides on Gender Identity and Trans Identification as well as Josh Glaser and Paul Rhinehart at The Gospel Coalition: How to Talk with Your Kids About Transgender Ideology.]
I'm grateful that my life is full of good books even when I don't get them read to the last page. Our church has granted me a generous three month sabbatical next year, so I hope to read (and finish!) a lot more books in 2023.
***
* As I’ve said before [2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 2018, 2020, 2021], this list is not necessarily the best books that were published that particular year or the most enjoyable either. I intend it to be a list of the fairly new Christian nonfiction books I read:
- that had the most personal impact on me, my thinking, my heart.
- that I was the most consistently enthusiastic about.
- that I kept coming back to again and again.
- that I couldn't help recommending to others (and recommend without reservations and significant caveats).
Of the ones I did finish in 2022, these were books* that impressed and taught me the most:
I Have a Psychiatric Diagnosis: What Does the Bible Say?
by Edward T. Welch
Count on Ed Welch to cut right through the fog with the gentlest and most succinct choice of words. How do should we think about psychiatric diagnoses like anxiety and panic disorders, trauma, depression, and narcissism? In just 85 compact pages of careful and care-filled wisdom, Ed shows us the way.
After 25 years of reading his writing, I keep expecting to know what he's going to say, but instead I should be expecting to be surprised and learn something new. Highly recommended.
Fountain of Salvation: Trinity and Soteriology by Fred Sanders I read everything I can read (and follow) by Fred Sanders when he's writing on the tri-unity of God. This collection of essays coordinating the doctrines of the Trinity and Soteriology (salvation) were incredibly rich and characteristically delightful to read. At times, I had to read parts of it out loud to Heather just because it was so insightful and well-constructed!
An added bonus was that in the Spring I got to take a class on this book with Fred through the Greystone Theological Institute online and on site--the richest theological learning experience I have had in long time.
Evangelism As Exiles:
Life on Mission as Strangers in Our Own Land
by Elliot ClarkLast winter I was preaching through 1 Peter, and I kept Evangelism as Exiles at my elbow the whole time. Elliot Clark caught the lightning of Peter's first epistle in a bottle and gives it to you to drink! Even though it was my second time to preach through 1 Peter (even at times the same passage 20 years to the day!), I never have understood what it means or how to apply it to our current situation like I did after digesting Clark's little book.
I'm really glad that The Gospel Coalition has made it available for FREE as a download from their website. Take up and read!
LEAD: 12 Gospel Principles for Leadership in the Church by Paul David Tripp
My pastor, Kerry Doyal, convenes a monthly book-discussion group on Zoom of district pastors, and Paul Tripp's LEAD was our book for half of 2022. At times Tripp made me uncomfortable because he was stepping on my toes!
I recommend LEAD for leadership teams, especially for challenging conversations about how healthy your team is and how truly transparent you are with one another.
Gender: A Conversation Guide for Parents and Pastors by Brian Seagraves and Hunter LeavineI have been doing a lot of reading on gender and identity this year to better understand and respond in our current cultural moment, and I thought this 77 page book was a really helpful starting place.
Seagraves and Leavine give parents and church leaders foundational truths and insightful conversation starters appropriate for kids of different ages. This isn't the last word, but it's a good first one.
[Similar (and free!) resources come from Andrew Bunt of LivingOut: Quick Guides on Gender Identity and Trans Identification as well as Josh Glaser and Paul Rhinehart at The Gospel Coalition: How to Talk with Your Kids About Transgender Ideology.]
I'm grateful that my life is full of good books even when I don't get them read to the last page. Our church has granted me a generous three month sabbatical next year, so I hope to read (and finish!) a lot more books in 2023.
***
* As I’ve said before [2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 2018, 2020, 2021], this list is not necessarily the best books that were published that particular year or the most enjoyable either. I intend it to be a list of the fairly new Christian nonfiction books I read:
- that had the most personal impact on me, my thinking, my heart.
- that I was the most consistently enthusiastic about.
- that I kept coming back to again and again.
- that I couldn't help recommending to others (and recommend without reservations and significant caveats).
December 25, 2022
“Today!” [Matt's Messages]
“Today!”December 25, 2022 :: Luke 2:11This is my 25th Christmas as the pastor of Lanse Free Church. It’s really neat that Christmas falls on a Sunday this year so that we worship together on Christmas morning itself.
But I confess that I struggled greatly with knowing what to say this year. I feel like it’s all been said by so many so many times. And even by myself so many times. 25 Christmases. Same story.
The story doesn’t get old. The story is not stale or boring. But preachers can get stale and boring. It’s sometimes hard to get out of the way and help others to hear it with fresh ears.
So, today, I thought we would just go back and read over it one more time, just trying to see some of what’s there and marvel at it one more time.
And I wanted to focus our attention this year on one particular word in chapter 2, verse 11. It’s a word that we use all of the time, so it can be missed in all the glory of the other words. It’s the word, “Today.” In the Greek it’s “saymeron.” Luke loves this word. I counted 20 times, at least, that Luke uses this particular word in his two books.
And we all love this word, too, don’t we?
Today!
Kids, what is today? It’s Christmas! We’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. 365 days since the last Christmas. A lot of waiting.
How many are waiting until after church to open presents? I was guessing not very many. Church wasn’t until 10. Kids wake their parents up one day a year.
Today!
There was a lot of waiting for this day.
The phrase that we’ve been hearing again and again the last month and last night from the Prophet Jeremiah is, “The days are coming...” Right? 600 years before Jesus was born. Jeremiah was saying.
“The days are coming...”
The days of hope are coming.The days of peace are coming.The days of wisdom are coming.The days of righteousness are coming.
The days of the Messiah are coming.
Guess what? TODAY! Today’s the day!
We sang about it last night in “It Came Upon The Midnight Clear.”
“For lo! the days are hastening on,by prophet seen of old [Like Jeremiah!],when with the ever-circling yearsshall come the time foretoldwhen peace shall over all the earthits ancient splendors fling,and the whole world send back the songwhich now the angels sing.” Edmund H. Sears
The days are coming...
Finally the day had come!
Today!
Let’s see what happened on that day. Luke chapter 2, verse 1. Which begins with another reference to time:
“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.”
One of things I love about those two verses is that it places this story in human history.
This is not a myth. This is not just a nice little fable that we tell our kids.
This is history. Caesar Augustus. His given name was Octavian. Look him up in the history books. This other guy, Quirinius, look him up in the history books. He was a real guy and really the governor of Syria.
And “in those days,” they said everybody had to get counted so that they assess the correct taxes. Every government loves its taxes, and Augustus was no different. And that meant that this man Joseph and his betrothed Mary (legally they were just as good as married but not yet fully married in every since including intimacy, Mary who was pledged to be his wife) had to travel from their home in the North, in Nazareth to his ancestral city, the city of David, the Bethlehem (not too far from Jeremiah’s hometown of Anathoth.) Look at verse 4.
“So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. [That’s important, isn’t it? Even though he was a common man. Just a working man, he belonged to the lineage of David. He was in line for the throne if the throne would be restored. And his son, including an adopted one, would be in line for the crown. V.5] He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child...” (vv.4-5).
Shocker! She was a virgin. But she was pregnant! What a scandal. And that means that Mary had been waiting too. Ladies what are those 9 months like? Lots of waiting right? And how would you like to travel on foot 90 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem while being 9 months pregnant?
And all of the pictures we see show a donkey, and maybe there was one, but you won’t find a donkey listed in Luke 2 or Matthew 1! She probably walked on foot.
She was ready for TODAY! V.6
“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born [the time came! There’s another time marker. I’ll bet she was past ready!], and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (vv.6-8).
They were poor. There was no guest room where they were staying. Perhaps Bethlehem was overcrowded because of the census. We don’t know. We just know that they were stuck out with the animals. Maybe in a stable. Maybe in a cave used to shelter the animals from the elements.
Jesus was placed in the feeding trough, not to be all cute. But because they were at the very bottom of human society.
But! The time had come. The Apostle Paul said, “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons” (Gal. 4:4-5 NIVO). The fullness of time.
Today!
Look what happened this day. Verse 8. Talk about humble circumstances! These hardy hardscrabble men are sleeping out in the open with the sheep. V.8
“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. [And we would be too!! And frightful angel out of nowhere!] But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today[!] in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Today. No more waiting. No more waiting for Mary. She has delivered Him. No more waiting for humanity. Jesus Christ is born!
The angel said it was good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
What is that great news?
Three things:
1. TODAY A SAVIOR HAS BEEN BORN.
And that’s good news because that’s exactly what we needed!
We didn’t just need a good teacher (though of course we sure needed that).We didn’t just need a good leader (though of course we sure needed that).We didn’t just need a good example (though of course we sure needed that, too).
But we really needed rescuing from our own sin.
And the angel said that TODAY we got one!
I love how the angel says that the Savior has been born “TO YOU.”
Not just a generic savior, but a Savior who has been born to save a people for Himself.
If you have never done it before, put your name in verse 11 where it says, “you.”
“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to _________.”
Because He didn’t just come to show us the way. He can be the way.
I invite you to put your faith and trust in Jesus as your Savior.
#2. TODAY THE MESSIAH HAS COME.
That’s what the word “Christ” means in verse 11. “Christos” is the Greek word for “Messiah.”
The angel is saying that all of those promises that Jeremiah and the other prophets have been talking about nonstop for thousands of years are finally coming true TODAY!
Today! The Christ is born.
Everything that God has promised is bound up in that little baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. The waiting is over. Everything we’ve been learning about in Jeremiah.
The days of hope are here.The days of peace are here.The days of wisdom are here.The days of righteousness are here.
Today!
Today the Messiah has come. Isn’t that wonderful?!
Every promise that God has ever made is being kept by that little baby born TODAY.
One more.
#3. TODAY THE LORD OF GLORY HAS ARRIVED.
Listen to verse 11 once again.
“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”
He’s the King of Kings.
He is what all of those thumbs-down kings in the Old Testament were supposed to point to. When they were at their best, they pointed to Him. When they were at their worst they showed us why we needed Him the most.
He is Christ THE LORD.He is the LORD of LORDS.He is not just any LORD.He is THE LORD.
He is God come to us. Look at verse 12.
The angel said, “This will be a sign to you [shepherds]: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.’” (vv.12-14).
We can’t begin to imagine what that was like. An army of angels lighting up the sky. No CGI. This is the real thing. And singing together, “Glory to God in the highest!”
“Glory to God in the highest!” “Glory to God in the highest!” “Glory to God in the highest!”
Because the Lord of Glory has arrived.
Today!
And that means for you and me, “Peace to [men and women and boys and girls] on whom his favor [His grace] rests.”
Today.
He gets the glory, and we get the peace!
What wonderful deal that is!
“Glory to God in the highest!”
Because the Lord of Glory has arrived.
And just as quickly as they appeared, they were gone. And the shepherds were left looking at one another and saying, “What just happened? What is today?
Let’s go see if it’s all true.” Verse 15.
“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told” (vv.15-20).
Today.
I love the different responses to all of these things, don’t you?
The shepherds run out and tell everybody. And we should do that, too.
And shepherds worship and praise God, and we should do that, too.
And the people are amazed and marvel at the story. And we should do that, too.
And Mary treasured up all of these things and pondered them in heart. And we should do that, as well.
Turning these things over and over again in our hearts.
As we wait once again.
Because that first Advent was only a foretaste of the kingdom to come.
There is another day we are waiting for once again.
A Savior has been born, yes. And all who put their faith in Him are saved and are being saved. But one day will be saved to the uttermost! We are still waiting for that day.
The Messiah has come, yes. And all that God has promised has been kept in Him and is being kept in Him. But one day all of those promises will come in full. We are still waiting for that day.
Because except for a few brief moments like this one Luke chapter 2, that glory was shielded from us. Jesus continued to live a fairly obscure life. Certainly a humble one. And then after He died and came back to life, He ascended to heaven where He sits the right hand of God the Father.
And one day, the Lord of Glory will arrive a second time.
Not, this time, to bear our sins but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him (Hebrews 9:27).
The days are still coming.The days are still coming.The days are still coming.
And one day, we don’t know when, the Father will say once agan, “TODAY!”
And the whole world will rejoice.
Heaven and nature will sing.
Merry Christmas!
December 24, 2022
"The Days Are Coming" [Matt's Messages] 2022
“The Days Are Coming”Christ Candle Lighting :: Christmas EveDecember 24, 2022“Advent” means “coming.” Christmas is coming–tomorrow! Jesus has come and is coming again.
I say that every year! “Advent means coming,” because people use that word “advent,” and they don’t know what it means. It means, “arriving,” “getting there,” “coming,” so the Prophet Jeremiah would have loved it because one of his favorite phrases was, “The days are coming...”
Jeremiah uses that phrase again and again in his book, “The days are coming...”
He’s talking about the future. Something that isn’t here yet but most definitely will be. A prophecy.
“The days are coming...”
Ever since April, our church family has been studying together the Prophesy of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah who was a prophet in the nation of Judah for 40 years from about 627 BC to 586 BC–about 600 years before Jesus was born that first Christmas day. This is my 25th Christmas as the pastor of Lanse Free Church. I’ll have to go 15 more years to catch up to Jeremiah!
We’ve learned that Jeremiah had a very hard message to deliver to the nation for those 40 years. He was a broken record about how they had broken their covenant with God and were going to face His judgment.
The kings of Judah were supposed to wisely shepherd God’s people, but instead of caring for their “flock,” the kings had foolishly destroyed and scattered it. These were dark days for the kingdom of Judah. We are living in some dark days, as well, and I don’t just mean December!
But the days are coming when all of that is going to change.
In the midst of that darkness Jeremiah spoke bright words of hope.
[LIGHT FIRST CANDLE.]
On the first Sunday of Advent, Robin, Andrew, and Peter (Isaac was sick) lit our first candle and proclaimed it a Candle of Hope.
Listen as I read to you Jeremiah chapter 23, verses 1 through 8. This has been the focus text of our Advent Season. Jeremiah 23:1-8. As I read it, listen for that advent phrase that Jeremiah loves so much, “The days are coming.” Listen for how he describes those days. Listen especially to WHAT Jeremiah says is going to happen someday in the future and WHO is going to do it.
Jeremiah begins by pronouncing woe (w-o-e terrible judgment) upon the foolish kings of Judah for how they have misshepherded God’s people. Chapter 23, verse 1.
[READ JEREMIAH 23:1-8.]
Do you hear the hope in those words?
Sometimes I get little depressed by how gloomy the book of Jeremiah can be. And how gloomy the month of December can be. It’s especially gloomy for people who are grieving. Christmas is especially hard for those who have lost someone either recently or long ago. Just look at all of the names for the Poinsettias on the back of your bulletin and think of all of the grief that they represent. You feel it more deeply at Christmas when you see the empty place at the family table.
We are living in dark days. And yet the light shines brighter in the darkness.
Have you ever lit a candle and marveled at it in the broad daylight? No! You don’t “get” the power of a candle until you turn off the lights. We’re going to turn off all of the lights in this room soon, and then we will see the power of a candle!
This prophecy is a candle of hope. These bad shepherds were not the end of the story. The LORD has promised to bring a Good Shepherd. A Great Shepherd! And through that Shepherd to bring all of His flock together into His pasture. And we know Who that Good Shepherd is (John 10:10-11). It is the Baby Who was born on that first Christmas Eve.
It’s Jesus. The days of hope are coming.
[LIGHT SECOND CANDLE.]
On the Second Sunday of Advent, Greg and Dorothy lit our second candle and said that it was a Candle of Peace.
Did you hear the words of peace and security in Jeremiah 23? When the new and good Shepherd comes, His people will “no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing” (v.4) Jeremiah says they will “live in safety” (v.6). Peace will reign when the Messiah comes. God’s people will finally feel safe and secure. They will no longer feel unsettled or skittish or lost. We will dwell in perfect safety with no fear of any kind.
Doesn’t that just sound wonderful?!
Are those days here? Not yet. We can experience a measure of peace right here and right now if we belong to Jesus. But there is so much war in this world. So much conflict. So much disagreement. So much animosity. So many threats. Jesus said “In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world.”
The days of peace are coming.
[LIGHT THIRD CANDLE.]
On the third Sunday of Advent, Will, Rachel, Elaina, Reid, and Rylie lit our third candle and said that it stood as a Candle of Wisdom.
They read verse 5 to us which says, “‘The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.’” This king will come from the line of David. And He will, in fact, be born in the same city as David was, the little town of Bethlehem. And when He reigns, He will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.
Doesn’t that sound good?!
There is so much bad leadership in our world. Lacking in wisdom. As a pastor who leads a church, I often feel starved for wisdom myself. What is the right thing to do in this situation? The pandemic raised so many questions. As a leader, I often make mistakes. I’m often confused and confounded. Just ask my wife. I routinely don’t know the right thing to do.
But the Messiah will reign with discernment, discretion, prudence, and justice. He will make no mistakes. He will always know the right thing to do.
The Bible says that in Jesus are hidden all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3)! All of the treasures! That manger held all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge! The coming kingdom will be marked by unimaginable wisdom.
The days of wisdom are coming.
[LIGHT FOURTH CANDLE.]
On the fourth Sunday of Advent, Mike and Gail lit this pink candle and told us that it was a Candle of Righteousness. And they pointed out that the Messiah will be so full of true righteousness that it will actually be His name! Jeremiah says, “This is the name by which he will be called, ‘The LORD Our Righteousness” (v.6).
The Righteous Branch will overflow with moral goodness and ethical perfection. Not only will He always KNOW the right thing in His wisdom, but He will always DO the right thing in His righteousness!
He will live up to His name! He will be holy and blameless. And so will be His people! You know why?
Is it because we are so good? Are we good people? No, the Bible says that you and I are sinners. We are rebels against a holy God. The Bible says that we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The Bible says that our righteousness is like filthy rags. We are unholy. Unclean. Unrighteous.
But the Bible also says here that the Messiah will be called “The LORD our Righteousness!” He is going to give us His righteousness as a gift! What an amazing Christmas gift that is!
The Bible says in Romans 3, “[A] righteousness from God [a gift], apart from law [apart from anything we do!], has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets [like Jeremiah] testify. This righteousness from God [a gift] comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified [made righteous!] freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:21-24 NIVO).
They days of righteousness are coming because of Jesus Christ.
You see, Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, was executed on a cruel Roman instrument of torture and death called The Cross. He was crucified, and dead, and buried. The little baby Jesus born in Bethlehem grew up to die, “to suffer on the cross for you and I” to give us His righteousness.
The Bible says, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21-6:1 NIVO). What a gift exchange that is! We give Him our sin. He gives us His righteousness!
Because Jesus did not stay dead! He was raised to make us righteous (Romans 4:25). As the Christmas carol says, the “Sun of Righteousness has risen with healing in His wings.” (cf. “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”).
Have you received that healing, from sin?Have you received the Righteousness of God?Not by your own efforts but by Jesus’s sacrifice in your place?Have you received the gift of Christ’s righteousness?
It is my privilege to invite you to receive His gift right now.
[LIGHT CHRIST CANDLE.]
The last candle is always the Christ Candle. Because Jesus Christ is the point of the whole thing.
He is the Messiah that all of these candles are all about.He is the Messiah that all of these prophesies are all about.He is the Messiah Who fulfills them all.He is the Messiah who brings salvation.
The days are coming when the Christ shall come.
Jeremiah could barely see it from where he stood, but he could see it. And he could see that it would be a great salvation. Greater than even the Exodus from Egypt. Jeremiah says in the last verses of our text for this year, “‘So then, the days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when people will no longer say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,' but they will say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.' Then they will live in their own land’” (Jer. 23:1-8 NIVO).
That’s the return from the exile. and that prefigures an even greater return.
The return of Jesus Christ! The Second Advent.
Jesus came the first time and inaugurated the days of hope, peace, wisdom, and righteousness, but the days are coming when it will be all hope, all peace, all wisdom, and righteousness and all to the glory of Christ!
So the big question everybody asks in December is always, “Are you ready for Christmas?” And I never know how to answer that one. I often will say, “I’m on track, but I’m never ‘ready’ for Christmas.”
But the bigger question is: Are you ready for the days that are coming?
They aren’t here yet, but they are sure to come and soon to come.
Because Jesus Christ is coming soon.
December 18, 2022
“I Have Loved You With An Everlasting Love” [Matt's Message]
“I Have Loved You With An Everlasting Love”Uprooted - The Words of JeremiahLanse Evangelical Free ChurchDecember 18, 2022 :: Jeremiah 31:1-26This is probably the most important chapter in the whole book of Jeremiah. Especially the part we’re going to get to next time. The part about the New Covenant. Jesus talked about it in the Upper Room on the night He was betrayed. The letter to the Hebrews has the longest quotation in the New Testament from the Old Testament. And it’s from Jeremiah 31. This is a really important text to get into our hearts and minds!
But today, Lord-willing, we’re just going to get up through verse 26 of chapter 31.
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
This may be the most Christmas-y chapter in the whole Book of Jeremiah! I love it that the Lord has landed us on this chapter on this Sunday in this month of this year. Look what he says at the end of verse 13. It’s most clear in the NIV translation.
Here’s what the LORD promises to His people. “I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.”
Comfort and joy! A hope and a future!
This chapter is full of “tidings of comfort and joy.”
How much more Christmas-y can you get?!
Of course, as we read it, we will also see that it reflects some of the darkest and saddest parts of the Christmas story, as well.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start back at verse 1.
This is really a continuation of chapter 30. There is no big break between the chapters. It’s supposed to go together with what we studied last week. It’s all about the restoration of God’s people. That’s the theme of chapters 30 through 33. It’s the hope and the future predicted in chapter 29. God says that the people of Israel and Judah were going to be rescued from exile, brought back from a distant land and prosper and flourish and live securely under the new king from the line of David.
Listen to the first two verses. Jeremiah 31:1&2.
“‘At that time,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they will be my people.’ This is what the LORD says: ‘The people who survive the sword will find favor in the desert; I will come to give rest to Israel.’”
You can easily see that this a prophecy of the future. The word “will” is repeated over and over again. This rescue and rest will come at a later date. When?
He says, “At that time.” Last week, He said, “The days are coming.” That’s the theme of our Advent Season this year. “The days are coming.” They aren’t here yet, but they are on the way.
And we said last week that it’s important to understand that Old Testament prophecies are often fulfilled in stages. Like the glass we filled up over the course of the sermon last week. Or like the mountain ranges where the mountains might look the same height from a distance, but you actually reach the shorter ones first and then the bigger ones later. Or like when we say something is going to happen “at Christmastime,” but we’re not clear which Christmastime. Might be this one or one or more in the future.
And that was true of what we saw in chapter 30, and it’s true of what we’re looking at today in chapter 31.
Some of this was fulfilled 70 years from the start of the exile. Some of it was fulfilled at the first Christmastime. And some of it is still being fulfilled today in this room and will be fully fulfilled, filled-to-overflowing at the Second Advent, when Jeuss Christ returns.
I think we’ll see more of that clearly as we walk down through it. So far, in verse 1, the LORD has promised to restore His people (All twelve tribes! Not just the Southern Kingdom of Judah, but the Northern Kingdom of Israel, also called “Ephraim.” All twelve tribes, which foreshadows the whole people of God. Every last one of us.). He has promised to restore His people to be His people. To be in a covenant relationship with Him. “I will be their God and they will be my people.”
And He is going to just LOVE them!
He says, “I will come (advent!) to give rest to Israel.”
And that’s because of His great love. Look with me at verse 3, and see where we get our sermon title for today. Verse 3.
“The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”
How is that for a tiding of comfort and joy?!
Well, it might not have felt very true to them at that exact moment. Remember, they were either in exile (chapter 29) or headed into exile (chapter 30). And that was going to be an horrible experience. Verse 2 said that the people who “survived the sword” would find favor with the LORD.
Many were not going to survive the sword! Jerusalem will be assaulted. The temple will be destroyed. The people of Israel have already been drug off into exile by the Assyrians. And so have a few of the people of Judah already been exiled to Babylon. Many more will follow.
It might SEEM like the LORD has STOPPED loving them.
But that’s not what He said. He said, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” And more than that. He said, “I have drawn you [to Himself] with loving-kindness.” That’s our beloved Hebrew word, “hesed.” Loyal-love. Faithful-love. Unfailing-faithfulness. Gracious-steadfast-love.
“His steadfast love endures forever.”“His steadfast love endures forever.”“His hesed endures forever.”
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”
And if He could say that to the twelve tribes of Israel in rebellion then, how much more is He saying something just like that to you and me today, for whom His Own Beloved Son has died?!
He is saying this to you today: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”
We all might have thought that we had reached the end of God’s love.
And certainly, we should not presume upon it or sin all the more so that hesed may abound.
But the LORD’s great love is unfathomable.
It’s just so wonderful. It’s everlasting. The Hebrew word for that is “olam.” It’s the word we translate “forever” in the “His steadfast love endures forever [olam.]” It’s a forever kind of love. A love that never ends.
The rest of what we’re going to look at this morning is like one word picture after another about this everlasting love and what it’s like. And what it does in the hearts and lives of God’s people.
I’ve got 5 things I want to point out that God’s everlasting love does according to these verses. And they all start with the same letter.
#1. RESTORATION.
God’s love restores. Look at verse 4.
“The LORD says, ‘I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again you will take up your tambourines and go out to dance with the joyful. Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria; the farmers will plant them and enjoy their fruit. There will be a day when watchmen cry out on the hills of Ephraim, 'Come, let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God'’ (vv.4-6).
Do you see the restoration?
The key word is “again.”
Again rebuilt.Again dancing.Again planting.Again going off to worship in Jerusalem.
What’s really interesting is that these words are directed toward the Northern Kingdom of Israel (“Ephraim”). They have been in exile already for a century!
But the LORD promises them restoration. That’s how much He loves them! He is going to restore them.
And, again, Jeremiah is getting to do “the good part” for a change. Remember what He was given as a mission at His commissioning? Chapter 1, verse 10.
"See, today I [Yahweh] appoint you [Jeremiah] over nations and kingdoms to [6 things:] uproot and tear down (seen a lot of that), to destroy and overthrow (that’s on the way), to build and to plant."
What do you hear in verse 4? “I will BUILD you up again and you will be REBUILT.” And verse 5, “You will PLANT vineyards again and enjoy their fruit.”
The LORD’s everlasting love restores.
For the exiles, it will restore them to their land once more. Look at verse 7.
“This is what the LORD says: ‘Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for the foremost of the nations. Make your praises heard, and say, 'O LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel.' See, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor; a great throng will return. They will come with weeping; they will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble, because I am Israel's father, and Ephraim is my firstborn son.”
Do you hear the words of love there? A Father’s love for His beloved boy? “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”
And that love is going to bring you home.
Home from Assyria.Home for the remnant.Home for the “good figs.”Home for the weak and the vulnerable, not just the survival of the fittest.Home for the repentant. “They will come with weeping.”
Doesn’t He sound not just like a loving father but a loving Shepherd?
Verse 9 there. “I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble.” Sounds like the 23rd Psalm to me! Israel was going to be restored.
And that’s just a tiny picture of how God’s people are restored. “He restores my soul” right? Can you say that this morning? “He restores my soul.”
“The LORD is my [loving] shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul” (Ps. 23:1-3 NIVO).
And it’s not just a restoration. It’s a full-on redemption.
#2. REDEMPTION.
Look at verse 10. “‘Hear the word of the LORD, O nations; proclaim it in distant coastlands: 'He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.' For the LORD will ransom Jacob and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they” (vv.10-11).
Jeremiah is supposed to tell the nations, tell the distant coastlands, to go tell it on the mountain that the One who scattered them (because of their unrepentant sin) will be re-gathering them and re-shepherding them.
Himself! That’s the LORD and His Messiah, isn’t it? And how is He going to do it? Through ransom and redemption. He’s going to rescue His people out of bondage. He is going to free them. He is going to pay their very debt to release them! That’s what ransom and redemption is. A payment to free someone. A payment to secure someone’s release, often paid for by a close family member.
What is this reminding you of?
The Cross, of course. Remember when Jesus said that He did not “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a [WHAT? a] ransom for many" (Mk. 10:45 NIVO)?
That’s an everlasting love!!
Have you put your faith in that love? In that ransom? In that redemption?
Jesus Christ, Jesus the Messiah died on the Cross to pay for the sins of all who will come to Him. That’s whey He came that first Christmas.
“God rest you merry, gentlemen,let nothing you dismay;remember Christ, our Saviorwas born on Christmas Dayto save us all from Satan's pow'rwhen we were gone astray.”
V.11 “To redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they.”
Restoration and Redemption.
“O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy, O tidings of comfort and joy!”
An joy! That’s number three. This everlasting love leads to rejoicing. How could it not?!
#3 REJOICING.
In verse 4, the LORD said that they should take up their tambourines and go out to dance with the joyful.
When the LORD restores and redeems His people, they will be led to rejoice. Look at verse 12.
“They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the LORD–the grain, the new wine and the oil, the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more.”
What a day of rejoicing that will be! It will be like a Christmas Feast!
He says the returned exiles will be like a “well-watered garden.” Isn’t that a beautiful image? It only began to be fulfilled in 538 when the exiles straggled back to Jerusalem. It was wonderful for them, and they wept and cried. Read Psalm 126 again this afternoon to hear about their songs of joy.
But it wasn’t the total end of their sorrow.
That began on that first Christmas, right? When the angel said, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Lk. 2:10-11 NIVO).
And even that didn’t end their sorrow completely yet, did it? We’re still waiting for sorrow and sighing to flee away, aren’t we? Did anybody here cry this week? I’ll bet you did.
Again, this sounds like Revelation 21. That’s where the final fulfillment of this promise comes. That’s where the tallest of the mountain ranges. That’s the overflowing cup. Revelation 21, where the Lord promises, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Rev. 21:4 NIVO).
Or Jeremiah 31:12, “...they will sorrow no more.”
Joy and only joy! And then more joy! And them more joy after that. V.13
“Then maidens will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow. I will satisfy the priests with abundance, and my people will be filled with my bounty,’ declares the LORD” (vv.13-14).
I love that he says that the old men will dance! Everybody is going to dance! Heaven is dance party because of the LORD’s everlasting love. “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” So rejoice!
“I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.”
But that’s in the future. It’s here (we can rejoice today), but it’s also still coming. Because right now there is not just rejoicing. There is weeping. And lots of it.
Jeremiah has wept and wept.Jesus has wept and wept.You and I have wept and will weep some more.
And Rachel has wept, as well. Look at verse 15. “This is what the LORD says: ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because her children are no more.’”
Who is this Rachel?
Rachel was the favorite wife of Jacob, the patriarch in the book of Genesis. It was from Rachel that Jacob had two sons both very beloved–Joseph and Benjamin. Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin. Do know about where she was buried? Ramah. About 5 miles north of Jerusalem. Which was also on the exile route from Jerusalem to Babylon. One of the commentaries I read said that it was effectively a deportation center.
Rachel’s son Joseph had two sons–Ephraim and Manasseh.
And the whole northern kingdom was nick-named “Ephraim” after him and his tribe. Rachel was the grandmother of the northern kingdom. And now they’re in exile. One by one, shipped off.
And so, metaphorically, this Rachel who tried so hard to have children (Read about who hard she worked at getting children in the book of Genesis!) weeps at the fate of her children lost to the enemy. It’s like her spirit watches them march off to death and exile. And she weeps inconsolably.
And do you know where Jeremiah 31:15 is quoted in the New Testament?
Matthew chapter 2, verse 18. Part of the Christmas story! The darkest, saddest part.
Matthew says, “When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.’” (Matt. 2:16-18 NIVO).
The quintessential expression of a mother’s grief over children lost to the enemy.
And those mothers were right to mourn and wail. Heather and I lost a child in April of 1999, and I wailed in that hospital room like I have seldom wailed before or since.
But the LORD also has another message for the metaphorical Rachel, and that is that her sorrow will one day be turned to joy.
Because He is going to (v.13 again), “turn their mourning into gladness...[He] will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.” Look at verse 16.
“This is what the LORD says: ‘Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,’ declares the LORD. ‘They will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your future,’ declares the LORD. ‘Your children will return to their own land” (vv.16-17).
“A hope for your future.” Does that sound familiar? It’s different words in the Hebrew, but it sounds a lot like 29:11 to me! “Hope and a future.”
They had reason to rejoice.
And so do we!
We have such a great future! We have every reason to rejoice.
We have reason to weep, and so it’s is right to do so. But not just weep. We also have every reason to rejoice.
And every reason to repent. That’s number four.
#4. REPENTANCE.
When we finally understand the LORD’s everlasting love, we finally wake up to our need for repentance.
See how LORD says it in verse 18. “‘I have surely heard Ephraim's moaning: 'You disciplined me like an unruly calf, and I have been disciplined. Restore me, and I will return, because you are the LORD my God. After I strayed, I repented; after I came to understand, I beat my breast. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth'” (vv.18-19).
Now, this is a prophecy. This is still down the line. Israel has not yet repented like this, but the LORD can hear it coming! "‘I have surely heard Ephraim's moaning!" It's going to happen!
And Ephraim will be like, “I was so dumb. I am so ashamed. I repent! Your discipline. The exile. The judgement that came through Assyria has worked its work on me, and I finally have woken up to repentance."
And how will LORD respond to that?
Will He say, “Sorry! Too late!”
No, way. Look at verse 20.
“Is not Ephraim my dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,’ declares the LORD.”
O, He loves Him! “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”
He’s the Father in the story of the prodigal son. His heart is full of love. Everlasting love. That’s the heart of the Father for you and me. So, when we finally realize that, we finally wake up to repentance. Like the prodigal son, finally waking up and heading home.
The LORD tells His people to make sure they mark the way back home. Verse 21.
“‘Set up road signs; put up guideposts. Take note of the highway, the road that you take. Return, O Virgin Israel, return to your towns. [There’s that word “shuv” again. Repent! Come back. V.22.] How long will you wander, O unfaithful daughter?” (vv.21-22).
“Stop wandering. Stop vacillating. Stop fence-sitting and repent. Come back!"
If you are running from Him today, He’s saying this to you right now. His heart yearns for you. He has great compassion for you. Stop running. And return to Him. Run into His fatherly arms!
And be restored, redeemed, and...refreshed.
#5. REFRESHMENT.
His everlasting love is so great that we who are His children will experience everlasting refreshment!
Look at the end of verse 22.
“The LORD will create a new thing on earth–a woman will surround a man.”
Now, I’m not sure what that means. And I don’t think that anybody else really knows either. It’s very hard to translate and interpret. Some people even see the virgin birth in that verse, and I guess that’s possible because many have seen it. I’m just not sure. It could be translated that a woman embraces or encircles or shelters or protects a man. It’s hard to translate, and it’s hard to understand.
My best guess is that it’s like a saying from the time that means something like, “Pigs are going fly. Wonders will never cease. ‘A woman will surround a man.’ We’re living in a time of miracles!”
What is clear to me is that the LORD is saying that He’s going to create a new thing on earth–a wonder of wonders and miracle of miracles.
And I think that He’s talking about the New Covenant that He’s just about to announce and the New Creation that comes from it.
How He’s going to give His people new hearts and eventually new bodies and a new world to live in! And how everything will be restored to how it was supposed to be in the first place and then even better!
Look at verse 23.
“This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘When I bring them back from captivity, the people in the land of Judah and in its towns will once again use these words: 'The LORD bless you, O righteous dwelling, O sacred mountain.' People will live together in Judah and all its towns–farmers and those who move about with their flocks. I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.’ At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant to me.”
It turns out that this prophecy has come as a product of a prophetic dream.
Jeremiah wakes up and says, “Man, that was a good dream! I can’t wait for that dream to come true!”
When will this prophecy be fulfilled?
Well, verse 23 says, “When I bring them back from captivity.” And here’s He’s talking more to the Southern Kingdom of Judah. They will once again say, “The LORD bless you, O righteous dwelling, O sacred mountain.” The LORD bless Jerusalem. The LORD blessed the new temple. The LORD bless Mount Zion on which it was built.
And that happened in 538 and beyond when the exiles straggled back home after the Book of Daniel. After the Book of Esther. After Babylon. After the Medes and the Persians. During the book of Nehemiah.
But I think that that was just a prophetic foretaste of the refreshment to come. "I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.” I think that this is fully fulfilled in the One who was born on Christmas day.
The One said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matt. 11:28-29 NIVO).
Tidings of comfort and joy!
A hope and a future.
Restoration.Redemption.Rejoicing.Repentance.Refreshment.
All because of the LORD’s everlasting love.
That’s the message of Christmas, isn’t it?
That “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16 NIVO).
He says to us today:
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”
***
Previous Messages in This Series:
01. "The Word of the LORD Came to Me" - Jeremiah 1:1-19
02. "I Bring Charges Against You" - Jeremiah 2:1-3:5
03. "Return to Me" - Jeremiah 3:6-4:4
04. “Oh My Anguish, My Anguish!” - Jeremiah 4:6-5:31
05. "Ask for the Ancient Paths" - Jeremiah 6:1-30
06. “This Is the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD!” - Jeremiah 7:1-8:3
07. "Is There No Balm in Gilead?" - Jeremiah 8:4-9:22
08. "Boast About This" - Jeremiah 9:23-24
09. "Like a Scarecrow in a Melon Patch" - Jeremiah 9:25-10:25
10. "Conspiracy" - Jeremiah 11:1-12:17
11. “My People For My Renown” - Jeremiah 13:1-27
12. "I Can No Longer Show Compassion" - Jeremiah 14:1-15:21
13. "I Have Withdrawn My Blessing, My Love and My Pity" - Jeremiah 16:1-21
14. "I the LORD Search the Heart" - Jeremiah 17:1-27
15. "Go Down to the Potter's House" - Jeremiah 18:1-19:15
16. “Insult and Reproach All Day Long” - Jeremiah 20:1-18
17. "Woe to the Shepherds" - Jeremiah 21:1-23:8
18. "I Did Not Send These Prophets" - Jeremiah 23:9-40
19. "“My Eyes Will Watch Over Them For Their Good” - Jeremiah 24:1-25:38
20. "This Man Should Be Sentenced to Death" - Jeremiah 26:1-24
21. “Under the Yoke” - Jeremiah 27:1-28:17
22. “I Know the Plans I Have for You” - Jeremiah 29:1-3223. "I Will Surely Save You Out of a Distant Land" - Jeremiah 30:1-24
Advent Candle #4: The Days of Righteousness Are Coming
LEFC Family Advent Readings: The Days Are ComingThe Advent of Christ in the Prophecy of JeremiahJeremiah 23:5-6 :: December 18, 2022Week #4: A Candle of Righteousness “Advent” means “coming.” Christmas is coming. Jesus has come and is coming again.
Our Advent readings this season focus on the coming of the Messiah prophesied in the book of Jeremiah. Our first candle was a candle of hope.
[LIGHT FIRST CANDLE AGAIN.]
In the last dark decades before their exile, the nation of Judah was ruled by bad kings who scattered instead of shepherded the people of God. But God Himself promised to gather His flock once again under a new and good Shepherd. Hope was on the way. Our second candle was a candle of peace.
[LIGHT SECOND CANDLE AGAIN.]
The LORD declared that when the new and good Shepherd would come, God’s people would will finally feel safe and secure with no fear of any kind. Peace was on the way. Our third candle was a candle of wisdom.
[LIGHT THIRD CANDLE AGAIN.]
Jeremiah predicted that the coming King would reign with discernment, discretion, prudence, and justice. He will know how to lead perfectly and always do what is just and right for the people of His kingdom to flourish.
[LIGHT FOURTH CANDLE.]
Our fourth candle is a candle of righteousness.
[READ JEREMIAH 23:5-6.]
The Messiah will be so full of true righteousness that it will actually be His name! The Righteous Branch will overflow with moral goodness and ethical perfection. And He will share His own righteousness as a gift to His own people.
In the kingdom, we will possess His righteousness and be holy and blameless because of Jesus Christ.
The days of righteousness are coming.
December 11, 2022
“I Will Surely Save You Out of A Distant Land” [Matt's Messages]
“I Will Surely Save You Out of A Distant Land”Uprooted - The Words of JeremiahLanse Evangelical Free ChurchDecember 11, 2022 :: Jeremiah 30:1-24“A hope and a future.”
The LORD’s plans that He knows He has for His people are plans not to harm them but to “shalom” them (to give them peace and prosperity and wholeness) and to give them a hope and a future.
That’s what He promised the exiles in chapter 29, and that’s what these next four chapters of Jeremiah are all about.
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
I love how the LORD has gotten us right to these four chapters right in time for Christmas! I didn’t plan this, but the LORD certainly did.
The prophecy of Jeremiah has a lot of sadness in it. You’ve probably noticed! There’s a lot of weeping and tears. There is a lot of anguish over the foolish and evil choices that the nation of Judah had made year after year after year after year.
And the Prophet Jeremiah was sent to call Judah to repent. For forty long years he was a broken record about their broken covenant and the judgment that was inevitably going to come.
He wasn’t happy about it. Jeremiah didn’t enjoy bringing this message, but he was appointed to do it. Remember the words of his commissioning? Chapter 1, verse 10, “See, today I [Yahweh] appoint you [Jeremiah] over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”
Over the last 8 months, we’ve heard a lot about the first four of those, especially uprooting. And we’ve heard a little bit sprinkled throughout about the last two. But in chapters 30 through 33, it’s almost all about building and planting, re-building and re-planting! It’s all about restoration and hope. “A hope and a future.”
And you know and I know how that hope eventually came to pass. Jeremiah wrote these words down more than 580 years before Jesus was born. Almost 600 years! And yet, here in this ancient scroll are prophecies of the Messiah and all that He promises to be for His people.
This section of Jeremiah is often called “The Book of Consolation” or “The Book of Comfort,” because it’s four chapters of high octane hope. It’s full of promise. Which is just perfect for the Advent Season, isn’t it?
Let me show you what I mean. Let’s look at chapter 30 together today.
We don’t know when these words were written down. Many Bible scholars believe, for a few different reasons, that chapter 30 was written during the last fateful year before the exile. 587 BC.
Right when things were getting to be at their worst, Jeremiah was finally able to say more about how things were going to turn around for the best.
When things were at their darkest, it turns out that the future was actually going to be quite bright.
Chapter 30, verse 1.
“This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you. The days are coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their forefathers to possess,' says the LORD.’”
You might have picked up by now that this little phrase is one of Jeremiah’s favorites, “The days are coming...”
“The days are coming...” That’s the theme of our Advent Readings this year. It will be the theme on Christmas Eve. “The days are coming...”
The focus of that phrase is the future. Jeremiah has finally gotten to the good part.
I’ll bet that’s how he felt! “Finally, we’re getting to the good stuff. I like talking about this. I like talking about the restoration of Israel and Judah (both of them! North and South. The North went into captivity a century before this. But they are going to be restored in some way, too!). I like talking about that.”
“I like talking about the future when it’s full of hope.” “The days are coming...”
They aren’t here yet, but they are on the way.
Judah has not yet even gone into captivity, but Jeremiah is predicting beyond that to the restoration.
It’s going to be a while (at least 70 years from top to bottom), but “The days are coming...”
Now, it’s important to understand how these promises in the prophets often operate. How they are fulfilled.
This is one of the trickiest parts of understanding the Old Testament prophets. Because it’s not that straightforward. Some prophecies are, but many of them are not. The LORD promises something through the prophet, and says that it’s surely, certainly going to happen, but He’s somewhat vague on the HOW and especially the WHEN.
And you might think that the WHEN is going to be all at one time. But, often, it’s not. You might think it because there isn’t necessarily anything in the prophecy to indicate that the fulfillment is going to come in stages. And yet, it does come in stages.
Some people use the analogy of a mountain range to illustrate this. Like if you see a range of mountains in the distance, some of those mountains are closer than others, right. But you can’t necessarily tell which ones are closer and which ones are farther away, right? And if they look about the same height, the closer ones are actually smaller, right? And the ones that are farther away are the bigger ones.
You’re actually looking at multiple horizons, but you see them all together. The Bible teaches that the prophets can be like that.
It’s kind of like if somebody told you that at Christmastime, you’re going to get presents. At Christmastime, you’re going to get a tricycle, a 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback, and a pair of suspenders. And you’re going to absolutely love your presents at Christmastime! Now, you might guess that it’s actually different years, right? But it’s all “Christmastime.”
Or let me give you one more. It’s like a promise that this glass is going to be filled.
“The days are coming...” when this glass will be filled with delightful refreshing water. [ILLUSTRATE WITH GLASS OF WATER.] But then the glass only gets a little bit of water at first.
Has the promise failed? No. It’s just not all here yet. But “the days are coming” when it will be filled.
That’s a lot like what we see in Jeremiah 30. There are promises of restoration, and they obviously about the people of Judah (and Israel) returning to the Promised Land. But they are obviously also about MORE than that.
And it’s not clear when all of the fulfillment is going to come. Some of it obviously comes when the seventy years are up. The seventy years predicted in chapter 25 and 29 that we talked about last week.
But some of the things that Jeremiah said were going to happen didn’t come about in 538 BC. Some of it came about at the first Christmastime. And some of it–the tallest peaks in the mountain range–is still to come. We’re still waiting for it today. The greatest thing about those promises that aren’t yet fully fulfilled is that they are the biggest ones and they include the most people.
This was originally written to Israel and Judah, but over time, the recipients snowball, and you and I get caught up in them, too!
The LORD promises through Jeremiah a great salvation. An amazing turnaround. In verse 3 he called it being brought “back from captivity” and restored to the land.
We sing about it this time of year, like we did last Sunday, when we sang:
“O come, O come, Emmanuel,And ransom captive Israel;That mourns in lonely exile here,Until the Son of God appear.”
What a turnaround! The Hebrew there for “back from captivity” and “restore them” in verse 3 is another play on the word “shuv.” Remember how that word could be translated “Repent” because it means to “turn back?” Well, here it’s “turn the turnings.” “Shuv Shuvuth.” “Turn the turnings.” Effect the greatest reversal of all time! The greatest comeback of all time.
Because these promises start out talking about Israel’s return from exile, but they end by describing our salvation both now and forever! Isn’t that amazing?! Let me show you what I mean. Look at verse 4.
Now, remember, Jeremiah is a realist. And so is the LORD. He doesn’t just paint a rosy picture. He has to tell it like it is. Before the dawn, comes the night. Before the hope, comes the judgment. Verse 4. Here’s what’s going to happen next.
“These are the words the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah: ‘This is what the LORD says: ‘ 'Cries of fear are heard–terror, not peace. Ask and see: Can a man bear children? Then why do I see every strong man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor, every face turned deathly pale? How awful that day will be! None will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it.”
Do you see how this works? The next thing on the schedule is the destruction of Jerusalem, the destruction of Solomon’s temple, and the exile of Judah to Babylon. And it will be a time of distress. Pain, anxiety, anguish, horror. Like going through labor but knowing there is no baby on the other side, just more pain. Jacob’s Trouble.
But also! “A hope and a future.” Verse 7, “He will be saved out of it.” On the other side of the exile is salvation! And here’s what that salvation will look like. It will look like emancipation. V.8
“'In that day,' declares the LORD Almighty, 'I will break the yoke off their necks and will tear off their bonds; no longer will foreigners enslave them. Instead, they will serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them” (vv.8-9).
Remember that yoke that Jeremiah had to wear around town? We don’t know for how long. And how Hananiah dramatically tore it off of him? And how the LORD said, “Okay, not wood but iron.” An iron yoke. Bowing down and serving Nebuchadnezzar.
Hananiah was not 100% wrong. He was 100% wrong about when. He said in wishful thinking out of his own head that it would only be two years. But he was not wrong that the LORD was going to break that yoke. The LORD is going to break that yoke. Even the yoke of iron. Nothing will stop Him from breaking that yoke! Tearing off those bonds.
Enslaved no longer! Freed!
But when? He says, “In that day,” and I think that’s kind of like saying, “Christmastime.”
There’s this “day” predicted in the Bible, called “The Day of the LORD” or the “Day of Yahweh.” And a lot is predicted to happen in the Day of the LORD. A lot of terrible things, judgment, and wonderful things, blessings. And I think that day is not just a 24 hour kind of day, but a way of talking about a time when God faithfully keeps all of His promises and all of His threats.
Some of that Day of the LORD has already come. The glass is filling up. Some of it is yet to come.
For example, did you see what’s going to happen next when they are freed? There in verse 9. “...no longer will foreigners enslave them. Instead, they will serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them” (vv.8-9).
Who is that? That’s the Messiah, isn’t it? That’s the King that the Lees Family was teaching us about in Jeremiah chapter 23 in the Advent Reading this morning.
“‘The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness’” (Jer. 23:5-6 NIVO).
“They will serve the LORD their God and David their king,” meaning great David’s even greater Son.
And Who is that? It’s Jesus! When the cup is filled to the brim of this prophecy, Jesus will be reigning over His freed people.
I have four simple points this morning, and they’re all about this great salvation that we have in Jesus. Prefigured in Israel’s return from exile and fully fulfilled in our salvation both now and forever.
#1. FREED TO SERVE.
Did you notice that in verse 9? That the people in verse 8 who are emancipated fom the foreign nations are not freed to do whatever they want. They are freed to serve the LORD their God and His Messiah.
We are freed to serve. The Lord breaks our bonds to free us, yes, but not so that we run off and do willy nilly whatever comes into our heads. That’s a different kind of enslavement. Instead, we are saved to serve. We are rescued to obey our wonderful Savior. We are freed from our sins, from Satan, and from ourselves. To serve the Lord and to serve others in His name.
Are you serving the Lord? In what ways? Jesus has broken off the yoke around our necks and put His own yoke on us. Thankfully, His yoke is easy, and His burden is light because He is gentle and humble in heart, and in Him we find rest for our souls (cf. Matthew 11:28-29).
And that’s actually the second point.
#2. RETURNED TO REST.
Look at what the LORD says in verse 10. “So do not fear, O Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, O Israel,' declares the LORD. 'I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile. Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid. I am with you and will save you,' declares the LORD. 'Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.' (vv.10-11)
Again, he’s a realist. He doesn’t give them a Pollyanna promise like a smiling televangelist saying everything is going to be fine. “There won’t be any problems.” No, there will be problems. There will, in fact, be punishment. But there will also be a remnant. And there will be a future. A hope and a future.
This is where we get our sermon title for today. “I Will Surely Save You Out of a Distant Place.” The people of Israel will be returned to their own land from the land of their exile. And that should give them peace and rest.
Did you hear those words of comfort?
“Do not fear...”“Do not be dismayed.”You “will again have peace and security, and no one will make [you] afraid.”
How come? “I am with you and will save you,’ declares the LORD.”
And if that was true even just a little for those straggling exiles who came back under Nehemiah, how much more is it true for you and me who have been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ?! Returned to rest.
What are you afraid of these days? What makes you dismayed? Verses 10 and 11 are going to show up just about verbatim in chapter 46 which we’ll get to sometime in the Spring, Lord-willing.
I think the LORD wants us to hear this message.
“Do not fear...”“Do not be dismayed.”You “will again have peace and security, and no one will make [you] afraid.”
The word for peace there is not “shalom.” It’s “shakat.” It means to be tranquil. To be quiet. To be undisturbed. And word for security is “sha’awn,” to be at ease to be able to rest securely.
The CSB says, “calm and quiet.”
Because of Jesus you and I can be calm and quiet. I’m not good at that, but that’s something for me to work on. Because I have been saved out of a distant place, I don’t have to run around like a chicken with my head cut off over every little thing. Or even over anything big.
How about you? Are you calm and quiet? Because Jesus came at that first Christmastime, no matter what we are facing in life, we can be calm and quiet in Him.
Now, in verse 12, the LORD goes back to the bad news.
You see the pattern here? He starts with how hopeless they truly are, and then He injects this potent powerful hope! Look at verse 12.
“‘This is what the LORD says: ‘ 'Your wound is incurable, your injury beyond healing. There is no one to plead your cause, no remedy for your sore, no healing for you. All your allies have forgotten you; they care nothing for you. I have struck you as an enemy would and punished you as would the cruel, because your guilt is so great and your sins so many. 5 Why do you cry out over your wound, your pain that has no cure? Because of your great guilt and many sins I have done these things to you.” (vv.12-15).
He’s back to being a broken record.
He’s back to pointing out how many times they have hit the snooze button, right Katie? “Snooze. Snooze. I don’t want to wake up and repent. Snooze.” “Because of your great guilt and many sins I have done these things to you." Your wound is incurable. Your case is hopeless...on your own.
But look! Verse 16. “'But all who devour you will be devoured; all your enemies will go into exile. Those who plunder you will be plundered; all who make spoil of you I will despoil. But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,' declares the LORD, 'because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.'” (vv.16-17).
#3. HEALED TO HOPE.
The LORD Himself is going to heal them.
It will take a miracle, so He will do a miracle. We’re going to find out in the next chapter just how big a miracle it will take. It will take a New Covenant that is better than the old one. A New Covenant that we said last week will be ratified in blood of Jesus.
But LORD is going to do it. “I will restore you to health and heal your wounds.” Where Judah had NO HOPE. They now have hope. The turnaround of turnarounds! Where they were outcasts, uncared for by their foreign gods and foreign nations who promised to help them but never came through.
They are now people of hope with a future.
And so are you and I!
Do you see how we get into this as the promise snowballs? Because He doesn’t just heal and forgive Israel. He forgives the church, Jews and Gentiles together who repent of our sins and put our faith in the blood of Jesus. And He doesn’t just heal us. One day, when the cup of this promise is full to the brim, the whole creation will be healed!
It’s groaning right now. But one day it will be released from its bondage to decay and “brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (Rom. 8:21 NIVO)
Wow! And what a day of rejoicing that will be!
#4. RESTORED TO REJOICE!
Look at verse 18. “‘This is what the LORD says: 'I will restore the fortunes of Jacob's tents and have compassion on his dwellings; the city will be rebuilt on her ruins, and the palace will stand in its proper place. From them will come songs of thanksgiving and the sound of rejoicing. I will add to their numbers, and they will not be decreased; I will bring them honor, and they will not be disdained. Their children will be as in days of old, and their community will be established before me; I will punish all who oppress them” (vv.18-20).
The LORD promises to make everything the way it was before and the way it was supposed to be. He’s going to turn everything around.
The Hebrew there is the same words as we saw in verse 3. “Turn the turnings.” “Restore the fortunes.” [Study Psalm 126 for more on this concept.]
Bringing the people back from exile. But more than that. Make everything the way it was supposed to be in the first place. Including, their leader. Their leader will be exactly what He should be. What all of the leaders were supposed to be but were miserable failures at being.
They were all so many thumbs down. But this leader will be all thumbs up. Look at verse 21.
“Their leader will be one of their own; their ruler will arise from among them. I will bring him near and he will come close to me, for who is he who will devote himself to be close to me?' declares the LORD.”
Who do you think that is? Who will dare to come close to the LORD? Who will dare to come this close to Yahweh?
There is only One Who even could. The One who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (cf. John 1:14). Jesus. This is another prophecy of the Messiah buried deep in the Book of Jeremiah.
And here’s the result of the Messiah’s work. Verse 22.
“'So you will be my people, and I will be your God.'”
It doesn’t get any better than that. What a privilege! What a responsibility! The covenant will be renewed and God’s people will be God’s people again. They will know Him. They will walk in relationship with Him. We call it a “life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ,” and it’s what our church is all about.
“So you will be my people, and I will be your God.”
But first comes the judgment. Verse 23. Same thing he said in chapter 23. “See, the storm of the LORD will burst out in wrath, a driving wind swirling down on the heads of the wicked. The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart. In days to come you will understand this.”
We may not “get it” right away. But one day, we will. And we can be assured that He will accomplish all of the purposes of His heart. All of His judgment and all of His blessing. Because He is perfect in every way. We can’t understand all of that all of the time.
Just look at the Cross and marvel at what was happening there. The fierce anger of the LORD was not turned back until justice was done and seen to be done on all of our sin. But at the same time, that was opening up the way for us to be saved. To be brought back from a distant land, the land of sin and exile.
To be freed.To be healed.To be returned.To be restored.
To be replanted!
When? “At Christmastime.”
When did this prophecy come true?
Well, it began to be filled up when the exiles returned to Jerusalem in the book of Nehemiah. And then the promise began to snowball as it headed down the mountainside. And it began to engulf you and me.
Jesus was born. He came as the Messiah prophesied in verse 9 and verse 21. Son of David. A Hebrew. One of their own. One Who drew near to Yahweh. Who was perfectly devoted to Yahweh.
And Who even laid down His life before the wrath of Yahweh. But there is still more fulfillment to come.
When? On “that day.” Look at the first verse of chapter 31.
“‘At that time,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they will be my people.’”
You know what that sounds like to me? Revelation chapter 21! "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’” (Rev. 21:3-5 NIVO).
That’s the final fulfillment of Jeremiah chapter 30! That’s our hope and our future.
And what should you and I do in response? Verse 19 told us very clearly: “From them will come songs of thanksgiving and the sound of rejoicing!”
“Good Christian friends, rejoicewith heart and soul and voice;now ye hear of endless bliss:Jesus Christ was born for this!He has opened heaven's door,and we are blest forevermore.Christ was born for this!”
***
Previous Messages in This Series:
01. "The Word of the LORD Came to Me" - Jeremiah 1:1-19
02. "I Bring Charges Against You" - Jeremiah 2:1-3:5
03. "Return to Me" - Jeremiah 3:6-4:4
04. “Oh My Anguish, My Anguish!” - Jeremiah 4:6-5:31
05. "Ask for the Ancient Paths" - Jeremiah 6:1-30
06. “This Is the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD!” - Jeremiah 7:1-8:3
07. "Is There No Balm in Gilead?" - Jeremiah 8:4-9:22
08. "Boast About This" - Jeremiah 9:23-24
09. "Like a Scarecrow in a Melon Patch" - Jeremiah 9:25-10:25
10. "Conspiracy" - Jeremiah 11:1-12:17
11. “My People For My Renown” - Jeremiah 13:1-27
12. "I Can No Longer Show Compassion" - Jeremiah 14:1-15:21
13. "I Have Withdrawn My Blessing, My Love and My Pity" - Jeremiah 16:1-21
14. "I the LORD Search the Heart" - Jeremiah 17:1-27
15. "Go Down to the Potter's House" - Jeremiah 18:1-19:15
16. “Insult and Reproach All Day Long” - Jeremiah 20:1-18
17. "Woe to the Shepherds" - Jeremiah 21:1-23:8
18. "I Did Not Send These Prophets" - Jeremiah 23:9-40
19. "“My Eyes Will Watch Over Them For Their Good” - Jeremiah 24:1-25:38
20. "This Man Should Be Sentenced to Death" - Jeremiah 26:1-24
21. “Under the Yoke” - Jeremiah 27:1-28:17
22. “I Know the Plans I Have for You” - Jeremiah 29:1-32
Advent Candle #3: The Days of Wisdom Are Coming
LEFC Family Advent Readings: The Days Are ComingThe Advent of Christ in the Prophecy of JeremiahJeremiah 23:5-6 :: December 11, 2022Week #3: A Candle of Wisdom “Advent” means “coming.” Christmas is coming. Jesus has come and is coming again.
This year, our Advent readings concentrate on the coming of the Messiah prophesied in the book of Jeremiah. Our first candle was a candle of hope.
[LIGHT FIRST CANDLE AGAIN.]
In the last dark decades before their exile, the nation of Judah was ruled by bad kings who scattered instead of shepherded the people of God. But God Himself promised to gather His flock once again under a new and good Shepherd. Hope was on the way.
Our second candle was a candle of peace.
[LIGHT SECOND CANDLE AGAIN.]
The LORD declared that when the new and good Shepherd would come, God’s people would will finally feel safe and secure with no fear of any kind. Peace was on the way.
[LIGHT THIRD CANDLE.]
Our third candle is a candle of wisdom. Jeremiah predicted that the coming King would reign with discernment, discretion, prudence, and justice.
[READ JEREMIAH 23:5-6.]
The kings of Judah reigned in folly and their foolishness harmed God’s people. But when the Messiah comes, He will know how to lead perfectly. He will make no mistakes. The Righteous Branch will not be confused nor confounded but always do what is just and right for the people of His kingdom to flourish.
The days of wisdom are coming.
December 4, 2022
“I Know the Plans I Have for You” [Matt's Messages]
“I Know the Plans I Have for You”Uprooted - The Words of JeremiahLanse Evangelical Free ChurchDecember 4, 2022 :: Jeremiah 29:1-32“For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
There’s a reason why this verse is so famous and so favorite. There’s a reason why this verse is so beloved by so many. It’s because what this verse says is just so good!
“For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
Doesn’t that just sound wonderful?!
That the LORD knows His plans. That means that they are already made. They are in the works. They are certain to be fulfilled. Remember how in chapter 1, the LORD said that He is watching to see that His word is fulfilled? The LORD knows His plans. He hasn’t forgotten them. He hasn’t abandoned them. He isn’t going to change them.
And His known plans are good plans. They are plans to prosper His people. The Hebrew word there for “prosper” is “shalom,” the word that we often translate “peace.” These are plans for peace.
And it’s not just peace as in the absence of conflict, but peace as in wholeness and happiness and goodness and well-being. That’s why the NIV has “prosper.”
The LORD plans to “shalom” His people. I don’t know about you, but I want to be shalomed!! “Shalom me, Lord!”
The LORD declares that these known plans are not for His people’s harm but for their peace and prosperity and well-being. They are plans for good!
And they are plans for the future. A future full of hope!
Doesn’t that just sound wonderful?!
There’s a reason why this verse is so beloved by so many. It’s because what it says is just so good!
However! This verse was not written in the first place to you and me. And it doesn’t just show up on its in own, devoid of context. It doesn’t just show up on a poster or a meme or a wall-hanging in a nice little living room. It shows up in the middle of a letter written by the prophet Jeremiah to the exiles of Judah living in enemy territory, Babylon.
To really understand Jeremiah 29:11, you have to understand the rest of Jeremiah 29. And when you do, then you really understand just how wonderful the promise of it is. So, let’s jump back up to verse 1 and see where this promise comes from.
Jeremiah chapter 29, verse 1.
“This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. (This was after King Jehoiachin and the queen mother, the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen and the artisans had gone into exile from Jerusalem.) He entrusted the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It said...” (vv.1-3).
Jeremiah has pasted a copy of his prophetic letter into His prophetic book.
He wrote this letter sometimes after 597 BC. That’s when Nebuchadnezzar deported that first group of exiles including King Jehoiachin and his mother (whose name was Nehushta) and a bunch of other leaders. At least 3,000 of them. They had been drug off to Babylon against their will.
And King Nebuchadnezzar had installed Jehoiachin’s uncle Zedekiah onto the throne as the king of Judah. King Zedekiah then had to send some kind of delegation to Babylon. A guy named Elasah and and a guy named Gemariah. And as they are headed out of town, Jeremiah said to them, “Hey, guys, can you take this letter while you’re going there and pass it on to any of the elders of the people who have survived the terrible journey to Babylon?” And they do.
It’s a lot like one of the Apostle Paul’s letters, isn’t it? A letter coming from afar with words from God through His spokesman to His people. An official letter from a prophet to these people who had been through so so much.
These people were not on a vacation! They were in exile.
What does the letter say?
Well, we know it’s going to say that LORD knows His plans for them. And they are good plans. They are shalom plans. And they are hopeful plans. Plans for a hope and future!
But that’s not the first thing that He says. The first thing He says is, “Don’t get excited, guys. You’re going to be there a while.” Look at verse 4. “This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ‘Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease” (vv.4-6).
I’ve got three points of application that I want to draw out of this chapter this morning for us, and here’s the first one:
#1. INVEST WHILE YOU WAIT FOR HIS PLAN.
The LORD has good plans for His people, but they are future plans, and He has things He wants them to do while they wait for that hopeful future to come.
In the case of these exiles, he wants them to settle down as residents of Babylon! I almost titled this message, “Settle Down.” Like the British poster from World War Two, “Keep Calm and Carry On.”
This was not going to be just a short little exile. Like the late Prophet Hannaniah had predicted last week in chapter 28. He said 2 years, remember?
But the LORD says, “Build houses. Plant gardens. Plan to eat from those gardens. Get married. Don’t wait for the exile to end. Get married now. Have kids. Have them get married! Have them have kids! V.6 ‘Increase in number there.’”
Now that sounds good, and it is good. The LORD is promising to prosper them right where they are. The blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant are in still in place even in exile! They are to be fruitful and increase and not decrease.
But! They are still in exile. And it’s not going to be just two years.
I’m certain that they were not that happy to read those words. “Oh, Jeremiah sent us a letter? What’s it say?” “Sit tight. It’s going to be a while. Maybe your grandkids will get to come home....Oh."
That’s the context that verse 11 shows up in. These refugees are being told that they are going to stay refugees. They are going to be semi-permanent residents in the land of their captors for three generations.
And then He says something that would have been even harder for them to receive. Look at verse 7.
“Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper’” (v.7).
“Wait. You want me to what?! You’re not just telling me to endure the next 70 years living among these people who brought us here against our will? You’re asking me to seek their shalom?” That’s the Hebrew word under the words “peace and prosperity” in verse 7. The Israelites were supposed to seek the shalom of Babylon.
That’s a new one! Up until now, they were supposed to pray for the shalom of Jerusalem. [Read Psalm 122.] But now, the LORD wants them to pray for the shalom of Babylon. “Pray to the LORD for it, because if it shaloms, you too will shalom.”
Jeremiah is finally prophesying about peace. Up until now, it’s been the bad prophets who have had “peace, peace” on their lips. “Shalom, shalom” where there is no “shalom.”
But now, Jeremiah says that the exiles should seek the shalom of Babylon. To invest in their neighborhood while they are stuck there. We might say, “Bloom where you are planted, even in hostile soil.”
This is closest thing the Old Testament has to our Lord’s New Testament teaching to love, pray for, and bless our enemies. The LORD knows His good plans for His people in the future, but while they are waiting, they are supposed to invest in their hostile neighborhoods.
I think that this is a good model for you and me to think about how we live in modern day America.
Just like we learned a year ago in 1 Peter, we are exiles, too. We are refugees, citizens of the kingdom of heaven, living here as ongoing residents in the kingdoms of this world. This world is not our home, but right now it is where we have our homes.
So what should we do? Invest. Seek the shalom of the city where we are stuck right now. Don’t get too comfortable, but also dig in and be good residents and love our neighbors even if they are not very lovable.
Can you imagine how they must have felt getting these instructions from the LORD? “You want me to what?! Do you know what these people did to my family? And now you want me to seek their shalom? Their well-being, their peace and prosperity!? You want me to pray for Babylon?”
Some of you had a hard time praying for President Trump and America under his administration. Many of you are having a hard time praying for President Biden and American under his administration. You feel like he’s Nebuchadnezzar, and you’re living in Babylon.
Well, I think that’s not a bad way to think about it.
President Biden may not be a Nebuchadnezzar, but we are living in a Babylon. We are not home yet. We never have been. Not until King Jesus returns. But that does not mean that we throw up our hands and quit. It means that roll up our sleeves and dig in. We invest while we wait. We pray for the shalom of our neighborhood, even if it’s a hostile neighborhood.
Of course, we don’t pray that the evil things our neighbors plan will succeed. But we do pray that our neighborhood knows shalom.
Does that make sense? Does that give you ideas about how to live in the here and now? Jeremiah says that when we pray for shalom for our hostile neighbors, then we will experience shalom ourselves, as well. If Babylon is blessed, then the people who are forced to live in Babylon will be blessed along the way.
I think that’s the kind of logic that the Apostle Paul was using in 1 Timothy chapter 2 when he urged prayer for the oppressive Roman government. He wrote, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone–for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:1-4).
The LORD knows His good plans for us, and His good plans for us include our investing where we are while we wait for His good plans for us to come to fruition. Because it’s going to be a while.
Of course, that’s not what they wanted to hear, and they still had people around them ready to tell them what they did want to hear. They still had people ready to feed them lies. Look at verse 8.
“Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,’ declares the LORD” (vv.8-9).
There He goes again with “Do not listen,” right? Notice what they are not supposed to listen to. “The dreams you encourage them to have.” Remember what we said last week, “Do not listen to those who only tell you what you want to hear.” “The dreams you encourage them to have.”
He’s going to say more about that as the chapter ends, but now we’re getting back to the good stuff. Here’s what the LORD is saying to them. Whether they want to hear it or not, this is the truth (v.10):
“This is what the LORD says: ‘When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (vv.10-11).
Do you see what this verse is talking about in the first instance? It’s talking about the return of God’s people from their exile in Babylon. When seventy years are up (same seventy years he said back in chapter 25), the LORD is going to visit His people and bring them home again.
He knows this. He knows His plan. He hasn’t forgotten it. He hasn’t abandoned them.
It’s going to feel like it! Living in exile is hard. They are going to feel like they’ve been dropped into Siberia without a compass or a backpack or satellite phone. They are going to feel totally alone.
But the LORD knows His plans for them. And, He’s actually shared those plans with them! These are not the secret plans that He doesn’t tell anybody about. He’s straight up told them what to expect. Seventy years. And then home. “I know the plans I have for you, and now you do, too.”
You know who took that to the bank? The Prophet Daniel. Read chapter 9 of his book this afternoon and see how Daniel prayed about these seventy years!
Daniel believed that the LORD knew what He was planning. And he believed that what He was planning was good. It was for their shalom and not for their harm. And it was for a hopeful future in the land.
So how should the exiles respond to that? The LORD says how in Jeremiah’s letter. He says, in fact, how they will respond. Verse 12. “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
#2. PURSUE THE PLANNER WITH ALL YOUR HEART.
He knows the plan. And it’s good. So seek Him.
The LORD told the exiles that they could pray to Him even in Babylon. That’s good news. You don’t have to be in Israel. You don’t have to be at the temple. You can seek Him anywhere. Anywhere in the world. Even in Babylon. And if you seek Him, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart.
Are you pursuing the Lord?Are you chasing after Him?Are you calling upon Him and praying to Him?
That’s what He wants.
Did you open your Bible this week and go looking for Him? Did you pray this week, calling upon His name?
The LORD loves to be pursued. The Planner loves to be pursued.
And it’s so good for us when we do. He says that if we seek Him, we will find Him when we seek Him with all of our hearts.
Of course, that’s the exact opposite of what Judah has been doing. If they had been doing that, they wouldn’t have been exiled to Babylon in the first place!
This is going to take a change of heart. It’s going to take repentance. But the LORD says He’s going to effect that in their hearts, and when He does, they’ll be coming home again. Verse 14.
“I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.’”
Sounds to me like He knows the plans He has for them, doesn’t He?
#3. TRUST IN HIS PLAN AND NO-ONE ELSE’S.
Again, they, unlike us, were not all that excited about Jeremiah 29:11–mainly because it seemed so far off. They had other prophets around that had a more favorable time-table than Jeremiah did. And prophets who didn’t require so much repentance. Look at verse 15.
“You may say, ‘The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,’ but this is what the LORD says about the king who sits on David's throne and all the people who remain in this city, your countrymen who did not go with you into exile–yes, this is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘I will send the sword, famine and plague against them and I will make them like poor figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten. I will pursue them with the sword, famine and plague and will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth and an object of cursing and horror, of scorn and reproach, among all the nations where I drive them. For they have not listened to my words,’ declares the LORD, ‘words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets. And you exiles have not listened either,’ declares the LORD” (vv.15-19).
Last Sunday, Katie H. told me the idea that comes into her mind when I talk about Jeremiah being a broken record about the broken covenant and how the people refused to listen. She said it’s like Jeremiah was an alarm clock saying it’s time to wake up and repent, and the people of Judah kept hitting the snooze button.
“Don’t want to listen to that. Don’t want to listen to that. Don’t want to wake up. Don’t want to repent.” Snooze. Snooze. Snooze. That’s really good theology, Katie. Excellent. Good job.
But it’s a terrible way to live, isn’t it?
Not listening to the plan of the Lord but listening to someone else’s plan instead.
The LORD says that those who have been hitting the snooze button were the bad figs (remember that from chapter 24?) that were going to be thrown out.
“The sword, famine, and plague.”“The sword, famine, and plague.”“The sword, famine, and plague.”
And those who sold them this bag of lies will also be thrown out. That’s the point of verses 20 through 32. Verse 20. “Therefore, hear the word of the LORD, all you exiles whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies to you in my name: ‘I will hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your very eyes. Because of them, all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: 'The LORD treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned in the fire.' For they have done outrageous things in Israel; they have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives and in my name have spoken lies, which I did not tell them to do. I know it and am a witness to it,’ declares the LORD” (vv.20-24).
These two men are not the kings, Ahab and Zedekiah, but two prophets Ahab and Zedekiah, and they were prophesying lies and living shameful lives. And the LORD knew it. Did you see that in verse 24? “I know it and am a witness to it.”
Just like He knows His good plans for His people, He also knows our wicked hearts and deeds. And the lies we believe and tell. He knows it and is a witness to it, and one day, He will fix it.
The people of Judah in exile should have executed this Ahab and Zedekiah for being false prophets under Deuteronomy chapter 13. But the LORD says that He’ll see to it Himself, and He’ll use Nebuchadnezzar to accomplish it! Nebuchadnezzar is the LORD’s unwitting servant after all.
Nebuchadnezzar likes to throw people into a fiery furnace. It didn’t work against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, but it will work against Ahab and Zedekiah. And rightfully so. And we should take a lesson. That’s where false prophets end up with their damnable lies that we are so tempted to believe.
And the chapter ends with another false prophet. Shemaiah. Just like Uriah and Hannaniah and Ahab and Zedekiah, this is another prophet who only makes one appearance in the Bible, and it’s right here in this chapter.
Shemaiah lives in Babylon right now. He’s an exile. Jeremiah lives in Jerusalem. He’s not yet in exile. Jeremiah sends letters to Babylon with prophecy in them–and notes about Shemaiah. Shemaiah sends letters to Jerusalem with prophecy in them–and notes about Jeremiah. Look at verse 24.
“Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You sent letters in your own name to all the people in Jerusalem, to Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the other priests. You said to Zephaniah, 'The LORD has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada to be in charge of the house of the LORD; you should put any madman who acts like a prophet into the stocks and neck-irons. So why have you not reprimanded Jeremiah from Anathoth, who poses as a prophet among you?
[He’s trying to get Jeremiah in trouble.]
He has sent this message to us in Babylon: It will be a long time. Therefore build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.' [What is that? That’s verse 4. He’s giving a negative review of Jeremiah’s letter to the priest in charge of the temple, hoping to get Jeremiah up on charges of treason. V.29]
Zephaniah the priest, however, read the letter to Jeremiah the prophet. Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: ‘Send this message to all the exiles: 'This is what the LORD says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I did not send him, and has led you to believe a lie, this is what the LORD says: I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good things I will do for my people, declares the LORD, because he has preached rebellion against me.'”
Shemaiah was preaching the message everyone to hear. Even though he was in exile, he was preaching that the exile was going to be short and that they didn’t need a change of heart. They just needed a rescue. He was saying that Jeremiah was a crazy man in rebellion against Judah, but it was Shemaiah that was in rebellion against the LORD.
It sounded good, but it was all wrong. The LORD was saying that His people should trust in His plan and not anyone else’s. That’s hard when God’s plan seems to include so much tough stuff, right?
I mean, a lot of people take this one verse out of context and twist it to make it seem like God has a plan for you and it won’t include anything bad. If you belong to the Lord, then it’s all smooth sailing from here.
But Jeremiah 29:11 teaches no such thing. This is not a prosperity gospel even though the word “prosper” is right there in it. The prospering is down the line.
The perfect shaloming is still to come. It’s in the future.
These words were written to a people who were foreigners in a foreign land, there against their will.
It didn’t seem like it was all shalom and no harm. So there are other voices that want to sneak in and tell us that God’s plan is no good. And their plan is “so much better.” They might even call it God’s plan!
Don’t listen to them.
The LORD knows His plans for His people.They are plans for shalom and not for harm.They are plans to give us a hope and future forever.
Shemaiah (v.32) was not going to see the “good things,” the good plans that the LORD had for His people because he was preaching his own way. You and I need to put our faith in God’s good plan and then wait to see it come to pass.
Invest in your neighborhood while you wait for His plan.Seek the Planner with your whole heart.And trust in His plans and no-one else’s.
There’s a reason why this verse is so beloved.
It’s because the LORD’s plans for His people are just so good.
***
Previous Messages in This Series:
01. "The Word of the LORD Came to Me" - Jeremiah 1:1-19
02. "I Bring Charges Against You" - Jeremiah 2:1-3:5
03. "Return to Me" - Jeremiah 3:6-4:4
04. “Oh My Anguish, My Anguish!” - Jeremiah 4:6-5:31
05. "Ask for the Ancient Paths" - Jeremiah 6:1-30
06. “This Is the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD!” - Jeremiah 7:1-8:3
07. "Is There No Balm in Gilead?" - Jeremiah 8:4-9:22
08. "Boast About This" - Jeremiah 9:23-24
09. "Like a Scarecrow in a Melon Patch" - Jeremiah 9:25-10:25
10. "Conspiracy" - Jeremiah 11:1-12:17
11. “My People For My Renown” - Jeremiah 13:1-27
12. "I Can No Longer Show Compassion" - Jeremiah 14:1-15:21
13. "I Have Withdrawn My Blessing, My Love and My Pity" - Jeremiah 16:1-21
14. "I the LORD Search the Heart" - Jeremiah 17:1-27
15. "Go Down to the Potter's House" - Jeremiah 18:1-19:15
16. “Insult and Reproach All Day Long” - Jeremiah 20:1-18
17. "Woe to the Shepherds" - Jeremiah 21:1-23:8
18. "I Did Not Send These Prophets" - Jeremiah 23:9-40
19. "“My Eyes Will Watch Over Them For Their Good” - Jeremiah 24:1-25:38
20. "This Man Should Be Sentenced to Death" - Jeremiah 26:1-24
21. “Under the Yoke” - Jeremiah 27:1-28:17
21.
Advent Candle #2: The Days of Peace Are Coming
LEFC Family Advent Readings: The Days Are ComingThe Advent of Christ in the Prophecy of JeremiahJeremiah 23:3-6 :: December 4, 2022Week #2: A Candle of Peace “Advent” means “coming.” Christmas is coming. Jesus has come and is coming again.
Our Advent readings this season focus on the coming of the Messiah prophesied in the book of Jeremiah. Our first candle was a candle of hope.
[LIGHT FIRST CANDLE AGAIN.]
In the last dark decades before their exile, the nation of Judah was ruled by bad kings who scattered instead of shepherded the people of God. But God Himself promised to gather His flock once again under a new and good Shepherd.
[READ JEREMIAH 23:3-6.]
Our second candle is a candle of peace.
[LIGHT SECOND CANDLE.]
The LORD declared that when the new and good Shepherd would come, His people would “no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing.”
Peace will reign when the Messiah comes. God’s people will finally feel safe and secure. The flock will no longer be unsettled or skittish or feel lost. We will dwell in safety with no fear of any kind.
What an unimaginable blessing it will be to dwell securely as the sheep of His pasture in the kingdom of the Messiah!
The days of peace are coming.
