Settle Down
Jeremiah 26:1?29:32
God has Jeremiah take the message of repentance again to the temple courtyard. He repeats all the ways he’s tried to communicate – his own voice, the law, and the prophets.
God wants peace and a relationship with His people, and He will wait until the last minute to judge them. If they refuse, they will suffer like Shiloh – a place captured by the Philistines and later where the temple was destroyed.
Then Jeremiah gets another word from the Lord. This time Jeremiah is to speak out against the nations fighting against Babylon. This message is to their kings who are coming against Babylon. God makes it plain that Babylon is a tool God is using to deal with Judah.
Up to this point in the book of Jeremiah, we have seen God use Jeremiah to speak warning against Judah. The warning is to repent. Now in Chapter 29, Jeremiah hears from God and a letter is given to the exiles in Babylon. This part of the chapter is written on a lot of cards and letters, especially verses 10-14. These are verses of hope that let Jeremiah know from God that He has not forgotten the people of God, and that in time God will return them to their land.
Several years ago, Ron Dunn, then pastor of MacArthur Boulevard Baptist Church in Irving, Texas, delivered a message on this passage and it has stuck with me. Here is the outline as we finish this section of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah is wondering if God has forgotten His people. God tells Jeremiah no, and He tells Jeremiah to seek Him exclusively. Jeremiah and the people of God (and us, too) in times of uncertainty are to seek the Lord – don’t look for anything more, and don’t settle for anything less.
Then Jeremiah is told to seek the Lord exhaustively – or in other words, “with all his heart.”
When no answers are coming in the middle of uncertainty, we need to go back to the Book and ask God to show us Himself. Not to look for an answer necessarily, but for God Himself. That takes a time, a place, and a plan. As we are faithful to do that, the Holy Spirit will reveal God and His truth to us.
Jeremiah then is told to seek the Lord expectantly. In other words, God is saying, “As you do these things, know that I will answer and bring the people of God back to where they were taken from.” The Lord had revealed earlier that what God was doing in His people would take 70 years.
We are all about hurrying in our day, but God is not. He is producing something in us so He can do His will through us. The bottom line: God has a plan for us, God is in control, so settle down – it’s OK.
Barker– Lessons by Ron Barker, evangelism and prayer strategist for the evangelization and missions team of the South Carolina Baptist Convention. Barker also taught evangelism at Southwestern Seminary.