Strangers in a Strange Land: God s

Transcription

1 Strangers in a Strange Land: God s Instructions for Living in a Strange Land Summary and Goal Jeremiah urged deported Judeans to make themselves at home in Babylon by building houses, taking spouses, and seeking the welfare of the city in which they lived. God didn t promise to deliver His people from difficult days, but He did command them to live as His people in a foreign land. Jeremiah s instructions are especially helpful to Christians living as exiles in a post-christian culture today. Main Passages Jeremiah 29:1-14 Session Outline 1. Trust God s Hand (Jeremiah 29:1-5) 2. Live as God s People (Jeremiah 29:6-9) 3. Depend on God s Word (Jeremiah 29:10-14) Theological Theme Christians are to live as sent people within their secular culture. Christ Connection God s people were sent into exile because of their disobedience and unbelief under the Old Covenant. In the New Covenant, God sent Jesus to a rebellious people to make a way for them to be reconciled to Him. Missional Application Just as the Old Testament exiles were to live as representations of God s people within the Babylonian culture, so too are Christians today to live as incarnational representatives of God s people within their secular culture. 1 Leader Guide

2 Historical Context of Jeremiah Purpose Jeremiah is the prophet of the word of the Lord (Jer 1:2). Of the 349 times the OT uses the phrase, thus says the Lord, Jeremiah accounts for 157 of them. But this prophetic word that Jeremiah spoke was more than an objective revelation from God to the nation; God s words were to be joy and food for Jeremiah s own soul. As Jeremiah 15:16 states, Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words were a delight to me and the joy of my heart. However, God s Word was sometimes a burden to the prophet. He sometimes grew tired of bringing God s message of judgment to an unresponsive people. Author Jeremiah was a priest from the town of Anathoth (Jer 1:1). At the Lord s command, he neither married nor had children because of the impending judgment that would come upon the next generation. His ministry as a prophet began in 626 b.c. and ended after 586 b.c. He was a contemporary of Habakkuk and possibly Obadiah. Setting The Book of Jeremiah discusses the last days of Judah. King Hezekiah reigned for 42 years ( b.c.) and began to reverse Judah s spiritual bankruptcy. But when Hezekiah s son, Manasseh, came to the throne, idolatrous and superstitious cultic practices and rites came back like a flood. Manasseh s son Amon ruled for only two years ( b.c.). He also reinstated idol worship as the official religion of Judah (2Ch 33:22-23). Amon s eight-year-old son, Josiah, succeeded him on the throne. This lad walked in the ways of the former King David. When he was 18 years old (622 b.c.), he called for long-delayed repairs to be made to the temple. During this work, a copy of the law of Moses was found. On the basis of hearing this word, the young king and all his people renewed the covenant with the Lord. However, this reformation failed to overcome the effects of the wickedness Manasseh and Amon had instituted. Key Verses Jeremiah 29:11 Special Features The book and prophet Jeremiah hold at least two great distinctions among all the Old Testament prophets: (1) This is the longest Prophetic Book in the Bible (1,364 verses), and (2) Jeremiah s life is more fully described than any of the other 15 writing prophets. Into the tumultuous times of the last half of the seventh century and the first quarter of the sixth century b.c. came this prophet bearing a word from God for the stubborn people of Judah. The book s contents span roughly from 640 to 580 b.c. Excerpted and paraphrased from the Holman Christian Standard Study Bible, Holman Bible Publishers, Date of My Bible Study: 2

3 2 Session Plan Strangers in a Strange Land: God s Instructions for Living in a Strange Land For Further Discussion What is a situation in our community that many view as hopeless? How does the gospel bring hope to even the most bleak situations? How can our church be a voice of hope in this situation in our community? Introduction Many in the evangelical church take an us versus them mentality when it comes to engaging culture. But the message of Jeremiah in this passage is not us versus them ; instead, it is a message of hope and courage in a difficult culture. The church of Jesus Christ must live missionally within her communities to show and share the love of Jesus Christ. What events have tempted you to retreat to your Christian enclaves and avoid the culture around you? How can you live a distinctly Christian life in our increasingly secular world? What is the role of evangelism in living as God s people in a foreign land? In what ways is evangelism not enough? How are God s people called to live holistic Christian lives impacting the culture in broad ways? 1. Trust God s Hand (Jeremiah 29:1-5) Hope was not Jeremiah s primary language. Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet because his words were filled with doom and gloom, but in this letter to the exiles Jeremiah offered a lifeline. He didn t say, I told you so. Jeremiah continued to do what he had always done; speak God s word faithfully, powerfully, and completely. In their exile, Jeremiah offered good news: God was not dead nor had He been defeated. Name a time when you have been tempted to believe that God has forgotten you. Why did you believe that? How did you overcome that belief? How did God create a people through His word? How did God use His Word to save you, and how is He continuing to use His word to re-create you into His image? 3 Leader Guide

4 2. Live as God s People (Jeremiah 29:6-9) The Israelites were not to go to Babylon and waste their time there. In Babylon they were to be a reflection of God s love and care. Even in exile, the people of God were called to act, love, and look like the people of God. God called Israel to be a nation of priests. Priests intercede on behalf of others before God. In many respects, the people of Israel were to be interceders before God on behalf of Babylon. Yahweh is a missionary God and, as such, expects that His people always live and act as missionaries. How have you been called to be a missionary to those people with whom you interact most regularly? How do you show God s love on a regular basis as his ambassador in the corner of the world to which he has called you? What does it look like for you to seek the welfare of the city in which you live and in which your church resides? How can you seek the welfare of your city and not be stained by the sinfulness of those around you? 3. Depend on God s Word (Jeremiah 29:10-14) The hope of Jeremiah 29:11 today is not a guarantee of prosperity. Instead, it is the confidence that God is in control. God is in control of all things. He was in control of the defeat of Judah and would even be in control of the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple. Jeremiah 29:11 is not a guarantee for an easy life; it is the promise that regardless of your situation, you are not alone and God is not finished. Name a time when God s Word has sustained you. What are some verses you have found most beneficial in dark days of your life? Why are verses like Jeremiah 29:11 and Romans 8:28 so easily misapplied? In spite of the ways they have been abused, how do Jeremiah 29:11 and Romans 8:28 give you hope? Conclusion Why is it easy to sometimes view secular culture as the enemy to be overcome instead of individual souls in need of conversion? St. Augustine said, Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee. How can we speak into the restless hearts of our secular culture by living within the culture and seeking the welfare of those with whom we interact regularly? Session 2 4

5 Expanded Session Content 2 Strangers in a Strange Land: God s Instructions for Living in a Strange Land Introduction Books on culture and how to engage it are a mainstay for Christian publishing, but they are not always enjoyable reading. The book A Practical Guide to Culture by John Stonestreet and Brett Kunkle is wellwritten and important, but much of it is depressing. Stonestreet and Kunkle leave no doubt that Mayberry doesn t exist any longer in Western culture. You may read this important book and go hold your children tight. The world can be a scary place. Stonestreet and Kunkle reveal much of the underbelly of drug abuse and the sexual revolution, but you can be just as shocked watching the nightly news or spending time on Instagram. Similarly, the exiles to whom Jeremiah was writing understood culture shock. They had been forced from their homeland and taken against their will into a foreign land. The Judean exiles could certainly have been tempted to hold their kids tight and build walls to keep the world out, or to live shallow lives waiting for the day when they would return home, but Jeremiah had different instructions for them. Jeremiah urged the exiles to live lives that honored God among the Babylonians. They were going to be in Babylon for a long time and needed to invest in the city as such. So too, as God s people in twenty-first century America, we can lament the state of our culture but we cannot run and hide from it. God has called His people to live as exiles in a foreign land. This world is not our home, and with each passing day we will discover that we were made for another world. But until the day that God decides to set up His otherworldly reign on earth, we are to live as His ambassadors in this foreign land, seeking the welfare of those around us and pursuing God with our whole hearts. What events have tempted you to retreat to your Christian enclaves and avoid the culture around you? How can you live a distinctly Christian life in our increasingly secular world? 5 Leader Guide

6 What is the role of evangelism in living as God s people in a foreign land? In what ways is evangelism not enough? How are God s people called to live holistic Christian lives impacting the culture in broad ways? Session Summary Many in the evangelical church take an us versus them mentality when it comes to engaging culture. But the message of Jeremiah in this passage is not us versus them ; instead, it is a message of hope and courage in a difficult culture. The church of Jesus Christ must live missionally within her communities to show and share the love of Jesus Christ. 1. Trust God s Hand (Jeremiah 29:1-5) The beginning verses of Jeremiah 29 clearly identified Jeremiah as the author of this important letter to the exiles and date the letter after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the court officials, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metalsmiths had left Jerusalem. The clear implication here was that Judah and Jerusalem had been completely decimated. The Babylonians had raided the country of her best and brightest and had left an empty shell in Judah and Jerusalem. The people who had been shipped off to Babylon were not rejoicing. Instead, they were in despair. At this point they were almost certainly questioning God. Perhaps they had begun to believe that all hope was lost because the gods of Babylon had proven to be stronger than the God of Abraham. It appeared as though Yahweh had lost and with the defeat, Yahweh s people were doomed. But, Jeremiah brought hope. Hope was not Jeremiah s primary language. Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet because his words were filled with doom and gloom, but in this letter to the exiles Jeremiah offered a lifeline. He didn t say, I told you so. Jeremiah continued to do what he had always done; speak God s word faithfully, powerfully, and completely. In their exile, Jeremiah offered good news: God was not dead nor had He been defeated. Instead, the children of Abraham were right where God intended them to be. Yahweh, the God of Israel, was not surprised to find His people in Babylon because He sent them there and now He offered them instruction in a foreign land. When God brought the Israelites out of Egypt with His mighty hand, He did not leave them in the wilderness to die. Instead, He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then he gave you manna to eat, which you and your fathers had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Session 2 6

7 Lord (Deuteronomy 8:3). So too, now that His people had been brought out of their promised land, He came to them again with His word. Exiled by God It is significant that the Lord, not Nebuchadnezzar, said, I carried into exile. The first person pronoun served notice to the exiles that what had recently happened to them was under God s sovereign control. The thrust of the message to the exiles was to settle down in Babylon for a long stay; the exile would not be brief. More than anything else, God s people need God s Word. It is through His Word that His people are called out and raised up. He created a people through His word, and was now nourishing His people in a foreign land through His word. Just as He brought them out of Egypt, He also had brought them out of the promised land and into exile. Babylon was not in charge and the gods of Babylon had not prevailed. Israel s God was still in control of Israel. They had been exiled in discipline, but they had not been forgotten. He was still their God and they were still His people, and was still nourishing them through His word. In the dark days of the soul, it can be difficult to have confidence in God s care and control. During the exile, the people of God struggled to believe that God was with them and cared, but Jeremiah showed them how God s sovereign hand had been involved in their struggle. They couldn t see God s face in these dark days, but they could trust His hand. Name a time when you have been tempted to believe that God has forgotten you. Why did you believe that? How did you overcome that belief? How did God create a people through His word? How did God use His Word to save you, and how is He continuing to use His word to re-create you into His image? 2. Live as God s People (Jeremiah 29:6-9) God sent His word to nourish His people, but His word was more than an encouragement or a slap on the back. God s word was instructive and powerful. The Israelites were sent to Babylon because they refused to follow God s clear commandments and broke God s covenant. But, even in their chastisement, God had a purpose and a plan for them. The Israelites were not to go to Babylon and waste their time there. In Babylon, they were to be a reflection of God s love and care. Even in exile, the people of God were called to act, love, and look like the people of God. God called Israel to be a nation of priests. Priests intercede on behalf of others before God. In many respects, the people of Israel were to be interceders before God on behalf of Babylon. Yahweh is a missionary God and, as such, expects that His people always live and act as missionaries. God gave specific instructions: build houses, plant gardens, find wives, raise families. Multiply and do not decrease. Just as God used the years in Egypt to build up and create His people, so too in Babylon the exiles were to multiply and be strengthened. But they were not to do this for 7 Leader Guide

8 their own good only, for God also commanded, Pursue the well-being of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it thrives, you will thrive. Rather than treating the Babylonians who had taken control of them as enemies, God urged His people to pray for them and seek their welfare. God also warned the Israelites that false teachers would come and speak lies in God s name. Based on the context, it appears that these teachers would seek to distort God s word by urging the Israelites to view their exile as a short-term event and not to become fully ingrained into Babylonian culture. Rather than listen to these voices that would keep the Israelites distant from their Babylonian counterparts, God urges His people to engage with their enemies and intercede on their behalf. In our own world, it is popular in some corners to urge Christians to cordon themselves off from secular culture, but the picture painted by Jeremiah for God s children living in exile is not one of retreat, but one of engagement with God s good news. How have you been called to be a missionary to those people with whom you interact most regularly? How do you show God s love on a regular basis as His ambassador in the corner of the world to which He has called you? What does it look like for you to seek the welfare of the city in which you live and in which your church resides? How can you seek the welfare of your city and not be stained by the sinfulness of those around you? 3. Depend on God s Word (Jeremiah 29:10-14) In verses 10-14, Jeremiah gave some bad news. God s people were in Babylon for the long haul. It can be easy to focus on the second half of verse 10 and on verse 11, but the first part of verse 10 is discouraging. God clearly said, When seventy years are complete. Many people who had been taken into exile would not live long enough to see the day when they would return to their homeland. Many families that had been displaced through exile would not be reunited. How could they possibly endure seventy years in captivity? How could God s people even survive? Once again, God gave them His word of promise. The days ahead were long and there would be sorrow, but there was a joyful morning coming. God had a plan and a purpose in sending His children into exile. Through their time of chastisement, God s people would learn to come to Him and pray to Him, and He would hear them from heaven. The day was coming when God s people would turn from their idols, walk away from their despair, search for Yahweh, and find Him. Session 2 8

9 Jeremiah 29:11 is one of the most misapplied verses in all of the Bible. It was a verse given to a specific people in a specific time. It is not a word of hope for America or Great Britain, or even for our church. Jeremiah 29:11 was a word given to Israel following their deportation. The promise of this verse was not that God would give them everything they wanted; the promise of this verse was that their discipline wouldn t last forever. God had a plan. His plan included exile, but it also included a future and a hope. Israel would not always live in Babylon. God s people would once again live under God s rule and blessing. The hope of Jeremiah 29:11 today is not a guarantee of prosperity. Instead, it is the confidence that God is in control. God is in control of all things. He was in control of the defeat of Judah and would even be in control of the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple. Jeremiah 29:11 is not a guarantee for an easy life; it is the promise that regardless of your situation, you are not alone and God is not finished. Even in discipline, God has a plan and a purpose. Jeremiah 29:11 works in concert with Romans 8:28, all things work together for the good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. All things work together for God s good ends. Even those things that others mean for harm, God can use for good. He is in control and you can trust Him. When the days are dark and the road is hard, depend on God s Word. Jeremiah 29 was written to a specific people in a particular time and place, but the truths of this chapter apply to all of God s people. Wherever God s people are found, their God is there with them and they have an opportunity and responsibility to serve Him in that place. God is present among His people through His Word. His Word is given for the good of His people. Name a time when God s Word has sustained you. What are some verses you have found most beneficial in dark days of your life? Why are verses like Jeremiah 29:11 and Romans 8:28 so easily misapplied? In spite of the ways they have been abused, how do Jeremiah 29:11 and Romans 8:28 give you hope? Conclusion Christians can sometimes labor over the question of being in God s will. One thing that Jeremiah 29 teaches very plainly is that being in God s will usually has less to do with where you are, and more to do with what you are doing and who you are following. God s people found God s will, not by living in Judah or Jerusalem, but by obeying His word and fulfilling His purposes in a foreign land. 9 Leader Guide

10 God s will for you is to know His Word and live it. God s will is to love God, love others, and change the world. God s will is that none should perish but that all should come to a saving knowledge of Him. All of this means that God s will is for you to look and act like Him in any and every situation that you find yourself. This world can be scary, but you can trust that God s hand is guiding you. You can live as God s people even in a strange and foreign land. And as God s people, you can depend on His Word to sustain you. As God s ambassadors in the world, Christians alone have the message that brings hope and reconciliation. The gods of Babylon didn t satisfy the longings of Babylonian hearts. They needed the fulfillment that is only found in the God of Israel. Similarly, the gods of twenty-first century American culture do not satisfy. The people with whom you interact daily need to hear and experience the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Only Jesus can fill the hole in their heart and give them real life and significance. Seek out the lost among you, and give them hope and a future through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Why is it easy to sometimes view secular culture as the enemy to be overcome instead of individual souls in need of conversion? St. Augustine said, Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee. How can we speak into the restless hearts of our secular culture by living within the culture and seeking the welfare of those with whom we interact regularly? Prayer of Response Pray for the ability to trust God in your current season of life, even if it is difficult. Ask God to reveal to you the ways in which He is calling you to live for the benefit of others and for His glory in your current circumstances. Additional Resources Every Good Endeavor by Tim Keller Onward by Russell Moore Saturate by Jeff Vanderstelt Session 2 10

11 For Next Week Session Title --Strangers in a Strange Land: Transformed Thinking Main Passages --Romans 12:1-2 Session Outline 1. Do Not Be Conformed. 2. Be Transformed. 3. Discern and Do the Will of God. Memorize For I know the plans I have for you this is the Lord s declaration plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. --Jeremiah 29:11 11 Leader Guide

12 Extended Commentary Jeremiah 29: :1-3. These verses give the setting for a lengthy letter from Jeremiah to those exiles who had already been taken to Babylon. He sent the letter by two prominent men whose fathers were friendly toward him in earlier years. Many Old Testament students suggest they may have been taking tribute money to Nebuchadnezzar from Zedekiah. 29:4-9. Jeremiah offered practical advice to the exiles. The essence of it was threefold. First, carry on a normal life. Do the things you would do if you were back in your own land. Provide a living place, arrange for food, and be satisfied with what you can get. Continue family life in the usual way. Encourage your children to do the same, even beginning their own families. Second, refrain from any rebellion against the government of the land in which you live. Be good citizens. Recognize as it prospers that you will also. Third, refuse to believe the false prophets who, claiming to have a message from Yahweh, are causing you to dream unrealistic dreams. 29: In these verses Yahweh announced, through Jeremiah, his plan for the people s future. He would fulfill them but only after seventy years had passed. This was the time he allotted to Babylon before this nation fell to another world power. Yahweh assured the prophet and the people that he had not forgotten the reason for Israel and Judah s existence. He would provide for their present needs, both temporal and spiritual. At some time in the future, they would be ready for deliverance and further blessings. When this occurred, he would be available for them. Yahweh was not specific on how complete and thorough their national commitment must be before he brought them back to their homeland. They did undergo a transformation during the exile and learned valuable lessons. One of my college professors listed what he called three important results of the exile (1) a thorough purging of idolatrous rituals in worship and acceptance of monotheism, (2) the rise of synagogues as teaching institutions, and (3) a deeper longing for their Messiah. This does not mean the Jews were without error after that, but they did learn those valuable lessons. In verse 14, Yahweh promised to bring back home not only those in Babylon but also those in other places, which he called all the nations. Some see this as an unfulfilled prophecy until 1948 when the doors of Palestine were open to Jews from all over the world. Others contend it referred only to the Jews of Jeremiah s day who were dispersed over much of the known world. 1 References 1. Anders, Max E., Glen Martin, Trent C. Butler, Kenneth O. Gangel, and Steven J. Lawson. Jeremiah, Lamentations. Vol. 16. Holman Old Testament Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, Session 2 12