Plans To Prosper You Series

Here are a couple more verses that have had a deep impact on my life…

• Jeremiah 1:4: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” We see once again the Bible’s ethic of life – God knows the preborn even before they are born! I’m excited that we’re participating in the Baby Bottles for Life project for Pregnancy Resources again. I’ve already filled up three and am working on number four. BTW, you can also give through the Edgewood App if you don’t have change.

• Jeremiah 2:13: “For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” This verse became the basis for the Soul Satisfaction tract that I wrote several years ago – we will never be satisfied until we find our satisfaction in the Savior.

Please turn to Chapter 29, where we will see that this chapter is actually a letter. Look at verse 1: “These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.” In verse 2 we see that the king and queen mother, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, along with the craftsmen and metal workers all were forced to leave. That left no leaders to organize a rebellion and no craftsmen to rebuild.

When?

I don’t want to gloss over the dates but I also don’t want your eyes to glaze over, so I will share just the most important elements. The first thing to know is that God’s people were grouped into 12 tribes. After the death of Solomon, a division occurred with the 10 tribes in the north known as Israel and the two tribes in the south known as Judah.

• In 722 BC, God sent the nation of Assyria to attack Israel and disperse the ten northern tribes. They are known today as the “10 lost tribes of Israel.”

• Judah should have learned their lesson by watching what happened to their brothers and sisters in the north, but unfortunately their idol worship led to God mobilizing the Babylonians over 100 years later to attack and destroy Judah and the capital city of Jerusalem.

The Babylonians were relentless and ruthless, striking Jerusalem three different times over the course of about 19 years, capturing people and taking most of them back to Babylon where they lived as exiles. We could say for them it was “three strikes and you’re out.”

• STRIKE #1 (605 BC) – After Jeremiah warned the nation for 23 years the Babylonians busted into Jerusalem and took King Jehoikim away in chains along with sacred objects from the temple. This is when DANIEL and his friends were taken into exile.

• STRIKE #2 (597 BC) – Eight years later, all but the poorest were taken into captivity and all the gold in Jerusalem was sent to Babylon. This is when EZEKIEL was sent into exile.

• STRIKE #3 (586 BC) – Eleven years later, the Babylonians destroyed the city walls of Jerusalem and burned the temple to the ground.