This is the Word of God to the people of Israel, now in exile in Babylon, a foreign land.
• The Babylonians had already destroyed Jerusalem and taken the people captives.
• They have lost their homes, their land, their jobs and for some, their families.
Psalm 137 was written during this time. Read the psalm and we can know how they feel. [137:1-4]
1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
2 There on the poplars we hung our harps, 3 for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!" 4 How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?
When everything is taken away from you, what you do not have is a hope and a future.
• And this is precisely what God will give them – a hope and a future.
• He said through prophet Jeremiah: “I know my plans for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (v.11)
God says He will bring them back from captivity.
• They will not remain in Babylon forever. 70 years was the time God has set for them.
• This was God’s discipline. The people had turned away from Him. They worshipped idols and did evil in the sight of the Lord.
• God has given them many warnings, urging them to repent and return. But they did not. He sent the Babylonians against them.
• So this was all God’s plan, to discipline them. But when the disciplining is over, God will bring them back.
God has a plan. God always has a plan. He says to them: “I know my plans for you.”
• God has a plan for your life. Do not be overwhelmed by the difficulties you are going through. Understand the will of God.
• God has a purpose in all that He allows in our lives.
• Our greatest fulfillment in life is in knowing God’s will and living according to His plan. Do you know what God wants you to do with your life?
Our life is not like a piece of log being tossed by the currents of this world.
• God says He has plans for His people. We may not understand them sometimes, but God does. He says, “I KNOW my plans for you…”
• He need not have to guess. God knows what He is doing in your life today.
• We may be confused, but God is perfectly clear.
In the midst of trouble, we often allow the circumstances to dictate us.
• We sit by the river, like the Israelites, and weep. There is no song in our heart.
• We forget that God is good. We forget that God has a purpose in everything He does. We forget that God has promised and it will come true.
• Don’t allow the harsh realities blind us from seeing God’s goodness and His will.
Jeremiah reminded the people, this is what the Lord says.
• He has "plans to prosper you and not to harm you..."
• God’s intention for us is always good. We may not see it at first, but trust Him.
• History tells us God is right, because after 70 years, the exile did return to their homeland. It seemed improbable but it happened. Nothing is too difficult for Him.
TWIN TOWERS SURVIVORS
On September 11, 2001 terrorists flew two hijacked passenger planes into the World Trade Center Twin Towers. Many who work in the Twin Towers survived because they were not there. They came together and shared their stories:
- One of them took his son to the Kindergarten, it was his son’s first day at school.
- One of them missed his bus.
- One spilled food on her clothes and had to take time to change.
- For one, his car wouldn’t start that morning.
- One couldn’t get a taxi.
- And then there was this man who put on a new pair of shoes that morning, but before he got to his office, he developed a blister on his foot. He stopped at a store to buy a plaster. That is why he is alive today.
These messed up events saved their lives. We may be in a messed up situation today, but remember, God has His plan. The situation you are in may be where He wants you to be at this very moment.
God desires to bless His people where they are.
• They Lord asks them to settle down in Babylon. Build houses, plant gardens, and raise up your families (verse 5 onwards).
• Verse 7 says, “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.”
Jeremiah tells them, God will prosper you where you are!
• We do not need a change of the circumstances in order to be blessed. Our hope is not for things to turn around. God blesses us where we are. He is with us even in adversity.
• Are we waiting for the economy to turn around before God can bless us? Are we waiting for our children to grow up, when we get a new job, a new house, a promotion, or for some things to change, before we can be blessed?
God blesses His people while they were still in exile. God was with them in Babylon.
• If you care to put our trust in God, you will experience His blessings where you are. We don’t have to wait for another time, or another place.
• Perhaps, you may have been looking for God’s blessings in the wrong places. We are longing for a special something to happen in order to see God’s blessings?
• Somehow, we think that the grass on the other side is greener. We keep searching for greener grass, and end up not eating the grass we have at our feet.
God is all we need, and He is with us today.
• We need to worship Him and seek Him with all our heart.
• The Lord says in verses 12-13, “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.”
• Whatever circumstances you find yourselves in, pray. God is just a prayer away.
• Isaiah says, “Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.” (Isa 59:1) He will be there to comfort and guide you.
Living out God’s plan for us does not mean everything will be easy.
• The exiles have to settle down in a foreign land, build their homes, plan their crops, and raise their family in a different culture and environment.
• It will take hard work. It will mean a lot of adjustments. God’s blessing does not remove us from the normal routines or struggles of life.
• God says we are to find His blessings in the challenges of life. You do not have to go somewhere else. He is with you to bless you, even in the midst of hardship.
Many good things happened during these 70 years.
• The Book of Daniel tells us many capable men were taken to the palace and trained to serve the King of Babylon. Daniel and his friends were among them, and they went on to become the best administrators in that land. And God’s Name was proclaimed in Babylon.
• The Jewish people were able to live in peace during these 70 years. They had time to write some of the greatest books of the OT - 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Psalm 137 were all written during this 70-year period.
• Most important of all, they learnt their lesson. The people realised that they had been unfaithful to God. This whole calamity was a discipline, and it caused them to seek the Lord wholeheartedly.
This was God’s plan. He uses whom He pleases to fulfil His plan.
• He uses the Babylonians to bring discipline, and then the Persians to bring them home. Nothing is outside God’s domain or beyond His power.
God has been doing that throughout Israel’s history.
• God used the captivity of Joseph in Egypt so that Joseph would be in a position to prepare Egypt for the famine that was to come.
• God used the daughter of Pharaoh to adopt the baby whom she called Moses, so that the child would be brought up in the safety of Pharaoh’s palace. He was then trained in the Egyptian courts so that one day he can lead His people out.
GETTING PAST YOUR PAST
Charles Colson was an aide to the former US President Richard Nixon. He was sent to jail in 1974 for a crime he committed.
As a result of his experience as a convict, Colson founded Prison Fellowship after his release, to help convicts know Christ and start a new life. It has now become the world’s largest Christian outreach to prisoners and their families. Prison Fellowship has more than 50,000 volunteers working in hundreds of prisons in 88 countries around the world.
This ministry got started 25 years ago because Charles Colson committed a crime and was imprisoned. His time spent in prison became a turning point in his life. This was all a part of God’s eternal purposes for this man. Not only was his life changed, his work became a blessing to thousands of prisoners today.
...SOURCE: Alan Perkins in "Getting Past Your Past."
It was a part of God’s plan from the very beginning.
• Just like the people of Israel, just like Colson, your life has not been ruined, not by your sin or anyone else’s.
• God’s good plan for your life is not buried under the mistakes of the past.
• God has a plan for your life, a good plan, a loving plan, and that plan is still in effect. You haven’t missed it. He is working in your life today.
Will you believe that? And put your trust in Him?
• Will you make a commitment to seek God with all your heart? Will you free yourself from the past and not live in regret and remorse?
• Seek Him and the Lord says, “I will be found by you.” (v.14) He wants to give you hope and a future.
• In this short passage, the Lord stresses a few times – pray, call upon me, come and pray to me, seek me. Don’t let this world rob you of your time with God.
Dear bro/sis, don’t neglect time with God. Don’t skip Sunday’s time of worship. We have 6 days for ourselves, that’s more than enough. Let’s honour God on Sundays.
• The Lord wants us to draw near to Him. Give Him some of your time, in prayer.
Dear friends, there is an emptiness in our heart that cannot be filled by any other thing except God Himself. The Lord says, “Seek Me with all your heart…”
• Man has sought to fill this void with wealth, fame, status, and pleasure, but none of these can give man lasting fulfilment.
• We need God. And the only way to return to Him is to admit our mistake, our sin and put our trust in Jesus Christ, who takes away our sin when He died on the cross.
• God will forgive you and give you a new life. This is His plan. This is your hope and your future.
