I'm reading Jeremiah chapter 29 again and again this morning and it is very instructive to me. This letter is to Israel and Israel is a unique nation. It isn't the Church. The Church comes from the same root but that is a different message.
We can look at Israel's cycles and see similarities to the cycles and mentalities of an individual human being. Israel is a survivor. God has caused them to survive.
"Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the elders who were carried away captive--to the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon. (This happened after Jeconiah the king, the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.) The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying, Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters--that you may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace." - Jeremiah 29:1-7 NKJV
Perhaps we look at the life we had and the one we have now and wonder, 'What parts have me have survived and what parts haven't?' Our cells die and are replaced and we change as we grow. For many life has taken them captive... or it seems that way. Actually, God sends us all into captivity but it isn't to hurt us. It is to grow us up.
"Now these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; each man and his household came with Jacob: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. All those who were descendants of Jacob were seventy persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already). And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them." - Exodus 1:1-7 NKJV
Why God does this is mysterious but it clearly has to do with our free will. He wants us to choose freely but fallen people need limitations or they will destroy themselves. We need a tower of Babel as much as we need a Savior. We just don't know it. We long to be free but God sets boundaries and says, 'Live here with these restrictions.' and we fight against those boundaries.
If I kept writing today my post would be 100 pages long because there is so much here in this chapter. There are false prophets in our captivity and all kinds of obstacles but Israel was told to focus on God and the salvation that was coming.
"For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive." - Jeremiah 29:10-14 NKJV
Our salvation is a person. We focus on Him.
Survival mode comes in seasons for us. There is no shame in it. Guilt and shame have real remedies in Christ. Sin, failure and just plain falling short are resolved in Jesus' time on the cross. Shame is self hatred. None of that. No. Never. God loves us and He isn't thinking that way. His thoughts are peace.
"He has broken my strength in midcourse; he has shortened my days." - Psalm 102:23 ESV
Yes. It happens to all of us but God has a well-timed plan that we will see unfold in due season. Don't despair if you feel trapped. God will release you when the time is right and you will thank Him for all of it. Yes. All of it. We don't know what we need. God only knows that.
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Showing posts with label Captivity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Captivity. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Recognizing The Child
"Daniel answered the king and said, 'No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries... The king answered and said to Daniel, 'Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.' Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon." - Daniel 2:27-28a, 47-48 ESV
"Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.'... When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh." - Matthew 2:1-2, 10-11 ESV
How did the wise men know to look for this star? Maybe someday we will find out. We do know that God raised up Daniel in Babylon and he brought what God gave him to the table as chef prefect over the wise men of Babylon.
In Ezra we see a return of Hebrew people to Israel after a 70 year Captivity but only a fraction of them went back.
"The whole assembly together was 42,360," - Ezra 2:64 ESV
This isn't the whole number. More returned over time after the temple and city walls were restored but most lived where they were taken and were scattered among the nations of the world.
Daniel's God Is the God who reveals mysteries. The God of the Hebrew Is the Father of the Messiah.
"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" - Romans 8:29-32 ESV
This Messiah is the firstborn of many brothers and sisters.
Those who believe have seen a star hover of the person of the Messiah. Jesus isn't just another man to us. He Is the Savior of the World. We go where He Is to worship Him and say, 'This One is special.'
"Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
'Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.'
And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,
'Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel...' " - Luke 2:25-34a ESV
Yes. He Is.
The glory of God hovers over the Gospel of Grace. It is not like other messages. It doesn't tell us how to please God. It tells us how God was pleased with His Son and that we also can come into that pleasure just by believing in what Jesus has done.
That is the star I follow all year long. It brings me to the person of Christ. It brings me into the embrace of the one who has loved me before time began.
Follow the Star home this Christmas. Maybe God will also give us a few who will come with us.
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"Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.'... When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh." - Matthew 2:1-2, 10-11 ESV
How did the wise men know to look for this star? Maybe someday we will find out. We do know that God raised up Daniel in Babylon and he brought what God gave him to the table as chef prefect over the wise men of Babylon.
In Ezra we see a return of Hebrew people to Israel after a 70 year Captivity but only a fraction of them went back.
"The whole assembly together was 42,360," - Ezra 2:64 ESV
This isn't the whole number. More returned over time after the temple and city walls were restored but most lived where they were taken and were scattered among the nations of the world.
Daniel's God Is the God who reveals mysteries. The God of the Hebrew Is the Father of the Messiah.
"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" - Romans 8:29-32 ESV
This Messiah is the firstborn of many brothers and sisters.
Those who believe have seen a star hover of the person of the Messiah. Jesus isn't just another man to us. He Is the Savior of the World. We go where He Is to worship Him and say, 'This One is special.'
"Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
'Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.'
And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,
'Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel...' " - Luke 2:25-34a ESV
Yes. He Is.
The glory of God hovers over the Gospel of Grace. It is not like other messages. It doesn't tell us how to please God. It tells us how God was pleased with His Son and that we also can come into that pleasure just by believing in what Jesus has done.
That is the star I follow all year long. It brings me to the person of Christ. It brings me into the embrace of the one who has loved me before time began.
Follow the Star home this Christmas. Maybe God will also give us a few who will come with us.
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