Latest / Dwelling Place: The Bible for Moms / #163. Mom, Your Child's Choices Are Not a Verdict on Your Motherhood | Jeremiah 31-36

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#163. Mom, Your Child's Choices Are Not a Verdict on Your Motherhood | Jeremiah 31-36 · Dwelling Place: The Bible for Moms

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  This is The Dwelling Place from Entrusted Ministries.
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  I'm Stephanie Hickox and in today's reading of Jeremiah 31 through 36, God allows Jeremiah to speak much about the future hope of the people.
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  After decades of warning of their impending judgment, in these chapters, we have rich insights into God's character His desire to bless and dwell with His people In chapters 30 through 33, Jeremiah begins to tell of a new covenant
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  God will initiate with His people.
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  In 31:10 through 14, Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare in it the coastlands far away.
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  Say he who scattered Israel will gather him and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.
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  For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
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  They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd.
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  Their life shall be like a watered shed, and they shall languish no more.
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  Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry.
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  I will turn their mourning into joy.
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  I will comfort them and give them gladness For sorrow.
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  I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the Lord.
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  Isn't that such a beautiful reality?
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  And my people shall be satisfied with my goodness.
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  In chapter 32, even though Jeremiah is in prison at this point, God calls him to buy a field.
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  Now, this seems like a pretty radical call when you're in prison, And when the Babylonians had already taken over that portion of land.
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  But Jeremiah obeys because it reveals that he has faith in all the promises that the Lord is saying.
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  He believes God will bring the people back to the land.
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  it possibly also indicates the fact that Jeremiah was wealthier than some of the other prophets After this transaction, Jeremiah praises the Lord and as I read this portion, I want you to listen for the rich theology and what
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  we're reminded about God's character Beginning in 32:17 Lord God, it is you who have made the heavens and the earth.
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  By your great power and by your outstretched arm, nothing is too hard for you.
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  You show steadfast love to thousands, but you repay the guilt of fathers to their children after them.
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  O great and mighty God, whose name is the Lord of hosts, great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, rewarding each one according to his ways and
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  according to the fruit of his deeds.
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  You have shown signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and to this day in Israel and among all mankind, and have made a name for yourself as at this day.
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  You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and outstretched arm, and with great terror.
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  And you gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey.
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  And they entered and took possession of it.
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  But they did not obey your voice or walk in your law.
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  They did nothing of all you commanded them to do.
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  Therefore, you have made all this disaster come upon them.
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  And behold, the siege mounds have come up to the city to take it.
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  And because of sword and famine and pestilence, the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it.
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  What you spoke has come to pass, and behold, you see it.
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  Yet you, O God, have said to me, Buy the field for money and get witnesses, though the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans."
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  The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh.
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  Is anything too hard for me?
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  Therefore thus says the Lord: 'Behold, I am giving this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall capture it.
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  The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city shall come and set this city on fire and burn it, with the houses on whose roofs offerings have been made to Baal and drink offerings have been poured out to other
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  gods, to provoke me to anger.'"
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  For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth.
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  The children of Israel have done nothing but provoke me to anger by the work of their hands, declares the Lord.
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  This city has aroused my anger and wrath from the day it was built to this day, so that I will remove it from my sight because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of
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  Judah, that they did provoke me to anger Their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, they have turned to me their back and not their face.
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  And though I have taught them persistently, they have not listened to receive instruction.
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  They set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name to defile it.
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  They build the high places of Baal in the valley of the Son of Hinnom to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind that they should
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  do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin Now therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon, by sword, by famine,
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  and by pestilence': Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger, and my wrath, and in great indignation.
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  I will bring them back to this place, and will make them dwell in safety.
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  And they shall be my people, and I will be their God I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me forever for their own good and the good of their children after them.
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  I will make with them an everlasting covenant that I will not turn away from doing good to them, and I will put the fear of me in their hearts that they may not turn from me.
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  I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness with all my heart and with all my soul.
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  For thus says the Lord, Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promised them."
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  I chose this to be our reading for today because of how much it affirms regarding the character of God after many chapters of sorrow and suffering It's beautiful to hear Jeremiah rejoicing in the character of God and then
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  God gives us a history lesson on exactly why His people are being disciplined but then in the most radical of transitions God pivots to provide these incredibly beautiful promises.
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  and they're some of my very favorite verses to pray over my kids, so that's how we'll be ending the episode Let me mention a few of those blessings again.
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  God will gather them.
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  He will make them dwell in safety.
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  He will give them one heart and one way.
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  They will fear Him forever for their good and the good of their children.
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  God will make an everlasting covenant, and He will not turn away from doing good to them.
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  He'll put the fear of God in their hearts so they won't turn away from Him.
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  He will rejoice in doing them good and plant them in the land with all His heart and with all His soul.
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  To the extent that He brought discipline, He will now bring blessing and favor Jesus talked about this new covenant in the Last Supper, and some of these promises are already being fulfilled by anyone, Jew or Gentile, who has
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  professed belief in Jesus Christ and we look forward to the day when all of it will be fulfilled.
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  by our righteous King.
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  As I've said many times, I never want to force the parenting theme But as much as I'm saddened over the people's sin in these chapters, I'm also somewhat encouraged that God persistently, effectively communicated the truth and the law
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  to the nation, and they did not obey and honor Him That might seem like an odd statement, but it reminds me not to fixate on my kids' disobedience or to think it's all about me, when in fact My
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  kids and your kids all have sin natures.
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  And just because a child wants to do their own thing, whether it's wearing what they wanna wear, sneaking another treat, trying to have more screen time or more time with a friend, that doesn't necessarily say anything about their
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  relationship with us or our effectiveness as mothers.
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  I'm thankful that we can have God's model to parent in light of eternity And to not grow weary even when our kids' choices are entirely wearisome And I haven't mentioned it in a while, but that's why our ministry
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  exists.
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  Entrusted With a Child's Heart is all about bringing these biblical insights together to help you focus on what truly matters to the Lord about your parenting.
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  As always, it'll be linked in the show notes if you'd like to learn more.
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  As we move on to Jeremiah chapter 33, we read 33:3.
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  It's a well-known, beautiful verse, and some even include it in their gospel presentation.
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  While Jeremiah is in prison, God tells him, Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known."
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  Even though they could probably feel the wall shaking from the attack of the Chaldean army.
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  In 33:9, God says, And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth, who shall hear of all the good that I do for them.
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  They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it."
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  Wow, have you ever been afraid of God's abundant blessing?
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  Continuing to speak to that new covenant, beginning in verse fourteen, we read, Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
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  In those days and at that time, I will cause a righteous branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
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  In those days, Jerusalem will dwell securely, and this is the name by which it will be called: The Lord is our righteousness."
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  It's a beautiful promise And one day Jesus will reign as priest and king.
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  But unfortunately, not everything from our reading today was hope and beauty.
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  we encounter a circumstance in which King Zedekiah freed his slaves but then took them back, completely contradicting the way God said you were supposed to treat people who needed to pay off debts God's intention was that they could
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  maintain their dignity and have honor while being restored financially In fact, God says that they profaned His name by how they dealt with this issue of slavery.
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  That's a very strong rebuke And so that we continue to understand that listening and obeying is a thoroughly biblical concept, I wanted to read Jeremiah 35:13-15.
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  Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will you not receive instruction and listen to
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  my words?"
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  declares the Lord.'"
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  I have spoken to you persistently, but you have not listened to me.
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  I have sent to you all my servants, the prophet, all my servants, the prophets, sending them persistently saying, Turn now every one of you from his evil way and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods
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  to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.'
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  But you did not incline your ear or listen to me."
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  as we read chapter 36, we're invited to learn more about Baruch's responsibilities and faithfulness in attending to Jeremiah as a scribe.
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  Even while Jeremiah is in prison, Baruch stands by him, writing down all the words that Jeremiah dictates to him, those that he has heard from the Lord Jehoiakim or Jehoiakim, however you'd like to pronounce it, was the second
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  to the last king of Judah.
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  he sends for this scroll that Jeremiah is writing, and in a horrific and wicked display of the lack of the fear of the Lord, as one of his men reads it to him, The king would cut off a
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  few columns of the scroll and throw them into the fire until the entire scroll had been burned up.
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  It would be awful to do this to any portion of the word of God but this is the peak of arrogance To burn these warnings about his own impending judgment.
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  His heart was abundantly hard.
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  I'm still getting over the fact that Amy burned Jo's writing in Little Women and Joe had to rewrite it all.
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  And side note, Jeremiah and Baruch have to redo this entire scroll, and they do.
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  But how much more wicked is this That they're burning the word of God Now get this.
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  Do you know who Jehoiakim's father was?
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  Josiah.
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  Remember how radically different Josiah's response to hearing the word of God was?
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  Instead of tearing the word of God in the scroll, he tore his clothes in repentance and humility.
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  These two men may share DNA, but their hearts were far from each other It's difficult to understand how with all of Josiah's reforms and faithfulness to the Lord that his son could act so irreverently toward the holy word
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  of God We aren't given any indication in scripture that Josiah wasn't a faithful father, and we could be completely discouraged by this reality, or we can take all of this unsettledness right before the Lord, praying His Word for
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  our kids because we know these are promises He longs to answer Heavenly Father, we praise you for your faithful example as a father.
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  We thank you for the way you have parented and disciplined us.
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  And Lord, we confess to you that often our role as mothers and our attempts to be faithful day in and day out are wearying.
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  We need your Holy Spirit to help us endure well for your glory.
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  Help us to discern the battles that are important to you and which ones could be left for another time or another season Give us a vision of your plans for our kids and help us to have faith So
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  that we can have hope even when their choices don't match up with what we've taught them We pray you would give our kids one heart and one way that they would fear you forever for their own good and
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  for the good of their children after them.
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  We pray that they would be included in your everlasting covenant, that you would not turn away from doing good to them.
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  Put the fear of you in their hearts that they would not turn away from you.
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  Rejoice in doing them good and plant them in faithfulness with all your heart and with all your soul We thank you that you've entrusted them to us and that you love them so dearly.
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  And we pray all of this in the Lord who is our righteousness Jesus Christ, amen