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On Nov 04, 2009: Jeremiah 32 · Teachings On This Day On FerventWord

• You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2009. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the 10th year of Zedekiah, king of Judah, which was the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar. For then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah's house. Here as we start out in chapter 32, Jeremiah is giving us some background on this event that is taking place and this prophecy that will be brought forth. And so this is taking place specifically in the 10th year of King Zedekiah. Now, for those who are familiar, as I repeat every week, the different kings that were reigning in the last few months and years of the nation of Judah, Zedekiah was really the last king of Judah before the nation was conquered by Babylon. Zedekiah reigned for 11 years there in Jerusalem. He reigned 11 years for the nation of Judah. And so you can do the math. This is in the 10th year of his reign. And Babylon is laying siege to Jerusalem. And Zedekiah is the king. He has one year left essentially. This is it. It's coming down to the final months as Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem. The battle has begun and they are in their last few moments, the last few months that they have an opportunity to repent and get right with God. Now, the way that Babylon would attack nations and cities in those days, pretty much the nation of Judah was at this point all gathered into the city of Jerusalem. And as they were gathered into the city of Jerusalem, that was their last stand. They were there to live or to die. They had nowhere else to go. And Babylon then surrounds the city of Jerusalem. So that no supplies can come in, nobody can leave unless of course you're surrendering to the Babylonian army. And so as they surround the city of Jerusalem, they are basically just waiting them out, waiting for them to starve, waiting for them to run out of water, waiting for them to get desperate enough that they will just give up. Why fight a battle and lose men when you can just set up camp around and wait two years and then the city is yours and the nation is completely done. And that was the strategy of Babylon in those days. And so they lay siege to Jerusalem and it's during this siege... Jeremiah chapter 1 verses 1 through 12. And it's an interesting situation because the piece of property that Jeremiah purchases is actually already been conquered by Babylon. But God is using this situation not to give Jeremiah more property, but to make a point about what he's going to do in the future. Now, Jeremiah tells us the timing. It was in the 10th year of Zedekiah, the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar, which, again, it points to a specific time, which also illustrates, as we often see, the reliability of the scriptures. that this took place in a specific time. It's verifiable and it's accurate. It's historical. It's factual. And so at this time in history, this prophecy comes to Jeremiah and this event takes place. Well, he tells us not only is it during the siege, so they're under siege, but Jeremiah not only is in Jerusalem under siege with the rest of the city, but he's also in prison. And he's in prison there in the prison that was in the king's house, the king of Judah's house. And it's there as he's in prison that this is going to take place. Now, why is he in prison? Well, he goes on to tell us in verses 3 through 5, it says this. For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Why do you prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it. And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him face to face, and see him eye to eye. Then he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall be until I visit him, says the Lord. Though you fight with the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed. So here's what happened. Zedekiah hears this prophecy of Jeremiah and he doesn't like it. And he's the king so he can do what he wants. And so he takes Jeremiah and he puts him in prison saying, why are you saying these things? Now what are the things that Jeremiah is saying? Jeremiah is saying that Babylon is going to conquer the city. The nation of Judah, to the very end, held fast to the thought that God would not allow them to be conquered because they had the temple, which was the place where God had chosen to put His name, and because they had the scriptures, and because they were God's people, they figured... doesn't matter really what we do or how we live. God won't allow us to be conquered because we have this privileged position of having the place where he has put his name and having his word and being his people and so it's not going to happen. But Jeremiah was pronouncing the opposite. He was saying, no, Babylon is going to conquer this nation. And the king, Zedekiah, he says, you're going to see him face to face. You're going to stand before the king of Babylon as you're taken captive. And then you're going to be led into Babylon. And that's where you're going to die. And he says, even if you try to fight against Babylon, you will not succeed. Well, Zedekiah didn't want to hear this. He didn't like this. And so he takes Jeremiah and he puts him in prison. Verse 6. And Jeremiah said, the word of the Lord came to me saying, so now at this point he's replying back to King Zedekiah. King Zedekiah says, why are you saying all these things about me? Why are you pronouncing these things? And so here's Jeremiah's response. Verse 7. Verse 1, Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. Verse 9. So I bought the field from Hanamel, the son of my uncle who is in Anathoth, and weighed out to him the money, 17 shekels of silver. And so here we have the event that actually takes place. Jeremiah is there in prison. He's been put there by Zedekiah because he didn't like the prophecies that Jeremiah was bringing forth. And now God tells Jeremiah about something that's going to happen. He says, look, your uncle's son or your cousin is going to come and is going to ask you to buy a field. And so when he comes to ask you, then buy the field that he offers to you. And then it tells us that after God tells him this, then it actually happens. This guy, Hanamel, is that the right way to pronounce his name? Hanamel comes to Jeremiah and he says, hey, I've got this field and it's your right to redeem it, to buy it. And so what do you say? You want to purchase it? And so Jeremiah says in verse 9, something, or verse 8, very interesting. He says, then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. So God had spoken to him, but he recognized when the event actually took place, okay, it really was of the Lord. This really was God speaking to me. In those days, when you would purchase property in the nation of Judah, you wouldn't purchase property to keep, as we would think of property today. When you buy a house or you buy land, it's yours until you sell it. But in the nation of Israel, God had set it up in such a way that the land would always belong to the family that he had given it to. And so the land would always be returned to to the family that it belonged to, and that would happen every 50 years that the land would be returned. The year of Jubilee would come about every 50 years, and then everybody that had purchased land... it would go back from those who had purchased it to the original owners or to the families that God had given the land to. And so in essence, when you purchase land in the nation of Judah, you weren't actually buying it, but you were kind of leasing it. And so the price would be appropriate from then until the number of years until the land would have to be returned in the year of Jubilee. And so Hanamel comes to Judah. Jeremiah, and he says, you are the one who is able to redeem this property. Now, there's another thing that God had instituted, and that is, hey, if you become poor and you have to sell your property in order to make some money, it'll be returned to you on the year of Jubilee, or... another relative can come and purchase it on your behalf and basically cover that debt for you and get that property back on your behalf. And so this is what Hanamel is asking Jeremiah to do. He says, look, I had to sell this property. Um, but it's up and the right of redemption belongs to you. You are the one who is able to redeem this as my next of kin or as my kinsman redeemer. We might refer to that person as. And so he says, would you purchase this property? And so God had already instructed Jeremiah to do it. And so he agrees and he buys the field from Hanamel. Now, why is this so important? Well, consider again the circumstances. Right now, Jerusalem is under siege. They only have months to go. It's not very long until the nation is going to be completely conquered. Everyone's going to be carried away captive. It's not really the time to buy real estate. It's not a good time to purchase a piece of property in this way. Yet God instructed him to do it. And why would God instruct him to do it? Well, Jeremiah will explain that, and God explains it in just a few moments. But God told Jeremiah about it ahead of time. He prepared him so that when it happened, Jeremiah says, well, then I knew... this was the word of the Lord. And I always think that's interesting and find it comforting because sometimes we think of these guys like Jeremiah and Isaiah, you know, these guys of the Old Testament, these guys of the Bible and, you know, they had such a clear connection to God. They always knew, we know when he was speaking to them and they, you know, never had any things like where you and I have where it's like, man, is that the Lord? Am I supposed to do this? Am I supposed to go in this area? Should I start this? I don't know if this is God speaking to me. And I always think that they don't wrestle with those types of things. And yet here we have Jeremiah explaining and sharing, hey, God told me, and I knew God told me, but I was still wrestling until it actually happened. Then there was this confirmation, and then I knew, oh, okay, this was the word of the Lord. And I think that's so comforting because God still works the same way for us. And I want to encourage you to be hearing from the Lord, but also to wait for the confirmation. You know, don't just run out every time you get a thought necessarily, but wait and see. Ask God. He will confirm those things. And there's many times that God will place things upon your heart, and the timing is not necessarily for that moment. or the picture is not yet complete, and then later on he'll bring in the confirmation. And so it's important that we understand that there are those times that God wants us to wait for him to bring in that confirmation, and then we can know, oh, this really was the word of the Lord. So Jeremiah buys this property. He purchases this property that's, well, it's inhabited now by Babylon. It's been conquered. And why does he do this? Well, he'll explain in a second, but first he gives some more details. Verse 10. He says, And I gave the purchase deed to Baruch, the son of Nera, the son of someone else, in the presence of Hanamel, my son's uncle, my uncle's son, I'm sorry, and in the presence of the witnesses who signed the purchase deed before all the Jews who sat in the court of the prison. Then I charged Baruch before them, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Take these deeds, both the purchased deed, which is sealed, and this deed, which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may last many days. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land. So here we have... Some more details. Now this was the customs of the day. Whenever they would make a transaction like this, they would write out a deed, much like we do today in purchasing property. They would actually make two. They didn't have photocopiers in that day, and so they would write out two deeds. One they would sign and then seal up, And then the other one they would sign, but they would leave it open. And so one was a public record. It was left open to be inspected so that the details could be seen. It was clear to everybody. And then the other one was sealed, and that seal would only be broken if the property was then sold again. And so... It was a way of keeping records and keeping track of whose property belonged to who. And so he talks about the witnesses and the signing and the way that it's to be kept because those were the customs of the day. But it tells us, verse 14, why God told him to do this, to purchase his property. First of all, he says, "...take the deeds of both this deed purchased, which is sealed, and the deed which is opened, and put them in an earthen vessel that they may last many days." So first of all, God instructs him to preserve the deeds so that they would last a long time. And then he says, for thus says the Lord of hosts in verse 15, houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land. Put yourself in the shoes of the people of the nation of Judah. They've been in rebellion against God for some time. And God had been sending them prophets for several hundred years. Jeremiah is one of many. And he is the one who is there to the very end in the destruction of the nation of Judah. But here they are, the nation once great under Solomon, under David, under Saul. I mean, a vast population. God blessed them abundantly. And yet, now they've come to the point where the entire nation exists in the city of Jerusalem. This is it. This is the last of them. There's some who have been carried away captive already. But the nation and the people as a whole were almost extinct. They were brought down to very few. And here they are, they're under siege. It was a hopeless situation for them. Babylon is camped around them. They have unlimited resources outside of the camp and they're able to just sit there and wait around indefinitely. And here inside of Jerusalem, well, they've been going a year or so without supplies and Just think about it this way. So Babylon comes to your house and camps around your house and you're stuck inside. How long can you last inside before you finish off, you know, the last of the macaroni and cheese and eat the last can of olives that you got in the back of the cupboard? I mean, how long would you survive in that situation? Well, that's where Jerusalem was. They couldn't go to the store. They couldn't get supplies. It's very desperate in those times. and much more graphic and disgusting than we want to get into, but there was just horrific things that were taking place because of the desperation of the people. All hope is lost at that point. But God sends this little ray of hope. even though it's happening to them because of their rebellion, as God will explain. He sends this ray of hope with this illustration of Jeremiah, and as the customs were of the day, it was to be done publicly and for everybody around to witness, and so everybody would see this thing taking place so that they would hear the message of God. Could you imagine being one of the the Jewish witnesses in that day thinking, what in the world is Jeremiah doing purchasing a piece of property that's already been conquered and we have no escape anyways? What's the point of this transaction? How is this going to benefit anybody they would be asking themselves? But God explains. He says, houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land. God is letting them know they are being disciplined. They're being chastened. They're experiencing the consequences of what they did. But God was not finished with them. And God is telling them, he's already told them this in many other ways, but he's reminding them again. There in their last few months, in this bleak hour, he's reminding them, I'm going to bring you back into this land. You're going to be reestablished here. And houses are going to be built here. And vineyards are going to be grown. Property is going to be purchased. You will be reestablished in this land. It's not going to happen right away because God tells him, He tells Baruch to put it in an earthen vessel and make sure that it lasts for many days. And we know it actually is 70 years before the people are allowed back into the land of Judah. But God is letting them know ahead of time, hey, I'm not done with you. I haven't given up on you. Yes, you're experiencing consequences. That's what sin does. It brings death and destruction. But But that does not mean that I'm done with you. I have more work that I want to accomplish and I'm going to restore you back into this land. Now we go on in verse 16. And Jeremiah begins to pray to God. He says in verse 16, Now when I had delivered the purchase deed to Baruch, the son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying, Ah, Lord God, behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for you. You show loving kindness to thousands and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them, the great, the mighty God whose name is the Lord of hosts. You are great in counsel and mighty in work, for your eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings. You have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt to this day and in Israel among other men and you have made yourself a name as it is this day. You have brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror. You have given them this land of which you swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey." And his prayer goes on, but we'll stop there for just a moment. Because as Jeremiah begins this prayer, it's so beautiful how he recounts and he takes time as he begins to pray to remember who it is that he is praying to. I think it would be good for us to spend some time on our own considering the prayer of Jeremiah here. considering the way that he starts. Now, later on, he's going to get to the point. He's going to say in verse 25, he's basically saying, Lord, you've told me to buy this field, and yet, you know, it's already been taken captive by Babylon. I don't really understand what you've asked me to do. That's really why he's praying. That's what he wants to express to God. That's what he wants to ask of God. God, why did you have me do this? And yet, he doesn't just rush there. He doesn't just say, you know, Father who art in heaven, why did you have me do that? He begins, and it's just incredible. And it's comforting every time I just read through this prayer of Jeremiah. Because it causes me to remember who it is that we pray to. Who it is that is our God. He says... He remembers that He is the Creator. Now, if God is the Creator of the universe, right away we can know, we can be assured, there's no problem too big, too difficult for God. We get overwhelmed pretty easily. We make mountains out of molehills. We think, this problem that I'm facing, this thing that I'm up against, It's just impossible. There's no way I'm going to survive this. There's no way this could be resolved. There's no way this could turn out good. We get overwhelmed by the situations that we're in. But Jeremiah remembers, God, you made the heavens and the earth. Now, no problem that I have comes anywhere close to the difficulty of creating the heavens and earth out of nothing. There's just nothing that compares. I don't have those types of problems. Maybe you do, but I don't. I don't have problems that are as difficult as creation. He says, "By your great power and outstretched arm, there is nothing too hard for you." He makes it very clear. And again, as we face problems and situations, it's really important that we have this mentality, that we have this heart, that as we go before God in prayer, That we remember who it is we're talking to. He is the all-powerful Creator. There's nothing too hard for Him. There's nothing too difficult for Him. He's all-powerful. He can do it. We're not trying to build up His determination. We're not trying to build up His confidence so that He could at least try to do something in our life. He's completely able to do whatever He needs to do and desires to do in our life. There's nothing too hard for Him. He goes on to say, you show loving kindness to thousands. Although God is all-powerful, He also shows loving kindness. We don't have to talk Him into it. We don't have to persuade Him to love us. He shows loving kindness. While we were yet sinners, Romans 5 tells us, He demonstrated His love by dying for us. He loves us. We don't have to convince Him to love us. We don't have to earn His love. We cannot earn His love even if we wanted to. We couldn't deserve it even if we tried really hard and we're really disciplined. He shows loving kindness. Not only that, in verse 19 it tells us that He is great in counsel and mighty in work. He's great in counsel. What does that mean? That means He's wise. We often feel the need to counsel God of how He should resolve the situations that we face. But He's great in counsel. He knows what needs to be done. He knows how to resolve the situations that we're in. He's all-powerful. He's a loving God. He's great in counsel. I mean, you can see very clearly and quickly, this is a God that we can trust in and rely upon. He remembers there in verse 20 some of the things that God did in leading them out of Egypt. Going back in Israel's history, back when they were held captive, when they were forced laborers in Egypt, and God delivered them using Moses to take them out of the land of Egypt and then to bring them into the land where they now dwell, the promised land. He remembers, he takes some time to remember what God had done, the wonders that he did, the miracles that took place. Again, a great practice for us. You know, as you begin to pray about the current problem that you face, as you remember who God is, also remember what He's done. You know, as you look back and realize and recognize what He's done in your life, it can help you to trust in Him for the current problem and situation. As you remember what He's accomplished in the past, how many times He's provided in the past, how many miracles He's worked and the ways that He has... Well, just think of your salvation for a moment if you can't think of anything else. The biggest problem that you've ever had is that you were dead in your trespasses and sins. And God delivered you. He paid the price. He made the way. He sets you free. Remember what God has done for you. As you come before God to pray... We can follow the example of Jeremiah and remember who it is that we are praying to. Knowing He is all-powerful, knowing that He loves us, that He has all wisdom, and remembering what He's done for us in the past, we can come to Him with full confidence and trust that He will take care of us in our present need. Well, as we go on in Jeremiah's prayer, verse 23, it says, And they came in and took possession of it, but they have not obeyed your voice or walked in your law. They have done nothing of all that you commanded them to do. Therefore you have caused all this calamity to come upon them. Look, the siege mounds. They have come to the city to take it, and the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it because of the sword and famine and pestilence. What you have spoken has happened, and there you see it. So Jeremiah now gets to really the point of his prayer. He first of all Not only does he remember all the things that God did, but he also remembers what the people have done. He says, look, God, you brought him in here. You did all this. You're incredible, God. And here's your people. They've not walked with you. They've not obeyed you. They've not paid attention to you. And so the situation that we're in right now, well... It's our own doing. We've brought it upon ourselves by refusing to walk with You, refusing to be obedient to You. And so He says, the things that are happening are exactly the things that You promised. As we've seen throughout the beginning chapters of Jeremiah, God has been saying, this is coming, this is going to take place. And he's been calling the people to repentance. But they've refused, and so here they are. In the final hour, Babylon is there, they've laid siege, the city is going to be taken. And yet Jeremiah says, but you told me to buy this field for money, and to have witnesses. But the city, it's been given into the hand of the Chaldeans. Jeremiah is wrestling with this. He's asking God, what's going on? Why would you have me do this? This doesn't make any sense. And God responds to him in verse 26. He says, So now God reminds him of who he is. Verse 28 says, Verse 1. Verse 2. Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger. They, their kings, their princes, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. We'll stop there for a moment, but God's response goes through the end of the chapter. And so as God begins to respond to Jeremiah, Jeremiah has asked God why, what's happening, what's the purpose of what you've done. God now begins to agree with Jeremiah. Jeremiah, you're right. There's nothing too hard for me. And Jeremiah, you're right. These guys, the Babylonians, also known as the Chaldeans, they're here because of the rebellion of my people. Now, sometimes it's difficult as we look at the scriptures and specifically the Old Testament, and we often think of the God of the Old Testament as being different than the God of the New Testament. The God of the Old Testament is just angry and judgment, and then the God of the New Testament is grace and mercy. But the reality is it's the same God, and we... often misunderstand the judgments of the Old Testament because, well, we misunderstand the sin that was taking place in that time. This people was in complete, outright rebellion against God. And we see some of that here as God is recounting the things that were taking place. When we don't understand the judgment of God, it's because we don't understand God The gravity of sin. He says that they're burning incense on the rooftops, that they were only doing evil, that they were not seeking after God at all. They were provoking Him to anger from the day that they built it even to this day. Now that's quite a bit of time that's taken place. God has been patient. He's been sending prophets. He's been giving them opportunities. He's been gracious and merciful and kind. and giving them the chance to turn back and get right with Him. But he says, because of all the evil of the children of Israel in which they've done, this is taking place. Because of all the things they had done in rebellion against God. God says, they provoke me to anger. You're right, Jeremiah. They're in this situation. They're in this place because they have refused to listen to me. Going on, verse 33. He says, and they have turned... Verse 2. As God goes on, He says, They provoke me to anger, but they also turn to me their back instead of their face. Again, we see the nation was in complete rebellion against God. They turned to God their back. They said, We don't want to listen to you. We don't want to hear you. We don't care what you have to say. We're going to do what we want to do, and that's it. God says, Even though I taught them, He had delivered to them His word. He had sent to them, He says, rising up early, teaching them, sending them prophets, sending them teachers over and over again, sharing with them the truth and giving them the opportunity to turn and to make things right. But He says they have not listened. Instead, what they've done, He says, is they've set up their abominations. He says, in the house which is called by my name to defile it. They've defiled the temple, God is saying. They've worshipped other gods in the temple. They've taken what I have established for them to have relationship with me and defiled it and used it for things that are terrible and wicked. Not only that, they didn't just worship these other gods at the place that I had called my name, but they worshipped Built these high places upon these hills and under these trees in these different places. They built these altars and they would worship other gods on these altars. And we say, so what's the big deal? They go and they burn incense somewhere. Is that really such a problem? But look at what God is talking about here. Causing their sons and daughters to pass through the fire to Molech. This was a method of worshiping a god in which they would sacrifice their children. This is the state of the nation of Judah. They were in this place where they would go and they would heat up this big statue, this big idol, which would have its hands outstretched and they would lay their babies in the hands of this idol as it was heated to put their babies to death, to sacrifice their babies as they would burn on this altar which they had heated. God says, I didn't command them to do this. It didn't come into my mind. It's an abomination. So God continues to demonstrate, look, if we don't understand the judgment, it's because we don't understand the sin that was going on. They were in full rebellion, doing just complete wickedness and abominations before God. And that's why they're in the position that they're in and in the situation that is facing them. Verse 36. Verse 36. Now therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, it shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries where I have driven them in my anger, in my fury, and in great wrath. I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. They shall be my people, and I will be their God. Then I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me forever for the good of them and their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from doing them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from me. Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and with all my soul. So here we find the ray of hope. So God's been recounting. He says, yes, Jeremiah, they're in this situation. They've been living in complete sin and rebellion against me. They've been practicing this total wickedness. But Jeremiah, I'm going to bring them back. And as we've seen for the past couple of weeks, we're really talking about the chastening of God, that he is disciplining his children because God disciplines those that he loves. He disciplines those that he loves because, well, it's the only way that he can bring them to the place where he can bless them the way that he desires to. Because of their rebellion, because of their sin, because they completely turned against God, He has to deal with them, but He deals with them so that He can bring them back. And so God says, look, yes, it's just as you say, this city is going to be delivered to Babylon, but I'm going to gather them back. I'm going to bring them out of all the countries where I've scattered them. I'm going to bring them back into the land. I'm going to cause them to dwell safely. And they're going to be my people. And I'm going to be their God. And they're going to be united. There's going to be, well, this incredible thing that takes place. Every time I look at these things, as we go through Jeremiah, as we were going through Isaiah, I see the mercy of God over and over and over again. Long-suffering of God. God is so good to us. You know, as God is doing this with the nation, it's very similar to the way that He relates to us. I've referred to it for the past couple of weeks, but Hebrews chapter 12 talks about how God disciplines us. He chastens us because we're His children and He loves us. And so He uses discipline and chastening in our lives to perfect us and to bring us to the place where He can bless us and where He can work in us and where we can testify of Him and bring glory to Him. We can be in the place that God desires for us to be. God's merciful. He's long-suffering. As we saw last week, if you can see the sun or the stars, then you can know that God still loves you. He hasn't given up on you. If you know that the waves are still coming in, that the ocean is still bringing forth these waves on the shore, you can know, as long as that's happening, you can know that God still loves you and He's not done with you. And we see this in this nation that for so many years... Rebelled and refused to listen and hardened their hearts. Brought themselves to the place where God had to break them. But God still insisted, I'm not done with them. I'm going to bring them back. I'm going to renew them. All the mercy of God, the grace of God. You know, if we were in God's shoes, if you were God or I were God... How quickly would we write people off and just say, ah, forget it. It's not worth it. I'm not dealing with that person ever again. Just be done with them. This nation, if we were God, they'd be long gone. But God's not like us. He shows loving kindness to thousands. He's merciful and gracious. He wants to bless. And so He disciplines. He chastens. He's using Babylon to do His work, to bring them to the place of He is God, but God was bringing them to the place where they would worship him as God, where they would be devoted to him as God, where he would be their God and they would be his people. He's using all of this to do that work in them. Verse 42 says, just as I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will bring on them all the good that I have promised them. The calamity is happening just as God said, just as God foretold, just as we've seen throughout Jeremiah. The calamity is taking place precisely exactly the way that God said it would happen. And God says, in the same way that all of that has been fulfilled in this calamity that is taking place, all the good things that I've promised them, they are going to take place as well. There's some in the church today or the name Christian who believe that Israel is... Out of the picture. They've lost their chance. And now the church takes the place of Israel in God's time frame, in God's timeline, in God's promises that the church is going to fulfill all the things that God promised to the nation of Israel. But the reality is God's not done. And all the things that God has promised to Israel, some of them have been fulfilled, some of them have not been fulfilled. They are going to be fulfilled. They're going to take place. Just as all the calamity that He promised did take place, all the promises of good, of blessing, and of prosperity that He's given to them, they are going to be fulfilled today. They're going to come to pass. Verse 43, And fields will be bought in this land of which you say it is desolate without man or beast. It has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans. Men will buy fields for money, sign deeds and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the south, for I will cause their captives to return, says the Lord. And so again we find the whole point of this transaction was God giving a very visual illustration, something that the people of that day would understand that he was not finished with them, that he was going to bring them back and establish them in the land and they would be blessed. They were going to return to the Lord. God goes through all this trouble to let the people know, I've not given up on you. I love this about God. God is good. He has not given up on you. He's merciful. He's not done with you. He's gracious. Even if you've rebelled, even if you've messed up, even if you've blown it, sometimes we can feel like the prodigal son, huh? I'm not worthy to be called your son any longer, the prodigal said to his father when he returned. Sometimes we can feel like that. Maybe I'll just have the crumbs off the table. You know, they fall off the table and I'll eat that. It's better than the pig slop that I've been having over here, the prodigal is saying. Sometimes we feel that way. We feel like the prodigal. We beat ourselves up because we're sinners. And yet, God knew that ahead of time. You know, we're so surprised. Oh my goodness, I can't believe how unfaithful I am. I can't believe how weak I am. I can't believe how prideful I am. I can't believe I struggled. I'm so surprised. But God's not surprised. He knew about us ahead of time. Everything. He even knows the things that we don't want to know about ourselves. The things we've yet to discover. And knowing that, He still loves us. And He sent His Son to die for us. And He goes out of His way, as He did in Jeremiah's day, to deliver to us a message like this, that we would know, God's not done with you. He's not given up on you. You don't just have to sit under the table and get some of the breadcrumbs. God has some incredible blessings for you. He wants to work in your life tremendously. He wants to use you for His glory. He's not done with you. Maybe you've been chastened. Maybe you are experiencing the consequences for the choices you've made and the life that you've lived. But God's not done with you. You're not kind of a second-class Christian, you know, that everybody else is in. First class, you're in the back of coach and sitting at the end of the plane. That's not how God works. He still has plans for you. He wants to work in your life. And so we find here this story, a story of hope, a reminder of what God can do in a life. The worship team's going to come up, and as they do, I just want to encourage you to take this time and consider. As we look at how it began with Jeremiah being in prison because he brought forth the prophecy, I think it's important we should consider the importance of the message that God has given to us. And sometimes it is not what people want to hear, but it's the message that needs to be delivered. And so I want to encourage you to be obedient to God, to share the gospel, to be a shining light for the Lord, even if it's not popular. And you think, well, I can't. I'm just a prodigal. I'm just going to get the crumbs off the table. I can't serve God. I can't be used by God. God says, no, I'm not done with you. I'm doing the work. Come back to me and I want to use you to share with the world around you. Even if they don't want to hear it, I want to use you to share with them the message of hope and life that I bring through Jesus Christ. So let's just take this time. Allow God to work in our hearts, to remind ourselves and to remember what he's done for us. And if you're facing a situation right now that's tough, that's difficult, that's I would encourage you to revisit Jeremiah's prayer. Remember who God is and ask Him for help in the situation that you face. Let's worship the Lord together.