Future Peace and Joy

September 28, 2014 Background Scripture: Jeremiah 33 Lesson Passage: Jeremiah 33:1 – 11 In today’s lesson, Jeremiah receives a second message from the Lord while he is locked up in prison in the king’s court. Like the last message, this one also informed Israel that her future would be bright. God gave details of the charges against Israel that led to the punishment she was going to endure. Some of them had set up shrines on top of their houses where they burned incense to Baal. Perhaps they thought it was being done in secret because no one could see them on top of their houses. But God was watching the whole thing until He said He had to turn His face away from them. Their sins against God became so repugnant that He declared their punishment would take place and He would not prevent it. But even in times of punishment, God’s mercy and grace outshine His justice. God was going to punish Israel but He would restore Israel in the future after her punishment was over. With all of this good news God was giving Jeremiah, why did He allow him to remain in the prison during this ordeal? Perhaps it was in keeping with the provision that God would not put more on us than we can bear. Jeremiah had already witnessed some of the skilled craftsmen of Israel being deported to Babylon. Jeremiah had been given a message for Israel. They were admonished of God to build houses in Babylon and plant gardens for their stay in Babylon would be for seventy years. Jeremiah was warned of God that the houses and walls of Jerusalem would be burned with fire by her enemies. Jeremiah had a very difficult responsibility as a prophet of bad news concerning the nation’s punishment. To prophesy doom and then watch it unfold was a heavy burden. Jeremiah would weep over Jerusalem for Israel’s sake. Perhaps Jeremiah’s stay in prison provided an emotional refuge for him. It would also make it easier for him to receive the message of good news from God when he was not observing the unfolding doom that he had already prophesied. Sometimes we can become so caught up in a painful reality that we forget that God can turn it all around whenever He chooses. In this case, God declared that He was going to turn it around. Whereas prison is often seen as a form of punishment where an individual’s freedom of movement is restricted or taken away, God allowed Jeremiah to remain there as a place of solitude where he could open his heart and mind and allow God to speak to him. God knows exactly what we need—even before we ask. God knows how to take care of His own. On the outside, the Babylonian army had the city of Jerusalem under siege and its fall was imminent. But on the inside, Jeremiah had quality time with God where he was receiving a message that showed a future for Israel that would be filled with peace and joy. Israel would be a sovereign nation again. Shepherds will once again roam the Judean hillsides and the cities will be filled with couples celebrating weddings. Israel will again sing Zion songs in the land of Zion and not bear the burden of avoiding those songs in a strange land. Robert C. Hudson September 18, 2014