Jeremiah 27-29 He Said This WHEN?

We seem to always think God's message to us will be GOOD news.  But we ought to EXPECT bad news from Him if we HAVEN'T been obeying Him.  That's the problem that Judah was having.  Jeremiah was told to say, "ALL NATIONS will serve Nebuchadnezzar and his son and GRANDSON (meaning "a very long time")."

 

Refusal to accept this would lead to destruction.  That was tough news to hear.  How could they NOT fight a heathen invader?  How could they POSSIBLY dwell in a heathen land?  The answer was that they'd already been ACTING like heathens, and they HAD to be punished and accept God's will again.

 

False prophets were delivering false messages of hope -- messages that were causing the people NOT to want to settle in for the long haul as God intended.  So God had Jeremiah send a letter with very familiar wording to us today from God:  

 

"I KNOW the plans I have for you.  I have GOOD plans for you, not plans to hurt you.  I will give you HOPE and a GOOD future.  THEN you will call My name.  You will COME to Me and PRAY to Me and I will LISTEN to you.  You will SEARCH for Me.  And WHEN you search for Me with all your heart, you WILL find Me.  And I will bring you BACK from your captivity."

 

We so often forget that these wonderful, encouraging words were spoken by God to His people who were PRISONERS OF WAR, thousands of miles from home, facing SEVENTY YEARS of "imprisonment" in Babylon.  Things didn't look rosy.  God was telling them to settle in, make the best of it, and be witnesses for Him to their captors.  They were even to do GOOD THINGS for the cities where they would be living.  How incredible that must have sounded to them!

 

And what if He happens to be giving US the same message today?  What if He's about to pull the rug out from under our own existence in a prosperous land because we too have defied Him as a nation?  What if He brings economic ruin as a result of our disobedience?  How would we react to the SAME message?  "Settle in, for it's going to be 70 years before things get better."

 

If He does, then WE are to also ACCEPT it and LIVE like kingdom people, KNOWING that God has plans for US, to prosper us and not to harm us.  

 

Father, help us to bow to Your sovereignty and Your will before it is too late.  Remind us often that You have GOOD plans for us, despite our willful rebellion.  Teach us to TRUST You, even in Your punishment, to have only our GOOD in mind.