By the Rivers of Babylon

Pastor Melinda Song
Sunday, 23 June 2019

Jeremiah 29:1-3 (NKJV)
¹Now 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. ² (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.) ³ 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,

THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT

The book of Jeremiah came into existence during a tumultuous time. Jeremiah was one of the prophets during the time leading up to the fall of Jerusalem and the exile. God had used many prophets to warn Judah about their sins and to turn away from them. The sin of idolatry caused the Israelites to be deported by the Assyrians and now the people of Judah were experienced the same thing at the hands of the Babylonians.

The Babylonians attacked Jerusalem 3 times, finally destroying the city in 586BC. Through it all, Jeremiah continued to warn his people to turn back to the Lord and cautioned them against making military alliances with foreign countries, especially Egypt but the people ignored these warnings.

605 – 1st campaign

• Nebuchadnezzar routed the Egyptians at Carchemish
• The Babylonians attacked Judah as they swept down the Mediterranean coast
• They carried off to Babylon the nation’s leaders, among whom were Daniel and his three friends
• King Jehoiakim was forced to pay tribute

597 – 2nd campaign

• Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin had succeeded him
• Jehoiachin together with 10,000 of his subjects, many of whom were the elite citizens of Judah, including the prophet Ezekiel were deported to Babylon, leaving only the poorest people of the land (2 Kings 24:8-16).

Nebuchadnezzar appointed Zedekiah to rule as his vassal king in Jerusalem, but after nine years Zedekiah, influenced by false prophets and ignoring Jeremiah’s warnings rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 27:1-3). This resulted in Nebuchadnezzar again laying siege to Jerusalem.

586 – Final campaign

• Jerusalem was laid to waste and the temple destroyed
• Zedekiah was forced to witness the murder of his sons and then he was blinded by Nebuchadnezzar before he was marched back to Babylon as a prisoner. but, again, Nebuchadnezzar left a remnant of poor people to serve as farmers and vinedressers (2 Kings 25:12).
• It was the end of the monarchy in Judah and Judah itself ceased to be an independent kingdom
• The Jews were without a homeland, without a state, and without a nation.

Our text today is part of a letter which the prophet Jeremiah wrote to the Jewish exiles who had gone into exile in Babylon with King Jehoiachin in 597 B.C.Jeremiah had been left behind in the deportations; the Babylonians did not think he was worth the effort of deporting.

LIFE IN EXILE

When the Babylonians seized Jerusalem, they marched many of its leaders across 500 desert miles into exile in Babylonia. Some died along the way while the rest were refugees, having lost everything but their lives and whatever they could carry with them.

With the Jews, there would be problems living among Gentiles sparated from their land. Their primary symbol, the Temple, was in ruins. With their special laws of “clean & unclean” they’d have a difficult time adjusting to a pagan society. Nobody eats their food or speaks their language. They were strangers in a strange land.

Remember the song made famous by Boney M?

Psalms 137:1-6 (NKJV)
¹By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down, yea, we wept
When we remembered Zion.
² We hung our harps
Upon the willows in the midst of it.
³For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song,
And those who plundered us requested mirth,
Saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
⁴How shall we sing the LORD’s song
In a foreign land?
⁵If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget its skill!
⁶If I do not remember you,
Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth—
If I do not exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.

Some false prophets prophesied that the exile will end soon but Jeremiah knows better. Back in Jerusalem, he writes a letter to the exiles. He did not want them living in denial or with bitterness, which would lead to frustration, anger, confusion and despair.

What has the exile got to do with us? Well, some of us may be in a situation where you are not where you want to be or ever thought you would be. Perhaps you are dealing with chronic health issues, you have lost your investments or a job transfer has taken you away from family and friends. Your spouse of many years has died or your marriage, which began with so much promise, has breathed its last breath.

What do you do? How do you make the most of a bad situation?

#1 ACCEPT IT!

The captives have to know that it was the LORD that caused them to be carried away from Jerusalem into Babylon (29:4, 7). Nebuchadnezzar was only an agent of the Lord.

Verse 4: whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon:

Verse 7:the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive

Things go a lot easier for us when we see God’s hand in it. All things are not good, BUT we know “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). R.A. Torrey called Romans 8:28 “a soft pillow for a tired heart.”

At the same time Jeremiah did not want the exiles to think they would soon be returning home. That is what the false prophets were saying (29:7-9, 21, 31).

Jeremiah 29:10 (NKJV)
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.

They were going to be there for 70 years (29:10) so he told them to

Jeremiah 29:4-7 (NKJV)
⁴Thus 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:
⁵Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit.
⁶Take 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.
⁷And 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.

#2 BE A BLESSING! (verses 4-7)

Look at all the verbs in this passage: build, live, plant, eat, take, seek and pray. It’s a call to action.

a. ESTABLISH A PRESENCE IN THE CITY

Build houses and dwell in them 
To build houses (not rent) and to live in them is to establish themselves as members of the community and become good citizens.

plant gardens and eat their fruit
What if you have planted a durian tree? It takes many years for you to enjoy your first harvest. Do it. These farming activities imply an acceptance that one will be there for a long period.

By planting gardens and eating the fruit thereof, they were instructed to be laborers, earn wages, start businesses and contribute to the economy of the land.

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. Settle down, marry and have children. The Lord’s concern here is that the people of Judah grow in numbers and strength in this exile so that they will be ready by the time he takes them back to Jerusalem. The welfare or prosperity of Babylon is a means to an end of preserving God’s people.

Some people look at the terrible state the world is in and decide not to have children. We are not judging them but our God is a God of hope and our future is in Christ. The most important thing a Christian parent can so in his or her lifetime is to raise a godly family.

These instructions were nothing more than the command to carry out the cultural mandate given in Genesis 1, to subdue the earth and be fruitful and multiply. Being in exile doesn’t change this mandate.

God says do all these “that you may be increased there, and not diminished” (29:6).

You are blessed to be a blessing so be the salt and light you are called to be. Bring the presence of God to the community and city, your workplace, your family, your situation.

b. PRAY FOR THE CITY

Everything that Jeremiah has said from the beginning has been controversial. He has advised the king and the people of Judah to cooperate with the Babylonians. He has encouraged them to accept the reality of a lengthy captivity. Now he embarks on his most controversial advice—encouraging Judeans to pray for the shalom (peace and prosperity) of their captors and to recognize that their own shalom is dependent on the shalom of the Babylonian people. When they do so, it is for their own good!

Jeremiah 29:7 (NKJV)
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.

The Hebrew word is shalomin all three places but is translated differently in some versions.

Jeremiah 29:7 (NIV)
Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

Shalom is comprehensive peace. “More than the absence of conflict and death,” says Clifford Green, “this rich term fills out the word community by embracing well-being, contentment, wholeness, health, prosperity, safety, and rest.” Shalom means order, harmony, and happiness. It means that all is right with the city.

Ask for great and good things to happen for the city. We all want health and safety and prosperity and freedom for Penang. Ask that they happen by God’s power and for his glory.

Never lose sight of the fact that the only basis for real and lasting shalom is the work of Christ on the cross. The city cannot be at peace until the city knows Jesus Christ. When the city finds peace with God, all will be well with the city.

Jeremiah 29:7 is the only verse in the entire Old Testament in which God’s people are explicitly told to pray for their enemies. Prayer for the Babylonians is a foretaste of the forgiveness of Jesus Christ, who teaches, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).

Commercial Break – Have you signed up for Prayer Drive? We need Drivers! Don’t have to know how to pray. Just support the Prayer Leader – sing, say “Amen” “Yes, Lord!” “Hallelujah!”

As Christians, we’re called by God to pray and work for the welfare of the place where we live, wherever we are, even if it’s a place we’d never have chosen to be. Working and praying for the welfare of where God has placed us enables us to bear witness to the love and faithfulness of the Lord in our communities.

 Video Clip on Samuel Isaiah who used to attend TOP from 2007 to 2011. He was one of Sis Puay Cheng’s ex-students serving in an Orang Asli school in Runchang, Pahang. He has been interviewed by Astro Awani and other media. The school used to have an average passing rate of 30% but from 2013 to 2018 the passing rate for English ranges from 80 -85%. The Education Ministry awarded him the title Guru Adiwira Kebangsaan 2019.

Jeremiah viewed the Exile as a mission. Literally, what he said was, “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have sent you.” Nebuchadnezzar did not take them to Babylon. God sent them there. The exiles were not captives – they were missionaries!

If you can view your situation as God-appointed and the place you are called to as a mission field it will surely…

#3 CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE!

Jeremiah promised that God would bring his people back from captivity (30:3). He has loved them “with an everlasting love” (31:3) and “turn their mourning to joy” (31:13). He would make a new covenant with them (31:31) and give them singleness of heart and action (32:39). God would even cleanse them from all the sin they have committed (33:8).

Jeremiah summarized all these blessings in one wonderful promise:

Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV)
“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. 

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

The promise meant that God knew what he was doing. He had known it all along, as he always does. God makes his plan and then he carries it out. Everything he does is for the ultimate good of his people.

You can change your attitude when you realise that…

God is in control

My theology has always been simple: 1) God is good, and 2) God is great. But lately I’ve added a third aspect: God is sovereign, which simply means that He is “the king.” He’s “the boss.” He in control, He calls the shots and has the authority.

God makes numerous claims about himself in the Bible and points to himselfas the ultimatesource of all power, authority, and everything that exists.

Isaiah 9: 9-10 (NKJV)
⁹Remember the former things of old,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me,
¹⁰Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done,0
Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
And I will do all My pleasure,’

He is without equal: he is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, without limitation in any way.

God judged Nebuchadnezzar for his pride. He lived like an animal in the field, eating grass. When his sanity was restored after seven years, he has this to say about God’s sovereignty.

Daniel 4:34–35 (NLT)
“After this time had passed, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven. My sanity returned, and I praised and worshiped the Most High and honored the one who lives forever. His rule is everlasting, and his kingdom is eternal. ³⁵ All the people of the earth are nothing compared to him. He does as he pleases among the angels of heaven and among the people of the earth. No one can stop him or say to him, ‘What do you mean by doing these things?’

Whatever your situation may be, know this, God is in control!

You can change your attitude when you realise that…

God cares for the city

God’s promise for the future is for God’s people in the city! The church today is in exile in the larger culture. We live in a land of idols. Every day we encounter values and behaviors that are alien to biblical life.

THE CHURCH’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE CITY

Churches generally adopt one of three attitudes towards the city they live in – apathy, animosity, or imitation.

When a church is apathetic towards a city, they’re simply in the city, but make no impact on the city whatsoever – don’t know and don’t care. Most churches fall into this category.

When a church has animosity towards a city, they’re against the city and maintain a ghetto mentality. It’s the mindset of the city being evil and the church being good. Just like Jonah who wished that he didn’t have to go to Nineveh, but that God would just destroy it. It’s the “us” versus “them” mentality.

Very often the modern church tries to imitate the city by looking, feeling and sometimes acting like the city. This is the church of the city. We ought to contextualise, but the problem arises when these churches begin to be sucked into the culture of the city that they quit seeking the city’s renewal and restoration. Inevitably, they water down the gospel to be inclusive and end up being influenced instead of being the influencer.

There is a fourth response that we should be having toward our city.

It’s not to be a church in the city, or of the city, or against the city, but to be a church that is for the city.

The church and God’s people are to exist for the universal shalom of the city.

This is and always has been God’s plan for us, corporately as a church and individually as ambassadors of Christ.

Peter says that Christians are “sojourners and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11) and Paul says “our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). We will serve our city best by getting our values from “the city that is to come” (Hebrews 13:14). We will do our city most good by calling as many of its citizens as we can to be citizens of “the Jerusalem above” (Galatians 4:26).

CONCLUSION

Here is a powerful promise when you’re in “exile”!

Jeremiah 29:11 in the original reads: “For I know the purposes which I am planning for you, says Yahweh, purposes for peace not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

1. God is Thinking about you!
2. God has thoughts of Peace for you!
3. His plans are for your Peace (shalom) not evil, so don’t fear the future. The exile is for chastening not abuse. It is to build you up, not tear you down.
4. God has a Purpose for you! – so let Him work out His will in your life. Never waste your trials by resisting God!
5. God has a Future for you! – A design.
   His grace shall be sufficient for you.
6. God holds out a Hope to you! – Don’t give up!!!

All these can only be realized if verse 12 & 13 follow!

Jeremiah 29:12-13 (NIV)
¹² Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

God continues to promise…

Jeremiah 29:14 (NIV)
¹⁴ I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

These promises reach beyond the captivity, to the day when Israel will return to their land. Has that happened? There in lies the proof that:

God is good.
God is great.
God is sovereign.