Obstacles and Opportunities Pt. 2

As recommendations to curb the spread of COVID-19 continue to be pushed back by authorities and experts alike, many might be left wondering, how long before we return to business as usual or when will things ever go back to normal? It is helpful to know that we aren’t the first people to be held in a forced holding pattern with a new set of rules. In fact, in Jeremiah 29, the people of God were in their own forced holding pattern called exile in Babylon. While the circumstances were certainly different then, one thing they had in common with many of us today is they were made to live in a new situation. Something else we have in common with many of them is that aching question: what is one to do as he/she waits for things to return to the way things were? What can one do? In light of these questions, I thought we’d look at three reminders God provides his people in Jeremiah 29:4-11 and see whether or not there might be anything we can apply in our lives today as we endure COVID-19 and all the implications appertaining thereunto.

I. STATEMENT #1: WHO IS IN CHARGE-29:4

The first statement uttered in this passage reminds readers (original readers and exile and readers today) of who is in charge—“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon” (29:4). In this short introduction, at least two things are made absolutely clear. First, God is large and in charge while his people are small and fragile. The Lord refers to himself as “The Lord of hosts” and the “God of Israel”—two labels that celebrate his divine power and authority over the audience to which this is addressed. The recipients are called “exiles”—a humiliating title complete with ancient connotations of weakness and vulnerability. It is healthy and sobering for God’s people to be reminded of his power and their weakness and this introduction does just that. The second thing this introduction reminds readers of is that regardless of what is perceived down below, God never forfeits his ultimate control of what is taking place. While many of the Israelites probably blamed their exile on Babylon and looked upon this regime as their enemy oppressor, God makes it very clear that he is the one who sent his people into this set of circumstances for his greater purposes-“I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon” (29:4). What may have looked like an overwhelming obstacle for God’s people was, in fact, an opportunity for God’s perfect will to navigate the next curve on the road to completion.

These reminders would do us well today. Though we have not be placed in exile, we are, through forces greater than ourselves, kept from doing what we are used to and waiting for, much as Israel was, a return to relative normalcy. While in this forced holding-pattern, God’s people ought to acknowledge that in spite of what we perceive around us God is still large and in charge and he has not forfeited his control of what is going on around us. Be it a virus or the many implications thereof, God has not taken his hands off the steering wheel and is still driving the car down the highway of his perfect will. He is not surprised by what we are going through and, in fact, he has allowed all this for his mysterious and mighty purposes. What may prove to be an obstacle is also an opportunity for his will to be carried out into its next phase. God’s people are to remember this in any age and in any circumstance.

II. STATEMENT #2: WHAT TO DO-29:5-9

But what were God’s people to do in the meantime? As they waited and lived amid their exile, were they now relegated to sit and sulk, paralyzed by the difficulties God had allowed in their lives? The answer to this is a resounding NO! In fact, the next statement—"What to do”—spells out at least three activities they could preoccupy themselves with as they endured their exile. First, God says “stay busy”! Busy with what? Busy investing—“build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce” (29:5). Both these behaviors assume some length of time spent in the present situation one finds himself/herself. If you are going to build a home, you can assume you are going to be in one place long enough to finish construction and live there awhile. If you are going to plant a garden, you can bet you’ll be around to see things grow and reap the harvest. This is an encouragement to invest right where they are. While many may have used their exile in Jeremiah’s day as an excuse to hold off investing in the things around them, God says no. Get busy and invest here and now!

Many today will hold off really investing in something (be it a church, job, opportunity, etc.) until this or that is achieved or a better set of circumstances surfaces or a better climate is reached. This is not how God’s people ought to live. It is always a good time to plant a proverbial garden or do something constructive. Self-quarantining and social distancing ought not be an excuse not to invest in something meaningful. As Martin Luther is credited with saying, “If I knew that tomorrow was the end of the world, I would plant an apple tree today!” Certainly, while we may not be able to invest in things around us as we are used to, that doesn’t mean we have a license to stay idle or sit on our hands. God’s people ought to run the biggest and most successful lemonade stands in this thirsty world with a surplus of lemons. This ought to be just as true today as it was for God’s people in Babylonian exile thousands of years ago.

One of the most powerful things in which one can invest is relationships. Listen to what is recommended in verse 6—“Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters” (29:6). One of the ways peoples garnered influence in the ancient world involved marriage and procreation. If your people were numerous and widespread, it was a sign of blessing and demonstrated that you were a force to be reckoned with. It is clear that even in exile, God wanted his people to project blessing and influence and this came by investing in those relationships that conveyed such in the ancient world (marriages and large families).

Certainly this call to marry and procreate was limited to the people in Jeremiah’s day for a specific season and reason. However, the principle of investing, particularly in relationships, still rings true. While we haven’t been called to marry and have lots of babies in Babylon, we have been called to make disciples of all nations and see the kingdom of God grow as we await the end. Certainly investing in relationships to that end is a worthy investment to make no matter what the season may be (be it in a season of social-distancing or when things are business as usual). These kinds of investments can’t wait for later or when things go back to the way things were. We are to invest in these ways now, right where we are.

All of this was requested so that God’s people, even while in exile, would “multiply there and…not decrease” (29:6b). While many may have thought it best to keep their families small or forgo marrying and having kids altogether given that they were away from their homeland and under foreign oppression, God says “NO! I sent you there and I want you to multiply even THERE! Even THERE!”

He says the same to us today. COVID-19 recommendations do not signal a time-out to on God’s part that temporarily terminates kingdom-building activity. Self-quarantining does not mean that we have permission to put off investing in the things and the lives of those around us in meaningful and redemptive ways. God has always been about multiplication, in every season, including this one, yes, even this one, and he wants you to be deliberate in doing just that. How might you invest now, even now, in the things and lives around you to multiply the kingdom of God during this difficult season? Maybe reach out to a neighbor, loved one, or friend to provide support or perspective—things that they might be more receptive to given all that is going on? Might you share those encouragements and presentations of the gospel uploaded on social media so that as people are seeing news updates, the latest memes, or funny video, they are also engaging the hope of Jesus Christ?

In addition to investing, God calls on his people to serve well. Serving well involved practically looking out for the welfare of the society around them—“seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile” (29:7a). While many in Israel were probably tempted to avoid the people around them (seeing that it was different, foreign, and primarily pagan), God intended for them to be a part of the surrounding context’s well-being. No longer did they have the benefit of comfortably tending to the needs and desires of the familiar people who looked and behaved just like they did. God led them into a new context (“I have sent you in exile”) and was asking them to be about the often uncomfortable task of contributing to the benefit of new people in a new location.

I wonder if this virus and the many implications thereof hasn’t reminded the church of its role not just to look out for the well being of its membership, but also those in their town or city. The truth is, in whatever season or situation we find ourselves, we are called, much as these Israelites in Babylon, to serve those around us in practical ways, no matter who they are. We ought not be considerate of those familiar to us, but to our neighbors as well. Who are our neighbors? Anyone and everyone that God has placed around us.

Another way the Israelites were instructed to serve the Babylonians around them was through prayer—“and pray to the Lord on its behalf” (29:7b). I imagine this would have caught many of the Jews off guard. So much of their regular routine was inwardly focused and Jerusalem-centered. One might assume that what preoccupied their prayer lives were those considerations that contributed to their own well being and their own land. Now, removed from business as usual, their prayer lives suffered alterations. They were instructed to pray for a new place and to ask the Lord for things on behalf of its well-being.

The same kind of prayer is encouraged often in the New Testament.

1 Timothy 2:1-4-“I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.”

I mentioned this quote from S. D. Gordon last week, but I’ll repeat it here: “Prayer strikes the winning blow; service is simply picking up the pieces.” Regardless of where you align politically with those authorities or personalities around us in our city, state, or country, we are called to look out for the well-being of our context both practically and prayerfully, much as Israel was instructed to do while in exile in Babylon. Why?—“for in its welfare you will have welfare” (29:7). Loving and serving people in general certainly is good not just for the community at large, but for the people of God at work in that community as well. This was true in Babylon and is true today.  

In addition to investing and serving, the people of God were to be committed to the truth. This admonition is given by means of a prohibition—“ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream” (29:8). Israel was now living in a land run by pagans that celebrated pagan ideals and worshiped pagan Gods. In their ancient climate of disinformation, the people of God needed to vigilantly guard the truth of God and not be misguided or influenced by falsehood. This, I imagine, was a full-time job.

Such proves to the case today in our present information age. Amid all the noise that would seek to work us up, discourage us, or mislead us, the people of God must stand firm in what they know to be true of God and his word.

After all, as it was in Babylon, so is it the case today—“they prophesy false to you in My name; I have not sent them, declares the Lord” (29:9). It is true, as then, that God’s people cannot always trust those who say that they have a message from God. How can one know the difference? The test hasn’t changed for thousands of years and it only has one question—Is what is being said compliant/consistent with what God has revealed in his revealed word? God’s word must be the measure and standard by which the people of God judge the information they hear and the response that they make.

It is incredible to see that those activities God encouraged his people to take while in a forced-holding pattern of exile all those years ago in Babylon can be applied in appropriate ways today as we are made to deal with this new set of circumstances that we face of self-quarantining and self-distancing. Our situation, much as Israel’s was then, is no cause for idleness, but meaningful investment (in things, relationships). The obstacle we face is no reason to sit and sulk; it provides a new opportunity to serve our context practically and prayerfully. COVID-19 ought not have us and tossing and turning based on every message being broadcast; it should encourage us to stand firm in the unchanging truth of God’s Word and the hope that it provides.

III. STATEMENT #3: WHAT TO REMEMBER-29:10-11

After reminding God’s People who is in charge and what to do, the Lord reminds them of his promise. It is important to remember that the promise of Jeremiah 29:10-11 is for the Israelites who are in exile in Babylon. Therefore, what it means must be understood in principle and in context before it can be applied to our situation today. With that said, the promise that God shares with his people involves a timeline—“for thus says the Lord, ‘when seventy years have been completed for Babylon…” (29:10a). Here lies the answer to the question many in Jeremiah’s day were probably asking: “how long? How long will we need to be building houses, marrying and having kids, and seeking the good of those around us in this new set of circumstances?” The answer for God’s people in exile was 70 years. Think of that! The promise about to be made would not be fulfilled until many if not most of the people alive to hear it were already dead! This meant that God’s story was bigger than any single person, his plan broader than any individual’s lifespan. God is a multi-generational God and the things his people might be made to go through could suffer implications for many years to come.

This point, at the very least, is consistent with things today. Though we haven’t been given a timeline for exactly how long we will be made to self-distance or remain quarantined, or how long the next trial or tribulation we will be made to go through may last, we can trust that God’s plan is bigger than this season and what is done now will pave the way for his broader purpose moving forward. We may or may not see the fruition of what is in store for this chapter of God’s book, but we are invited to play an integral role in his story nonetheless, a role that includes doing what we know to do regardless of the circumstances.  

For God’s people in exile, following seventy years, the Lord says, “I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place” (29:10b). “This place” was their homeland and relative normalcy. Following their exile, God would restore his people back to their previous context of blessing. Again, very few if any of the people listening here would be alive to see this happen, but they could at least take comfort in the fact that God is not finished with them and has a future planned for their people.

This promise and planned future is crystallized in the famous statement of verse 11—“For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope’” (29:11). For the original recipients of this promise, the plans for welfare and the future hope included returning to the land of promise and from there blessing the world. The greatest expression of this would be realized in the person and work of Jesus Christ who was born of the Jews to bring salvation for the world and the hope of heaven. What a promise!

However, in what appropriate ways might this apply to the people of God today? Can it be applied today? If this promise was offered to a people in exile and forecast for them a return to the promised Land, what principle might we glean and take comfort in right now? While we aren’t in exile and certainly don’t believe in the prospect of returning to the literal Promised Land, God’s people today are referred to as “sojourners” or “pilgrims” who are “just passing through this world” on their way to the Kingdom of God. Certainly, our rest is not about returning to a land we once left, but about reaching heaven in the end. That is the ultimate welfare, future, and hope for God’s people today. It is this promised hope that ought to inform what we are supposed to do and remind us who is in charge as we await the fulfillment of this going forward. It is this hope that ought to carry us through any season and spur us on to business regardless of the circumstances we face.

So What?

How long before things go back to normal? I don’t know and I also don’t know if “normal” is as easy to determine or define as we might be led to believe. In fact, to be honest, things haven’t been “normal” since sin entered the world in the beginning. Ultimately our sin is the reason we have discord, strife, oppression, and plagues to begin with. Things won’t be truly right until God’s kingdom comes and provides his people with real and lasting rest. Until then, remember who is in charge, remember what we are supposed to do: invest in redemptive ways, serve practically and prayerfully, and remain committed to the truth, and remember the promises of God.