MESSAGE TEXT
Jeremiah 29:11
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OPENING
This verse is one of your favorites in all the Bible (many cards listed it), for it speaks to us that even in the times when things look bad, when the Babylonians are carrying you away, the Lord is using it for something glorious. Babylon isn't home. Babylon isn't forever. Babylon isn't wasted. Babylon is where God is still at work. Babylon is the road God sometimes uses to bring us home.
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Question: Why were bad things happening to God’s people? Their city destroyed? Their temple burned? Their people transplanted? Their culture decimated? Jeremiah was a prophet. He was called to be a prophet around 627 B.C., and he ministered for 40 years. According to the 1970’s group Three Dog Night, Jeremiah was also a “bullfrog” as their song “Joy to the World” says – but that has nothing to do with my message.
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Contextualization: In 605 BC, 597 BC, 586 BC (three waves of deportations), the Southern Kingdom of Judah, because they loved their idols went into captivity under the new world superpower – the Babylonians. The Israeli false-prophets were saying “This will only last a few years.” Jeremiah said, “It will be more like 70 years.” People hated hearing that message and they hated Jeremiah for saying it. The basic message of the letter is stop listening to the false prophets. Six times in this letter Jeremiah says, Thus says Yahweh, thus saith the Lord. In Jeremiah 29 somewhere in the 590’s BC, Jeremiah wrote to exiles who had already been deported to Babylon in one of those first two waves of deportations. Jeremiah sent a letter to those who had already been taken into captivity in Babylon.
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Quotations: Pastor Tony Evans says that Jeremiah 29:11 is a declaration of sovereignty: the alignment of circumstances, events, and geopolitics will eventually get them home, but they still have a life to live in Babylon, because many of the exiles will die there. They could rest in God’s sovereignty. C. H. Spurgeon said the sovereignty of God is the pillow the believer rests his head on at night. So God is Sovereign, even in our Babylon. Babylon is: the cancer diagnosis, the prodigal child, the empty chair, the divorce papers, unemployment, depression, unanswered prayer, consequences of sin, waiting.
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Dominant Image: Living in Babylon – Babylon is the place of displacement, defeat, discomfort. “Babylon” is any place where life isn't what you thought it would be. God says “I can prosper you in a place or a status that you didn’t choose. While God promises to fulfill His plan years down the road, God doesn’t wait for your dream city or location or perfect environment. The place you are in right now is a place of maturity and purpose: your job, neighborhood, or school. Rather than resist His placement. Trust his purpose. Stop looking for escape and do engagement instead. God doesn’t just operate in places of comfort.
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Proposition: Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us that when life feels like exile, you can trust God. Even when God's people are living through the consequences of their sin, God has not abandoned them; He is still carrying out His good purposes to bring them to a hope-filled future.
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Key Word / Outline: Let’s consider three tremendous REASONS from Jeremiah 29:11 to trust God when life feels like Babylon.
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Reason #1 - God knows Your Babylon. Babylon Hasn't Hidden You from God. (You are not forgotten.)"Babylon hasn't made God lose your address."God hasn't forgotten you. God Thinks About Us All the Time – Trust His Heart
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Reason #2 - God is working in Your Babylon. Babylon Hasn't Hindered God's Plan. (You are not wasting this season.)"Don't waste Babylon. Build. Plant. Pray. Live." God isn't against you. God’s Thoughts Toward Us Are Good – Trust His Purposes
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Reason #3 - God will bring you home from Babylon. Babylon isn’t Your Destination. (You are not staying here forever.) "Babylon gets the chapter. But God writes the book and He’s in charge of the ending." God isn't finished with you. God Intends to Give Us Hope – Trust His Future
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CONCLUSION
The greatest promise of Jeremiah 29:11 isn't that life will immediately get better. The greatest promise is that God's purposes cannot be stopped. Israel thought Babylon had won. Satan thought Calvary had won. Death thought the tomb had won. But every apparent defeat became another chapter in God's redemption story.
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Jesus entered our exile so He could bring us home. That's why Christians can trust the Planner even when we don't understand the plan. One day every exile ends. One day every Babylon falls. One day every tear is wiped away. And the One who began His good work in us will finish it. When life feels far from home, remember... The Father knows where you are. The Father is preparing your future. The Father will bring you home.