May the mumbling commence!
In Jeremiah 29, we find the key to living as an exile in a hostile and foreign land. It was not what the people wanted to hear. They were not going home anytime soon. Read from verses 4-9:
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 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." Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them," declares the Lord.
The message was simple. Settle down. Live fully. And hardest of all: seek the peace and prosperity of the city. Pray for the city of your exile because your welfare is tied up with it. It seems that there were some prophets in exile who were preaching rebellion and an imminent return to Jerusalem and Judea. God spoke through Jeremiah to tell the people in exile that these prophets were NOT speaking for the Lord as they claimed. God did not send them; they were prophesying lies.
False prophets are not only in the time of Jeremiah. They exist today as well. How do we tell the false prophets from the true ones? It is imperative that we follow the true and ignore the poor. Jesus said that we would recognize true and false prophets by the fruit of their labor (Mt 7:15-23). Does what they say come true? Who is gathering in the fortune and fame – God or the prophet? Is the prophet only saying what we would most like to hear? Too often true prophets are a tough pill for people to swallow.
In the 1 John, we discover that the spirits can be tested by seeing which spirits name Jesus as Lord (true ones!) and which spirits curse the Lord Jesus (false ones). It is often difficult to tell. I believe the base line or the thread that goes through the entirety of the Bible is God’s enduring love and patience with people. Jeremiah strikes this very chord a little later in chapter 29. Read from verses 11-14:
“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. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 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."
Yes, God’s love endures even through our unfaithfulness. The Lord always leads His people back to the Promised Land – eventually. Our Lord is a powerful and living God. He does not answer to our beck and call. Our God is neither a genie with wishes to grant us nor is our God a microwave God with instant answers that we most desire But His designs will be accomplishes in His time. Unlike humanity where we are not sure if intentions will be carried out (intentions are often been noted as paving the way to hell), God’s intentions are guaranteed to happen.
God always answers our prayers, but His answers are not always what we expect. Sometimes I believe that God says no or not now. Sometimes I believe that God answers prayers in ways we do not expect, and we miss the answers because we are not open to looking for the way God speaks to us.
Let us seek the prosperity and peace of our country, knowing that we are living into the promise of God’s kingdom here on earth.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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