JESUS IN JEREMIAH: Influence Your Culture
The prophet Jeremiah is one of four Major Prophets in Hebrew Scripture, along with Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. The prophet Jeremiah was born in the seventh century BC and lived during a period of crisis for the Kingdom of Judah. His name means, ''whom the Lord sets or appoints.''
Jeremiah is a type of Jesus revealing and foretelling in specific ways listed further below.
False prophets of Jeremiah’s day provided false doctrine bringing God’s people to a place of confusion and ineffectiveness. The church of our generation is navigating through some similarities and we must re-evaluate what we have decided to believe.
Church is not one of many organizations designed to service the needs of its members. When we come to church our lives are enriched but when we become the church our world is enriched. WE ARE CALLED TO BE FISHERS OF MEN NOT KEEPERS OF THE AQUARIUM.
The faulty theology from the false prophets of Jeremiah’s day resembles the faulty theology of our day. The idea was for God’s people to hang on for a few years preserving themselves from having any involvement with the world around them until God delivered them. This would leave the world uninfluenced by God’s love and God’s power and this is not God’s plan!
Jer 28:2-5 This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will bring back to this place all the articles of the LORD's house that.. Then prophet Jeremiah replied…
Jer 29:5-7 Bld houses & settle down plant gardens & eat what they produce. Marry & have sons & daughters; find wives for your sons & give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 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." (NIV)
Jeremiah 29:7 uses the Hebrew word, “Shalom” three times expressing what should be taking place in the earth! The first thought normally for the word “Shalom” is peace and this is the dominant word translated but the word translates many other ways as well. Shalom also translates prosperity as we see it in this text. It makes sense if you think about it. If you have money to pay your bills you are at peace. The word also translates health and in the same way when you have good reports of health from the doctor you are at peace. Shalom also translates rest, wellness, welfare, happy and friendly. Shalom is the wonderful expression of God’s Kingdom in the earth!
Matt 5:9 Blessed are peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Interestingly we are called peacemakers. In a sense we are Shalom creators in the earth as we usher God’s Kingdom into our circumstances! This happens through a variety of gifts that we possess.
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses… NIV
This word that translates “power” is the Greek word “dunamis” meaning force or miraculous power. This is also the word from which we get dynamite giving a clear picture of what happens in our world at the moment in time when heaven invades our situation. Everything changes! The interesting thing is that we see this word also translated in terms of God-given abilities for those with a business gift in another text.
Matt 25:15-18 "And to one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. 16 "Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. 17 "In the same manner the one who {had received} the two {talents} gained two more. 18 "But he who received the one {talent} went away and dug in the ground, and hid his master's money. (NAS)
This word “ability” in verse 15 is the Greek word “dunamis”. God gives a powerful ability or a supernatural capacity to people who negotiate, trade and have business gifts. When we come to church and experience gifts our lives are enriched. When we become the church and express gifts our world is enriched.
God had only one Son and He entrusted him not to a minister but to a business man. The first 30 years of his life he wasn’t trained in ministry but rather in business. The church has bought into this isolated and incomplete theology that must be corrected so we can be effective.
Ps 115:14 May the LORD give you increase, you and your children. (NAS)
GP4RL: Evaluate your generosity this week and take at least one step forward in this important area of your life.
GOING DEEPER:
Jeremiah is a type of Jesus revealing and foretelling in specific ways:
• Jeremiah and Jesus were called by God to deliver hope for humanity as well as judgment for sin. Matt 15:8 / Jer 7:9-15
• Both lived in a time of political upheaval and unrest for Judah.
• Both became enemies of the Jewish state.
• Both were misunderstood and persecuted by the people of their day and plotted against by the citizens of their own hometowns Luke 4:28-30 / Jer 11:21.
• Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet. One of the most famous verses about Jesus is that Jesus wept. There are three instances in Scripture where we see • Jesus weeping. Jer 9:1 / John 11:35 at Lazarus tomb. He wept at the sight of the rebellious Jerusalem in Luke 19. He wept in prayer according to Hebrews 5.
• Both were forcibly taken into Egypt because of political persecution. Matt 2:13 / Jer 44
• Both were falsely accused, arrested and unjustly beaten. Matt 26 / Jer 37
• Both never abandoned the Jewish people and ultimately offered God’s comfort and hope. John 14 / Lamentations 3.
Jeremiah’s ministry began in 627 BC and ended sometime around 582 BC with his prophecy to the Jews who fled to Egypt (Jeremiah 44:1). For the majority of this time, Jeremiah based his ministry out of Jerusalem. The southern kingdom of Judah fell during Jeremiah’s prophetic ministry (586 BC), having been threatened for many years by outside powers—first Assyria and Egypt and then by their eventual conquerors, Babylon.
Jeremiah found himself addressing a nation hurtling headlong toward judgment from God. The Israelites may have feared the future as the outside powers drew near, but rather than respond with humility and repentance, the people of Judah primarily lived as islands unto themselves, disregarding both the Lord’s commandments and the increasing danger that resulted from their disobedience.