Tuesday, August 25, 2015

The Power of Hope when Based on Truth

Sunday 8-23-15 (Red Bluff for Ministry)

Scripture reading:  Jer. 31 – 32      1 John 4

S=Scripture O=Observation A=Application P=Prayer  SOAP for the soul.


S.  Jer. 32:2-3  Jerusalem was under siege from the Babylonian army, and Jeremiah was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace.

Vs 6-7 At that time the LORD sent me a message. He said, "Your cousin Hanamel son of Shallum will come and say to you, 'Buy my field at Anathoth. By law you have the right to buy it before it is offered to anyone else.' " 

Vs 9-10  So I bought the field at Anathoth, paying Hanamel seventeen pieces of silver for it.  I signed and sealed the deed of purchase before witnesses, weighed out the silver, and paid him.

Vs 13-15 Then I said to Baruch as they all listened, "The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Take both this sealed deed and the unsealed copy, and put them into a pottery jar to preserve them for a long time.  For the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Someday people will again own property here in this land and will buy and sell houses and vineyards and fields."  NLT


O.  For 40 years Jeremiah had been preaching a violent overtaking of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and pleading for Israel to repent.  He has not been given a date for this to happen… and he is laughed to scorn… during many years of prosperity.  At this time he is imprisoned by the king for spreading such a negative message.  And now Jerusalem is under siege and all hope is lost.  In days the city will be ravaged and burned to the ground. 


But the Lord has given Jeremiah a message of hope as well.  After 70 years of slavery in Babylonia, the Israelites will be free to return to their homeland.**  Now Jeremiah is ordered by the Lord to buy a worthless piece of property, worthless because everything in the city will soon be in the hands of the enemy.  But he is to securely protect and hide the deed 70 years until their return.  It is a sign from the Lord that there is hope out there in the future.


A.   Jeremiah’s prophecy was made 2,600 years ago.  Later Daniel was captured with many others and taken to Babylonia.  But he had read a copy of Jeremiah‘s prophecy… and could look forward with “God given hope” to the end of the 70 years.  And God was right on time. 


Today I can see specific prophecies of the end times all around me.  The enemy of my soul seems to be winning the battle.  Tragic days may be just ahead.  Like Jeremiah, I am not given the dates for these evil days to begin.  But I am given the signs of the times.  And I would have to be blind to not recognize that the date is near. 


But I can see beyond the conquests of the evil one.  I have a “sealed title-deed” called the New Testament that gives me a “blessed hope” based upon God’s truth. 

P.  Heavenly Father, thank You for the title-deed, signed and sealed in the blood of Your Son, Jesus.  I need not despair.  I have a hope that reaches to the other side of all the tragedies that are foretold.  I have a “safe home” waiting for me… and so does everyone that has taken Your message to heart… a message reaching to the other side of Your judgment and to a beautiful “blessed hope”… based upon Your infallible truth.  Amen.


Ralph


**Jer 29:10  This is what the LORD says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.  (Also Jer. 23:17 and 25:11-12) NIV 



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