This post is written by Shaq Hardy and is published as a companion to Unit 16, Session 1 of The Gospel Project for Adults Vol. 6 (Winter 2022-23): From Captivity to Restoration.
Many people, when they think about Jeremiah 29, they think about verse 11. But often they think about verse 11 out of context. Jeremiah 29 is a very hope-filled chapter of the Bible, but it’s not a chapter about how God is going to make everything better. In fact, it’s a chapter about how God had to make things worse for the Israelites in order to give them better.
Israel had grossly disobeyed God in the promised land time and time again. God told them that He would remove them from the land if they worshiped the gods of the land. But they didn’t listen. So God sent the Babylonians to remove them from the land which brought the Israelites very low. But the purpose of their removal was to discipline them in order to restore their relationship with their God. Jeremiah 29 is a message from God to His people on how to respond to His discipline. We can learn a lot from Jeremiah 29, but here are three things that Jeremiah 29 teaches us about responding to the Lord’s discipline.
1. Don’t be idle (Jeremiah 29:4-7).
Notice how God speaks to the Israelites in this passage and remember that they are at the beginning of their exile. He is essentially telling them to stop sitting on their hands and live. Don’t just wait on deliverance; in the midst of discipline, thrive.
It can be hard for us to desire to do anything when we’re experiencing hard times, especially when we are experiencing hard times because of our own sin. While it’s okay for us to feel (God gave us feelings for a reason), we can’t wallow in our feelings. God’s desire is for us to thrive in all situations. And the ultimate aim of our thriving is that we would look more like Jesus. But you can’t thrive sitting idle. So move and allow God to work in you in all situations.
2. Don‘t continue in sin (Jeremiah 29:8-9).
The main issue that got the Israelites removed from the land of Canaan was their idolatry. One of the main reasons they thought their idolatry was okay, and they were unrepentant, was that they listened to the voices of false prophets. In verses 8-9, God implored them to stop continuing in the sin that caused their broken relationship in the first place.
For us, our application is easy. Don’t continue living in sin that is destroying your fellowship with God. Yes, once God has saved you, you can’t lose your relationship with the Lord. But you can find yourself out of fellowship with God because of your sin. God’s discipline is meant to bring you back into fellowship with Him. Don’t continue to live enslaved to what God has set you free from.
We are all made in God’s image. So to seek out who we are is to ultimately seek out who He is. He is the complete one. He has perfect ability in all things. He holds the capacity for endless performance in every personality type. As we understand ourselves better, we can better recognize the image of God within us and, therefore, glorify Him as we live and use our uniqueness.
3. Remember the gospel (Jeremiah 29:10-11).
In verses 10-11 God gave His people hope by promising to deliver them from their current circumstances in seventy years. But deliverance from the circumstance really only mattered for those who would still be alive after seventy years. Thus, the best piece of hope that God gave them was that His plan for them was to cause them to prosper and grow during their exile, during the struggle and discipline. To grow in our character to be more holy is hope indeed.
God’s discipline is meant for our good. It’s meant to cause us to grow in our relationship with Him. For Israel, God did all the work of their restoration through the exile. For us, God did all of the work through Jesus. When we’re facing hard times, especially due to our own sin, we have to remember that God’s desire in allowing us to go through hard times is for our growth in Christlikeness. The gospel reminds us of that fact and reminds us that the punishment for our sin was placed on Jesus.
Shaq Hardy and his wife, Racheal, live in Asheville, North Carolina, where they are committed to faithfully serving the high school students of Biltmore Church. He is currently a student at Southeastern Seminary and is passionate about being a part of life-change, whether through sharing a sermon or through intentional life-on-life discipleship.
