God’s Ways Are NOT Our Ways!
Imagine your country under siege. The best and the brightest have already been carted off to a pagan land. All of your life you and your community have heard of the One True God. The country that is gaining power has no desire to serve the One True God. If the truth be told however, your people may know about Him, but they haven’t been serving Him. So you hear from this old prophet going around town, always going contrary to the other temple prophets, that you need to make a life in this strange new land:
4 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: 5 "Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. 6 Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! 7 And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare."Jeremiah 29:4-7 (NLT)
Yes, the prophet Jeremiah admonishes the children of Israel that when they go into the pagan land of Babylon that they should make themselves at home there by building homes, planting gardens, then eating what they grow. They are to marry and have children and marry those children off so they could have many grandchildren. And what seems totally out of the box is when he says: "And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you…pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare".
How different this is from the perspective we are facing in this age in our country. Most of us are were born in this country. It’s the only country we know. Even though there are injustices, we still have a measure of freedom and liberty that few peoples enjoy across the world. Yet, when injustices arise, the trend is to take to the streets and destroy -not build. We watch silently as masses break windows and invade businesses taking whatever loot they desire. We say this is a retalition to the gross injustice. Our leaders (prophets) look on and come against any Jeremiah who states that God would not approve.
Jeremiah nonetheless gave the Word of the Lord. He stated that God established this power in Babylon and that the Israelites would be held captive there for seventy years. His message was in the minority.
Lest you think I am suggesting that se cave under injustices and act as if they are alright. Quite the contrary. God did not tell Jeremiah that Babylon wouldn’t find that what goes around, comes back around. What He did say was for the Israelites to obey God in Babylon and truth Him with their future.
As the people of GOD, whose report will you believe?
Maria