January 20, 2003


Feb. 16
___Jeremiah 32:1-15

God is near even in troubled times
___By James Shamburger
___One of the greatest tenets of the Christian faith is the fact even in the darkest times, God still offers hope! In the book of Jeremiah, God's man puts his faith and trust in his God! In verse 17 of chapter 32, Jeremiah says: "Ah Lord God! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for you!"
___Many years later, Paul writes to the church at Rome in the book of Romans 8:37-39, "Yet in all things we are more than conquerors through him who loves us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
___We cannot make it through life without this reality in our faith. Jeremiah, God's man, chose to live by hope instead of despair. We, too, can live by hope even in the darkest of times!
___Demonstration of hope
___Jeremiah's message made it very clear that God would deliver his people. God was going to restore his people. "I will restore. I will bring them home. I will break the yoke; I will save you. I have loved you. I will lead you home. I have heard your prayers" (Jeremiah 30:1-31:40).
___Evil, however, would not escape the wrath of God (30:23-24). The Lord of hosts would restore both Israel and Judah. The Lord would give rest to the weary and joy in sorrow (31:23-30).
___Zedekiah, king of Judah in 587 B.C., imprisoned Jeremiah because of his prophecies about the fall of Jerusalem. During this time, God revealed to Jeremiah his cousin would offer to sell him a field at Anathoth (32:1-7). When his cousin Hanamel, came to him, Jeremiah bought the property because he sensed God wanted him, God's man, to show an act of faith that God was going to restore Judah once again. He was simply practicing what he was preaching!
___Jeremiah praised God for his goodness to his people and asked God for more understanding of the reason he was to purchase the field at Anathoth (32:16-25). In this passage, we find one of the greatest verses in all the Bible. It is verse 17: "Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for you."
___God's response to Jeremiah was that God would indeed let the people of Judah be dominated by Babylon. After that judgment, God would restore his people in their land and people would be able to buy fields in the land again as Jeremiah had bought the field at Anathoth (32:26-44). Again God assured Jeremiah he would restore his people to their land after a time of domination by the Babylonians (33:1-13). God promised this restoration and blessing of his people would take place just as sure as day and night.
___Hope in God leads
___us to action___
___As we learned in last week's lesson, "Faithful living calls for God's people to respond courageously to God's guidance." That is exactly what Jeremiah did. That is exactly what you and I need to do when trouble comes. In Matthew's gospel in chapter 14, we find the story of Peter walking on the water to go to Jesus.
___In that story, we find Peter in trouble asking the Lord, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water" (Matthew 14:28). Jesus told Peter to come on, and when he did, he was able to "walk on water." We need to always remember that there is hope even in the darkest of nights! We also need to remember that faith in action is what God is looking for in our lives!
___When Peter responded to God's word, he was able to do great things. When Jeremiah responded to God's word, he was able to do great things. We too can do great things like Jeremiah did if we trust God, listen to his word and move out in faith!
___What can we do?
___bluebull Learn from Jeremiah to have hope in God even in the darkest of times.
___bluebull Develop a growing and vibrant faith by reading God's word, believing it and applying it to our daily lives.
___bluebull By our leadership, we can show others how to have faith in God and to trust him with all things.
___Questions for discussion
___bluebull What hope do we have in the worst circumstances of life?
___bluebull What situations do we see in other people's lives that seem hopeless?
___bluebull How can we help others to have faith when life is falling apart?
___bluebull If you were Jeremiah, would you have bought the land?


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