Newsletter November 2020 Part 2

A heart to know God

 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,  “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah, whom I have sent out of this place for their own good, into the land of the Chaldeans.  For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up.  Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart. (Jeremiah 24:4-7)

     At the time when God spoke these words through His prophet Jeremiah, Judah had been conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and many had been carried away into captivity while others were allowed to remain in Judah under Zedekiah, the new vassal king appointed by Nebuchadnezzar.  It would seem at this point that those who were in captivity were in a worse place than those who had been allowed to remain.  However, in this vision of the good and bad figs, God says that He has carried them away for their own good.  It is precisely in their captivity that God would set His eyes on them for good.

     As we enter into another lockdown and have to close our churches for public services and resort to online platforms only, let us not be discouraged and complain.  Let us not think that God has forgotten us.  It is precisely in our apparent ‘captivity’ of government restrictions that God wants to reveal Himself to us in a deeper way.  While the first lockdown was a time of adjusting and learning new ways of doing things, let us now, in this second lockdown, be still and hear what God is saying to us.  As God promised to give to the captives of Judah a heart to know Him and make them truly His people, so He wants to do with us.  This is God’s doing, His initiative.  Yet there is, as always, a condition to His promise: we must return to Him, not half-heartedly, but with our whole heart.

     While God was working among the captives, raising up a new generation who would be faithful to His calling even in the face of death, the people left in Jerusalem continued to drift away from God’s presence.  Instead of submitting to the Babylonians as Jeremiah urged them to do by the word of the LORD, they followed the advice of false prophets, took matters into their own hands and rebelled.  As a result of their rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar, and ultimately against the purpose of God, they lost everything: their homes, their city and even their temple where they had worshipped God.

     God is not limited by our circumstances.  He does not dwell in buildings made with men’s hands.  What house can we build Him anyway?  What is there that He has not made and given to us for use?  After all, heaven is His throne, and the earth His footstool.  What He looks for is a people dedicated to Him, a people who will seek His face with all their heart.  He will look on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at [His] word. (Isaiah 66:1-2)

     Let us not be discouraged.  Let us seek God’s face, believe His promise and wait patiently for His deliverance.  The God who makes rivers in the desert will do a new thing; He is forming a people for Himself who will declare His praise.  (Isaiah 43:18-21) Let us seek Him and trust in His grace alone.  He will surely look on us and deliver us. Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When the Lord brings back the captivity of His people, Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad. (Psalm 14:7) 

Pastor Konrad