Who, When, Where, What

Welcome to Insights. I'm Pastor John and

today we're going to talk about who,

when, what,

and where

to have a better understanding of how to

study the Bible effectively and to be

able to interpret scripture

for ourselves and apply it for everyday

life. So,

uh, Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the

thoughts that I think toward you, sayeth

the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of

evil, to give you an expected end." And

this is a very, very familiar scripture.

And um

how many of you have ever made plans

that failed?

And we all make plans and sometimes they

fail.

And uh

this example from Jeremiah

is really important to look at because

Judah had done several things

by kings. One king would serve God, the

next king wouldn't. And every time

that there was a king in power

who didn't serve God, judgment came

later on. It might not have come

immediately, but it came. And what

happens in those situations is God will

allow things to happen

because of the wickedness of men's

hearts to bring them back to repentance.

And we see this every day. And we forget

that God's plans for us are good. Stop

and think about this.

Jesus came

and he says, "In my father's house are

many mansions, and I go there to prepare

a place for you." That's an expected

end. That's God's plan for us is to

spend eternity with him in his presence.

to get there required Jesus to come here

and to

live to be crucified to die to be buried

and raised from the dead to open the

door for us to get into that place that

he promised. So

when we're looking at things, we need to

uh

we before we look at this verse and we

look at what's going on here, we need to

uh we need to study it the right way. We

need to know who wrote it. We need to

know what the historical setting was. Uh

we need to know where it was written at.

And we need to know why it was written.

And when we begin to interpret scripture

that way, the scriptures will come alive

for us. So, we're going to take a look

at this from that angle of why this is

important. And I want I want to I can't

stress enough this point.

When you're studying the Bible, you need

to study it in context.

If I was to look at uh the the scripture

in John, the shortest verse in the

Bible, Jesus wept, and I didn't read

what was transpiring before he wept and

what took place after he wept. I would

simply look at that and more than likely

I would interpret that scripture is

meaning Jesus had emotions.

He he cried too. But that's not the

intent of that scripture. So if I look

at that scripture in and I look at it in

context, what came before it, what came

after it, then I have a better

understanding of why Jesus wept. And

that's what we're looking at. We're

looking at how to study the Bible in a

way to understand what was going on when

it was written, who wrote it, where it

was written at,

and what the subject was. So that if we

understand that then we can take a look

at how does that passage of scriptures

apply to my life now and that's what

we're looking at. So this passage of of

scripture in Jeremiah is very familiar.

A lot of people quote it. A lot of

people uh live by it. So let's look at

it. Who actually wrote Jeremiah 29:11?

Well, it was written by Jeremiah who was

known as the weeping prophet. He served

the he served the kingdom of Judah in

its final decades. He was there roughly

40 years as a prophet. He was known as

the weeping prophet. Um and uh he spoke

the truth through tears and he he

remained faithful to God even though

Judah rejected him.

And uh we we need to keep in mind how

this affects us.

So

when and what was happening at this time

around 597 BC

Babylon conquered Jerusalem.

This the beginning of the captivity that

lasted 70 years. And when they took the

Israelites captive when they took Judah

captive the city they decimated the city

they laid waste to it and they took them

into captivity and they took them to

Babylon. And there were false prophets

during the time of Jeremiah that kept

promising a quick return. But Jeremiah

sent a letter telling them to build

houses, plant gardens, and seek peace

because the captivity would last 70

years.

So

if we understand that, if we wrap our

mind around the fact that God brings

messages to us and through not only

through his written word which we have

but through prophetic uh um utterances

for us, we begin to understand that God

has a plan. Uh and that's Jeremiah. And

the other thing that uh we have to

realize is there's a lot of things

happen in this world and a lot of times

we don't understand them but when we get

to the other side of them and look back

on them we can see how God was moving

things for our benefit.

So where was this letter written from?

Where what was going on? The letter was

written from Jerusalem by Jeremiah

to the captives in Babylon.

And he's showing us that even when we're

in our darkest hours and we're going

through the worst things, he still cares

about what happens to us. And even with

Israel, with Judah in Babylon, in a

foreign land, God was still speaking to

them. And uh one of Jeremiah's

contemporaries at the time is also

Ezekiel. A lot of things there and

Ezekiel was actually there in the

captivity.

Uh so what is what is the purpose of why

Jeremiah wrote this? Well, the first

purpose was that it was God's sovereign

purpose to restore his people

after discipline. And that ouch

discipline that hurts. Well, why would

God discipline his people? because they

were a rebellious nation

and uh and they went totally against

everything that God said was good. They

chose and went bad. And we're living in

those same kind of times today. People

today what's bad they call good and

what's good they call evil. And um so

we're living in the same atmosphere.

And these are warnings to us as

believers to take a look around of

what's going on. go back into the Old

Testament and read about the judgments

that God brought against Judah and

Israel and what happened and where it

and what the results were. And but God

never takes away hope. He there's always

hope. And one of the things was that

even though they were going to they were

facing this hardship, there was hope

because at the end of this hardship, he

would restore them. And when he did

restore him, that's where we get the the

books of uh

uh

uh in Nehemiah and Esther.

Uh this is after the restorations.

And uh

here's the thing. We're living in the

world, and if you look at the church

world today,

as sad as it is to have to admit this,

you can't tell much difference between

what's going on in the church and what's

going in the world. And that's a warning

from God. We're supposed to be a

peculiar people set aside for service by

God. We're not supposed to look like the

world. We're not supposed to act like

the world. We're not supposed to equate

things like the world does. Yet it has

infiltrated every area of life. And you

know, when you do that, when you begin

to walk away from what God's plan is,

you get into trouble.

And uh that's one of the things it says

when we've stepped into their world, we

have to listen to what God's word says

to our world, which is repent for the

kingdom of heaven is at hand. I've come

to give you life and to give it more

abundantly. But that requires obedience

and not the kind of obedience that's

forced but that's voluntarily.

So

some things to to remember. Every

believer knows the feeling of living in

a kind of exile waiting for change. Have

you ever been in a situation whether

you're praying for a job, a house, a

car, or whatever it might be, and it

feels like you're going through things

every day,

yet you've a lot of times you feel like,

did God actually hear me? Uh why am I

going through this?

And

when that happens and our hearts are are

hurt,

God declares, "I know the thoughts that

I think towards you." In other words,

God's purpose is to give you a much

better life to live. So,

the four things that are that are going

on here is the the Jews are taken into

exile.

Jeremiah writes a letter to them.

He tells them it's going to last 70

years and that there is a divine purpose

in what they're dealing with and that's

to bring them to repentance.

And so we're going to take a look at

this and try to open up God's truth

truths about God's plans. So the first

one we're going to look at

is God's thoughts are personal and

they're purposeful. And that's in the

verse where it says,"For I know the

thoughts that I think toward you." So

his thoughts are personal and

purposeful. The word in Hebrew that he

used here is makashaba and it means

plans, designs and intentions. God's

plans are not random. He personally

knows and thinks towards his people.

Israel's captivity was not chaos. It was

correction and it leading to

restoration. Let's

take a look at this. So, you're in your

car, you're going somewhere, and if

you're fortunate enough to have a newer

car, it has a built-in GPS system. If

not, most smartphones today have a GPS

system. And when you're going somewhere,

your GPS recalculates while you're

driving down the road. If you turn on a

road here, which is different than the

uh which is different than the route it

laid out for you, it recalculates and it

adjusts to where you went to get you

back on track to where you're supposed

to be going. Hasn't quit. It's

rerouting. God never cancels what's

going on in our life. He redirects it.

Um because we get off track. We get off

the the course that he's laid before us.

He has to apply a correction to bring us

back to where we're supposed to be

going. And when those things happen,

there's something called a delay. And

the delays are not God denying you. He

knows where he's leading you. The delays

are he's having to correct you to get

you back on to the path he laid before

you. And to when we're looking at this,

faith is trusting God's thoughts even

when we don't understand his timing.

Someone asked me one time, "How come God

doesn't answer my prayer?" And I told

him, "God answers every prayer. He

answers them one of three ways. He

either says yes, he says no, or he says

wait or not right now

because he can see what we cannot. He

knows where this will lead you." And so,

uh, when we're trusting God to be the

captain of our ship, to lead us where

we're going, there are times where we

have no idea where he's trying to get us

to. So, we have to walk by faith and not

by sight. In other words, we have to

believe that where God's trying to take

us is better than where we're at. And we

have to trust him to get us to the

destination he's taking us to, even when

we can't see it. So once you know his

thoughts are personal, you can rest

because they're thoughts of peace.

God thought God uh God's thoughts lead

to peace, not evil.

Thoughts of peace and not evil. Peace.

The word peace in Hebrew is shalom and

it means wholesome safety and res

wholeness, safety and restoration. And

God's correction is not meant to

destroy. It's meant to develop. Develop

what? Character and integrity. Two very

vital things every Christian needs in

their life. You must operate in

character and integrity to walk

according to God's purpose.

And when God chasen us uh chastises us

or he chasens us uh it's not out of

vindictiveness or pain or he's not

trying to hurt us. He's trying to

correct us. He's trying and it's done in

love. And it's like it's like a potter

who's making vessels. Have you ever

watched somebody working on on a

potter's wheel? They bring their clay to

the pot uh to the wheel. They and and

they work this clay and they work the

clay and they work the clay and then

they'll start forming up a base and

they'll find a flaw in it and they'll

collapse it back down and they'll start

over and bring it back up and then if

it's still got flaws in they'll collapse

it again and they'll bring it back up

until they produce a usable vessel.

That's what God does with us. He's the

potter wear of the clay.

He shapes it. He doesn't shatter it. He

doesn't break it. He reshapes it. And

you know,

pressure changes things. And pressure in

our life is often proof that the potter

still has his hands on you. There's a

lot of times as we're going through

things in life that we feel like we've

been abandoned. We haven't. It's just

God is reshaping things, reshaping us to

have a better perspective on what we

need to do. And when we trust in his

peace, we discover his promise.

God's thoughts

promise hope

and a future

to give us an expected end. an expected

end, a sure hopeful outcome.

70 years seemed like a long time and

then restoration would come.

In Christ, we see the fullest picture of

that hope, which is our eternal future

is secure. Now, we're not running 70

years

uh and then expecting something to

change. You know, actually, if you stop

and think about it, we have a the

average lifespan in America is about 70

years for men, a little longer for

women. Um, and during that time, how

many times have you been reshaped?

And how many times, especially after you

got saved, have you been reshaped?

Because that's what God does. He's

trying to create in us a more perfect

heart, a more peaceful life, a more God

uh centered existence and consciousness

towards the things of God.

When you look at a tapestry, I don't

know if you've ever looked at a tap

tapestry, it's like a hanging rug. The

front of it has this beautiful imagery

and everything. Have you ever looked at

the back?

When you look at the back, it looks

tangled and messed up and like things

don't make sense. But when you turn

around and look at the front, you have

this beautiful picture that was done

through either weaving or sewing or u

and and we have to understand that

life's messy.

Life is messy. Even when you're a

Christian, even when you're serving God,

life is messy. And because life is

messy, there's a lot of things that we

go through. Um, and they're not about

punishment. They're about reshaping.

They're about bringing us into a place

that's better than where we were. And to

do that, you have to walk by faith and

not by sight. You literally have to

trust God to get from point A to point

B. And if you and this

things we go through are to produce in

us the ability to do that. The Apostle

Paul, he said, "I have ran my course.

I've kept the faith. I have finished my

journey and I've earned a crown of

righteousness." Paul went through a lot

of stuff. Paul had to just go back to

his salvation alone. Uh he's on the road

into Damascus with letters from the

Jewish court giving him authority to

take every Christian he found, put them

in chains, and take them back to

Jerusalem to be executed. And as he's

going into uh Damascus,

Jesus appears to him on the road. And

all those that were with him could hear

what Jesus said to him, but they

couldn't see him. Paul was surrounded by

this bright light. And in that bright

light, God shined a light on the

darkness in Paul's heart, and Paul got

saved. And Paul's life changed. But that

was just the beginning. If you look

through Paul's life, look at all the

things that happened to Paul. He was

shipwrecked. He was arrested. He was

beaten. He was thrown in jail. And his

desire to share the gospel of God's

grace to man was much more powerful than

anything he experienced.

So when you're going through things,

remember your story isn't over. God's

still writing your story. His plan is

still unfolding. So, if we're walking by

faith and not by sight, then we have to

trust that even though it looks ugly,

God has a plan. And if we stick to that

plan, we're going to get where God is

trying to take us. And God's promises

might carry, but they never fail. It

says, "Is God a man that he should lie?"

So it becomes really important that we

learn

how to interpret scripture correctly so

that we can apply it to ourselves.

God's thoughts towards us are personal.

His thoughts towards us are peaceful.

And his thoughts towards us are come

with promises. And you may be living in

your own Babylon right now, waiting,

wandering, and weary. But the Lord still

says the same thing. I know the thoughts

that I think toward you. Trust his

timing. His expected end is good. If I

if I had focused in on some of the

things that have happened in my lifetime

in the last 41 years of serving Christ,

I would have quit.

But I kept my faith. I kept focusing on

what God said as opposed to what I was

going through. And I came through on the

other side uh with the victory.

So

keep in mind there are certain words

there. You've got uh makashaba,

the Hebrew word for designed intentions

and purposes.

You have shalom, which is a promise you

can you can depend on.

And you can see these very things

playing out in different places in the

Old and New Testaments such as Genesis

uh 50 20 Romans 8 and 28. One of my

favorite scriptures in all of the Bible,

uh it says, "For all things work

together for good to them that love the

Lord and are the called according to his

purposes." In Philippians 1 and6, the

Christ connection, Jesus is the

fulfillment of God's redemptive expected

end.

And remember, even in Babylon, God is

still building your future. So I want to

take this opportunity to pray with you.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your

thoughts towards us and that there are

thoughts of peace and not of evil. And

when we cannot trace your hand and what

you're doing, help us to trust your

heart. Give us patience in waiting hope

for the future and strength to obey you

where we are in Jesus' name. Amen. So I

want to leave that with you. I want you

guys to remember this. No matter what

you're going through, God knows where

you're at. If he hasn't abandoned you,

he's he's Jesus said himself, "I will

never leave you or forsake you." So, if

that's the truth, if Jesus will never

leave you or forsake you, then you have

nothing to fear. And fear is the faith

killer. And faith is the fear killer.

Whichever one you believe more is the

one you'll act upon most.