Part 1: Jeremiah prophesied it. Jeremiah 24-29
Part 2: Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego lived it. Daniel 3-4
Part 3: Jesus died for it. Matthew 22:17-22; 27:11-14; John 18:28-20:29
- Psalm 60
The Father chastises His children so that they might know the banner He’s given over them (written around 1000-1100 BC)
- Psalm 119:104
Being given to understand leads to hating false ways
- Proverbs 8:13
The fear of the LORD is to hate that which is evil
- Philippians 2:14-15
How to live amongst a crooked and perverse nation
LIVING BETWEEN LOYALTY AND SUBVERSION
Jeremiah prophesied it.
Did you know that we are all exiled? God sending the Israelites into exile for 70 years was a typological symbol of our exile while we await our Messiah. We are not of this world (John 17:16-26). Therefore, we are not to love this world or the things therein (1 John 2:15-17). But we are called to be in the world – thus the saying is true, “be in the world, but not of the world.”
We will see by the end of this series a clearer picture of God’s sovereignty, His love for us, how patient He is toward us, and how His plans unfold to show us those things (and more). We will be able to practically apply God-honoring, Christian living in our own symbolic Babylon.
- We will learn about the prophecy that Jeremiah delivered by reading through several chapters of the book of Jeremiah. (Part 1)
- We will read an account of exactly how Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego aligned themselves with the prophecy, thus leading to their salvation. (Part 2)
- We will read how Jesus taught by example the first century Israelites how to live by this way of life, realizing yet how we are all still in exile. (Part 3)
- Each week, we will discuss further how this applies to our current lives and how we should live amongst a crooked and perverse nation (Phil 2:15).
Jeremiah 24:5, 7 – God will cause the calamity, why? For the Israelites’ good, so that they will receive a heart to know God.
Jeremiah 25:9 – Nebuchadnezzar was a servant to God in that God used a pagan king to accomplish His will. Much in the same manner that He used Pharaoh to show His strength, remembering Ezekiel 18:4 – that all souls belong to God
Jeremiah 25:15-17 – We revisit the wine cup of wrath/fury sometime in the 550-600 BC timeframe
Jeremiah 26:8, 16 – It is dangerous business being a messenger of the LORD. Jeremiah is apprehended unto his death, until he is released.
Jeremiah 27:6 – It is God who gave the land to Nebuchadnezzar, and it is He who will sustain him and keep him and his rule.
Jeremiah 27:8 – So, it would be futile to go against King Nebuchadnezzar.
Jeremiah 28:2 – The false prophet Hananiah prophesies a lie that would lead to destruction, that these are their options: To resist and rebel to break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar.
Jeremiah 29:5-9 – However, these aren’t the only two options they’re faced with. Jeremiah tells them to:
- Build houses and live in them
- Plant gardens and eat their produce
- Take wives, procreate
- Give your sons and daughters in marriage,
- that they may multiply and not decrease
- Seek the welfare of the city
- Pray on its behalf to the LORD for its welfare
- Do not be deceived (Matt 24:4-5)
Two mainstream responses came out of this exile for the Israelites, based on their own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-10): Submit in whole to King Nebuchadnezzar (part and parcel, to conform – take on their Babylonian gods and culture), or resist and rebel (outwardly fight, resist and evade). Neither of those are in line with the prophecy of Jeremiah.
It is apparent to me that Paul (Romans 13:1-2) and Peter (1 Peter 2:13-14) reached back into the book of Jeremiah when they wrote to be subject (or submit) to governments. It is important to understand that there is a huge difference between the words subject and obey.
hoop-ot-as’-so
Subject (G5293):
reflexively, put under. Literally means to arrange stuff respectfully in an “orderly manner underneath”. This simple meaning of “social orderliness” would have been understood by original readers, but it is a little obscured in our English translation.
hoop-ak-oo’-o
Obey (5219):
to listen attentively, conform to a command or authority, be obedient to. Which literally means to conform, to follow a command, or to kowtow to an authority as a subordinate.
Craig Greenfield:
After Jesus’ death and resurrection, King Herod got super mad and arrested some of the believers, including James and Peter, and put them on public trial. The night before the trial, an angel of the Lord woke Peter up, removed his chains, opened the prison doors and led him out the main gate of the prison. Yet after escaping from jail, where he had been imprisoned for breaking the law, Peter went on to write in a letter:
“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to the governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.”
And similarly, while Paul was in Damascus, he escaped from a strongman city governor who was trying to arrest him, by concealing himself in a wicker basket and having himself lowered down the city wall through a window. Then after reaching safety, Paul wrote a surprising letter:
“Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities which exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”
So are Peter and Paul hypocrites, asking Christians to do as they say, but not as they do?
Used twenty-one times in the New Testament, hoop-ak-oo’-o always suggests a hierarchical context, as in the relationship between children or slaves and their parents or masters (Ephesians 6:1, 5), and neither Peter nor Paul chose to use that Greek word for obedient but instead used the Greek word hoop-ot-as’-so,meaning submit/subject. The subtle nuance between the two is that in response to commands as opposed to blind obedience to ungodly living.
It is important to live in line with the laws of the land that we find ourselves in, yet uncompromising in the law of the LORD. The idea of Christian Nationalism is not biblical; we are aliens in this place, awaiting on the LORD Jesus Christ’s second coming and rule. We are to be polite guests in this place, remembering our ambassadorship in Christ Jesus.
Sermon Scriptures:
Jeremiah 24-29
Psalm 60
Psalm 119:104
Proverbs 8:13
Philippians 2:14-15
John 17:16-26
1 John 2:15-17
Romans 13:1-2
1 Peter 2:13-14
Ephesians 6:1, 5
Leave a Reply