NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, IT IS PART OF THE PLAN ~ A Study in Jeremiah

 

I like to think that I am a very structured person, until I realize I am not as structured as I want to be.  For as long as I can remember, I have been a list maker who is known to have lists for everything. Chaos and confusion are unsettling to me and threaten to overwhelm me when circumstances beyond my control creep up on me—hitting me in the face when I least expect it. A person who is structured is happiest when her meticulously planned out day comes to fruition. The problem is: it seldom does. Something that is structured is arranged according to a specific plan. It is definite and highly organized. It is anything that has been put together in an organized, deliberate way. I like all my ducks in a row, I deliberately place them where I think they should be. The problem is: they never stay where I put them!

In an environment that is very much out of one’s control like prison, I found I adjusted quite well to the structured life ‘within the gates’. However, when there was any sort disruption in this structured day-to-day routine, I literally had meltdowns on several occasions. How dare they close the Rec Center for my daily workout session because there was too much snow on the ground. How dare they lockdown the building where we accessed our emails, sometimes our only link to the outside world! This is where the world learns to say, “Oh well, life happens!” I learned to see every little detail of life, so often taken for granted, as part of God’s Sovereign plan for me. And I grew more fully in learning to embrace the truth, “It is good, Lord; for this is Your plan for me.”

So, while we may love structure in our lives, life rarely comes at us in a structured way…at least from our perspective. More often than we would like, we hear ourselves saying our world has suddenly turned upside down. What do we mean by that? A definition on the internet says it means to change someone’s life completely, often in a way that is shocking and upsetting. But, when we say our worlds have been turned upside down, things are not always as they appear.

Acts 17:5-8—But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the market place, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and attacking the house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people. When they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have upset the world have come here also; and Jason has welcomed them, and they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things.

Satan never changes his tactics, for we see this same thing happening all around us today by those who are controlled by the prince of the power of the air. As always, Paul’s initial public ministry in any given town was to the Jews. The mob went to Jason’s house assuming Paul, Silas, and Timothy would be staying with him. It was a serious crime in the Roman Empire to acknowledge allegiance to any king but Caesar. The Jews hated Rome; however, they hated the light of the Gospel more. Those ensnared and controlled by the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will, always oppose the Light of the truth by finding any way to falsely accuse the brethren.

Isaiah 29:15—Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the Lord, and whose deeds are done in a dark place, and they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?” But God does see! And God knows! Isaiah 29:20-21—For the ruthless will come to an end and the scorner will be finished, indeed all who are intent on doing evil will be cut off; who cause a person to be indicted by a word, and ensnare him who adjudicates at the gate, and defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments (confusion). (This last verse is talking about those with political and judicial authority who are no longer to misuse their power to oppress.)

Notice, these jealous Jews form a mob (creating a mob mentality needs no elaboration as we witness this tactic today in ever-increasing and more blatant displays by wicked leaders), and they ‘set the city in an uproar’. This means to make a noise or uproar, be turbulent, to disturb, to throw into confusion, to be troubled in mind, or to wail tumultuously. Their issue really was not that Paul and his entourage were saying, ‘Jesus is Lord’ because it would bring dishonor to Caesar (even though that is the excuse they hid behind). Their issue was their hatred for the message being proclaimed. John 3:19-20—This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

In their clamor they were causing confusion, disturbance, and tumult. But look at their accusation against the apostle and the disciples of Christ. “These men who have upset the world have come here also.” Upset the world can literally be translated turned the world upside down. It means to trouble, to make an uproar, to excite tumults, to unsettle minds by disseminating religious error. Ironically, the very thing they were doing is what they accused Paul and his disciples of doing.

We see this in our day; we see it was the same in Paul’s day. It was no different in Jeremiah’s day. Judgment will come to us just as it did for the Jews in all generations before us. And it will come even to the American evangelical church, because the majority of those who only profess to know Him do not know Him. 1 Peter 4:17—For it is time for judgment to being with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? Jeremiah saw the judgment that was coming. Notice that it appears to him that the world will be turned upside down. He sees creation returning to chaos.

I looked on the earth, and behold, it was formless and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light. I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking, and all the hills moved to and fro. I looked, and behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens had fled. I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a wilderness, and all its cities were pulled down before the Lord, before His fierce anger. For thus says the Lord, “The whole land shall be a desolation, yet I will not execute a complete destruction. For this the earth shall mourn and the heavens above be dark because I have spoken, I have purposed, and I will not change My mind, nor will I turn from it.” (Jeremiah 4:23-28)

Jeremiah looked on the earth and saw it was formless and void. Formless can mean formlessness (of primeval earth), nothingness, empty space, that which is empty or unreal (of idols), wasteland, wilderness (of solitary places), place of chaos, or vanity. Void means emptiness, void, or waste.

The land of Judah would be devastated to the degree that it would appear as the earth and heavens before God formed and filled them. God would give them what they had chosen—emptiness, vanity, and waste. They had been chosen by God to be the people of God, and they had run in vain after idols. The stately, majestic, mountains—symbols of immovable strength—appear to move back and forth. Even the mountains quake (shook vehemently) at the holy wrath of Almighty God. They acknowledge their Creator, contrary to God’s own people who believed they could shake their fist in His face regarding their sin and suffer no consequences for it. Their instability and weakness would soon come to light. Their beloved land would become for them a new wilderness. This time, however, they would realize that while God had kept them in the wilderness on their journey to their land of promise, He would not keep them in the wilderness of the home land He had given them as an inheritance. Instead, He would drive them out in a most violent way. While He would destroy the whole land, it would not be a complete destruction for a remnant of His people would survive the disaster to carry on His plan for His people.

When we read these verses in Jeremiah, we need to look at the judgment that was foretold by God to take place in the end of days. Our present-day chaos appears to be leading to that day and advancing rapidly. 2 Peter 3:10-13 says: But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. Jeremiah camped on the hope of God’s promises, and we can, too. Revelation 21:1 says: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. Isaiah 65:17 foretold of the same: For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered for come to mind.

Man was born in sin. Throughout history man in his sin has offended holy God. The wages of sin is death—eternal death. Men who fail to acknowledge that offense and repent have experienced the judgment of God on earth, and the wrath of God for all eternity in hell. Describing the horrors that did come on Judah in the Babylonian invasion, we need to understand the fullness of God’s judgment and the depths of our own depravity. At the cross of Jesus Christ, we see the depths of our sin, a sin so grave that the only way it could be atoned for was in God bringing the judgment that was ours upon His own Beloved Son. An eternity in hell could never come close to paying the debt we owed God. That debt was multiplied by all the elect who would ever believe in Christ. It was God’s wrath meant for all the elect of all time that was poured out on His Son at the cross. The worst judgment suffered in all of history was that judgment upon Jesus at Calvary. Why? For His people, so that they would once and for all be able to worship and serve Him and to fulfill their calling to glorify and enjoy Him forever. There was no other way, but it was never Plan B. It was always the deliberately structured plan made before the foundation of the world.

Isaiah 55:1-13—“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. For you will go out with joy and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up, and instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up, and it will be a memorial to the Lord, for an everlasting sign which will not be cut off.”

God has meticulously ordered every detail of history. His purposes will come to fruition exactly as He has planned. When discipline comes to the believer, or even when judgment befalls a nation, nothing that happens to us has taken Him by surprise because it has been arranged according to His specific, unique plan for us. He works in the hearts of men through His Word which shall not return empty (void) without accomplishing what He desires or without succeeding in the matter for which He has sent it. For some, that will result in eternal judgment as they reject His Word; for others it brings hope in His promises here and now, but eternal life in Christ Jesus. Even when it appears our ducks are scattered in complete chaos and our worlds seem upside down, they are exactly where they are supposed to be. And we can rest in that.