Precepts for Life, Kay Arthur, Christian Online Video, Television Ministry

In the midst of a heartbreaking trial, God clearly gave me the verse from Psalm 46: "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).

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Well, you know by now that Jeremiah was a prophet before and during the exile - he warned God's people both before and after Nebuchadnezzar rushed in to carry them off to Babylon.

At the opening of this study we find him telling the southern kingdom of Judah that 70 years of captivity are coming because the people have consistently rejected their prophets and disobeyed the Word of the Lord. He calls Judah and the surrounding nations to repent and submit to Babylon's rule. He warns his people to not listen to the majority of their prophets who are telling them everything will be fine, some of them even advising rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar. They will be blessed, he says, only if they seek the peace of Babylon, the very city that's taking them captive - an impossible message for most to accept.

But this isn't the end of the story. While seventy years all but guarantees a generation will die off in a foreign land, beyond that lies the hope of restoration. God promises that a new generation will joyfully return to Jerusalem. Prosperity, too, will return to the land along with the New Covenant promises of God's cleansing and Spirit that will empower faith and obedience. The Branch of righteousness (Christ) will appear and dwell with God's people in their restored land. This horizon is far beyond Israel's return starting in 536 BC.

And that makes Jeremiah;s mixed message of warning and hope applicable to us.

You see, nothing has really changed since his day. Just look around. Don't we have the same idols? Don't distractions of all sorts keep us from obeying God? How much precious and passionate time do we put into our entertainments rather than into the Lord - getting to know Him through Bible study, worshipping Him, serving His people? How many Christian principles and values like marriage, hard work, and respect for life have our nation, families, even some of our churches rejected? And what kind of message is the average church giving out?

And where will all this lead? Is captivity no longer an option? Beloved, I think it is. If our nation, starting with God's people, doesn't return to the Lord, He will certainly visit us with a corrective rod as He did to Israel. Other nations are gaining on us and you know many of them don't like us. As you carefully observe Israel's spiritual condition, you'll see that our nation stands at a similar threshold of judgment and we have the same opportunity Jeremiah had to stand in the gap. But it will take his kind of courage.

Let's commit to that courage. Join me in studying this vital message and stand with me in the gap, praying and working hard for our nation's survival through revival.

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