Posts
o Today
we're exploring the question: Do my choices matter?
o I
want to start by sharing with you what happened to God's people at the end of a
long period of forgetting that their choices mattered.
o To
understand where we're going, we need some background.
o Babylon. 539 BC. God's people had been in captivity, living in
exile, for 70 years, but God was working and moving.
o In
just one year, Babylon fell; Cyrus was now not only king over Persia, but over
all that once belonged to Babylon.
o The
Persian Empire was now the largest empire known.
o Cyrus
ascended Persia's throne in 559 BC and spent 20 years making his power secure before
turning his eyes to Babylon.
o On
the surface, a worldly empire is changing hands by the wills of powerful,
bloodthirsty men, but behind the scenes God is working and moving on behalf of
his people.
o 70
years earlier, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon laid siege to Jerusalem and God
severely disciplined the kingdom of Judah by the destruction of Jerusalem and
the Temple and dragging its leaders off into captivity.
o But
just as God used Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to discipline Judah, God chose Cyrus
king of Persia to discipline the ruthless empire of Babylon.
o King
Cyrus did not know the Lord God – he was a Zoroastrian, devoted to his God
Ahura Mazda , chief of the Zoroastrian gods.
o But
Cyrus saw the failures of Babylon's leaders who treated the cultures of the
people they conquered with contempt and Cyrus imagined a better way.
o The
Lord stirred his heart and Cyrus proclaimed religious freedom throughout his
empire.
o And
because he believed that all gods served his god, Cyrus was willing to give any
and all gods credit for his success.
o But
that the world may know that the Lord is God, the prophet Isaiah, speaking over
150 years earlier declares that God appointed Cyrus to rebuild Jerusalem and
the Temple of the Lord.
o Isaiah
reminds us that no matter what we think or believe, the Lord is God and there
is no other.
o 150 years before Cyrus decreed his empire wide reconstruction and renovation
campaign, God revealed through Isaiah the prophet that it would be done by Cyrus.
o God's
people had lived in exile for 70 years, but God was working and moving.
o Listen
to what God had to say through Isaiah about Cyrus 150 years before his decree. (Read
Isaiah 44: 24-45:7).
o Let
me summarize.
o Cyrus
would be God's appointed shepherd who would fulfill God's purpose. He would
rebuild Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple.
o Cyrus
is God's anointed (there's a doozy for Jews to swallow, a gentile as God's
anointed!). Cyrus will be used by God against other kingdoms.
o And
God goes ahead of Cyrus to make the plan happen.
o God's
people had been in captivity, living in exile, for 70 years, but God was
working and moving.
o It
was now 539 BC, Cyrus made his decree.
70 years had passed since Babylon had taken Judah into captivity. 70
years the people had lived in exile, but God was working and moving.
o Why
did God allow Judah to be taken into captivity in Babylon, anyway? Why did God send Judah into exile?
o Here's
the short answer: Judah made a long
series of poor choices, so the land needed to rest from Judah's disobedience.
o Let
me explain. The kingdom of Judah had more bad kings than good kings.
o They
had kings who were selfish and greedy, kings who worshiped Baal and Asherah,
kings who sacrificed their children to Molech in the fire.
o And
since their Kings didn't obey God, neither did God's people obey.
o So
for 490 years Judah was rebellious and disobedient in every way with the
exception of a few good kings.
o For
490 years Judah also robbed the land of its Sabbaths.
o In
Leviticus 25, God commanded for the land to lay fallow every seventh year. God's people were to do no planting or
pruning in their fields, orchards or vineyards every seven years.
o This
commandment is a reminder that God is their provider, and just as he provided
manna in the desert and they gathered two times as much on the sixth day, the
day before the weekly Sabbath, so also they would have an abundant crop in the
sixth year to provide for the Sabbath year.
o But
because Judah disobeyed God in every way, God was about to give them a 70 year
time out to make up for the lost Sabbath years and discipline them so they
would learn to listen and obey.
o Ezra
tells us that the decree of King Cyrus
was to fulfill the word of the prophet Jeremiah.
o For
more than two decades, Jeremiah called God's people to turn away from their
sins and turn back to God.
o Let
me summarize Jeremiah 25: 1-12.
o \\
For 23 years God has been telling you what he wants you to do, but you have not
listened.
o You
have not listened; you have not listened, says the Lord.
o Therefore,
this is what God says, because you have not obeyed me I'm going to send
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant, against this land and its people
and I will devote them to destruction.
o There
will be no joy or any cause for celebration in the land and you will serve the
kingdom of Babylon for 70 years.
o But
after the 70 years are over, I will punish Babylon and her King for what they
have done to you. //
o God's
people had a very serious hearing problem and it was a spiritual problem. They
refused to listen to God.
o God
punished the kingdom of Judah for not listening because when God's people don't
listen to him, then God's people won't obey him.
o When
we listen to God, we make choices that matter.
o God's
people had been in captivity for 70 years, but God was working and moving.
o The
prophet Jeremiah also reminded God's people that God keeps his promises.
o Let's
read Jeremiah 29:10-14.
o "For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed
for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring
you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for
evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and
pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me
with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes
and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you,
declares the Lord, and I will
bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile" (Jer.
29:10-14, ESV).
o God
punished Judah for not listening to him, but when the 70 years were up, God
would remember his promise and bring his people back.
o God
had good plans for his people to give them a future and a hope, and his people
will call upon God and he will listen.
o They
will seek God and find him when they seek him with all their heart.
o And
God promises to restore them, acknowledge their repentance, and bring them back
from exile.
o 70
years go by, God stirred the heart of Cyrus king of Persia and Cyrus made it
known that any Jew who wanted to go to Jerusalem was welcome to go.
o But
there's more, Cyrus ordered that wherever there were Jews living throughout the
empire their Gentile neighbors should help them all with silver, gold, goods,
animals, and free will offerings for the rebuilding of the Temple, and
Jerusalem.
o Ezra
tells us that everyone whom God stirred up from the tribes of Judah, Benjamin,
the Levites and priests went, and everyone around them helped them out with all
kinds of wealth.
o But
there's still more, all of the gold and silver containers, jugs, basins, and bowls that Nebuchadnezzar looted and stole from the Temple, Cyrus
returned, 5400 of them!
o 70
years God's people lived in exile, but God was working and moving to keep his
promise, to fulfill the word of his prophets, to forgive his people, and
demonstrate his generous compassion.
o The 70 years of
discipline had ended and God made good on his promise by stirring up the heart
of Cyrus to proclaim religious freedom and a massive empire wide rebuilding
campaign.
o From
a strictly human point of view, this decree of Cyrus is most unexpected, even
impossible, but God keeps his word.
o The
title of today's message is: Do my choices matter?
o The
history of God's people shows us that our choices do matter.
o Ultimately,
our choices can fall into two kinds. We
can: either choose to listen to and obey God; or choose to not listen, ignore
and disobey God.
o When
we listen to God, we make choices that matter.
o We
can choose sin or we can choose what's right. We can choose our own good or we
can choose God's best.
o If
God's people had chosen to listen and obey, they wouldn't have wound up in the
mess they were in, Jerusalem laid waste, the Temple of the Lord destroyed, and
70 years of captivity in a foreign land.
o God
gave Judah his word and sent prophets to remind them, but Judah chose not to
listen and not to read, to ignore God's best and to do what they saw fit
without God.
o Many
times we are like the people of Judah. God calls us to listen and obey, but we
refuse to listen so God has to discipline us.
o When
we listen to God, we make choices that matter.
o God
has already told us in his word what is His best for us, but when we choose not
to read, not to listen, and not to obey God's voice, eventually consistent
disobedience results in painful consequences.
o Do our choices
matter? Sure they do. Plenty of our
decisions have eternal significance.
o Like what?
o Like how often we
pray, and read and study the Bible.
o Like how we invest
in relationships with others outside and inside God's family.
o Like whether we
invite others to be part of God's family, join us for worship, small group,
prayer, whatever we are doing together or not.
o Like whether we are
critical and judgemental of others or not.
o Like whether we
show the community that God's family loves and cares for them or not.
o These
kinds of choices matter for eternity.
o When
we listen to God, we make choices that matter.
o God
wants us to listen to him and he wants to listen to us, but what's going to
happen if we stop listening to God?
o Sometimes
we, like Judah, don't leave God any other option, but severe discipline to get
our attention.
o Does God leave us
during our time of punishment? No, God
doesn't leave us. God doesn't cancel his covenant. He doesn't wipe us out
because he loves us and He is our God.
o Because
of what Christ has done, God will continue to remember His promises to us.
o Are we to keep on
praying when we are under his discipline?
Yes, we are to continue praying because God is looking for confession of sin,
humbled hearts, and for us to make things right as we can.
o Is restoration and
renewal God's desire for us? Yes, it is! God
can stir up the hearts of anyone in our lives to restore us when we are in the
punishment of captivity or the discipline of exile, and God bring our captivity
and exile to an end and renew us just like he used Cyrus to carry out his
purposes for Judah.
o Does God have plans
for us? Yes, he does. "For I know the
plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil,
to give you a future and a hope" (Jer. 29:11, ESV).
o We
often choose not to listen to God and those choices are worrying, but...
o
When we listen to
God, we make choices that matter...that
matter for eternity.
o Quoting
Proverbs, Hebrews tells us that, "the Lord disciplines those he loves, and
punishes each one he accepts as his child" (Heb. 12:6).
o James
wrote, "Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving
yourselves" (Jas. 1:22).
o The
consequence of disobedience, of not listening and obeying, is discipline.
o God
disciplines those who don't listen to him because he loves them.
o Like
with Judah, the discipline isn't always immediate. God gave them 490 years to
repent of their sins, but they would not listen.
o Our
choices do matter. God still disciplines
us today and God is just as concerned with restoring us as he was with the
kingdom of Judah because he loves us and wants his best for us.
o "For
I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not
for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to
me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with
all your heart" (Jer. 29:11-13, ESV).
o When
we listen to God, we make choices that matter.
o Let's
make listening to God and obeying his voice our top goal.
No comments:
Post a Comment