Scripture:
Jeremiah 37:17:
Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.
Theme:
When God is Silent
Introduction:
- The book of Jeremiah is the second book of the Major prophets in the Old Testament. The first of two written by the prophet Jeremiah. The other being Lamentations.
- Who was Jeremiah?:
- The “weeping prophet” for his constant crying out to a stiff-necked, hardheaded people to return to God.
- One of the “greater prophets” of the Old Testament, son of Hilkiah, a priest of Anathoth (Jer. 1:1; 32:6).
- He was called to the prophetical office when still young — Jeremiah 1:9, “Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.”
- God had an early ordination service before his calling – Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”
- He left his native place, and went to reside in Jerusalem, where he greatly assisted King Josiah in his work of reformation (2 Kings 23:1-25). The death of this pious king was sorrowfully proclaimed by the prophet as a national calamity (2 Chr. 35:25).
- Jeremiah lived through pressures and sieges against the Jews from the Babylonians, Egyptians, and Chaldeans.
- It is believed that Jeremiah’s life came to an end, around the age of 90, during his time in Egypt…although it is uncertain.
- The scripture is historically placed during the reign of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah. Jeremiah was Zedekiah’s counselor being that Zedekiah began his reign at the young age of 21. Because he did not cease to do evil in the sight of the Lord, Zedekiah’s life ended after seeing his own children put to death, his own eyes were put out, and, being loaded with chains, he was carried captive to Babylon, where he remained a prisoner, how long is unknown, to the day of his death.
- As counselor, Jeremiah was faced with the question asked in our scripture, “Is there any word from the LORD?”
- We often covertly and eloquently ask the same types of questions at crucial or stressful times in our lives:
- Lord, where are you?
- Lord, am I doing all right?
- Lord, will you help me through this problem?
- What do you do WHEN GOD IS SILENT?
Body:
“IS THERE ANY WORD FROM THE LORD? — THERE IS”
First, don’t deceive yourself:
- Lord, where are you?
- God is omnipresent. He resides next to everyone, and He resides in the hearts of those who allow Him into their lives.
- Jeremiah 23:23-24, “Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.”
- Lord, am I doing all right?
- God is omniscient. Just because you don’t hear a voice of correction does not mean that what you are doing is all right with God.
- Psalm 50:21, “These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.”
- Lord, will you help me through this problem?
- God is omnipotent. God can do all things, and “We can do all things through Christ Jesus”. This is our foundation. What God will do is up to His Will…we just have to trust in Him.
- As the Hebrew boys said in Daniel 3:17, “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”
- There are examples of times in our lives when we have thought that God was silent.
- The bill came before and the due date is coming.
- You prayed for deliverance, and you still are faced with failure.
- God gave you a promise, and you are awaiting His coming through on it.
“IS THERE ANY WORD FROM THE LORD? — THERE IS”
- What is truly happening? — “God is silent” vs. “We can’t hear Him”
- Is it that we can’t hear God because He is silent, OR is it that God is silent because we can’t hear him?
- Revelation 2:7, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches”
- God “speaking” is ANTHROPOMORPHIC in nature
- Forms of speech that attribute human forms, acts, and affections to God…metaphorical.
- Our “hearing” is metaphorical in nature.
- Hearing = REALIZING
- God speaks to us using:
- Visions/Dreams — Numbers 12:6, “And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.”
- Revelations — 1Corinthians 14:6, “Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?”
- Faith/Trusting — James 4:8, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.”
- His Power — 2Samuel 22:33, “God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect.”
- Sin hinders Man’s ability to “hear” God:
- As Jeremiah 5:25 says, “Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.”
- Since Hebrews 9:11 says, “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come”
- Therefore, sin, or our iniquities, can withhold God’s goodness to us, as exemplified in our inability to hear God’s voice.
- When we think that God is silent, it is really sin that is hindering our ability to “hear” God.
“IS THERE ANY WORD FROM THE LORD? — THERE IS”
- A CHANGE is necessary in this time “WHEN GOD IS (as we think) SILENT”
- We need to “Wait” until the change comes…. Job 14:14, “all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.”
- A change from stubbornness to openness
- A change from bondage to freedom
- A change from reaction to action
- A change from “I don’t know” to “Lord, I know”
“IS THERE ANY WORD FROM THE LORD? — THERE IS”
- However, “Wait” has a special meaning
- How do you wait — James 5:7 says, “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it….”
- WHEN GOD IS SILENT wait on a word from the Lord with:
- Patience – Makes us AVAILABLE — James 1:4, “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”
- Faith — Makes us CAPABLE — Acts 6:8, “And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.”
- Action – Makes us WORKABLE \ Productive — James 2:26, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
“IS THERE ANY WORD FROM THE LORD? — THERE IS”
Conclusion:
We are to wait as the husbandman does for his crop…ACTIVELY:
- Select good fertile soil to plant – PREPARE OUR SELVES TO GO BEFORE GOD…NOT JUST ANY KIND OF WAY
- Order neatly the rows for planting – ORDER OUR STEPS BEFORE GOD
- Place seeds equidistant from each other – SEPARATE BETWEEN WHAT IS OF GOD AND WHAT IS OF THE WORLD
- Water the seeds in the soil – ALLOW GOD’S SPIRIT TO WATER YOUR LIFE FOR GROWTH
- Loosen soil around plant – DON’T GET TOO RIGID…BE AVAILABLE FOR GOD’S GROWTH
- Take away weeds – HATE SIN AND SHUN EVIL!
- Prune plant when needed – ALLOW GOD TO PRUNE OUR LIFE FOR UNNECESSARY THINGS
- Watch out for insects and animals invading crop – BE WATCHFUL AND PRAY…SATAN IS BUSY
- Harvest when time is right –
- GOD WILL SEPARATE the crop form remaining weeds and insects
- GOD WILL REAP the fruit from the contaminated life
- GOD WILL DESTROY what remains after the harvest is gathered.
- The waiting soul lives
- The impatient flesh is destroyed
“IS THERE ANY WORD FROM THE LORD? — THERE IS”
- As Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.” Why? Because Isaiah 40:31 says, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
“IS THERE ANY WORD FROM THE LORD? — THERE IS”
- Let’s look at what can happen when you wait and endure “God’s silence”:
- In the 400 years from Malachi to Matthew, God’s “silence” brought us from:
Law to Grace
The Voice to The Word
The Blood of a Lamb to the Blood of the Lamb
Holiest of Holies to the Holy One
Salvation in Him to Salvation through Him
Hope instilled to Hope fulfilled
Love realized to Love characterized
Joy insurmountable to Joy unspeakable
“IS THERE ANY WORD FROM THE LORD? — THERE IS”!!!!!
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