JEREMIAH 46-472010 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Jeremiah 46-47

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2010. Well, this evening we're in Jeremiah chapter 46, and as we head forward...

into the book of Jeremiah, we're kind of changing our pace a little bit. We're changing the theme, the subject changes slightly as we go forward. And you can see that at the beginning of chapter 46, verse 1, it says, The word of the Lord, which came to Jeremiah the prophet, against the nations. Now up to this point, the focus of the book of Jeremiah has really been towards the nation of Judah.

The nation of Judah, of course, was God's people. It was the remnant that was left after the nation was divided into two parts. The northern kingdom was called Israel. The southern kingdom called Judah. The northern kingdom was conquered...

many years before Jeremiah was born. And now Jeremiah is on the scene with the last remaining remnant of God's people there in the land that God had promised to them. They were dwindling away because they insisted on rebelling against God. And Jeremiah has been calling them back to repentance, calling them back to God because God wanted to give them an opportunity to serve Him and to make things right and to be blessed in the land that He had given to them.

But of course, they persisted, they insisted on rebelling against God, and it brought them to the point of utter destruction. And so, last week, as we were kind of finishing up the historical part of the book of Jeremiah, we found the nation now is completely gone, the nation.

The majority have been taken captive to Babylon. There is a few left that fled to Egypt, but even there in Egypt, God's promise was that Egypt was going to be conquered by the Babylonian armies. And so those who fled to Egypt were going to perish as well because they disobeyed God in fleeing to Egypt instead of staying in the land that God had given to them.

But now as we go forward, we are kind of shifting our eyes off of the nation of Judah and are even stepping outside of the timeline. So we're not, you know, this isn't consecutive necessarily. Some of these prophecies were given much before what we studied last week. But what we're looking at is different nations around the nation of Israel.

And so God was using the nation of Babylon to deal with his children, the nation of Judah. He was using the nation of Babylon to judge his people, to bring upon them the consequences for their rebellion against God.

But the nation of Judah was not the only nation that God was dealing with through Babylon. God was also using Babylon as his instruments to bring judgment upon other nations around the nation of Judah. Because God had been ministering to and speaking to those nations as well.

Now, we don't have a full account of everything that God was doing in that time. We have what God preserved for us, which is his account of the nation of Israel and the nation of Judah. And so we have very accurate records of the different prophets that were ministering to them. But we see throughout the scriptures that God was ministering not just to Israel,

the nation of Judah or the nation of Israel, but he was ministering to and speaking to the surrounding nations and calling them to a right relationship with him. You know, God is not only dealing with a small group of people upon the earth at that time or at this time.

God is working in ways that we can't see. He's working in ways that we have no idea that is going on, but He is at work and He's calling people to repentance. He's calling people to right relationship with Him. And the nation of Judah was like the other nations around it in that they were refusing that call. As God was reaching out to them, they were refusing to turn to God. They were rebelling against God. And

And so the nation of Babylon is God's instrument, God's tool to deal with all of this rebellion, all of this wickedness, all of this sin that is going on in the nation of Judah and the surrounding nations. And so here we begin this new section where it's against the nations, not just Judah,

but those nations around Judah as well. We'll be looking at Egypt, which we'll see tonight, Philistia in chapter 47, also the nations of Moab and Ammon, Edom and Damascus, Kedar, Hazor, Elam, and even Babylon God is going to deal with because of their wickedness and rebellion against him. And so we'll be looking at these different nations for the next couple of weeks.

But we start off looking at the nation of Egypt, God's message to Egypt for their rebellion against him. Look at verse 2. It says, Verse 3.

Order the buckler and shield and draw near to battle. Harness the horses and mount up, you horsemen. Stand forth with your helmets, polish the spears, put on the armor. Why have I seen them dismayed and turned back? Their mighty ones are beaten down. They have speedily fled and did not look back. For fear was all around, says the Lord. Do not let... Excuse me.

Do not let the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape. They will stumble and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates. Here as we look at the first part of this message regarding Egypt, God is dealing with the nation. Pharaoh is the king of Egypt, of course, and it's Pharaoh Necho, and he's dealing with the armies of

I'm talking about the armies of Egypt that are near the river Euphrates. Now this is a little bit significant because the river Euphrates was not in Egypt. And what was taking place was, if you can kind of picture in your heads, I meant to put maps on the screen and ran out of time, but the nation of Judah...

let's say is right here, and then Egypt would be down south and west of the nation of Judah.

Babylon would be east of Judah, quite a bit of ways, and straight east from Jerusalem to Babylon was desert. And so Babylon would not come straight east to come to Judah or to Egypt. What Babylon would do is Babylon would follow the river Euphrates north, northwest really, up to the northern part, a little bit north of Israel, and then they would come down to

And so, you remember when Abraham left, it says that he left Ur of the Chaldees, which is the area of Babylon, and then...

He camped in Haran. He stayed in Haran. That's kind of the northernmost part of the Euphrates River. And then from there, Abraham came down into the land of Canaan. And that's the same route that the nation of Babylon, the armies of Babylon would take. They would go north up to around Haran, and then they would come down south into the land of Israel, as well as just past Israel into the land of Egypt. Well, Carchemish...

is by the river Euphrates up at the north part. And so what had happened here is Egypt left their land, their armies went north past Israel, past Syria, up far north to the river Euphrates in order to meet the Babylonian army and stop them before they could come down south into the whole land of Canaan and all of the nations that were there.

And so it's in this place that they are and God is saying, hey, while they're there, this is what's going to happen, that they are going to be defeated.

He tells them, mount up, you know, hey, go ahead and put on your shield and put on your sword and get on your horses. But then, he says, they're going to be turned back. Their mighty ones are going to be beaten down. They're going to speed away swiftly. They're going to flee out of great fear.

It says there at the end of verse 5, for fear was all around. And so Egypt was going to stop Babylon. They were going to stop the instrument of God. Babylon was threatening to come and they say, no, we're going to deal with this. We're going to meet you there. We're going to take you out before you have an opportunity to do all of the things that you are wanting to do. Egypt was trying to fight against the plan of God and even what God had promised and prophesied was going to take place there.

And as a result, they ended up dismayed, beaten down, with fear all around. And as we look at these things this evening, we can know for certain that when we fight against God and we try to thwart God's plan, this will always be the case. We will end up being dismayed and beaten down with fear all around.

And so Egypt goes up there, but they end up getting conquered. They get beat over there at Carchemish, trying to defeat Babylon. Babylon is victorious. Verse 7. Who is this coming up like a flood, whose waters move like the rivers?

Egypt rises up like a flood and its waters move like the rivers. And he says, I will go up and cover the earth and destroy the city and its inhabitants. Come up, O horses, and rage, O chariots, and let the mighty men come forth, the Ethiopians and the Libyans who handle the shield and the Lydians who handle and bend the bow.

Verse 11.

Go up to Gilead and take Balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt. In vain you will use many medicines. You shall not be cured. The nations have heard of your shame, and your cry has filled the land. For the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty. They have both fallen together."

Down in the land of Egypt, there was a gathering together, a grouping together. The Egyptians, the Ethiopians, the Lydians and the Libyans, they were all in that same region and they gathered together, united together to come and

To defeat Babylon. And so they pictured themselves like this flood. They're coming up like a flood. Who can stop us with arrogance, with an expectation that they were going to be successful, that they were going to be victorious, that they were unstoppable. But God says, let them come. Go ahead. Be like a flood. This is the day of the Lord God of hosts. God says, this is my day.

You can unite together all you want. You can mount up all the forces that you want. But this is a day of vengeance. He's going to avenge himself on his adversaries. The sword is going to devour. It's going to be satiated or satisfied. It's going to be filled completely. He says, for the Lord God has a sacrifice there in the north country. So Egypt is heading up there. Again, setting out, saying...

We're going to be successful. We're going to thwart what God has said. Because remember, from this time and well before, Jeremiah and many other prophets have been long foretelling this is what Babylon is going to do, that Babylon is God's instrument. Babylon is going to come and to judge these nations. And Egypt says, I don't think so. We're going to take care of this. We're going to unite together. We've got a plan.

And so they're intent on defeating the plan and purpose of God. But what they fail to realize is that their great plan is really God's day of vengeance. And so they unite together to go up to battle to be defeated, to experience judgment because of their rebellion against God.

God tells them in verse 11, go up to Gilead and take balm. Now, Gilead was known as a place for medicines. And so he says, yeah, you've been wounded, you've been hurt, you've been defeated. Go ahead, go try to heal yourself. He says it's not going to work. In vain you'll use many medicines, but you won't be cured. God is speaking to Egypt, much like he spoke to the nation of Judah through Jeremiah.

You cannot outrun. You cannot outwit. You cannot thwart the plan of God. His word will be fulfilled. It will take place as he said. Trying to unite and have great plans, rise up in might, trying to heal yourself. Do not reverse what God has said. God's word will be fulfilled. Verse 13 says,

So what we've been reading about just prior to this is Egypt going north and meeting in battle the nation of Babylon in Carchemish by the river Euphrates. Now God's saying...

Egypt was defeated there. Now Babylon is going to come down and actually invade the land of Egypt there to the south and to the west of Israel. So verse 14, he says,

They did not stand because the Lord drove them away. He made many fall. Yes, one fell upon another. And they said, Arise, let us go back to our own people and to the land of our nativity from the oppressing sword. They cried there, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is but a noise. He has passed by the appointed time. As I live, says the king, whose name is the Lord of hosts, surely as Tabor is among the mountains...

And as Carmel is by the sea, so he shall come. O you daughter dwelling in Egypt, prepare yourself to go into captivity, for no shall be waste and desolate without inhabitant. God is speaking to the land of Egypt and he's preparing them. Not only is there going to be great defeat in the north, but after that Babylon is going to come down and he's going to invade the land of Egypt.

Now he says, declare in Egypt. Stand fast. Prepare yourselves. There's a battle coming. But what's going to happen? He says, all the valiant men are going to be swept away. All of the ones that they were counting on, all the ones that they had their faith in, they're going to be swept away. Why are they swept away? Why are their strongest of strong, why are their valiant warriors going to not be reliable?

It says in verse 15, they did not stand because the Lord drove them away. Babylon will defeat Egypt at Carchemish and then later on will invade Egypt. And God says, they're going to be successful. The valiant are going to be swept away because the Lord is doing this. God is making it very clear. He's telling the future. And of course,

Those who hear it at the time don't receive it, otherwise, well, it wouldn't come to pass. Because as we often see that God's pronouncement of judgment is always his opportunity to repent. But they refuse and they say, no, we're going to fight against this. We're going to thwart the plan of God. We're going to do it our way, refusing to believe what God has said.

You know, as we read these things, though, we have the advantage of looking back historically and knowing all of these things that God promised, they happened exactly the way that God said. We have the advantage of looking at this and realizing that nations and kingdoms and armies are in the hands of our God. Now, just think about that for a second. Nations and kingdoms and armies are in the hands of our God.

Egypt was, well, they were pretty confident. Babylon was coming. It's a serious threat. But look, we can unite together. We can get all of our armies together. We've got some fearsome armies. We've got chariots. We've got the best horses. We can be victorious. And so they go to meet Babylon up north. And then Babylon's going to come down now after Egypt was defeated in the north. Well, that's okay. We got the home court advantage now. They can't invade us on our turf.

You just wait and see. Our strong are here. But God says, they're going to be swept away. Everything that they were hoping in, all of their plans, everything that they had figured out was going to come to nothing because God has nations and kingdoms and armies in His hand. You know, as Larry was sharing as well,

the worries and the fears of what might happen, the rumors that are going on, we can look at this world and be all torn up about all of the things that may happen and may come to pass. But let us not forget, God has nations and kingdoms and armies in His hand. Some people are very fearful. What if Iran gets nuclear weapons? What if?

God has nations and kingdoms and armies in His hand. He's in control. He knows what's going on. Those weapons of mass destruction, they're not fearful to God. He knows what's going to happen. He's got it under control. His plan is going to be fulfilled. You know, those nations are set in trying to wipe Israel from the map.

It will never succeed. You know why? Because God has already made his promises about the nation of Israel. And it doesn't matter if Iran gets nuclear weapons. Nations and kingdoms and armies are in the hands of our God. We have a big God. And he's in control. He's on the throne. And nations can fight it. And they can unite together. And they can come up with great strength and plans. And it doesn't change the plan of God.

And that's important on a big scale for us. But it's also important as we look at that, as God has nations and kingdoms and armies in His hand, we can also look at our own lives and realize, I'm in the hand of God. You know, like Paul said in the book of Corinthians, no weapon formed against you shall prosper. As you walk with God, as you

submitting to Him and walking in His will and seeking Him and following after Him, no weapon against you shall prosper. Now, if you want to rebel against God and run away from Him, then you have reason to fear. But in the Lord, no weapon formed against you shall prosper. In the Lord, we have the promise that all things work together for good. In the Lord, it doesn't matter how big the schemes are around us. Our peace, our safety,

Our faith, our strength is in the Lord. We're in His hands. Jesus said, no one can snatch you out of my Father's hand. We're in His hand. He's got the whole world in His hand, but He also has you in His hand as a believer in Jesus Christ. You know, we can rest in that. We can rest and know that God will take care of us, that He will meet our needs. And you know what?

If that means that he takes us to be with him, that's a need that I want to be met. God has nations and kingdoms and armies in his hand. And nations can fight against the plan of God, but they will not succeed. And Egypt learned that the hard way, by rebelling against God, by refusing to listen to him, by insisting they're going to do it their way.

And so he says, watch out. Babylon is coming. They're going to be successful. And you are going to be taken into captivity. Look at verse 20. Egypt is a very proud heifer, is a very pretty heifer. But destruction comes, it comes from the north. Also her mercenaries are in her midst like fat bulls.

Verse 23, Verse 23,

The daughter of Egypt shall be ashamed. She shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north. The people of the north is a reference to Babylon and the nation of Babylon. They're looking at their strength. They're looking at their innumerable forests, insisting, look at how wonderful we have it. We're a pretty heifer. But God says destruction is coming. Look how strong we are.

And we've got these mercenaries. They're going to take care of us. These hired thugs, they're going to be our protection. But they're going to be turned back. Their plans will not prosper, as God is saying. And they will be ashamed. Whether it be a nation or a person, whoever sets out to defy the plan of God, this is how they will end up. Ashamed. Destroyed. With nothing left. In bondage and captivity.

This is what is in store for the land of Egypt. Verse 25. The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says, Behold, I will bring punishment on Ammon and Noah and Pharaoh and Egypt with their gods and their kings, Pharaoh and those who trust in him. And I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and the hand of his servants. Afterward it shall be inhabited as in the days of old, says the Lord.

So God says, kind of summarizing it, summing it up, they're going to be destroyed.

I'm going to judge them. I'm going to judge their gods. I'm going to judge them for trusting in the Pharaoh instead of trusting in me. I'm going to deliver them into the hands of those who seek their life. They are going to experience destruction through Babylon and King Nebuchadnezzar. But he ends the verse 26 saying, afterwards it will be inhabited again. And so he's letting us know it's not going to be a total complete end of the nation and the people.

That sometimes is the case. But he says in this case, it will be inhabited again. The land of Egypt will be inhabited. It will thrive again and will be a nation as in the days of old. And we even see that to this day. It's still a nation today. Verse 27. But do not fear, O my servant Jacob, and do not be dismayed, O Israel.

Verse 28.

Do not fear, O Jacob, my servant, says the Lord, for I am with you. For I will make a complete end of all the nations to which I have driven you, but I will not make a complete end of you. I will rightly correct you, for I will not leave you wholly unpunished. And so God uses the final part of this message to the land of Egypt to remind His people that He is going to take care of them. He's reminding them, listen,

nation of Judah, nation of Israel, descendants of Abraham. This is my judgment that I'm pronouncing upon Egypt and all of these other nations. But what you need to keep in mind as I pronounce these judgments is that I am not going to make an utter end of you. I'm not wiping you off the face of the earth. I'm going to preserve you.

Now I'm going to preserve you, but I'm also going to correct you. That's why he says there at the end of verse 28, for I will not leave you wholly unpunished. No, there is punishment that is due because of your rebellion against me. And so I'm using these nations to punish you. And I'm punishing these nations and taking care of them. But don't be fearful that I'm done with you. You're still my people.

I'm going to correct you. I'm going to punish you and chastise you. And then I'm going to restore you and bring you back into the land and bring you back into right relationship with me. God is so incredible because he has nations and kingdoms and armies in his hand. And he is able to deal with the nations and preserve his people. God is able to deal with the nations and preserve nations.

His people. He's able to hold the righteous. He's able to preserve the righteous while judging those who are due judgment. God is able. Again, He is in full control. And that is why we can rest in Him. As we look around at the nation around us, we understand that this nation that we live in is due for judgment. But we can rest assured that we are in the hands of God.

And God is able to deal with the nation and preserve the righteous. Now again, if He chooses to preserve me by taking me to be with Him, I'm okay with that. But He's able to take care of us, to meet our needs. We can rest and trust in Him. Look at the words that He used. He says, I won't make a complete end of you.

But he says, I will save you from afar and your offspring from the land of captivity. Jacob shall return and have rest and be at ease and no one shall make him afraid. This is what we can have right now by faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Where we can rest and be at ease knowing that God is on the throne. Not that nothing bad happens to us, but that all things work together for good.

Not that we don't experience anything tough or difficult or cough in the middle of our message, but that God's at work and He's in control. He's on the throne. We have perfect peace in Him, knowing that He will fulfill His plan. If we fight against that plan, we hurt ourselves. But if we walk in His ways, if we follow Him, if we seek to do what God has called us to do in our lives, we can rest.

as we walk with him as we abide in him we have ease we have peace knowing that he's in control he's on the throne now if we need correction he's able to correct us but he doesn't do away with us he corrects us if the nation around us around us needs to be judged he can do that if nations rise up and try to thwart the plan of god it won't be successful god's on the throne

Again, we see this in the land of Egypt, especially having the advantage of historical proof that what God said is indeed what happened. In the same way, we can rest and trust. God dealt with Egypt because of their rebellion against Him. And if you're rebelling against God...

Well, God will deal with you and you won't be able to escape just like Egypt could not. But if you're his child, if you're walking with him, then you can also rest and know that you're in his hands. He's taking care of you. There's no need to stress, but you can rest and be at ease knowing that God is on the throne.

As we go into chapter 47, now God deals with the nation of Philistia. Verse 1 of chapter 47 says, The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza. So here now God addresses the Philistines. The Philistines were...

Just west of the nation of Israel. They were actually in the land that God had given to the land of Israel. But Israel never drove them out. They never had the faith to really deal with the Philistines. They always were fearful. And so the Philistines were like an archenemy of the nation of Israel. Always causing them problems. You remember Goliath, the giant. He was a Philistine, a

There was other Philistine giants. And so the Philistines were in the area which is known as the Gaza Strip today. In that area, still right there and still causing them problems. That was the area of the Philistines or the area of Philistia. They weren't originally inhabitants there. They kind of migrated from an island. And we'll see that a little bit farther down in the chapter as well.

But so God now addresses them. This is another nation that God has been speaking to. Another nation that has rebelled against God and refused to respond to God's message. And so God is using Babylon to bring his judgment upon them. Now this message was...

delivered to the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza. And so this was talking about Pharaoh, the land of Egypt, coming up from the south. But what God is saying, even before Egypt tried to conquer the Philistines, God says, later on what's really going to happen is Babylon is going to come from the north and conquer the land of the Philistines. Verse 2.

Thus says the Lord,

Verse 4. So here in verses 2 through 4, God says there's going to be a flood out of the north.

Now, in the previous chapter, Egypt was considering itself a flood coming up from the south, but they were defeated. Now God says Babylon is going to be like a flood. They're just going to overwhelm the land. They're going to overwhelm the territory of the Philistines. It's going to be an overflowing flood. They're going to overflow the land and all that's in it. All of the cities are going to be wiped out.

The inhabitants will wail at the noise of this battle, at the coming of the army of Babylon.

It says in verse 3, I think it gives us a really good picture of what's going to happen to the nation. There at the end it says, "...the fathers will not look back for their children lacking courage. Such will be the fear upon the Philistines as Babylon comes down, that they're going to run and the fathers are not going to look back to see if their children are making it out. They're going to be freaked out, dismayed, terrified."

Because of the judgment that is brought upon them. Again, God's pronouncement of judgment is an opportunity of repentance. We have seen that time and time and time again throughout Jeremiah. We see here, this happened. Jeremiah delivers this message. This is what God spoke before Pharaoh attacked Gaza.

This is later on that it actually takes place that Babylon conquers the Philistines. They have God's word well in advance. They have the opportunity to repent. They have the opportunity to turn and get right. But they refuse. And so again, looking back historically, we find Babylon came down like a flood and swept through and conquered the land of the Philistines just as God described it.

Just as God said that would happen. Verse 5.

O you sword of the Lord, how long until you are quiet? Put yourself up into your scabbard. Rest and be still. Verse 7. How can it be quiet, seeing the Lord has given it a charge against Ashkelon and against the seashore, and there he has appointed it. Here as he finishes up against Babylon, he says the result is baldness upon Gaza. They're wiped out, leveled.

Gaza was a main city for the Philistines. Another main city was Ashkelon. And so Gaza is bald. Ashkelon is cut off. They're wiped out. And then he kind of gives a little poetic discussion there at the end in verse 6 and 7 with the sword. He says, How long until your quiet, sword of the Lord? Rest and be still. Stop bringing this judgment. Stop bringing this destruction upon the land.

And then the sword responds, "How can it be quiet, seeing the Lord has given it a charge against Ashkelon?" As we've seen over and over again, the Word of God is fulfilled. His Word does not return void. What God says is going to come to pass, is going to come to pass. God has appointed it. And so this judgment comes to pass on the land of Philistia, just like it came to pass on the land of Egypt.

Just like it came to pass on all the other nations that we'll be reading about in the coming weeks. Because God has appointed it. God is in control. Nations and kingdoms and armies are in the hands of our God. And you can't outwit Him. You can't outrun Him. You can't thwart His plans. You can't defeat His words. What God says will come to pass. For us as believers...

That should bring great comfort. Jesus said, don't let your heart be troubled. I'm going away, but don't be troubled. Why? Because I'm going to prepare a place for you. And if I go, I'm going to come back to receive you. That you may be with me forever. Wherever I am, there you may be always. God's word will be fulfilled. It will come to pass. We're in his hands. Now there's lots of prophecies that are yet to be fulfilled. The end time scenario says,

can be quite fearful for some. As we look ahead at the promises, the judgment, the wrath of God, and the tribulation period, the things that are going to take place with the Antichrist, and all of those things, and yet, here's what we can rest in. We're in the hands of God. And He is able to deal with nations and preserve His children. He's able to take care of us. He doesn't just wipe out the righteous with the wicked. He preserves the righteous.

and judges the wicked. We saw that in Sodom and Gomorrah. That was the basis of Abraham's discussion with God, right? If there's 50 righteous, will you still judge the city? No, I won't judge the city if there's 50 righteous. And all it came down to, it was just Lot and his wife and his two daughters. And so God brought them out of the city and then brought the judgment that was deserved upon Sodom and Gomorrah.

In the same way, we look forward to the rapture of the church, being caught up to be with Jesus, knowing the judgment that is going to be brought upon this world. And no matter what the world tries to do, they can't thwart that plan of God. That is going to come to pass. This world is going to go through tribulation like it's never seen before. But at the same time, we look forward to that time when God catches us up. We don't have to be fearful because we are in the hands of God.

That's the big picture. He's going to catch us up and then as the church is out of the way, he's going to deal with and judge the nations of this world that are in outright rebellion against him. And so we have peace. We have rest in the big picture. But let's zoom in a little bit closer. Right before us in the situations that we're going through, we're still in the hand of God. And God is at work.

And His Word is going to be accomplished. And all things are going to work together for good. Understand that in your life, as you get to heaven, and you stand before God, there's not going to be one aspect of your life that you look back and you say, God, that was not good. And I wish you would have done it a different way. No, as we enter into eternity, we're going to realize, God, you used that for good.

We're going to praise Him. Those most difficult times, the things that we just don't understand here, those are things that later we'll be able to look back and say, "Wow, God, You're amazing. We praise You." We're in the hands of God. So no matter what the enemy tries to throw against us, what the world tries to push upon us, no matter how the people around us try to defy God and defeat the plan of God,

As we walk with Him, as we walk in relationship with Him that's provided to us through Jesus Christ, holding on to Him by faith, not by words, not by our goodness, but because of what He's done for us, His completed work. That same faith we hold on and we trust we're in the hands of God. And so we can be at peace. We can rest. What did He say to Jacob? What did He say to Israel? He says...

They shall return, have rest, and be at ease, and no one shall make him afraid. Don't let your heart be troubled. God's with you. He's on your side. Rest in Him. Have peace, because you are in the hands of God. The worship team is going to come up and lead us in some worship. And as they do, I just want to encourage you to take this time to just rest in Him. Place your trust in God. If there are struggles, if there's worries and doubts and stresses, just...

Turn them over. Lay them before the Lord. Trust Him in all of those situations and scenarios. Let Him give you the peace that passes all understanding, knowing that you're in His hands. Because His word comes to pass, He will do what He said. History has proven it time and time again. We can trust ourselves completely to the faithfulness of God. Amen? Let's worship the Lord together.

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