I have caused this. He is the one in charge. They’re down there in a captive place, a place they don’t want to be, a place they hate, a place they despise. The people down there don’t love them. The people down there don’t care about them. They’re far, far, far from the temple, and it’s about to be destroyed. I mean, things are bad, and God, he’s going to send them a letter, reminded him. The first thing he says is, I’ve caught this. Stop cussing out, nebuchadnezzar. He’s not the one in charge. You know those people that are treating you horrible, that you’re living around and you’re so mad at them that he tells them, I’ve caused this. And if you’re a child of God today, whatever circumstances you’re in, he’s the one in charge. He’s the one that’s allowed it. There is a reason for you Israelites your children of Israel down there in Babylon. It’s not that you’re the unlucky ones. It’s not that you just fell into a patch of bad luck. God said, I’ve caused this, and whatever you’re going through right now and I really wanted to preach that missionary message because I don’t have the right words to say. And like we’ve heard already in Sunday school this morning, I have not walked in your shoes. I don’t know what you’re suffering, and so I can’t speak from that point of view, but I know what God says. And in this case, you know, in this case, he’s chasing them. It’s chastising them. He’s trying to teach them and draw them back to Him, draw their hearts back to Him. And I’m not saying every time we get in any kind of trouble, it’s because of that. It’s certainly not that I think we missed a good opportunity. When we go through troubles and trials, we ought to check with the Lord and say, is there something in my life? Is there a reason like that? But whatever the reason, let God work and know he’s the one in charge. He’s the one that got them there. The Bible talks about is a good father, because you guys may have gone through that verse a few weeks back or several weeks back. He chases those he loves, and so he has a reason for them down there. But wherever you are, God has a reason for it. You might not know it right away. I forget who we’re talking with over there Friday night. And the one word that I’ve heard a lot is, I don’t understand this. And I said the other night, I drive myself crazy if I try to understand it. I can’t understand it. We just trust him? We just know he’s the one in charge. And so the reason for your circumstances, god said, I’ve caused it. I’m the one that’s allowed this, remember? That helps me a lot in troubles and trials, instead of just saying, man, those people aren’t treating me right. This part of life didn’t turn out fair. This thing didn’t work out the way I wanted it. But he’s the one in charge and he does right. And so to look at him instead of all these different things that are going on that make you so upset, the reason for your circumstances. But quickly, let’s move on to number two, the responsibilities in your circumstances. There are some things God said, hey, don’t just sit down there and have a pity party while you’re down there in the middle of that mess. There are some things I want from you. And so let’s see the responsibilities in your circumstances. Look at verse five. Build ye houses and dwell in them. We think wait a minute. God. They’re down there in the enemy. You meant to tell them, Sharpen your swords and whoop somebody, right? God? You meant to tell them, Kick against the pricks. You meant to tell them to get out of there, sneak out by night, be lowered down in a basket. That’s what you meant, God. God said, no, if you can’t change your circumstances, learn to live in them. And again, I don’t know your circumstances. I’m not being flippant about it or saying I’ll just get over it because I’ve been in a lot of those. That one with my arm, that was a dumb, goofy little thing. That’s nothing. But I’ve been in some dark places, too, and I’m not telling you, just get over and go on. But what God told them is, I have you there for a reason. You’re going to be there a while. And so while you’re there, if you can’t change your circumstances, learn to live in it. Don’t fight it. Fighting is frustration. Can you imagine these people? They’re like, oh, we hate Babylon. We want to go back to Jerusalem. We hate this place. And they start fighting, start killing. Do what you can to get out of here, but go back to .1. Who got them there? God. Why did he have them there? Well, he had a purpose. He’s trying to teach them. He’s trying to draw them back, closer to him spiritually. He’s trying to turn their faces back to him. And so if they start fighting the circumstances and they start fighting the people down there, who are they really fighting? Really fighting? God, we talked about this a long time ago over at the camp. I think about Jonah in that wells belly. I’m sure it didn’t smell good. I’m sure it wasn’t comfortable. It wasn’t the best place to be hanging out. But what if he starts fighting? This stinks kicked a bit. Well, I hate this. Let me out of here. What if he gets what he wants and he gets let out in the middle of the ocean? Where’s he going? He’s going down. It’s a stinky situation. Nobody would choose it. But God has him there for a reason. And these people, nobody would choose that. Hey, I want to go. Maybe now some people do too. I want to go live under the control of the enemy. I want to let them destroy my life. Nobody’s going to pick that. But that’s where God has them. And so when you start looking at the circumstances and get your eyes off God, that’s what I want out of here. I’m going to find a way out of here. God said, Build houses and dwell in it. Just live where you are. Don’t fight it. How about this? Learn to be at home in your circumstances. Paul told the Philippians, he said, in whatever state I’m in, I learned to be content. You don’t have to love it and want more of it and all that kind of stuff. But that’s where God has them. And he told them, learn to be at home right there. Don’t look for a way out. It’s God that got you there. And so make the most of it. There’s a responsibility in your circumstances. There’s more. Wear verse five again. Build your houses and dwell in them. And plant gardens. Plant gardens. Find hope in your circumstances. We’ve heard this already this morning from your pastor. But planting gardens? What would you do? That realizing that there’s a harvest to come. Realizing there’s better days ahead. Don’t just sit there and pout and wait for it to blow over. God said, I got you there for a reason. I’m the one that put you there. And so while you’re there, go ahead and plant your garden. Remember, realize there’s going to be a better day coming. There’s going to be a harvest to come. What else? He said the end of verse five. He said, and eat the fruit thereof. Just the regular process of life. Live where you are. No pity party. Build a house, dwell in it. Plant a garden. Harvest the garden. Eat the fruit thereof. Live in the circumstance that God has you in. Don’t fight it. Here’s something else. Eat the fruit thereof. Be strengthened in your circumstance. A lot of times in my own life, I just sit there and say, I’m going to hold my breath until this passes. My face turns blue and I start shaking. I can’t do that. I’m just going to wait for this to blow over. You’re going to miss what God has for you in the midst of the circumstance. He told them, be strengthened down there. Grow in your circumstance. A lot of times we don’t think about that. How’s God going to grow me in this? I’ve said, I want this to be over. I want done with this. And then I’ll start growing again. If he would get me out of Babylon, then I’ll start walking with Him again. If he’d get me out of Babylon, I’ll start reading my Bible again. If he’ll get me out of that mess, I’ll start praying again. If he’ll get me out of that mess, I can really start to grow again. But God said right there where you are. Be strengthened in your circumstance. Grow in your circumstance right there. Let’s see a couple other responsibilities. We’re moving fast. You’d like? No, you ain’t. All right, let’s go faster. Look at verse six. Take you wives and beget sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands that they may bear sons and daughters, that you may be increased there and not diminish. Continue to make a life though your circumstances are changed. Trying to hurry, but he said now he’s not talking about going out in Babylon and getting sons and daughters. Get husbands and wives for your sons and daughters. But amongst all the people that were right there, he’s saying, I know you had dreams about maybe meeting that special someone at the temple. There’s no better way to meet a girl then as you’re having a lamb chopped in half. I know you had those kind of dreams and it ain’t going to work out that way. Now you’re down here. This is the circumstance you’re in. But I don’t mean you quit. Adjust goals and dreams as necessary, but keep living. Keep going. Keep going on. Don’t quit. Don’t stop. Keep going on there. Forgot right where you are. Avoid the sadness and depression of dwelling on the better past. What good does it do? Then they could sit down here and say, man, remember when we had the temple and all its glory and remember how everything was going good and all our enemies? God would just whoop him. And things were so better back there. And now look at us down here, man, what a mess we’re in. This stinks. I hate it. What good does that do? He tells them right there where you are building houses, well, plant gardens, harvest it, eat the fruit. Find husbands and wives for your son and daughters. You know, enjoy those grandbabies. Keep living. Don’t stop living. You might have to change a little bit, but avoid that sadness of thinking about the better past or of worrying about the questionable future. They could sit down there, man. What if the king gets mad? These people start killing our babies. What if they turn on us? What if they really get mad at us? Instead of worrying about that, God said, just do what you can right there where you are. Live in those circumstances. And so wherever you are this morning, live in those circumstances. He talked about eating and we talked about growing in your circumstances. Then he talked about finding husbands and wives and grandkids and expanding. Grow in your circumstances. Be strengthened in your circumstances. Be increased in your circumstances. Don’t come out worse. God didn’t send them down there because he hates them. You go down there and sit in the corner. That’s what us good parents do. Think about what you’ve done. And you’ll miss supper. And I’ll eat his chicken but God is not a bad dad like that. God has a plan and he has a purpose. And he knew before he sent them down there how it’s going to turn out. And he knows what’s going on and he’s the one in charge. And so he intends for them to come out of that situation better than when. That’s the whole reason he set them down there is I want you to come out of that better than when you went down. And a lot of times we go into these circumstances, we hate them, we kick against them, we despise them, and then we come out a whole lot worse Christian, a whole lot weaker Christian. It wasn’t fair, god, I don’t know if I’m going to church. We need to get closer to them in those times, not farther away. Not turn our back on them, but draw closer to them. And so God wants you, in your circumstances, to grow stronger through them, not weaker. Don’t give up. Don’t quit. And fast. Fast. Look at verse seven and seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captives and praying to the Lord for it. For in the peace thereof shall ye have peace. In every circumstance. Make time for God, he told them. While you’re down there in that circumstance that you don’t like, pray. And I said, make time, not find time. If you try to find time for God tomorrow, you probably won’t find any because there’s plenty of things to do. But make time for God, even in those circumstances, even in the places you are you don’t like, live where you are. Care for people in your circumstances, he said, for the people that got you captive, the people you don’t like, he said. Pray for those people in your circumstances. Care for others in your circumstances. Pray for others in your circumstances. Witness to others again. Don’t quit on God just because you’re in your circumstance. Keep going with God. He can use you. How many times is somebody going through something and they’ve shared with you a testimony because of their circumstance? Your ears really perked up and God really used that testimony in your life. You’re like, Man, I can’t believe they’re serving God even though they’re going through that. Well, now it’s time for you to share God in your circumstance. Yeah, you’re there and you don’t like it, and I don’t like it. And sometimes life stinks. But care for others in your circumstance. Don’t quit. Keep going. He said, pray about your circumstance and you’re glad that God still hears and cares. But then he said, make peace in your circumstances. You see the end of verse seven. He said, I’m praying to the Lord for it. From the peace thereof shall you have peace. He said, while you’re in that circumstance. Again, we’re thinking like, let’s fight the enemy and escape. God said, Pray for their peace. Because if they’re at peace, you live there. That means you’ll have peace too. God says we can have peace in the midst of those circumstances even though don’t make sense to us. Even though we say, I don’t see how this can be peaceful. God says you can have peace right there in the midst of your circumstances. So we’ve seen the reason for your circumstances. God said, I’ve caused it, and we’ve seen the responsibility quickly. Last thing I’m trying to hurry. Let’s see the realities of your circumstances so just a few simple facts about it will be done. Look at verse eight. For thus set the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel. Let not your prophets and your diviners that be in the midst of you deceive you neither. Hearken to your dreams which ye call to be dreamed of. Verse nine says for they prophesy falsely unto you in my name. I have not sent them, said the Lord, the realities of your circumstance. The devil will seek to deceive and destroy you in your circumstance. Look at you. A bunch of Israelites losers thought you served the living God. Thought he was going to whoop all your enemies and set you up in that nice country and let you have it all. Now look at you. Where’s your God now? We heard about it this morning. Where’s your God now? Look at your life now. Didn’t turn out so good. And if we’re not careful, we start listening to that. You know, maybe they’re right. Maybe the God I’ve been serving isn’t real. Maybe the path I’ve been walking on isn’t the right path. I mean, after all I am down here, after all this is happening in my life right now. Maybe they’re right. If God loved me, this wouldn’t happen to me. And if we’re not careful, we start listening to. He said, they’re doing it in my name, but he said I didn’t send them. They’re filling your ears with life. Who would want to trick you and deceive you in the midst of a circumstance? It’s not God, it’s the devil. And be careful, however your heart is broken this morning, I hate it and I’m sorry for it. I hate that you’re going through what you’re going through. But please keep your ear and your eyes on God, please keep your eyes on him. Don’t let the Devil deceive you and treat you. That’s what he wants to do. He’d love to destroy you. That’s why God is telling them, don’t listen to him. Don’t give in to that. Look at verse ten talking about the realities of your circumstance. For thus says the Lord that after 70 years be accomplished in Babylon I will visit you and perform My good word toward you in causing you to return to this place realities of your circumstance. Those circumstances will happen as God plans and God allows. He told them, don’t fight it. Build a house there, dwell there, plant your garden there, reap there, eat the fruit there, make a life for yourself there, increase the number there. Do all of this there because I’m the one in charge and it’s going to happen as I allow. I’m going to get you out of there one day and things will be different one day. But let’s see something in that verse about the realities of your circumstance. Did you notice, he said that after 70 years be accomplished? Remember when the letter was first we read the introduction to the letter. Who is the letter written to? He said it’s to all the people. But before that he said it’s to the priest and all that are captive. And before that he said, I’m writing this to all the old people, I’m writing this to the elders. And now a little later on in the letter, he says, in 70 years you get to come out of there. So what does that mean for the guy that was 60 when he was taken captive? There’s a whole group of people, god is saying it’s never going to change for you, it’s never going to get better for you. There are some people that are going to go back and the whole place has never yet reassembled, by the way. They will one day, but they haven’t yet. He said there’s going to be some that are going to go back, there’s going to be another temple built and life is going to once again go on. And we love reading about those stories of Nehemiah and Ezra and all of that and how God does that. But for some of you, you’re not getting out of this one. You’re going to die in this circumstance. This will never change. This will never get better. This is where you’re going to be. It’d be so easy to quit then say, well, what’s the use then? Why should I try to walk with God? Why should I try to do the things he’s telling me? Why should I still listen to Him when I know this thing cannot change and I know this thing can never be better? Those people, they’re not going to get to go back, but there is a generation that will go back. You better tell them about the sacrifices, you better teach them about how good God is. You better tell them about the great victories of the past. You better tell them because you’re going to be in this circumstance forever. You’re going to be gone one day. But there’s another generation that’s got to go back. There’s another generation that’s got to keep going. Not everybody’s going to end in those circumstances. Some are going to get to come back and get a second chance and keep going. And they need to know how to do those sacrifices. They need to know what’s supposed to happen when they go down to that temple, rebuild the temple, rebuild the walls. They need to know all about that. So you can’t quit just because your circumstance won’t change. And I could use horrible examples. I’ll just use my goofy dumb one. This one ain’t going to change. She wouldn’t come back if she could. Miss Rachel is not going to come back. Your loved one part of our situation is just not going to change down here. But he’s still God and he’s still right. And there’s a lot of people looking at you, and they need you to point them to the only one that can make a difference, the only one that can improve their life, the only one that can change things. You know, Grandma down here, she got to tell this little boy, look, I’m probably not going to make it back to Jerusalem. But when you get back there, boy, you make sure you go to the temple. You make sure you take the best of everything you have down to the temple. You make sure you give God your all. Because look, let me tell you what he did for us way back let me tell you what he did for us way back then, and he’d still be doing that today if we hadn’t walked away from Him. You know, we got ourselves in a mess. But God loves us and he cares for us. Don’t quit. The reality is your circumstance. We might not return, but the next generation will. We’re almost done, I promise. Think about these guys for another second. Those older people, they might not ever make it back. But then thought about this one day. The reason they need to keep going down here and the reason they need to tell these, because they’re going to go back and see that and all of that. The reason they need to keep going, they might not make it back to that Jerusalem. They might not see that temple, but one day, there’s going to be a new Jerusalem coming down. One day they’re going to see not just something that some man has built, not just some rocks piled up that some man has built. One day they’re going to stand before the one that they’ve been learning about and they’ve been serving and they’ve been worshipping. And so don’t quit. Things might not get better here. I hope they do for you. That’d be great. And the Lord has all power, and he can do whatever he wants. But if they don’t get better for you here, they’re going to get better one day. One day we’re going to stand before Him. One day we’ll see him. I’ve heard it several times this week already. But on that day, all this stuff won’t even be a memory. All this stuff would be so gone, it’ll be worth it all. One day. You keep going for Him now, even in your circumstance, even when things aren’t the way you want, you keep going. One day you’ll stand before Him. One day you’ll see him. It’ll be worth it all that day. Don’t quit. Look at verse eleven. We’re done for. I know the thoughts that I think toward you set the Lord thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an expected end. God said, I have something in mind here. God is always good. God is always right. We can trust him. I don’t know your circumstances. If you’re here today, I tell you that the worst circumstance any of you could be in is to be here today and not know Jesus as your Savior. That’s the worst circumstance. And the good thing is he’s already done. God has sent his son Jesus to die on the cross. He’s done everything he can to remedy that circumstance. All you have to do is accept Him as your Savior. Confess your sins to him. Ask him to save you. He will. I know this hasn’t really been a salvation message. We’ll have an invitation in just a second. If you’re here today and you’re not safe, no matter how bad your other circumstances are, that’s the worst by far. Because that ends in eternal defeat. That ends separated from God forever in the lake of fire. The Bible says in Revelation that’s where you’d be cast forever in a lake of fire. If you’re here today and you’re not saved, please, in a minute when we have the invitation, come and ask the pastor. Somebody show me how the Bible how I can know for sure I’m saved. I don’t know. Maybe all of you here this morning are saved. Chances are you’re going through a circumstance. We all have some kind. I mean, as a church family, we’re going through one right now with some of our family that we know. And we’ve already heard of other family that’s dear to you that’s passed away recently, and then others who are sick and different things going on. And I don’t know your circumstances, but God does. Remember, if you’re his child, everything that comes to you, he has to allow. He reminded them, I’ve caused it. Instead of fighting the circumstances, instead of fighting the situation, instead of complaining about the situation, maybe this morning you just want to bring it to God again. Lord, I want my focus readjusted to you. Instead of looking at these circumstances, god told them, I don’t know how you do it. God told them, build houses, dwell there in so he’s going to make it possible for them to do that. I can’t tell you your circumstances will get all better. Get over it. Toughen up that’s horrible advice. Look to him. He can help you live in your circumstance. He can help you dwell. He told them, Build houses, dwell. There’s going to be a better day. Plant. Look for a better day coming. You reap, you will sow. There will be a harvest. You will have fruit come out of this stronger. So whatever you’re in, would you maybe come today and just ask lord, help me in my circumstance. Maybe you want to say lord, I know the devil wants to trick me. And if we’re all honest at times, we want to listen to that. Maybe my friends at work are right. Maybe my family never come to church. Maybe they are right. Maybe I should slow down. No, go all in and go farther and keep going all in with him. He’s the only one that he’s in charge of the circumstances. Get with him and then maybe you realize my circumstances are going to get any better. God hasn’t has plenty grace for you and he has a job for you right there in that circumstance to point others and realize that one day we will stand before him. One day it will all be better. Let’s all stand with our heads bowed and our eyes closed. Sister Rachel was going on the piano. In just a second, we’ll turn it back because.