eternity bible study

Mutale’s segment

Timothy‘s charge from Paul. Fight the good fight. The aim of this charge is love, a pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith. Timothy’s charge is the same charge for us today. We are appointed to God’s service, to his ministry - the gospel message of Jesus Christ. The good fight is the work of Jesus Christ, to save sinners by letting them see the gift of God. God’s gift is the gospel message of Jesus Christ.

Being in charge. We get to see Paul giving advice to Timothy about being in charge. In a way, we are all in charge. We are all in charge of the gospel message. We are all stewards of the gospel. Paul reminds us that our stewardship, of being in charge of God’s word, requires above all love, a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.

Paul writes a very personal letter to Timothy. Timothy is taking over a church in Ephesus. He is a young preacher there. Paul starts off his letter by letting Timothy know that all his leader ship advice is coming from the one who is ultimately in charge, it is God who is in control. Everything starts with God who saves us, and Jesus Christ who has come to deliver us.

Jeremiah weeps and laments over Jerusalem. We see a picture of the human suffering when the foundations of society fall. We see dimensions of the nature of God. We see God’s encouragement in the circumstance of the human condition. We see God’s patience and willingness to forgive, when our hearts turn back to Him.

Jerusalem has been totally destroyed. Jeremiah is weeping for the city, and cries out in mourning. We see verses that try to answer the question, why do bad things happen? Doesn’t anyone care? We see the answer in that God is holy and righteous. God has to judge wickedness because he is a just judge. It is our sin that separates us from God.

Jerusalem has been destroyed. The Babylonians have burned the city, and taken the women children and men into captivity back in Babylon. Jerusalem, once a mighty city, is now desolate. Jeremiah mourns for the people in the city. This is a picture of what happened to a people when they took their relationship with God for granted.

Our last study in Jeremiah. God‘s prophecy against all the other major cities and regions around Jerusalem. God warns the remnant not to go to these other places, because they will be destroyed also. God wants the people to stay in the land so he can protect them. But in the end, they end up running away to Egypt hoping to find safety there. However, in the end Babylon will conquer Egypt and the people again will find themselves in captivity. A strong message for us today, that we can only find safety with God‘s protection no matter where we are or how bad it is.

The remnant of Israel is now all alone. People are scared, hungry, and looking for safety. The remnant is now planning to flee to Egypt. Jeremiah is warning the people not to go. Jeremiah gives the people prophecy against all the lands they plan to run to. God is telling them they cannot run from his judgment. In the end he also promises that some of them will survive, that he will not bring in total end to the nation. This remnant he will use to replant the nation. It is an encouragement for us to day to know that no matter how bad things get, God wants us to know that trusting him is far more valuable than plans we might make for our own safety. We need to learn to depend on God not on ourselves.

Jerusalem has fallen. Jeremiah gets let out of prison. The people come, once again, asking Jeremiah what to do. Jeremiah tells the people that God has directed them to stay in the land, and let him protect them. But the people don’t trust God’s word once again. The people end up leaving the land of Israel, and heading to Egypt. They think that by going to Egypt they will find safety. It’s so ironic that the nation heads right back to the land where they were originally enslaved. Isn’t it much like today, where people don’t trust God‘s word, God’s purposes, or gods plans? People would rather turn back to their own wisdom rather than living by faith. God then tells them, through Jeremiah, that he will allow the Babylonians to invade Egypt and the people will again be enslaved to the Babylonians, just as they had feared. The people are going to learn that they will not escape God‘s wrath or judgment for their sin.