• The Explore the Bible lesson for August 13 focuses on Jeremiah 42:7-22.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Bible lessons like this one have been an important part of the Baptist Standard for many years. Each has a cost of at least $50 to produce. To ensure these lessons continue to be provided the rest of 2023 and into 2024, you can make a donation in any amount by visiting our donation page. In the comments field, note your donation is toward the cost of Bible studies.

One of my children got married a few months ago. As you would expect, several family members and friends from out of town traveled here to East Texas to be a part of the services. In making plans to come out, they had to find a hotel where they could stay. So, they reached out to me. In response, I described the two towns with hotels and the parts of those towns which were the best to stay in.

The fact I lived in area, had a track record with the various locations and was a family member or close friend made me trustworthy. Interestingly, though they asked, some ignored my advice and did not have the best experience in the places they chose to stay. Apparently, being trustworthy does not always instill trust.

In our passage for this week, God comes to Judah through Jeremiah again—this time after the fall of Jerusalem. Some in the post-fallen Jerusalem thought going down to Egypt was the best option. God is warning these individuals that such a trip would only end in death. Though God has shown his word as true regarding the fall of Jerusalem and his omniscience meant he certainly would know what was to come, the individuals being addressed were struggling to trust him.

Option 1 (Jeremiah 42:7-12)

The background to this passage reveals a people who are wondering what is next. The city has fallen, many of their friends and family have been taken into captivity, and they are wondering what will happen next. Apparently, at least two groups had formed around the debate. One group was committed to going down to Egypt, believing it would be a place of safety from the Babylonian empire. The other group was waiting for a word from God about what to expect.

The previous chapter tells us the military leaders and officials already had made plans to go down to Egypt. So, as Jeremiah calls the people together to relate the word of the Lord, he already is facing an uphill battle. Through Jeremiah, God instructs the people to stay put. He even goes so far as to say he is ready to reverse the judgment he has expressed and turn it into a blessing. Such a switch is consistent with what he said about his relational nature back in chapter 18. All they needed to do was trust and obey.

What barriers stand between us and trusting someone, even someone who has a track record of success? What does it say about God, that even at this point, following the destruction of Jerusalem because of Judah’s sin, he is willing to change their fortunes?

Option 2 (Jeremiah 42:13-18)

Having put forward the carrot, God now presents the stick. God tells the people the fear of Babylon’s return that was motivating their actions would be the consequence of following through with their plan. God is presented as the Lord of angel armies as a means of expressing both hope and judgment. Those armies could be used to protect or to judge. Their mention is simply a reminder that Jerusalem ultimately did not fall to Babylon, but to God’s judgment.

If Jerusalem could fall to God’s judgment, so could Egypt. Such a conclusion should have been evident to the people involved since Nebuchadnezzar had risen to power primarily through the defeat of Egyptian forces at the battle of Carchemish in 605 B.C. Would Egypt fare any better in the present circumstance when Babylon has become more powerful and Egypt less so? God’s promise that such a defeat was imminent should they go down there should have made the reality even more certain.

Do you think people are more responsive to threats of judgment than promises of blessings, why or why not? How does this passage speak to the issue of reaping what you sow? How would you personally describe the relationship between God’s sovereignty and people’s responsibility as it relates to what God says in this passage?

Warned (Jeremiah 42:19-22)

The people had sought God’s direction. God had granted that direction. The people were now going to ignore it. Jeremiah’s point is that the people cannot claim ignorance and that judgment is all that remains. Like the people in the opening story above, they asked someone who was knowledgeable and who they on some level trusted, but in the end, they decided to go their own way. It should have been no surprise to them, therefore, that they ended up exactly where God told them they would.

Why do think these particular individuals decided to go against such a clearly stated word from God? While we do not have such a directly worded prophetic statement from God, we have some clear guidance from God about matters we face. What are some areas that you particularly struggle with obedience? What are the tools God has given us to be able to be more obedient?

Timothy Pierce, Ph.D., is associate professor of Christian Studies at East Texas Baptist University.

• Lesson 7 in the Connect360 unit “Heaven & Angels: Our Eternal Home and Its Heavenly Hosts” focuses onRevelation 21:22-27.

If you wait until the last minute to book a vacation, there is a good chance all the flights to your destination already will be overbooked. Although you might get a room in a hotel, you would be much wiser to make a reservation in advance.

The same is true about heaven. Have you confirmed your reservation? I am asking because all the rooms in heaven must be reserved in advance. How do you do that? Very simple. The Bible says you must confess Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead in order to be saved (Romans 10:9-10).

The good news about your reservation in heaven is that it can never be canceled. Once your name is written in heaven’s book, it can never be erased. In his first epistle, John wrote, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).

I have heard people say many untrue things about heaven over the years, but one of the most perplexing has to do with the confirmation process of making your reservation in heaven. “Well, nobody can know for certain that you’re going to heaven when you die,” some propose. Wrong. Or sometimes someone will say, “You’ll just have to wait until you die to see if you were good enough to go to heaven.” Not true. John was saying in this verse that we can know for certain our salvation.

Some of the sweetest people I know, people whom I believe have been Christians for most of their lives, have told me they wake up in the night wondering if in the end God will not let them into heaven because of something they have done or not done. That is not grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). That is still trying to earn it. That kind of thinking has a lot more to do with false religions than the gospel of grace that Jesus taught.

If you are a Christian and you struggle with assurance that you are saved and going to Heaven when you die, something is wrong. Either you are not grounded in the truth about salvation, or you have become a victim of the devil’s lies. One of Satan’s lies is to keep people from being saved by convincing them salvation has to be earned. If he cannot do that, his other great lie is to convince saved people they must work to keep it, or they will lose it. I call that the lie of legalism compared to the gospel of grace.

If you have placed your eternal trust in Jesus, and your answer is still “I don’t know” when someone asks you where you will go after you die, then I have good news for you. God wants you to move to a place of confidence and assurance—not confidence or assurance in yourself, but in God’s word. This is what 1 John 5:13 is all about. Let go of doubt and stand on the rock-solid word of God and come to full assurance of your salvation. Then you can say by faith, “I will be with Jesus in heaven.”

To learn more about GC2 Press and the Connect360 Bible study series, or to order materials, click here.

The Explore the Bible lesson for August 6 focuses on Jeremiah 36:19-31.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Bible lessons like this one have been an important part of the Baptist Standard for many years. Each has a cost of at least $50 to produce. To ensure these lessons continue to be provided the rest of 2023 and into 2024, you can make a donation in any amount by visiting our donation page. In the comments field, note your donation is toward the cost of Bible studies.

I doubt it was my mom’s favorite sentence, but it was certainly one that you she used most often: “How many times do I have to tell you?” Though I did not think so at the time, in hindsight I now understand that it was a fair question. She would give clear instructions about some assignment I needed to complete, some chore that I needed to do or some promise that I needed to fulfill, and I would fail to do it.

I would like to blame it on my ADHD. Although such diagnoses were not made back then, I learned after my own child was diagnosed with it, that I had grown up with it too. Still, I could remember obscure historical facts and obscure biblical trivia that amazed most of the adults I interacted with, so why could I not remember her simple instructions? The honest answer is, I did not want to.

Today’s passage reflects upon God’s repeated attempts to get through to Judah his will and desires for their activity. The content of the message was not new to their relationship, much of it can be found in previous prophets like Isaiah and Micah. And yet, like my mother, God committed to expressing it repeatedly. And like, me, Judah refused to listen.

Delivered (Jeremiah 36:19-21)

Ten chapters before our passage, we read of king Jehoiakim going to great lengths to pursue, capture and kill a prophet named Uriah because he did not like the message the prophet had delivered. Now we learn that the king would be looking to capture Jeremiah and his amanuensis Baruch once God’s message was delivered to him. Earlier in chapter 36, Baruch had read the scroll to the elders. Knowing it’s content, the elders sought to protect the prophet and his aid.

Steps were taken to protect the scroll as much as possible, while the elders then went and verbally communicated its content. The king then had the elders retrieve the scroll and read it directly to him so that there would be no mistaking what its content was.

Though the outlining of this sequencing of events builds the tension of the story and highlights how precarious a situation it was to present anything to the king, there is a truth revealed in the repetition that is important to remember. Through all the nervousness and struggles of man, God got his word delivered aloud to several key people three times and to the king twice.

What fears do we have that sometimes get in the way of us delivering God’s word to people around us? How does hearing of God using man’s fear to actually get the message out there more, affect your appraisal of your fears?

Destroyed (Jeremiah 36:22-26)

The middle section of our text relates the king’s attempts to silence the message. Using an instrument normally used to create scrolls, the king sliced up the text as it was read to him. His actions reveal the rebellion he was participating in was not from a lack of understanding or out of ignorance but was a deliberate refusal to listen to the words of God delivered by his prophet.

Thinking he could do to the messenger, what he did to the message, the king sent people to collect Jeremiah and Baruch so that he might kill them. His lack of the fear of God is contrasted with the disposition of his officials who saw the importance of the message. His failure in finding his two targets is contrasted with his apparent success in destroying their message. The emphasis of God having hid Jeremiah and Baruch serves as a foreshadowing of how God would preserve his word too.

Does it make a difference if sin is grounded in ignorance versus open treason against God? Why or why not? What do we make of the fact that God allowed Uriah to die, but here protects Jeremiah from harm?

Replaced (Jeremiah 36:27-31)

God gives Jeremiah instructions to recreate the message he had originally written and to add content outline Jehoiakim’s destruction. The judgment expressed here went beyond simply communicating Jehoiakim’s death. It stated that the line of David would not continue through his descendants. He would suffer burning like the scroll he had torched, and his line would never sit on the throne.

Not coincidentally or accidentally, this is one of the places where the genealogies of Jesus diverge between Luke and Matthew. Though there is not space here to cover all the intricacies of exactly what happened during the exile and the role of Shealtiel, perhaps even involving two separate Shealtiels, the biblical writers are careful to communicate that while Jesus’ legal lineage through Joseph came through Jehoiakim’s line (Matthew), his actual lineage through Mary (Luke) circumvented that line in this place and others. Interestingly, Matthew omits the mention of Jehoiakim from his lineage as well, even as he lists his children.

What does Jeremiah’s recreation of the text tell us about how inspiration may work in this instance? How do the messages delivered by preachers today differ from the message of the prophets? How does those differences impact how we handle disagreement with a pastor’s message as opposed to how God handled disagreement with Jeremiah’s words?

Timothy Pierce, Ph.D., is associate professor of Christian Studies at East Texas Baptist University.

• Lesson 6 in the Connect360 unit “Heaven & Angels: Our Eternal Home and Its Heavenly Hosts” focuses onRevelation 1:17-18.

Frankly, I do not like standing in long lines to do anything, but there will be millions of saints in heaven. Won’t there be long lines to see Jesus, the main attraction? No.

Think about it. Today when I pray, I have immediate access to God. I do not have to get in a line to offer my prayers and petitions. God can hear and answer billions of prayers simultaneously. Our access in heaven will be even better. Remember, God is omnipresent, and Jesus is God. So, Jesus will still be ever-present and available to you.

Some people imagine that when they first see Jesus, they will run up to him and give him a high-five or fist bump. There was a time when I thought my first face-to-face meeting with Jesus would be like that old shampoo commercial—the one where two people are in a beautiful field running toward each other in slow motion. Music is playing, and their freshly shampooed hair is bouncing gently. Then finally they meet each other in an embrace and spin around slowly as the music crescendos.

Since then as I have studied God’s word, I have dropped that mental image. There is a popular Christian song about imagining what we will do when we see Jesus. I do not think we will dance. I do not think we will jump for joy. We will do exactly the same thing John did when he encountered the risen Christ, as described here (1:17).

John had hung around Jesus during his earthly ministry for three years, eating and drinking and talking to each other as friends. But the Bible says John was so star struck, he fell down at the feet of the glorified Jesus like a dead man. In other words, John was so overwhelmed by the sight and voice of Jesus in his resurrected state that he fainted. I believe we will all fall at the feet of Jesus when we see him in all of his majesty and glory in heaven.

To learn more about GC2 Press and the Connect360 Bible study series, or to order materials, click here.

• The Explore the Bible lesson for July 30 focuses on Jeremiah 35:5-19.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Bible lessons like this one have been an important part of the Baptist Standard for many years. Each has a cost of at least $50 to produce. To ensure these lessons continue to be provided the rest of 2023 and into 2024, you can make a donation in any amount by visiting our donation page. In the comments field, note your donation is toward the cost of Bible studies.

Was it worth it? It is a question I have been asked several times in my life. It almost always follows an observed difficulty or hardship resulting in an outcome of only moderate success. But there are those times when the response to the question is a hearty, “absolutely!” Some outcomes make discipline, difficulties and hardship worth going through.

From a biblical perspective, the journey we are on is not about rewards in the materialistic sense. That is not to say we do not experience material blessings, but simply that the Bible is not built around a quid pro quo system. The reward of the biblical faith is imbedded in a relationship and relationships take work. This work requires discipline and involves difficulties, but results in growing closer to the one who is definitely worth it—God.

In our lesson, Jeremiah is focused on obedience. Through a series of comparisons and contrasts, he points out Judah lacks the discipline of her neighbor the Rechabites. The Rechabites had developed a relationship with Israel some 250 earlier but never assimilated into the Israelites culture. Instead, they steadfastly held on to their own traditions and ways of doing things.

Jeremiah’s intentions were not to praise the content of the Rechabite system, but to use them as an example of a people who did what they did because they believed it was worth it. He wanted to show obedience and faithfulness in of itself has its reward. His hope was to convince Judah they had a chance at obedience that would reflect the great worth of their God.

Tested (Jeremiah 35:5-11)

Jeremiah pays the Rechabites a visit and offers them some wine. The people, however, rejected his offer, because they had committed to an ascetic lifestyle. For more than 200 years, they had followed the precepts set out by their ancestor that involved avoiding wine and living a semi-nomadic lifestyle. The advancement of Nebuchadnezzar into the region had forced them to move into Jerusalem, but not to abandon their customs.

The exchange was a sort of prophetic sign guided by God to set the basis for where the message was going to go. Over the span of the same two centuries, Judah had witnessed revival under Hezekiah, rebellion under Manasseh, a short-lived renewal with Josiah and a chaotic collapse under the kings since him. The steadfastness of the Rechabites was astounding on many levels and would suffice to shame Judah for their inability to remain faithful to the God who had remained faithful to them.

What modern groups can you think of who are diligent in their practices, even if their practices are founded on faulty conclusions? How does the fact that God was willing to use an outside group as an example shape your understanding of ethics and the foundation of them?

Contrasted (Jeremiah 35:12–17)

The second segment of Jeremiah’s message overtly applies his point to Judah. If this outside group could remain faithful, how is it that Judah could not. Furthermore, given the evidence that faithfulness to a standard is possible if you care enough about it, what excuse did Judah have for not being faithful to a God whose word was truth and whose blessings were sure? Obedience is possible if one believes the outcome is worth it.

Judah deserved judgment from God and the chastisement that had come and was going to continue to come. Such punishment was not borne from a capricious mindset on God’s part, but instead was a just response to a faithless people who had been given many resources to succeed.

Scripture tells us that God chastises those he loves. How does correction from God demonstrate his worth and love to us? What does it say of our worth to him? What resources are available to us to help us succeed in the journey of obedience?

Commended (Jeremiah 35:18–19)

God announces the Rechabites’ obedience and longsuffering would be worth it. The prize for their steadfastness was God himself. To stand in God’s presence is a term of honor bestowed on prophets, priests and kings. Now it was an appellation that would be applied to these outsiders. They would survive the onslaught of Nebuchadnezzar, while Judah would be carried away.

Again, the point of the passage is not to commend the lifestyle of the Rechabites, but their commitment to it and their proximity to Judah. As part of the Kenites, they were a group that had touched Israel at key moments in their experience. They are recorded as interacting with Abraham. Moses’ father-in-law Jethro was a Kenite. Jael, the woman who killed Sisera in Judges, was a Kenite. Some 200 years after Jeremiah, a Rechabite stood with Nehemiah to help rebuild Jerusalem. They were a people in close proximity to the truth. As such, they were a perfect tool to be used by God to teach the important lesson of obedience and steadfastness.

How can we learn to distinguish what we should take away from surrounding groups who are not Christians, and what we should leave behind?  

Timothy Pierce, Ph.D., is associate professor of Christian Studies at East Texas Baptist University.

• Lesson 5 in the Connect360 unit “Heaven & Angels: Our Eternal Home and Its Heavenly Hosts” focuses onRevelation 5:6, 11-12.

When Jesus takes the scroll, heaven breaks out in a symphony of worship and praise. And so here, not only are we there worshiping the Lamb, but the angels are also there worshiping. Verse 11 says they encircled the throne alongside four “living creatures” and the elders (that’s us, the saints).

So, here is the picture of the throne of heaven in the center of the scene, with God Almighty sitting upon it as the God of the Universe. And here is the Lamb of God, what is described as the four living creatures, and all the saints of God and the angels—so many you cannot count them—all around him. And at that moment, we all begin to praise God in a loud voice.

The Greek word here is legos, meaning we speak the words. Did you ever imagine that in heaven? It is in the text. The Living Bible translates it “sing,” but it is a totally different word used in verse 5:9 than 5:11, which definitely uses the word for singing. We “sing” a new song. But the word for what the angels do is “shout.” They shout, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing” (5:12).

The praise builds up greater and greater, and there is one final pinnacle of praise (5:13). The word there also is “lego,” or shouting. However they do it—speaking or singing—John says he heard every creature everywhere give praise, honor, and glory to God and Jesus.

What if you cannot sing? What if you cannot carry a tune in a bucket? In heaven, since we will be like Jesus, we will be able to sing like Jesus. Many people are surprised to learn Jesus is a singer (Hebrews 2:12). This verse refers to Jesus fulfilling Psalm 22:22, where Jesus is speaking in the first person: “I will proclaim your name to my brothers; in the midst of the assembly I will sing your praise.” Did you know that we have a singing Savior?

Maybe you have never thought about it before, but we have evidence of his love for music. Jesus sang during His earthly ministry, and according to Hebrews 2, he is still singing! Both Matthew and Mark write how after the Last Supper, Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn and went to the Mount of Olives. What did they sing? The psalm usually sung after the Passover meal was Psalm 118. The Jews still sing it after their Passover meal today.

What I am saying is that God invented music and worship, and it plays a huge role in heaven. God loves to be praised, and the Lord Himself is the sweet singer of salvation. The prophet Zephaniah described our loving God as singing over his people (Zephaniah 3:17).

So, do not worry if you cannot sing now. Go ahead and make a joyful noise unto the Lord. And smile when you anticipate the day when you will be engulfed in a symphony of praise in heaven. What will make us break out in song? When we are finally up close and personal with Jesus our Redeemer.

To learn more about GC2 Press and the Connect360 Bible study series, or to order materials, click here.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Bible lessons like this one have been an important part of the Baptist Standard for many years. Each has a cost of at least $50 to produce. To ensure these lessons continue to be provided the rest of 2023 and into 2024, you can make a donation in any amount by visiting our donation page. In the comments field, note your donation is toward the cost of Bible studies.

• The Explore the Bible lesson for July 23 focuses on Jeremiah 31:23–34.

Over the last couple of decades, shows about remodeling of homes have been a regular staple of American television. Sometimes, the remodel jobs were little more than redecorating and staging a home for sale. Other times. the homes went through so much of a transformation the product bore little resemblance to the original building. The decision of how much change was necessary was driven both by the starting condition and the desired outcome.

The Christian life bears some resemblance to this process. C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity, paints the picture quite vividly: “Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.” This is, in part, redemption.

Our passage in Jeremiah this week deals with the matter of redemption. Judah is dealing with the reality of exile. They have heard of his plan for a future blessing, and now Jeremiah tells the people how God will get them to such a place. God will introduce a new covenant written on the hearts of men. It’s a covenant that transforms the very nature of humans and restores their relationship with God to a new place—an unrecognizable place, in many ways.

Blessings Promised (Jeremiah 31:23–26)

Jeremiah continues his themes of the previous couple of chapters by highlighting the blessings that God would bring to Israel. The focus on the land as the center of the blessing goes all the way back to God’s promises to Abraham in Genesis 12. The blessing of the land and the people living securely there was at the heart of many biblical promises.

The last verse in this section is somewhat unexpected and obscure. Scholars are not really certain what to do with it. One common explanations is Jeremiah is saying the vision of restoration he has just recorded came during a pleasant sleep. Another is that it is a metaphor for waiting for the fulfillment of the promise and the pleasantness of dwelling in God’s presence in the meantime.

What is it about land that makes it such an important part of God’s promises to Israel? Can you think of any realities that might serve a similar purpose in our world today? What are some of the blessings of salvation that we can enjoy now as we wait for the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promises to us?

Restoration Sought (Jeremiah 31:27–30)

God returns to themes of uprooting and tearing down that were a part of Jeremiah’s call in chapter one. In doing so, he opens the door to also revisit the topic of building and planting. The former were very much on Judah’s mind, but the latter is where God wants them focused. He is moving them toward restoration.

The negated proverb in verse 29 serves the dual purpose of both highlighting the individual nature of the future covenant he is about express and to communicate that the punishment of the sins of previous generations that led to the exile were not going to last forever. God was angry, but he did not need to stay that way. Each person had a chance for a new start and a future with security and hope.

How would you explain the relationship between parents and children regarding sin? In what ways do we pass on our proclivity for certain sins? In what ways do we create our own paths of sinfulness?

Covenant Established (Jeremiah 31:31–34)

Jeremiah’s sermon culminates with the revelation of the new covenant God is making. Along with his contemporary Ezekiel, Jeremiah highlights the writing of this covenant on the hearts of his people. It is important to remember the heart is not the seat of emotion in Israelite imagery, but the location of the will. To write the covenant on the heart then is to transform the decision-making process of people so that their paths align with the rule of God.

The covenant that Jeremiah is speaking of here was instituted by Jesus at the last supper, consecrated on the cross and confirmed in the resurrection. Still, the passage makes it clear the benefits of this covenant, some 600 years away, would begin to be enjoyed by all the faithful starting with Jeremiah’s generation. The first fruits of the covenant would take place with the end of the exile and the final rewards still await us in Christ’s second coming.

What are the similarities between the old covenant and the new? What are the differences? What are the connectors between the two covenants that make understanding the first covenant essential to understanding the second?

Timothy Pierce, Ph.D., is associate professor of Christian Studies at East Texas Baptist University.

• Lesson 4 in the Connect360 unit “Heaven & Angels: Our Eternal Home and Its Heavenly Hosts” focuses onRevelation 21:1-5.

The Bible describes in Revelation a special coronation event in heaven. But notice the multitude in attendance in Revelation 7:9—people from every nation, tribe and language.

These will be our forever friends and fellow citizens of heaven, and you will spend much of your time with them. You will have a chance to ask King David how big Goliath really was. You will meet a determined tax collector named Zacchaeus. You can ask Moses what it was like to walk through the Red Sea without getting his sandals wet. You can ask Solomon what it was like to have 700 wives. You can ask Noah what it was like to spend 40 days on a huge boat with an entire zoo onboard.

And there will not just be famous Bible characters in heaven. All the wonderful saints who have lived and died throughout the ages will be there to befriend as well. Personally, I cannot wait to trade “preacher stories” with John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards and Charles Spurgeon.

The most frequent question preachers are asked about heaven is, “Will we know our family members there?” Absolutely. You will know them better than you ever knew them in this life. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13:12 of this time in heaven that you will “know fully, just as I also have been fully known.”

We have plenty of evidence from the Bible that after a person of faith died, they did not lose a distinct identity. At the Transfiguration of Jesus, two Old Testament saints appeared and talked with Jesus—Elijah and Moses. They each maintained a distinct appearance because the disciples saw them and identified them. So yes, you will know your loved ones in heaven.

When King David’s infant son died, he said, “I am going to him, but he will not return to me” (2 Samuel 12:23). David believed his son was in a good place where David would meet him someday in the future. According to Hebrews 11, David is in heaven. So, we can know that is where he joined his son.

Your loved ones will be closer to you than they ever were on earth. But here is the amazing truth. You will know everyone in heaven better than you know your closest friends and family members now.

What will we do in heaven? We will be busy loving and enjoying others. Usually, we reserve our closest relationships for family and a few close friends. Can you imagine what it will be like to truly know and love all the redeemed of all the ages?

Throughout Scripture, God gives us instructions on how to love one another. For example, the Bible says we are to bear their burdens and love them as ourselves. Earth is training school for heaven. where we finally will be able to love like Jesus taught us to do in the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:35- 40). That love does not stop once a person dies, by the way. You will get a chance to love your family and friends better than you were ever able to do consistently on earth. You will connect with them in ways you always desired to do but something held you back or got in the way. How do I know that? The Bible teaches we have a fallen nature because of sin. We do not love perfectly on earth, but we will do so in heaven.

To learn more about GC2 Press and the Connect360 Bible study series, or to order materials, click here.

• Lesson 3 in the Connect360 unit “Heaven & Angels: Our Eternal Home and Its Heavenly Hosts” focuses on 1 Peter 1:18-19.

What Peter emphasizes in this passage is the visible—silver and gold—versus the invisible— the spiritual transaction that took place to purchase your place in heaven. Money cannot buy you love or a place in heaven,

Think about it this way. What part of “you” goes to heaven? You have a visible, outward presence that is getting older every day, as well as an invisible, inward presence that is ageless. That is the premise taught throughout the Bible. When you look at me, you can only see the “outer me,” but there is also an “inner me.” That inner person is often called the ego, the personality, or the soul of a person.

I do not have much control over the aging of the outer me. If you ask me, the man in the mirror looks a lot more like my father than the way I feel on the inside. I have a friend who is an oncologist who tells her patients, “If you want to live forever, you’re in the wrong clinic.”

The human body is not designed to live forever. But the soul is. The Bible says, “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our  inner person is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16).

As we grow older many of us can relate to this truth. We have a variety of aches and pains that come with age, but on the inside, we still feel as we did when we were teenagers or young adults. Here is the great truth. While your tent is getting more and more feeble, it is possible for your spirit to renew itself each day. This is the part of you that enters heaven after you die, courtesy of the free gift of God.

You cannot take anything with you after you die, because everything you need will be provided for you in heaven. A body. A home. Things to do. Just like you were given an earthly suit (a physical body) to enjoy your time on Earth, all the equipment you will need to enjoy your time in heaven starts with “trading up” for an eternal body.

You cannot earn your entrance into heaven any more than you can buy something that has already been paid for. It is free. The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Hallelujah!

To learn more about GC2 Press and the Connect360 Bible study series, or to order materials, click here.

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• The Explore the Bible lesson for July 16 focuses on Jeremiah 29:4-14.

As children, often the reality that made a difference between our participation in an activity and our refusal to take part was the presence of someone we trusted. How many rides in amusement parks or jumps into pools have taken place simply because a mom or dad said the magic words: “Don’t worry. I’ll be right here with you”?

“I will be with you.” This is the foremost promise from God to his people throughout the Bible, both in terms of number of occurrences and importance. It is imbedded in God’s words to Abraham, Jacob, Moses and Joshua in the Old Testament and is among the last words spoken by Jesus to his disciples in the New Testament. Presence matters. Or at least it should.

In our passage today, Judah is on the verge of exile in Babylon. Several already had been taken and Jeremiah has been warning them that more will soon follow.

Amid warning them about false prophets and the false hope they offered, he offered them a word of actual hope built into the truth that regardless of what they went through, God would be with them. As we hear God’s words of warning and hope to Judah, perhaps we can gain a proper set of priorities built around his presence rather than our prosperity.

Thrive (Jeremiah 29:4-7)

Jeremiah begins by addressing the people who already have been resettled in Babylon. He encourages them to begin to build a life there. His words are built around two significant issues that the people were facing.

First, the people were dealing with a sense of being abandoned and lost. Being removed from the promised land was their worst fear. God seeks to reassure those who have already gone to Babylon that the covenant was never about their relationship to the land, but their connection to him.

Second, Jeremiah wanted to battle the false words of prophets who were telling them sin ultimately did not matter and a reversal of God’s judgment was just around the corner. The people had to understand that while their life was not over, their sin did play a significant part in their predicament. Jeremiah was not going to let a false hope settle in.

Given God’s propensity for speaking words that express both encouragement and correction, what areas in your life’s experience with God have you perhaps missed one of those elements because you only wanted to focus on one?

Ignore (Jeremiah 29:8-9)

Jeremiah moves in the next section to make his point about false words more overt. He explicitly tells the people to ignore the false prophets, because they have not been sent by God.

In times of distress, there always are going to be people telling us not to worry. Some tell us because they just want to make people feel better. Others are driven by more nefarious purposes, attempting to gain wealth, prestige or power through manipulation of those who are listening to them.

Regardless of the motive, the message was a lie. In the previous chapter, Jeremiah deals with Hananiah’s prophecy that God would soon break the yoke of Babylon’s power over Judah. What is fascinating about the exchange is Jeremiah’s wish that Hananiah’s words would come true (28: 6). I do not think Jeremiah’s words are mocking Hananiah but are rather his honest appraisal about God’s propensity for turning words of judgment into words of blessing (cf. Jeremiah 18:7-10).

One of the difficulties in discerning false teaching from true is that false teaching often is peppered with bits of truth. Jeremiah ultimately points out the fallacy of Hananiah’s words by noting that although God is fully capable of forgiving, the hope being offered was not borne from a mindset of grace but instead from entitlement. The promise of deliverance was not consistent with God’s character and purpose.

What are some false promises and perspectives that we need to learn how to ignore today? How do we go about collecting the whole counsel of God on an issue and applying it properly, rather than simply going with the message we like the most?

Hope (Jeremiah 29:10-14)

Jeremiah wraps up his message with three very important facts: First, Jerusalem will be destroyed, and the remainder of the people will go into exile. Second, this time of exile will last seventy years. Third, the ultimate goal of this time of exile was Israel’s well-being, not her destruction.

Together, these facts are meant to confirm the word of judgment that God was speaking and to give purpose to that judgment. People can deal with most anything if they know there is an end to it.

Verse 11 is among the most misapplied passages in all of Scripture. While there is certainly a general sense in which God seeks to move his people toward blessing, this passage is centered on the nation as a unit, not the individuals that make it up.

Furthermore, it is spoken in the context of judgment, not as a blanket promise of well-being. The propensity we have for assuming it about us is exactly the kind of presumption the false prophets were working from, and the people of Judah were living under.

God’s word is driven by hope. Since the fall of man, God has persistently pursued us, even to the point of sending his son to die on the cross. That death, so significant and final, was addressed by a risen Savior three days later—ultimate hope was offered to all mankind. Just as God’s word were meant to offer hope to Judah, Jesus’ words to us promised his presence, even to the end of this desperate and difficult age.

What does it say that some of God’s strongest words of hope are offered during his strongest actions of judgment? How does this model of actions from God inform our interactions with our children and others we are called to hold accountable for their actions? How does it change things to realize that the our hope is not in an outcome, but in a person?

Timothy Pierce, Ph.D., is associate professor of Christian Studies at East Texas Baptist University.

• Lesson 2 in the Connect360 unit “Heaven & Angels: Our Eternal Home and Its Heavenly Hosts” focuses on Hebrews 11:1-6.

If faith is heaven’s currency, what is it that we must exchange for this valuable currency? What is the “exchange rate,” if you will? We must exchange sight (how we navigate this world) for faith (how we understand heaven).

The Bible says, “We walk [live] by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). It is a short and simple phrase of few words, but it is not so easy to implement. We humans have five physical senses: seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling and touching. We rely on them to interpret the world around us.

Of these five, our sight is the major sense and the one we lean on the most. For all heavenly transactions, however, we must be willing to exchange living by sight for living by faith. Sight says, “Give me proof of heaven, and I’ll believe.” Faith says, “I’ll believe without any proof.” And that is what makes faith so rare and valuable in a world that demands evidence before it will commit to trusting anyone or anything.

Remember, the great saints listed in the Roll Call of Faith in Hebrews 11 died without seeing heaven, but you can be sure they died believing they would see heaven one day. Even if they did not know it by that name, they saw heaven with eyes of faith and died with the full assurance they would enter the city God had prepared for them.

If you have lost loved ones who put their faith in Christ as Savior and Lord, they also died without ever seeing heaven with their own eyes. But by faith, these Christians died believing with all their hearts they would see it and join Jesus in eternity.

In other words, faith is powerful, and it is such a driving, positive force throughout our lives. It grants us the full assurance (11:1) that when we die, we will indeed arrive at our final destination and one day enter the heavenly city God prepared for us.

And yet you still may be the kind of person looking for some scientific proof of heaven. You will never find empirical evidence of heaven in this world. If you are waiting until you see God to believe in him, you have a surprise in store. You will certainly see God, but it will be too late then to believe.

It is not that Christian faith asks you to suspend your intelligence in order to believe. It is not irrational; it is suprarational. You must exchange your sight for faith if you want to live in heaven one day. You simply cannot go there depending on your eyes of sight, like you can when you are reading a map on this world to reach your intended destination. You cannot put in GPS coordinates and reach the county line of heaven. If you want to go to heaven, you have to do so by relying solely on eyes of faith.

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I had my first encounter with superhero movies when Superman, with Christopher Reeves, hit the theaters in 1978. As a 9-year-old, I was spellbound. In 1980, its sequel came out and added the first villains with superpowers to the equation. At one point (spoiler alert), those villains were able to capture the White House. They demanded the leader of the United States come bow before them. When a person did, the villains demanded the real president come forward. Their rationale was that no man who led so many could bow so easily.

Although it was more than 40 years ago, that moment has stuck with me. I had never really considered what the actual qualities of a leader were. My eyes were opened to the fact not everyone could be a leader.

In my more than 30 years of ministry experience, I have encountered many different types of leaders. Some possessed the appropriate skill set, and others did not. What I have discovered is the primary skill necessary for a godly leader is meaningful submission to God, which manifested itself in servanthood to God’s people and truth.

In today’s passage, Jeremiah is dealing with the issue of leadership—in particular, leadership of Judah’s prophets and king, in contrast to the God’s leadership. His overall point is the damage created by leaders who do not submit to God is lasting and significant. As we consider our own role in leading, teaching, learning and following, Jeremiah’s words are important for plotting a course that aligns with God’s plan and purpose for our life.

New Shepherds (Jeremiah 23:1-4)

The use of the term shepherds in the first few verses of Jeremiah 23 is meant to refer to Judah’s overall leadership. The term even can be used as a synonym for nobility in Scripture. This probably comes from the reality that shepherds in the ancient Near East did not drive their sheep to their next locations as is often done in the west, but instead would lead them. The imagery would have indelibly locked into a culture that was initially semi-nomadic and continued to be surrounded by shepherds in day-to-day life.

God alludes to himself as a shepherd in the passage by talking about gathering his people together from all lands. Shepherds typically gathered their sheep together for the purposes of shearing, protection and rest. Such images would be important reference points for Israel in the years following the exile as they searched for restoration and renewal.

He concludes with a preparatory statement about the next section by introducing the idea of new shepherds who will lead differently. Instead of the death and destruction brought by the present shepherds, these new shepherds would lead Israel back to its original purpose of following God’s command to be fruitful and multiply. Life would replace death. Order would replace chaos. Victory would replace loss.

What other images of shepherds fit into God’s expectations for those who would lead his people? How can leaders and members of the flock work together to ensure God’s standards are followed? Are there any modern jobs or roles you could think of that a writer would use today to portray God’s leadership and the leadership of those he calls to serve?

Righteous Branch (Jeremiah 23:5-8)

The promise of a new leader expressed in verse 5 introduces a common image of the new shoot or possibly scion who would lead Israel in the future. In Jeremiah’s setting, there was a great rift in Judah over those loyal to the exile Jehoiachin and those who followed the appointed Zedekiah as king. Jeremiah’s use of righteous here probably has more the connotation of true, rather than morally upright— though both ideas would likely be involved.

Like a bush that has been cut back to its roots and has new healthier growth come from it, Israel’s future leader would be connected to the Davidic foundations, but also would represent something new. He contrasts this future king with the present Zedekiah by playing off the meaning of his name. Zedekiah means Yahweh is my righteousness. The new king would be named Yahweh is our righteousness, but the righteousness here is very much in the sense of justice. Therefore, it would be appropriate to render the name Yahweh is our justice.

The exodus was the central saving act of Israel’s history. It defined the identity of the people and their standing before God. Jeremiah is suggesting the change to come in Israel’s future will be so significant it will supplant the exodus in its importance for the people. The faithful remnant who held to God’s truth would find justification and transformation on a scale of epic proportions.

How can new leadership breathe new life into a broken situation? In what ways might we be able to pursue new leadership without necessarily replacing a person in a leadership position? What role did the people play in Judah’s failed leadership? How do all these matters speak to our various roles and responsibilities today?

Impending Disaster (Jeremiah 23:9-12)

Verse 9 contains a phrase that easily could be misconstrued, because it means something different in our context than in the biblical one. When Jeremiah talks about his heart being broken, it is important to remember the heart in Scripture is not the seat of emotion, but a reference to the mind. The concept is not one of being hurt or saddened, but disturbed and overwhelmed.

The sin of Judah was pervasive, and subsequently the judgment would also be thorough. Both concepts are troubling to Jeremiah. The people he loves are so sinful it is beyond comprehension. The wrath they will experience is so devastating, he trembles at the high cost they would pay. To the believer preaching to a lost world, both truths should ring true in our mind. The sin we address is often unimaginable, but the price to be paid by those who are trapped in it should bring us no joy. After all, true leaders first and foremost loves the sheep they have been called to lead.

How do we find a balance between sensitivity to the presence of sin and loving the people that are carrying out those actions?

Timothy Pierce, Ph.D., is associate professor of Christian Studies at East Texas Baptist University.