One on One: exile

Saturday, November 8, 2025

In the Fullness of Time

A series on the book of Micah
Week 3 – The Lord’s Plan
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Micah 4:1-5:6

[In the book “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, Robert Louis Stevenson explores the struggle between good and evil in human nature. “Two sides of the same coin”, if you will. Similarly, Micah contrasts God’s hatred of sin but his love for sinners. In this series, we will look at both sides of God’s character and what that means for us today.]

“God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life”. As a 21-year-old college student whose life had been turned upside down, those words were music to my ears. The person who I had most wanted to love me… had rejected me. As a result, my life seemed to have no rhyme nor reason to it – let alone a plan.

However, the realization that God loved me and did have a plan for me, was a pivotal moment. Even though I couldn’t see it at the time, this meant that somehow God had already intervened in my life. The result was to give me new purpose and direction that changed my life forever.

We often can’t see how God is at work until after the fact. Yet, the Lord has a plan that is unfolding every day. Although he didn’t know the specifics, Micah prophesied about three different time periods of the Lord’s plan for his kingdom.

First, he spoke about the last days, and how people from all over the world will come to the Lord’s temple to worship him.

²People from many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob’s God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” NLT

Second, even before coming into power, Micah prophesied that the Babylonians would capture Jerusalem and take the Israelites into exile. But he also foretold that later a remnant of Israel would return.

^10bYou will soon be sent in exile to distant Babylon. But the Lord will rescue you there; he will redeem you from the grip of your enemies. NLT

Finally, Micah prophesied about a leader, the Messiah, who would one day “shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord”.

²“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” NIV

As a 75-year-old man in the autumn of my life, God is still at work. He still loves me and has a plan for me. It’s up to me to discern it. What about you?

God loves you and has a plan for your life. That plan may not be evident now, but “in the fullness of time”, it will come to fruition.

¹¹For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. NIV Jeremiah 29

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Saturday, February 1, 2025

The Biggest Move You Can Make

Series on “I am Joe’s Favorite Verses”
Jeremiah 29:11
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Jeremiah 29:1-23

[Many years ago, there used to be articles in the Reader’s Digest titled “I am Joe’s ___” with the blank being filled with a body part or organ. Over the years, I’ve written down verses that are meaningful to me on 3x5 cards. In this series we’ll be looking at some of my favorite verses. In other words, “I am Joe’s Favorite Verses”.]

What’s the biggest move that you’ve ever made?

For me, it was when we moved from Lansing, Michigan to Columbus, Ohio. It’s about 250 miles. We packed all our worldly possessions into a 26-foot U-Haul truck and drove it to what seemed like a foreign land.

But it wasn’t so much the logistics of packing and driving that made it such a major move. It was the fact that we knew only four people in Columbus. On top of that, my wife was born and raised in Lansing, and I had spent virtually my entire life in Michigan. We were leaving all our friends and everything that was familiar to us.

Basically, we were starting over. We had to find where to shop for groceries, a doctor, a dentist, a church, friends – everything was new. Even the culture was different. It was a much bigger city. And you had all those rabid Ohio State fans.

Over a period of twenty years, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, invaded Judah on three separate occasions. During his final invasion, he destroyed the city of Jerusalem including the Temple! Thousands of Jews were forced to leave their homes and move to a foreign land. It must have been traumatic!

Once in Babylon, the exiles were starting over. They had to learn a new language, find a job, a home, ways to meet their educational and religious needs - everything was new.

To make it even worse, they had been forced to leave the Promised Land. The land that the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, had promised when He made an eternal covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

However, Jeremiah prophesied that they would return to their homes after seventy years of living in exile. But there were false prophets who didn’t trust the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel. They tried to take control by making promises of a speedy return to their homeland.

Because of this, Jeremiah, who was still in Jerusalem, wrote a letter to the exiles in Babylon. His letter confronted the message of the false prophets. He gave the Israelites true hope. And he showed that they could trust the Sovereign Lord.

¹¹For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. NIV

Like the false prophets, there are times when I don’t trust the Sovereign Lord and try to take control of my life. At that point, the biggest move that I can make isn’t from Lansing to Columbus, but from my head to my heart to my knees.

This is what the Lord said, ¹²“Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart”. NIV

Following these verses, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, promised the people of Israel that he would return them to their homeland. The Sovereign Lord provided restoration for them. And through Jesus, he provides restoration for us today.