Jeremiah Prophecy

Q. In Jeremiah 25:15, God gave the cup filled with His wrath to Jeremiah and asked him to make all the nations drink it, and Jeremiah did just that. In v 28 God said they must drink it. Is this all figurative or did Jeremiah go to all the nations mentioned to warn them God’s punishment was coming?

I interpret your question as consisting of two parts:

• Is the cup of wrath literal or figurative; and
• Did Jeremiah warn the nations of the coming judgment?

First, the cup. The full phrase “cup of the wine of wrath” appears three times in the Bible:

• Jer 25:15-16 For thus the Lord, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it. They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.
• Rev 14:10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
• Rev 16:19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.

A similar expression “cup of anger” appears twice in Isaiah:

• Isa 51:17 Rouse yourself! Rouse yourself! Arise, O Jerusalem, You who have drunk from the Lord’s hand the cup of His anger; The chalice of reeling you have drained to the dregs.
• Isa 51:22 Thus says your Lord, the Lord, even your God Who contends for His people, “Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of reeling, The chalice of My anger; You will never drink it again.

It is not a literal cup, as God is spirit and does not have physical hands, and real cups do not bring swords (Jer 25:16). It is a symbol of God’s wrath or anger against Judah and the nations by punishing them with wars.

Second, did Jeremiah warn the nations? Yes. Did he GO to warn them? No, not in the same sense as Jonah going to Nineveh to warn them. Let me elaborate.

Jeremiah was called to be a prophet to the nations, not just Judah:

• Jer 1:5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.
• Jer 1:10 See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, To pluck up and to break down, To destroy and to overthrow, To build and to plant.

He was obedient to God’s calling, but he did not have the freedom to travel to other nations throughout the 40 years he served as a prophet. Jeremiah prophesized during the reigns of five kings in Judah:

• Josiah – from his 13^th to 31^st year. During these 18 years, Jeremiah was free to travel but spent most of his time warning his countrymen about their idolatry and social injustice.
• Jehoahaz – 3 months;
• Jehoiakim – 11 years. Jeremiah was restricted and cannot go into the temple (Jer 36:5), so he dictated his warnings which his disciple Baruch wrote on a scroll and read to all the people. This was eventually read to Jehoiakim who cut the scroll and burned it. Jeremiah was opposed by the king, priests, and false prophets and could not travel.
• Jehoiachin – 3 months;
• Zedekiah – 11 years. Though Jeremiah could not go to the nations, God has His way for Jeremiah to declare His warnings:
  • Jer 36:2-4 thus says the Lord to me— “Make for yourself bonds and yokes and put them on your neck and send word to the king of Edom, to the king of Moab, to the king of the sons of Ammon, to the king of Tyre and to the king of Sidon by the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. Command them to go to their masters, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, thus you shall say to your masters,
  • Jer 36:8 “It will be, that the nation or the kingdom which will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence,” declares the Lord, “until I have destroyed it by his hand.

When messengers from the surrounding states came to meet Zedekiah, Jeremiah put a yoke on his neck as a visual demonstration and asked them to pass the message to their kings – whoever does not submit to Nebuchadnezzar will be destroyed.

Babylon was used by God as an instrument to punish Judah. The warning to them was delivered by Seraiah:

• Jer 51:60-62 So Jeremiah wrote in a single scroll all the calamity which would come upon Babylon, that is, all these words which have been written concerning Babylon. Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “As soon as you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words aloud, and say, ‘You, O Lord, have promised concerning this place to cut it off, so that there will be nothing dwelling in it, whether man or beast, but it will be a perpetual desolation.’

So my conclusion is that Jeremiah did warn the nations, just not by himself going.

Covenant with Gentiles?

Were the Old Testament saints limited only to the Israelites, or were any Gentile nations included in the contract with God?

Since you specifically asked for Old Testament, I will limit my comments to the OT. First, let us define our terms. What you called “contract” the Bible calls “covenant,” “bᵊrîṯ” in Hebrew, which occurs 284 times in 264 verses in the Westminster Leningrad Codex (WLC) Hebrew Bible.

Second, your use of the term “saints.” Some responders objected to its use, but it is a legitimate biblical usage. The NASB95, for example, uses it seven times – in Ps 16:3, 34:9; Dan 7:18, 21, 22, 25, and 27.

Third, you are interested in the parties to the covenant – God and the Israelites. But did God make covenants with Gentile nations? While the parties are significant, the beneficiaries are also important. This relates to the purpose of the covenant – why was the covenant established, for whose benefit.

With this background, let us get back to bᵊrîṯ. It first appears in the covenant with Noah (Gen 6:8, 9:9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17). Note who God is establishing His covenant with:

• Gen 9:9 “Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you.
• 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth.
• 11 I establish My covenant with you, and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.”
• 12 God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations.
• 13 I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.
• 15 and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.
• 16 When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
• 17 And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

It was not just Noah, but also his descendants, every living creature – all flesh on the earth. It was not just with Israel, as Noah was before Abraham, before any division into Jews and Gentiles. And it was not just with “saints,” as the covenant was with all flesh, irrespective of their faith in God. It extends even to animals.

The second covenant between God and man was with Abram (Gen 15:18, 17:2, 4, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 19, 21). That was the beginning of the separation into Jews and Gentiles. Subsequent covenants with Isaac, Jacob, and David were extensions of the Abrahamic covenant, not Gentile nations. However, note God’s first call to Abram:

• Gen 12:1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house To the land which I will show you.
• 2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing.
• 3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you, all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

Although the word “covenant” does not appear there, that was the genesis of the Abrahamic covenant. God is the first party, and Abram and his descendants are the second parties. But notice who the beneficiaries are. They are not just Abraham and his seeds, but all the families of the earth! God’s purpose in establishing His covenant with Israel was not solely to benefit them but to bless all nations. Israel was God’s instrument to bless the world. They have a vital role to play so long as they fulfill their mandate to bless the world. Sad to say, they are not doing that now as they reject their Messiah. I hope and pray they open their eyes soon.

So, the short answer to your question is that while God did not make covenants with Gentile nations, they were included as beneficiaries in His covenant with His chosen people (Jews.) We wait for Israel to fulfill her obligations to bless all families of the earth under the covenant.

Reflections

Three of our friends died from cancer within the last nine days. Two were seniors about our age, wife of university classmates. The third was the daughter of our former pastor, with children ten and eight years old. Two were committed Christians, the other received Christ while she was still alert in her dying moments.

We have been praying daily for family members and friends in need, and the list is getting longer and longer. At last count there were more than forty names: eight with cancer (including the three who passed away), three have other physical ailments, three with mental health issues, two have marital troubles, two have spiritual problems, and over two dozen relatives/friends/former colleagues who need to know the Lord.

What can we do in times like these? We do not have the abilities, boldness, or determination of leaders or the charisma and eloquence of influencers. We are just average folks living ordinary lives in these uncertain times. What should we do with the limited skills and resources available? One passage from Paul comes to mind:

• 1 Co 9:19-23 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. 
• To the Jews I became as a Jew so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; 
• to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. 
• To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may, by all means, save some. 
•  I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

Five times Paul stressed, “so that I might win.” We do not have the “five talents” (Mt 25:14-30) others have, but we can make use of the “two talents” we do have to save more. Evangelise and make disciples. I hope we can be “good and faithful servants” who will win more.

Chinese Diaspora Ministry (CDM) and Me

I am a volunteer team leader with CDM, leading Cantonese-speaking STMs to Panama, Colombia, and Belarus. We also work on assignments for SEND Taiwan.

CDM is my third “career” which I did not choose but was “chosen” for me. My first career was a professional in financial services, spanning venture capital, strategic planning, funds management, and management consulting. After thirty-three years I took early retirement from secular work to become the volunteer pastor of my home church, as our former pastor left three years earlier and we have been searching unsuccessfully for the “right” candidate. That became my second career when I switched from being the church board chairman to pastor.

I shepherded for five years, until my wife was also ready for early retirement from her beloved information technology career. Since our church was stable and my passion had always been in missions, we bid farewell to the church we loved and helped planted to look for opportunities in missions, where the demands in the field far exceed the supply of workers by several orders of magnitude.

Being golden agers with few connections, one of the first things we did was to sign up with “Finishers Project Canada”, a Christian organization which matches adults looking for mission assignments with agencies that offer those short and long-term opportunities. We prayed that God would open the right door, and that not only will there be a good match between our skills and the field’s needs, but He will let us know from the whole process. We registered in Dec. 2012, and within days received a reply from SEND Canada’s CDM, followed by responses from the SEND Taiwan Area Director. Several weeks afterwards we received replies from two other mission agencies, one serving in Africa, and the other working in Europe, but SEND was the fastest.

By Feb. 2013 SEND already asked us to go to Taiwan for a vision trip, and to learn Mandarin. We only found out later that Finishers Canada’s chairman was Martyn Hartley, also “founder” of CDM in SEND! No wonder SEND was so fast in responding ahead of anyone else. By the time we received further information from the other agencies, we had already booked our flights to Taichung for a six weeks mission trip to meet several SEND Taiwan missionaries to learn about their ministry. The other agencies were simply not quick enough! That was the beginning of our third “career”. We can really borrow from John 15:16a (“You did not choose me, but I chose you”) when we say we did not choose CDM, but God through CDM chose us!

Joking aside, CDM fits very well with our philosophy of ministry. As seniors, our resources in terms of time and energy are limited, so we were looking to invest them “where most needed”. 90% of foreign missionaries work among already reached people groups; only 10% work among unreached people groups (“UPGs”). So our preference is to work among UPGs. Of foreign mission funding: 87% goes for work among those already Christian; 12% for work among already evangelized but Non-Christian; only 1% for work among the unevangelized and unreached people. So our support goes to the 1%. Oswald Smith, founder of The People’s Church said, “No one has the right to hear the Gospel twice, while there remains someone who has not heard it once.” We wholeheartedly agree.

I don’t have statistics as evidence to prove my claim, but CDM targets the unevangelized and UPGs among overseas Chinese and is worthy of our support. That was our motivation when we joined CDM seven years ago and continues to drive our efforts now. So what’s CDM to us? A very good means to deploy what God had given us, to serve those who will benefit most from what we can offer. What we have is very little, like the lad with fives loaves and two fish (John 6:9), but the Lord can multiply the little we have to meet the needs of even large crowds. We are still looking for a few good men and women who will follow the Lord wherever He leads. Come and see!

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Ministry in Bellarus, Colombia, Panama & Taiwan

Missional?

Q. Are you okay with the following thinking: The household of God walks in the will of God, that is, be missional.

1. Touching the marginalized (Healing/Caring Ministry)

2. Against the injustice in the community and beyond (Casting out demons)

3. Preaching/Teaching the words faithfully (Word ministry)

Did I miss anything?

Are you defining “missional” based on the Lord’s mission and what He did, as in:

Mt 4:23 Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. (Mt 9:35)

Lk 4:18-19 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

Mk 1:39 And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons.

Mk 6:13 And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.

If yes, you are drawing your concept from the text which is exegesis and good. However, some have already formulated their ideas and simply try to find verses to support them, which is eisegesis and not good.

I also believe you’ve captured all the essential elements:

1. Word ministry:
   1. Evangelism – Proclaim the gospel of the kingdom, preach the gospel to the poor, proclaim the favorable year of the Lord
   1. Discipleship – Teach
2. Healing/caring:
   1. Physical – heal diseases and the sick, recover sight for the blind
   1. Spiritual – cast out demons
3. Social Justice – release the captives, set free those who are oppressed

However, my classification is somewhat different from yours. But some of Jesus’ ministry could fit several categories, e.g. depending on the type of captivity in view, “proclaim release to the captives” could fall under:

• Evangelism – release from bondage to sin (Rom 7:14)
• Discipleship – release from being held captive to philosophy and empty deception (Col 2:8), captive to the devil’s snare (2 Tim 2:26)
• Healing – release from being bound by Satan (Lk 13:16)
• Justice – legal protection from unrighteousness (Lk 18:7-8)

So how you classify them depends on what you have in mind. One thing I would recommend is to incorporate activities in your teaching. Some “talk” a good theory but there is no “walk”. It’s purely academic, which does not help the church. We have enough talkers but not enough “doers”. For example, visit friends and neighbors to share the gospel, not just teach the content in class. Serve in community projects to show you care. Take your trainees on a mission trip to experience ministry first-hand. You cannot be missional if there is no action.

Rayliu1

Pastor Ray’s blog Raykliu is continued in Rayliu1.

Please go to http://rayliu1.wordpress.com/ for future posts.Pastor Ray’s blog

Farewell, My Darling

As the lyrics of “A Summer Song” go, “They say that all good things must end some day; Autumn leaves must fall.” So our 4 weeks of STM came to an end. We did some ministry, got re-acquainted with some friends, made several new ones, and learned a few things. What’s most gratifying to see is how the Lord’s work here had grown – a new church had been planted, over 15 in Grace Meal had been baptized, campus ministries got started, children’s work had grown etc., and kids we met last time now become teacher’s helpers! How fast time flies, especially when you’re having a good time. Here are a few farewell photos. What remains is one week on our own touring Taipei, as we’ve never really seen Taiwan after visiting 3 trips and living here for over 18 weeks. I suppose we will return to assist wherever needed, but until next time, “Farewell, My Dalin”!

Dalin (大林)

Dalin, also affectionately called “Darling”

Saying goodbye to 2 of the “little teachers”. When we first met them 2 years ago they were still in elementary school!

“Last supper” with some colleagues

A Man for All Seasons

I love preaching and teaching, even though I’m only so-so at it. I love witnessing and pastoring too, though I’m not very good at that either. But what I like most about missionary life and work is that it takes everything you’ve got, and you out of your comfort zone, to do what God wants you to do. When we went on short-term missions, over 40 years of critical thinking, problem solving, strategic planning, resolving conflicts, exegeting people – everything we learned is made use of when we’re on the front line in the field, nothing is wasted. You need to be a man for all seasons.

1 Co 9:19-23 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

One example. The Dalin church had its opening ceremony on May 3, so all of a sudden the missionary becomes an event planner, organizing many things including designing the program, inviting guests, printing invitation cards, ordering meals, decorating, renting extra chairs to handle the crowd etc. They have to do most things themselves, and must wear many hats at the same time, because as a new church plant they do not have stable church members to share the load. Public relations, for instance, suddenly becomes important, because they need to invite dignitaries and significant people such as mayors and school principals to smooth future relationships.

In mission work, flexibility is most important. I also think versatility is a close second, as a missionary is often a jack of all trades, master of many – a man for all seasons not only to stand strong for the Lord in all occasions, but also adaptable under all circumstances to do what needs to be done. I am not putting missionaries on a pedestal, I know full well how human they are, with their foibles and shortcomings, but God called them to be His ambassadors to a broken world. Many go full-out for God in the midst of their flaws and weaknesses. God bless the missionaries!

Visiting Dalin Township Office to invite the mayor

Visiting elementary school to invite the principal

Enjoying tea and calligraphy in principal’s office

Giving invitation to church’s opening ceremony to village mayor

Sun Moon Lake

On our next Monday off our colleagues took us to Sun Moon Lake for team bonding. God was gracious as the forecast called for rain, but it turned out to be a mix of sun and cloud, not too hot, perfect weather for an outing. We left home early to avoid traffic, but got to Sun Moon Lake by 8 am, too early for the resort observation deck ticket counter to open. So we got a spectacular view for free! We then purchased a day pass for the ferry to take us from Shuishe Pier to 2 scenic spots (Xuanzang Temple and Ita Thao) across the lake. Since we were the first customers, the ferry operator offered us a 1/3 discount!

Lunch was at a restaurant recommended by a local souvenir store, with 7-course meal including local delicacies such as wild boar meat, president’s fish, wild mushrooms etc. at C$60 for 7 people. Not bad at all! We wrapped up the afternoon with ice cream at “Almost 18”, followed by a visit to Puli Brewery. The place gives away free coffee as a promotion. We didn’t exactly feel 18 again, but 18 years younger enjoying ice cream along with hundreds of happy customers under an open air canopy. God gave us not only a day of rest, an opportunity to enjoy His creation, but also good colleagues to encourage each other. Praise the Lord!

Sun Moon Lake, Nantou

Observatory deck of Wen Wan Resort, overlooking Sun Moon Lake

Glass bottom observatory deck of Wen Wan Resort

Chapel built by Chiang kai-shek, a Christian, at Sun Moon Lake in 1971

A ferry took us from Shuishe Pier to 2 scenic points Xuanzang Temple and Ita Thao across the lake.

Ferries are like yachts. Daily pass costs NT$300 per adult, NT$200 (C$8) for early bird. Not bad for C$8 a day.

View from Xuanzang Temple pier

Presbyterian Church at Sun Moon Lake. Church currently closed as there’s no pastor. Want to apply?

In traditional Thao tribal attire. Good day for team bonding.

7 course meal, all local game, fish and vegetables for NT$1,500 (C$60). 7 people can hardly finish.

Ita Thao Pier

“Almost 18” Ice Cream, similar to Baskin Robbins with over 20 exotic flavors.

Puli Brewery, famous for Chinese wines.

Appreciation and Encouragement Workshop

If there’s something all of us can use a little bit more, it would be appreciation and encouragement. But too bad both these are in short supply and come few and far in between. No wonder when we gave a workshop on this in our family conference, even though we didn’t have enough time for everyone to do the group exercises, the feedback was still positive. Everyone was hungry for what comes so rarely, so much so that our missionary friend referred us to his pastor to give the same workshop to his church.

This time we learned from our mistake and cut out some of our “lecture”, which was boring, and allotted enough time for the participants to share. They were divided into groups of 4 or 5 people who knew each other. Using an appreciation/encouragement word list we distributed as a reference, each person will receive verbal affirmation from his/her group members. Only positive comments were allowed; no criticisms. The recipients acknowledge the affirmation with a gracious thank you; no deflections were allowed.

The results were amazing. As facilitators we moved from group to group to make sure they did not have any problems. They didn’t. They were excitedly giving affirmation to their group members, something they had not done in the past but were eager to do when asked. Some recipients were genuinely surprised as to how highly their friends thought of them but never told them; others were embarrassed at all the positive comments, believing they did not live up to the praises heaped on them. One man remarked that he did not realize that Chinese have so many words of appreciation and encouragement until he read our list.

Since only a portion of the fellowship came to the Saturday workshop, we handed out cards for the people to write those they want to appreciate but who did not come to the meeting. The next day many cards were passed around after the Sunday morning worship. People were pleasantly surprised when they received a card and broke out in broad smiles. The pastor, an overworked and under-appreciated faithful worker and usually serious, was noticeably relaxed and cheerful as he thanked us in the afternoon service. It changed the atmosphere in the church, if only for a brief time. Pray that this continues as that’s the way it should be.

Appreciation and Encouragement Workshop at Double Blessing Church

Participants divide into small groups for exercises

Short-termer receiving encouragement from the pastor and his wife

Fellow cell group members receive appreciation from each other

Mother-in-law was all smiles after receiving appreciation from son-in-law