There are two plans that people can choose to follow, but they are in conflict with one another. Galatians 5:17 “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.” Paul said Galatians 3:1 “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?” The first and right plan to follow is God’s plan. Isaiah 46:9 “Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. 10 I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’ What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do.” Job 42:1 “Then Job replied to the Lord: 2 “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” Hosea 14:9 “The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.” Daniel 4:37 “Everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.”

   Following God’s plan results in blessing and eternal life but as we see all throughout scripture, God’s people chose to follow man’s plan, even though they saw the power that came with God’s plan. John 3:19 “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” By choosing darkness over light they chose to be in captivity. Psalm 107:10 “Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains, 11 because they rebelled against God’s commands and despised the plans of the Most High.” Most people do not like to wait on God, so they proceed and follow their own ways. Psalm 106:13 “But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his plan to unfold.” The second and wrong plan is to reject God and follow man’s / satan’s plan. When you choose not to follow God’s plan, you are choosing satan over God and the destruction that follows that rebellion. Jeremiah 11:11 “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’ 12 But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.’” Following man’s plans results in curses / destruction and eternal fire. 2 Thessalonians 1:8 “He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.” The people who went to Egypt in rebellion found out that God’s plan can be for good or harm.” If you choose God’s plan it will be good and if you reject God’s plan it will be harm. If they had listened it would have been for good, but they did not listen. As we saw the other day, those who refused to listen to Jeremiah, chose harm. God said, Jeremiah 44:27 “I am watching over them for harm, not for good; the Jews in Egypt will perish by sword and famine until they are all destroyed. 28 Those who escape the sword and return to the land of Judah from Egypt will be very few. Then the whole remnant of Judah who came to live in Egypt will know whose word will stand—mine or theirs.” Jeremiah’s words would stand, except it was harm and not good. When Jeremiah was called, God said, Jeremiah 1:9 “I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”

    Following God’s plan is obedience which leads to good / blessing, and disobedience, not following God’s plan and following man leads to harm / curses. Isaiah 30:1 “Woe to the obstinate children,” declares the Lord, “to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin; 2 who go down to Egypt without consulting me; who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection, to Egypt’s shade for refuge.” Choosing Egypt is choosing the plans of man and you would think it is a no-brainer to choose God’s plan, yet even today man continues to choose their own plans and the delusions of their own minds. Psalm 33:16 “No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. 17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. 18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, 19 to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.” God gave the people the option to obey, but they chose disobedience and disaster came upon them.

    Over and over God’s people rejected the word of the Lord, but God promised there would always be a remnant of survivors, though none deserve to live. Jesus said after talking about the abomination that causes desolation that has already decimated the church, Matthew 24:22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.” Everything that God said would happen took place and even though God’s people disobeyed, God was still merciful and there was a remnant of survivors. Jeremiah said, Jeremiah 29:10 “This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For 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. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” Why in the world would God’s people not choose God’s plan? The plan was prosperity and no harm, hope and a future, yet God’s people continue to choose destruction.

    Just before this passage where Jeremiah said I know the plans I have for you, the prophets were trying to deceive the people with different plans. When Jeremiah spoke the word of the Lord, false prophets would also speak. They said their words were from God, but they were not. Jeremiah 29:15 “You may say, “The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,” 16 but this is what the Lord says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all the people who remain in this city, your fellow citizens who did not go with you into exile— 17 yes, this is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will send the sword, famine and plague against them and I will make them like figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten. 18 I will pursue them with the sword, famine and plague and will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse and an object of horror, of scorn and reproach, among all the nations where I drive them. 19 For they have not listened to my words,” declares the Lord, “words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets. And you exiles have not listened either,” declares the Lord.” Jeremiah said Jeremiah 29:8 “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. 9 They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord.” Even when Jeremiah was telling the people about the seventy years, false prophets were saying something different. Jeremiah 28:2 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two years I will bring back to this place all the articles of the Lord’s house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed from here and took to Babylon. “This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon off the neck of all the nations within two years.’” The false prophet who said this would die.

    Whenever Jeremiah spoke, the false prophets would also be speaking to the people. Jeremiah 14:13 “But I said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! The prophets keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.’” The false prophets want you to believe there will be no repercussions for not following God’s plan. Jeremiah 5:11 “The people of Israel and the people of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to me,” declares the Lord. 12 They have lied about the Lord; they said, “He will do nothing! No harm will come to us; we will never see sword or famine.” But that is not the case. 13 The prophets are but wind and the word is not in them; so let what they say be done to them.” Jeremiah 14:14 “Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds. 15 Therefore this is what the Lord says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine. 16 And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them, their wives, their sons and their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.” Jeremiah 5:30 “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: 31 The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?”

    God’s plans stand firm. We can choose God’s plan for good or rebel and see God’s wrath, but either way God’s plan will prevail. Psalm 33:10 “The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. 11 But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” Isaiah 46:10 “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’ 11 What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do.” God cut off Elihu when Elihu was trying to convince Job of his sin, even though Job had done nothing wrong. Job 38:2 “Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’” To this day God’s people choose the plans of man over the plans of God. The church as we have talked about follow the gurus who say their plans are from God, but there is no power. God’s plan comes together with power and authority from on High. We are shown God’s plan throughout the Gospels and Acts, yet the church has rejected God’s plan and chose death and destruction instead just as those who went down to Egypt in rebellion. Moses said to the people Deuteronomy 32:46 “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47 They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.” Walking according to God’s plan means that you are walking according to His word. 2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”

    God has given us a choice to follow His ways or the ways of satan. Deuteronomy 30:15 “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”