(Jeremiah 29:1-32)
Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile, the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 (This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the high officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metalworkers had departed from Jerusalem.) 3 The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying, 4 “This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 ‘Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and father sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may give birth to sons and daughters; and grow in numbers there and do not decrease. 7 Seek the prosperity of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord in its behalf; for in its prosperity will be your prosperity.’ 8 For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst or your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to their interpretations of your dreams which you dream. 9 For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them,’ declares the Lord.
10 “For this is what the Lord says: ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will let Myself be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’15 “Because you have said, ‘The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon’— 16 for this is what the Lord says concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who live in this city, your brothers who did not go with you into exile— 17 this is what the Lord of armies says: ‘Behold, I am sending upon them the sword, famine, and plague; and I will make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten due to rottenness. 18 I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with plague; and I will make them an object of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse and an object of horror and hissing, and a disgrace among all the nations where I have driven them, 19 because they have not listened to My words,’ declares the Lord, ‘which I sent to them again and again by My servants the prophets; but you did not listen,’ declares the Lord. 20 ‘You, therefore, hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles, whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.
21 ‘This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you falsely in My name: “Behold, I am going to hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them before your eyes. 22 Because of them a curse will be used by all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon, saying, ‘May the Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,’ 23 because they acted foolishly in Israel, and committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and falsely spoke words in My name which I did not command them. I am He who knows, and a witness,” declares the Lord.’”
24 Now you shall speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying, 25 “This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to the priest Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests, saying, 26 “The Lord has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to be the overseer of the house of the Lord for every insane person who prophesies, to put him in the stocks and in the iron collar. 27 So now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who prophesies to you, 28 seeing that he has sent word to us in Babylon, saying, ‘The exile will be long; build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their produce’?”’”
29 Now Zephaniah the priest read this letter to Jeremiah the prophet. 30 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 31 “Send word to all the exiles, saying, ‘This is what the Lord says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, although I did not send him, and he has made you trust in a lie,” 32 therefore this is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am going to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants; he will not have anyone living among this people, and he will not see the good that I am going to do for My people,” declares the Lord, “because he has spoken falsely against the Lord.”’”
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
21 ‘This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you falsely in My name: “Behold, I am going to hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them before your eyes. 22 Because of them a curse will be used by all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon, saying, ‘May the Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,’ 23 because they acted foolishly in Israel, and committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and falsely spoke words in My name which I did not command them. I am He who knows, and a witness,” declares the Lord.’”
24 Now you shall speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying, 25 “This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to the priest Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests, saying, 26 “The Lord has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to be the overseer of the house of the Lord for every insane person who prophesies, to put him in the stocks and in the iron collar. 27 So now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who prophesies to you, 28 seeing that he has sent word to us in Babylon, saying, ‘The exile will be long; build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their produce’?”’”
29 Now Zephaniah the priest read this letter to Jeremiah the prophet. 30 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 31 “Send word to all the exiles, saying, ‘This is what the Lord says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, although I did not send him, and he has made you trust in a lie,” 32 therefore this is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am going to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants; he will not have anyone living among this people, and he will not see the good that I am going to do for My people,” declares the Lord, “because he has spoken falsely against the Lord.”’”
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
People will tell us things in order to make us hate, fear and distrust those who are telling the truth. At the same time, they will tell other lies that they think people want to hear, not because they care, but because they want the glory and the control. Those who do good and strive to tell us truth (even though it might not be how we want to be told, or what we want to hear) are typically the ones who actually care, and the ones we can trust. Now, consider the Lord God who loves all people, and cares more for us than all friends, family and spouses in the world put together! Also, the Lord God is truth! Therefore, how can we NOT trust Him and His word?
The Israelites were taken out of their homeland to a strange country. And in captivity, they had to serve another king. But God's instructions and advice was really clear and simple - continue living as you should! And in doing so, God was going to bless them. Part of His instructions were to pray for the city where they were deported, because if that city did well, that would help them do well.
If we are living in a place, and we hope that that place experiences unrest, and we don't do anything to make that place any better, how is that going to help us or be good for us? And how does that demonstrate that we care for anyone? It does not. Even if we don't agree with what is happening around us, if we add to the problems, we are only making things worse.
No matter what happens around us or to us, if we have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, we do not have to worry, we do not have to give up or hide, and we certainly should not abandon our walk with the Lord. Part of trusting God is to follow through on what He asks of us... keep doing as we should, while praying for God to continue working in our lives, trusting that He will make things work out for good, because He cares!
We do not know why God allows certain things to happen, because we cannot see all the details or the future, but God can. He not only knows what the future holds, but He is Sovereign and in control. Therefore, He will see to it that His plans are carried out. Therefore, we can trust Him above all else! Whoever seeks Him with their whole heart, will find Him! Whoever follows Him and trusts Him with their whole heart, will be blessed!
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