Jeremiah 29

Jeremiah 29:1

G. Jeremiah’s Message to the Jewish Captives of Babylon (Chap. 29)29:1-9 This is the letter that Jeremiah . . . sent to the captives in Babylon advising them to prepare for a long stay, warning them against listening to the false prophets and diviners. 29:10-14 The LORD promises that the captivity in Babylon will end in seventy years and that the people will return to the land. Verse 13 is an encouragement to all who have been seeking the Lord, sometimes without apparent success: God’s Word to His people in the day of Jeremiah is still His sure word for men who have sinned and lost touch with the Infinite. No perfunctory gesture of interest can procure the rich treasure that is more valuable than all gold. He is always available. His longing is that all men may look to Him and live. His arms are always open in loving invitation to any who will turn to Him. It is just as true, however, that a diligent search is necessary. One who becomes conscious of his need, senses the satisfying gift of God, and sets out to find Him can be sure of victory if he seeks with his whole heart. Cleansing, peace, joy, victory will be his at the hand of a loving God who delights to welcome His children home. 29:15-32 Contrary to what false prophets . . . in Babylon were saying, the king and the people remaining in Jerusalem were to suffer by the sword, the famine, and the pestilence because they refused to listen to God’s words. Doom is pronounced on two lying prophets, Ahab the son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, and on another named Shemaiah the Nehelamite, who wrote letters rebuking the priest in Jerusalem for not fulfilling his duty by casting Jeremiah . . . in prison. Zephaniah the priest read the letter to Jeremiah. The latter then prophesied that Shemaiah’s family would be destroyed, and he would not live to see the end of the captivity.