Jeremiah 29:1-32
1 Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;
2 (After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem;)
3 By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) saying,
4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon;
5 Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;
6 Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.
7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.
9 For they prophesy falselya unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD.
10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expectedb end.
12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
14 And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.
15 Because ye have said, The LORD hath raised us up prophets in Babylon;
16 Know that thus saith the LORD of the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and of all the people that dwelleth in this city, and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity;
17 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
18 And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse,c and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them:
19 Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the LORD, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the LORD.
20 Hear ye therefore the word of the LORD, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon:
21 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you in my name; Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes;
22 And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, saying, The LORD make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;
23 Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours' wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, saith the LORD.
24 Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite,d saying,
25 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,
26 The LORD hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the LORD, for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in the stocks.
27 Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which maketh himself a prophet to you?
28 For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is long: build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
29 And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.
30 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
31 Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to trust in a lie:
32 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people, saith the LORD; because he hath taught rebellione against the LORD.
Jeremiah 29:10. After seventy years. See Jeremiah 26:1. Zechariah fixes the captivity at the same number of years, and he flourished sometime after Jeremiah's death. No doubt the captivity was exactly seventy years from the fourth year of Jehoiakim, when Jeconiah, the heir apparent, with about twenty thousand of the guards, the nobles, and artisans was carried to Babylon. As to the difficulties of the chronology which seem to make more than seventy years, they belong to critics, and they are common to every other subject of Hebrew history.
Jeremiah 29:22. Zedekiah and Ahab, two false prophets whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire. From the most ancient times wizards and witches have been burned: very many under the imputation of witchcraft were also burned, in the dark ages of the church. See on Exodus 22:18.
Jeremiah 29:26. The Lord hath made thee priest instead of Jehoiada. This is a broad hint that he ought to imitate the zeal of Jehoiada, the blessed of the Lord, who saved Joash an infant from the carnage of Jehu in Jezreel, and from Athaliah in Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 22:10.
REFLECTIONS.
The gracious God, moved with compassion to his mournful people in Babylon, inspired Jeremiah to write as a father to his family. His letter shows the never-ceasing care of providence over the church. They were indeed suffering for their sins, but they were suffering under the eye of a pardoning God. Jeremiah had predicted the captivity, and though at the time they believed him not, they were now compelled to place some sort of confidence in his predictions. Hence, having wounded them by his words, the Lord employed him to heal them with a distant hope.
The letter of Jeremiah was not only a gracious but a seasonable word to the captives; for the false prophets were buoying up their minds with the illusive hopes of a speedy return to Jerusalem. This was very hurtful to their souls, in obstructing the sanctifying influence of their afflictions. It was also hurtful to their interests, in obstructing the establishments requisite for a protracted residence. Hence Jeremiah exhorts them to build, to plant, and to marry, that the hope of Israel might not be extinguished in the gloom of adversity. He exhorts them to regulate their political conduct according to the principles of piety and peace, to pray for the government, and for the particular city and district in which they might be scattered. Hereby they would merit the confidence of their rulers, obtain better treatment, and not extinguish religion by a factious spirit. Christians are everywhere exhorted in the new testament to do the same.
Instead of plotting seditious plans of return, he exhorts them to seek the Lord with all their heart; to abstain from sin, and be constant in private and public worship; for they had places on the shores of the rivers where prayer was wont to be made, and where they sat down and wept, while their harps reposed upon the willow. Psalms 137.
The prophet exhorts them to suffer with their eye constantly fixed on the promise of liberation which extended to the glorious age of the Messiah. I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you; which the Lord accomplished by Cyrus in a way far superior to any plot they could have formed for their own emancipation. Hence good men have a bright hope before their eyes which makes adversity soften its bitterness, and supports the mind with an unshaken confidence in the faithful God.
When men trust in the Lord, they must cease from an arm of flesh. Of those still remaining in Jerusalem, unreformed by the first captivity, the Lord declares that they were devoted to the sword, the famine, and the pestilence. There was no hope of returning to Zion till after her crimes were purged with blood.
The fearful end of the false prophets is very instructive. Zedekiah and Ahab, who disturbed the people in Babylon, were roasted alive by a slow fire. And Shemaiah, who wrote a letter back from Babylon, to Jehoiada the priest, to excite a persecution against Jeremiah, received a sentence of family extinction. Let us therefore beware how we call the Lord's servants madmen, when they draw a just connection between sin and its punishment. By seeking to injure them we may destroy our own souls, and bring a curse upon our family. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God.