#1086 Jeremiah 29 Keep It

 

These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to 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 eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers 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. It said: 4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. 8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, 9 for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord.

10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear 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 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 which I sent you into exile.

15 “Because you have said, ‘The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,’ 16 thus says the Lord concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your kinsmen who did not go out with you into exile: 17 ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, behold, I am sending on them sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like vile figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten. 18 I will pursue them with sword, famine, and pestilence, and will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, a terror, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, 19 because they did not pay attention to my words, declares the Lord, that I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, declares the Lord.’ 20 Hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon: 21 ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying a lie to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall strike them down before your eyes. 22 Because of them this curse shall be used by all the exiles from Judah in Babylon: “The Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,” 23 because they have done an outrageous thing in Israel, they have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and they have spoken in my name lying words that I did not command them. I am the one who knows, and I am witness, declares the Lord.’”

Shemaiah's False Prophecy

24 To Shemaiah of Nehelam you shall say: 25 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You have sent letters in your name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, 26 ‘The Lord has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to have charge in the house of the Lord over every madman who prophesies, to put him in the stocks and neck irons. 27 Now why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who is prophesying to you? 28 For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, “Your exile will be long; build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their produce.”’”

29 Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet. 30 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 31 “Send to all the exiles, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord concerning Shemaiah of Nehelam: Because Shemaiah had prophesied to you when I did not send him, and has made you trust in a lie, 32 therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants. He shall not have anyone living among this people, and he shall not see the good that I will do to my people, declares the Lord, for he has spoken rebellion against the Lord.’” Jeremiah 29 ESV

Jeremiah 29 Jeremiah's letter to the exiles

1-9. To the surviving elders of the exiles - Those that had been taken in the first wave. It mentions craftsmen and metal workers too, which would make a lot of sense when you are trying to build an empire, but also it keeps your opponent from making weapons of war; it reduces the speed of technological advances. 

Build houses and live in them - It's going to be 70 years, that is God's sentencing, irrevocable, so don't make it harder than necessary.

Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you - He has given similar messages before that did not go over well. They are told to pray for that city, and that it's welfare will be tied to theirs. Daniel is one of the most beautiful examples, up there with Joseph, on being God's man in a pagan land, and it's interesting because we know he reads Jeremiah, and he actually walks in this way. No one is a more faithful employee than Daniel, even in his civil disobedience, for the ones that caused that were guilty of desiring innocent blood. He was more faithful in this because his testimony to the truths of God were held in tack, and God was in His rightful place above Nebuchadnezzar.

1First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone— 2for kings and all those in authority— so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity. 3This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,… 1 Timothy 2: 1-3

Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you - Wow, you would think that wouldn't be possible now. They said there wouldn't be a captivity, and laughed when Jeremiah spoke of Babylon. Now they are in Babylon but can't stop babbling. Jeremiah has been on the money, yet these guys can't stop peddling their wares. I agree with Spurgeon, keep your nonsense, and I pray you wake up sane tomorrow.

Take care never to impute the vain imaginings of your fancy to him (the Holy Spirit). I have seen the Spirit of God shamefully dishonored by persons- I hope they were insane - who have said that they have had this and that revealed to them. There has not for some years passed over my head a single week in which I have not been pestered with the revelation of hypocrites or maniacs. Semi-lunatics are very fond of coming with messages from the Lord to me, and it may spare them some trouble if I tell them once for all that I will have none of their stupid messages....Never dream that events are revealed to you by heaven, or you may come to be like those idiots who dare impute their blatant follies to the Holy Ghost. If you feel your tongue itch to talk nonsense, trace it to the devil, not to the Spirit of God. Whatever is to be revealed by the Spirit to any of us is in the word of God already - he adds nothing to the Bible, and never will. Let persons who have revelations of this, that, and the other, go to bed and wake up in their senses. I only wish they would follow the advice and no longer insult the Holy Ghost by laying their nonsense at his door. - Charles H. Spurgeon

10-14. When seventy years are completed - Again, this is not what people wanted to hear, but it is far more compassionate since it's true. 

Bring you back to this place - When God punishes Babylon by the hand of Cyrus, the time of those gentiles, Babylon, will be over, and the Persians will send groups back to the Holy land which we see fulfilled in the times of Ezra and Nehemiah. Israel is back on the map again, even in this previous century, she is back as a nation, and with the Hebrew language. Such a curious little place. 

For I know the plans I have for you - The solace of His sovereignty, remember that He promised a Savior all the way back in the garden, One that would crush Satan's head. He has known all along what He will do, and in what way to the keeping of His holiness. He will provide the Ram again, the Lamb without spot. He is not done with Israel.

To give you a future and a hope - He wants to bless them, but it must be consistent with His character. It is not fitting to cast pearls before swine.

Then you will call upon me - He will make the swine clean, and so they will call upon the name of the Lord from a changed heart. They will be His children, seeking His desires, submitting to His authority, wanting good and desiring to do such. 

13I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14And this is the confidence that we have before Him: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we already possess what we have asked of Him.… 1 John 5: 13-15

…26I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances. 28Then you will live in the land that I gave your forefathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God.… Ezekiel 36: 26-28

15-23. Because you have said - They have false prophets with them that they are listening to in captivity. Astounding! But it shouldn't shock me. We have thousands of false prophets and teachers today, and people have seen a long record of their crookedness, that their message differs from God's word, and yet people still like that message, so they run from the truth with their fingers in their ears.

I will make them like vile figs - Please listen, your friends back in Judah aren't accepting God's message either, they think it's all going to be over in two years, but watch, I am about to destroy them. 

Ahab and Zedekiah - These are false prophets that keep prophesying against God's word.

The Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab - A curse that people swore at others, for the two were thrown into an oven, like Daniel, but unlike Daniel it was not for righteousness that they suffered.

They have committed adultery with their neighbor's wives - They told lies in the name of God and also soiled His name by claiming to be his prophets yet breaking His moral law. They were sleeping with their neighbor's wives, a great motivator for so many false teachers, like Benny and Paula holding hands. Their behavior disqualified them from the office that they claimed.

1If a prophet or dreamer of dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you, 2and if the sign or wonder he has spoken to you comes about, but he says, “Let us follow other gods (which you have not known) and let us worship them,” 3you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. For the LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul.… Deuteronomy 13: 1-3

…19I know your deeds—your love, your faith, your service, your perseverance—and your latter deeds are greater than your first. 20But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads My servants to be sexually immoral and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21Even though I have given her time to repent of her immorality, she is unwilling.… Revelation 2: 19-21

1Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow in their depravity, and because of them the way of truth will be defamed. 3In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.… 2 Peter 2: 1-3

24-32. Shemaiah - This is one way of getting your name in the book, a rebuke. He is one of the false prophets in Babylon, who keeps saying two years, and some people must be starting to listen to Jeremiah because Shemaiah is sending letters back home. 

Why have you not rebuked Jeremiah - Best answer to this would be, because your a false prophet and Jeremiah has staid true to the word of God, and everything has happened the way he said it would. Shemaiah wants him punished because he doesn't like the message, it makes him out to be the liar that he is, and maybe there is a little revival of the true Spirit of God, causing the people to turn away from false ways, mourn over their sin.

He shall not have anyone living among this people - God said 70 years, and to pray for their captors, their new governance, basically be a light in the dark. Shemaiah was teaching rebellion against the authority that God had put over this people, and not accepting God's discipline by way of Babylon was open rebellion against God.