Major Prophets Jeremiah

Jeremiah's Letter To The Exiles

Discover Jesus as: New Covenant Jeremiah 27-29 Read on Bible Gateway (HCSB)

Day 612 of 730
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INTRO

Even though Jeremiah’s message was depressing, he stayed faithful to the message God gave him. He repeatedly told it to Israel regarding their 70 years of captivity. Included in that message from God was also a prophecy regarding all the Gentile nations that had done things against Israel—they would also be punished.

TEACHING

Jeremiah 27: There was reference in the beginning of chapter 27 about the yoke of Babylon. All of the nations would experience this yoke and submit. Nelson’s Commentary states, “Jeremiah’s message to Zedekiah was the same as the message to the foreign ambassadors (vv. 4–11): submit to Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians and live, or rebel against Nebuchadnezzar—and God—and die.”1

Jeremiah 28: Chapter 28 included the account of the false prophet, Hananiah, who stated the length of the captivity of the Jews would only be two years. He broke the yoke Jeremiah wore. Beginning in verse 12, Hananiah was denounced. The wooden yoke was broken, but God spoke through Jeremiah and told Hananiah that the wooden yoke would be replaced with a yoke of iron. Jeremiah also prophesied the death of Hananiah, which happened within a year.

Jeremiah 29:1–14: Nelson’s Commentary explains, “A written document was carried from Jerusalem to the Jews in Babylon.”2 There were three deportations: one in the 590s B.C., one in the late 580s, and another in the early 580s. By the time of Jeremiah’s writing of these documents, some of the Jews were already in captivity. MacArthur states, “Jeremiah, shortly after the 597 B.C. deportation of many of the countrymen (v. 2), wrote to comfort them in exile.”3 From the wording of Jeremiah’s letter, some of the elders either went missing or some had died in the process.

Jeremiah was writing a letter of comfort and encouragement. The first letter, verses 1–14, was written to the exiles encouraging them to be a witness to the Babylonians. Wiersbe writes, “Governed by special laws concerning clean and unclean things, the Jewish people would have a difficult time adjusting to a pagan society. Jeremiah wanted them to be good witnesses to the idolatrous Babylonians, and he also wanted them to be good Jews even though separated from their temple and its services . . . He addressed himself to the needs of three kinds of people. Those with no hope (vv. 4–6), those with false hopes (6–9), and those who have true hope (vv. 10–14).”4

Since the exiles were already in captivity, Jeremiah was no longer prophesying. At this time, he instructed the captives. God wanted the Jews to build houses, plant gardens, take wives, and have sons and daughters so that they would not decrease. Even though they were in captivity, God wanted them to accept this situation was of Him. He wanted them to make the best of the situation and embrace the process God was working through. God wanted the Jews to seek the welfare of the city where He had placed them, and He expected them to pray for the city. Jeremiah 29 was a lesson for all to embrace where God had placed them. Wiersbe explains, “The exiles were to be peacemakers, not troublemakers, and they were to pray sincerely for their enemies (Matthew 5:43–48; 1 Timothy 2:1–3; Titus 3:1–2).”5 The Jews would eventually be restored. God was a God who fulfilled and kept His promises. God wanted the Jews to experience His wonder and fullness.

Verse 11 was for God’s people who were in captivity and was a message of hope. In verse 12, Jeremiah reminded the Jews that God would listen when they prayed. The Jews only needed to search for God. Their captivity was to serve as a form of discipline.

Wiersbe writes, “According to Jeremiah 29:14, the promises reach beyond the Jews captive in Babylon and include all of Israel throughout the world. Jeremiah was looking ahead to the end of the age when Israel will be regathered to meet their Messiah and enter their kingdom (Isaiah 10:20—12:6).”6

Jeremiah 29:15-23: Wiersbe points out that in verses 15–23, “The false prophets in Babylon were giving false hopes to the people concerning Jerusalem and Judah, and this word got back to Jeremiah.”7 Jeremiah called out two of the prophets by name and stated they were going to be handed over to Nebuchadnezzar to be killed.

Jeremiah 29:24–29: These verses included a letter to the temple priest Shemaiah who had referred to Jeremiah as a madman and asked why the people had not locked him up.

Jeremiah 29:30–32: The final letter in this chapter of Jeremiah was included in verses 30–32. Wiersbe states, “Shemaiah had a following in Babylon, Jeremiah warned the exiles that the man was a rebel against God and that the Lord had neither sent him nor given him a message. Shemaiah would be judged for his sins by dying childless in Babylon, never to see his native land again.”8

CLOSING

Jeremiah’s message to Israel was not pleasant. Though Jeremiah proclaimed judgment, God also promised to restore His people to the land.

  1. Earl Radmacher, Ronald B. Allen, and H. Wayne House, eds., Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999), p. 918.

  2. Nelsons Commentary, p. 919.

  3. John MacArthur, The MacArthur Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2005), p. 866.

  4. Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary: New Testament (Colorado Springs, David C. Cook, 1989), p. 119, 120.

  5. Wiersbe, p. 120

  6. Wiersbe, p. 120.

  7. Wiersbe, p. 120.

  8. Wiersbe, p. 120.

Questions

  1. What did God tell Jeremiah to do in Jeremiah 27:2? Why did He do this (Jeremiah 27:11)
  2. Who broke the yoke from Jeremiah’s neck? Was the Lord pleased with the act? Why or why not?
  3. In Jeremiah 29:11–14, what did God promise to the people if they called upon Him, prayed and sought His face? Do you believe this promise is true for you as well? How have you seen this fulfilled in your life? How do you think Jeremiah was to get through these hard times coming to God’s people? (Isaiah 63:7; Jeremiah 9:24; 16:15)
  4. Name some other things the Lord said in Jeremiah’s letter to the captives, both good and bad?
  5. Jeremiah 29:23 states, “Indeed I know, and am a witness.” What was he referring to and what does this say about what you do in “secret” today? (Numbers 32:23)
  6. What did the Holy Spirit highlight to you in Jeremiah 27—29 through the reading or the teaching?

Next: the Daily Word →

Daily Word

Laura Martin Jeremiah 29:11–14a

“‘For I know the plans I have for you’—this is the LORD’s declaration—‘plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. You will call to Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you’—this is the LORD’s declaration.”

FURTHER SCRIPTURE

  • Proverbs 8:17 — “I love those who love me, and those who search for me find me.”
  • Jeremiah 29:5–7 — “Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters to men in marriage so that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease. Seek the welfare of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it has prosperity, you will prosper.”
  • Matthew 6:33–34 — “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”