JEREMIAH
29
A
Bible Study - Commentary by Jim Melough
Copyright
2003 James Melough
29:1. “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;”
29:2. “(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:)”
The events mentioned in
verse two were those which occurred in 597 BC, and are described in detail in
2 Ki 24:10-16.
29:3. “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,”
The two men mentioned here
were they whom Zedekiah had sent to Babylon as his ambassadors.
29:4. “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;”
29:5. “Build ye
houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;”
29:6. “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.”
This stands in stark
contrast with the lying words of Hananiah who had assured the people that
their sojourn in Babylon would be a mere two years. Jeremiah’s letter was to
prepare them for a much longer stay: seventy years. But the time was not to
be spent in idle regret. They were to live in the land of their captivity as
they had lived in Canaan, and in this God would have us learn a truth relative
to how we are to live our lives here on earth while awaiting our departure to
heaven.
Babylon represents the world
of false religion, the enemy of God and of His people. It is, in fact, a type
of this world in which we have to live until our going home to heaven; and we
too are to “build houses,” spiritual houses: local churches composed of living
stones: men and women whom we bring to the Lord Jesus Christ through a
faithful witness in the Gospel.
The garden is also a type of
the local church as a place which produces fruit for God’s glory and
satisfaction, and in which is found spiritual food to satisfy our own souls
also, that work being accomplished by diligent study, and ministry to one
another through sound teaching.
The godly wife is the
scriptural symbol of the expression of the believer’s spiritual life, while
sons portray the activity of the will in doing God’s will; and daughters, the
submission of the will to God’s will. Verse six therefore portrays the
Spirit-directed activity of the life in doing all that God commands, and in
refraining from all that He forbids.
29:7. “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.”
This is the spiritual
portrait of another activity in which we are to engage while awaiting our
departure to heaven: we are to do everything in our power to promote peace in
the world by being ourselves models of godly living, by faithfully preaching
the Gospel, and by being equally faithful in praying for the preservation of
peace. In doing these things we will be able to walk in the enjoyment of that
inner peace which is available only to obedient believers, see Php 4:5-7, “Let
your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful
(anxious) for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God,
which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus.”
29:8. “For thus
saith the Lord of hosts (armies), the God of Israel; Let not your (false)
prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither
hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.”
In declaring Himself to be
“the Lord of hosts (armies)” God was reminding them, and us, that He is
omnipotent; and in describing Himself also as “the God of Israel” He was
assuring them that His power is exercised for the blessing of those who obey
Him, for Israel means commanded by God: he shall be prince of God,
i.e., one who obeys God will eventually reign or rule with Christ, as it is
written, “If we suffer (endure), we shall reign with him,” 2 Tim 2:12; “...
and we shall reign on the earth,” Re 5:10; “... and they shall reign for ever
and ever,” Re 22:5.
All of this was to encourage
them not to heed the false prophets; and us, not to heed false teachers.
Diviners were readers of signs; and dreamers were those who pretended to have
been given revelations from God by means of dreams. Their counterparts
flourish today in the form of false teachers, and as Judah was not to heed the
false prophets, neither are we to heed the lying teachers with which apostate
Christendom abounds.
29:9. “For they
prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the Lord.”
As there were many in that
day who demonstrated by their lives, and lies pronounced in God’s name, that
they had no commission from Him, so also today are there teachers so-called
who also demonstrate clearly that they have neither been gifted nor called by
Him. It is to be noted further that the false prophets outnumbered those whom
God had commissioned, and so is it also today. We are no more to listen to
today’s false teachers than were the people of that day to listen to the false
prophets.
29:10. “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.”
29:11. “For I
know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace,
and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
This is the reminder that
God’s dealings with one generation may not be interpreted as His predetermined
dealings with all generations. The fact is that each generation determines by
its conduct what God’s conduct towards it will be, the principle governing His
response being unalterable: obedience commands His blessing; disobedience, His
chastisement. No matter how many generations of
Israel
may disobey, and thereby incur chastisement, the fact remains, that by His
foreknowledge God knows that there will emerge from the terrible Tribulation
judgments a repentant believing remnant of Israel and of the nations that will
inherit the millennial blessings forfeited for so long by so many disobedient
generations.
The same principle applies
to His dealings with individuals: those who repent of their sins, and trust in
the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, will be eternally blessed; those who refuse
to repent and trust, will be eternally damned. God, however, will never
compel obedience. Each individual is given the freedom to choose his own
eternal destiny.
“... an expected end” is
also translated a hopeful future: to let you have hope for the future:
reserving a future full of hope for you.
29:12. “Then
shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken
unto you.”
In spite of the fact that
countless generations of Jews, and Gentiles have made themselves heirs of
eternal doom, God still foreknows that the Tribulation judgments will produce
that repentant, believing generation of both that will inherit eternal
blessing.
29:13. “And ye
shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
The casual, halfhearted
seeker is here warned that he will never find God, for the salvation of one’s
soul is a life and death matter, in comparison to which all other things pale
into insignificance.
29:14. “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.”
While certainly this may
have reference to their return from Babylon at the end of seventy years, the
mention of “all the nations,” and “all the places” indicates that the ultimate
application is to their post-Tribulation regathering from the Diaspora.
29:15. “Because
ye have said, The Lord hath raised us up prophets in Babylon;”
29:16. “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;”
“... the king that sitteth
upon the throne of David” was Zedekiah, who by heeding the false prophets,
foolishly rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, with the result that the fate
foretold in the next verse, overtook them.
29:17. “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.”
During their captivity in
Babylon, false prophets claiming to have been sent by God, had arisen, and
were declaring that the captivity would be of short duration, and that they
would soon be back in their own land again. God, however, had a very
different message for them. Not only would they not be able to return in a
short time, but those whom Nebuchadnezzar had allowed to remain in the land in
597 BC, would listen also to false prophets, and would rebel further, with the
result that in 586 BC the Babylonians would again invade the land, destroying
Temple and city, devastating the land, slaughtering thousands, and carrying
the survivors captive into Babylon to join those already there, all of them
having to remain in captivity for seventy years.
By heeding their false
prophets the people would make themselves like rotten figs that must be thrown
away as refuse, see chapter 24.
29:18. “And I
will persecute them with the sword, and with famine, and with the pestilence,
and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a
curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the
nations whither I have drive them:”
This was partially fulfilled
in 586 BC, but its full accomplishment came in AD 70 when the Romans were
God’s instrument of destruction, the scattering that accompanied that terrible
judgment leaving the Jews still scattered amongst the nations, except for the
small remnant that has been returning to the land since the restoration of
Jewish autonomy in 1948, that return being itself one of the signs that these
are the closing days of the age that will culminate with the terrible
judgments of the Great Tribulation.
29:19. “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.”
In spite of every effort
made by God to warn them, they refused to listen. Generation after generation
had ignored His warning, and now it was too late. Their doom was sealed. And
so is it with this present generation of apostate Christendom. It too has
ignored all warning, mocked God’s messengers, and defied Him to His face, and
now it too must perish in the impending Tribulation judgments.
29:20. “Hear ye
therefore, the word of the Lord all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from
Jerusalem to Babylon:”
Those already in captivity
in Babylon were commanded again to hear God’s further warning.
29:21. “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 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon;
and he shall slay them before your eyes.”
These two, about whom
nothing else is known, may perhaps have been leaders amongst the false
prophets who predicted a speedy return of the Jews already in Babylon. God
had not given them that message, but He had a very different message for them:
He would deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar who would execute them
right before the eyes of the dupes who had heeded their lies.
29:22. “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.”
These two lying prophets
paid a terrible price for their sin, for clearly Nebuchadnezzar had had them
roasted alive, their awful fate giving rise to the curse that would be
pronounced against someone hated, “May the Lord make you like Ahab and
Zedekiah whom Nebuchadnezzar roasted alive.”
29:23. “Because
they have committed villainy in Israel, and have committed adultery with their
neighbors’ 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.”
The terrible death they
suffered was doubtless because of their phenomenal wickedness, not only in
prophesying lies, but in committing adultery.
“... even I know, and am a
witness, saith the Lord,” reminds us that the God with Whom we have to deal is
not only omnipotent, but omniscient also. He knows our very thoughts.
29:24. “Thus
shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,”
29:25. “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,”
29:26. “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.”
29:27. “Now
therefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which maketh
himself a prophet to you?”
Zephaniah had become the
leading priest because Jehoiadah had been carried captive to Babylon.
Nothing is known of this
Shemaiah other than what is written here. He was a false prophet amongst
those who had been carried to Babylon, and had written to Zephaniah the priest
in Jerusalem, reprimanding him for not having imprisoned Jeremiah whom he
referred to as a madman claiming falsely to be a prophet. It was Shemaiah,
however, who was the madman for claiming to be a prophet, when God had neither
fitted nor called him to that office.
29:28. “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.”
The reference here is to
what God had commanded Jeremiah to tell those who had been carried away to
Babylon, see verses 5-6.
29:29. “And
Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.”
29:30. “Then
came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying,”
29:31. “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:”
29:32.
“Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will punish Shemiah 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 rebellion against the Lord.”
Zephaniah, instead of
carrying out Shemaiah’s evil instructions, read the letter to Jeremiah, whom
God then instructed to write to the captives in Babylon, informing them of the
punishment God had decreed against the lying Shemaiah: he would be bereft of
posterity, nor would he himself ever see the good that God would eventually do
to His people.
So will it be with apostate
Christendom’s false teachers. Those of them who survive the terrible
Tribulation judgments will be cast into hell following Christ’s judgment of
the nations in the interval between the end of the Tribulation and the
inauguration of His glorious millennial kingdom.
[Jeremiah
30]