SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/21/2014
9:52 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Jeremiah
Writes Letters PT-1
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Jeremiah
29:1-14
Message of the
verses: Before we look at the
Scripture from this section I want to quote Dr. Wiersbe from his introductory
comments on this last section of the 8th chapter of his
commentary. “Several different letters
are involved in this chapter: a letter
from Jeremiah to the exiles (vv. 1-14); a letter concerning the Jewish false
prophets in Babylon to which Jeremiah replied (vv. 15-23); a letter from Shemaiah
to the temple priests concerning Jeremiah, which he read (vv. 24-29); and a
letter from Jeremiah to the exiles concerning Shemaiah (vv. 30-32).” One may wonder how letters could go back and
forth during this time of history, but Jeremiah knew people in high places and
there were correspondences that were going from Jerusalem to Babylon at this
time.
“1 ¶ Now these are
the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of
the exile, 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 court officials, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen
and the smiths 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, saying, 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; and plant
gardens and eat their produce. 6 ’Take
wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your
sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and
daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. 7 ’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 have welfare.’ 8 "For thus
says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ’Do not let your prophets who are in
your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which
they dream. 9 ’For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them,’ declares
the LORD. 10 “For thus says the LORD, ’When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I
will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this
place. 11 ’For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD,
’plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12 ’Then you will call upon
Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 ’You will seek Me and find Me when you
search for Me with all
your heart. 14 ’I will be found by you,’
declares the LORD, ’and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from
all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the
LORD, ’and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into
exile.’”
As we have already looked at the book of Daniel we can
understand a number of things that the exiles were going through. God sent these exiles to Babylon in 605 BC
and then again in 597 and 586 BC.
Jeremiah was probably writing to the first two groups of exiles that
went to Babylon. When we looked at the
first chapter of Daniel we found that because of the dietary laws that the Jews
had it was going to be difficult for them to live in a foreign land, but
because of the faith that Daniel had in the Lord he was able to overcome this and
now Jeremiah is writing to the exiles telling them that they should live in
houses and plant gardens and eat the produce that they grew from their
gardens. These were people who had lost
all hope and all of their property before they were taken to Babylon and so
like a good shepherd Jeremiah writes to encourage them. Dr. Wiersbe writes “One of the first steps in
turning tragedy into triumph is to accept the situation courageously and put
ourselves into the hands of a loving God, who makes no mistakes.” This is wonderful advice to all of us who are
going through difficult times in our lives.
Jeremiah also addressed not only those who had no hope,
but also those who had false hope due to the false prophets that were living
among them in Babylon. In verses 6-9 we
see what Jeremiah told the people about these false prophets, and that was not
to build houses and get settled into the land for they had dreams which were
false and told them they would be leaving Babylon in two years. This was not from the Lord and was a trick of
the evil one who controlled these false prophets. Why would they say these things and why would
Satan want them to believe these lies?
God’s plans for salvation would come through those whom He sent into
exile as the Messiah would be born from the tribe of Judah and the family of
David and the forefathers were there in Babylon so God would care for those who
were not in Babylon.
It would have been an easy thing for these exiles to wage
war against their captors, but this is not what the Lord wanted them to do, as
we have learned that He wanted them to realize that they were there because of
sin, and that they would be there for 70 years and then they would return to
their land. Through all of this they
needed to trust the Lord as the very famous verse eleven says: “For I know the plans I have for you,’’says
the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future
and a hope (NLT).” Yes God was, as He
always is, in control! This verse is for
those who have true hope, not for those who have no hope or who have false hope
and Jeremiah addresses them in verses 10-14.
Dr. Wiersbe writes “God makes His plans for His people, and they are
good plans that ultimately bring hope and peace. Therefore, there is no need to be afraid or
discouraged.”
He goes on to write:
“In every situation, however, God’s people have the responsibility to
seek the Lord, pray, and ask Him to fulfill His promises, for the Word and
prayer go together (Acts 6:4). The
propose of chastening is that we might seek the Lord, confess our sins, and
draw near to Him (Heb. 12:3-13).
According to Jeremiah 29:14, these 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 (Isa. 10:20-12:6).”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I want to
remember the truths that are found in these verses, like God is in complete
control, and when He disciplines me it is because He loves me, and that God’s
plans for me are for my good.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Proverbs 3:5-6.
Memory verses for the
week: Philippians 2:5-9.
5 Have this attitude in
yourself which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form
of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied
Himself, taking on the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness
of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a
man He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death
on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God
highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
Answer to our last Bible
question: “Mary” (Luke 1:46-49).
Today’s Bible
question: “In what city did Zacchaeus
see Jesus?”
Answer in our next SD.
6/21/2014 10:46 AM
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