Slices
Prepare
Call to mind the promises God has made to you.
Bible passage
A letter to the exiles
29 This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 (This was after King Jehoiachin and the queen mother, the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the skilled workers and the craftsmen had gone into exile from Jerusalem.) 3 He entrusted the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It said:
4 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 ‘Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.’ 8 Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. 9 They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,’ declares the Lord.
10 This is what the Lord says: ‘When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfil my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to 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 will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.’
15 You may say, ‘The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,’ 16 but this is what the Lord says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all the people who remain in this city, your fellow citizens who did not go with you into exile – 17 yes, this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I will send the sword, famine and plague against them and I will make them like figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten. 18 I will pursue them with the sword, famine and plague and will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse and an object of horror, of scorn and reproach, among all the nations where I drive them. 19 For they have not listened to my words,’ declares the Lord, ‘words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets. And you exiles have not listened either,’ declares the Lord.
20 Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. 21 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies to you in my name: ‘I will deliver them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your very eyes. 22 Because of them, all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: “May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned in the fire.” 23 For they have done outrageous things in Israel; they have committed adultery with their neighbours’ wives, and in my name they have uttered lies – which I did not authorise. I know it and am a witness to it,’ declares the Lord.
Explore
Today’s reading centres, unusually, around a letter written by Jeremiah to the exiles in Babylon – and it’s a wonderful one. Jeremiah’s message might properly be called an ‘epistle’: a significant, formal letter to a group of people with the purpose of uplifting their spirits, strengthening their resolve not to be led astray, and affirming their destiny as people of God.
We are reminded that, for whatever reason, God’s favour rests not upon those who have remained behind but with the exiles. It is clear (v 7) that God intends Babylon to flourish for this time, while the Israelites are living there. The Lord’s kingdom is not firstly about a location but about a people. Perhaps verse 14 is a for-all-time prophecy about the spiritual gathering, which he has promised, of God’s dispersed people. It is because he cares for his own children so much that his anger is so great against those who would lead them astray (v 16) and deliberately lie to them (v 21). But the glorious heart of Jeremiah’s letter is the promise God makes (vs 10–14). Notice the homely details in verses 5–7. This letter is not firstly about people sinning or repenting or obeying. It’s much more an expression of the intimate connection between God and his people in love and trust.
Respond
Do you still write letters? Why not write one today, encouraging a fellow Christian by sharing this eternal promise from the Lord?
Deeper Bible study
Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.’1
Walter Brueggemann writes that true prophecy ‘is the capacity to say the right thing at the right time’.2 This chapter is a great example. The conflict between true and false prophets that we have seen in chapters 27 and 28 continues, with several false prophets named and God’s judgement on them pronounced. In contrast, we have Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles (maybe 594 bc, near the start of the exile). Jeremiah was saying the right thing at the right time, but bringing what looked like strange advice and unwelcome news – followed by some welcome news.
The unwelcome news is that the Exile would last for 70 years (v 10). If human life is 70 years, then all those exiled to Babylon would die there. The strange advice was for them to make new lives in Babylon (vs 5–7), settling down, getting on with life, having children and seeking the well-being of Babylon. Their well-being was tied up with Babylon’s well-being. The welcome news is in verses 11–14. While the exile would be long, it would not be permanent. The Lord had plans for good for his people, plans that involved prosperity and not harm (v 11). In due time he would restore them to Judah and restore fellowship with himself once more.
The apostle Peter uses the language of exile with the believers to whom he writes,3 implying that the church (then and now) is in a similar position to Jeremiah’s exilic audience. We are citizens of the age to come, living in the present evil age. Our temptation is to remain aloof and apart from the world; our calling is to live our Christian lives in the world, seeking its welfare.
Ask God for help to discover how to live as an exile where you do not really belong4 and what it means to seek the well-being of your local community.
1 Ps 119:18 2 Walter Brueggemann, Jeremiah 26–52: To Build and to Plant, Eerdmans, 1991, p35 3 1 Pet 1:1; 2:11 4 John 17:14–16
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Ezekiel 2,3; Psalm 119:97–120
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for John Settatree, National Mission Leader in Wales, as he leads a new team who have all joined the staff within the last 18 months. Pray that he will have the wisdom to help them grow into their roles and gel as a team.
