Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 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;
1. Now these are the words of the letter ] The exiles in Babylon were subjected to the same danger from false prophets predicting a speedy return (cp. Ezekiel 13), as were their fellow countrymen who remained at home. Jeremiah earnestly deprecates such a belief, and insists that the punishment would last for seventy years.
the residue ] The reference of the word is obscure, but it may allude (so Du.) to some disaster, well known at the time. LXX omit the word, and so Gi.
and to the priests to Babylon ] Du. omits all these words, holding that Jeremiah addressed the letter to the elders alone. Co. agrees. Gi. now (2nd ed.) rejects the latter part (“whom to Babylon”), which is absent from LXX. Moreover, he and others consider the whole or the greater part of Jer 29:2 to be an expansion.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The residue of the ciders – i. e., such of the elders as were still alive.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Jer 29:1
Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent.
Messages to exiles
I. The very fact that a message was sent to them under an express Divine appointment was consolatory. Wherever Gods children are scattered, the written Word is to them a source of permanent encouragement. In the severest ways of justice God does not forget His own children, but has in reserve ample consolations for them, when they lie under the common judgment
II. The particular providence of God, appearing on their behalf under all their calamities, was a source of consolation.
1. He is the Lord of hosts, of all the armies above and below, and yet is the God of Israel; and though He permits their captivity, He does not break His relation to them–their covenant-God still, though under a cloud.
2. He assumes the active agency in their dispersion. I have caused them to be carried away. Certainly it must be a great sin which induces a loving father to cast his child out of doors. But sin is a great scatterer, and is always followed by a driving away and a casting out. Yet the fact of Gods being the agent in their dispersion is referred to as a ground of consolation; since it reconciles us to our troubles to see the hand of God in them, and to trace an all-gracious and merciful design in them.
III. The promise of the stability and security of their social and domestic interests was given.
IV. The prospect of a certain and favourable issue to their trials (verse 11). (S. Thodey.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER XXIX
This chapter contains the substance of two letters sent by the
prophet to the captives in Babylon. In the first he recommends
to them patience and composure under their present
circumstances, which were to endure for seventy years, 1-14;
in which, however, they should fare better than their brethren
who remained behind, 15-19.
But, finding little credit given to this message, on account of
the suggestions of the false prophets, Ahab the son of Kolaiah,
and Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who flattered them with the
hopes of a speedy end to their captivity, he sends a second, in
which he denounces heavy judgments against those false prophets
that deceived them, 20-23;
as he did afterwards against Shemaiah the Nehelamite, who had
sent a letter of complaint against Jeremiah, in consequence of
his message, 24-32.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXIX
Verse 1. Now these are the words of the letter] This transaction took place in the first or second year of Zedekiah. It appears that the prophet had been informed that the Jews who had already been carried into captivity had, through the instigations of false prophets, been led to believe that they were to be brought out of their captivity speedily. Jeremiah, fearing that this delusion might induce them to take some hasty steps, ill comporting with their present state, wrote a letter to them, which he entrusted to an embassy which Zedekiah had sent on some political concerns to Nebuchadnezzar. The letter was directed to the elders, priests, prophets, and people who had been carried away captives to Babylon.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
There were two carryings into the captivity of Babylon, the latter about eleven or twelve years after the former; the first was in the time of Jehoiachin, of which we read in 2Ki 24:14, when the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths, were carried away, as we read there, amongst whom were some priests and prophets.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. residue of the eldersthosestill surviving from the time when they were carried to Babylon withJeconiah; the other elders of the captives had died by either anatural or a violent death.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Now these [are] the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem,…. The argument and tenor, the sum and substance, of an epistle, which the prophet Jeremiah, being at Jerusalem, wrote, under the inspiration of God, to his countrymen abroad, afterwards described; so the prophets under the Old Testament instructed the people, sometimes by their sermons and discourses delivered by word of mouth to them, and sometimes by letters and epistles; as did the apostles of the New Testament; and they were both ways useful and profitable to men:
unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captive; some perhaps dying by the way, and others quickly after they came to Babylon; some were left, who had been rulers or civil magistrates in Judea, and perhaps of the great sanhedrim:
and to the priests, and to the prophets: false prophets, as the Syriac version; for we read only of one true prophet that was carried captive, and that was Ezekiel; but of false prophets several:
and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon; which was eleven or twelve years before their last captivity thither. This was a catholic epistle, common to all the captives of every rank and class, age or sex.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
A Letter from Jeremiah to the Captives in Babylon, together with Threatenings against their False Prophets. – As in Jerusalem, so too in Babylon the predictions of the false prophets fostered a lively hope that the domination of Nebuchadnezzar would not last long, and that the return of the exiles to their fatherland would soon come about. The spirit of discontent thus excited must have exercised an injurious influence on the fortunes of the captives, and could not fail to frustrate the aim which the chastisement inflicted by God was designed to work out, namely, the moral advancement of the people. Therefore Jeremiah makes use of an opportunity furnished by an embassy sent by King Zedekiah to Babel, to address a letter to the exiles, exhorting them to yield with submission to the lot God had assigned to them. He counsels them to prepare, by establishing their households there, for a long sojourn in Babel, and to seek the welfare of that country as the necessary condition of their own. They must not let themselves be deceived by the false prophets’ idle promises of a speedy return, since God will not bring them back and fulfil His glorious promises till after seventy years have passed (Jer 29:4-14). Then he tells them that sore judgments are yet in store for King Zedekiah and such as have been left in the land (Jer 29:15-20); and declares that some of their false prophets shall perish miserably (Jer 29:21-32).
Heading and Introduction. – The following circular is connected, in point of outward form, with the preceding discourses against the false prophets in Jerusalem by means of the words: “And these are the words of the letter,” etc. The words of the letter, i.e., the main contents of the letter, since it was not transcribed, but given in substance. “Which the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders of the captives, and to the priests and prophets, and to the whole people, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon.” “The residue of the elders,” Hitz. and Graf understand of those elders who were not at the same time priests or prophets. On this Ng. pronounces: “It is impossible that they can be right, for then ‘the residue of the elders of the captivity’ must have stood after the priests and prophets.” And though we hear of elders of the priests, there is no trace in the O.T. of elders of the prophets. Besides, the elders, whenever they are mentioned along with the priests, are universally the elders of the people. Thus must we understand the expression here also. “The residue of the elders” can only be the remaining, i.e., still surviving, elders of the exiles, as is used also in Jer 39:9 for those still in life. But there is no foundation for the assumption by means of which Gr. seeks to support his interpretation, namely, that the place of elders that died was immediately filled by new appointments, so that the council of the elders must always have been regarded as a whole, and could not come to be a residue or remnant. Jeremiah could not possibly have assumed the existence of such an organized governing authority, since in this very letter he exhorts them to set about the establishment of regular system in their affairs. The date given in Jer 29:2: “after that Jechoniah the king, and the sovereign lady, and the courtiers, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the workmen and smiths, were gone away from Jerusalem,” points to the beginning of Zedekiah’s reign, to the first or second year of it. With this the advice given to the captives in the letter harmonizes well, namely, the counsel to build houses, plant gardens, etc.; since this makes it clear that they had not been long there. The despatch of this letter is usually referred to the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign, because in Jer 28:1 this year is specified. But the connection in point of matter between the present chapter and Jer 28 does not necessarily imply their contemporaneousness, although that is perfectly possible; and the fact that, according to Jer 51:59, Zedekiah himself undertook a journey to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign, does not exclude the possibility of an embassy thither in the same year. The going away from Jerusalem is the emigration to Babylon; cf. Jer 24:1, 2Ki 24:15. , the queen-mother, see on Jer 13:18. are the officials of the court; not necessarily eunuchs. Both words are joined to the king, because these stood in closest relations to him. Then follows without copula the second class of emigrants, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, i.e., the heads of the tribes, septs, and families of the nation. The artisans form the third class. This disposes of the objections raised by Mov. and Hitz. against the genuineness of the words “princes of Judah and Jerusalem,” their objections being based on the false assumption that these words were an exposition of “courtiers.” Cf. against this, 2Ki 24:15, where along with the the heads of tribes and families are comprehended under the head of . Jer 29:3. “By the hand” of Elasah is dependent on “sent,” Jer 29:1. The men by whom Jeremiah sent the letter to Babylon are not further known. Shaphan is perhaps the same who is mentioned in Jer 26:24. We have no information as to the aim of the embassy.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Advice to the Captives in Babylon. | B. C. 596. |
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; 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;) 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, 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; 5 Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; 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. 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.
We are here told,
I. That Jeremiah wrote to the captives in Babylon, in the name of the Lord. Jeconiah had surrendered himself a prisoner, with the queen his mother, the chamberlains of his household, called here the eunuchs, and many of the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, who were at that time the most active men; the carpenters and smiths likewise, being demanded, were yielded up, that those who remained might not have any proper hands to fortify their city or furnish themselves with weapons of war. By this tame submission it was hoped that Nebuchadnezzar would be pacified. Satis est prostrasse leoni–It suffices the lion to have laid his antagonist prostrate; but the imperious conqueror grows upon their concessions, like Benhadad upon Ahab’s, 1Ki 20:5; 1Ki 20:6. And, not content with this, when these had departed from Jerusalem he comes again, and fetches away many more of the elders, the priests, the prophets, and the people (v. 1), such as he thought fit, or such as his soldiers could lay hands on, and carries them to Babylon. The case of these captives was very melancholy, the rather because they, being thus distinguished from the rest of their brethren who continued in their own land, looked as if they were greater sinners than all men who dwelt at Jerusalem. Jeremiah therefore writes a letter to them, to comfort them, assuring them that they had no reason either to despair of succour themselves or to envy their brethren that were left behind. Note, 1. The word of God written is as truly given by inspiration of God as his word spoken was; and this was the proper way of spreading the knowledge of God’s will among his children scattered abroad. 2. We may serve God and do good by writing to our friends at a distance pious letters of seasonable comforts and wholesome counsels. Those whom we cannot speak to we may write to; that which is written remains. This letter of Jeremiah’s was sent to the captives in Babylon by the hands of the ambassadors whom king Zedekiah sent to Nebuchadnezzar, probably to pay him his tribute and renew his submission to him, or to treat of peace with him, in which treaty the captives might perhaps hope that they should be included, v. 3. By such messengers Jeremiah chose to send this message, to put an honour upon it, because it was a message from God, or perhaps because there was no settled way of sending letters to Babylon, but as such an occasion as this offered, and then it made the condition of the captives there the more melancholy, that they could rarely hear from their friends and relations they had left behind, which is some reviving and satisfaction to those that are separated from one another.
II. We are here told what he wrote. A copy of the letter at large follows here to v. 24. In these verses,
1. He assures them that he wrote in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who indited the letter; Jeremiah was but the scribe or amanuensis. It would be comfortable to them, in their captivity, to hear that God is the Lord of hosts, of all hosts, and is therefore able to help and deliver them; and that he is the God of Israel still, a God in covenant with his people, though he contend with them, and their enemies for the present are too hard for them. This would likewise be an admonition to them to stand upon their guard against all temptations to the idolatry of Babylon, because the God of Israel, the God whom they served, is Lord of hosts. God’s sending to them in this letter might be an encouragement to them in their captivity, as it was an evidence that he had not cast them off, had not abandoned them and disinherited them, though he was displeased with them and corrected them; for, if the Lord had been pleased to kill them, he would not have written to them.
2. God by him owns the hand he had in their captivity: I have caused you to be carried away, v. 4 and again, . All the force of the king of Babylon could not have done it if God had not ordered it; nor could he have any power against them but what was given him from above. If God caused them to be carried captives, they might be sure that he neither did them any wrong nor meant them any hurt. Note, It will help very much to reconcile us to our troubles, and to make us patient under them, to consider that they are what God has appointed us to. I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it.
3. He bids them think of nothing but settling there; and therefore let them resolve to make the best of it (Jer 29:7; Jer 29:6): Build yourselves houses and dwell in them, c. By all this it is intimated to them, (1.) That they must not feed themselves with hopes of a speedy return out of their captivity, for that would keep them still unsettled and consequently uneasy they would apply themselves to no business, take no comfort, but be always tiring themselves and provoking their conquerors with the expectations of relief; and their disappointment at last would sink them into despair and make their condition much more miserable than otherwise it would be. Let them therefore reckon upon a continuance there, and accommodate themselves to it as well as they can. Let them build, and plant, and marry, and dispose of their children there as if they were at home in their own land. Let them take a pleasure in seeing their families built up and multiplied; for, though they must expect themselves to die in captivity, yet their children may live to see better days. If they live in the fear of God, what should hinder them but they may live comfortably in Babylon? They cannot but weep sometimes when they remember Zion. But let not weeping hinder sowing; let them not sorrow as those that have no hope, no joy; for they have both. Note, In all conditions of life it is our wisdom and duty to make the best of that which is, and not to throw away the comfort of what we may have because we have not all we would have. We have a natural affection for our native country; it strangely draws our minds; but it is with a nescio qua dulcedine–we can give no good account of the sweet attraction; and therefore, if providence remove us to some other country, we must resolve to live easy there, to bring our mind to our condition when our condition is not in every thing to our mind. If the earth be the Lord’s, then, wherever a child of God goes, he does not go off his Father’s ground. Patria est ubicunque bene est–That place is our country in which we are well off. If things be not as they have been, instead of fretting at that, we must live in hopes that they will be better than they are. Non si male nunc, et olim sic erit–Though we suffer now we shall not always. (2.) That they must not disquiet themselves with fears of intolerable hardships in their captivity. They might be ready to suggest (as persons in trouble are always apt to make the worst of things) that it would be in vain to build houses, for their lords and masters would not suffer them to dwell in them when they had built them, nor to eat the fruit of the vineyards they planted. “Never fear,” says God; “if you live peaceably with them, you shall find them civil to you.” Meek and quiet people, that work and mind their own business, have often found much better treatment, even with strangers and enemies, than they expected; and God has made his people to be pitied of those that carry them captives (Ps. cvi. 46), and a pity it is but that those who have built houses should dwell in them. Nay,
4. He directs them to seek the good of the country where they were captives (v. 7), to pray for it, to endeavour to promote it. This forbids them to attempt any thing against the public peace while they were subjects to the king of Babylon. Though he was a heathen, an idolater, an oppressor, and an enemy to God and his church, yet, while he gave them protection, they must pay him allegiance, and live quiet and peaceable lives under him, in all godliness and honesty, not plotting to shake off his yoke, but patiently leaving it to God in due time to work deliverance for them. Nay, they must pray to God for the peace of the places where they were, that they might oblige them to continue their kindness to them and disprove the character that had been given their nation, that they were hurtful to kings and provinces, and moved sedition, Ezra iv. 15. Both the wisdom of the serpent and the innocency of the dove required them to be true to the government they lived under: For in the peace thereof you shall have peace; should the country be embroiled in war, they would have the greatest share in the calamitous effects of it. Thus the primitive Christians, according to the temper of their holy religion, prayed for the powers that were, though they were persecuting powers. And, if they were to pray for and seek the peace of the land of their captivity, much more reason have we to pray for the welfare of the land of our nativity, where we are a free people under a good government, that in the peace thereof we and ours may have peace. Every passenger is concerned in the safety of the ship.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
JEREMIAH – CHAPTER 29
JEREMIAH’S MESSAGE TO THE EXILES OF BABYLON
Vs. 1-14: A WARNING AGAINST FALSE PROPHETS
1. The setting for this chapter is Jerusalem, in the days of Zedekiah, (vs.1-3).
a. Here is a rare biblical example of the correspondence that flowed between nations in ancient times – even when one nation was a subject-nation to the other.
b. Upon the fall of Jeconiah’s regime in Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive, not only the king and queen mother, but more than three thousand other persons, to Babylon -princes, priests, prophets, craftsmen, smiths, etc., (Jer 52:28).
c. Word has come to Jeremiah that some of the pseudoprophets among the captives, like Hananiah in Jerusalem, were predicting the speedy collapse of the Babylonian Empire, and were promising that the exiles could soon return to their own homes.
d. Deeply concerned for his exiled brethren, Jeremiah was moved to warn them against such self-delusion by means of this letter which was delivered by Elasah and Gemariah. .
1) Elasah, son of Shaphan (vs. 3) appears to have been a brother of Ahikam, whose influence was a blessing to Jeremiah (Jer 26:24), and a grandson of Josiah’s scribe, (2Ki 22:8).
2) Gemariah was evidently the son of Hilkiah, the high priest, (2Ki 22:4), rather than being the brother of Jeremiah, whose father was also named Hilkiah (Jer 1:1).
3) The delivery of Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles was merely “incidental” – the trip being planned to transact some business between Zedekiah and Nebuchadnezzar.
2. Since the Lord their God has caused them to be taken captive to Babylon, their best policy will be to accept His wise, providential and sovereign direction over the lives, and be content with it, (vs. 5-6).
a. They may as well plan to settle themselves there and live as normally as possible – building houses and planting gardens for their own use, (vs. 5, 10, 28).
b. Family life is to proceed along normal lines: marriage, reproduction and the strengthening of their numbers is a part of God’s plan for their lives, (vs. 6; contr. Jer 16:2-4).
3. Furthermore, they were to seek the welfare of the city to which they were exiled (comp. Dan 4:27; Dan 6:4-5) – even praying to Jehovah for its peace -the only instance in the Old Testament where a prophet commands the people of God to pray for a pagan city! (vs. 7; comp. Ezr 6:10; Ezr 7:23; Dan 4:19; 1Ti 2:1-2).
a. How strange the advice of this man, Jeremiah, to the thinking of the Jewish mind!
1) They seemed to think that Jehovah could not hear a prayer outside the covenant land.
2) Yet, the voice that spoke through Jeremiah was, obviously, the voice of Jehovah.
3) And He would not be pleased with such miserable selfpity as was later expressed in Psa 137:3-4.
b. In the peace of Babylon the exiles would find their own peace; Jehovah had not abandoned them; He still watched for their best interest!
4. They must not be deceived by the prophets, diviners and dreamers who are telling them what they want to hear, (comp. Jer 27:9; Jer 14:14; Jer 23:25; Jer 23:27); they are not telling the truth, (Jer 27:15); Jehovah has not sent them! (vs. 8-9, 31).
5. Then they are told exactly how long Babylon will be master over them (70 years) – after which the Lord will visit them and permit their return to Jerusalem, (vs. 10-11).
a. He has already declared His intention to bless the exiles, (Jer 24:6-7).
b. His good word toward them will certainly be fulfilled, (vs. 10b; Zep 2:7).
c. His thoughts toward them are good though(s of peace, not of hurt – to give them a future, and hope! (vs. 11; Jer 23:5-6; Jer 30:9-10; Jer 18:22; Psa 40:5; Isa 40:9-11; Jer 31:17; Hos 2:14-15).
6. Jehovah has NOT abandoned the exiles; here is a fresh opportunity for them to know the blessedness of His nearness! (vs. 12-14).
a. If they will call upon Him, He promises to hear, (vs. 12; Jer 33:3; Psa 50:15; Psa 145:18-19).
b. If they will seek Him with all their hearts, they will surely find Him gracious, (vs. 13; Jer 24:7; comp. Deu 4:29; 1Ch 22:19).
7. At the appointed time He will bring an end to their captivity -returning them, and their brethren which are scattered among all nations -to their homeland in peace, (vs. 14; Jer 30:3; Jer 32:37-41; Isa 43:5-6).
a. The return under Cyrus was only a PARTIAL fulfillment of this prophecy.
b. The ultimate blessing awaits the return of Messiah Whom the nations rejected at His first coming.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Here the Prophet begins a new discourse, even that he not only cried out constantly at Jerusalem, that the Jews who still remained there should repent, but that he also mitigated the grief of the exiles, and exhorted them to entertain the hope of returning, provided they patiently endured the chastisement allotted to them. The design of the Prophet was at the same time twofold; for he not only intended to mitigate by comfort the sorrow of the exiles, but designed also to break down the obstinacy of his own nation, so that they who still remained at Jerusalem and in Judea might know that nothing would be better for them than to join themselves to their other brethren. The Jews, as it has already appeared, and as we shall hereafter in many places see, had set their minds on an unreasonable deliverance; God had fixed on seventy years, but they wished immediately to break through and extricate themselves from the yoke laid on them. Hence Jeremiah, in writing to the captives and exiles, intended to accommodate what he said to the Jews who still remained at Jerusalem, and who thought their case very fortunate, because they were not driven away with their king and the rest of the multitude. But at the same time his object was to benefit also the miserable exiles, who might have been overwhelmed with despair, had not their grief been in some measure mitigated. The Prophet, as we shall see, bids them to look forward to the end of their captivity, and in the meantime exhorts them to patience, and desires them to be quiet and peaceable, and not to raise tumults, until the hand of God was put forth for their deliverance.
he says that he wrote a book (201) to the remaining elders; (202) for many of that age had died; as nature requires, the old who approach near the goal of life, die first, he then says that he wrote to them who still remained alive. We hence conclude that his prophecy was designed for them all; and yet he afterwards says, “Take wives and propagate;” but this, as we shall see, is to be confined to those who were at that time in a fit age for marriage. He did not however wish to exclude the aged from the comfort of which God designed them to be partakers, and that by knowing that there would be a happy end to their captivity, provided they retained resignation of mind and patiently bore the punishment of God justly due to them for having so often and in such various ways provoked him. Then he adds, the priests, and the prophets, and then the whole people. (203)
But we must notice that he not only exhorts the people to patience, but also the priests and the prophets. And though, as we shall hereafter see, there were among them impostors, who falsely boasted that they were prophets, (204) it is yet probable that they are also included here who were endued with God’s Spirit, either because the spirit was languid in them, or because God did not always grant to them the knowledge of everything. It might then be that the prophets, to whom God had not made known this, or whose minds were oppressed with evils, were to be taught.
As to the priests, we hence conclude that they had from the beginning neglected their office, for they would have been God’s prophets, had they faithfully performed their sacerdotal office; and it was, as it were, an extraordinary thing when God chose other prophets, and not without reproach to the priests; for they must have become degenerated and idle or deceptive, when they gloried in the name alone, when they were destitute of the truth. This then was the reason why they were to be taught in common with the people. It now follows, —
(201) So it is rendered by the Sept., Vulg., and Targ.; but “epistle,” or letter, by the Syr. The word properly means a narrative; but as that is included in a book or in a letter, it is often used for both. It is rendered “book” in our version in Exo 24:7; and “letter” in 2Sa 11:14. — Ed.
(202) Rather, “old men;” literally it is, “to the remainder of the aged of the transmigration.” Age, and not authority, seems to be intended, though Grotins thinks they were the members of the Sanhedrim. The word commonly rendered “captivity,” and when a verb, “to lead captive,” means properly to be removed, to migrate, and transitively, to remove, to carry away, to transfer, to translate. The idea of captivity is not included in it, though sometimes implied. — Ed.
(203) Here in the original ends the preceding Lecture; but as this chapter has no connection with the foregoing, the prayer which occurs here has been removed to the end of the last chapter. — Ed.
(204) The Targ. has “scribes;” the Sept. and Syr., “false prophets;” and the Vulg., “prophets.” They were probably teachers, and not those higher prophets who were favored with visions, and sent forth by God to deliver special messages. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE RIGHT ATTITUDE TOWARD ADVERSITY
Jer 28:1 to Jer 29:32
THE profession of the ministry involves the consideration and treatment of most important subjects. There are occasions, however, when he feels the weight of his profession and knows that the crisis hour is on and yearns to so deliver his soul as to stir, inspire and instruct those who hear him.
Three such occasions have influenced pulpit-custom throughout the length and breadth of Christendom: Christmas Sunday, Easter Sunday, and Thanksgiving Thursday make heavy drafts upon the ministers mind and spirit; yea, even upon his body. The Virgin Birth of Christ and His Resurrection from the grave are the focii of His Deity. To fix positively these points is to make certain the circle of Christian truth.
But there are other occasions when the call of the Master demands not only ones best thought, one highest endeavor, but also the selection and treatment of such Scriptures as shall stir and profit the people who have elected to wait upon that particular pulpit.
Thanksgiving is such an hour as this, because it brings an opportunity to realize the goodness of God, and an obligation to put that realization into the form of praise.
The members of this congregation will doubtless admit that the pastor has attempted to make those first Sundays in March, that mark the accumulating anniversaries of our relation as Pastor and people, the occasion of deeply felt and far-reaching influence.
The Sunday also that inaugurates the New Year is not to be meanly thought of, nor superficially employed! A year is a considerable section of a human life. If we successfully run the gauntlet of youthful diseases and dangers, we are still supposed to have assurance of only about seventy of them, and are the subjects of congratulation and of increasing pride if we pass far beyond eighty.
It is little wonder, therefore, that Moses should have prayed, So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom; for the man or woman who numbers the days will value the year.
I speak, therefore, this morning not with a view to mere immediate results, but with an eye upon the year 1932; and I bring a subject that is particularly opportune.
There have been few periods in American history when the consideration of this theme,
The Right Attitude Toward Adversity was more pertinent than now.
We are not only passing through what men call a time of financial depression, but the world itself is being chilled to its marrow by the cold waters of adversity that come not alone in shortage of cash receipts, but also appear in those far more dangerous features of social confusion, increasing crime, general lawlessness, and moral atrophy.
The consequence is that the biggest and most burning question of the day is this, What does the future hold for us? And yet, while that question looms, it is in no sense new; it is as old as the ages, and was the exact question that gave rise to the inspired history found in these two chapters, Jeremiah 28, 29.
With some painstaking, therefore, let us look diligently into them to discover, if possible, the way through the darkness, the way into light.
In seeking to extract the secrets of these two chapters I shall employ three key phrases: The Speech of the Uninspired; The Response of the Inspired; and The Uses of Adversity.
THE SPEECH OF THE UNINSPIRED
Bible study demands that those who engage in it be broad awake. The sleepy student may easily mistake its meaning. For instance, we are told here that It came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah that Hananiah, the son of Azur the Prophet, spake, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, saying, etc.
Immediately the intelligent student senses a deception. Hananiah is not a prophet of God; he is a false prophet instead. All the features of the false prophet are found in him.
First of all, he professes to speak as from God.
Thus speaketh the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, saying.
You will search in vain to find any Divine commission for this man, or any Divine communication to him.
On more than one occasion Jesus warned against the false prophet; and He gave us criterions by which to measure them. The false prophet has characterized every century. He lived in Moses day, and to some degree duplicated, in appearance at least, the marvelous works that God wrought at Moses hand.
He lived in Daniels day and performed the function of a spirit medium, professing especially to be expert in interpreting dreams and fortune telling. He lived in Jeremiahs day. The Lord said to Jeremiah, The prophets * * prophesy falsely in My Name; I have not sent them.
The twentieth century has its full quota of the same; men who are in the ministry, but admit that they entered it at the option of their own judgment; men who deny the great essentials of the Christian faith,repudiating the Virgin Birth, the Miracle Working, the voluntary and sacrificial Death of Christ, His Conquest against the grave, and His Ascension to the right hand of the Father. And yet, like Hananiah, they claim to know and declare the will and Word of God. It is a wretched affrontery; it is a bold defiance of God to His face; it is only a flaunting of a personal opinion, and the attempt to add weight to the same by attributing their words to the Divine One.
In the next place he presents a very pleasing prospect. I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. If there is one mark of the false prophet that is more unmistakable than another, it is his eternal custom of telling people palatable things.
What good newsthe yoke of Babylon broken! What pleasing prospecttwo years and every Israelite back in his own land! That was indeed a winsome proclamation! We can imagine the huzzahs of the croud! We can readily understand that Hananiah would be in uniform demand as an after-dinner speaker. Every commercial club in town would invite him, and the leading politicians would send him word to come and sit in, and counsel with them, and the throngs would seek the place of his public appearances.
We have had a man in Minneapolis who, in recent years, has been telling the people who attend upon his ministry that humanity was God, and multitudes of them accepted the announcement with joy, pleased with the oratory with which the deception was phrased. It is one evidence of our fall that we so delight in flattery, one proof of our degradation that we hail, with pleasure, the ideas that cater to the flesh.
A few years ago a popular pastor in a supposedly evangelical pulpit, concluding the same for a professorship in a Chicago Theological Seminary, gave as his parting counsel to the congregation that had already too long followed his pulpit advices this:
I have not pled with you to believe in God; I have not asked you to bring your sins to be forgiven, primarily. I have not asked you to believe in the reality of the spiritual world; I have asked you to believe in yourselves, in the divinity of man, in the greatness of the human soul. Those who can see the infinite reach of themselves can see God; can assure themselves that the spiritual world is open to them. Men are what they are because of the fatal disbelief in their own divinity!
What a subtle appeal to human pride!
And yet one would search every true Prophet of the Old Testament in vain for such a sentiment; but the moment he quit the true Prophets, and gave audience to those of the Hananiah sort, he would detect a kindred note. In fact, he would be listening to the same satanic lullaby intended by the prophet himself to please the people, and employed by the adversary to induce in them sound sleep.
But still further, This prophet voiced a most politic appeal.
I will bring again to this place, Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah (Jer 28:4).
Jeconiah had been a popular king, but had gone as a captive into Babylonian slavery. It would be difficult to imagine any announcement that would be hailed with more pleasure. The Jewish people would prize the lips that uttered it and suppose that, in the man who promised it, they had found the benefactor of their race.
But what is more cruel than to excite expectations that can never be realized, and to build up hopes that hard history must dash to the ground?
THE RESPONSE OF THE INSPIRED
Then the Prophet Jeremiah said.
This is Gods man; we will do well to hear now! Mark you, he is speaking, first of all, to the self-appointed prophet Hananiah, and doing it in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of ah the people that stood in the House of the Lord. And this is what he said,
Amen: the Lord do so: the Lord perform thy words which thou hast prophesied, to bring again the vessels of the Lords House, and all that is carried away captive, from Babylon into this place.
Nevertheless hear thou now this Word that I speak in thine ears, and in the ears of all the people;
The Prophets that have been before me and before thee of old prophesied both against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence.
That is the province of the true Prophet! How glad he would be if the pleasing thing could come to pass; how glad he would be for Gods people if they were to be immediately recipients of the Divine favor; how glad he would be if Gods man would, within a few weeks, come back to the throne.
At this point the true Prophet is often misunderstood! Gods man has to affirm evil whether he desires it or not; if it be Gods Word, even though it be to make himself unpopular with the people.
No man ever lived who loved as Christ loved; no man ever lived who loathed disease as Christ loathed it. He saw in it the very devils work and declared of its every feature that it was the product of demonism. No man ever lived who desired for the people good as Christ desired it for them. When He saw them hungry He created fish and bread. When He saw them cold He begged His own brethren not to keep two coats, but to pass on one to their needy fellows.
And yet Christ was the very Man who, because He was Gods Prophet and could not lie, had to say to His own beloved people, Ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: * * nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to he afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for thy Names sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
How pathetic! Every word of it burned His lips; every thought of it bled His heart, and He, as Gods Prophet, and in the interest of the men that He loved and the women for whom He was ready to lay down His life, He must tell the truth and speak no lie.
What Hananiah had said, Jeremiah desired more than Hananiah a thousandfold, and that is why Jeremiah responded, Amen: the Lord do so.
But, knowing as Jeremiah did know, that the false prophet had made a political appeal, he dared a very sensible suggestion, namely this,
Time will distinguish the false from the true. Wait and see, was his counsel; if the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the Lord has truly sent him.
Time is necessarily a Divine test of prophecy; and time is also the eternal saviour of truth and the victorious enemy of falsehood.
We are told that Michael Angelo was passing around one day through the studio criticizing the work of his young artists and seeking thereby to correct their faults and perfect their technique. He came upon a work that one of them had just finished and that had been created for a committee who proposed to place the same in the public square. Upon inspection Angelo found it had grave defects. He pointed them out to his young friend, but the exultant artist resented the criticism, and even charged his master with envy, imagining the perfection of his art had excited jealousy in the great soul.
Angelo, listening until he had finished, quietly remarked, Very well; the light of the public square will test it.
How true! The light of the public squareevery prophets word is to be tested by that Light, and as time moves on if it be true, it will be found that prophecy was the mould of history and the people will accept him as true; but if it be discovered that he cried Peace, peace; when there is no peace that he promised prosperity when adversity was at hand, and declared God well-pleased with the people when their sins demanded His righteous wrath, time will tell. Time will show who has stood for and with the truth; time will vindicate truths advocates; time will uncover the falsehood; time will establish the truth.
People have a custom of saying that error can run the world around while truth is getting on her boots. But it is a certainty that when truth gets them on, she will take the straight path and finally arrive.
The true Prophet declared the coming of darker days. Hananiah spake saying, I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years.
The Lord put it into Jeremiahs lips to respond:
Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord: Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron.
For thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel; I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him (Jer 28:13-14).
The Prophet who plainly declares the Divine procedure is not necessarily a Prophet of evil. There are conditions under which people are better for an iron yoke upon their necks than with no yoke at all, even as the tamed ox, accustomed to bear the yoke daily, becomes thereby a far better servant of his owner than is the unbroken steer who ranges the forests at will, or feeds on pastures green.
The truth is that the dark days are commonly the best days. A few years ago many men multiplied fortunes. They forgot their ill-favored fellows; they despised the principle of fraternal obligation; they passed by the sick, wounded and impoverished, with averted face. Their eyes were upon one thing only, and that was the ever-rising heap of gold. They builded them mansions; they hired them servants; they invested thousands in magnificent cars and beautiful yachts, in summer cabins and winter havens. And in it all they forgot God and when the crash is on, it comes about as in a letter of yesterday, saying of a personal friend, wife of one of these, She is leaving her mansion for a humble home. Through the systematic robbery of a banker, her husband has lost three millions of dollars, and it looks as though the family would be reduced to poverty.
Doubtless to them that seems like the very sentence of doom. But who knows but it may be the beginning of the best days of their human history; and if it bring him to regard God, to sympathize with his fellows, and to serve his Lord, it will be. Christ once said, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.
Some day all doubt and mystery will be made clear:The threatening clouds which now we see will disappear, Some day what seems a punishment, or loss, or pain,Will prove to be Gods blessing sent for very gainSome day our weary feet will rest in sweet content,And we will know how we are blest by what was sent,And looking back with clearer eyes oer lifes short span, Will see with wondering, glad surprise Gods perfect plan, And knowing that the way we went was Gods own way, Will understand His wise intent.
This leads up, then, to the climax of this study:
THE USES OF ADVERSITY
We doubt if a sounder philosophy has ever been spoken by the lips of man than Jeremiah here uttered.
His speech involves three suggestions:
Make the most of a bad matter!
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;
Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;
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 (Jer 29:4-6).
Mark you, God is here speaking to His own people! He does not tell them to create a rebellion, to kill the king of Babylon, to crush Babylonish sovereignty, and to strike for freedom. On the other hand, He says, You are in for it; your sins necessitate your condition; now make the most of it!
The best way in the world for a slave to be free is to make himself so useful that his master will appreciate him and show him constant favors.
Build; plan; make the most of the present situation. It is sound counsel. My contention is that you cannot enslave a serviceable man; you cannot crush a creator; you cannot bemean the man of God.
You can sell Joseph into Egypt; you can send Joseph into prison; you can temporarily discredit his good name; but you cannot keep Joseph down; his very honor will vindicate itself; his ability will be in demand, and his slavery will eventuate in sovereignty.
When people, therefore, come to me with their complaints that they have never had an opportunity; they have never been appreciated; their abilities have never been recognized, I know full well where the evil lies. It is not with Babylon, bad as its slave-making and slave-holding principle is; it is with sinful Israel instead. It is not with society; it is with the indigent or incompetent individual.
We are told that water will rise to its level; and we know that if there be any considerable pressure of it, it will even tear its way through mountains in order to illustrate that principle of its existence. It is largely so with men. Give me a man who can make the most of a bad matter, and I will show you one who, when opportunities of good come, will amaze his fellows and amass a fortune.
Oliver Cromwell said, I bless God I have been enured to difficulties, and I never found God failing when I trusted in Him.
Newspapers are full of predictions of business improvement. They blaze with the promises of brighter days. In the language of Jeremiah we say Amen: the Lord do so. But whether Hananiahs predictions prove true, or the Jeremiah announcement of yet darker days to come should be demonstrated by time, this principle certainly is of the Lord, make the most of the situation!
To me at least, one of the greatest poems ever penned is James Russell Lowells, The Present Crisis. There is not a verse of it but, at sometime, fits the human situation, and Lowell said:
Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide In the strife of Truth with Falsehood, for the good or evil side;Some great cause, Gods new Messiah, offering each the bloom or blight,Parts the goats upon the left hand, and the sheep upon the right,And the choice goes by forever twixt that darkness and that light.
Then to side with Truth is noble when we share her wretched crust,Ere her cause bring fame and profit, and tis prosperous to be just;Then it is the brave man chooses, while the coward stands asideDoubting in his abject spirit, till his Lord is crucified And the multitude make virtue of the faith they had denied.
Be assured you build with and for your brethren.
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.
There are some men who always want to change location. If they are in Minneapolis they would like to get into Chicago; if, in Chicago, they want to go to New York; if in New York, Seattle looks attractive; when once there, Los Angeles excites their longing.
Such men have an idea that by searching they will finally find a satisfactory town. In my judgment, this text tells us exactly how to discover such. Help to create it, accept the city of which you are a resident, and seek its peace, and pray to the Lord for it, for in its prosperity and in its peace you shall find your own.
Many years ago when New York was a miserable burg on Manhattan Island, a few Episcopalian men got together and organized Trinity Church. They selected for it a central and extensive site. They were doubtless regarded as benefactors of the village, and even, when their first modest buildings arose, as contributors to the possible future town. And such they were indeed!
But, all unintentionally, while they were building for the burg, they were building for themselves, and their successors an unthinkable fortune; for in New Yorks prosperity Trinity prospered until it became the wealthiest corporation in the world.
Those of us who belong to this generation have made sacrifices to create, at the center of this city, one of the most sightly and capacious of sanctuaries and educational plants known to America. Our task has not been a light one. In fact, it has lain, for lo nigh twenty years since first we began to acquire property in its interest, heavily upon the hearts and purses of those who have been most profoundly interested.
When we come up to such a day as is this; when $15,000 more is demanded to meet our contract with money-lenders, we may wince under the weight of it, and even in the language of the martyrs of Revelation, cry, How long, O Lord! but the enheartening thought remains, and should ever be our adequate inspiration, that in building for this city such a center of Gospel preaching, and such schools for training the youth, we are contributing not alone to beautiful Minneapolis, and there our contribution is great; but we are also honoring and blessing ourselves, and providing for the future of our children and our successors in church-membership and educational work, benedictions beyond all the silver that her citizens carry in bags, and all the gold that her few dominating banks hold in their vaults.
There are some of us whose hair has silvered while we wrought that these great buildings might be realized; some, whose shoulders have bent under the load; but I am sure that such are not complaining, and I am assured that certain of them feel concerning this whole enterprise as the unknown author expressed:
An old man going a lonely way,Came at the evening, cold and gray,To a chasm, vast and deep and wide.The old man crossed in the twilight dim;The sullen stream held no fears for him;But when he was safe on the other side,He builded a bridge to span the tide.
Old man, said a fellow-pilgrim near,You are wasting your time while building here.You never again will pass this way:Your journey is done at the close of day.You have safely crossed to the other side;Why build you a bridge at eventide.
The builder lifted his old gray head;Good friend, in the way Ive come, he said,There followeth after me today A youth whose feet must pass this way.This stream, which has been as nought to me,To the fair-haired youth might a pitfall be,He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;And so I am building the bridge for him.
The last thing that Jeremiah sets before us is this thought: Trust God for the coming days!
For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years he accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform My good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
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.
Then shall ye call upon Me, and ye shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you.
And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall Search for Me with all your heart.
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 (Jer 29:10-14).
In looking back over the years I have a comfortable certainty of mind, that not one leading man of those who have made up the burden-bearers in the First Baptist Church ever undertook the task of these great buildings without a proper appreciation of its weight. You knew that we were putting our shoulders under no light load; you expected from the first that many of us would stagger before the task was finished, and you perfectly knew that some would fall, not to rise again; and others would desert their places, releasing their own shoulders at the expense of the bruised and bleeding ones of their brethren. But with all of that, full before us, we dared to undertake, and at the end of two decades of endeavor and seven years of the heaviest lifting, we are not tempted, even, to give up the task, and only the ignoble regret the endeavor.
With our eyes lifted aloft we still trust and toil on, knowing full well that in our Heavenly Father we have a never-failing source of strength.
W. Robertson Nichol, in one of his dissertations, tells us that the truest men work, not for reward, and scarcely straighten their backs from toil to admire the products of their endeavor; but press on, motived only by the will and desire of serving God; and then he says, Such lives must draw, not from the shallow streams of life, but from the deep fountains that flow out of the throne.
Some of my brethren have said that we would not meet the $15,000 due against these buildings the coming week. If we do not, somebody will be to blame! How appropriate now the question, Lord, is it I?
Instead of thinking so much upon our inability, and attempting to excuse our failure on that ground, would it not be better to get the view that the canny Scotch servant finally secured?
For this story Campbell Morgan is my authority: Some years ago, in Scotland, a Scotch lord gave to his old servant Donald, a little farm. He called him in one day and said:
Donald, I am going to give you that farm, that you may work it for yourself, and spend the rest of your days there upon your own property.
Donald, with all the canniness that characterises a Scotchman, looked up into the face of his lord, and said to him:
It is nae gude to gie me the farm; I have nae capital to stock it.
His lordship looked at him, and said: Oh, Donald, I think I can manage to stock it also.
And Donald said: Oh, well; if it is you and me for it, I think we will manage!
God with us all things are possible.
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES.1. Chronology of the Chapter.This letter and its transmission are usually dated the fourth year of Zedekiahs reign (because of chap. Jer. 28:1), but Jer. 29:2 of this chapter rather points to a somewhat earlier date, possibly the first or second year of Zedekiah; for Zedekiah himself had to go in his fourth year (chap. Jer. 51:59), and it is probable therefore that this embassy was a year or two earlier.
2. Contemporary Scriptures.2Ch. 36:14-21; Eze. 17:11-21.
3. National Affairs.An embassy sent from Zedekiah to the king of Babylon. Its object unknown; but not unlikely to carry the tribute he was under bond to pay Nebuchadnezzar (2Ch. 36:13), and possibly to delude him by renewed pledges of obedience when he was conspiring, with the kings of other nations, to rebel against him (chap. Jer. 27:3).
4. Contemporaneous History.See notes on chap. 21.
5. Personal Allusions.Jer. 29:3. Elasah. Most probably brother of Ahikam (see note chap. Jer. 26:24), and would consequently be favourably received at the Chaldean court. Jer. 29:4. Gemariah the son of Hilkiah. Hilkiah was the priest who found the law in the house of the Lord and showed it to Shaphan the scribe, who showed it to Josiah the king (2Ki. 22:8). Different person from the Gemariah of Jer. 36:25. Jer. 29:21. Ahab, son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah, son of Maaseiah. Two false prophets who traded upon the wishes and credulity of the Babylonian captives, provoking them to revolt against Nebuchadnezzar, and were therefore cast into the burning fiery furnace (comp. Dan. 3:6). Jer. 29:24. Shemaiah the Nehelamite. This Shemaiah would seem to have been the leader of these false prophets at Babylon, for he wrote the letter in their name against Jeremiah. Jer. 29:25. Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah (see on Jer. 21:1). He was the second priest, the pakd, deputy in the stead of Jehoiada the priest (Jer. 29:26), and in this office he controlled the civil force which guarded the Temple. Jer. 29:26, Jehoiada the priest. Supposed by some to be the same conspicuous and influential Jehoiada of king Joasha reign (2Ki. 11:15; 2Ch. 23:16); but as both Jehoiada and Zephaniah are in this verse called officers in the house of the Lord, i.e., pakds, deputy high-priests, the supposition fails.
6. Geographical References.Jer. 29:24. The Nehelamite, i.e., belonging to the village of Nehlam. A place of similar name existed somewhere between the Jordan and the Euphrates (comp. 2Sa. 10:16-17); called there the Helam or Chelam, and here Ne-chelam.
7. Literary Criticisms.Jer. 29:2. The queen. Nehushta, the queen-mother (comp. Jer. 13:18). Jer. 29:11. An expected end. , lit., last, i.e., issue or futurea future and a hope. Jer. 29:12. Ye shall go and pray unto Me. Probably a Hebrew idiom for repeated and frequent prayer (Michaelis); but better, going to the place of prayer. Jer. 29:17. Like vile figs. The adjective comes from to shudder. Jer. 29:18. Deliver them to be removed: vide note on chap. Jer. 15:4, p. 314. Though a different word from vile, shuddering, there is a play on the sense of that word in the word rendered removed (Jer. 29:18), make them a shuddering. Jer. 29:22. A curse, . Another ringing on the form of words. This curse, kelalah, should be associated with the conduct of the son of Kolaiah (Jer. 29:21), , whom Nebuchadnezzar roasted , kalam, in the fire. Jer. 29:24. Nehelamite: in margin, dreamer; but this is an error, for the word (vide Geographical Reference above) is a name of a place, though it closely resembles the word Chalam, dreamer, which Jeremiah so often uses (see Jer. 29:8).
HOMILIES AND OUTLINES ON CHAPTER 29
A REVOLUTIONARY EPOCH
Zedekiahs was certainly an uneasy throne. At home the people were restless, the priests and princes eager to revolt. And in Babylon (to whose monarch he was tributary, and whither the flower of the Jewish nation had already been carried) the Chaldees were probably irritated, as the Romans were in later times, at the determination of the Jews never to submit quietly to a foreign rule; while, also, there was the same ferment among the Jews in Babylon as there was among those in Jerusalem. To quell this ferment among the exiles, he sent letters assuring them that the captivity would continue for seventy years, and urging them to settle down calmly and wisely, to make themselves homes, and give themselves to industry and commerce. His words found acceptance there, but the false prophets in Jerusalem did their utmost to thwart Jeremiahs aim, and to stir among the exiles resistance to his influence.
Jer. 29:1. Theme: MESSAGES TO EXILES. Now these are the words of the letter Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders which were carried away captives.
This was a letter from Jeremiah to the captives and exiles, far from Jerusalem their happy home. They were then what we are now, strangers and pilgrimsexiles; and the directions given to them may be fitly applied by us. The captives would find very real consolations in this letter from the prophet whom God inspired to write it.
I. The very fact that a message was sent to them under an express Divine appointment was consolatory. And this may teach us that, wherever Gods children are scattered, the written word is to them a source of permanent encouragement.
God looks after His afflicted and scattered servants. He moved the Apostles James and Peter to write Epistles to the twelve tribes scattered abroad. John, when banished from Ephesus to Patmos, was favoured with high revelations from God. During the seventy years captivity, Daniel was raised up to be a living consolation to the exiles; and here Jeremiah is directed to write a letter to them by express command of God. This proves to us that in the severest ways of justice God does not forget His own children, but has in reserve ample consolations for them, when they lie under the common judgment.
A man would have thought that these were driven away from Gods care when they were driven out from the sanctuary, but Ezekiel tells a different tale (Eze. 11:16): I will be a little sanctuary in all countries whither they come. They at Jerusalem, it seems, had the Temple, but without God; they at Babylon shall have God, but without the Temple. He applies seasonable comforts under discouraging providences, and is bent upon making up His jewels though they seem scattered and lost. God gives a command to Moab: Let Mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab.
II. The particular Providence of God, appearing on their behalf under all their calamities, was a source of consolation.
He is the Lord of Hosts, of all the armies above and below, and yet is the God of Israel; and though He permits their captivity, He does not break His relation to themtheir covenant God still, though under a cloud.
He assumes the active agency in their dispersion. I have caused them to be carried away. Their sins were the procuring cause of their dispersion; Nebuchadnezzar was the instrumental cause, but God Himself was the efficient and disposing cause. Is there evil in the city and I have not done it? He asserts the strictness of His justice, visiting the sins of His own people upon them. Certainly it must be a great sin which induees a loving father to cast his child out of doors. But sin is a great scatterer, and is always followed by a driving away and a casting out. It drove the angels from heaven, Adam from Paradise, Cain from the boundaries of the visible Church, and the children of Israel from their much-loved dwellings in Zion. Your houses will be weary of you when you dishonour God in them, and you may live to be driven from those comforts which you abuse to excess.
Yet the fact of Gods being the agent in their dispersion is referred to as a ground of consolation; since it reconciles us to our troubles to see the hand of God in them, and to trace an all-gracious and merciful design in them. I was dumb because Thou didst it. He that scattered Israel shall gather him.
III. The promise of the stability and security of their social and domestic interests was given. They were promised peace in the peace of Babylon, and were forbidden to plot and intrigue against its political interests. They were not to be known as agitators, or ringleaders of revolt, but as peaceful citizens. And it is a fact that they were treated more like colonists than captives: He made them pitied of those who carried them captive. If they were to pray for the peace of Babylon, much more should we for the welfare of our own country.
The permanence and maintenance of their domestic interests were provided for. Build ye houses and plant gardens; take wives for your sons, that ye may be increased and not diminished. This is just contrary to Gods command to Jeremiah (Jer. 16:3) in Jerusalem, because then the country was on the eve of convulsion, but now they were informed of a long captivity. Had God given the hope of speedy return, their minds would have been unsettled and uneasy; they would have applied to no business, taken no comfort; but they were given to calculate on long absence from home.
Scripture deals honestly by us. It tells us that through much tribulation we enter the kingdom. In every place the Spirit testifies that bonds and imprisonments await us. It tells us where comfort cannot be found, and where our peace is securely laid up: In Me ye shall have peace.
IV. The prospect of a certain and favourable issue to their trials.
Thoughts of peace and not of evil (Jer. 29:11).S. Thodey, A.D. 1834.
Jer. 29:2. JECONIAHS CAPTIVITY. Nebuchadnezzar, in the first half of his reign (B.C. 606562), repeatedly invaded Judea, besieged Jerusalem, carried away the inhabitants to Babylon, and destroyed the city and Temple. Two distinct deportations are mentioned in 2Ki. 24:14 (including 10,000 persons), Jer. 35:11; one in 2Ch. 36:20; three in Jer. 52:28-30 (including 4600 persons); and one in Dan. 1:3. The two principal deportations were
i. That which took place B.C. 598, when Jehoiachim, with all the nobles, soldiers, and artificers were carried away; and
ii. That which followed the destruction of the Temple and the capture of Zedekiah, B.C. 588.Captivities of the Jews (Dr. Smith).
Jer. 29:7. Theme: CHRISTIAN PATRIOTISM. 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.
The case of these people does not exactly correspond with ours, but the difference should heighten our obligations. Ought we not to seek the good of our native landthe land of our fathers sepulchresthe land where we are protected by mild and wholesome laws, where civil and religious freedom are enjoyed in a higher degree than in any other country in Europe; a land where God has been known for many centuries as a refuge; a land where there are greater opportunities for propagating the Gospel, at home and abroad, than in any other land under heaven?
I. Inquire into the duty of religious people towards their country. Seek the peace of the city. The word peace here means prosperity in general.
We should therefore seek our nations welfare. Then
1. We shall do nothing, and join in nothing, that tends to disturb its peace or hinder its welfare; e.g., conspiracies, inflammatory speeches, sow discontent and disaffection, depreciate those who govern in a way so as to bring government into contempt.
2. Do everything in our power to promote its welfare; e.g., a cheerful obedience to the laws, respect for those who frame and execute them, ready co-operation in beneficent measures.
3. That we pray the Lord on its behalf. Though banished from their Temple, these exiles had access to their God. All our dependence, as a nation, is upon God; and therefore we should importune Him. Further, there is a load of guilt upon our country, and we should therefore supplicate mercy on its behalf.
II. The motives by which these duties are enforced.
1. The interests of individuals and families are closely connected with those of a country.
2. Our interests as Christians are interwoven with the well-being of our country. What our advantages are we should know to our grief were we once to lose them.
3. Should the young be called upon to take up arms for our countrys defence, every one of us, parent, wife, or friend, will (if we can pray for anything) importune the Lord of hosts to cover their heads in the day of battle.Rev. Andrew Fuller (delivered at Kettering, in 1803, at a time of threatened invasion).
Theme: THE BEST CHRISTIANS THE BEST CITIZENS.
I. They know that the prosperity of the whole is their own prosperity. They do not, therefore, selfishly seek their own advantage.
II. They actually labour with all diligence for the furtherance of the common good.
III. They employ for. this end the power of Christian prayer.Naegelsbach.
Theme: THE DUTIES OF CHRISTIANS TO THEIR COUNTRY.
I. What are the things absolutely necessary to the security and prosperity, the true glory and happiness, of our country?
1. The true honour of a nation, like that of the individual, lies in character. President Quincy affirms: Human happiness has no perfect security but freedom; freedom, none but virtue; virtue, none but knowledge; neither freedom nor virtue has any vigour or immortal hope except in the principles of the Christian faith and in the sanctions of the Christian religion.
2. The security and prosperity of our nation are inseparably associated with the advancement of religion among the people.
II. What are the best means for securing those things which are essential to our countrys highest welfare?
1. General diffusion of education. Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.
2. Equally essential that the people be virtuous. Knowledge is power, but unsanctified power is power for evil.
3. The general distribution of the Bible. The Bible is the great instrument for enlightening the conscience and purifying the heart.
4. Preaching the Gospel. Our nature is a wreck, a chaos, which the cross of Christ alone can adjust.
5. Prayer. See 2Ch. 7:13-14; Psa. 106:23; Exo. 32:10, &c. John Knox, the great Scottish reformer, prayedGive me Scotland, or else I die. Queen Mary said she feared his prayers more than an army of 10,000 men! (See Addenda: PRAYER FOR ONES OWN COUNTRY.)
III. What arguments may enforce the duties of personal and combined activity in seeking the highest good of our land?
1. Because our own individual good is intimately connected with its general happiness and prosperity. For in the peace thereof ye shall have peace.
2. We shall thereby recommend the religion we profess.
3. The work of supplying our land with the preached Gospel and with religious institutions is the most important work to which Christians can devote their energies.Rev. Samuel Baker, D.D., Philadelphia, 1864.
Jer. 29:8-9. DECEIVING PROPHETS. See on chap. Jer. 14:14; Jer. 23:21; Jer. 27:14-15.
Jer. 29:10-14. Theme: GRACIOUS PURPOSES OF GRIEVOUS PUNISHMENTS. In the text four things:The certain punishment of sin. The certain fulfilment of Gods gracious purposes. The certain issue of sanctified afflictions. The certain acceptance of fervent devotious.
I. The certain punishment of sin.
After seventy years be accomplished in Babylon I will visit you. But seventy years must be accomplished. And mark, this threatening was fulfilled towards the most pious of Gods people among the Jews, as well as the most impious. One event happeneth to all. The soul that sinneth, &c.
The blood of Christ, applied by faith, delivers from the curse of sin hereafter, but the consequences of sin are often bitterly felt by Gods people here. It is the law of Divine dispensations that sin should bring sorrow; and it is the tendency of Divine grace to make sin appear exceeding sinful. Job and David and Hezekiah and Peter, even though through rich grace their sins were forgiven and their hopes were restored, found that it was an evil thing and bitter to sin against God; and in the text the pious Jews equally with their irreligious countrymen endured captivity in Babylon seventy years.
As the shadow follows the body, so does anguish attend upon sin. We may advance towards sin with pleasure in our eye, but when we return it is with sorrow and repentance in our heart.
II. The certain fulfilment of Gods gracious purposes. I will visit and perform My good word. For I know the thoughts, &c. The good word was the word of promise of deliverance from captivity, and the coming and reign of Christ.
It is the mercy of the penitent sinner, it is the comfort of the humblest believer, that God is as true to His promises as to His threateningsas faithful to the declarations of the covenant of His grace as He is to the sentence of His holy lawas ready to listen to the voice of the blood of sprinkling as He was to listen to the voice of the blood of Abel. God will perform His good word to the humblest spirit that has sought and found rest at the foot of the cross. No sin will be our ruin which leads us to Christ for salvation. It is His own language. I, even I, am He, and Come now, and let us reason. I know the thoughtsthoughts of peace. God often thinks thoughts of peace, when we suppose He thinks thoughts of evil. He occupies Himself in merciful thoughts concerning their spiritual peace of mind now and their eternal peace hereafter.
The issue is to give you an expected enda very desirable one. The Lord will perfect that which concerneth; But the God of all grace, &c.
APPLY IT TO CHRIST, the expected Messiah, in whom all Gods thoughts of peace concerning His people issue. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of all things. Of all things in creation; for all things were made by and for Him. All things in Scripure: prophecies, promises, types, ceremonies, sacrifices, the end of the law. Salvation by Christ now and happiness with Christ hereafter is the end of all Gods gracious purposes and designsthe end of the covenant of gracethe end of Gods providential dispensationsand the end of the toils and conflicts of the Christian life. It is an end, an issue, contemplated by faith, and waited for by believers; an expected end, receiving the end of your faith, &c. And it is freely bestowedthankfully receivedas a grace-gift. By grace ye; I will perform My good word; Heaven and earth may pass away, &c.
III. The certain issue of sanctified afflictions (Jer. 29:12). Then shall ye call and go and pray, and I will hearken. We cannot have a better proof of sanctified afflictions than when a spirit of prayer is poured outwhen we are brought to our kneestaught the futility of broken dependenciestaught to find our happiness and all in God. Distrust of ourselvesdependence on Christconfidence in Godhumility in His presencesubmission to His willand a delight in communion with Himthese mark growth in grace.
IV. The certain acceptance of fervent prayer. Seek and find Me whole heart (Jer. 29:13). True of forgiveness of sinsupport in troubledeliverance. We must be earnest and fervent, or shall have but a cold answer. He that asks with a doubting mind and wavering lazy desire, begs for nothing but to be denied. God gives His people what they ask, or better. We beg for removal of present sadnessbut He gives that which makes us able to bear twenty sadnesses, a cheerful spirit, peaceful conscience, joy in God, the antepast of eternal rejoicings in His kingdom. Remember how great a God you go to, how great a need you have, how great a thing you pray for.S. Thodey, A.D. 1827.
Jer. 29:11. Theme: GODS GRACIOUS THOUGHTS.
Near disasters clearly realised (Jer. 29:10); yet future good confidently anticipated. As God would be in their calamities, for He will punish sin, so He designed their deliverance, for He will not always chide, neither keep His anger for ever.
I. The Lord has thoughts concerning His people. Yes! Thoughts of peace and not of evil. How precious also are Thy thoughts! True: for as the heavens are high above the earth, so are Thy thoughts above our thoughts, &c. So then
i. The Most High bows to the things done upon the earth. Yes, and further: He forms intentions respecting them. And specially: He attentively regards mankind to divide between His people and their adversaries; discerns between our struggles, alarms, prayers, tears, &c., and the scorn and oppression of those hostile to us.
ii. He thinks about us! Is not indifferent, but intently concerned; our case occupies His thoughts. Benevolent people will give to the poor, but not think about the pleader. But God takes us up into His thoughts. I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me!
1. God has thoughts of our present condition. Remembers us in our low estate.
2. Thoughts, too, of our coming calamities (Jer. 29:10). In the world ye shall have tribulation, &c.
3. But thoughts also of our future deliverance and happiness.
II. The Lords thoughts will be wrought out into accomplishment. These thoughts of God were
a. Unrecognised by His peoples foes. They act as if we were friendless. God is not in their thoughts.
b. Unhindered by the worlds designs. What foes intend against us, and may do, does not alter nor impede Gods designs.
1. Gods thoughts were not known to us till we were enlightened. His messengers taught, but we would not hear.
2. How then should aliens know the thoughts of God? Even the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth; how should foes? The natural man understandeth not the things of the Spirit of God, &c.
III. Adversaries know not against what Divine thoughts and intentions they strive. When they would injure us; He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of His eye. Often they conspire against us; but if this thing be not of God it cannot stand. Gladly would hostile powers condemn us; but who is he that condemneth? Christ hath died, yea, rather is risen again; who is even at the right hand of God.
Remember how Satan stood at Gods right hand to resist Joshua; and the Lord answered, The Lord rebuke thee, Satan, &c.
Think of Balaam, whom Balak would have to curse Israel: How can I curse whom God hath blessed?
1. It cannot be done. Adversaries intend ruin; but God has preceded their malice by His gracious designs! Human passion cannot reverse the Divine purpose.
2. Gods thoughts shall stand. He thinks of us with love; and I am persuaded nothing shall separate us from the love of God, &c. He intends our redemption: and whom He called, them justified, glorified. He means, we shall have a glad future: and Because I live ye shall live also.
Hints: THOUGHTS OF PEACE. We must wait for their realisation; for the Lord delays this, but does not forget it.Naegelsbach.
Whereupon is our hope of peace based?
1. Objectively upon this, that the Lord Himself has thoughts of peace concerning us.
2. Subjectively on this, that we (a) call upon and seek the Lord with all our hearts, (b) patiently wait for a time of hearing.Naegelsbach.
The moral malady of man is twofold: at one time vain confidence, then, when that is disappointed, despair. So the Jews first laughed at Gods threats, confident that they should speedily return; then, when cast down from that confidence, they sank into inconsolable despondency.Jamieson.
Jer. 29:12. Ye shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you. Fulfilled Dan. 9:3, &c. When God designs mercy, He puts it into the hearts of His people to pray for the mercy designed. When such a spirit of prayer is poured out it is a sure sign of coming blessings.
Jer. 29:13. Theme: GOOD NEWS FOR TRUE SEEKERS. Some lament they have been seeking God for months, but are still unable to praise Him. But always conclude that if a particular promise of God does not turn out true to you, there is something in you to hinder it.
I. The quality required in every true seeker. It is wholeheartedness: Search for Me with all your heart. In order to this there must be
1. An undivided object in the seekers mind. Ye shall seek Me and find Me when ye shall search for Me, &c. Yes; Oh that I knew where I might find Him! Shake off all attention to self. No reservation must be made for the gratification of pride.
2. With all thy heart means with the entire faculties of our being. Rouse thy understanding. Use memory and conscience. Bring thy will into the effort.
3. It mainly signifies aroused energy. Getting out of that dull, sluggish, indifferent spirit which is so common; being resolute, importunate.
II. The reasons for this wholeheartedness being required
1. In every other pursuit, where the object is at all worthy of a mans efforts, wholeheartedness is required.
2. The danger from which we need to escape is so great that the utmost earnestness is none too much.
3. Look, moreover, at the greatness of the mercy thou art seeking.
4. Everybody else is in earnest: Satan, to ruin thee; Christ, to save thee, &c.
5. You have been wholehearted enough in the ways of sin.
6. How can there be anything true about your seeking if it be not wholehearted?
7. That which you seek, if you obtain it, is a wholehearted thing.
8. The believers obedience is wholehearted (Psa. 119:69).
III. Hindrances to a wholehearted search.
1. Presumption. Because God wants us saved, we need not make much effort. Or, Salvation is so simple, any day will do to attend to it, &c.
2. Remaining self-confident. They think there is at least a little good about themselves.
3. Despair. Some do not believe you can be forgiven, &c.
4. The conduct of Christian professors.
C. H. Spurgeon, A.D. 1876.
Compare Homilies on chap. Jer. 24:7.
Jer. 29:14. GATHERING THE EXILES HOME. See on chap. Jer. 4:1; Jer. 23:3; Jer. 24:5.
Jer. 29:15-19. Comp. Jer. 24:8-10; Jer. 17:13, &c.
Jer. 29:22. Whom Nebuchadnezzar roasted in the fire.
Daniels record of the punishment threatened against all who refused to worship the image Nebuchadnezzar the king set up, is that whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace (Dan. 3:6).
Here was the warrant for that iniquitous barbaritythe burning of heretics. It originated in Babylon. The Lord make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire. It is, at least, impressive to recall how Rome used this same hateful and bellish weapon of vengeance, and that too for the same godless purpose, namely, to subject the souls of men to her idolatry, burning as heretics those who refused to worship her image; thus emphatically identifying herself with the Babylon whose cruelty and sins the Apocalypse portrays, and against whom the most solemn curses of Heaven are pronounced.Crowds of the Bible (pp. 55, 56), by Rev. W. H. Jellie.
Jer. 29:24, seq. JEREMIAHS SECOND LETTER TO THE EXILES. The messengers (Jer. 29:3) of the first letter brought back a strong protest from the false prophet Shemaiah directed to Zephaniah, condemnatory of Jeremiah for pronouncing the captivity long (Jer. 29:28), and reproving the authorities for their supineness in not apprehending him, urging Zephaniah to put him in prison and in the stocks (Jer. 29:27).
Zephaniah, instead of lending himself to be the instrument of their rage, showed the letter to Jeremiah (Jer. 29:29).
Whereupon Jeremiah again wrote the exiles, the word of the Lord, in which Shemaiah was denounced as
1. Falsely assuming to be Jehovahs prophet (Jer. 29:31).
2. Misleading the credulous hopes of the exiles, causing them to trust in a lie. For which crime there is prophesied
1. Punishment from God upon himself and his seed.
2. Complete extinction of his family line, because he hath taught rebellion against the Lord. See on chap Jer. 28:16.
ADDENDA TO CHAP. 29: ILLUSTRATIONS AND SUGGESTIVE EXTRACTS
Jer. 29:7. PRAYER FOR ONES OWN COUNTRY. John Knox used to be in such agony for the deliverance of his country that he could not sleep. He had a place in his garden where he used to go to pray. One night he and several friends were praying together, and, as they prayed, Knox spoke, declaring that deliverance had come. He explained that he could not tell what had happened, but he felt sure that in some way their prayers had been answered. And the next news informed them that their enemy, Mary Queen of Scotland, was dead.
At one time during the Lutheran reformation, soon after the conference of Augsburg in 1530, when the Reformers cause looked mournful, Melancthon, with Luther and other divines, met to consult about the situation; and, after spending some time in prayer to God, Melancthon was suddenly called out of the room, from which he retired heavily depressed. While absent he saw several elders of the reformed churches with their parishioners and families; and many, young and old, were in prayer for the triumph of their cause. He re-entered the room with a joyous countenance, which astonished Luther, who inquired, What now has happened to you, Philip, that you are become so cheerful? Oh, sirs, replied Melancthon, let us not be discouraged, for I have seen our noble protectors, and such as, I will venture to say, will prove invincible against every foe. And pray, returned Luther, thrilling with surprise and pleasure, who and where are these powerful heroes? Oh, said Melancthon, they are the wives of our parishioners and their little children, whose prayers I have just witnessedprayers which I am satisfied our God will hear; for as our Heavenly Father and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has never despised our supplications, we have reason to trust that He will not in the present alarming crisis. The event proved that Melancthon was not mistaken. God heard their prayers.Coxs Life of Melancthon.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
III. CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE CAPTIVES Jer. 29:1-32
Judging from the contents of chapter 29, the Jews in captivity in Babylon were free to correspond with their relatives and friends back in Palestine. This chapter contains two (possibly three) letters which Jeremiah sent to Babylon and alludes to several letters which were sent from Jews in Babylon to those in Jerusalem.
Jeremiah like other prophets regarded the exile in Babylon as a punishment for the sins of the nation. Yet once that exile had begun in 605 B.C. and still in greater measure in 597 B.C. Jeremiah deemed it his duty to offer encouragement to the exiles. Prophets had arisen in Babylon who were predicting a speedy end to the captivity. While Jeremiah wished to encourage those Jews in Babylon yet he was a realist. He could not allow those Jews to go on deluding themselves. As long as they thought the exile to Babylon was a mere episode to be endured and shortly to be ended there was no real incentive to repentance. The letters in this chapter are a blend of realism and idealism, of discouragement and hope;
A. The First letter to Babylon Jer. 29:1-23
1. Introduction to the letter (Jer. 29:1-4)
TRANSLATION
(1) These are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto those who were left of the elders of the captives, and unto the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried captive from Jerusalem to Babylon. (2) (This was after king Jeconiah and the queen-mother, the officers, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen and artisans 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 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in Babylon. The letter said: (4) Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the captives whom I caused to go captive from Jerusalem into Babylon:
COMMENTS
Jeremiahs first letter to Babylon is addressed to the residue of the elders of the captivity, the priests, the prophets and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried captive to Babylon (Jer. 29:1). In the main these would be the leaders of the nation who had gone captive in 597 B.C. when Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) had surrendered to the great Babylonian monarch (Jer. 29:2). Why does Jeremiah speak of the residue of the elders? Perhaps many of the older leaders had perished during what must have been an arduous journey to Babylonia. The fact that Jeremiah mentions elders, priests and prophets would suggest that some sort of communal organization existed in Babylon similar to that which existed in Judah. This particular letter is intended for all segments of the population. It is an open letter.
For some unexplained reason king Zedekiah was sending an embassy to Babylon at this time. Perhaps the purpose was to carry the annual tribute to Nebuchadnezzar. The embassy consisted of, or was led by, two outstanding men. Elasah the son of Shaphan is named first. The family of Shaphan were among the most loyal friends which Jeremiah had. It was the brother of Elasah who protected Jeremiah when he was on trial for his life (Jer. 26:24). Since Elasah was from a God-fearing family he recognized the authority of Nebuchadnezzar whom God had appointed over all the earth (Jer. 27:4-14). He was no doubt more than willing to carry the letter of Jeremiah along with him to Babylon. The second member of the embassy was Gemariah the son of Hilkiah. Could this Hilkiah be the high priest who took such an active part in the reforms of king Josiah (2Ki. 22:4; 2 Chronicles 34, 35)? Could Gemariah have been a brother of Jeremiah (see Jer. 1:1)? These questions must remain unanswered. But it is likely that Gemariah too was a loyal believer. Even though the Judean leadership was by and large corrupt still there were those who bore witness for Him in the inner councils of the nation.
The letter deals with the immediate situation of the captives. The prophet offers to the captives practical advice (Jer. 29:5-7), warning (Jer. 29:8-10), and a word of hope (Jer. 29:11-14). Then he undertakes a refutation of the fake prophets in Babylon (Jer. 29:15-20) and finally makes a prediction respecting the fate of two notorious false prophets there (Jer. 29:21-23).
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
XXIX.
(1) These are the words.The prophecy in this chapter was addressed to those whom we may describe as the first of the Babylonian exiles who had been carried into captivity with Jeconiah (see Note on Jer. 35:2). Among these also, probably in connection with the projects which we have traced in the preceding chapter, there was a restless disquietude, fostered by false prophets, who urged the people to rebel against their conquerors. Against that policy Jeremiah, in accordance with the convictions on which he had all along acted, enters an earnest protest. The letter was sent by special messengers, of whom we read in Jer. 29:3, and shows that Jeremiah had been kept well informed of all that passed at Babylon. The spelling of the prophets name, in the Hebrew text, as Jeremiah, instead of the form Jeremiahu, which is the more common form throughout the book, is probably an indication that the opening verse which introduces the letter was the work of a later hand. The date of the letter was probably early in the reign of Zedekiah, before the incidents of the previous chapter. It is brought before us as following in almost immediate sequel on the deportation mentioned in Jer. 29:2. The term residue of the elders, in connexion with priests and prophets, points to the fact that the whole body of counsellors, so named, had not been carried into exile, but only the more prominent members. Such elders we find in Eze. 8:1; Eze. 20:1. Ezekiel himself may be thought of as among the priests and prophets.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
LETTER TO THE EXILES, 1-23.
To complete the history of this conflict between Jeremiah and those like Hananiah, who promised to the Jews the speedy downfall of Nebuchadnezzar’s power and the consequent restoration of those who had gone into captivity, there is given in this chapter the letter which Jeremiah wrote to those in Babylon to correct the false hopes which had sprung up there. As was to be expected, there was the same uneasiness at Babylon as at Jerusalem. The eager desire of these captives that the assurances of speedy release should come true, joined with an original impatience of foreign rule, doubtless created a dangerous tendency toward revolt. To correct this, to enlarge their view of God’s plans, and to lead them into his purposes more fully, this letter was written.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1. The words of the letter The Substance or import of the letter. The exact form of words does not seem to be given.
Residue of the elders Those still surviving of the original company carried away. The time had not, indeed, been long, but it had doubtless been, for these people thus violently torn away from their homes and all ordinary conditions of safety and comfort, a time of unusual mortality. And they had not yet become so well organized in the land of their exile as that the places of these elders were promptly filled at their death.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Introductory words.
Jer 29:1-2
‘Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon, (after that Jeconiah the king, and the queen-mother, and the eunuchs, and the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem),’
The introduction informs us that this chapter contains words which Jeremiah wrote to the exiles in Babylon. ‘The residue (or remnant) of the elders’ may indicate that many had been executed, possibly because their especially rebellious attitude was known to Nebuchadnezzar with the result that he had determined to get rid of the hardliners. Nebuchadnezzar had no doubt had his spies in Jerusalem and the elders would certainly have borne the brunt of the blame for Jehoiakim’s rebellion. Nebuchadnezzar was not noted for his clemency (see 2Ki 25:18-20). Alternately ‘residue’ may be intended to be read in throughout (although not made clear in the text) simply indicating those who had survived the siege and its aftermath. The priests and prophets would include among them Ezekiel.
The exile in mind is that under Jehoiachin when Jerusalem had had to submit to Nebuchadnezzar (c.597 BC). Along with Jehoiachin had gone the queen mother (a figure of great authority in Judah), the high officials (the word, used of the married Potiphar in Genesis, doe not necessarily strictly mean eunuch), the ‘princes’ of the tribes (the order of precedence would seem to indicate that it was not blood princes who were in mind), along with all the skilled craftsmen and smiths, and so on. They represented the cream of the nation (the good figs, not because they were better than the essentially others, but because of what God was going to make of them – Jer 24:5).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jeremiah’s Letter To The Exiles ( Jer 29:1-32 ).
Correspondence by letter was a constant feature of those days, and indicates that the world was not static (compare the prophetic letters from Shemaiah to the religious authorities in Jerusalem – Jer 29:25; David to Joab – 2Sa 11:14; Elijah to Jehoram – 2Ch 21:12-15; Sennacherib to Hezekiah – 2Ki 19:9-14; etc). There were always people who were on the move, such as traders and ambassadors, who could carry such messages along the trading routes, or between country and country, and kings themselves would have special messengers.. We are not, of course, to think of an established postal service, although we need not doubt that great kings would undoubtedly arrange for relays of messengers who could be relied on to take their words to their underlings. But in this case Jeremiah took the opportunity of King Zedekiah sending messengers in order to communicate with Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, to enable him to communicat with God’s exiled people.
It is clear from the letter that Jeremiah had received information that false prophets were at work in Babylonia among the exiles who had been exiled along with Jehoiachin (c. 597 BC, as opposed to those exiled earlier with Daniel in c. 605 BC), proclaiming a similar message to that of Hananiah, and thus unsettling them, and further, that one of these prophets had actually written to Jerusalem calling for Jeremiah to be ‘rebuked’ (dealt with severely). Thus Jeremiah urged the exiles not to listen to them, but to recognise that they were to settle in for a good long stay, for at least another fifty years or so. Furthermore he warned them that the false prophets in question who were stirring up trouble would themselves be summarily dealt with, either by Nebuchadnezzar or by circumstances.
The letter can be divided up into five sections:
The call for the exiles to settle down in Babylon and recognise that deliverance will not come until his previously prophesied seventy years was over (Jer 29:1-9).
A promise that then, when that seventy years is over, YHWH will restore His people from all parts of the world if they seek Him with all their hearts (Jer 29:10-14).
A warning not to listen to the false prophets as, rather than experiencing quick restoration, Zedekiah and Jerusalem are doomed because they have not listened to YHWH’s words (Jer 29:15-19).
A declaration of the forthcoming doom of the false prophets who have arisen among them, at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 29:20-23).
A special word concerning the doom of Shemaiah, a prophet who had written to Jerusalem seeking for Jeremiah to be dealt with severely (Jer 29:24-32).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Section 2 Subsection 1 Commencing With A Speech In The Temple Jeremiah Warns Of What Is Coming And Repudiates The Promises Of The False Prophets, And While Opposed By The Hierarchy, Has His Own Status As A Prophet Recognised by Many Of The People ( Jer 26:1 to Jer 29:32 ).
The danger of dividing the prophecy up into sections and subsections, as we have done, is that we can lose something of the continuity of the prophecy. Thus while the divisions in this case are seemingly clear, the continuity must not be overlooked. What follows in Jer 26:1 to Jer 29:32 must be seen in fact as a subsequent explanation expanding on what Jeremiah has already said in chapter 25 concerning both the evil coming on Jerusalem and the seventy year period of Babylonian domination. And we now discover that this was in direct contrast with what was being currently declared by the cult prophets mentioned so prominently in chapter 23.
The whole subsection thus brings out the threat under which Judah was standing, and the direct rivalry existing between Jeremiah and his supporters, and the cult prophets, a rivalry which was caused by their deeply contrasting views about the future. It commences with the fact that the cult prophets combined with the priests in arraigning Jeremiah and seeking his death in chapter 26, something which is followed by examples of their activities and their continued opposition to Jeremiah, thus illustrating what was described in Jer 23:9-40. This section too could have been headed ‘concerning the prophets’, were it not that its tentacles reached out further.
The subsection is a unity. It commences at the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim bringing out the new situation that had arisen with the death of Josiah and the advent of a new king who ‘did what was evil in the eyes of YHWH’ (2Ki 23:37), continues by showing that from that time on Jeremiah wore a yoke about his neck as an indication that Judah was no longer an independent nation, something which goes on until things are brought to a head during the reign of Zedekiah when the yoke is broken from his neck by a prophet who prophesies falsely and dies as a result. Meanwhile Jeremiah has sent duplicates of his yoke to the kings of surrounding nations who are contemplating rebellion against Babylon, to warn them against such rebellion. And the subsection closes with a letter from him to the exiles in Babylonia warning them against expecting a swift return, resulting in a return letter from a prominent prophet calling for the arraignment of Jeremiah.
The subsection itself divides up as follows:
A) ‘In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim — came this word from YHWH saying –’ (Jer 26:1). The chapter commences in the Temple with a call to repentance, which is followed by a warning that their Temple would otherwise be made like Shiloh, (which was where the original Temple/Tabernacle was destroyed by the Philistines in the days of Samuel), and their city would become a curse among the nations (compareJer 25:29; Jer 25:37). The resulting persecution of Jeremiah, especially by the priests and the cult prophets, is then described, although ameliorated by a counter-argument put forward by ‘the elders of the people of the land’ who clearly accepted Jeremiah as a genuine prophet and cited the prophecies of Micah in his support.
B) ‘In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim — came this word to Jeremiah from YHWH saying –’ (Jer 27:1). This chapter commences with Jeremiah, at the command of YHWH, starting to wear symbolic instruments of restraint on his neck as an illustration of the bondage that has come on them from Egypt and is coming at the hands of Babylon. Then during the reign of Zedekiah he is commanded to send these same instruments of bondage among the surrounding nations because of a planned rebellion against Babylon, conveying a similar message to them, that they must accept being subject nations, and warning them against listening to those who say otherwise. Meanwhile Zedekiah and Judah are given the same message together with the assurance, contrary to the teaching of the cult prophets, that rather than experiencing deliverance, what remains of the vessels of YHWH in the Temple will also be carried off to Babylon.
C) ‘And it came about in the same year at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah –’ (Jer 28:1). In this chapter the false prophets, and especially Hananiah, prophesy that within a short time subservience to Babylon will be over and Jehoiachin and his fellow exiles will return in triumph from Babylon together with all the vessels of the Temple. Jeremiah replies that it will not be so. Rather ‘all these nations’ will have to serve Babylon into the known future. He then prophesies the death of Hananiah because of his rebellion against the truth of YHWH, something which occurs within the year.
D) ‘Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the Prophet sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders of the captivity, — etc. (Jer 29:1). In a letter sent to the exiles in Babylonia Jeremiah advises the exiles not to listen to false prophets but to settle down in Babylonia and make the best of a bad situation, because their exile is destined by YHWH to last for ‘seventy years’. Furthermore he emphasises the dark shadows of the future for those who are left behind, although promising that once His exiled people have been dealt with in judgment, YHWH will bring them back again to the land and cause them to acknowledge Him once again. He then prophesies against the false prophets, especially the prominent one who had put pressure on for him to be arrested.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
SECTION 2 ( Jer 26:1 to Jer 45:5 ).
Whilst the first twenty five chapters of Jeremiah have mainly been a record of his general prophecies, mostly given during the reigns of Josiah and Jehoiakim, and have been in the first person, this second section of Jeremiah (Jer 26:1 to Jer 45:5) is in the third person, includes a great deal of material about the problems that Jeremiah faced during his ministry and provides information about the opposition that he continually encountered. This use of the third person was a device regularly used by prophets so that it does not necessarily indicate that it was not directly the work of Jeremiah, although in his case we actually have good reason to think that much of it was recorded under his guidance by his amanuensis and friend, Baruch (Jer 36:4).
It can be divided up as follows:
1. Commencing With A Speech In The Temple Jeremiah Warns Of What Is Coming And Repudiates The Promises Of The False Prophets (Jer 26:1 to Jer 29:32).
2. Promises Are Given Of Eventual Restoration And Of A New Covenant Written In The Heart (Jer 30:1 to Jer 33:26).
3. YHWH’s Continuing Word of Judgment Is Given Through Jeremiah And Its Repercussions Leading Up To The Fall Of Jerusalem Are Revealed (Jer 34:1 to Jer 39:18).
4. Events Subsequent To The Fall Of Jerusalem (Jer 40:1 to Jer 45:5).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jer 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.
Jer 29:6
Jer 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.
Jer 29:7
Jer 29:8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.
Jer 29:9 Jer 29:10 Jer 29:10
Dan 9:2, “In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.”
Jer 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.
Jer 29:11
Jer 29:12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
Jer 29:12
Jer 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
Jer 29:13
“O My people, I have called thee to repentance and confession and forgiveness and cleansing; but ye have listened to My words as though they were but slight rustlings in the tree-tops as though they were of little consequence and could be brushed aside at will. Behold, I say unto thee: Ye cannot resist My Spirit without suffering pain; and ye cannot turn a deaf ear to My words without falling thereafter into the snare of the enemy. Ye have not cried unto Me with all your hearts, buy ye have complained that I have not heard your prayers. Lo, is it not written, ‘The Lord is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him?’ And again, ‘Then shall ye find Me, when ye seek for Me with all thy heart.’ Look no more to My hand to supply freely thy needs when ye have not humbled your hearts and cleansed your hands and come to Me with the sacrifice which I have required even a broken and a contrite heart. Ye need not listen for Me to speak to thee when your ears are heavy from listening to evil reports.” [23]
[23] Frances J. Roberts, Come Away My Beloved (Ojai, California: King’s Farspan, Inc., 1973), 54.
“Hold fast that which thou hast, and let no man take thy crown. Let no man hinder thee in pursuit of the reward. Let nothing stand in the way of thy complete victory. Let no weariness or discouraging thought cause thee to unloose the rope of faith, but bind it the tighter and anchor fast to My Word. For My Word can never fail, yea, and all My good promises I will surely fulfill. Have not I said, ‘He that seeketh shall find’? And have not I promised to be the rewarder of them that diligently seek Me? Not of the dilatory seeker, but of the diligent seeker. Not of him whose seeking is in reality only wishing, but of him who has grown so intent in his quest that he has become wholly absorbed to the extent that he is unmindful in hi toiling of the sweat upon his brow. To the extent that he has ceased reckoning the cost, indeed, verily, has quit offering bribes, as though the fullness of God might be purchased, and has set out on foot, deserting all else to follow the call of the Spirit untilUntil hunger is swallowed up in fullness.” [24]
[24] Frances J. Roberts, Come Away My Beloved (Ojai, California: King’s Farspan, Inc., 1973), 108.
Scripture References – Note similar verses in Scripture:
Deu 4:29, “But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.”
2Ch 15:12, “And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul ;”
2Ch 31:21, “And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered .”
Heb 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
Jer 29:32 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah 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.
Jer 29:32
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles and Its Consequences.
Just as certain false prophets in Jerusalem had tried to arouse and maintain false hopes in the inhabitants of the capital, thus also certain men of the same type were active among the exiles who had been taken to Babylon at the time of Jeconiah. The result was that a spirit of discontent and restlessness took hold of the Jews, which not only increased the bitterness of their affliction, but also tended to break down all moral restraint. Jeremiah therefore, by God’s command, sent a letter to the exiled Jews, in which he gives them some excellent rules of behavior in the midst of the trying circumstances in which they found themselves.
v. 1. Now, these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders, v. 2. (after that Jeconiah, the king, and the queen, v. 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, v. 4. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, v. 5. Build ye houses and dwell in them, v. 6. take ye wives and beget sons and daughters, v. 7. And seek the peace, v. 8. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Let not your prophets and your diviners that be in the midst of you, v. 9. For they prophesy falsely unto you, v. 10. For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon, v. 11. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, v. 12. Then shall ye call upon Me, v. 13. And ye shall seek Me and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart, v. 14. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord, v. 15. Because ye have said, The Lord hath raised us up prophets in Babylon, v. 16. know that thus saith the Lord of the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, v. 17. thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, v. 18. And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, v. 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, v. 20. Hear ye therefore the Word of the Lord, all ye of the captivity whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon, v. 21. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, v. 22. and of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, v. 23. because they have committed villainy in Israel,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Despised and rejected at home, Jeremiah turned his thoughts to those distant brethren in captivity, whom he had already likened to “good figs, very good” (Jer 24:3, Jer 24:5). He had heard with sorrow that they could not readily submit to their altered circumstances; Judah, with its consecrated associations, was still too near to them in spirit. Probably a rumor of the expected confederacy (Jer 27:3) had troubled their minds, and the discontent was increased by the pernicious discourses of prophets and sooth sayers similar to that Hananiah of whom we have just heard. Two of these in particular are mentioned, and a terrible fate is held out to them. The appendix (verses 24-32) deals with another prophet of the same type, who had not, indeed, offended so deeply as his companions, but had stirred up those at home to persecute Jeremiah in revenge for the preceding letter. The chapter is evidently, what it professes to be, a letter, at any rate in substance. From the looseness of its structure (see especially on verses 16-20) it has been thought to have been dictated, like those Epistles of St. Paul, of which it may be regarded as a precursor (Ewald). The date seems to be a little earlier than that of the two preceding chapters (comp. verse 2 with Jer 24:1); the messengers in verse 3 are therefore not to be regarded as Zedekiah’s companions in the journey mentioned in Jer 51:59.
Jer 29:1
The residue of the elders; i.e. the surviving elders. Some may, perhaps, have died from natural causes, some by violence, some from grief.
Jer 29:2
The queen; rather, the queen, mother (see on Jer 13:18) The eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem. A marginal gloss appears to have intruded itself into the text, for there is no other passage in which the “eunuchs,” or, “chamberlains,” are called “princes of Judah.”
Jer 29:7
Seek the peace of the city, etc. Interest yourselves in the “peace“ or welfare of the city, whether Babylon or any other place where ye may be in exile, and pray for its welfare, for your own well-being is inseparable from it.
Jer 29:8
Let not your prophets and your diviners, etc. It seems as if the Babylonian “Jewry” were a copy of that at home. It had not only its “princes” and its “elders,” but its “prophets” and its “diviners,” who encouraged the same false hopes as those in Judah (comp. Jer 27:9; Jer 28:2). Your dreams which ye caused to be dreamed; or, which ye cause yourselves to dream (comp. Jer 27:9).
Jer 29:10
Seventy years (see on Jer 25:11). At Babylon; rather, for Babylon. A long period, such as seventy years, is appointed for Babylon “to enjoy” the fruits of her ambition; when this is over (comp. Gen 15:13-16), God will pay heed to his people. Visit you. To “visit” frequently has the sense of “taking notice of,” or “paying heed to” (e.g. Jer 23:2). My good word. “Word,” equivalent to “pro-raise;” the allusion is to Jer 24:6.
Jer 29:11
For I knew the thoughts, etc.; i.e. though seventy years must pass over you in exile, yet do not apprehend that I have forgotten you, for I know full well what my purpose is towards youa purpose of restoring to you “peace” and prosperity. An expected end; rather, a future and a hope; i.e. a hopeful future (comp. Jer 31:17, “There is a hope for thy future”). That unexpectant apathy which is the terrible accompaniment of so much worldly sorrow was not to be an ingredient in the lot of the Jews.
Jer 29:12
And ye shall go and pray unto me. “Go,” that is, to the places “where prayer is wont to be made.” The clause seems to refer to common prayer for a common object. Comp. striking passages in Solomon’s prayer (1Ki 8:48), and in Deuteronomy (Deu 4:29, Deu 4:30).
Jer 29:15-23
Jeremiah’s denunciation of two leading false prophets at Babylon, with a digression on the fate of Zedekiah and Jerusalem. Some eminent critics maintain that verses 16-20 are an interpolation, and this view is certainly supported By the omission of these verses in the Septuagint. It must also in fairness be admitted that the natural connection of verse 15 is with verse 21, not with verse 16. But it does not follow that verses 16-20 are an arbitrary interpolation. They may be regarded either as a digression in the original letter, or as inserted by an after-thought when the substance of the letter was brought into its present form.
Jer 29:16
Know that thus saith the Lord; rather, Surely thus saith the Lord.
Jer 29:17
I will send upon them, etc.; alluding to Jer 24:10. Vile figs; literally, figs exciting a shudder. The figure involves an allusion to Jer 24:2, Jer 24:3.
Jer 29:19
But ye would not hear. The prophet, by a very natural illusion, falls out of the style of letter-writer into that of the prophet. For the moment he fancies himself addressing an audience of his countrymen (comp. Jer 25:3, Jer 25:4, Jer 25:7, Jer 25:8).
Jer 29:21
Zedekiah. The name is into-resting; it shows that this prophet belonged to a family which took pleasure in the thought of Jehovah and his righteousness. Doubtless, too, he did so himself; but he under-estimated the demands of that righteousness, which extended to the heart as well as to the outward conduct.
Jer 29:22
A curse; i.e. a formula of cursing (comp. Isa 65:15). There is here a play upon words, such as the Biblical writers delighted in, partly with the view of assisting the memory. “A curse” is in Hebrew kelalah, and “to roast” is kalah. Roasted in the fire. “Casting into the midst of a burning fiery furnace” was a common punishment both among the Assyrians and the Babylonians, see e.g. ‘ Records of the Past,’ vol. 9. p. 56; and comp. Dan 3:1-30.
Jer 29:23
An important and melancholy addition to our knowledge of these false prophets. They were not only misleading prophets, but immoral men in their private capacities. Villainy; rather, folly, as the word is always rendered elsewhere. The phrase “to commit folly in Israel” is always (except Jos 7:15) used of sins of unchastity.
Jer 29:24-32
A threatening oracle against the false prophet Shemaiah. Great excitement had been caused among the so-called prophets in Babylon by the emphatic language of Jeremiah. Accordingly one of them, named Shemaiah, wrote letters to the Jews at home, and especially to a high official called Zephaniah (see on verse 26) to put a stop to Jeremiah’s bold agitation. Zephaniah, however, was not the man for whom Shemaiah took him, and read the letter to the intended victim. Upon this, Jeremiah received a special revelation, announcing dire punishment to Shemaiah and his family (according to the principle of the Divine government described in Exo 20:5).
Jer 29:24
To Shemaiah; or, of, concerning (as the same preposition is rendered in Jer 29:16, Jer 29:21, Jer 29:31). The oracle itself speaks of Shemaiah in the third person (Jer 29:31, Jer 29:32). The Authorized Version, however, can be defended by its accordance with Jer 29:25. The Nehelamite. This is evidently a patronymic, but whether of the family or the locality of the bearer cannot be decided. The analogy of “Jeremiah of Anathoth” (verse 27), however, favors the view that it is local.
Jer 29:26
In the stead of Jehoiada the priest. Some (Grotius, Hitzig, Graf) think that this Jehoiada was the famous high priest of that name, who is said to have “appointed officers over the house of the Lord” (2Ki 11:18; 2Ch 23:18). It is true that Zephaniah was not literally the successor of Jehoiada, but he was so in the same metaphorical sense in which the scribes are said by our Lord to “sit in Moses’ seat” (Mat 23:2). It is safer, however, to suppose that another Jehoiada is meant, of whom we have no further information. It is not said that either Jehoiada or Zephaniah was high priest, and as the special object of the elevation of the latter is said to be the supervision of the temple police, it is more probable that Jehoiada and he were successively “second priests,” or, to use a phrase which seems to be synonymous, “deputy governors in the house of the Lord” (Jer 20:1). The passage may thus without violence be harmonized with Jer 52:24; 2Ki 25:18, where Seraiah is called “the chief priest” and Zephaniah “the second priest.” It is possible that Jehoiada ‘had been favorable to the better class of prophets. In this case there will be a delicate hint to Zephaniah that God had his own purpose in promoting him to honor, viz. that unruly prophets like Jeremiah might be held in with a tighter hand (Ewald). That ye should be officers; rather, that there should be officers. Zephaniah himself was an “officer” or “deputy” (see above); but he was also “chief in the house of the Lord,” and had the appointment of inferior “officers,” whose duty it was to preserve order in the temple. To understand the following words, we must remember that the outer court of the temple was a favorite place for prophetic teaching (comp. Jer 7:2; Jer 26:2). For every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet; i.e. to keep an eye upon “madmen” and prophetizers. The term “mad” is used in a disparaging sense (as 2Ki 9:11; comp. Hos 9:7), with regard to the apparently senseless behavior of those who were overpowered by the spirit of prophecy. In earlier times, no doubt, the phenomena of prophecy were more violently opposed to everyday life than in Jeremiah’s time; but such symbolic acts as appearing in public with a yoke upon his neck would at least excuse the application of the epithet even to Jeremiah. It is more than probable, however, that it was not so much the abnormal actions as the contents of Jeremiah’s prophecies which stirred up such vehement opposition; observe how in the next verse only the sound of these descriptive nouns is retained (“which maketh himself a prophet”). It was the making prophecy a reality which disturbed the men of routine, and Shemaiah well knew this when he made this appeal to Zephaniah. There was no harm in being nominally a “prophet,” but to “make,” or rather, “show one’s self as a prophet,” to be an energetic prophet, a prophetizer,this was wormwood to those who cried, “Peace, peace,” when there was no peace. In prison, and in the stocks; rather, in the stocks (see on Jer 20:2) and in the collar. The meaning seems to be that Jeremiah was subjected to both forms of punishment at once.
Jer 29:27
Reproved; i.e. threatened with punishment.
Jer 29:28
For therefore, etc.; i.e. the consequence of Jeremiah’s not having been kept within bounds by authority is that he has even ventured, in his fanatical zeal, to trouble the exiles in Babylon. This captivity is long; rather, It (is) long; a more forcible expression.
Jer 29:29
And Zephaniah the priest, etc. This should rather be printed as a parenthetical remark.
Jer 29:30-32
Then came the word of the Lord, etc. A fresh introduction of the Divine oracle was rendered necessary by the long description of Zephaniah’s letters. The reason for Shemaiah’s punishment, however, is stated here a little differently. Of course, it was equally contrary to the will of God to deliver a false prophecy and to stir up persecution against his true prophet. Taught rebellion (see on Jer 28:16).
HOMILETICS
Jer 29:4-7
How to make the best of adversity.
Jeremiah advises the captives in Babylon to take a course that is eminently brave and wise. The first inclination would be to stir up a useless revolt, the second to sit down in sullen despondency. When trouble overcomes us we are tempted to follow one or other of these coursesto rebel or to despair. Jeremiah teaches us, as he taught the Jews of his day, that neither is right. He indicates a better way,
I. SUBMIT PATIENTLY TO INEVITABLE ADVERSITY. We are not required to court trouble, nor to yield weakly when we might successfully throw it off. But when it is plainly inevitable resistance is wrong as well as foolish.
1. It is foolish. Why dash our heads against the prison walls? The brain will suffer before the granite. The Jews could not successfully revolt against Babylon; to live on the eve of rebellion, as restless conspirators, would be dangerous and futile. The mistake of such misplaced patriotism was seen later in the wretched failure of the fanatic attempts of the Jews to throw off the yoke of Rome. The folly of the Jews would be the greater that the lengthy duration of the Captivity had been predicted and revealed as a Divine judgment. When we know the providential assignment of adversity, to resist this is to resist the power of Heaven.
2. This resistance is wrong. The Captivity was ordained by God (verse 4). It was sent as a wholesome chastisement. To those who understood the teaching of the prophets on this point, rebellion was at once disobedience to God’s will and the refusal of a useful corrective. We should remember this when we grow impatient under trouble, and learn to bow silently before the will of our King and our Father, to receive without complaining the discipline which is intended to cleanse and strengthen our spiritual life.
II. SEEK THE BRIGHTEST COURSE UNDER THE DARKEST CIRCUMSTANCES. The captives could not return home. They were not, therefore, to treat the land of their exile as a hopeless desert, but to build and plant and eat the fruit of it.
1. How often trouble is worse in prospect than in experience! The Captivity loomed in the distance as a very purgatory; when it came it was found to contain many of the fruits and flowers of quiet happiness.
2. Our lot in life will be very much what we make it for ourselves. If we treat it as a “waste, howling wilderness,” it will be that to us. But the hardest lot will prove to have many alleviations for him who searches for its mercies rather than for its grievances. Surely it is best to do this. Mourners are inclined to nurse their sorrows with a melancholy satisfaction in aggravating the pain of them, or as though any abatement of grief were a sacrilege. But we should learn a more robust treatment of adversity. There is no virtue in distressing one’s self beyond necessity.
III. CHERISH HOPES FOR THE FUTURE UNDER THE MOST TRYING PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCES. The Jews were to remember the promise of the restoration. They were not to allow their race to die out (verse 6). A great future was still before them. History has confirmed the prediction of the prophets. The scattered and ruined people were recalled to their homes. From the stock of the despondent exiles there sprang not only all that was great and good in later Jewish history, but also Jesus Christ and Christianity. In our darkest moments we should not forget that, though not a ray of light has yet appeared on the horizon, the sun will surely rise and the day return. Christianity is peculiarly a religion of the future; it encourages us to press forward to the golden age which is yet to come.
IV. FIND OUR HAPPINESS BY SEEKING THE WELFARE OF OTHERS. “Seek the peace of the city for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.” The alien was to act with the loyalty of a citizen. Though a nation may be under the unrighteous rule of a conqueror, it should still remember that it has duties to the government under which it lives, and claims of charity in regard to the people of the superior power. If it is our duty to seek the peace of a strange city, how much more are we bound to interest ourselves in public duties for the good of our own country? Private citizens will find their personal condition improved through the successful discharge of public duties. The citizens reap the fruits of the peace of the city. In ministering to others generally we shall discover the secret of our own blessedness.
Jer 29:7
Civic duties.
From the duty of the Jews to the cities of their exile we may deduce the still more urgent duties of citizens to their own city,
I. ONE OF THE FIRST INTERESTS OF A PEOPLE IS PEACE. There are times when war is necessary and rightto defend the hearth and home, to save the weak from oppression, etc. But such war must only be the means for securing a bettor, more lasting peace. The glory of war is an empty dream. The people gain little and suffer much, though the kings may win fame and power.
II. PEACE IS TO BE SOUGHT BY THE ACTION OF CITIZENS. Individual men cannot wage a war or declare a truce. But the units constitute nations. If each is peaceable the nation is peaceable. Insignificant people have vast power for harm if they choose to execute it. It should be understood that seditious conduct is not only a political offense; it is a sin in the sight of God, a cruelty to the many people whom it disturbs and injures.
III. PRIVATE MEN HAVE PUBLIC DUTIES. We all reap benefits from the state. It is mean to accept them without taking our part in bearing the burdens of the state. There are people who deny the right of Christian men to take part in “worldly politics,” yet these people are glad to avail themselves of the protection and other advantages which are provided for them by the secular government they affect to despise. The neglect of public duty evidences a narrow and selfish disposition,
IV. PRIVATE MEN ARE BENEFITED BY PUBLIC PROSPERITY. We are members one of another. There is a general harmony and health of the whole body, over and above the well-being of each member, when all work together for the mutual good. As individual men, we have great reason to be thankful for the general prosperity of the nation and for the maintenance of public peace.
V. WE SHOULD DISCHARGE OUR DUTIES TO THE STATE THOUGH WE MAY NOT APPROVE OF THE GOVERNMENT. To be in opposition is no excuse for being in sedition. Unless we can change the government it is foolish and wrong to revolt against it. The nation is larger than the government.
Jer 29:10
Seventy years.
I. SEVENTY YEARS ARE A LIMITED TIME. Babylon was to tyrannize for a limited period only; the Jews were to suffer for a limited period.
1. God has set a limit to the triumph of evil. The storm rages; yet God says to it, “Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further.” The lions roar, but they are chained. Wicked men fling the reins to their passions, break through all restraints of respect for the wilt of God and appear to be at liberty to work evil and revel in the fruits of sin ad libitum; but God has put bounds about their course. In due time he will lay his hand upon them and arrest them.
2. God has set a limit to the duration of trouble. The sorrow of God’s people is temporal; their blessedness will be eternal. Every trouble is weighed and measured by God. “Our times are in his hand.”
II. SEVENTY YEARS ARE A SHORT TIME IN THE HISTORY OF A NATION. The Captivity was to last for seventy years; prosperity had been enjoyed for hundreds of years before this, and would return and endure long after. The troublesome times are conspicuous, while the quiet times glide by unnoticed. Hence we are likely not to note how much more we have of the latter. History reads like a record of wars and commotions, because the happy but dull annals of prosperity do not contain many striking events. It is much the same in private life. For most of us the blessings greatly outnumber the troubles, the times of quiet far exceed those of distress. Yet it is difficult to recognize this, because what hurts us impresses our memory more than what pleases us.
III. SEVENTY YEARS ARE A LIFETIME. Few, if any, of the first captives would survive the exile. To the individual man it was as bad as if it were perpetual. Yet if they were true patriots the national hope must have been a great comfort in the darkness of personal suffering. And the patriotic hope of Israel was one of the grandest features in the Hebrew character. We are all too selfish in our hopes. Christians should consider the cause of Christ and the interest of humanity as of far more importance than their private prosperity. If in the end Christ will triumph, and the world will be lifted out of the sin and sorrow which have overwhelmed it, should not we rejoice, though our lot may not be to live till this is accomplished? Moses rejoiced in the Pisgah-view of the land he could never enter; Simeon was glad at seeing the infant Savior, and could depart in peace with the assurance of a redemption not yet accomplished. Still, the Christian may have a great personal hope beyond this. Seventy years!but a span compared with eternity! When these swift days have flown the door will be opened to the infinite ages of eternity. What if the little life be tempest-tossed? The voyage is short, the haven is near (2Co 4:17, 2Co 4:18).
Jer 29:11
God’s thoughts concerning us.
I. GOD THINKS. If God exists he must be a thinking being. To apply the name “God.” to a stream of tendencies, a collection of laws, the totality of being, etc; is to misapply it. Either God is personal or there is no God, for the conception of personality is essential to that of divinity. If God is a person he may be “without parts or passions.” The anthropomorphic ideas of repentance, wrath, etc; may be as much mere metaphorical images as those of the eyes and the hands of God; but thinking is essential to the nature of what we understand by a person, by a spiritual being. Unless God thinks, he is no spirit, no person.
II. GOD THINKS ABOUT US. As far as he is revealed to us in the Bible and in Christ, and as far as we may verify this revelation by experience, he is directly concerned with his works and his children. His thoughts are not to be imagined as only consisting of vast abstractions, infinite ideals. They may soar to lonely heights where no finite intellect can follow, but they can also stoop to humble concerns of human life. He is but an imperfect thinker who is so absorbed with philosophic speculation that he has no room in his mind to consider his family. The greatest thinker will be wide as well as lofty, able to take in small details in addition to grand abstractions, and, above all, wise to apply the highest thinking to the simplest practical necessity. It is a great comfort for us that God so thinks. With sublime ideas of eternity, and innumerable cares of the universe in his infinite mind, God has yet room for thoughts about us, and condescension to concern himself with them.
III. WHAT GOD THINKS ABOUT US IS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE TO US.
1. God thinks what is true and wise and good. If, therefore, we can know God’s thoughts about anything we shall see the thing in its true light. Our thoughts are blinded by prejudice, colored by passion, limited by ignorance, broken, fragmentary, perverted. God’s only are clear and perfect as truth.
2. God’s thoughts are the prelude to his actions. If we know what he thinks concerning us we know how he intends to act. God’s thinking is not the contemplation of the philosopher, it is the consideration of the king. We forget this when we are so very anxious about what the world will think of us and so very indifferent about God’s thoughts concerning us. A brave man will learn to dare the world’s misjudgment, its scorn, its condemnation. But who can face God’s thoughts if they mean evil to us?
IV. GOD THINKS THOUGHTS OF PEACE CONCERNING US. So Jeremiah saw in the case of the Jews; so we may see for all mankind how that Christ “has broken down the middle wall of partition between us.” Even when God finds it necessary to punish his desire is to bless, and when he chastises it is in mercy, that he may reclaim. But this is not seen at the time. There are things which prevent us from seeing that God’s thoughts are of peace. Thusthe peace is not yet enjoyed; when God chastises us it looks as though he meant evil to us, because we feel the blow before we see the good fruit of it; we cannot see God’s thoughts, and must accept them in faith, waiting for a later confirmation of experience. Yet if God does think thoughts of peace concerning us, is it necessary for us to know the exact nature of them? They are known to him if they are not known to us, and he can carry them out without any previous understanding of them on our part.
V. GOD S THOUGHTS OF PEACE WILL BE ULTIMATELY REALIZED. God promises that he will make “a future and a hope.” God’s best thoughts are not memories, but hopes, promises, intentions. The grandest page of revelation is prophecy. But though these thoughts refer to the future, we must not lose faith in their practical interest.
1. The realization is delayed by our fault, not by God’s will. He thinks, intends peace. But he is hindered from carrying out his intention by our conduct. He waits to be gracious. If, therefore, we prepare ourselves for the accomplishment of God’s thoughts, there is nothing further to prevent us from enjoying the peace they presage.
2. God is as great in power as he is wise and good in thought. He has bestowed upon us the noble but perilous faculty of free will, and we cannot measure the limits of this faculty. Yet we may rest assured that by some means the infinite God can and will ultimately accomplish all his great designs of peace for his children.
Jer 29:13
Seeking God with the whole heart.
I. GOD MUST BE FOUND BEFORE BE CAN BE KNOWN AND ENJOYED. “He is not far from each one of us: for in him we live, and move, and have our being.” Yet this natural nearness of God may be unrecognized by us, and may not be sufficient to bring us into the spiritual communion with him. The God of nature may be “the unknown God,” or he may be recognized and yet not enjoyed as the “Portion” of the soul.
1. Sin hides the vision of God, and drives the soul into remote spiritual banishment from God, even though it cannot affect his physical presence.
2. Our natural limitations of thought and experience surround the idea of the Divine with mystery, and make us feel that though God is partly known there are still ways of God that are far beyond our ken, so that we exclaim in bewilderment and distress, “Verily, thou art a God that hidest thyself!” (Isa 45:15).
II. TO BE FOUND, GOD MUST BE SEARCHED FOR WITH THE WHOLE HEART.
1. He must be searched for. God does discover himself to men unexpectedly, as to Hagar in the desert and to Moses on Horeb, though we may rest assured that even such exceptional revelations were made to souls whose habit it was to seek after him. Nevertheless before such experience, God draws near to those who do not seek him, to urge them to search and find him (Isa 65:1). He seeks us before we seek him. Our search is the response of our hearts to his invitation (Psa 27:8). But this search must be made. The promise of finding is attached to the condition of seeking (Mat 7:7). The prodigal must return to his father before he can receive the welcome home. Men are waiting for God to visit them, reveal himself to them, do something that will bring them back to him. They may wait forever, and in vain. God is waiting for us. It is our part to arise and seek him.
2. This search must be with all the heart. The reason why we are disappointed of the answers of our prayers is often that our prayers are so insincere, so cold, so half-hearted. It is reasonable to expect God, the all-seeing, to answer our prayers, not according to the vigor of the language, but according to the fervency of our desires. If we value the knowledge and communion of God aright, we shall seek him with all the heart:
(1) with the heart, i.e. sincerely, spiritually, inwardly, not with mere formal inquiries; and
(2) with the whole heart, i.e. with singleness of purpose, intensity, earnestness.
III. THE REWARD OF SEEKING GOD WITH ALL THE HEART WILL CONSIST IN FINDING HIM.
1. The search will be successful. God may not be found at first, or, being found, may not be recognized in the way expected. But Scripture and experience both testify to the utility and fruitfulness of the soul’s search after God. If we have not yet found, that may be because
(1) we have not sought with “all the heart;” or
(2) have not sought in the right way as far as our light and knowledge have indicated iti.e. humbly, penitently, and as Christians through Christ.
2. The success of the search will be its own reward. The finding of God is described as a blessing of the restoration. It will bring other and lower benefits in its train (Jer 29:14), but it is itself the greatest boon. “Blessed are they that seek God with all the heart, for they shall find him,”that is enough for a perfect beatitude. To find God is to find our light, our rest, our home. To know him is life eternal; to commune with him is the joy of heaven.
Jer 29:20-32
Shemaiah.
I. HIS ACTION.
1. He is irritated at the letter of Jeremiah. From Babylon he writes back in a rage. It is foolish to be thus angry with those who tell us unpleasant truths, but it is very common.
2. He describes Jeremiah as mad. People often depreciate the intelligence of those who differ from them. Weak men set down strong words to the excitement of the speaker because they have not the imagination or the nerve to receive them as true.
3. He urges the temple officials to arrest and punish Jeremiah. We have here another instance of the common effort to suppress those whom we are unable to answer.
II. HIS MORAL CONDUCT.
1. He usurps the name of a prophet, though he is not sent by God. His pretence to speak in the Name of God is unwarranted. A prophet is one who acts as God’s messenger, as an apostle is one who acts as the messenger of Christ. No man has a right to enter the ministry of Christ unless he is called to it, nor to speak as God’s ambassador unless he is convinced in his conscience that he is sent by God.
2. He deceives the Jews into “trusting in a lie.” It is not only that he falsely claims to be a prophet; his prophetic message is also false. Truth is sacred; to tamper with it is a sin, but to deceive others to their hurt increases the sin.
3. He instigates revolt against God. If it is wrong to utter a falsehood to serve a good end, it must be more wrong to do so with a bad intention. But all false religious teaching tends to induce disobedience to the will of God.
III. HIS DOOM.
1. He is to be punished. The evil that he discredits shall fall upon him. This is a severe but an appropriate punishment for a deceiving prophet.
2. His children are to share his doom. There is a great mystery in the hereditary character of punishment, and it is increased in some respects by the fact that tendencies to sin are also hereditary. But the fact is as clearly visible in nature as it is revealed in Scripture.
3. He is not to see the joy of the restoration. They who refuse wholesome chastisement cannot receive the happy fruits that follow it. It is natural and reasonable that the willful rejection of Divine warnings should be followed by a severe judgment.
HOMILIES BY A.F. MUIR
Jer 29:1-14
Duties and consolations of God’s captivity.
I. THEIR DUTIES The imposition of definite lines of conduct and policy upon the exiled, was one proof that they were not cast off; the promise of deliverance was another. Although amongst the heathen, they were not to be as the heathen; neither were they to be wholly given over to despair. As children of God they were to exhibit the virtues of:
1. Industry. (Jer 29:5.) Misanthropy and despair are the parents of idleness; Divine faith endues men with energy. The exiles had a testimony to bear before the heathen. It was a present duty to achieve an honest independence.
2. Domestic attachment. (Jer 29:6,) The family, with all its joys and responsibilities, is still to be cared for. If the present be forfeited the future is still capable of being redeemed. The new generations would reap the advantages of which the fathers had been deprived.
3. Public spirit. (Jer 29:7.) They were not to abstain from the duties of citizenship merely because they were amongst heathen conquerors. Even there they might exert an influence for good. The fundamental law of God’s kingdom is to seek the good of all men. Work faithfully rendered to the commonwealth would not be vain or without its reward. Even the heathen and the men of this world can appreciate good citizenship. That a distinctive work and testimony still remained to the Church as a Church, is no reason for neglecting those less direct and more general duties which so powerfully commend the religious profession that inculcates them.
4. Cheerfulness. This is not so much to be classified along with the preceding as to be understood as the spring and governing principle of them all. What more natural than a spirit of resentment under the circumstances? How easy to hang the harp on the willows! But this would only be to misunderstand God and thwart his purposes. He seeks the happiness and prosperity of his peopleeven here and now, and notwithstanding the discipline to which he may be subjecting them. Not resignation merely, but cheerful acquiescence and Co-operation, are, therefore, to be expected of his people. “I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it.”
II. THEIR CONSOLATIONS. These were partly to consist in the natural results of the course of conduct enjoined, or the happiness inseparably associated with the observance of it; but chiefly in the anticipation of the future.
1. A definite term was set to their captivity. (Jer 29:10.) It was one that could easily be verified, and was not too far distant to extinguish hope. Some of those who as children were taken to Babylon, might in their old age return to the land of promise. There is measure as well as meaning in all God’s discipline. He never imposes upon his people a burden greater than they can bear. The darkest night is illumined by light beyond. When the sorrow, their sorrow is not without hope.
2. The present was linked with the future. They might be comforted in the fulfillment of their daily tasks by the knowledge that everything done in obedience to God and the spirit of true benevolence would have its influence upon the promised deliverance. At the very worst, what was done in this disposition would not retard that event or rob it of its fullness of blessing. In like manner the children of God are assured that this earthly life is but a “sojourning,” and that “all things work together for good.” This life will have an immense influence upon the complexion of the next. The duties of every day are therefore to be attended to in the full conviction of their absolute worth and avail in the sight of God. They have the promise not only of the life which now is, but of that which is to come.
3. Spiritual blessings were promised. (Jer 29:11-14.) The good will and faithfulness of God; the restoration of religious communion; the gathering and reconstitution of the theocracy.M.
Jer 29:12-14
Signs that God’s favor is restored.
I. WHAT HE DOES IN HIS PEOPLE.
1. In turning their hearts to himself. They had been worshipping Baal and the gods of heathendom. Only now and then did they offer a haft-hearted worship to Jehovah. The idolatries that pandered to their lusts were uppermost in their thoughts, and it was only occasionally, in seasons of desperate need, they bethought themselves of Jehovah. Now he was to assume a higher place in their regard. Their views of life, its purposes and destinies, would be elevated, and he would become their chief desire. The new err of favor and happiness would be distinguished by intense personal love for God. In Nehemiah’s day a measure of spiritual affection like this showed itself, but it could only be fully developed through the personal manifestation of Christ, who was to draw all men unto him.
2. In pouring forth the spirit of true prayer. Where the heart’s affections go forth towards God the spirit of true prayer commences. It is that which cries within us, “Abba, Father,” which is the spirit of prayer and supplications. It has been supposed that the first clause of verse 12 refers to private and the second to public prayer. The habit and delight of devotion were to be restored. Where these are there is already the earnest of all substantial and eternal good. Pentecost was prefaced and penetrated with prayer.
II. WHAT HE DOES FOR HIS PEOPLE.
1. In revealing himself. They who seek for him with their whole heart will find him. The veil will be withdrawn, and calamity, understood as fatherly chastisement, patiently borne. In the subsequent history of Israel this was largely experienced; but the fullness of the spiritual meaning of the promise was only realized in Christ and the outpourings of his Spirit.
2. He will hearken to their petitions. The sense of acceptance will come, even in the midst of captivity. Faithful hearts will fill with presage of coming deliverance, and prayer will not only be effectual but be felt to be so. It is in this exercise the true relationship of God and his people becomes evident, and the blessings of a present and ultimate redemption are secured. There can be no more marked proof of God’s favor towards any one than answers to his prayers.
3. He will bring back to the Promised Land and the privilege of covenant relationship. That is a matter of course, seeing he already hears them. And yet nonetheless imposing will their redemption be. How complete the restoration! how miraculous! Its supernatural character is to be as evident as that of their dispersion. That which under anomalous circumstances has been a difficult, unauthorized, or intermittent exercise will become easy, honorable, and constant, as they will return to their own land, where every man will sit under his own vine and fig tree, none daring to make him afraid. In the case of the Christian this promise will be fulfilled in either the gradual conquest of the world by the Church, or entrance into heaven. But there is a foretaste of this in the self-conquest and perfected spiritual life of the regenerate soul.M.
Jer 29:20-32
The punishment of false prophets.
The opposition between Jeremiah and the false prophets is one of the most interesting phenomena of the period to which these prophecies belong. It is a real battle, albeit not with earthly weapons. The question between them could not be suffered to remain doubtful, as it involved immense consequences. A striking correspondence is discovered in the antagonism to the labors of the apostles. There is the same barefaced, fearless lying and dishonesty, the same terrible denunciation of judgment. (We are reminded of the sentence on Simon Magus, “Thy silver perish with thee,” etc; Act 8:20-24; and the reply to Ananias, the high priest, “God shall smite thee, thou whited wall,” Act 23:3.) How is the latter to be regarded? Evidently as the word of God through his true servants, and not as the expression of vindictive feeling. In regard to this punishment notice
I. ITS NATURE. It had direct reference to that concerning which they spoke. From the future they had denied they were to be cut off. In the case of Ahab and Zedekiah the instrumentality of man is indirectly employed; in that of Shemaiah it is brought about by what we might regard as natural causes. In both instances the penalty was:
1. Exceptionally were. The fate of the lying prophets, even apart from its associated consequences in the eternal sphere, was tragic in the extreme, and presents hardly an element of hope. Ahab and his companion are subjected to a fearful death and an eternity of shame in Israel. Shemaiah is consigned to effacement and deprived both as regards himself and his posterity, of the promised blessings.
2. Exemplary. Unmistakably these men were but the leaders of many of like mind, and it was intended they should be marked out for signal retribution. Their fate would appeal to the imagination and spiritual feeling of their people, and in either case it corresponded closely with the peculiarity of their conduct. In their heathen exile they were to be taught that God’s hand could still reach them and that an exact justice waited upon their actions. Ahab and Zedekiah so lived that even a heathen monarch had to make them examples.
3. Graduated according to heinousness of offence.
II. ITS JUSTIFICATION.
1. The opposition to God‘s truth was necessarily direct and malicious, Nothing could well be more consciously wicked than their whole behavior. It occurred at a critical period, when great destinies were determined. The prophet of God was thereby discredited and hindered, and the people prevented from receiving and acting upon his message. In every season of critical consequence and great spiritual activity such manifestations occur. Merely to overcome them is not sufficient. The victory must be signal and conspicuous.
2. The offense was one to which God himself is ever most sensitive. It affected his character and prerogatives, and was therefore nothing else than blasphemy (cf. Mat 12:32. “Even I know, and am a witness, saith the Lord,” Mat 12:23).
3. The interests of truth required the penalty. The people had to be overawed by the presence of the supernatural; their obedience had to be won to the direction of the true prophet, and the spiritual ends of the Captivity were thus to be secured. A moral demonstration like this was requisite, and enables the human mind more completely to realize the Divine conceptions of righteousness and truth.M.
HOMILIES BY J. WAITE
Jer 29:4-7
God’s message to the captives.
There is an encouraging tone in this Divine message to the captives in Babylon that must have been strikingly fitted to call forth every better element of thought and feeling within them. They were not, indeed, to dream of deliverance. The appointed time must run its course. The generation then in their prime could not hope ever to see their own land again. But their children should. Their wisdom, therefore, lay in making the best of their condition, and nourishing, as far as possible, the resources and the strength of their family life. Let them build, and plant, and marry, and enjoy the good of that strange land as if it were their own. Let them sow, though it be with many tears, for the better and happier future. Let them so live as to commend themselves to the good will of their conquerors, that even “their enemies may be at peace with them,” identifying themselves with the interests of the place of their captivity, seeking by their prayer to bring down blessings upon it from above, seeing that in its well-being and peace they would find their own. This is strictly in harmony with the general Divine purpose as to the relation in which the Jews should stand towards other nations. They were called to be a separate and peculiar people only that they might the better be instruments of blessing to the world. The Captivity was not merely a punishment for their sins, but a part of the method by which God taught them to fulfill their mission. Important lessons are suggested respecting the relation the people of God should always maintain towards the world in which he has placed them. Note
I. THE FREE USE IT IS PERMITTED THEM TO HAVE OF THIS WORLD‘S GOOD. “Build ye houses, and dwell in them,” etc. In being carried beyond the bounds of Israel these captives were not passing beyond the domain of Israel’s God. He is the “Lord of the whole earth.” And whether in Jerusalem or in Babylon, all resources, all materials, all power to labor, and all products of labor, are his. Shall not the children of the heavenly Father make themselves, at home” in their Father’s world, free to use and to enjoy whatever good he puts within their reach? Remember St. Paul’s counsel to the Corinthians, “Whatsoever is sold in the shambles,” etc. (1Co 10:25, 1Co 10:26). All natural good has the stamp of God’s ownership upon it. Whatever, therefore, comes to you in the honorable commerce of life do not shrink from it or refuse it. It is yours to enjoy because he made it; it is yours because it is his. The freedom of the earth is given to his true children. There is a sense in which it may be said of all outward good that they who know best how to use it aright have most right to its use. There is no “possession” of these things like that which springs from spiritual affinity and sympathy with him who gave them, and from the power to discern and appreciate their inner meaning. There is no “right” like that of Divine sonship. “All things are yours,” etc. (1Co 3:21-23). We dishonor our Christian faith when we move about in the world timidly Or gloomily, as if we had no right to live in it, or as if it were a mere “house of bondage;” hedged in on all sides with painful restrictions, bound with fetters of restraint; afraid to share with a free, hearty, childlike gladness any of its innocent delights. If this is “Emmanuel‘s land,” have we not the range of all its delectable mountains? Is it a world that our Father’s hand has made and filled with the tokens of his beneficence, and that has been trodden by the feet of the great Redeemer, and shall we throw over it the shadow of our discontent or fear (Neh 8:10; Ecc 9:7; 1Ti 4:4, 1Ti 4:5)?
II. THE IDENTITY OF INTEREST SUBSISTING BETWEEN THEE AND THE WORLD. “Seek the peace of the city,” etc. Captives and bondmen as these Jews were, they were nevertheless involved in all that affected the welfare of the Babylonian state. The administration of its affairs for good or ill, for peace or war, must needs be a matter of great interest to them, since they would so largely share the consequences. (See illustrations in Joseph and his brethren, Daniel and the three Hebrew youths, Esther and Mordecai, etc.) The citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem have also an earthly citizenship to maintain, the bonds of which are not broken through their being raised spiritually to a higher level than that of the worldly life around them. Rather are those bonds correspondingly raised and made more sacred and binding. Their Christian faith elevates the character of their earthly citizenship, invests it with a new dignity, attaches to it higher and diviner sanctions. “In the peace thereof shall ye have peace.” All parts of the social system are so linked together by a law of mutual dependence and influence that the well-being of one is, in a measure, the well-being of all. “The eye cannot say to the hand,” etc.; “Whether one member suffer,” etc. We are all personally affected for good or ill by the political order and the general tone of the moral life around us. There are deep rankling wounds in the body politicignorance, drunkenness, roving beggary, domestic vice and violence, the systematic training of the young in crime, the oppression of the hireling in his wages, etc.which it is to the interest of us all most earnestly to seek to heal. No class of the community can escape the ill effect of these things, and religion does but bring us into the deeper sympathy with those who most suffer by such forms of wrong.
III. THEIR RESPONSIBILITY TO LIVE FOR THE WORLD‘S HIGHEST BENEFIT, “Seek the peace of the city and pray to the Lord for it.” Real peace is the fruit of righteousness. There can be none while the Divine order is violated and the Divine will set at naught. The gospel is in every way God’s message of peace to the world. The Church is called to be the “light of the world” and the” salt of the earth,” as a witness for God’s truth and righteousness. The Christian philanthropist alone has in his hands a thorough cure for the diseases and wounds of our humanity; and of all the weapons he can wield in his conflict with them, none so mighty as prayer, inasmuch as that unseals the fount of all blessing, and brings down from heaven the healing, saving power. Well may a Christian apostle enlarge and emphasize the old prophetic message, saying, “I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings, be made for all men,” etc. (1Ti 2:1-4).W.
Jer 29:11
Thoughts of peace.
Such is the consoling word that God sends to his “banished ones” in their affliction. He bids his servant “speak comfortably” to them, even now that their “warfare” is only beginning, and they are having their first taste of the bitterness of exile. Blending with the lamentations of the weeping captives as they “hung their harps on the willows by the waters of Babylon,” we can imagine that this gracious word would have a more salutary effect upon them than the living voice of the prophet ever had. What message has it for us?
I. THE MIND OF GOD IS A PROFOUND MYSTERY TO US, BUT HE KNOWS HIS OWN COUNSELS.
1. God has his “thoughts,” even as we have ours. We believe in a God who is no mere philosophic abstraction, but a living, personal being, of whose infinite intelligence ours is but the dim and distant reflection.
2. His thoughts are immeasurably higher than ours. “As the heavens are higher than the earth,” etc. (Isa 55:9). We cannot solve the mystery or trace the course of our own mental processes, and how should we be able to comprehend his? Our minds, with all their utmost range and activity, move but upon the outskirts of the glorious realm of the infinite and eternal thought of God.
3. His thoughts are all conformed to the eternal truth of things. Indeed, they are themselves the eternal truth of things. For what are all created existencesmaterial and spiritual, all laws, forces, etc; but embodiments and reflections of the “thoughts“ of God? And whatever his purposes maybe they are not variable; they partake of the immutability of his essential nature. “The counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations” (Psa 33:11).
II. GOD‘S WAYS OF DEALING WITH US ARE OFTEN PERPLEXING, BUT A GRACIOUS PURPOSE GOVERNS ALL. “Thoughts of peace and not of evil.” He concealed within his darkest providences.
1. The constitution of the universe, in spite of all its discords, bears abundant witness to the benign spirit that inspires it. We have no sympathy with that gloomy and morbid view of it according to which, for aught that appears, it might have been fashioned by some spirit of cruelty and hate. True as it may be that “the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together,” there is proof enough that “God’s tender mercies are over all his works.”
2. The Bible has its anomalies, but it is the unfolding of a redemptive purpose. The revelation of God’s mercy towards a guilty, ruined world in the person of the Christ is the key to all its historic dispensations. As every chastisement inflicted on the Jewish people had some gracious design in it as regards themselves, so the whole course of their national life and ecclesiastical polity played its part in the development of that world-wide plan. And through all the changes and storms and conflicts that may yet be in store for the Church and the world, Scripture keeps alive the blessed hope of the future. The prophetic word is “as a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day-star arise in our hearts” (2Pe 1:19).
3. The saddest experiences in our personal life have their beneficent Divine intent. Every cloud has its “silver lining.” Our keenest sorrows often prove to be “celestial benedictions in a dark disguise.” God’s “thought of peace” is at the heart of all our earthly tribulations (Heb 12:6-11).
III. THE ISSUE ALWAYS JUSTIFIES GOD‘S THOUGHTS AND WAYS. The “expected end,” when it comes, never fails to solve the mystery of the path that led to it. The gracious purpose, hidden in the secrecy of the Eternal Mind, veiled under many forms of dark disguise, is then made manifest. God is his own Interpreter, and the day of his glorious self-vindication will surely come.
“His ways are lovethough they transcend
Our feeble range of sight,
They wind through darkness to their end
In everlasting light.”
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG
Jer 29:1-7
The letter to the captives.
Notice the mention of those who bore this letter. We may conclude they were not mere messengers having no interest in the message they conveyed, but those who themselves would have much to say over and above what was written.
I. GOD‘S CONSIDERATION FOR HIS PEOPLE IN THEIR CAPTIVITY. He not only means to bring that captivity to an end in his own time, but while it lasts it is to be made as little like captivity as possible. It was not enough that he should leave the nation in Babylon till the time of his chastisement expired. While they remained there, they were to have the largest opportunities compatible with the circumstances in which he had found it necessary to place them. And so when the circumstances of any life are untoward, when perhaps we have made them so by our own folly, God shows his solicitude that we should nevertheless have peace in our own hearts, and such ample guidance as may turn even the untoward into the helpful. God will not banish circumstances merely because we find them hard; but this we may always be sure of, that he will enable us to make the very best of them.
II. GOD‘S ASSERTION OF HIS PART IN BRINGING THIS CAPTIVITY ABOUT. He had caused his people to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon. The place of their present abode was by his arrangement. It was their own fault as a nation that they had had to leave Jerusalem; but it was in God’s own wisdom that they were planted in Babylon rather than another place. Clearly to perceive that the omnipotent God was disposing their outward relations, would enable them to listen all the more attentively to what instructions he had to give them for making the best of their present circumstances.
III. GOD‘S PLAN FOR THE PROFIT AND COMFORT OF THE PRESENT GENERATION. The people are plainly told that they are to be there for seventy years. No energy of their own can get them away a year sooner; and no might of their captors can keep them a year later. Hence it is the true wisdom to accept the divinely settled position. No man among them was to neglect the possibilities of his brief temporal life by reason of a baseless expectation that he might soon return to his own land. He might indeed say,” If I show signs of settling down here, I shall be reckoned a very poor patriot.” And so over against all temptations to restlessness and utter waste of existence there is this explicit direction from Jehovah. If any Israelites lives a wasted life in Babylon it will be his own fault. So to speak, God makes Babylon, for the time, a sort of substitute for the promised land. If the Israelite has only sufficient of the spirit of true faith and obedience in him, he may make even the land of captivity a place of blessing. For the nation Babylon was a mere place of sojourning, but for the individual it was to be his chief abode on earth. Hence the loving-kindness of God is manifest in telling him he might build a house and make a home and plant fields, thus settling down to a useful and cheerful life.
IV. GOD‘S WILL WITH REGARD TO THE RELATIONS BETWEEN ISRAEL AND BABYLON. Israel was to seek the peace of Babylon. It was to support everything that promoted peace and security. Naturally Israel would expect to find its chance in the difficulties of Babylon. If any formidable foe threatened the country, or the equal danger of civil war, it might only too easily seem to Israel that this would give the chance for liberty. But so far from this being really the case, God assures his people that Babylon’s peace is their peace. This sets before us a principle of action which Christian people cannot too diligently observe. While it is true that we are not of this world, but must constantly rise superior to its habits and maxims, yet at the same time we cannot do too much to maintain the stability of governments and the public order of the land in which we live. While Christ would have us turn away from the cant of what is called patriotism, he would also have us to abhor everything that tends to anarchy. While the Spirit of God promotes the highest individuality, he also promotes the greatest order (1Ti 2:1-4).Y.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Jer 29:1. Now these are the words Neither the year nor the cause of this deputation are precisely known; but it is thought to have been at the beginning of Zedekiah’s reign. By the residue of elders some understand the remnant of the members of the sanhedrin, carried away captive in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, many of whom died of the hardships which they suffered in their transportation. Houbigant however, not content with this interpretation, renders it, unto the principal elders. By the prophets, the Chaldee understands the scribes or doctors of the law; while others think that Ezekiel, Daniel, and other prophets of the captivity, may be meant.
Jer 29:5-7. Build ye houses, and dwell in them The prophet gives them this advice to check their hopes of a speedy return from Babylon, with which they had been flattered by the false prophets; and the advice is remarkable; teaching us in what manner we ought to live among foreign powers, and how we ought to consider those whom Providence has placed over us. See Bar 1:11-12. 1Ti 2:1-2.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
3. THE CONFLICT OF JEREMIAH WITH THE FALSE PROPHETS IN BABYLON
Jeremiah 29
1. The Letter to the Exiles
Jer 29:1-23
1Now 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 carried 2away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon (after that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters 3and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem); By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah (whom Zedekiah the king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon), saying,
4Thus saith the Lord of hosts [Jehovah Zebaoth], the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem 5unto Babylon: Build ye houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat the 6fruit of them; 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 7daughters; that ye may be increased there and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray unto the Lord [Jehovah] for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
8For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your 9dreams which ye cause to be dreamed1 For they prophesy falsely unto you in my 10name: I have not sent them, saith the Lord. For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good 11word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give 12you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, 13and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall 14search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity,2 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. 15, 16Because3 ye have said, The Lord hath raised us up prophets in Babylon; Know that thus saith the Lord of4 the king that sitteth upon the throne5 of David, and of all the people that dwelleth in the city, and of your brethren that are not gone 17forth with you into captivity; Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile6 18figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. And I will persecute them with the sword, with the 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 19hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them: Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord, which I sent7 unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the Lord [Jehovah].
20Hear ye therefore the word of the Lord, all ye of the captivity, whom I have 21sent from Jerusalem to Babylon: 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, 22king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes; 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,8 whom the king of Babylon roasted 23in the fire; Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them: even I know9 and am a witness, saith the Lord.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Jeremiah did not limit himself to contending against the perverse nationalism of the Jews in their own home, for those who had already been carried away captive were in constant communication with home, and the accounts of the views and expectations prevailing among the former at all events influenced the conclusions of the latter. If they adapted themselves to their state of exile and described it as tolerable, when they saw its inevitable necessity, and admonished their countrymen to bow to this necessity, this was at any rate a powerful auxiliary to Jeremiahs preaching. Hence Jeremiah seeks to move the captives to humble submission to their lot, presenting before them on the one hand the true consolation of a deliverance to be hoped for after seventy years, and on the other hand most emphatically warning them against the false consolation of a deliverance in a shorter period, which the false prophets set before them. Jeremiah thus avails himself of the opportunity afforded by an embassy, despatched by Zedekiah to Babylon (Jer 29:3), to send a letter to those who had been already deported. We know nothing further either of the object of the embassy or of the persons of the ambassadors. As to the time of the composition and despatch of the letter Hitzig has correctly remarked that all the data we have point to the period between the first and the fourth years of Zedekiah. The deportation under Jeconiah had taken place (Jer 29:1-2). The deportation appears to be that event on which the sending of the letter leans; there seems to be nothing more important as the occasion of it. Add to this that the counsel which. Jeremiah gives suits the commencement of the exile. How are the exiles to arrange matters? Are they to compose themselves for a brief or lengthened sojourn? Jeremiah tells them they are to do the latter. It is incredible that he delayed this advice for years, the more so since of the seventy years of exile, for those who were carried away with Jeconiah, eight were already past. Besides this, it is not probable that Zedekiah in his fourth year, when he himself went to Babylon (Jer 51:59), would send an embassy thither. I therefore agree with Hitzig, who ascribes the epistle to the first or second year after the deportation. The vision, of which Jeremiah 24 relates, must have preceded this letter, not only because from its purport it must have followed immediately after the deportation of Jeconiah, while our letter presupposes the arrival of the captives in Babylon, but also because in several places in the letter reference is made to it (comp. Jer 29:10 with Jer 24:6; Jer 29:17 with Jer 24:2; Jer 24:8; Jer 29:18 with Jer 24:9).It is true many commentators regard Jer 29:16-20 as inauthentic, but incorrectly as we shall see.The question, whether we have a true copy of the letter or only a later reproduction, or account of it, is variously answered. The last view has in its favor: 1. that the writing has not the form of a letter; 2. the apparently unconnected position of Jer 29:15-20. But what is the Hebrew form of a letter? From the few examples which the Old Testament affords (comp. 2Sa 11:14; 1Ki 21:8; 2Ki 10:1-6; 2Ch 30:6; Ezr 4:8; Neh 6:5), we cannot derive any set form, and as to the absence of connection we shall hereafter show (on Jer 29:15 sqq.) that such an absence does not exist. I find therefore no reason for doubting the agreement of our letter with the original. It contains four parts: 1. Jer 29:4-7, the positive command to arrange for a longer sojourn in Babylon; 2. Warning against being deceived by the false prophets, since Jehovah promises deliverance and return only after seventy years; 3. Jer 29:15-20, Warning against trusting in the false prophets, especially in reference to that part of the people which had remained in Jerusalem, since it is devoted to destruction; 4. Jer 29:21-23, prediction of the severe punishment of two false prophets.
Jer 29:1-7. Now these are the words shall ye have peace. After the words of historical introduction, which give information concerning the receivers and bearers of the letter, follows the first part of the letter (Jer 29:4-7). As the command of God (Jer 29:4), Jeremiah proclaims to the exiles that they should build houses and lay out gardens (Jer 29:5), marry and give their children in marriage (Jer 29:6), and seek the welfare of the place assigned them as a residence as a condition of their own (Jer 29:7). Hitzig regards Jer 29:1-3 as showing traces of a later hand in the abbreviated forms of the names, the mention of Nebuchadnezzar, which name is omitted by the LXX., and in the remark that Jeremiah was a prophet. But comp. on the other hand Graf, S. 342 sqq.The residue of the elders. The explanation of Hitzig and Graf that these were the elders who were not at the same time priests or prophets, cannot possibly be correct. For then this phrase must have come after, since those priests and prophets who were not elders, can be no others than those straightway mentioned. The supposition that the deceased elders must have been already replaced by others, so that the council of elders could not appear to the prophet as merely a residue, is unfounded. How could Jeremiah assume an organized community, when in his letter he exhorts them to enter into such relations. He will of course address those elders only who are alive.Does the date in Jer 29:2 refer to sent or carried away? Manifestly to the latter, for if referred to sent it would declare that Jeremiah wrote immediately after the surrender, which is not to be imagined. The sentence after that, etc., is therefore to be referred to carried away and the sense is: which Nebuchadnezzar carried away after that, in accordance with the required condition, Jehoiachin, with those afterwards named, surrendered himself. For is used of the surrendering of besieged persons (2Ki 24:12 sqq.; 1Sa 11:3; 1Sa 11:10; 1Ki 20:31; Isa 36:16; Jer 21:9; Jer 38:2; Jer 38:21).The queen. Comp. Jer 13:18; 2Ki 24:8; 2Ki 24:12; 2Ki 24:15.The eunuchs, the princes. The two terms appear to be in apposition, but the princes of Judah were certainly not eunuchs. Either then is to be taken in the sense of chamberlain, courtier (of which use there is certain proof. Comp. 2Ki 24:14-15. Gesen. Thes., p. 973), or else , and, is wanting before , princes.On carpenters, etc., comp. rems. on Jer 24:1.The Lord designates the captives as carried away by him: Jer 29:4; Jer 29:7; Jer 29:14; Jer 29:20.Increased there. This ancient theocratic blessing (Gen 13:16; Gen 15:5; Gen 17:2; Jer 3:16; Jer 3:19) is thus to be preserved to the people even in captivity.
Jer 29:8-14. For thus carried away captive. The direction in Jer 29:5-7 is given by the prophet for two reasons, a negative and a positive. The negative reason is, the expectation of a speedy liberation, which false prophets seek to produce in the people and which is an illusion of their own dreams, a nonentity, by which they are not to allow themselves to be deceived (Jer 29:8-9). The positive reason is that not till after seventy years will the Lord verify His promise of grace. Then will the people call upon their God and seek Him, and He will hear and be found of them and turn away their captivity and bring them home from all the places where they have been dispersed (Jer 29:10-14).
Jer 29:10. Seventy years. Comp. Jer 25:11. The prophet does not calculate from the present, but he has in mind the absolute period of duration appointed to the Babylonian empire. Observe also, that he does not say: when the years of your exile are ended. The seventy years represent primarily the years of the Babylonian empire and only secondarily those of the captivity. The more justified are we in dating the seventy years from the siege of Carchemish. It should further be observed that the prophet opposes the arbitrary unfounded thesis of the false prophets, not in a harsh and severe but mild and consolatory antithesis, in which even the severest point, the seventy years duration of the exile, is expressed in the most forbearing manner. The Lord evidently wishes to soften and win their hearts, which had been rendered obstinate by false consolation, by presenting the true. Hence also the gracious thoughts of Jer 29:11. I still know my thoughts, says the Lord, i. e. I have not forgotten them or let them pass from my view. corresponds to our English future (to have a future, etc.). Comp. Pro 23:18; Pro 24:14; Pro 24:20; Psa 37:37; Jer 31:17. The Lord, however, sets before the people not merely a future of outward prosperity, but above all a future of internal welfare, without which the former would be altogether inconceivable.Ye shall go (), Jer 29:12, is best taken of going to a place of worship. So that ye shall call and and pray are distinguished as private and public worship (comp. 1Ki 8:20; 1Ki 8:29-30; 1Ki 8:35, etc.). If the sentences of Jer 29:13 and I will be found of you, Jer 29:14, are not tautological, we must regard them as two sentences with two clauses each, the second forming the basis of the former; is not when but for, or because: ye will seek me and find me; because ye shall seek me with all your heart, I will be found of you.Turn away your captivity. The expression is rooted in Deut. (Jer 30:3), as generally in our whole passage this chapter hovered before the mind of the prophet. The expression is found with special frequency in Jeremiah, and chiefly in chs. 3033 and 4849. To turn the captivity stands, however, for restitutio in integrum generally (Job 42:10; Jer 30:18). The return from exile was only a weak beginning of the fulfilment of our prophecy. Comp. rems. on Jer 3:12 sqq.
Jer 29:15-19. Because ye have said saith Jehovah. Not only has Jer 29:15 been declared to be transposed hither from its first place, but the whole passage, Jer 29:16-20, has been pronounced spurious (Hitzig), which is thought to be the more justified, because the passage is wanting in the LXX. It seems to me that two things have been overlooked here. 1. Jerusalem with its remaining population and the theocratic king at their head naturally still continued to the exiles to be the sun of their happiness and their hope. So long as Jerusalem and the temple were standing, the main foundation of the theocracy was unshaken and the hope existed that the present temporary adversity might be followed any moment by a turn for the better. Hence also the prophecies of the false prophets dwelt above all on the continuance of Jerusalem. Even the present misfortune, the partial deportation of the people and the sacred vessels, although they had not predicted it, they could explain as a mere episode, which did not refute the main tenor of their promises, so long as Jerusalem and the temple were standing, and there were people in Jerusalem. Hence Jeremiah takes away the ground from under the feet of those false prophets, by predicting in Jer 29:16-20 the total destruction of the present population of Jerusalem, together with their king. We are not then to say that these words, Jer 29:16-20, apply to the population of Jerusalem. They certainly do so, but only secondarily. Primarily they are to overthrow the basis on which the false prophets of the captivity are standing. I can then regard the words only as necessary parts of the genuine letter, written by Jeremiah to the exiles, and cannot assume with Graf that we have in this chapter only a report of the letter. 2. In its grammatical relations the in the beginning of Jer 29:16 has given the greatest trouble to the commentators. They have taken it mostly in the causal signification, which it certainly usually has in this formula, which however affords no sense, whether we connect Jer 29:16 with Jer 29:15 or Jer 29:14. It is here rather the pleonastic which so frequently introduces a direct statement. We have had it already in Jer 29:10. Comp. Jer 2:35; Jer 22:22; and Textual Note.Hath raised, etc. Jeremiah supposes a reply to Jer 29:8-9. You despise our prophets; we however assure you that Jehovah raises up prophets not only in Jerusalem, but He has extended the inspiring influence of His Spirit even to Babylon. Hence the local form .The sword. Comp. Jer 9:15; Jer 24:10; Jer 27:8; Jer 27:13.Figs. The prophet has Jer 24:2 in view. That the exiles were acquainted with the vision in Jeremiah 24 is possible but not necessary. This passage is intelligible to those who had no knowledge of Jeremiah 24Ye would not hear. The 2 pers. plur. proceeds doubtless simply from the circumstance that the prophet quotes entire a frequent saying there: Jer 7:13; Jer 25:3-4; Jer 25:7-8; Jer 26:5. On Jer 29:20 comp. Jer 24:5.
Jer 29:20-23. Hear ye therefore witness, saith Jehovah. In conclusion the prophet predicts the punishment of two of those false prophets for their presumption and blasphemy generally by a terrible death. Nothing further is known of this Ahab and Zedekiah.Slay them. It is very natural to suppose that Nebuchadnezzar feared the exciting preaching of such prophets and that he wished to terrify others by inflicting death in a terrible manner.
Jer 29:22 a. Comp. Jer 24:9; Jer 25:18; Jer 26:6 coll. Isa 65:15.Roasted. Comp. Dan 3:6.Villany, () a deed of shame, facinus rationi legique divin repugnans (Fuerst). Comp. Gen 34:7; Deu 22:21; Jos 7:15.The Lord calls Himself a knower and witness, because He not only knows the truth, but brings it also to light. Comp. Mal 3:5. Lev 5:1 may in general have been hovering before the mind of the prophet.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Jer 26:3. [See how God waits to be gracious, waits till we are duly qualified, till we are fit for Him to be gracious to, and in the meantime tries a variety of methods to bring us to be so. HenryS. R. A.]
2. On Jer 26:6. Deus nulli loco prcise alligatus est ita, ut ecclesiam suam et doctrinam clestem inde dimovere nequeat propter hominum ingratitudinem. Vehementer igitur errant Romanenses, dum ex auctoritate urbis Rom su ecclesi ac religionis auctoritatem evincere satagunt. Multo rectius Hieronymus in hoc memorabili dicto, quod etiam allegatur in Jure Canon. Dist. Jeremiah 19 : Non facile est stare loco Pauli et tenere gradum Petri cum Christo regnantium. Non enim Sanctorum filii sunt, qui tenent loca Sanctorum, sed qui exercent opera eorum. Frster.
3. On Jer 26:8 sqq. Scarcely has Jeremiah done speaking than they take him to task, and threaten his life. What does Jeremiah do? Instead of vindicating himself he says: Reform your life, and hearken to the voice of the Lord, and it will be better for you, Jer 26:13. You do not wish me to thunder away at you; reform then and I can let it alone. This preaching was seasonable, and produced an admirable effect. The priests and elders contradicted the priests, the parrhesia [free-spokenness, Act 4:13] of the man filled them with astonishment. He is not worthy of death, Jer 26:16. A brief illustration of the saying We need not our senses lose, when our enemies accuse. Jeremiah has to thank his honesty for this presence of mind, his profound meditation, his constrained calling, the necessity, the ardor, which urged him to preach, for no personal inclination had any share in it. I know in more recent times a man, who has unaffectedly practised Jeremiahs behavior, a pastor, a teacher, I might say a prophet of many thousand people. Whenever he had to vindicate himself (which happened now and then) he preached, he repeated to the commissioners the very things of which he was accused, confessed and denied not, but pressed them on their hearts, and showed aliud agendo his innocence, his mind, his steadfastness, and all at the same time so plainly that they always returned with full conviction and knew not whether they had gone forth to see a prophet or were sent to examine a culprit? Never man, they said, spake like this man. That cannot be counterfeited. One must be just as full of the matter, as absorbed in the subject, as pressed at heart, kindled with the same ardor in order to explain himself with the same indifference, repose and plainness, when there is a knife at his throat. Zinzendorf.
4. On Jer 26:12 sqq. Si injuriam deposueris penes Deum, ultor est; si damnum, restitutor est; si dolorem, medicus est; si mortem, resuscitator est. Tertullian. [Those that persecute Gods ministers hurt not them so much as themselves. Henry.S. R. A.]
5. On Jer 26:7-8; Jer 26:11; Jer 26:16. Auctores persecutionis plerumque esse solent ii, qui in ordine ecclesiastico eminent. Frster. Especially are the priests and men-pleasing prophets mad with Jeremiah, for if he is right they have lied. Diedrich.
6. On Jer 26:18 [By this it appears that a man may be a true prophet of the Lord and yet may prophesy the destruction of Zion and Jerusalem. When we threaten secure sinners with the taking away of the Spirit of God, and declining churches with the removal of the candle-stick, we say no more than what has been said many a time, and what we have warrant from the word of God to say. Henry.S. R. A.]
7. On Jer 26:20 sqq. Urias, a true prophet, preached like Jeremiah, therefore the king wished to kill him, so he fled to Egypt but could not escape. Jeremiah did not flee and was spared Our running and anxiety are of no use. The wickedness of the world must for its judgment be displayed on Gods servants, and these must yield to it; but on whom it is to come first God has in His own hand; and we may spare ourselves all our care and flight. Diedrich. [Nothing more is known of Urijah than is here related; but this incident suggests that God mercifully strove with His people by the ministry of many prophets whom He sent, rising up early and sending them (Jer 26:5) whose names are written in the Book of Life and are canonized in Gods Martyrology, but do not appear in the pages of any earthly history. Wordsworth.S. R. A.]
8. On Jer 26:24. Monemur hic, Deum servis suis fidelibus subinde largiri quosdam patronos, ut Jeremi hic Achikamum et infra cap. 38 Ebedmelechum, Eli et prophetis Obadiam 1 Reg. 18, Luthero Electores Saxoni Fridericum sapientem, Johannem pium, Johannem-Fridericum constantem. Frster.
9. On Jer 27:2-11. Historical times are preceded by a long series of centuries which present themselves to us as altogether obscure or only in the dubious twilight of tradition. Accredited history also comprises only a relatively small portion of the human race, for the nations which are added as ciphers to the factors of history form the majority. A universal ruler in the biblical sense is not one whose dominion actually extends over the entire globefor there is none suchbut he who represents the leader in the concert of history. This part is here given to Nebuchadnezzar. Among all the universal monarchies that represented by him appears richest in noble capacity. It is therefore compared to the golden head of the image in Daniel 2. Comp. Auberlen, der Prophet Daniel, S. 41 sqq.
10. On Jer 27:5 sqq. [The things of the world are not the best things, for God often gives the largest share of them to bad men, that are rivals with him and rebels against him. Dominion is not founded in grace. Those that have not any colorable title to eternal happiness may yet have a justifiable title to their temporal good things. Henry.S. R. A.] Great lords sit indeed on high thrones, but not firmly, for they are only Gods vassals. And when they do not please Him and act accordingly, he can easily transfer the fief to another; Dan 2:21; Dan 4:14; Dan 4:22. Cramer.
11. On Jer 27:12. [The conduct of Jeremiah, counselling Zedekiah and Jerusalem to submit to Nebuchadnezzar, has been represented as an act of political prudence to be imitated by Statesmen and Ecclesiastics, who are thereby justified in making large concessions of national rights and national independence in times of public emergency (Stanley, Lect. 534).
But was it not rather one of religious duty?
God had revealed to the prophet that He had given the Nation into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, His servant, on account of their sins, and they must submit to Him as the Minister and Vicegerent of God. Wordsworth. Many might have prevented destroying providences by humbling themselves under humbling providences. It is better to take up a lighter cross in our way, than pull a heavier on our own head. Henry.S. R. A.]
12. On Jer 27:14. It is one sign of our depraved nature that we are more ready to believe lies than the truth. For when Jeremiah and his colleagues preached, no one believed. But no sooner did the false prophet come and open their mouths, than all their discourses must be spoken directly from heaven, and what they said, must pass current on earth (Psa 73:9). But not what Jeremiah said. Take for example our mother Eve; what God said was of no account, but what the serpent said was something purely excellent. Cramer.
13. On Jer 27:18. True prayer is a certain sign of Godliness and a fruit of faith and the Holy Ghost, which cries in our hearts: Abba, dear Father. Therefore he who cannot or will not pray is not a good Christian. Cramer.
14. On Jer 27:18. If they be prophets let them supplicate the Lord. This was the great demonstration of Elias, to which Jeremiah adheres. It is infallibly the case that a false teacher has no heart for the Saviour, and goes out of His way. A heretic, who has a heart to pray (and that too in secret) is certainly not far from the truth. Zinzendorf.
15. On Jer 27:22. [We are apt to set our clock before Gods dial, and then to quarrel because they do not agree, but the Lord is a God of judgment, and it is fit that we should wait for Him. Henry.S. R. A.]
16. On Jer 28:1 sqq. Wherever the dear lord builds His church, the devil has a chapel near by. Cramer. This Hananiah (comp. Jer 28:2; Jer 28:11) shows us plainly what it is to lie or deceive in the name of God.
O Lord, and must Thy glorious name
Thus be a cover to their shame? Frster.
17. On Jer 28:6. Amen! the Lord do so. Quite a different attitude of the prophet from the preceding. A false prophet, a miserable comforter disputes with him, brings good news and appeals to an oracle, a voice which he had perhaps heard more lately than Jeremiah. Jeremiah without getting warm about it, says I shall be heartily glad if it be so: but take care that you have understood it correctly. His opponent is encouraged and goes further, he breaks off the prophetic yoke from Jeremiahs neck. Jeremiah, with the same indifference, which he has shown from the beginning, goes his way I dare not speak of anything, says Paul, which Christ hath not wrought by me (Rom 15:18). Zinzendorf.
18. On Jer 28:10-11. Chananias hic prbet exemplum impudenti Jesuwilic, cujus magistrum non abs re appellaveris Eumundum Campianum (1580) qui epistola quadum Theologos Angli provocare non erubuit, ponens inter alia verba hc fere thrasonica: Si prstitero clos esse, divos esse, Christum esse, fidem esse, causam obtinui: hic non animosus ero? Occidi quidem possum, superari non possum. Pari impudentia Jesuwitas ante Colloquium Ratisbonense scriplitasse legimus: The Prdicantes should come, if they had a heart in their body, they would catch them alive: if they would bring a syllogism, which is in Bocardo, they would throw it at ones head and say it was in Bocallo. Frster.
19. On Jer 29:7. Monemur hic, orandum esse pro magistratibus et non tantum iis, qui nostr religioni addicti et ver ecclesi membra, sed etiam pro iis, qui extra ecclesiam adeoque gentiles ut Nebuchadnezzar et Nero tyrannus (2Ti 2:2). Nam ex salute reipublic etiam salus et incolumitas ecclesi constat. Et Lutherus pereleganter: Politia, inquit, servit ecclesi, ecclesia servat politiam. Frster. Quod pastori hoc et ovibus. The symbol of the Emperor Charles the Bald.
20. On Jer 29:11. God always has compassion, and His heart breaks for us (Jer 31:20), for he exercises guardianship over His elect (Wis 4:15). And he knows how, in all that he does, to mitigate His justice with His mercy, so that we may see how richly His mercy is diffused over all His works; that even when He punishes, He straightway has mercy again according to His great goodness, and causes His mercy to be the more richly dispensed, because He knows our frame (Psa 103:14), viz., that we are flesh, a wind which passeth away and returneth not again (Psa 78:40). Cramer.
21. On Jer 29:10-11. The waiting of the righteous has always something to depend upon, namely, the promise, and it is a duty to God to believe the promises, but an insult and dishonor to the name of the Lord when no faith is put in them. Is it not enough that ye injure men, will ye also insult the Lord my God? (Isa 7:13). Zinzendorf.
22. On Jer 29:11. God gives a happy ending; He also tells us beforehand, that we may honor Him by hoping; but He deals with us according to His wisdom and His righteousness, so that He chastens us as long as we need it. We cannot, therefore, do otherwise than place ourselves in His hands. Diedrich.
23. On Jer 29:12. Let this be firmly established among the brethren, that there is no sham about the hearing of prayer. I remember that once a great minister said across the table: My pastor wrote me that he had settled it with the dear Lord that my wife should live; I should be comforted. My wife died. Now my pastor congratulates me and says, I could now indeed see that she lived. No wonder. The Bible has a nose or wax; and gentlemen also can explain their own words. Is it then to be in vain that the Lord Jesus has said; whatever ye ask believing that ye shall receive, shall be given unto you (Mar 11:24; Joh 16:23; Mat 7:7; Jam 4:4)? Test it as often as it is necessary; ask however in faith, and doubt not. I know most assuredly that you will be heard. But I regard it as a matter for consideration, whether one is to ask. Zinzendorf.
24. On Jer 29:15-16. A heavy cross often frees us from a heavier, which would otherwise have come upon us. The best way, therefore, is to be satisfied with Gods ways, who can bring good out of evil (1Pe 4:19; Gen 50:20). Starke.
25. On Jer 29:24-32. Those who seek their own consolation without God must be eternally deprived of the true consolation, which God grants to those who at this time humble themselves under Him. Those who preach false consolation confirm the resistance of men to the divine guidance and thus preach revolt, though intending to act conservatively. But in their blindness they do not see what sort of a time it is. Diedrich.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1. On Jer 26:1-24. A sermon in rebuke of the corruptions of Zion. 1. Its purport (Jer 26:4-6); 2. How it is received (Jer 26:7-11); 3. How the preacher must defend himself (Jer 26:12-15); 4. What the fate of the preacher will be (a), in the most favorable case (Jer 26:16-19; Jer 26:24) (b), in the most unfavorable case (Jer 26:20-23).
2. On Jer 27:1-22. How the Lords servants are to treat Politics.1. They are to point out to the people that it is the Lord who raises and overthrows the kingdoms of this world (Jer 27:2-8). 2. They are to admonish the people to do what the Lord commands (Jer 27:12-13). 3. They are to warn against those who speak their own thoughts to the people (Jer 27:9-11; Jer 27:14-17). 4. They are to admonish to prayer and intercession (Jer 27:18 sqq).
3. On Jer 28:1-17. Of false and true prophets. 1. False prophets, (a) publish on their own responsibility what the people like to hear (Jer 28:2-4); (b) boldly contradict the true word of God (Jer 28:10-11); (c) come to shame, by the non-fulfilment of their predictions (Jer 28:8-9) and by their personal destruction (Jer 28:15-17). 2. True prophets (a) proclaim faithfully the true word of God, (b) fearlessly oppose the lusts of men and the lies of the false prophets; (c) They are honored () by the fulfilment of their prophecies, () by martyrdom, i.e., honor with God and posterity.
4. On 28. [This year thou shalt die. Dwight:A Sermon on the New Year.S. R. A.]
5. On Jer 29:7. The best Christians the best citizens: 1. They know that the prosperity of the whole is their own prosperity (they do not, therefore, seek selfishly their own personal advantage); 2. They actually labor with all diligence for the furtherance of the common good; 3. They employ for this end the power of Christian prayer. [A. Fuller:Christian patriotism, or the duty of religious people towards their country. Christianity a religion of peace.S. R. A.]
6. On Jer 29:11. The thoughts of the Lord concerning us. 1. They are thoughts of peace and not of evil; 2, we must wait for their realization, for the Lord delays this, but he does not forget it.
7. On Jer 29:11. Sermon at the funeral service of the Grand Hereditary Prince of Russia, delivered by Prof. Christiani, in Dorpat, 14 April, 1865: 1. Of the thoughts of peace which the Lord has had in this death; 2. Of the fruits and effects of these thoughts of peace.
8. On Jer 29:11-14. Whereupon is our hope of peace based? 1. Objectively upon this, that the Lord Himself has thoughts of peace concerning us. 2. Subjectively on this, that we (a) call upon and seek the Lord with all our hearts, (b) patiently wait for the time of hearing.
Footnotes:
[1]Jer 29:8.. Hiph. from occurs only in Isa 38:16 and here; Part. Hiph. here only. The causative conjugation would not inappropriately intimate the self made character of those dreams (Hitzig). The form is not without analogies. Comp. , 2Ch 28:23. (Keri) 1Ch 15:24. But comp. Olsh., 258 a, S. 580.
[2]Jer 29:14. in this connection is used transitively. That cannot be taken as accusative of the object (I turn myself to the captivity) is evident from the circumstance, that, where the connection requires the imperfect we have Jer 32:44; Jer 33:11; Jer 33:26 (Keri); Jer 49:6; Jer 49:39 (Keri); in Eze 39:25; Eze 33:7 we have even the perfect Hiphil.
[3]Jer 29:15.. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 109, 1 a. Since the pleonastic requires a verbum dicendi to be supplied before it, we must here supply: thus I say; thus I declare to you. before =when, or as to this thatas almost all the commentators admit. The perfect is used (comp. the imperf. Jer 29:13), because the fact supposed is real.
[4]Jer 29:16., Jer 29:16. =in respect to, of, as frequently elsewhere: Jer 29:21; Jer 22:11. Comp. Naegelsb Gr., 112, 5, b.
[5]Jer 29:16.. for , as frequently in Jeremiah. Comp. rems. on Jer 10:1.
[6]Jer 29:17. (probably from ) here onlymeaning horridus, abominandus. Comp. .
[7]Jer 29:19.. On the construction with a double accusative comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 69, 2 c.
[8]Jer 29:22.. In consequence of the elision of the , patahh must, according to the well-known rule, pass over into Segol.
[9]Jer 29:23.On the reading comp. Textual Notes on Jer 17:23.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
We have in this Chapter an account of the Prophet Jeremiah’s letter, which he sent to the captives in Babylon. Here is also the fearful doom pronounced by the Lord, upon two lying prophets.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The Reader will recollect, that at this time many of the people were already gone into captivity, and the false prophets, and time-serving persons of the party, were budding up the hopes of the people, as Hananiah had done at home, with assurances of their speedy return to their own land. Jeremiah being better taught of the Lord, here sets himself to correct their mistaken notions on this point, and, therefore sends a letter to them on the subject.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
IX
THE PROPHECIES OF JEREMIAH IN THE REIGN OF ZEDEKIAH
Jer 21
We have here the prophecies of Jeremiah, during the reign of Zedekiah, the last king of the Jewish people. These prophecies are to be found as indicated at the head of this chapter. They are not all the prophecies that Jeremiah uttered or that were written during this reign, but they are the prophecies that he uttered relative to that period and bearing upon the events of that reign. During Zedekiah’s reign he also wrote the messianic prophecy that we shall discuss in the next chapter.
When Jehoiakim burned the roll of his prophecies, he commanded his officers to go and take Jeremiah and Baruch. The Lord hid them or they would have lost their lives as Uriah had. Jeremiah and Baruch remained in hiding during the remainder of Jehoiakim’s wicked reign, four or five years. The latter part of this reign, as given in our books of 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles, was a troublous time. Jehoiakim rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. That king stirred up bands of the Moabites and the Edomites to come and trouble his kingdom. His cities were besieged and he himself was slain and his body cast forth as refuse outside the walls of the city. His son, Jehoiachin, succeeded him to the throne. Jehoiachin was quite young, some authorities say eight years, other authorities, eighteen years of age. His mother reigned with him, and was probably the power behind the throne. Jehoiachin continued the rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar, and the result was that in a little over three months, that great king buried his hosts against Jerusalem and besieged the holy city. Jehoiachin, acting on good and wise advice, surrendered the city, and so he himself with his queen mother and the royal family were deported. Nebuchadnezzar, convinced that he was not a safe man to have upon the throne, had him and his royal family taken to Babylon and confined there. On the succession of “Evil Merodac” to the throne he was given a certain amount of liberty.
About 597 B.C. something over 7,000 of the best blood of Jerusalem, including the princes, the nobles, and the elders, with their wives, their slaves, and the most valuable and choice vessels of the Temple were carried away to Babylon. Ezekiel was carried away with them and began his prophecy in the fifth year of this captivity.
We can readily see that the removal of 7,000 of the best people from Jerusalem, such a thinning of the people, would give an opportunity to the many that were left. These nobles, princes, and elders, who were left in Jerusalem, were congratulating themselves that they were much better than those unfortunates who were carried off into exile. Such a conclusion would be perfectly natural. They were saying, “Those who had to go away and suffer such hardships are bad and so are suffering for their sins. We are left here in peace and so the Lord is with us.” That resulted in pride, and was a very foolish state of mind for this people. Jeremiah knows that destruction is awaiting them, if they continue in their ways of wickedness.
The theme of Jer 24 is Jeremiah’s comparison between those in exile and those left behind. Note the following points:
1. The vision (Jer 24:1-3 ). Jeremiah is shown in a vision two baskets of figs, set before the Temple of the Lord. He goes on to explain the occasion and the time when this occurred. The description is found in verse Jer 24:2 : “One basket of very good figs, like the figs that are first ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.” Jer 24:3 continues the description, as given to Jehovah by the prophet.
2. The fate of the good figs (Jer 24:4-7 ). “Like these good figs so will I regard the captives of Judah.” Those in exile are the ones referred to, and so he says he will take care of them: “I will bring them again into this land: I will set mine eyes upon them for good.”
3. The fate of the bad figs (Jer 24:8-10 ). These bad figs were the people living in Jerusalem, those who were puffed up, regarding themselves better than others because they were so fortunate as to escape deportation. “These bad figs are so bad that they cannot be eaten. So will I give up Zedekiah and the kings of Judah, and his princes and the residue of Jerusalem and those that remain in this land and them that dwell in the land of Egypt. I will even give them up to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil; to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse in all the places whither I shall drive them.”
Naturally the effect of that kind of preaching upon the people of Jerusalem was not very gratifying. Jeremiah did not make friends very fast by that kind of comparison and application. But he was a true prophet. He preached God’s truth, whether welcome or not.
The theme of Jeremiah’s 27-29 is Jeremiah’s exhortation to submit to the yoke of Babylon. This prophecy occurred during the first or second year of the reign of Zedekiah, who had been put upon the throne by Nebuchadnezzar as his vassal. The date is about 596 B.C., certainly within two years after the exile under Jehoiachin. There was a movement among the various small nations surrounding Judah, a sort of revival of their political interests. The kings and the princes of these sections had conceived the idea that they could league together and revolt against Babylon. The kings of these various nations had sent their ambassadors to Zedekiah at Jerusalem to form a league, or a conspiracy, by which they could throw off the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah was but a weakling, a mere tool in the hands of his chief princes. He had a certain reverence for Jeremiah and therefore he consulted him about it. But he feared the princes. He wanted to do right, but being a weak king, he was led to ruin and destruction by bad advice. He was afraid of Jeremiah, afraid of Nebuchadnezzar, afraid of his princes, and afraid of the prophets. To such a man all these nations came for consultation. They held their convention in Jerusalem, and to such a conference Jeremiah came as adviser. He advised that they all submit to Babylon.
Now, in Jer 27:1 there is an interpretation. It says, “In the reign of Jehoiachin,” and it should be, “The reign of Zedekiah.” Compare Jer 27:12 . Somehow that mistake has crept into the text. Jeremiah is commanded to make a yoke. He sets the yoke upon the heads of these ambassadors as a symbol. It is something like his symbolic action with the girdle. He puts the yoke on the heads of these envoys of Moab, Tyre, and the rest; also Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and gives his message. It is in verse Jer 27:6 : “And now have I given all these lands into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, my servant. The beasts of the field I have given him also.” Verse Jer 27:7 : “And all the nations shall serve him and his sons’ sons till the time of his own land come.” Then destruction shall come upon him: Verse Jer 27:8 : “And it shall come to pass that the nation and the kingdom that shall not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith Jehovah, with the sword and with famine and with pestilence till I have consumed them by his hand.” Then he throws out this warning: Don’t listen to the preaching of your prophets for they are false. They have not the word of God. Listen to me and submit. No better advice was ever given to a king. Jeremiah was a man who had divine wisdom and gave advice that would have saved the people. He was called to be the savior of his country, and to be the prophet of the nations, the nations mentioned here. He would have saved them all, if they had listened to him.
We have some specific advice of the prophet to Zedekiah, the king, in Jer 27:12-15 . Notice what he says: “And I spake to Zedekiah, the king of Judah, according to all these words, saying, bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people and live.” But this advice to Zedekiah was to a weakling. He was respectful to the prophet, but afraid of his princes.
In Jer 27:16 he says, “I spake to the priests and the people, saying, Thus [He warns them against these false prophets, which had doubtless been inciting this revolt among the nations by prophesying that they could succeed.] . . . Serve the king of Babylon and live.” These prophets are prophesying a lie unto you. Why should this land become a desolation? These prophets had been preaching to the people that this exile would soon be over; that they would soon bring back the beautiful vessels of the Temple. This was fine talk to the people, for they wanted those vessels back. That suited the people fine, and the prophets knew it, so they just preached what the people wanted. These vessels will not come back. Just wait a little while and see if their prophecies come true. Thus saith the Lord concerning you: You shall be carried to Babylon and you shall be there until the day that I visit that land. Not only are these vessels not coming back, but you are going into exile also. Now, that was not a popular kind of talk, but it was divine wisdom.
A conflict with Hananiah, the false prophet, is described in Jer 28 . Here was a strange incident. We have a conflict between two men, able men, influential men, men of high position and rank; one a false prophet, the other a true prophet. Externally both are good men. Hananiah was the son of a prophet, of the priestly line. Doubtless this Hananiah had been hired by the enemies of Jeremiah to counteract his influence with the people. They hired this man to make the people believe that these vessels would come back. So Hananiah comes forward. He stands in the gate of the Temple and thus addresses the people: “Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon; within two full years I will bring into this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, took away from this place. I will bring back Jehoiachin and the royal family within two years and everything will be restored within that two years.”
Now, that was delightful preaching. That was just what the people wanted. But there was Jeremiah and he had to be reckoned with. Hananiah had all the marks of truth in him. Jeremiah seems to have wavered. He treats this man with all the courtesy of a gentleman. He stands there and listens to his message. He stood with the people that stood in the house of the Lord. When Hananiah had finished he said: “Amen: the Lord do so; may it be as you have said.” Jeremiah would have been glad if it had been true. He was patriotic and loyal. Nothing would have rejoiced him more than for this to have happened. “Oh, that it might be so!”
But in Jer 28:7-8 he says, “Nevertheless hear thou this that I speak unto thee. The prophets that spake in the olden time prophesied against many countries and against many kingdoms.” What did he mean by that? That the prophets who were true prophets prophesied destruction; that the punishment was coming. He means to say that the criterion by which one could determine a true prophet was that he prophesied evil. Now this man Hananiah was a false optimist. The true prophet sees the evil as well as the good. So by that process of reasoning he proved that Hananiah was a false prophet. He prophesied only good, hence he could not be a true prophet. I have prophesied evil and therefore I am in line with the tried and true prophets. How did the people like that?
We may well suppose that the majority of them did not like it. When Hananiah saw that the tide was coming his way, that the people were with him, he seized the yoke that Jeremiah was wearing before the people and smashed it to pieces. This is what he says: “Even so will I break the yoke of the king of Babylon before two full years end.” That was a bold stroke. Jeremiah was silenced for the time. But he did not give it up entirely; he went his way and talked to Jehovah about it. God gave him his answer. In Jer 28:13 we have it: “Go, tell Hananiah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Thou hast broken the bars of wood; but thou hast made in their stead bars of iron.” This kingdom shall be suddenly destroyed, as for Hananiah the Lord said, “Thou makest this people to trust in a lie. . . Behold, I will send thee away from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast spoken rebellion against Jehovah.” And Hananiah died the same year in the seventh month, two months after this incident.
An account of a letter of Jeremiah to the exiles is found in Jer 29 . Zedekiah was the vassal of Nebuchadnezzar and in order to assure him that he was true he sent two messengers to him. Their names are given in Jer 29:3 . These two messengers took letters from Zedekiah to the king in Babylon. Jeremiah took occasion to send a letter by these messengers to the exiles in Babylon. False prophets were over there, too.
They had been predicting that they would soon return to their own land. So Jeremiah sent them a letter, the substance of which is to be found from Jer 29:4 on to the end of the chapter. This we will discuss briefly. He advised the people to settle down, to marry, to be true to the king of Babylon and after seventy years, that is, about two generations, God’s will concerning the king of Babylon would be accomplished, and then they should return to their own place. In Jer 29:13 we have a beautiful statement: “Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” In Jer 29:21-22 we have this statement regarding two false prophets in Babylon, Ahab and Zedekiah, who were prophesying the destruction of Babylon and the immediate return. Word of this comes to the ears of Nebuchadnezzar. That king was not a man to be trifled with. Here were two exiles stirring up an insurrection in his realm. Jeremiah says, “He roasted them in the fire.” He tried to do the same thing with the three Hebrew children, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It was not an uncommon thing for a man to burn people to death then. That was the fate of these two false prophets.
But we come to another incident in Jer 29:24 . There was one Shemaiah who sent letters from Babylon to the princes and guardians of the Temple about Jeremiah, and said that this man, this Jeremiah ought not to be at large. Verse Jer 29:26 : “Every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in the stocks. . . Now therefore, why hast thou not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who maketh himself a prophet to you, for as much as he hath sent unto us in Babylon, saying, The captivity is long,” and thus and so. Then the men of the Temple read the letter to Jeremiah, and he responds, verse Jer 29:32 : “Behold, I will punish Shemaiah and his seed; he shall not have a man to dwell among this people, neither shall he behold the good that I will do unto my people, saith Jehovah, because he hath spoken rebellion against Jehovah.”
Jeremiah’s advice to Zedekiah during the siege is given in Jer 21 . This chapter is very much out of chronological order. This weak king is still in the hands of his princes, who are trying to throw off the yoke of Babylon. They have been all this time expecting help from Egypt. PharaohNecho who had slain Josiah, king of Judah, had been succeeded by Pharaoh-Hophra. He had overthrown his adversaries at home and was now ready for Asia. There was an Egyptian party in Jerusalem and they soon had their plans ready for Zedekiah. They proposed to form an alliance with this Pharaoh against Nebuchadnezzar. This they did against the advice of Jeremiah. The outcome of the matter was that Nebuchadnezzar swept down upon Judah and Jerusalem to subdue them.
Zedekiah sent an anxious message to Jeremiah inquiring if there was any message from the Lord. His answer was brief. He simply told him that the Lord would not save the city as he did when Isaiah was the prophet. But he says in verse Jer 21:5 : “I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm even in anger and in wrath and in great indignation, and I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beasts and they shall die of great pestilence.” This siege was to end in the downfall of the city. In Jer 21:8 he says, “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword and by famine and by the pestilence, but he that goeth out and falleth away to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live and his life shall be unto him for a prey.”
The incidents of the siege are described in Jer 34 . Under the preaching of Jeremiah and the stress and strain of the siege, the people’s consciences were awakened and they gave heed to the law of Moses and made a covenant that they would liberate all the slaves according to the law of Moses, which said that when a Hebrew became a slave to another that he should be such only six years. That is recorded in the law as found in Exo 21:2 and Deu 15:12 . That law was given by Moses. They usually neglected it, but they did it now while there was pressure on them, but as soon as the pressure was removed they went back to their old ways again, Jer 34:11 : “But afterward, they turned and caused the servants and handmaidens, whom they had caused to go free to return and brought them into subjection for servants and handmaidens.” This occurred while Pharaoh-Hophra was coming up to Jerusalem to relieve the city. Nebuchadnezzar defeated him and drove him back. When the pressure was removed their conscience grew calloused again. Jeremiah broke out in great bitterness against this, Jer 34:17 : “You granted liberty, then you took it back. I proclaim to you a liberty to the sword and to famine. I will make you to be a curse among the nations of the earth.” In spite of all the solemnity with which you made the covenant you broke it. I will cause the Chaldeans to return to the city and make it without inhabitants.
The effect of Jeremiah’s preaching is recorded in Jeremiah 37-39. Jeremiah’s forty years and more of preaching had verily been in vain. The people would not heed. There seemed to be a fixedness in their perverseness. They evidently hardened their hearts to go after idols. There is a saying, “Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad.” It was so with these people. They were mad after idolatry. The siege had now been on more than a year. It lasted eighteen months altogether, accompanied with all the horrors of a siege. These events are recorded in Jeremiah 37-39. We take them up in order:
Jer 37:2 : “Neither he, nor the people of the land, hearkened unto the words of the Lord.” This general statement is followed by the details:
Zedekiah was a weakling. He wanted to do what Jeremiah said, and if he had been stronger he would have done so. So he sent for him and asked his advice. He says, Jer 37:3 : “Pray now unto the Lord our God for us.” Jeremiah answered him, Jer 37:7 : “Behold, Pharaoh’s army that is come forth to help you shall return into their own land; the Chaldeans shall come again and fight against this city. They shall take it and burn it with fire.”
At the time the siege was raised and the Chaldeans went to meet the Egyptians, many people broke out of the city. Jeremiah was one of them. He started to go to his home at Anathoth to take charge of a certain piece of property he had bought, verse Jer 37:12 : “Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem at the gate of Benjamin.” He came in collision with the captain of the ward whose name was Irijah and he said to Jeremiah, “Thou goeth to the Chaldeans; thou art falling away to the Chaldeans.” Many others were doing the same thing and nothing was said about it, but these people now had a chance to get in a blow at Jeremiah, because he had been stoutly counseling the people to surrender to the Chaldeans. Jeremiah said, “I do not fall away to the Chaldeans.” Irijah did not believe him, but seized him and brought him before the princes, “and the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan, the scribe.” This is the second time Jeremiah had been arrested, but the first time he was imprisoned.
The king called for Jeremiah and asked him, “Is there any word from the Lord?” “No,” said Jeremiah, “The only word is this: Thou shalt be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.” Then he pleads for himself: “Cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan, the scribe, lest I perish there.” Zedekiah, the king, was kindly disposed toward him. He gave him some liberty. He remained in the court of the guard six months or more, guarded by the king.
Then the princes put him in the dungeon. These princes were the real cause of the fall of Jerusalem. They hated Jeremiah. They had been treating with Egypt, and he had advised against them; his counsel had weakened many of the people in their loyalty to the plans of the princes; so they hated him, and now that they had him in their hands they wreaked their vengeance on him. Verse Jer 37:4 : “Then the princes said to the king, Let this man we pray thee be put to death, forasmuch as he hath weakened the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people.”
That the king was a weakling is shown in verse Jer 37:5 : “Then Zedekiah, the king, said, Behold he is in your hands; do as you will, for the king is one that can do nothing against you.” There was a certain Justification for these princes who saw only the military aspect of it. If any man had done as did Jeremiah, in connection with the siege of Richmond or Vicksburg, he would have been promptly dealt with as a traitor. So they took Jeremiah and threw him into a deep cistern, or pit. It had no water in it, but it was deep with mud and he sank down into that, and they left him thinking that would be the last of him. At last, they thought, his tongue was silenced. But he was rescued by a slave, an Ethiopian, named Ebedmelech. He felt kindly toward Jeremiah, so he went to the king and the king gave him liberty to rescue him (Jer 38:7-13 ).
Another audience with the king is allowed Jeremiah (Jer 38:14-28 ). This is Jeremiah’s last audience with Zedekiah. Verse Jer 38:17 : “If thou go forth to the king of Babylon thou shalt live, and the people.” He could yet save the city. Then the king told him not to tell anybody about the interview. If there had been a man on the throne, he would have saved the city. Then follows an account of the capture of the city and its destruction (Jer 39:1-10 ). A careful reading of this passage will be sufficient.
Jeremiah was saved by the command of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. He had heard about Jeremiah and his services, how he had counseled the people to surrender, and spared his life; told them to take good care of him and let him do as he would.
The prophecy in Jer 39:15-18 is concerning Ebed-melech, the slave who had saved Jeremiah’s life. It is beautiful to see how Jeremiah remembered this man. He writes down in the word of God what should be his reward, thus: “I will surely save thee, saith Jehovah.”
Jerusalem is now a smoking ruin, and the people are scattered far and wide. The nobles and the princes are slain before the king, and his own sons are slaughtered before his own eyes. Zedekiah’s eyes are put out and he is carried captive to Babylon. If he had only followed the advice of Jeremiah, all would have been well. The position of a prophet in the state is supreme; it is the highest honor that can be bestowed upon any man.
QUESTIONS
1. What is the theme of this chapter of this INTERPRETATION and what the historical setting?
2. What is the theme of Jer 24 and how is it presented? Explain fully.
3. What is the theme of Jeremiah 27-29 and what the general condition in Judah and the surrounding nations at this time?
4. How do you explain the name “Jehoiachim” in Jer 27:1 , what the symbolic action of the prophet here and what its meaning? (Jer 27:1-11 .)
5. What is the specific advice of the prophet to Zedekiah, the king, in Jer 27:12-15 ?
6. What is his advice to the priests and the people and how does he meet the prophecies of the false prophets?
7. Give an account of the conflict between Hananiah and Jeremiah (Jer 28 ).
8. Give an account of the letter of Jeremiah to the exiles (Jer 29 ).
9. What is Jeremiah’s advice to Zedekiah during the siege? (Jer 21 .)
10. What are the incidents of the siege? (Jer 34 .)
11. What is the effect of Jeremiah’s preaching and how are the people characterized? (Jeremiah 37-39.)
12. What is the general statement of this in Jer 37:1-2 ?
13. Give an account of the king’s request of Jeremiah and his response (Jer 37:3-10 ).
14. Give an account of Jeremiah’s second arrest and first imprisonment (Jer 37:11-15 ).
15. Give an account of his deliverance from the prison (Jer 37:16-21 ).
16. What was next done with him and what the particulars (Jer 38:4-6 )?
17. How did he escape and what the particulars?
18. Give an account of Jeremiah’s last audience with the king (Jer 38:14-28 ).
19. Give an account of the capture of the city and its destruction (Jer 39:1-10 ).
20. How was Jeremiah saved and what the particulars? (Jer 39:11-14 .)
21. What is the prophecy in Jer 39:15-18 ?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Jer 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;
Ver. 1. Now these are the words of the letter. ] Heb., Of the book. It is taken for any manner of writing, whether longer, as a book, or shorter, as a letter, an epistle, cuius ornamentum est ornamentis carere, saith Politian; the two chief commendations whereof, say others, are shortness and plainness. Here we have both, and should therefore highly prize it, not as apocryphal Baruch’s letter, but as parcel of holy writ, worthy of all acceptation.
Which were carried away captive.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jeremiah Chapter 29
In this chapter the prophet instructs the captives in Babylon as to their stay in the strange land, the right feeling to be cultivated toward its sovereign, and the falsity of the hopes their prophets were giving out. The Lord in His due time would prove His goodness to His people, whether preparatorily soon, or finally in a day not yet arrived. The objects of their trust, whether prophetic or royal, should fall under His judgments, even in some cases most ignominiously and unsparingly by the hand of the ruler of Babylon; in others by a total failure of seed to inherit the blessing when it comes from the hand of Jehovah.
“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; (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;) 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, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom 1 have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; 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. And seek the peace of the city whither 1 have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.” Ver. 1-7.)
Thus the prophet forwards his letter to the captives by the messengers whom Zedekiah sent to Nebuchadnezzar. It was no accidental slip of Jeconiah and the people; it was no power of the king of Babylon which accounted for the degradation of the Jews. Jehovah of hosts had caused them to be carried away to the city of the conqueror; and He it was that now spoke to them by Jeremiah. How gracious thus to notice them after all their guilt and to link His name with theirs in their fallen estate! It was worse than vain to hope for an immediate return to Palestine: no conspiracies, no resolutions would avail. It was Jehovah’s word that they should settle down in the land of their captivity, building and planting, marrying and giving in marriage, and thus increase rather than diminish, seeking withal the peace of the city where they sojourned, and this heartily as from the Lord, and not as pleasing men. In its peace should be their peace. Assuredly the ways of the Lord are wise and good, wholesome and edifying. Oh that His people had hearkened to Him, and Israel had walked in His ways! But as of old Israel would none of Him, so now were the captive Jews in danger of being a prey to the deceivers who fattened on the folly and sin they helped on.
Hence the prophet was directed to add a special warning against false spiritual pretensions. “For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the Lord. For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon 1 will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. 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. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 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 1 have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.” (Ver. 8-14.) The stay of seventy years in Babylon was measured of Jehovah. It was long enough to accomplish His chastening; it was short enough to prove His tender mercy, and leave room for a greater display of Himself, to be followed alas! by a more dismal and lasting punishment of their guiltier rejection of their own Messiah.
Had they boasted of those the Lord had raised up in Babylon to prophesy? Alas! the true prophet was the least heeded; for he was no counsellor of rebellion, neither did he despise the word of Jehovah that came by Jeremiah, but gave himself up to prayer and confession as the time of deliverance drew near. But as to those who trusted the false prophets, “Because ye have said, The Lord hath raised us up prophets in Babylon; 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 gone forth with you into captivity: 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. And I will persecute them with the sword, with the 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 driven them: 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.” (Ver. 15-19.)
But this is not enough. Public examples were needful in special instances to admonish and impress the obdurate people, as credulous of man as they were unbelieving toward God. “Hear ye therefore the word of the Lord, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon: 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, 1 will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes; 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; because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours’ wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even 1 know, and am a witness, saith the Lord.” Ver. 20-23.) And as Shemaiah had sent letters, as from Jehovah, from Babylon to Jerusalem, stirring up the priests especially against Jeremiah, God was no heedless hearer of this audacious profanity. “Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying, 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, The Lord hath made thee priest in the steed 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. Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which maketh himself a prophet to you? 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. And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet. Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, 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: therefore thus saith the lord: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah 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.” (Ver. 24-32.) Truly God is not mocked. The curse causeless shall not come; but those who, miserable themselves, are given up to a spirit of hostility and detraction of God’s servants abiding in the truth, shall of the flesh reap the corruption they sow.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 29:1-9
1Now 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.) 3The 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, 4Thus 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. 6Take 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. 7Seek 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.’ 8For 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. 9For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them,’ declares the LORD.
Jer 29:1 to the rest of the elders of the exile The term rest (BDB 451 #1,2) can mean remnant or residue, but also preeminence (#3, cf. Gen 49:3). Some believe that many of the elders or leaders of the Jewish community had already been killed by Nebuchadnezzar because of their treasonous activity, along with prophets (cf. Jer 29:21-23).
Jer 29:2 The NASB and NKJV show Jer 29:2 as a parenthesis, probably related in 2Ki 24:12-16. The JPSOA has a dash separating Jer 29:1 from Jer 29:4. This may be an editorial addition to specify the exact historical setting.
The group of exiled leadership would match the exile of 596 B.C. (cf. 2Ki 24:10-17).
1. King Jeconiah (i.e., Jehoiachin)
2. the queen mother (i.e., Nehushta, cf. 2Ki 24:8)
3. court officials
4. children of Jeconiah (possibly 605 B.C., cf. Dan 1:3)
5. children of powerful families in Jerusalem (possibly 605 B.C., cf. Dan 1:3)
6. craftsmen (possibly taken in 605 B.C.)
7. smiths (possibly taken in 605 B.C.)
the court officials This literally is eunuchs. It is an Akkadian word which means the one at the head. Usually this refers to those who had been castrated and put into public service. But, since Potiphar (Gen 39:1) was married and has this same title, this term may have come to mean simply a government official.
the craftsmen and the smiths It is obvious that the first term means craftsmen or artisan, but the second term in Hebrew is very uncertain (see note at Jer 24:1). There is no unanimity about its meaning or origin. We know that this exile occurred in 597 B.C. (2Ki 24:14) and is alluded to in Jer 52:28. The number of the exiles is somewhat different in these two passages and scholars are not exactly sure why.
Jer 29:3 Elasah the son of Shaphan This is probably Ahikam’s brother of Jer 26:24 who helped Jeremiah during the reaction to his temple sermon. The father mentioned here was probably the scribe of Josiah (cf. 2Ki 22:8).
Gemariah the son of Hilkiah Although we know nothing about this man, his father may have been the high priest who is referred to in 2 Kings 24, but this is only conjecture.
whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon The purpose for this may have been (1) to pay tribute or (2) to assure Nebuchadnezzar of Zedekiah’s loyalty. These two men are supportive of Jeremiah and willingly, enthusiastically brought his letter to the exiles.
This VERB send (BDB 1018, KB 1511) is used an unusual number of times in this chapter.
1. letter sent, Jer 29:1
2. people sent, Jer 29:3
3. prophets YHWH did not send, Jer 29:9; Jer 29:25; Jer 29:31
4. YHWH sends the sword, famine, and pestilence, Jer 29:17
5. YHWH’s word sent by His prophets, Jer 29:19 (twice), 28,31
It is a common VERB but its repetition shows the problem who speaks for God?
Jer 29:4 whom I have sent into exile Again, throughout the account of this period God claims to be in control of history (i.e., Isa 10:5). The exile is His judgment on Judah in order to bring His people back to personal faith in Him (cf. Jer 29:7).
Jer 29:5-8 build houses. . .plant gardens. . .take wives Jeremiah’s advice is to settle down and make life as normal as possible. Apparently the Jews were living in makeshift houses and some were even refusing to unpack. Jeremiah advises them to settle down for a long wait. This very message is referred to in the letter by Shemaiah, a false prophet mentioned in Jer 29:24; Jer 29:31-32. It must have seemed like treason to the Jewish leaders.
Notice the commands in Jeremiah’s letter (i.e., Jer 29:5-8; also note Jer 29:28).
1. build houses – BDB 124, KB 139, Qal IMPERATIVE
2. live in them – BDB 442, KB 444, Qal IMPERATIVE
3. plant gardens – BDB 642, KB 694, Qal IMPERATIVE
4. eat their produce – BDB 37, KB 46, Qal IMPERATIVE
5. take wives – BDB 542, KB 534, Qal IMPERATIVE
6. beget (i.e., have children) – BDB 408, KB 441, Hiphil IMPERATIVE
7. take wives for your sons – same as #5
8. give your daughters – BDB 678, KB 733, Qal IMPERATIVE
9. that they may bear – BDB 408, KB 441, Qal IMPERFECT used in a JUSSIVE sense
10. multiply there – BDB 915, KB 1176, Qal IMPERATIVE
11. do not decrease – BDB 589, KB 611, Qal IMPERFECT used in a JUSSIVE sense
12. seek the welfare of the city – BDB 205, KB 233, Qal IMPERATIVE
13. pray to the Lord on its behalf – BDB 813, KB 933, Hithpael IMPERATIVE
14. do not let your prophets. . .deceive you – BDB 674, KB 728, Hiphil IMPERFECT used in a JUSSIVE sense
15. do not listen to the dreams – BDB 1033, KB 150, Qal IMPERFECT used in a JUSSIVE sense
The whole point is, resume a normal as possible life. You will not be back in Judah until the 70 year prophecy (cf. Jer 29:10) is fulfilled.
Jer 29:7 seek the welfare of the city. . .and pray to the LORD on its behalf This is the only example in the OT of praying for one’s enemies, particularly a Gentile city(s) of exile. Some have said that this is the beginning of the belief that prayers can substitute for sacrifice or that this refers to prayer at the local synagogue, which would be the beginning of this institution during the exilic period. Or, this may form the basis of the rabbinical admonition, followed by the NT, of praying for civil government (cf. Mat 22:21; Rom 13:1).
Jer 29:8 let your prophets. . .your diviners. . .the dreams which they dream This is referring to false prophets among the exiles. Most of the letters recorded in this chapter are either about false prophets or are from false prophets. The list of what the prophets were doing is condemned in Lev 19:26; Lev 19:31; Lev 20:6; Deu 18:9-13 (cf. Jer 27:9-10). It is important to note the biblical material on how to test a true prophet (cf. Deu 13:1-5; Deu 18:14-22; Mat 7:15-27; 1Jn 4:1-3).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
words: i.e. prophecies, as in Jer 25:1; Jer 26:1; Jer 27:1; Jer 30:1, &c.
letter = writing.
residue of the elders. Compare Eze 8:1; Eze 14:1; Eze 20:1.
the prophets: i.e. Ezekiel (Jer 1:1); Daniel (Jer 1:6).
Nebuchadnezzar. Same spelling as throughout Jer 28and Jer 29:3 here. Not the same as in Jer 29:21.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Chapter 29
Now Jeremiah sent this letter, chapter 29, to those Jews that were in Babylon. And, of course, this letter was sent to them and one of the chief of the princes that was in Babylon was Daniel. So Daniel was the one, no doubt, that received this letter from Jeremiah. Daniel was a captive in Babylon at the time, and this letter was sent by the prophet Jeremiah to those captives. Now, of course, Jeremiah is an older man at this point whereas Daniel is quite a young man at this point.
Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to 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; (After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah [the princes of Judah would have included Daniel], and the carpenters, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem;) By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan ( Jer 29:1-3 ),
This was the guy who carried the letter to Babylon, saying,
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 to Babylon; Build houses, and dwell in them; plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; Take wives, and have children sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that you might be increased there in the land, and not diminished ( Jer 29:4-6 ).
Now rather than your coming back in two years as the false prophets were holding up a hope to them, Jeremiah’s saying, “Hey, look, settle down, build your houses, plant your gardens, you know, start having children. You’re going to be there a while and no sense of the population being diminished while you’re there.”
Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captives ( Jer 29:7 ),
In other words, don’t rebel, but live peaceably with them. Seek their peace.
and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace ( Jer 29:7 ).
As long as Babylon has peace, you will have peace.
For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that are in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD. 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 ( Jer 29:8-10 ).
Now in the ninth chapter of the book of Daniel we read, “In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; in the first year of his reign, I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem” ( Dan 9:1-2 ). So Daniel’s making a reference now to this letter that have been placed in the book form of the prophecies of Jeremiah. And having read them and understood by the prophecy of Jeremiah that the seventy years that were predicted of their Babylonian captivity were just about over, he began to seek the Lord. But here is interesting to me how the Bible ties together. Here’s the letter that Jeremiah is sending to those in Babylon; among them, of course, one of the chiefs being Daniel. And Daniel was there when the letter arrived. And Daniel was there seventy years later. So at that point, Daniel was probably in his nineties when he realized, “Hey, the seventy years are about over. It’s about time to go home.” And he’s probably in his late eighties or early nineties.
We had a beautiful lady here this morning, ninety-seven years old. She said, “The Lord first spoke to me when I was fifteen years old and I’ve been walking with Him for eighty-two years.” Oh, envy, envy, envy. Walking with the Lord. I said, “Oh, just talk to me. I want to gain from your experience of walking with the Lord.” Beautiful. She showed it on her face, just a beautiful countenance.
David said, “Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law does he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, bringing forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither” ( Psa 1:1-3 ). I saw an unwithered ninety-seven year old leaf today. It’s beautiful, just beautiful. Sorry, honey, but I fell in love with her.
“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,” after seventy years.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, they are thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end ( Jer 29:11 ).
Or to bring you to a good end.
Now if you follow your own thoughts, if you rebel against the king of Babylon, then you’re going to have a disastrous end. If you will obey Me and follow My words, I’m thinking about you. I haven’t forgotten you. I’m thinking about you. And My thoughts concerning you are those of peace. I’m desiring your peace. I’m not desiring evil for you. Now I haven’t forgotten you.
So many times we’re in captivity or we’re having great problems, we think, “Oh, God’s forgotten me. God’s not thinking of me anymore.” Oh, that’s not so. God is thinking of you. But God is always looking down at the end of the road. Our common mistake is that we are always looking for immediate advantage, immediate fulfillment. And we don’t consider the end result or the consequences of the things that we are doing. How many times we jump into things not considering what the end result is. Oh, but it looks exciting. It looks fun. Let’s jump in. And God is warning and He is saying, “No, the end of that path is destruction. Now I’m thinking about you. Don’t think I’ve forgotten you. I am thinking about you. And My thoughts concerning you are for your peace to bring to you this expected end.”
Then shall ye call upon me, and then shall ye go pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you ( Jer 29:12 ).
Now if you’ll go back to Daniel when you have a chance, I’m not going to tonight, but when you have the chance, go back to Daniel the ninth chapter when he understood from the prophecy of Jeremiah that the seventy years were about over, what did he do? He began to fast and pray because the Lord said, “Then shall ye call upon Me.” When? After the seventy years. “And ye shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you.” So here is Daniel following the word of the Lord.
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart ( Jer 29:13 ).
I think that one of our problems is that we oftentimes have a half-hearted attitude towards God. We’re not really seeking God with all of our heart. “Well, God, if You want to, I’m here. And You can do it for me if You desire. I won’t stop You, Lord.” And we oftentimes take a very passive attitude towards God, towards the things of God. Rather than really seeking God with all of our hearts. Now, there have been a few times in my life when I have really gotten desperate before God. But I’m amazed at how much it takes to make me really desperate before God. I’m sort of a kickback individual and I sort of take things in stride. Learn to just sort of roll with the punches and oh, well, it will work out. But there have been occasions where God really brought me to a place of real desperation where I can say I really sought God with all my heart.
One was in the sickness of our youngest daughter who was the light of our life. God gave her as a special gift to us. Well, all of our children are special gifts. They are just beautiful. We thank God for each one of them. But this youngest one, we were older, more mature, able to enjoy her more because we just had a little more maturity. We didn’t know what we were doing when we had our first kids. All of a sudden by biological process you’re parents, but no one trained us or taught us in how to parent. And so the fact that our kids have turned out good is only the grace of God, not our wisdom. We didn’t know what we were doing. But by the time you have your fourth, you know a little bit. And you’re a little older, more mature, more experienced. She was a joy, the light of our life. But she was running a high fever. Have been running this fever for a couple of days. Sat up all night holding her, just praying unto the Lord to heal her. And the fever kept high, and as I was holding her she went into convulsions and I thought I was losing her. Her little body stiffened up and the whole thing and I thought, “Oh, this is it.” And I tell you, I began to seek God with all my heart. I was desperate before God. And I said, “God, you know that I treasure this little gal so highly. I would gladly lay down my life for her, Lord. I would much rather be sick than to see her sick. I would gladly, Lord, lay down my life for her. I love her so much. But yet, God, if it is Your will and Your purpose to take her to be with You, I give her to You, Lord. She’s Your child. But please, God, I would love to have her still.” But I mean, I was seeking God with all my heart. My wife had called the doctor. We bundled her up and started rushing off to the doctor with her. But before we ever got to the doctor, she was completely healed. Fever was gone. She was smiling, laughing and back to her beautiful, cute little self again. We got her to the doctor, “Well, looks fine to me.” He said to Kay, “How long since you’ve had a tetanus shot?” She said, “I don’t know.” He said no use wasting time, give you a tetanus shot while you’re here, you know. Kay got the shot. “In the day,” the Lord said, “you seek Me with all of your heart.”
The Bible says, “The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” ( Jas 5:16 ). How many times are we really fervent? How many times are we really desperate before God? How many times do we really seek God with all of our hearts? God said, “In that day I’ll be found of you.” He doesn’t really like us to come with a half-hearted attitude but with a total commitment.
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 where 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. Because you have said, The LORD hath raised us up prophets in Babylon; Know that thus saith the LORD the king that sits on the throne of David, and of all the people that dwell in this city, and of your brothers that have not gone forth with you into captivity; Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, and the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil ( Jer 29:14-17 ).
A reference back to the message there in the courts of Zedekiah where God said those that were carried away were good figs but those that were left were going to be like rotten figs and be destroyed. Nothing left. No value to them.
And I will persecute them with the sword, and with the 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, a hissing, a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them: 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 you would not hear, saith the LORD. Hear ye therefore the word of the LORD, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon: Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab ( Jer 29:18-21 )
And God is speaking of Ahab.
the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah ( Jer 29:21 )
Now who these two guys are, we don’t know. They’re not mentioned any place else in scripture, but they were a couple of the false prophets. They were prophesying lies in the name of the Lord. So God speaks out against Ahab and Zedekiah, whoever they may be. Not the Ahab the king; nor Zedekiah the prophet of the future, but these are just two guys.
Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes ( Jer 29:21 );
These two false prophets.
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 ( Jer 29:22 ),
So you want to curse somebody, you’ll say, “The Lord make you like Ahab.”
whom [he said, Nebuchadnezzar] burned in the fire ( Jer 29:22 );
So Nebuchadnezzar evidently had a… the burning fiery furnace was his way of publicly getting rid of those who would rebel against him. And it is interesting that here in Jeremiah there’s a reference to his old burning fiery furnace. It consumed Ahab and Zedekiah, but it could not consume Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. And so here is another reference to that old burning fiery furnace. “Whom he burned, he roasted in the fire.” So you want to really curse someone, “Well, the Lord make you like Zedekiah, you know. May He roast you with fire.” And it became a curse, the way people cursed someone else. It’s interesting they don’t have curse words in Hebrew. If the Hebrews want to curse, they have to use English. Isn’t that interesting? They don’t have any swear words in Hebrew. We were told that and we were sort of surprised by that.
We went to the Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus one night. And we were standing there in the room and there was this Jewish doctor there and he was cursing in English. And I turned to Kay and I said, “Hey, I guess it’s true. They don’t have any swear words in Hebrew; he has to use English.” And he looked up and he was quite embarrassed, you know. But they don’t have any swear words in Hebrew, which I think is rather beautiful. And so they have to use English to swear. Or some other language, but they can’t swear in Hebrew. They just don’t have it. But they could say, “The Lord make you like Zedekiah,” and that’s about the worst thing you can say to a guy. “God roast you with fire.”
Because they have committed villainy in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives ( Jer 29:23 ),
So here he’s telling the sins of these two guys.
and have spoken lying words in my name ( Jer 29:23 ),
God’s just revealing the cause against these guys. They’re villainous, they’re adulterers, and they’re speaking lies in God’s name.
which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, saith the LORD ( Jer 29:23 ).
Wow, that’s heavy duty. God says, “Hey, I’m witnessing. I know. I know what they’re doing.” Jesus said over and over to the churches, “I know thy works. I know what’s going on.” When God starts bearing witness against you, you’re in big trouble.
Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying, 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, 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 makes himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in the stocks ( Jer 29:24-26 ).
Now when they got this letter in Babylon, then this guy sent back a letter to the priests and he said, “You ought to put Jeremiah in prison. Put him in the stocks.”
Why have you not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which makes himself a prophet to you? For he sent to us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is going to be a long time: build houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet. Then came the word of the LORD to Jeremiah, saying, Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith the LORD concerning Shemaiah ( Jer 29:27-31 )
The guy who wrote this letter.
Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to trust in a lie: Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah 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 ( Jer 29:31-32 ).
So Shemaiah and all of his children are going to be wiped out. He won’t have any progeny following him.
“
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Jer 29:1-4
Jer 29:1-4
Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon, (after that Jeconiah the king, and the queen-mother, and the eunuchs, [and] the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem,) 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, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all the captivity, whom I have caused to be carried away captive from Jerusalem unto Babylon:
The queen-mother, and the eunuchs, and the princes…
(Jer 29:2). The queen-mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan (2Ki 24:8); and in the Jewish system she was a very important person who seems to have worn a crown and occupied a throne adjacent to that of the king.
Scholars have a lot of trouble with the word “eunuchs” in this passage; and Cheyne even called it a gloss; but the Bible fully explains it. The princes of Judah and Jerusalem had already been captured and carried away to Babylon, among whom were Daniel and his friends; and they had been emasculated, given new names, and given into the charge of Nebuchadnezzar’s “prince of the eunuchs” (Dan 1:7). Therefore, the word “eunuchs” in this place is absolutely appropriate. As Thompson said, “The essential historicity of this material cannot be doubted.”
The craftsmen and the smiths…
(Jer 29:2). It was the policy of Nebuchadnezzar to bring skilled artisans and persons with technical knowledge into Babylon in order to help him, build and beautify the city. God later identified Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom as the head of gold, as it pertained to lesser kingdoms which would follow his; and this was surely one of the reasons for that preference. Nebuchadnezzar did not import young women to satisfy his lust, but skilled workers to help him build and beautify.
Elasah the son of Shaphan…
(Jer 29:3). This man was probably a brother of Ahikam (See Jer 26:24). He was therefore a friend and protector of Jeremiah; and, if it had been necessary to shield the contents of Jeremiah’s letter from the eyes of Zedekiah, Elasah was surely the person who could and would have done so.
The exact date and purpose of this embassy to Babylon is not known; but, “as Zedekiah himself went to Babylon in his fourth year,” this embassy might have been preparatory to that visit.
The captives, whom I have caused to be carried away…
(Jer 29:4). God here reveals himself as the cause of the captivity. God Himself has brought about the exile; and, since the Lord’s will was behind it, the better part of wisdom for Judah was submission.
CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE CAPTIVES Jer 29:1-32
Judging from the contents of chapter 29, the Jews in captivity in Babylon were free to correspond with their relatives and friends back in Palestine. This chapter contains two (possibly three) letters which Jeremiah sent to Babylon and alludes to several letters which were sent from Jews in Babylon to those in Jerusalem.
Jeremiah like other prophets regarded the exile in Babylon as a punishment for the sins of the nation. Yet once that exile had begun in 605 B.C. and still in greater measure in 597 B.C. Jeremiah deemed it his duty to offer encouragement to the exiles. Prophets had arisen in Babylon who were predicting a speedy end to the captivity. While Jeremiah wished to encourage those Jews in Babylon yet he was a realist. He could not allow those Jews to go on deluding themselves. As long as they thought the exile to Babylon was a mere episode to be endured and shortly to be ended there was no real incentive to repentance. The letters in this chapter are a blend of realism and idealism, of discouragement and hope;
The First letter to Babylon Jer 29:1-23
1. Introduction to the letter (Jer 29:1-4)
Jeremiahs first letter to Babylon is addressed to the residue of the elders of the captivity, the priests, the prophets and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried captive to Babylon (Jer 29:1). In the main these would be the leaders of the nation who had gone captive in 597 B.C. when Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) had surrendered to the great Babylonian monarch (Jer 29:2). Why does Jeremiah speak of the residue of the elders? Perhaps many of the older leaders had perished during what must have been an arduous journey to Babylonia. The fact that Jeremiah mentions elders, priests and prophets would suggest that some sort of communal organization existed in Babylon similar to that which existed in Judah. This particular letter is intended for all segments of the population. It is an open letter.
For some unexplained reason king Zedekiah was sending an embassy to Babylon at this time. Perhaps the purpose was to carry the annual tribute to Nebuchadnezzar. The embassy consisted of, or was led by, two outstanding men. Elasah the son of Shaphan is named first. The family of Shaphan were among the most loyal friends which Jeremiah had. It was the brother of Elasah who protected Jeremiah when he was on trial for his life (Jer 26:24). Since Elasah was from a God-fearing family he recognized the authority of Nebuchadnezzar whom God had appointed over all the earth (Jer 27:4-14). He was no doubt more than willing to carry the letter of Jeremiah along with him to Babylon. The second member of the embassy was Gemariah the son of Hilkiah. Could this Hilkiah be the high priest who took such an active part in the reforms of king Josiah (2Ki 22:4; 2 Chronicles 34, 35)? Could Gemariah have been a brother of Jeremiah (see Jer 1:1)? These questions must remain unanswered. But it is likely that Gemariah too was a loyal believer. Even though the Judean leadership was by and large corrupt still there were those who bore witness for Him in the inner councils of the nation.
The letter deals with the immediate situation of the captives. The prophet offers to the captives practical advice (Jer 29:5-7), warning (Jer 29:8-10), and a word of hope (Jer 29:11-14). Then he undertakes a refutation of the fake prophets in Babylon (Jer 29:15-20) and finally makes a prediction respecting the fate of two notorious false prophets there (Jer 29:21-23).
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
As a result of this false prophesying, Jeremiah sent a letter to the exiles. It is evident that they also were disturbed. The letter instructed them, first, concerning their present position, advising them to settle in Babylon and beware of false prophets. It then proceeded to declare what the future would be. Deliverance was in the purpose of God for them, but it would not be accomplished until after seventy years. The promise of deliverance then is full of tenderness and of beauty. It ended by a detailed repetition of the sentence of Jehovah against the people, and a stern denunciation of the prophets, accompanied by a prophecy of their doom.
One of the prophets among the exiles, Shemaiah, wrote to Zephaniah the priest, protesting against his inactivity and declaring that his duty was to put Jeremiah in the stocks and shackles. This letter Zephaniah showed to Jeremiah, who, acting under the direction of Jehovah, sent to all those in captivity, denouncing Shemaiah and foretelling his doom.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Ungrateful Forgetfulness
Jer 2:1-8; Jer 26:1-24; Jer 27:1-22; Jer 28:1-17; Jer 29:1-32; Jer 30:1-24; Jer 31:1-40; Jer 32:1-44
God regarded Israel as His bride, who had responded to His love, or as a vineyard and cornfield which were expected to yield their first fruits in response to the careful cultivation of the owner. Why had they failed to respond? For the answer let us question our own hearts. What marvels of perversity and disappointment we are! Who can understand or fathom the reason of our poor response to the yearning love of Christ! The heathen, in their punctilious devotion and lavish sacrifices at their idol-shrines, may well shame us. The root of the evil is disclosed in Jer 2:31. We like to be lords, to assume and hold the mastery of our lives. But God has been anything but a wilderness to us. He has given us ornaments, and we owe to His grace the garments of righteousness which He has put on us. In return we have forgotten Him days without number, Jer 2:32. Let us ask Him to call us back-nay more, to draw us by the chains of love.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
THE LETTER TO THE CAPTIVITY
(Chap. 29)
Not alone to “the poor of the flock,” (Zec 11:7) and the haughty rulers who remained in the land, was Jeremiah appointed to minister. He had also a service to render to those who had been carried into captivity. It was not his province to go to them in person and minister among them in the land of their bondage. For this service GOD had raised up Ezekiel, who was of the number of those who had been deported. He prophesied “among the captives by the river of Chebar” (Eze 1:1).
By means of a letter, the sorrowing son of Hilkiah was to give the Lord’s message to his dispersed countrymen.
False prophets had arisen among them who were giving them false hopes. Their captivity had not changed their hearts. He must give them a word of rebuke, as also a word of encouragement to those who had faith to receive it.
“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; (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;) 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, 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” (Jer 29:1-4).
The messengers who carried the letter were sent primarily as ambassadors from Zedekiah’s rebellious court to treat with the great Chaldean ruler. They bore, however, a message from a far greater king than either of these, even from the Lord of hosts. He deigns to communicate in this way with His captive people.
The first thing He brings before them is that it was no chance misfortune that had happened unto them. It was Himself who had caused them to be carried away. If they really believed this, how it would affect all their ways. They would see that it was in vain to resist His holy discipline; but it would also, surely, be manifest to them that He was truly concerned about them; otherwise He might have left them to pursue unhindered their self-chosen course.
Ah, He loved them too well for that, as He loves “His own which are in the world” now far too much to permit them to go on long in a path contrary to His mind without causing them to feel the rod of chastening. Blessed it is to remember that He deals with us not as enemies, but as sons; for “what son is he whom his father chasteneth not?” (Heb 12:7)
The entire passage in Hebrews 12 is a notable one, often overlooked by tried saints, who thus despise or faint beneath the discipline instead of being “exercised thereby.” (Heb 12:11)
For the dispersed of Judah, then, the message is that they are to receive as from His own hand their affliction; and in place of trying to effect a deliverance before the appointed time, they are bidden to attend with soberness to the duties of life, and to “seek the peace of the city” in which they were captives, and to “pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace” (Jer 29:5-7).
In a similar strain are the sojourners and pilgrims of a later dispensation addressed, both in Peter’s first letter (1Pe 2:11-17) and in Paul’s first epistle to Timothy (1Ti 2:1-4). The former of these passages is especially full, and contains teaching often overlooked in our present restless, not to say reckless, age.
“Submit yourselves,” we are told, “to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by Him for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.” (1Pe 2:13-16)
In the other portion referred to, the Christian is instructed to make supplication “for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority.” (1Ti 2:1-2)
We will never be at home in this world. It is a great pity if we seek to be; but we are here by the will of the Lord; and He would have us own in a practical way the great truth that “the powers that be are ordained of God.” (Rom 13:1)
This will not make worldly politicians of us. We need have no more to do with the government ourselves than had the captive children of Judah in the land of Shinar; but we shall really be the salt, preserving the whole social and political system from corruption.
It is not ours to “assert ourselves” and “stand for our rights.” We side with Him who came into this scene not to get His rights, but His wrongs. Like Him, then, be it ours to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars, and to GOD the things which are His.
“For thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you; neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely unto you in My name: I have not sent them, saith the Lord” (Jer 29:8-9).
In all ages men have abounded who professed to speak in the name of the Lord. By the Word of GOD their professions are to be tested, as also by their fruits. It can never be of the Holy One to cause people to resist divine discipline, and to prophesy peace to those away from GOD. The diviners here referred to were substituting their own idle dreams (in accordance with the desires of their unsubject hearts) for the burden of the Lord.
He had already given His word, and now reiterates it, that “after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon” He would visit them and perform His good word toward them. (See Jer 25:11-14). Then He would cause them to return unto Jerusalem, but not before. Until the prophetic hour should strike, all effort to effect their restoration would be in vain.
“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” (Jer 29:11).
That which they desired was also His desire for them. The looked-for end should surely come, but only in His own time. How precious thus to learn of GOD’s intimate concern in the welfare of each saint! His thoughts toward those who are redeemed by the precious blood of the Son of His love are ever thoughts of peace-never of evil. David entered into this when he cried, “How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with Thee” (Psa 139:17-18). But we must never forget that He has declared, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways . . . For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa 55:8-9). Though He permit sorrow and disaster to beset our footsteps, He will at last guide us into our destined haven where “there remaineth a rest for the people of God.” (Heb 4:9)
Israel’s GOD is ours, and His ways with them but typify His ways with us. “There is an appointed time for all upon the earth.” (Job 7:1) For them the set time of their temporal deliverance was the expiration of the seventy years. For us, the morning of our eternal deliverance will be ushered in by “the coming of our Lord Jesus, and our gathering together unto HIM.” (2Th 2:1)
The object of their discipline was to lead to a thorough repentance.
That accomplished, they should call upon Him and He would hearken. His word ran, “Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart” (Jer 29:12-13). Then He would indeed be found of them, and would turn away their captivity, and gather them back to their land.
Because of the disobedience of those who haughtily said, “The Lord hath raised us up prophets in Babylon,” (Jer 29:15) and who failed to bow to the rod, a greater judgment should yet be sent upon the land of their patrimony. Like vile figs (see Jer 24:8), the rest of the people should be cast out and destroyed; for when He had called, they had refused to listen. Thus all hope of present recovery should be destroyed (Jer 29:15-19).
Two of the false prophets are mentioned by name – Ahab and Zedekiah. Their utterances are plainly declared to be lies, and as a sign they should be delivered into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar and slain before the eyes of their dupes. Their fate was to be a terrible one – roasted in the fire” (Jer 29:22) for their villainy. This form of punishment was evidently a common one with the king of Babylon, as we gather from Daniel 3. For these false prophets there should be no deliverer, as for the three faithful Hebrews who would not bow to the image set up in the plain of Dura. Not only had these men spoken falsely, but their lives were full of iniquity and lechery, as the Lord knew and was “a witness” (Jer 29:20-23).
This concludes the letter to the captivity. It provoked an answer from one of the dispersed who was known as Shemaiah the Nehelamite, or “the dreamer” – a false prophet too, as this name seems to imply.
He sent letters to the Jews remaining at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, with the rest of the sacerdotal company, affirming that “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” (Jer 29:24-26). He inquired therefore why Zephaniah had not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, who, according to him, had “made himself a prophet.” (Jer 29:27) Men, unsent themselves by GOD, are ever ready to charge the true servants of the Lord with being self-appointed men – so deceiving are the ways of Satan. Jeremiah’s letter had told the people, “This captivity is long: build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them” (Jer 29:27-28). This aroused the ire of Shemaiah, as he evidently considered its effect would be to destroy the peoples hopes and keep them from rising in rebellion, if Zedekiah’s revolt seemed to be successful.
Zephaniah the priest read the letter in Jeremiah’s hearing. In response, the word of the Lord came again to him, and he wrote a second epistle to “all them of the captivity.” (Jer 29:31) He faithfully denounced the dreamer as a prophet whom the Lord had not sent, and who was causing the people to trust in a lie. Because of this, the Lord would punish both him and his seed. His family should be utterly extirpated. Not a man should be left “to dwell among this people.” (Jer 29:32) He should not be permitted to live to see the good that GOD promised to do for those now oppressed and scattered, because “he hath taught rebellion against the Lord” (Jer 29:30-32). Thus the three arch-deceivers are doomed. Let the people heed the word of the One they had so often grieved!
~ end of chapter 15 ~
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Jer 29:10-14
I. We may describe every real affliction which comes upon the Christian as a captivity. To be in a condition which we should never voluntarily have preferred, or to be held back by the power of something which we cannot control, from that which we eagerly desire to do-is not that the very thing in an experience which makes it a trial? This is the case with bodily illness, with business perplexities; sometimes even with providential duties. Every captivity of which the Christian is the victim will have an end. In the fatherland above we shall work without weariness, and serve God without imperfection. So in the prospect of that home we may well be reconciled for a season to the discomforts of our present exile.
II. But while there is much in this view of the case to sustain us, we must not lose sight of the moral end which God has in view in sending us into our captivity. He sees the result from the beginning, and all the afflictions which He sends are but like the hammer-strokes of the sculptor, each of which removes some imperfection or brings some new loveliness to view. How many of our idolatries He has rebuked and rectified by our captivities! How many portions of His word have been explained to us by our trials! How many of us might say with truth that we had never really prayed till God sent us into captivity.
III. If we would have such results from our captivity, there are certain important things which we must cultivate. I mention: (1) a willing acceptance of God’s discipline and patient submission to it; (2) unswerving confidence in God; (3) fervent prayer.
W. M. Taylor, The Christian at Work, June 20th, 1878.
References: Jer 29:11.-T. Gasquoine, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxi., p. 403; S. Cox, Expositions, 2nd series, p. 434. Jer 29:12, Jer 29:13.-H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. ix., p. 394. Jer 29:13.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxii., No. 1313, and vol. xxv., No. 1457; Pulpit Analyst, vol. iii., p. 702. Jer 30:11.-Christian Chronicle, March 20th, 1884.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
CHAPTER 29
Jeremiahs Letter to the Exiles
1. Jeremiahs letter (Jer 29:1-23)
2. Concerning Shemaiah and his false prophecies (Jer 29:24-32)
Jer 29:1-23. King Zedekiah sent Elasah and Gemariah on a diplomatic mission to King Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah used the occasion to send a letter by them to the exiles. The letter first of all makes it clear that their stay in Babylon will not be transitory. They are to settle down, build homes, many, rear families, take wives for their sons and husbands for their daughters. They were to seek the peace of Babylon, for Babylons peace would mean their own peace. The latter injunction has often been forgotten by the Jews during the past 1900 years, since their great dispersion; often have they fomented strife among the nations where they are strangers.
The false prophets had predicted a speedy return. Some of these false prophets had gone with them to Babylon and were present in the prison camp on the banks of the river Chebar. We read in Eze 11:3 that they ridiculed the Divine command and gave wicked counsel. They felt themselves secure. Ezekiel continued the message of Jeremiah. (See annotations of Ezekiel.) Once more the seventy years are mentioned and what is to take place after they have expired. 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. He promises an answer to their cry, and if they seek Him, He will be found. How gracious and merciful He is towards His own! In His own time all His gracious purposes will be fully accomplished in that nation, as they were partially accomplished in the return of a remnant after the exile. Jer 29:14 speaks of the larger return gathered out from all the nations. But those who persistently continued in disobedience, who listened to the false prophets will suffer the predicted fate; for such there will be no deliverance. Two of the false prophets are mentioned by name, Ahab and Zedekiah (not the king). Besides being false prophets, they were adulterers and whoremongers. King Nebuchadnezzar roasted them in the fire (Jer 29:22-23) .
Jer 29:24-32. Shemaiah, a Nehelamite, which means the dreamer, was also in Babylon, and when the captives received the letter from Jeremiah, he answered the letter. The letter was received by a certain Zephaniah, of whom he inquired, Why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which maketh himself a prophet to you? When Zephaniah received this letter he read it to Jeremiah. The Lord exposes the Nehelamite as a deceiver, and his judgment is announced.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
carried away captives
Cf. 2Ki 24:10-16. The complete captivity of Judah came eleven years later. 2Ki 25:1-7.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Cir, am 3407, bc 597
Now: This transaction is supposed to have taken place in the first or second year of Zedekiah.
of the letter: Jer 29:25-29, 2Ch 30:1-6, Est 9:20, Act 15:23, 2Co 7:8, Gal 6:11, Heb 13:22, Rev 2:1 – Rev 3:22
the elders: Jer 24:1-7, Jer 28:4
Reciprocal: 2Ki 24:12 – Jehoiachin Jer 28:17 – the seventh month Jer 29:28 – General Jer 33:9 – before Jer 51:61 – read
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 29:1. The Babylonian captivity as a whole began in 606 B.C. and ended in 536 B.C., 70 years in all. It began at the end of Jehoiakim’s 3rd year and ended at the overthrow of Belshazzar on the night of hie noted feast. However, the period had three stages in the beginning which are sometimes referred to as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd captivities for the purpose of fixing certain dates. Another manner of designating them Is to do so under the name of the king who was reign-ing in Judah at the time of the one referred to. The three kings were Jehoiaklm, Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) and Zedekiah, who were subdued by Nebuchadnezzar but allowed to sit for a time on the throne in Jerusalem. These facts must he kept in mind or confusion may result from some of the statements regarding the Jews in their relation to the Babylonians.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 29:1. Now these are the words of the letter Hebrew, , the words of the book, or writing, as both the LXX. and the Vulgate translate it. Although this title announces but one, Blaney gives it as his opinion that this chapter undeniably contains the substance of two writings sent at different times, which, he says, is evident from comparing Jer 29:28 with Jer 29:4-5, and that the distinction between them is at the end of Jer 29:20. For in the first the prophet exhorts the captives to accommodate themselves to their present circumstances, under an assurance that their captivity would last to the end of seventy years; after which period, and not before, God would visit and restore them. And to prevent their listening to any false suggestions that might flatter them with hopes of a speedier return, he informs them of what would happen to their brethren that were left behind at Jerusalem, for whom a harder fate was reserved than for those that had been carried away. After this, finding, as it should seem, upon the return of the messengers, the little credit the first message had met with, he sends a second to the same persons, denouncing the divine judgments against three of their false prophets, by whose influence chiefly the people had been prevented from hearkening to his good advice. The time when one or both of these written declarations of the divine will was sent to Babylon is not known, but it is thought to have been at the beginning of Zedekiahs reign. By the residue of the elders, Lowth thinks that the remnant of the members of the Sanhedrim is intended, who were carried away captive in the third year of Jehoiakims reign, (Dan 1:3,) or in Jeconiahs captivity, (see 2Ki 24:14,) many of whom might die by the hardships they suffered in their transportation. These, being persons of authority, were more likely to influence the rest of the people, and induce them to hearken to the prophets advice. Houbigant, however, not content with this interpretation, renders it, Unto the principal elders. Instead of prophets, here the LXX. read , false prophets: but the Chaldee understands by the word the scribes or doctors of the law; while others again think that Ezekiel, (carried away with Jeconiah,) Daniel, and other prophets of the captivity, may be meant.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 29:10. After seventy years. See Jer 26:1. Zechariah fixes the captivity at the same number of years, and he flourished sometime after Jeremiahs death. No doubt the captivity was exactly seventy years from the fourth year of Jehoiakim, when Jeconiah, the heir apparent, with about twenty thousand of the guards, the nobles, and artisans was carried to Babylon. As to the difficulties of the chronology which seem to make more than seventy years, they belong to critics, and they are common to every other subject of Hebrew history.
Jer 29:22. Zedekiah and Ahab, two false prophets whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire. From the most ancient times wizards and witches have been burned: very many under the imputation of witchcraft were also burned, in the dark ages of the church. See on Exo 22:18.
Jer 29:26. The Lord hath made thee priest instead of Jehoiada. This is a broad hint that he ought to imitate the zeal of Jehoiada, the blessed of the Lord, who saved Joash an infant from the carnage of Jehu in Jezreel, and from Athaliah in Jerusalem. 2Ch 22:10.
REFLECTIONS.
The gracious God, moved with compassion to his mournful people in Babylon, inspired Jeremiah to write as a father to his family. His letter shows the never-ceasing care of providence over the church. They were indeed suffering for their sins, but they were suffering under the eye of a pardoning God. Jeremiah had predicted the captivity, and though at the time they believed him not, they were now compelled to place some sort of confidence in his predictions. Hence, having wounded them by his words, the Lord employed him to heal them with a distant hope.
The letter of Jeremiah was not only a gracious but a seasonable word to the captives; for the false prophets were buoying up their minds with the illusive hopes of a speedy return to Jerusalem. This was very hurtful to their souls, in obstructing the sanctifying influence of their afflictions. It was also hurtful to their interests, in obstructing the establishments requisite for a protracted residence. Hence Jeremiah exhorts them to build, to plant, and to marry, that the hope of Israel might not be extinguished in the gloom of adversity. He exhorts them to regulate their political conduct according to the principles of piety and peace, to pray for the government, and for the particular city and district in which they might be scattered. Hereby they would merit the confidence of their rulers, obtain better treatment, and not extinguish religion by a factious spirit. Christians are everywhere exhorted in the new testament to do the same.
Instead of plotting seditious plans of return, he exhorts them to seek the Lord with all their heart; to abstain from sin, and be constant in private and public worship; for they had places on the shores of the rivers where prayer was wont to be made, and where they sat down and wept, while their harps reposed upon the willow. Psalms 137.
The prophet exhorts them to suffer with their eye constantly fixed on the promise of liberation which extended to the glorious age of the Messiah. I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you; which the Lord accomplished by Cyrus in a way far superior to any plot they could have formed for their own emancipation. Hence good men have a bright hope before their eyes which makes adversity soften its bitterness, and supports the mind with an unshaken confidence in the faithful God.
When men trust in the Lord, they must cease from an arm of flesh. Of those still remaining in Jerusalem, unreformed by the first captivity, the Lord declares that they were devoted to the sword, the famine, and the pestilence. There was no hope of returning to Zion till after her crimes were purged with blood.
The fearful end of the false prophets is very instructive. Zedekiah and Ahab, who disturbed the people in Babylon, were roasted alive by a slow fire. And Shemaiah, who wrote a letter back from Babylon, to Jehoiada the priest, to excite a persecution against Jeremiah, received a sentence of family extinction. Let us therefore beware how we call the Lords servants madmen, when they draw a just connection between sin and its punishment. By seeking to injure them we may destroy our own souls, and bring a curse upon our family. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jeremiah 29. The Future of the Exiles in Babylon (c. 595).Jeremiah sends a letter by royal messengers to tell the exiles in Babylon to settle down there for a lengthy stay, and not to be deceived by those who say otherwise (Jer 29:1-9). After seventy years (see on Jer 25:11), they shall be restored in accordance with Yahwehs declared purpose (Jer 24:4-7) and goodwill (Jer 29:1-13). At this point, an insertion seems to have been made in the original letter. Most of 14 (after I will be found of you) is rightly omitted in LXX; the reference to all the nations does not suit the destination of this particular letter. LXX also omits Jer 29:16-20, threatening Zedekiah (the king), and those left in Jerusalem (Jer 24:8, f.); this passage also has been added to the Hebrew text. Jer 29:15, which is quite disconnected from its context where it now stands, will then fitly precede Jer 29:21-23, its first word being rendered because instead of for; the sequel names two of these Babylonian prophets for condemnation. The remaining verses of the chapter (Jer 29:24-32) are in some confusion. They begin as prophecy in a message to Shemaiah (Jer 29:24 mg.), then pass (Jer 29:26 ff.) into the quotation of a letter from him to Zephaniah, then break off abruptly into narrative in Jer 29:29, and become prophecy again in Jer 29:30. Shemaiahs letter, evidently prompted by Jeremiahs, urges Zephaniah to treat Jeremiah as Pashhur had done (Jer 20:1 ff.), i.e. as a mad prophesier (cf. 2Ki 9:11; Hos 9:7, 1Sa 10:10 ff; 1Sa 19:20 ff.); but Zephaniah simply informs Jeremiah of this advice, with the result that a prophecy is uttered against Shemaiah and his descendants, in accordance with Hebrew ideas of corporate personality (cf., e.g., 2Ki 5:27).
Jer 29:3. Elasah: brother of Ahikam (Jer 26:24) and of a Gemariah (Jer 36:10) distinct from his present companion.
Jer 29:18 as mg.; cf. Jer 24:9.
Jer 29:19. Read they for ye, as in LXX of Lucian.
Jer 29:22. Nothing further is known of these men or their fate, presumably assigned for treason.
Jer 29:23. folly: senselessness (Driver); cf. 2Sa 13:12.
Jer 29:25. Zephaniah: cf. Jer 21:1, Jer 37:3, Jer 52:24. Omit, with LXX, unto all the people that are at Jerusalem and and to all the priests.
Jer 29:26. officers: read singular with VSS.
Jer 29:32. After seed, we should probably continue, with LXX, there shall not be a man of them in the midst of you to see the good, etc. (omitting last clause).
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
29:1 Now these [are] the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to {a} the rest of the elders who 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;
(a) For some died in the way.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Jeremiah’s first letter to the exiles 29:1-23
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Jeremiah sent a letter to all the Judahites who had gone into exile in Babylon with King Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) in 597 B.C. We do not know the date of its composition, but Jeremiah probably wrote it within a few years of 597 B.C. The recipients included the elders, priests, prophets, the queen mother (Nehushta), court officials, princes, craftsmen, smiths (or artisans), and other citizens. King Zedekiah sent Elasah, one of Shaphan’s sons (cf. Jer 26:24), and Gemariah ben Hilkiah (Jer 36:10-26; cf. 2Ki 22:3-14) to Babylon to deliver the letter. Both of these messengers were friendly toward Jeremiah, as is clear from other references to them. It was customary for vassals, such as Zedekiah, to communicate frequently with their overlords, like Nebuchadnezzar, in the ancient Near East. [Note: S. A. Meier, The Messenger in the Ancient Semitic World, p. 131.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
CHAPTER X
CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE EXILES
Jer 29:1-32
“Jehovah make thee like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire.”- Jer 29:22
NOTHING further is said about the proposed revolt, so that Jeremiahs vigorous protest seems to have been successful. In any case, unless irrevocable steps had been taken, the enterprise could hardly have survived the death of its advocate, Hananiah. Accordingly Zedekiah sent an embassy to Babylon, charged doubtless with plausible explanations and profuse professions of loyalty and devotion. The envoys were Elasah ben Shaphan and Gemariah ben Hilkiah. Shaphan and Hilkiah were almost certainly the scribe and high priest who discovered Deuteronomy in the eighteenth year of Josiah, and Elasah was the brother of Ahikam ben Shaphan, who protected Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, and of Gemariah ben Shaphan, in whose chamber Baruch read the roll, and who protested against its destruction. Probably Elasah and Gemariah were adherents of Jeremiah, and the fact of the embassy, as well as the choice of ambassadors, suggests that, for the moment, Zedekiah was acting under the influence of the prophet. Jeremiah took the opportunity of sending a letter to the exiles at Babylon. Hananiah had his allies in Chaldea: Ahab ben Kolaiah, Zedekiah ben Maaseiah, and Shemaiah the Nehelamite, with other prophets, diviners, and dreamers, had imitated their brethren in Judah; they had prophesied without being sent and had caused the people to believe a lie. We are not expressly told what they prophesied, but the narrative takes for granted that they, like Hananiah, promised the exiles a speedy return to their native land. Such teaching naturally met with much acceptance, the people congratulating themselves because, as they supposed, “Jehovah hath raised us up prophets in Babylon.” The presence of prophets among them. was received as a welcome proof that Jehovah had not deserted His people in their house of bondage.
Thus when Jeremiah had confounded his opponents in Jerusalem he had still to deal with their friends in Babylon. Here again the issue was one of immediate practical importance. In Chaldea as at Jerusalem the prediction that the exiles would immediately return was intended to kindle the proposed revolt. The Jews at Babylon were virtually warned to hold themselves in readiness to take advantage of any success of the Syrian rebels, and, if opportunity offered, to render them assistance. In those days information travelled slowly, and there was some danger lest the captives should be betrayed into acts of disloyalty, even after the Jewish government had given up any present intention of revolting against Nebuchadnezzar. Such disloyalty might have involved their entire destruction. Both Zedekiah and Jeremiah would be anxious to inform them at once that they must refrain from any plots against their Chaldean masters. Moreover the prospect of an immediate return had very much the same effect upon these Jews as the expectation of Christs Second Coming had upon the primitive Church at Thessalonica. It made them restless and disorderly. They could not settle to any regular work, but became busybodies-wasting their time over the glowing promises of their popular preachers, and whispering to one another wild rumours of successful revolts in Syria; or were even more dangerously occupied in planning conspiracies against their conquerors.
Jeremiahs letter sought to bring about a better state of mind. It is addressed to the elders, priests, prophets, and people of the Captivity. The enumeration reminds us how thoroughly the exiled community reproduced the society of the ancient Jewish state-there was already a miniature Judah in Chaldea, the first of those Israels of the Dispersion which have since covered the face of the earth.
This is Jehovahs message by His prophet:-
“Build houses and dwell in them;
Plant gardens and eat the fruit thereof;
Marry and beget sons and daughters;
Marry your sons and daughters,
That they may bear sons and daughters,
That ye may multiply there and not grow few.
Seek the peace of the city whither I have sent you into captivity:
Pray for it unto Jehovah
For in its peace, ye shalt have peace.”
There was to be no immediate return; their captivity would last long enough to make it worth their while to build houses and plant gardens. For the present they were to regard Babylon as their home. The prospect of restoration to Judah was too distant to make any practical difference to their conduct of ordinary business. The concluding command to “seek the peace of Babylon” is a distinct warning against engaging in plots, which could only ruin the conspirators. There is an interesting difference between these exhortations and those addressed by Paul to his converts in the first century. He never counsels them to marry, but rather recommends celibacy as more expedient for the present necessity. Apparently life was more anxious and harassed for the early Christians than for the Jews in Babylon. The return to Canaan was to these exiles what the millennium and the Second Advent were to the primitive Church. Jeremiah having bidden his fellow countrymen not to be agitated by supposing that this much longed for event might come at any moment, fortifies their faith and patience by a promise that it should not be delayed indefinitely.
“When ye have fulfilled seventy years in Babylon I will visit you,
And will perform for you My gracious promise to bring you back to this place.”
Seventy is obviously a round number. Moreover the constant use of seven and its multiples in sacred symbolism forbids us to understand the prophecy as an exact chronological statement.
We should adequately express the prophets meaning by translating “in about two generations.” We need not waste time and trouble in discovering or inventing two dates exactly separated by seventy years, one of which will serve for the beginning and the other for the end of the Captivity. The interval between the destruction of Jerusalem and the Return was fifty years (B.C. 586-536), but as our passage refers more immediately to the prospects of those already in exile, we should obtain an interval of sixty-five years from the deportation of Jehoiachin and his companions in B.C. 601. But there can be no question of approximation, however close. Either the “seventy years” merely stands for a comparatively long period, or it is exact. We do not save the inspiration of a date by showing that it is only five years wrong, and not twenty. For an inspired date must be absolutely accurate; a mistake of a second in such a case would be as fatal as a mistake of a century.
Israels hope is guaranteed by Gods self-knowledge of His gracious counsel:-
“I know the purposes which I purpose concerning you, is the utterance of Jehovah,
Purposes of peace and not of evil, to give you hope for the days to come.”
In the former clause “I” is emphatic in both places, and the phrase is parallel to the familiar formula “by Myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah.”
The future of Israel was guaranteed by the divine consistency. Jehovah, to use a colloquial phrase, knew His own mind. His everlasting purpose for the Chosen People could not be set aside. “Did God cast off His People? God forbid.”
Yet this persistent purpose is not fulfilled without reference to character and conduct:-
“Ye shall call upon Me, and come and pray unto Me,
And I will hearken unto you.
Ye shall seek Me, and find Me,
Because ye seek Me with all your heart.
I will be found of you-it is the utterance of Jehovah.
I will bring back your captivity, and will gather you from all nations and
Places whither I have scattered you-it is the utterance of Jehovah.
I will bring you back to this place whence I sent you away to captivity.”
As in the previous chapter, Jeremiah concludes with a personal judgment upon those prophets who had been so acceptable to the exiles. If Jer 29:23 is to be understood literally, Ahab and Zedekiah had not only spoken without authority in the name of Jehovah, but had also been guilty of gross immorality. Their punishment was to be more terrible than that of Hananiah. They had incited the exiles to revolt by predicting the imminent ruin of Nebuchadnezzar. Possibly the Jewish king proposed to make his own peace by betraying his agents, after the manner of our own Elizabeth and other sovereigns.
They were to be given over to the terrible vengeance which a Chaldean king would naturally take on such offenders, and would be publicly roasted alive, so that the malice of him who desired to curse his enemy might find vent in such words as:-
“Jehovah make thee like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted alive.”
We are not told whether this prophecy was fulfilled, but it is by no means unlikely. The Assyrian king Assurbanipal says, in one of his inscriptions concerning a viceroy of Babylon who had revolted, that Assur and the other gods “in the fierce burning fire they threw him and destroyed his life” – possibly through the agency of Assurbanipals servants. One of the seven brethren who were tortured to death in the persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes is said to have been “fried in the pan.” Christian hagiology commemorates St. Lawrence and many other martyrs, who suffered similar torments. Such punishments remained part of criminal procedure until a comparatively recent date; they are still sometimes inflicted by lynch law in the United States, and have been defended even by Christian ministers.
Jeremiahs letter caused great excitement and indignation among the exiles. We have no rejoinder from Ahab and Zedekiah; probably they were not in a position to make any. But Shemaiah the Nehelamite tried to make trouble for Jeremiah at Jerusalem. He, in his turn, wrote letters to “all the people at Jerusalem and to the priest Zephaniah ben Maaseiah and to all the priests” to this effect:-
“Jehovah hath made thee priest in the room of Jehoiada the priest, to exercise supervision over the Temple, and to deal with any mad fanatic who puts himself forward to prophesy, by placing him in the stocks and the collar. Why then hast thou not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who puts himself forward to prophesy unto you? Consequently he has sent unto us at Babylon: It (your captivity) will be long; build houses and dwell in them, plant gardens and eat the fruit thereof.”
Confidence in a speedy return had already been exalted into a cardinal article of the exiles faith, and Shemaiah claims that any one who denied this comfortable doctrine must be, ipso facto, a dangerous and deluded fanatic, needing to be placed under strict restraint. This letter travelled to Jerusalem with the returning embassy, and was duly delivered to Zephaniah. Zephaniah is spoken of in the historical section common to Kings and Jeremiah as “the second priest,” {Jer 52:24; 2Ki 25:18} Seraiah being the High Priest; like Pashhur ben Immer, he seems to have been the governor of the Temple. He was evidently well disposed to Jeremiah, to whom Zedekiah twice sent him on Important missions. On the present occasion, instead of acting upon the suggestions made by Shemaiah, he read the letter to Jeremiah, in order that the latter might have an opportunity of dealing with it.
Jeremiah was divinely instructed to reply to Shemaiah, charging him, in his turn, with being a man who put himself forward to prophesy without any commission from Jehovah, and who thus deluded his hearers into belief in falsehoods. Personal sentence is passed upon him, as upon Hananiah, Ahab, and Zedekiah: no son of his shall be reckoned amongst Gods people or see the prosperity which they shall hereafter enjoy. The words are obscure: it is said that Jehovah will “visit Shemaiah and his seed,” so that it cannot mean that he will be childless; but it is further said that “he shall not have a man to abide amongst this people.” It is apparently a sentence of excommunication against Shemaiah and his family.
Here the episode abruptly ends. We are not told whether the letter was sent, or how it was received, or whether it was answered. We gather that, here also, the last word rested with Jeremiah, and that at this point his influence became dominant both at Jerusalem and at Babylon, and that King Zedekiah himself submitted to his guidance.
Chapters 28 and 29 deepen the impression made by other sections of Jeremiahs intolerance and personal bitterness towards his opponents. He seems to speak of the roasting alive of the prophets at Babylon with something like grim satisfaction, and we are tempted to think of Torquemada and Bishop Bonner. But we must remember that the stake, as we have already said, has scarcely yet ceased to be an ordinary criminal punishment, and that, after centuries of Christianity, More and Cranmer, Luther and Calvin, had hardly any more tenderness for their ecclesiastical opponents than Jeremiah.
Indeed the Church is only beginning to be ashamed of the complacency with which she has contemplated the fiery torments of hell as the eternal destiny of unrepentant sinners. One of the most tolerant and catholic of our religious teachers has written: “If the unlucky malefactor, who in mere brutality of ignorance or narrowness of nature or of culture has wronged his neighbour, excite our anger, how much deeper should be our indignation when intellect and eloquence are abused to selfish purposes, when studious leisure and learning and thought turn traitors to the cause of human well-being and the wells of a nations moral life are poisoned.” The deduction is obvious: society feels constrained to hang or burn “the unlucky malefactor”; consequently such punishments are, if anything, too merciful for the false prophet. Moreover the teaching which Jeremiah denounced was no mere dogmatism about abstruse philosophical and theological abstractions. Like the Jesuit propaganda under Elizabeth, it was more immediately concerned with politics than with religion. We are bound to be indignant with a man, gifted in exploiting the emotions of his docile audience, who wins the confidence and arouses the enthusiasm of his hearers, only to entice them into hopeless and foolhardy ventures.
And yet we are brought back to the old difficulty, how are we to know the false prophet? He has neither horns nor hoofs, his tie may be as white and his coat as long as those of the true messenger of God. Again, Jeremiahs method affords us some practical guidance. He does not himself order and superintend the punishment of false prophets: he merely announces a Divine judgment, which Jehovah Himself is to execute. He does not condemn men by the code of any Church, but each sentence is a direct and special revelation from Jehovah. How many sentences would have been passed upon heretics, if their accusers and judges had waited for a similar sanction?