Questions for thought:
1. In 1 Timothy 2:2 Paul said to pray for kings and those in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives. How is that a reflection of Jeremiah 29:7?
2. In Jeremiah 32:35 God condemned the children of Israel for doing something “which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind…” How often today does the religious world do something which God has not commanded us to do? I am thinking about using mechanical instruments of music; observing religious holy days and seasons such as Lent, Easter, and Christmas; observing the Lord’s Supper on any day other than the Lord’s Day; and calling preachers by special titles such as Father and Reverend.
3. When God told Jeremiah to buy the land from his uncle, Jeremiah evidently did not understand why, but he did what God wanted. What should we do when we have a duty to perform but we do not understand why?
Chapter 29 contains letters Jeremiah wrote to the exiles. Bible historians date this chapter after the first group of captives had been carried to Babylon in 597 B.C. Jehoiachin served three months on the throne and then his uncle Zedekiah served as a vassal of King Nebuchadnezzar. The false prophets as we saw in chapter 28 were saying the captivity would be short and Jeremiah was writing to let the people know these words of the false prophets were just that: false.
In this prophecy, Jeremiah told the people God said for them to go ahead and build houses and get married and raise families wherever they had been carried to. They were told to even pray for peace in whatever place they were living because if the city they were in had peace they too would have peace. Then in verse 9 Jeremiah began to remind the people about the false prophets. He told them they were going to be in captivity for 70 years and they God would visit them and perform His good word toward them in allowing them to go home. Here in verse 17 God reminded the people of the bad figs from the previous prophecy and He told them how those who had not listened to His words would be punished. Then he told the people how the false prophet Shemaiah would be punished for his false prophecies.
Jeremiah 30-33 are sometimes put together as a message concerning the restoration of Israel under the Messiah. It is uncertain as to when the prophecies were given or the words were penned. In chapter 30 Jeremiah wrote about the days when the Lord would bring again the captives from their lands of captivity and return them to Israel (verse 3). According to verse 8 on that specific day the Lord would break the yoke from off their neck and they would again serve God and not be enslaved to strangers. In verse 11 God promised them He would not make a full end of them but He would punish them. In verse 22 God said they would again be His people and He would be their God.
Continuing in chapter 31 the remnant of Israel (verse 7) would return and come and sing in the height of Zion (verse 12). In verse 15 is a prophecy concerning when this would happen and it says: “… a voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.” Those of us who know our New Testament will remember in Matthew 2:17 we have the fulfilment of this prophecy when Herod had all the babies two years old and younger killed in his attempt to kill Christ. So, while we realize Israel was truly restored to her land after the 70 years of captivity, the fullness of this prophecy was not realized until the birth of our Savior. In verse 22, God promised a new thing in the earth. A woman would encompass a man surely referring to the virgin birth of our Savior. Then in verse 31, we have the promise of a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In verse 33 God said He would put His laws in their inward parts and write it in their heart and He would be their God and they would be His people. The writer of Hebrews addressed this new covenant in Hebrews 8:8-12 where he quoted from Jeremiah 31:33-34. Again, it is obvious the fulfilment of this prophecy took place in the days of Christ.
In chapter 32 Jeremiah was given another sign which would reveal good news to those who would listen to him. The time of this prophecy was in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah according to verse 1. This would put it during the last months of the siege of Jerusalem which ended up in the final capture and destruction of the city. We have a little background in verses 2-5. Jeremiah was a prisoner of King Zedekiah at this time. The city was being besieged by Babylon. Zedekiah’s reason for imprisoning Jeremiah given in verses 3-5 was because Jeremiah had prophesied how Zedekiah would be delivered into the king of Babylon’s hands. Beginning in verse 6 we have the word of the Lord to Jeremiah. This time the Lord told Jeremiah his uncle, Hanameel, was going to come to sell him some land. In verse 8, Hanameel came and Jeremiah bought the land. He did the proper legal paper work and gave it to Baruch (who is given credit for writing much of the book of Jeremiah under the direction of the prophet). Baruch was to take the paperwork, both the sealed and unsealed and put it in an earthen vessel so it would remain intact.
It seems though Jeremiah obeyed the word of the Lord, he was unsure as to what this sign might mean. He prayed to God for understanding beginning in verse 16 where he mentioned previous signs God had done. In verse 26 the word of the Lord again came to Jeremiah and God told him how this city would be destroyed just as Jeremiah had been prophesying, but just as he had been prophesying, it would again be placed back into the hands of Israel (verse 37). In addition, God promised in verse 40 an everlasting covenant with the people (verse 40). In verse 42, God said just as He had brought all of this calamity upon the people, He would bring upon them all the good He had promised them. Then just as Jeremiah was able to buy land the people would again be able to buy and sell because God would cause their captives to return to the land. But even before Jeremiah understood what God intended by this sign, he did the Lord’s will. Sometimes we read that God expects a certain behavior from us but we do not understand why. We need to obey Him and everything will come together in the long run.
Jeremiah received a second word from God while he was in captivity in Jeremiah 33. In the first 9 verses God told Jeremiah even though Judah was being thrown down, she would rise again and be cleansed of her iniquity. In verse 8 God said He would pardon their iniquities. The rest of the chapter is devoted to the new restored kingdom which we know as the Kingdom of Christ. We will begin next time on Jeremiah 34 with the message to King Zedekiah.
Christian Women's Responsibility in Sharing God's Word 