It was good news, it was bad news. That depending on who you were and also how the news was to be received. Jeremiah wrote a letter to the exiles and this is what is contained.
- Settle in. Build houses. Plant gardens. Get married. Have children. Because your exile will be 70 years.
- Seek the good of the city of Babylon. “Pray to the LORD on its behalf, for when it has prosperity, you will prosper” (v. 8). Yes, they took you captive. But pray for them and bless them anyway.
- Don’t listen to some of the prophets. They are prophesying lies.
- When the 70 years are finished, I will bring you back to the land of your fathers. For I have good plans for you. “Plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (v. 11).
- For those who did not go with you into exile, they will die. They are rotten to the core. They rebelled against me and again and again refused to listen. They committed “adultery with their neighbor’s wives and have spoken a lie in my name” (v. 23).
- Shemaiah has appointed himself to police any prophet he considered a madman (or anyone whose message he doesn’t like). I did not send him. If you trust him you are trusting a lie. He will die and his descendant with him.
In many ways it was a hard reality. Knowing that you and your loved ones will be in captivity for 70 years would be tough to hear. But knowing that you would return would be encouraging.
It may or may not be tough to have heard that those terribly corrupt folk who stayed in Jerusalem would die.
And it was a good reminder to be careful to who one listened to. False prophets abounded and spoke in God’s name things that were not of God.
In this there are two verses that are commonly used in quotes.
- “Seek the welfare of the city” (v. 7).
Although most leave out the second half of the verse:
“Seek the welfare of the city that I have deported you to” (v. 7).
We can see that God wanted to bless the Israelites in exile and the means to do that was when the city they were conquered by and exiled too prospered.
So is this a command for all times, in all places and everywhere? As a good principle? I would say yes and no.
God has a huge heart for people and desires us to pray to the Lord on their behalf. So in that sense yes, we are to be a blessing to the city we are in. When the city prospers, we will prosper. When the city is in decline, the people suffer.
But for this exact verse to be used in all circumstances? Not necessarily. Sometimes God has said in times of battle to destroy a city. We wouldn’t want to take that one for all time.
Generally though it is good to seek the city and to pray for it as an outflow of God’s nature and character unless we hear differently.
2. “For I know the plans I have for you” –this is the LORD’s declaration–“plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (v. 11).
While this verse was spoken directly to the Israelite people in captivity, it is claimed and quoted often in the life of the individual. And again, this isn’t necessarily wrong. Because it does reflect the character and nature of God.
Throughout the Scripture he is a blessing God. He even said that if the people would have repented, they would not have gone into captivity and God would have blessed them then. But they didn’t so they needed the discipline.
But always his goal is to give us a future and a hope and a blessing.
We must also take into consideration that this was said on a national basis. Coming from an individualistic culture, we tend to claim that verse as an individual. Again, not bad as that is his nature and character. But this particular promise was for the nation of Israel.
For us, our blessings are in Christ. We may have good times or bad times in this life, and some people have a lot of both. But God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Eph 1:3). So in a group sense as the people of God, we do come into that blessing and those blessings.
Will our lives be smooth? Actually not. We are guaranteed many afflictions (Ps 34:9).
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On a side note the last few chapters of Jeremiah have spoken very strongly against those who prophesy in God’s name but are not sent by God. People believed what they said and based their lives around that.
Right now we are in a time where “prophets” have exploded on the scene. Be careful and practice discernment with them. Just because they use the God-lingo does not mean that their message is of God.
Ask yourself,
- Does this resonate with my spirit?
- Does it line up with the Word of God?
- Does it make me want to spend more time with Jesus?
- Am I spending more time in the Word and in prayer than I am listening to the prophets?
