11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29
God was still speaking PROTECTION AND BLESSINGS on His people in the most trying of circumstances, (carried into captivity in Babylon) and HE’S WELL ABLE TO CARE FOR US TODAY!
Jeremiah chapters 28 & 29 contain four false prophets by name (Hananiah in Jerusalem 28:16, Ahab and Zedekiah in Babylon 29:21 and Shemaiah in Babylon 29:32) who were ‘speaking lies’ to God’s people. God warned His people to stop listening to their lies (even encouraging them to lie 29:8) and ultimately removed all of them.
God sent a letter of encouragement through His true prophet Jeremiah still in Jerusalem. What did He say to His people in this letter, God’s mailbag to Israel.
4 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “BUILD HOUSES AND SETTLE DOWN; PLANT GARDENS and eat what they produce. 6 MARRY AND HAVE SONS AND DAUGHTERS; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. INCREASE IN NUMBER THERE; DO NOT DECREASE.
Practical instruction for living in the exile, DON’T GIVE UP, BUILD NEW LIVES THERE AND INCREASE (just as in Egypt).
7 Also, SEEK THE PEACE AND PROSPERITY of the city to which I have carried you into exile. PRAY TO THE LORD FOR IT, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
“Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile”. Really? Yes, then you too will prosper. The old saying, ‘don’t cut off your nose to spite your face’, comes to mind. Be very wary of having bad attitude (or just Attitude) in any situation in which we find ourselves. Especially when it’s not to our liking!
The next section is a warning against following false prophets and liars who tell us what ‘we want to hear’ but not what God is saying. DON’T LISTEN TO LIES, NO MATTER HOW APPEALING THEY SEEM. SEEK THE CONFIRMATION OF GOD’S SPIRIT IN EVERY SITUATION, He wants to speak to us and lead us.
10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.
Finally, God gave Israel hope for the future, but they were still going to have to live out their lives in the present. He would restore them when it was His time and He will also bless us today when His purposes have been achieved. All His promises are ‘Yes and Amen’ in Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:20
God bless and keep you today.