The Path before us – Jeremiah 29:1-14
These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to 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 leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the artisans, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem. 3 The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom King Zedekiah of Judah sent to Babylon to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. It said: 4 Thus 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; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek 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 find your welfare. 8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let the prophets and the diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, 9 for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, says the Lord.
10 For thus says the Lord: Only when Babylon’s seventy years are completed will I visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. 12 Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.13 When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, 14 I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
What does the passage say?
V. 1-3 Jeremiah, who is still in Jerusalem, sends a letter to the exiles in Babylon.
V. 4-9 Jeremiah message, from God, should have startled the people. They were told not to assimilate. However, Jeremiah is saying, ‘You will be there for 70 years, so settle down.’ He also accuses the ones, who was proclaiming that God will bring them back to the promised city soon, by calling them ‘false prophets.’
V. 10-14 God promises prosperity in Babylon. However, this prosperity is a plan to stir of the desire for God’s people to seek God. And God promises to be found. It says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you” (v.13-14 NIV)
What does the passage say to you and me?
For the Israelites who were in Babylon, even with the prosperity God had promised, they were bound to learn the disparity that comes from being away from God.
In the same way, even though we might be surrounded by the prosperity of the world, we need to be able to see the spiritual depravity that comes from being away from God. No prosperity in the world cannot fill up that void. It is only when we see our spiritual depravity, being away from God, we will see the urge to seek God’s presence.
So my question will be, do we ernestly seek God ‘with all our hearts?’
Let’s Pray
Lord, help us to seek you more, in the midst of our prosperity. Let not the blessings be a road block for us to see our spiritul depravity.
In Christ name we pray, AMEN
What are your thoughts?
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