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;
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 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.
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 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.
GOD’S THOUGHTS OF PEACE
‘The thoughts that I think toward you.’
Jeremiah 29:11
I. God thinking of us in our need.—‘I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me.’ ‘ Yet’ is an interpolation of the English version. It would be nearer the truth to say, ‘ therefore the Lord thinketh upon me.’ Why is it necessary to emphasise the fact that God thinks of men? (1) Men were saying in Israel’s days of trial that God had given them up, and that these evil times were only the beginning of the end. Even so; men are now making light of the Gospel—preaching ‘other Gospels’ not stamped with the Divine character of free grace. Any delusion is easier for the sinner to believe than that God is altogether loving and gracious— even to him in his sin. (2) Uneasy consciences suggest a gloomy view of the sinner’s case. It is the duty of conscience to condemn the sinner and make him feel his sin; but it is the work of the Gospel to persuade him of the all-forgiving mercy of God. The prophet sets God’s word against that of false witnesses. So let us hold to the message. God has not put us out of His kindly thought. For—
II. God protests the peaceableness of His thoughts towards Israel: ‘thoughts of peace.’—‘Conscience makes cowards of us all.’ ‘The wicked fleeth when no man pursueth.’ Even so the sinner flees from God, because he argues that since he has been so long at war with God, God must be at war with him. As God did not leave Israel in Babylon, so He will not leave us in our sins if we accept His salvation.
The Old Testament man cries, ‘Woe is me! for I have seen the Lord.’ The New Testament man says, ‘Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’ Everybody knows there must be a distance put between God and sin, but the spiritually enlightened know that the proper way is to put away sin—not to ask God to leave us. He who understands the Gospel knows that God has put away sin by the sacrifice of Jesus—that Jesus has put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Hence, God can think thoughts of peace and not of evil concerning the sinner. It was for the sake of a Christ to be crucified that God could deal mercifully with Israel: it is for the sake of a Christ Who has been crucified that He can think thoughts of peace concerning us. The sinner flees from God. The God of his imagination may be a God of vengeance and of evil thoughts about us. But the true picture of God is here given. ‘The thoughts that I think—thoughts of peace, and not of evil.’
III. Jeremiah closes the verse by saying God is to give His people an expected end.—Let us ask ourselves what kind of end ought we to expect as the gift of a God full of such thoughts as God protests He has towards us? Fill in all your best and noblest expectations or thoughts of love, peace, eternal blessings, home comforts for ever, with no interruptions—these are all in the promise of God; no good thing will He withhold from those who close with His offers of mercy.
When we have learned to ‘expect great things from God,’ we shall begin to get great things. All things are ours in Christ—deliverance from captivity included. Sin and Satan are no more powerful to hold us than Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar to hold Israel, when God’s word of peace and goodwill is accepted by us.
Illustration
‘In a land where the custom of the vendetta was practised, a man had the cruel (supposed) duty laid on him of vindicating the death of his brother, who had been slain in a sudden heat of passion by his own dearest friend. He set out on the odious task, but on his way he learned that another member of his family had already avenged the murder on a member of the murderer’s family. Delighted to be set free from the burden of shedding his friend’s blood, he now pursued him to let him know that the old peace need not be disturbed; the vile custom was satisfied. But it was long before he could get his errand of mercy accomplished. The murderer ever fled from his approach, fearing vengeance, though it was mercy that brought his comrade after him.’
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.
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 not 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.
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, I 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 I know, and am a witness, saith the LORD.
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 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.
