Jeremiah 29, Messages to the Exiles

Twice Nebuchadnezzar had invaded Israel and taken captives, the first time when Jehoiakim was king, the second time after Jehoiakim refused to pay tribute. Jehoiachin became king then, but Nebuchadnezzar took him and his mother and other officials captive and made Zedekiah king. There is regular communication with Babylon through letters and God tells Jeremiah to send along with a communication to Babylon by Zedekiah His own letter to the exiles.

^29:1 This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ² (This was after King Jehoiachin and the queen mother, the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the skilled workers and the artisans had gone into exile from Jerusalem.) ³ He entrusted the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It said:

⁴ This is what Yahweh 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. ⁷ Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to Yahweh for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” ⁸ Yes, this is what Yahweh Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. ⁹ They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares Yahweh.

God knows that exiled prophets have been prophesying in His name that the captivity, which He takes credit for carrying them into, is soon to be over and the people and Temple articles are to be returned to Judah. But that is not what is going to happen. They are going to be there a long time and should therefore settle down, raise families, and seek the prosperity of the cities they have been moved to. If their communities prosper, so will they.

¹⁰ This is what Yahweh 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. ¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares Yahweh, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,” declares Yahweh, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares Yahweh, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

Yahweh repeats again that the captivity will last seventy years before He brings His people back to Israel. The exiles need to understand that Yahweh has sent them into exile to prosper them and protect their future. But they need to seek Yahweh with all their heart so that Yahweh can restore them from captivity back to the land.

¹⁵ You may say, “Yahweh has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,” ¹⁶ but this is what Yahweh says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all the people who remain in this city, your fellow citizens who did not go with you into exile— ¹⁷ yes, this is what Yahweh Almighty says: “I will send the sword, famine and plague against them and I will make them like figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten. ¹⁸ I will pursue them with the sword, famine and plague and will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse and an object of horror, of scorn and reproach, among all the nations where I drive them. ¹⁹ For they have not listened to my words,” declares Yahweh, “words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets. And you exiles have not listened either,” declares Yahweh.

The exiles may receive the word of false prophets about a soon return but Yahweh must bust their bubble and tell them that Zedekiah and the current regime will be destroyed along with the city of Jerusalem. The captivity is nowhere near ending. They must not listen to these prophets, but to Yahweh.

²⁰ Therefore, hear the word of Yahweh, all you exiles whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. ²¹ This is what Yahweh Almighty, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies to you in my name: “I will deliver them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your very eyes. ²² Because of them, all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: ‘May Yahweh treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned in the fire.’ ²³ For they have done outrageous things in Israel; they have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and in my name they have uttered lies—which I did not authorize. I know it and am a witness to it,” declares Yahweh.

Yahweh names two prophets in particular who have preached falsehood and predicts their killing by the Babylonians.

²⁴ Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite, ²⁵ “This is what Yahweh Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You sent letters in your own name to all the people in Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and to all the other priests. You said to Zephaniah, ²⁶ ‘Yahweh has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada to be in charge of the house of Yahweh; you should put any maniac who acts like a prophet into the stocks and neck-irons. ²⁷ So why have you not reprimanded Jeremiah from Anathoth, who poses as a prophet among you? ²⁸ He has sent this message to us in Babylon: It will be a long time. Therefore build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.’”

²⁹ Zephaniah the priest, however, read the letter to Jeremiah the prophet. ³⁰ Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah: ³¹ “Send this message to all the exiles: ‘This is what Yahweh says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I did not send him, and has persuaded you to trust in lies, ³² this is what Yahweh says: I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good things I will do for my people, declares Yahweh, because he has preached rebellion against me.’” (Jeremiah 29)

Another prophet writes to Zephaniah the priest, hoping to get him to put Jeremiah in prison. He scratches Zephaniah’s back by telling him that Yahweh wants him to be high priest instead of Jehoiada. But Zephaniah doesn’t fall for this. He reads the letter to Jeremiah and Yahweh gives Jeremiah a word saying Shemaiah will suffer punishment for his false prophesying.

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Discussion Questions:

1. Where have you heard such prophesying/preaching wars before?
2. How does it make sense that the people who have been exiled can have God’s purpose to prosper and have a future?
3. Should we be praying for the prosperity of our own communities? Why or why not?