“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 29:11 (Jeremiah 23, 27-29, 50-51)
Jeremiah is told to send letters to the exiles, those who were carried off in the first round of deportations. The false prophets were still telling the people all was well, Jerusalem was safe and their captivity would be short lived. They were not speaking the Word of the Lord, and for Hananiah, the prophet who boldly broke the yoke Jeremiah wore to illustrate a peaceful submission to Babylonia, he met a quick death and eternal separation from God.
The prediction of Babylon’s final downfall was told in chapters 50 and 51. This book was to be read publicly, then taken to the Euphrates and sunk as a demonstration of how Babylon itself would sink rather than rise. For all its powerful splendor, this magnificent empire lasted less than 100 years.
God’s message to the displaced people of Judah is to settle in for the long haul. The exile would be seventy years. Build homes, grow gardens and eat from the harvest, marry and procreate, and pray for their communities and neighbors because they all succeed together or fail as one.
God demanded that these people chose peace and prayer for one another. It would once again set them apart. In the midst of injustice, discomfort and an incredibly uncertain future there is the promise that God has not given up, He won’t forget nor become disinterested. He has a plan and it is good.
In prayer you will find a plan and a peace that passes all understanding.
Love,
Gretchen