Jeremiah 29:1-32

Some messages are easier to give than others.  Jeremiah constantly finds himself having to deliver difficult messages.  As a prophet of the Lord he does not have the authority to give the message of his liking.  His job is to proclaim the message the Lord has given; no more and no less.  When those who proclaim the Word of God begin making up their own messages, then bring great harm to themselves and to their hearers.  All of us will be held accountable before the Lord for the messages we have given.  God’s expectation is that we be faithful to His Word no matter what the response of our hearers might be.  Jeremiah’s message was not an easy one to give but it was true and represented God’s will completely.

THE EXILE WOULD BE LONG BUT END WELL: Jeremiah writes a letter to the exiles in Babylon.  The basic content of the message was for the people to make themselves comfortable in the land of Babylon because they were going to be there for a long time.  Jeremiah tells them to build houses, give their children in marriage and prepare to face death in their land of captivity.  Even though there are many false prophets who were telling them they would quickly be set free, Jeremiah warns them to ignore this false message.  However, Jeremiah’s message to the exiles is one of assurance that at the end of the seventy years God would fulfill His gracious plan of restoration.  God gives them hope the assurance that He is truly in control.  There will be times in our lives where our circumstances will not be to our liking. We may be stricken with an illness or experience a disaster.  We may begin to lose hope but we must remember that God is in control and that He does have plan for His children and He is working that plan out for His glory and our good.

THE REMNANT WILL BE LEFT AND END WORSE: Jeremiah’s message to the remnant in Judah who had not been taken into captivity was much worse.  From man’s perspective these were the fortunate ones.  They were still in their homeland and they were living in their own homes with relative comfort and freedom.  Jeremiah warns them that this would not last for very long.  God was sending them famine, war and disease.  The vast majority of the people would perish in the land from one of these three evils.  The land and the cities would be left desolate and the people would simply be destroyed.  Shemaiah was considered to be a prophet by the people as he claimed to speak the word of the Lord.  However, his message of peace, safety and prosperity was one of his own making.  God has rejected this message and the messenger and has condemned him and his entire family to die.  It is a dangerous thing to use our words and then claim they came from God.  We must faithfully proclaim the Word of God no matter how hard it is to hear and not be tempted to make up our own message because of its passing popularity.