Exile

Welfare

English Standard Version Chapter 29

29 These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

We often times do not think in terms of time. We live in a society that wants what they want and they want it now. Would you agree? As we look at these verses we should notice that there are people still in Jerusalem. Jeremiah himself is apparently writing to the exiles from Jerusalem. We should consider that prophets may not get all their information at one time. Jeremiah himself had once refrained from marrying because he said it was sign that marrying and having children would case in Judah.

The New Revised Standard Version Jeremiah’s Celibacy and Message

The word of the LORD came to me: You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place. For thus says the LORD concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning the mothers who bear them and the fathers who beget them in this land: They shall die of deadly diseases. They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried; they shall become like dung on the surface of the ground. They shall perish by the sword and by famine, and their dead bodies shall become food for the birds of the air and for the wild animals of the earth.

Now the bad news good news verses. 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 their 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.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Je 29:4–6.

The good news is that the Lord of Hosts is telling you to begin to have life again. Go ahead and marry, have children, build houses. The bad news is don’t get in any hurry about heading home anytime soon.

In verses to follow this passage the people are warned to not listen to the false prophets who try to convince the people that they will soon be home.

What this really means for the elders of the exile is that the elders will most likely all be dead and never go home. But God does not want them to be completely destroyed. He tells them to find their welfare where they are. Pray for the welfare of those who have taken you captive.

What should we consider about this passage for us today? The human mind plans the way,

but the LORD directs the steps

The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Pr 16:9. For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Is 55:8–9. If we want to be successful in the pursuit of happiness we must seek the will of God. Making plans without His will is futile.

Sometimes before we can find the promised land we must learn to live for the Lord where He has us at the moment. For these people it did not mean that they would not make it to the promise just not now.