Seek God in Exile

Hey, hey, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This morning, we're at Jeremiah chapter 29. Jeremiah is going to write a letter, say some stuff to the people who are in exile. Let's find out what he has to say. That's good tea. It is. We're both having tea this morning to try to get some little bug going around the house, just kind of making us feel bleh. So let's pray.
God, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for the blessing of your word and for the joy of getting to serve you. Lord, we pray that you would please help us to know who you are, to walk in your ways, to understand the will of you, Lord, your will for our lives. God, we pray that you would please give us your Holy Spirit to teach us, to turn us towards you, to help us to walk in your ways. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Here we go, Jeremiah chapter 29. So we'll go paragraph by paragraph, okay?
Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the elders who were carried away captive, to the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon. This happened after Jeconiah the king, the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem. The letter was sent by the hand of Alasha, the son of Shafan, and Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah, king of Judah, sent to Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, saying..." Alright, so who is he writing this to? The king of Babylon. Nope. Nope. So that's who was carrying it, right? The letter was sent by the handover, right? So that's who the postman was.
To Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, saying, No, no, so by the hand of Elisha the son of Sethan and Gemariah the son of Hokiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar. Right, so it's saying that Zedekiah was sent by God to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
So that's just saying what era it was written. Yeah, but you're saying it was written... Well, you're going to see, it's going to talk about, and Nebuchadnezzar is not one of the recipients of this letter. Why does it say, to Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon? Because you have to read everything in context, and the beginning part of that clause is that Zedekiah was sent to, Zedekiah the king, was sent to Babylon. And who's in Babylon? To Nebuchadnezzar. To Nebuchadnezzar the king. Right, so that's just giving you context of when this was happening.
So it's not the letter, it's the king. it's the king who was sent to the other king in exile but it's not actually going to be the letter is not actually addressing Nebuchadnezzar himself uh... so it's Jeremiah writing largely to the elders but also to some other people as well who are in exile well I guess you get the easy paragraph that says to the Lord of hosts the God of Israel to all who carried away to all who were carried away captive whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon. Okay, so he's writing to the exiles in Babylon, right? build houses and dwell in them, plant gardens and eat their fruit.
Take wives and beget sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters, that you may be increased and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city, where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it, For in its peace you will have peace. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel. Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you have caused to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely to you in my name.
I have not sent them, says the Lord." So what's he saying there? Uh, he's saying that it kind of reminds me of Yosemite or something. Like, do not listen to the Jews. Do not bow hastily. A little bit. Okay, but specifically, right, we're trying to talk about what does this actually say? Well, this actually says that they're not supposed to just, like... He's almost telling them, like, don't be afraid to actually do stuff in Babylon. I've sent you to Babylon.
Yeah, good. So I have families, pursue peace there. As it goes good with you there, it's going to be good. But don't listen to people who are going to lie to you. Because there's false prophets and, oh, we're going to go back to Jerusalem right away. Just don't listen to them. You want to read the next part?
For this says the Lord, after 70 years, are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good work toward you and cause you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord. Thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me and I will listen to you. and you will seek me and find me, and you search for me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I caused you to be carried away captive."
So what's the Lord saying to them there? He's saying that 70 years you're going to have to stay there. He's kind of saying don't revolt like I have promised if you turn your way in Babylon. There's still going to be punishment for your sin. To me it almost sounds like he's saying, I understand you're repenting, but you still need punishment for your sin. Yeah, there's still this period of punishment, and it's a set time, right?
It's 70 years. It's not like a week, two years, something like that. It's 70 years, right? It's one year for every Sabbath here they didn't keep for 109 years. Yeah. And so he says, that's how long you're going to be there. But his thoughts for them are good. Right, so that's like, okay, you're under punishment, right? But you're turning to the Lord and his thoughts for them are good. Okay, 15 through 20. Because you have said, the Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon.
Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, concerning all the people who dwell in this city, and concerning your brethren who have not gone out with you into captivity. Thus says the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and I will make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten, they are so bad. And I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, and I will deliver them to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, an astonishment, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them. Because they have not heeded my words, says the Lord, which I sent to them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them. Neither would you heed, says the Lord. Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, all you of the captivity whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon."
So what's he saying in that paragraph? There's going to be prophets. Okay, so there's prophets arising in Babylon. And what's he saying about them? There's going to be... I don't know. Almost sounds like you can test if they're like real prophets, because if they're being driven out of the land, they're almost like cost and they're not actually like prophets. Yeah, right?
So these are false prophets, right? He's saying even though they may be all the way out in Babylon, the Lord's still going to punish them there. He's going to punish them with famine, with sword, with pestilence, right? The Lord is still going to punish the false prophets in Babylon too.
You want to read verse 21 to 23? You mean 24? 21 through 23. Oh yeah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Goliath and Zedekiah, the son of Messiah, Did I say that right? I'll say it. That's fine. Who prophesied a lie to you in my name. Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. And he shall say, slay them before your eyes. And because of them, a cross shall be taken up by all the captivity of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, The Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, the king of Babylon, roasted in the fire, because they have done disgraceful things in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them.
Indeed, I know and am a witness, says the Lord. Okay, so you have Ahab, son of Koliah, and Zedekiah, son of Masaiah, and they're prophesying falsely. And what's he say about them? I like how he says, it's just like, Indeed I know, I am a witness, says the Lord. Saying stuff in His name. He's God. He's like, I didn't say those things.
So what's going to happen to them? They're going to be, it sort of sounds like they're going to be put in the fire. Yeah, right. We know that this is King Nebuchadnezzar's MO, right? Because that's what he did with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, right? So we know he's got that fiery furnace that he's able to throw people into.
Their names are going to be like a byword, right? Like, oh, you don't want to end up like Zedekiah or like Ahab. Remember those guys? They prophesied false. They got thrown in Nebuchadnezzar's fire. Man, God even knows what's going on here. Okay, here we go. Verse 24.
You shall also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying, Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, You have sent letters in your name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, to Zephaniah the son of Masih the priest, and to all the priests, saying, The Lord has made you priests instead of Jehoiada the priest. so that there should be officers in the house of the Lord over every man who is demented and considers himself a prophet, that you should put him in prison in the stocks. Now therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who makes himself a prophet to you? For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is long. Build houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens, and eat their fruit. Well, what's Jeremiah know is going on in verses 24 through 28? People saying like, why should we believe Jeremiah? How do we know he's not a false prophet? Because he's been pursued by the sword. All these bad stuff has happened to him. Yeah, good.
All right, you want to read in verse 29 to the end? Zephaniah the priest read this letter the hearing of Jeremiah's prophet then the war then the Lord the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah saying Send to all those in captivity saying that says the Lord concerning Shamaya then now the hell am I night? the hell am I sure because Shamaya has prophesied to you and and I have not sent him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie. Therefore, thus says Thus says the Lord, behold, I will punish Shemaiah, the Nehemiah, and his family, and his family. He shall not have anyone to dwell among this people, nor shall he see the good that I will do for my people, says the Lord, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord. Okay, so what happens in that paragraph? He's gonna die. Who's gonna die? Shemaiah the Nehalemite. Yeah, right. Why is he gonna die? He's saying stuff that I didn't tell him to say. Good.
Alright, so we've kind of summarized each paragraph as we've gone, so now give me what is this A about, this whole section? kind of just like, instead of fighting against Babylon, even if you fight against the Lord's going to keep you in captivity for 70 years, no matter what.
And any false prophets that arise and say, hey, come out of Babylon, fight against, you will win, the Lord is on your side. These are false prophets. And there is a false prophet that has arisen and said, how do we believe Jeremiah? Why shouldn't we rebel against?
It's interesting that as we look through the Old Testament, we actually see that those who followed Jeremiah's advice, who followed the prophet's words from the Lord, They actually did prosper. We think about Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael. We think about Ruth. We think about Daniel. We think about those who are Nehemiah. Some of them even become the king's cupbearer. One of them becomes the king's wife, the queen. And so they prosper. They do well in the kingdom. And so there's this blessing that This is God's plan, just go do it.
So let's go ahead and talk about the best verse to summarize this section. Oh boy. Can I tell you what my best verse is? My best verse is 11, 12, and 13. whole paragraph. Nope, it's the middle part of the paragraph. Yep. For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me and I will listen to you and you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. That's kind of like the Bible verse. That Bible verse. You're like, why do I have to memorize this again? Yeah, right, I think it's a promise. I think that's a, it's not a promise that's directed towards us, right? This has a context. And so we need to remember what that context is.
But I think this is the Lord's telling them, right? You're going to be there for 70 years. But when you turn your whole heart and you want to search and follow after me, I'm going to be found by you. And this is where I'm just going to go into see calling, right? This is very encouraging to me.
Because sometimes God may have fatherly displeasure at us, may need to correct us or rebuke us or discipline us, but he's doing it for our good. And so even when there are hard, really hard things going on in life, sometimes I have to bring these verses to mind. Like, hold on. God loved me so much that he sent his own son to die for me. and he's not looking down like a cruel master in heaven, oh, I'm going to just slay you, right? Now, if I'm a false prophet like Shemaiah here, then I deserve that.
But if we're God's people, if we're turning to him, if we're going to his word and seeking him and trying to conform our lives to what he has said in his word, that's a fruit that we're his children. I just remembered, you're saying this, I kind of remembered a sermon Brody Barcom preached about how this is not a home, we are in exile. And that if we hope again, this promise is not directed toward us, but it can apply to us. Isn't it interesting that Peter, in 1 Peter, picks up the language of us being sojourners in exiles. So, we have a similar experience. This is not our home. You may feel like, well, we're American citizens, right? We feel right at home. Well, not necessarily.
Actually, the funniest thing is, the verse that he was preaching, it's actually hundreds of years before this. It was Abraham and Lot. Abraham and Lot. Lot was like, well, I have to depend on the Sodom and how Abraham, he didn't like completely, no, I can't assert, he had allies, but he wasn't completely dependent on. And he knew that this wasn't, and the thing is, he already called himself Israel when there was him and his servants. He didn't even have a son at that time. He called himself.
Yeah. Yeah, he trusted God's promises. Good. You want to pray or do you want me to pray to close this? Go ahead. All right. God, we pray that you would please help us as we sojourn in our exile, as we wait for your kingdom to come. We pray that your will would be done. Lord, we know that there is a very real sense in which your kingdom has been inaugurated. It is growing. It is expanding. Your will is being done, even today.
But Father, we do live in a strange time and in a strange land, waiting when You, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, will be openly acknowledged and be bowed to by everybody across the globe. So Father, we pray that no matter where we are, whether it's in Iowa or somewhere else in the United States or in any other country across the globe, Lord, we pray that as Christians we would seek the peace of the nations that we live in, that we would submit to the kings appointed over us, that we would pay the taxes that are Caesar's, Lord, but that we would also, Lord, that we would know that there is a kingdom in heaven, incorruptible and imperishable, and that we belong to that kingdom. So Father, we pray that we would turn our hearts towards you, for you would be found. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. May God bless you. May you have a kingdom mindset, focusing your eyes on Christ and seeking his glory. We'll see you next time. Bye.