1Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon, 2(after Jeconiah the king, the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem), 3by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon). It said:
4Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives whom I have caused to be carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5“Build houses and dwell in them. Plant gardens and eat their fruit. 6Take wives and father sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there, and don’t be diminished. 7Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to Yahweh for it; for in its peace you will have peace.” 8For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says: “Don’t let your prophets who are among you and your diviners deceive you. Don’t listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. 9For they prophesy falsely to you in my name. I have not sent them,” says Yahweh. 10For Yahweh says, “After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. 11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” says Yahweh, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future. 12You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13You shall seek me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart. 14I will be found by you,” says Yahweh, “and I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says Yahweh. I will bring you again to the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive.”
15Because you have said, “Yahweh has raised us up prophets in Babylon,” 16Yahweh says concerning the king who sits on David’s throne, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your brothers who haven’t gone with you into captivity, 17Yahweh of Armies says: “Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like rotten figs that can’t be eaten, they are so bad. 18I will pursue after them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth, to be an object of horror, an astonishment, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, 19because they have not listened to my words,” says Yahweh, “with which I sent to them my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but you would not hear,” says Yahweh.
20Hear therefore Yahweh’s word, all you captives whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. 21Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in my name: “Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he will kill them before your eyes. 22A curse will be taken up about them by all the captives of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, ‘Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;’ 23because they have done foolish things in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and have spoken words in my name falsely, which I didn’t command them. I am he who knows, and am witness,” says Yahweh.
24Concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall speak, saying, 25“Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying, 26“Yahweh has made you priest in the place of Jehoiada the priest, that there may be officers in Yahweh’s house, for every man who is crazy and makes himself a prophet, that you should put him in the stocks and in shackles. 27Now therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who makes himself a prophet to you, 28because he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, The captivity is long. Build houses, and dwell in them. Plant gardens, and eat their fruit?”’”
29Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet. 30Then Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, saying, 31“Send to all of the captives, saying, ‘Yahweh says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I didn’t send him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie,” 32therefore Yahweh says, “Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his offspring. He will not have a man to dwell among this people. He won’t see the good that I will do to my people,” says Yahweh, “because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh.”’”
God in His sovereignty uses moedim (Hebrew for “appointed times”) to work His purposes out in the world. It is no coincidence that there are fourteen generations between these generational signposts of biblical history. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Matthew connects both Abraham and David to Jesus. Interestingly, the name David corresponds to the Hebrew number fourteen (see Matt 1:17 on this Hebrew practice called Gematria). Likewise, fourteen is the Hebraic number of seven (perfection) multiplied by two. God planned all of this. It is precise.
God does the same thing in our lives. He is working His purposes out, and He will line up events in our lives according to His plan and purposes until the moment at which He takes us home to heaven. In the meantime, as I recently told one of my congregants, “the best place to be is the best place for you to be.” Pray that He will guide you and direct you from this point moving forward. Spend time with Him in prayer. Study His Word. “Seek the Lord, and you will find Him” (Jeremiah 29:13). You will not live one day longer or one day less than He has planned for you. So, let us live each day, loving Him with all of our hearts, and living out our lives to His glory.
It is easy in times of trouble to wonder where God is. Throughout all of my preaching days, I have assured others that even in the midst of troubles, God is there. This past year, I became very ill with the aftereffects of cancer treatment. I ended up in the hospital for a couple of weeks. Each day, I seemed to get no better. I was in horrific pain. I began to wonder if God was even aware of what I was going through. I cried out, “God, what is the purpose of this pain? How can this be for my good or for your glory? What can be the purpose in all of this?” I was desperate, and I felt like I was abandoned. When I had come to the end of myself and felt like a nursing home was my next step, I cried out to God from the deepest recesses of my soul. Within 24 hours specific prayer was answered, a diagnosis was given, and I was on my way home. Perhaps the Lord led me to the point that I felt abandoned so I could realize that it’s easier to preach it than to live it. He had an appointed time for my relief to come, and He has an appointed time for you to find Him in the midst of whatever you’re going through today. Dear reader: Don’t give up! Don’t surrender! There is an appointed time for you to find Him in the midst of whatever you’re going through. It is such a relief when you realize that you are not God. Now walk in that truth.