This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” [Jeremiah 29:10-11 (NLT)]
Jeremiah 29 consists of two letters written by the prophet to the exiles in Babylon. The first (29:1-28) was sent to the recently deported elders, priests, and prophets as well as to King Jehoiachin, his mother, and the officials, craftsmen, and artisans who’d been taken as Nebuchadnezzar’s captives several years earlier. Countering the message of the false prophets promising a quick return to Jerusalem from Babylon, Jeremiah bluntly told the exiles that Israel’s captivity would last seventy years. This was unwelcome news and, preferring to believe comforting lies rather than the painful truth, people accused Jeremiah of being crazy and a false prophet. The second letter in this chapter addresses one of his accusers.
It was important for the exiles to understand both the reason for and the duration of their captivity and, unlike the phony prophets, Jeremiah was not about to give them false hope. If the deportees continued believing their exile would be brief, they’d fail to make lives for themselves in Babylon. Not wanting anything to hinder a swift departure, they wouldn’t acquire possessions, practice their trades, commit to marriage and children, or work the land. Moreover, the false hope of a speedy return to Jerusalem could cause the exiles to provoke their captors. Nebuchadnezzar was not about to tolerate insurrection and God wanted His people to thrive in captivity, not be destroyed in a rebellion! Rather than fall into despair at Jeremiah’s news, the Lord told His people to move on with their lives and put down roots in Babylon—to build homes, plant gardens, marry, and have children.
Jeremiah’s prophecy of a lengthy captivity didn’t leave the exiles without hope. Both their exile and release had been foretold and, once Israel repented and returned to the Lord, their captivity would end. The Lord promised to bring his people home after their seventy years of judgment; He would gather them and restore them to their land. Promising them “a future and a hope,” God’s plan for His people was for their welfare, not disaster. The promised future and hope, however, went far beyond a return to Judah and the restoration of Jerusalem. In Jeremiah 30 to 33, in what is called “The Book of Consolation,” we find prophecies that go far beyond Judah’s immediate situation and point to the Messianic Age and both the first and second comings of Christ!
While we never may be captives in a pagan country as were the Judeans, we can find ourselves feeling like “captives” in a location we’d rather not be, a situation we don’t like, or doing what we’d rather not be doing. The loss of a spouse, child, job, financial security, or physical ability can exile us to a “new normal” and leave us feeling like victims in a tragic story. God didn’t want the Israelites defined by their tragedy nor does He want us to be defined by ours. Like the exiles, we have a choice of how we respond to the calamities, heartbreaks, and loss that are part of this fallen world. We can give into bitterness, anger, self-pity, and despair or we can settle into our new normal, make the most of a bad situation, and claim God’s promise of “a future and a hope.” God did not forget the Judeans in their exile and He will not forget us in ours!
Devotions of the Heart 