I. ITS NATURE. It had direct reference to that concerning which they spoke. From the future they had denied they were to be cut off. In the case of Ahab and Zedekiah the instrumentality of man is indirectly employed; in that of Shemaiah it is brought about by what we might regard as natural causes. In both instances the penalty was: 1. Exceptionally were. The fate of the lying prophets, even apart from its associated consequences in the eternal sphere, was tragic in the extreme, and presents hardly an element of hope. Ahab and his companion are subjected to a fearful death and an eternity of shame in Israel. Shemaiah is consigned to effacement and deprived both as regards himself and his posterity, of the promised blessings. 2. Exemplary. Unmistakably these men were but the leaders of many of like mind, and it was intended they should be marked out for signal retribution. Their fate would appeal to the imagination and spiritual feeling of their people, and in either case it corresponded closely with the peculiarity of their conduct. In their heathen exile they were to be taught that God's hand could still reach them and that an exact justice waited upon their actions. Ahab and Zedekiah so lived that even a heathen monarch had to make them examples. 3. Graduated according to heinousness of offence. II. ITS JUSTIFICATION. 1. The opposition to God's truth was necessarily direct and malicious, Nothing could well be more consciously wicked than their whole behavior. It occurred at a critical period, when great destinies were determined. The prophet of God was thereby discredited and hindered, and the people prevented from receiving and acting upon his message. In every season of critical consequence and great spiritual activity such manifestations occur. Merely to overcome them is not sufficient. The victory must be signal and conspicuous. 2. The offense was one to which God himself is ever most sensitive. It affected his character and prerogatives, and was therefore nothing else than blasphemy (cf. Matthew 12:32. "Even I know, and am a witness, saith the Lord," ver. 23). 3. The interests of truth required the penalty. The people had to be overawed by the presence of the supernatural; their obedience had to be won to the direction of the true prophet, and the spiritual ends of the Captivity were thus to be secured. A moral demonstration like this was requisite, and enables the human mind more completely to realize the Divine conceptions of righteousness and truth. - M.
Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent. I. THE VERY FACT THAT A MESSAGE WAS SENT TO THEM UNDER AN EXPRESS DIVINE APPOINTMENT WAS CONSOLATORY. Wherever God's children are scattered, the written Word is to them a source of permanent encouragement. In the severest ways of justice God does not forget His own children, but has in reserve ample consolations for them, when they lie under the common judgmentII. THE PARTICULAR PROVIDENCE OF GOD, APPEARING ON THEIR BEHALF UNDER ALL THEIR CALAMITIES, WAS A SOURCE OF CONSOLATION. 1. He is the Lord of hosts, of all the armies above and below, and yet is the God of Israel; and though He permits their captivity, He does not break His relation to them — their covenant-God still, though under a cloud. 2. He assumes the active agency in their dispersion. "I have caused them to be carried away." Certainly it must be a great sin which induces a loving father to cast his child out of doors. But sin is a great scatterer, and is always followed by a driving away and a casting out. Yet the fact of God's being the agent in their dispersion is referred to as a ground of consolation; since it reconciles us to our troubles to see the hand of God in them, and to trace an all-gracious and merciful design in them. III. THE PROMISE OF THE STABILITY AND SECURITY OF THEIR SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC INTERESTS WAS GIVEN. IV. THE PROSPECT OF A CERTAIN AND FAVOURABLE ISSUE TO THEIR TRIALS (ver. 11). (S. Thodey.) People Ahab, Anathoth, David, Elasah, Eleasah, Gemariah, Hilkiah, Jeconiah, Jehoiada, Jeremiah, Kolaiah, Maaseiah, Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadrezzar, Shaphan, Shemaiah, Zedekiah, ZephaniahPlaces Anathoth, Babylon, Jerusalem, NehelamTopics Babylon, Captivity, Ear, Exiles, Jerusalem, PrisonersOutline 1. Jeremiah sends a letter to the captives in Babylon to be quiet there,8. and not to believe the dreams of their prophets; 10. and that they shall return with grace after seventy years. 15. He foretells the destruction of the rest for their disobedience. 20. He shows the fearful end of Ahab and Zedekiah, two false prophets. 24. Shemaiah writes a letter against Jeremiah. 30. Jeremiah foretells his doom. Dictionary of Bible Themes Jeremiah 29:19 5165 listening Library Finding GodYe shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.' (Jeremiah xxix. 13.) The words of Jeremiah in their relation to God are very appropriate for men and women in whose hearts there is any longing after personal Holiness. Look at them: 'Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart'. I like this word, because it turns our minds to the true and only source of light and life and power. We speak of seeking and getting the blessing; but, … T. H. Howard—Standards of Life and Service The Secret of Effectual Prayer The Spirit of Prayer. The Costliness of Prayer Putting God to Work The Iranian Conquest The Seventh Commandment I Will Pray with the Spirit and with the Understanding Also- Jeremiah Links Jeremiah 29:20 NIVJeremiah 29:20 NLT Jeremiah 29:20 ESV Jeremiah 29:20 NASB Jeremiah 29:20 KJV Jeremiah 29:20 Bible Apps Jeremiah 29:20 Parallel Jeremiah 29:20 Biblia Paralela Jeremiah 29:20 Chinese Bible Jeremiah 29:20 French Bible Jeremiah 29:20 German Bible Jeremiah 29:20 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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