Jeremiah 29:1-32

Jeremiah's Letter To The Exiles (Jeremiah 29:1).

Correspondence by letter was a constant feature of those days, and indicates that the world was not static (compare the prophetic letters from Shemaiah to the religious authorities in Jerusalem - Jeremiah 29:25; David to Joab - 2 Samuel 11:14; Elijah to Jehoram - 2 Chronicles 21:12; Sennacherib to Hezekiah - 2 Kings 19:9; etc). There were always people who were on the move, such as traders and ambassadors, who could carry such messages along the trading routes, or between country and country, and kings themselves would have special messengers.. We are not, of course, to think of an established postal service, although we need not doubt that great kings would undoubtedly arrange for relays of messengers who could be relied on to take their words to their underlings. But in this case Jeremiah took the opportunity of King Zedekiah sending messengers in order to communicate with Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, to enable him to communicat with God's exiled people.

It is clear from the letter that Jeremiah had received information that false prophets were at work in Babylonia among the exiles who had been exiled along with Jehoiachin (c. 597 BC, as opposed to those exiled earlier with Daniel in c. 605 BC), proclaiming a similar message to that of Hananiah, and thus unsettling them, and further, that one of these prophets had actually written to Jerusalem calling for Jeremiah to be ‘rebuked' (dealt with severely). Thus Jeremiah urged the exiles not to listen to them, but to recognise that they were to settle in for a good long stay, for at least another fifty years or so. Furthermore he warned them that the false prophets in question who were stirring up trouble would themselves be summarily dealt with, either by Nebuchadnezzar or by circumstances.

The letter can be divided up into five sections:

· The call for the exiles to settle down in Babylon and recognise that deliverance will not come until his previously prophesied seventy years was over (Jeremiah 29:1).

A promise that then, when that seventy years is over, YHWH will restore His people from all parts of the world if they seek Him with all their hearts (Jeremiah 29:10).

A warning not to listen to the false prophets as, rather than experiencing quick restoration, Zedekiah and Jerusalem are doomed because they have not listened to YHWH's words (Jeremiah 29:15).

A declaration of the forthcoming doom of the false prophets who have arisen among them, at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 29:20).

A special word concerning the doom of Shemaiah, a prophet who had written to Jerusalem seeking for Jeremiah to be dealt with severely (Jeremiah 29:24).