Jeremiah 29:15-20 – Obey God’s Word even in uncertain times.

Here are some contexts to help us make sense of Jeremiah 29:15-20. Describing the second siege of Jerusalem, 2 Kings 24:10-17 said that Nebuchadnezzar personally came to the city. Verse 12 said that “Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his servants and his captains and his officials. So the king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign.” Verses 15-16 then enumerated the number of people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile in Babylon. Besides, Jehoiachin the king, the list included his mother, his wives and officials, the leading men of the best of the land, 7,000 men of valor, 1,000 craftsmen and smiths, and 1,000 strong men, who were fit for war. Verse 17 then said Nebuchadnezzar made Mattaniah king in the place of his nephew Jehoiachin. He even changed Mattaniah’s name to Zedekiah.  

Jeremiah, we learned, had told those taken into exile to submit to God, be good citizens, live life as normally as possible, seek the welfare of Babylon, pray for the king, and don’t listen to the words of the false prophets. However, these exiles were still concerned about what was happening back home because of their attachment to their homeland. So Jeremiah 29:15-20 told them what would be happening to the people who remained back home.

He prophesied that a greater disaster was coming upon Zedekiah and the people who were not carried into exile. They would be experiencing a greater disaster.  God’s words to them in Jeremiah 28:17-18 said, “I am sending upon them the sword, famine and pestilence, and I will make them like split-open figs that cannot be eaten due to rottenness. I will pursue them with the sword, with famine and with pestilence; and I will make them a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse and a horror and a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them….”

In other words, they would not go unpunished. Many would die in the hands of the enemies and many others would be taken to join them in their Babylonian captivity. Jeremiah then followed up with an admonition to those already in exile that they should pay attention to the message, listen, and obey God. Jeremiah was calling on them in Babylon to chart a new course. They were encouraged to listen to God’s message through His faithful and genuine prophets.

Like those Jews in exile, we should know that being concerned with what’s happening in our world is helpful. But the more important matter is for us to discern and identify and know what God is saying through what's happening. We need to identify and recognize His message to us and be obedient to what He is saying to us through them.