Jeremiah (1-31) 29:4 Commentary and Bible Study

Now comes the content of the letter: ‘Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon; ⁵ Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.’ This was the problem. They weren't doing that. They were persuaded that this was all going to blow over, that there would be a confederation of pagan states around Jerusalem, and Judah with the people who were left in Jerusalem and Egypt would rally and come back once again. Perhaps stung from the Carchemish defeats in 605 BC, they hoped there would be an attack against Babylon and internal problems in her young fledgling empire and it would all collapse in two years and they would be back in Jerusalem. So what was the point of living as if they would be in Babylon for a generation or more? We are not going to settle here. We are not going to build houses and clear the stones out of fields and pioneer farms all over again and scratch a living from an unwelcome soil. We are going back: the false prophets had said so. This is our trouble today. We suffer from false messages misleading the people from rationalism and atheism, and from the professing church which has no gospel. The historic denominations have pretty well all collapsed into ninety-five percent unbelief, theological liberalism and nonsense; false prophets are everywhere today and they had them then. They played to the people. They told the people what they wanted to hear. You've got no work to do, no trouble to bother with. Suffering will soon be at an end. It's all going to be over. And they persuaded them and that is what the people wanted to think. A false message like prosperity gospel, it's what thousands of people want to hear. I'm not a sinner. God is my friend and he is going to make me rich. If I just enrich the preachers, God will enrich me, but it's what they want to hear. They're going to get payback and plenty of it. It's a carnal false message, wherever you look. By and large theological liberalism serves people's pride, as do all the cults. False religions says, ‘You men and women are capable good people. You can earn God's favour. Do it our way. Follow our ceremonies, our prescriptions and you can earn the favour of God.’ It appeals to the pride of the people. The message of God that man is fallen and sinful and needs a Saviour, and a free salvation, and a change of heart, and a change of life. That is unwelcome. There is lone Jeremiah up against all this but he is called by God to give the warning. There is going to be a change ultimately. Settle down, pray for your hosts, pray for the peace of the city where you've been taken captive. Not only Babylon but many, many provincial Babylonian counties and cities and towns. Pray for the city. Pray to the Lord for it, for in the peace of that place and that society you will have peace. If you cooperate with everything which is holy and doable and you settle, God will give you peace through their peace and order.