More false prophets, letters, and tattle tales.
📜 Dear Exiles,
This is gonna take a while. 70 years, in fact. Settle down and make Babylon your new home. Be good citizens and pray for your neighbors. I’ll bring your grandkids back home to Judah when it’s time.
P.S. Don’t listen to the fake news prophets. They’re bad figs. I didn’t send them.
Love, YHWH
This is the chapter with arguably the most famous coffee mug verse:
“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 29:11 NLT
There are a lot of voices speaking plans over the exiled people of Judah. There are plans to get out of there asap. There are plans to wait til things cool off then slip out unnoticed. Everyone has an opinion. Perhaps you know what that feels like. People can be eager to make plans for your life too.
God has His own plans. And He knows what they are. He doesn’t need anyone’s help in that department.
They are benevolent plans. This is important. It’s a subtle trick of the Enemy to get us to question the heart of our Heavenly Father.
If there is only one being in the entire universe you can trust, it is Yahweh.
⚠️ Beware of moods and behavior patterns that cause you to see yourself as a victim and God as a cosmic killjoy just looking to punish you or make your life difficult for no reason. Those are false prophets, just like Jeremiah warned the people about. If you heed them, they will lead you to question and distrust the heart of God toward you. Here’s a text you can put on a note to read whenever those false thoughts invade:
“For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord.”
Jeremiah 29:8-9 ESV
Do. Not. Listen. To. The. Enemy.
That’s what James was getting at in his epistle:
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
James 4:7 ESV
It’s a 2-part equation.
- Submit to God.
- Resist the Devil.
You don’t sit down and have tea ☕️ ☕️ with the Devil 😈 and consider whether his claims about the character of God might be true and perhaps you’re a victim.
NO. ⛔️🙅🏻♀️
Resist. And he WILL flee.
If he’s not fleeing, there’s either a problem with you submitting to God or resisting the Devil. Simple.
anyway… back to Jeremiah.
The exiles in Babylon got his note from the LORD. And one of ‘em decided to be a tattle tale. Nobody likes a tattle tale.
📜 Dear People of Jerusalem & especially the Priests (and in particular Zephaniah son of Maaseiah),
It’s your job to lock up the crazy men who claim to be prophets! So why haven’t you arrested Jeremiah? He’s a nut. We got a letter from him saying “Thus saith the Lord, Get settled in and plant a garden. You’re gonna be in Babylon for 70 years.” This is not ok!! I say we’re gettin outa here long before that.
Do something!
Your friend, Shemaiah the Prophet
I don’t know if you’ve ever had the unpleasant experience of being “called into the office” but that’s what happened to Jeremiah when the priests got Shemaiah’s note.
Zephaniah the boss Priest, reads the note to Jeremiah and basically asks, “What do you have to say for yourself, Jeremiah?” This was basically his answer…
📜 Dear Exiles,
Shemaiah is fake news. I didn’t send him. He made you believe a lie. Since he didn’t like my promise of good for your descendants, he and his descendants will never live to see it.
All the best,
YHWH
Friend, don’t listen to what the enemy says about you- your past, present, or future. He doesn’t get a say in your life unless you believe his lies. The LORD knows the plans He has for you. And they are GOOD. Even if things don’t feel good right now, trust the heart of our gracious God.
Here’s a song-cherry 🍒 on top.
The line that sticks with me is, “When you can’t trace His hand, trust His heart.”
To The Reader 