Good day Believers in Christ Jesus. You are all welcome to another new day. Glory to God for the gift of life.
I declare no one reading this message will suffer loss. Every good thing you might have missed before now is restored unto you. You will continue to increase in every good thing of life. Challenges before you are turned to testimonies, in Jesus name. Remember, God didn’t say there won’t be challenges, but He says when challenges come, He’ll give you the capacity to overcome them. So, see yourself as a winner already, in Jesus name.
In our today’s episode 519 of studying and understanding the Bible, we shall be examining Jeremiah Chapter 29 titled:
What Jeremiah’s Letter To The People In Captivity Reveals
This chapter contains Jeremiah’s letter addressed to two different categories of people:
First to those who were taken captive from Jerusalem to Babylon and then to those who refused to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar and remained in Jerusalem or fled somewhere else.
He advised those in captivity to be patient and calm down under their current situation (captivity), which was avoidable in the first place, had they listened to Jeremiah when he was initially warning them against idolatry and all kinds of terrible sins. But they refused and disobeyed.
Now that they are in captivity, a temporary mode of punishment for disobedience and a way to make them stay alive to witness another chance with God. Since remaining in Jerusalem would complicate matters for them, their only option was to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar.
The moment they got into captivity, false prophets again sprung up and started offering false hope that their captivity is just for a short period that they would return to Jerusalem in no time.
Upon seeing this, Prophet Jeremiah told them the reality of things and the need for them to come to term with what they brought themselves into. He said the captivity was going to last for seventy good years.
As a result of that, he suggested the following important things for them:
- They should start buying landed properties (real estate investments) and make the place their second home. Verse 5
- They should marry, have children, and increase in number. Verse 6
- They should support the government in power, work for the good of the cities and pray for their prosperity, because when the nation prospers, they too will prosper. Verse 7
- They should never listen to false prophets or false future tellers again because God has not sent them. Verses 8-9.
- If they obey and stay there for seventy years, they will then return home to Jerusalem.
According to Jeremiah’s words of encouragement, only God has a good plan for them. The plan is not to harm them but to bring them prosperity and not disaster, to give them a bright future they hoped for. Verse 10-11
That they should focus on serving God and seeking Him, calling upon Him and surely, God would answer them, and they would find God, since He was never far from them. Verse 12-14
Note that Verses 10 and 11 is another proof that it was not God that brought all those disasters upon them. Honestly, Old testament prophets added their own accentuations in the form of threats and warnings in order to make the people quiver.
The remaining verses in this chapter gives account of the prophecies about the second group of people who refused to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar and also about Shemaiah, who wrote a letter to the priests and elders in Jerusalem that Jeremiah must be stopped and prevented from making more prophecies.
This category of people also received their judgement instantly because they were trying to hinder God’s message to the people and as well disobeying God.
Jeremiah said he saw them dying of starvation, war and diseases for their many sins.
That’s another proof that every man is rewarded for every action he takes whether good or bad. Therefore, we must beware and amend where necessary.
By now, no serious believer will follow erroneous teachings to believe that disasters, evils etc come from God. This is a season of great awakening, where everyone is coming to a level of full knowledge of the true nature of God. Our God is good, all the time. He is caring and loving always. James 1:16-18
To be continued…stay tuned and stay blessed.
Let us pray:
- I declare no one reading this message will suffer loss. Every good thing you might missed before now is restored unto you. You will continue to increase in every good thing of life. Challenges before you are turned to testimonies, in Jesus name. Remember, God didn’t say there won’t be challenges, but He says when challenges come, He’ll give you the capacity to overcome them. So, see yourself as a winner already, in Jesus name.
- No one here will fall victim of false prophets, in Jesus name. Please, be careful and focus on God’s Word for your spiritual growth.
Bible Readings For Today: Reflection time on all the chapters you have read so far from the past six days and covering of missed chapters.
I call you blessed now and always.
Saturday August 29, 2020 (DDMI)
