Jeremiah 29:18

In the next verses in the book of Jeremiah God tells us one more time what He has done to the nation of Israel and why. The Bible says in Jeremiah 29:18-19, “And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them: Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the LORD, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the LORD.” One fact is different about the Jewish people that is different from all other peoples on the earth. The Jewish people have been scattered and dispersed among many, many nations. There are many more Jewish people outside of the modern nation of Israel than inside of it. Why is this? Why are the Jewish people scattered? God made it happen, and He made it happen way back in the time of Jeremiah when God said in Jeremiah 29:18 that He, “will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them.” And then if we ask the question, “Why did God do this,” we find the answer in Jeremiah 29:19. The Lord said, “Because they have not hearkened to my words…” The Hebrew word that is translated “hearkened” means “to give ear to, to hear, to obey.” It is not enough to read God’s Word to learn what it means, we must also read it in order to put into practice what we have learned. If we do not, them we are like the ungodly Israelites in the days of Jeremiah.

The Bible says in Jeremiah 29:20-22, “Hear ye therefore the word of the LORD, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon: Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you in my name; Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes; And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, saying, The LORD make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;” Notice the words that are used to describe the judgment that came upon the children of Israel at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar: “slay them,” “a curse,” “captivity,” and “roasted in the fire.” Life can be rough, and it ends in death for everyone, but this is a terrible destiny that came upon the people of Israel. The phrase “roasted in the fire” is symbolic of the ultimate destiny of all lost souls who will spend an eternity in the lake of fire. It says in Revelation 20:15, “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

One more explanation of why such judgment came upon the children of Israel is given in Jeremiah 29:23 that says, “Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours' wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, saith the LORD.” Three sins are listed: “villainy,” “adultery,” and “lying.” Villany is more of a general word for wickedness, and is often used in a context of sexual immorality. Adultery involves the breaking of you word in regards to your marriage vows. Those marriage vows were made both to your spouse and to God that as a human being on this earth, you would forsake all others and remain faithful to that person to whom you are married. As we have seen elsewhere in the book of Jeremiah, the sin of adultery is listed right along with the sin of lying. God hates any kind of lying. “Lying” is listed as the second human action that God hates as given in Proverbs 6:17-19 that says, “A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,[18] An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”

In the next several verses we are told about a man named Shemaiah who was an enemy to Jeremiah and who was trying to cause persecutions for Jeremiah. The Bible says in Jeremiah 29:24-29, “Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, The LORD hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the LORD, for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in the stocks. Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which maketh himself a prophet to you? For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is long: build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.” Shemaiah said that Jeremiah was crazy. Jeremiah was not the last person who was accused of being crazy because they served the Lord. Shemaiah denied that Jeremiah was sent by the Lord and instead said that Jeremiah “maketh himself a prophet.” And Shemaiah said that Jeremiah should be put “in prison, and in the stocks.” Shemaiah also mocked the Word of God that came through Jeremiah. God’s message was that there would be a long captivity in Babylon. Shemaiah hated hearing that message, and he wanted a different message. But if you reject God’s message, that means that you are also rejecting Christ. Jesus is the living Word. If you reject the Word that comes from God, you are rejecting God.

Jeremiah had a powerful enemy in Shemaiah because Shemaiah was the chief priest who had a great influence on others. But just remember this about your enemies: God can take them out whenever He wants. That is one of the reasons that we should leave vengeance to God. He will take vengeance if and when He thinks it best. Look what happened to Shemaiah. It says in Jeremiah 29:30-32, “Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying, Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to trust in a lie: Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people, saith the LORD; because he hath taught rebellion against the LORD.” The Lord said that He would “punish” Shemaiah. The Lord said that this punishment would extend even to the descendents of Shemaiah, and the Lord said that Shemaiah would not see the god things that God was going to do for the children of Israel. This probably means that Shemaiah was not going to live long. Jesus does not like false teachers because false teachers teach “rebellion against the LORD.”

The Bible says in Jeremiah 30:1-2, “The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.” It is important to notice that God told Jeremiah to write all of the words in a book. That book is what we call the Bible. The Bible is really a collection of many books, or we might say many writings. Jeremiah wrote a book, and his book is one of the books of the Bible. These two verses in Jeremiah tell us several important truths about the Bible. We see that the Bible’s origin is God. Jeremiah was the tool or the instrument that God used to give us the Bible. Jeremiah did not write his own words. He wrote the words that God gave to him. That is why we call the Bible God’s Word.

It is also important to notice that God told Jeremiah to write “all the words.” God’s Word is thorough. There is nothing missing. There was nothing missing when God gave His Word, and there is nothing missing today. That is one of the implications to the statement made by Jesus in Matthew 5:18. The concept that God gave all of His Word, in other words He gave all that He wanted to give; is inseparably tied to the concept that God preserved His Word…all of it. It would do no good to give all of His Word, if He had not preserved all of it. If you cannot hold up God’s Word in your hand and say, “This is God’s Word, all of it,” then you do not understand the doctrine of inspiration. God’s Word is perfect and immutable. You must be aligned with this doctrine in order to be aligned with God’s plan. That is why the Lord says in Revelation 22:18-19, “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

There is at least one more important point to make about the fact that God’s Word is immutable (in other words, it does not change), and that has to do with the fact that Jesus is the living Word. Jesus does not change. Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” Jesus is the same today as He was 2,000 years ago or as He was 4,000 years ago. The Living Word does not change, has not changed, and will never change. The same is true of the written Word.

One of God’s great plans for the human race was the giving of His written Word. That is why the Bible is the greatest and most important book in the world. Right after telling us about His written Word in Jeremiah 30:2, the Lord tells us in Jeremiah 30:3 about a great promise for the future for the children of Israel. One of the most important teachings we find in the Bible has to do with the promises that God makes to His children. Chastisement may come for a short time. God does chastise His people in the relative short term, but for the future God has wonderful plans for every one of His children. God loves us so much. He proved His love by dying for us on the cross of Calvary. And He continues to pronounce His love by the great promises of the Bible. Look for the promises of God’s Word. Remember the promises, and enjoy them all your life. Jesus wants you to do that. He wants you to look forward to all that He is going to do for you in the future. The Bible says in Jeremiah 30:3, “For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.” Yes, God caused the Israelites to be taken captive to Babylon for a while. But in the future He promised to restore them to all that they had before, and more. It is wonderful to be a believer in Jesus. There are so many benefits to having the forgiveness of sins. If you do not know Jesus Christ, you could repent of your sins today and call upon His name.

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