Jeremiah 3:6-8 declares the LORD issued the northern kingdom, Israel, a certificate of divorce and sent her away in 722 B.C. But the southern kingdom, Judah, did not take these events to heart.
Jeremiah 25:1-3 gives the time frame: Beginning in 627 B.C., Jeremiah began to preach. He labored as God's servant for 23 years to no avail. He reminds Judah that the LORD had sent his other servants to them over and over again, proclaiming his Word without people's repenting (Jeremiah 25:4-7).
So now he will send a different kind of servant, Nebuchadnezzar, to accomplish what his prophets could not do, breaking his people's hearts in repentance (Jeremiah 25:8-11).
This message is reinforced in Jeremiah 29:5-7: God's people in exile must settle in for the long haul, 70 years.
They must seek the welfare of the place of their captivity and pray for God to bless this foreign nation, "for in its peace (shālēm, שָׁלֵם, "peace, prosperity, harmony, well-being"), you will have peace" (Jeremiah 29:7).
Even though it was God who sent them into exile, he charges them to make use of the means of grace, namely prayer, if they would see his plan carried out in blessing (WCF, III, i).
Even in this place of trial and affliction, they must remember that God is working all this for their ultimate good (Jeremiah 29:10; Romans 8:28-29).
His plan is to give them a future (ʾachărı̂th, אַחֲרִית) and a hope (tiqwāh, תִּקְוָה, optimistic outlook) (Jeremiah 29:11; Romans 8:28-29).
God is the one who puts people in authority over us; not because he hates us, but because he wants us to know his blessings that only come through our repentance and faith in his promises (Cf. Acts 17:26-27).
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After serving Grace Presbyterian Church in Alexandria, Louisiana, Bob was honorably retired on Sunday, September 27, 2015, and given the title "Pastor Emeritus." This was forty years to the day after he became their pastor.
He now works for the Presbytery of the Gulf South as...
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