09/27/2007
Jeremiah 29:5-7(NRSV)
5Build
houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce.
6Take wives and have sons and daughters;
take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may
bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.
7But seek the welfare of the city where I
have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its
welfare you will find your welfare.
In this passage, many Israelites had been carried into captivity in Babylon. False prophets had been saying that they would soon return home and that they should not “put down roots” in Babylon. However, Jeremiah sends this letter to the Israelites telling them that their captivity will be a long time – 70 years.
It was the custom of conquering kings to carry the inhabitants of a city away from their homes so that they would lose their sense of national identity, and thus be less likely to form a resistance. So while the Israelites were carried away, they were not necessarily slaves (as we relate to the slaves of America’s early history), but rather, displaced people who were now in a place that was totally new, away from friends and the community they knew.
But Jeremiah emphasized the words of the Lord, that while they are there, they should make the best of things. They should live as though they were not in captivity. Build houses, marry, and prosper. In verse 7, the word “welfare” refers to prosperity. They were to pray for the prosperity of the city that held them captive, because when it prospered, they would in turn prosper.
We too, are in a foreign land (so to speak). Our home will be with Jesus when he returns. So for now, we are merely alien residents here. But while we are here, let’s make the best of it. Build houses, expand our numbers, marry and pray for the prosperity of our land. For some day, our Lord will come and take us to our rightful home.
Jeff Justus
Cleff Publishing
www.cleffpublishing.com
©2007 Cleff Publishing, all rights reserved.
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