Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. (Jeremiah 29:8)After the first wave of captives was taken from Judah to Babylon, there was an expectation among those exiles that their release would be speedy and they would soon return to their beloved Jerusalem. The prophets who accompanied them not only shared that expectation, but felt pressured to tell the people what they wanted to hear. They encouraged the Judean exiles that they would not be there long, that deliverance was at hand.
Jeremiah knew differently and wrote God's people a letter from Jerusalem: Build houses and settle down, plant gardens and eat what they produce. . . . Find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage... (29:5,6). He went on to warn them not to listen to those whose prophecies were influenced by the expectations of those around them. Even though they might be well meaning, they were reluctant to give the people bad news.
The bad news: Get comfortable; you're going to be here awhile. The good news: Even 70 years in Babylon cannot thwart God's plans for you . . . plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (vv. 10,11).
Is bad news ever really bad news if God has your back?
Can you be released to speak the truth this week, knowing that even bad news falls under the promise of Romans 8:28? "All things work together for good..."
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