Moving Through the Discipline of God

When God disciplines you, keep moving forward and forget what is behind you. 

Jeremiah 29:12–14 (ESV) Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

Some transition words in the Bible are huge. This "then" in verse 12 of Jeremiah 29 is one of them. A rebellious people are headed into exile in Babylon. Seventy years will go by, according to the word spoken by Jeremiah. And that same nation will come out of Babylon and will seek the Lord and find Him and be restored to the fortunes they lost. 

How does a rebellious nation or person of God become a God-seeking person or nation? Through God's discipline. The Jews were to enter into discipline from God with HOPE! Because even the discipline of God is intended to bring the blessing of God. 

Now, the rest of Jeremiah 29 is a rebuke against the false prophets of Israel who kept talking about a quick return to the old order of things. You see, King Zedekiah was still on the throne, but he was simply a puppet waiting for deportation. Many false prophets interpreted this respite in the worst way possible, supposing their doom had not come and God would do what the charlatans promised - return them home in 2 years or less. 

Jeremiah demonstrably denounces such vain hopes.

Jeremiah 29:19–21 (ESV) because they did not pay attention to my words, declares the LORD, that I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, declares the LORD.’ 20 Hear the word of the LORD, all you exiles whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon: 21 ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying a lie to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall strike them down before your eyes.

God will wipe out not just the people who listened to the false and lying prophets. He will wipe out the prophets. Those who claim to speak for God are held to a higher standard than those who hear from them. 

In fact, Jeremiah declares these false prophets will become a byword in Israel. 

Jeremiah 29:22–23 (ESV) Because of them this curse shall be used by all the exiles from Judah in Babylon: “The LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,” 23 because they have done an outrageous thing in Israel, they have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and they have spoken in my name lying words that I did not command them. I am the one who knows, and I am witness, declares the LORD.’ ”

Notice the combination of false prophesy and outlandish adultery with their neighbor's wives. Those two often go hand-in-hand. I've watched many modern-day prophets get exposed for adultery behind the scenes. 

At the end of this chapter, God rebukes one particular false prophet, Shemaiah, who sought to turn the priest Zephaniah against Jeremiah, calling him a madman. The false prophets were trying to direct God's people back to their past. God was bringing them through correction for the good of their future. God spoke through Jeremiah, declaring that Shemaiah would be punished most severely in Babylon. Those who focused on the past ways of Israel were not to survive. They needed to embrace God's work going forward.

All throughout his ministry, Jeremiah faced hostile responses to his work of delivering God's Word. And yet God always had Jeremiah's back. This is the hope of those in the truth. The world may plot and plan against God's children, but God will defend them. And when we take our medicine and receive God's punishment to shape us into different, responsive, and humble people, the best days are in our future and not in our past.