A second communication which Jeremiah sent to Babylon after the messengers who carried his first letter had brought a letter from the false prophet Shemaiah to Zephaniah, etc., condemning Jeremiah, and reproving the authorities for not having apprehended them.
Shemaiah the Nehelamite - a name derived either from his father or from a place: alluding at the same time to the Hebrew meaning, 'a dreamer' (cf. Jeremiah 29:8).
Verse 25. Thou hast sent letters in thy name - without sanction of "the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel," which words stand in antithesis to thy name (John 5:43).
Zephaniah - the second priest, or substitute (sagan) of the high priest. He was one of those sent to consult Jeremiah by Zedekiah (Jeremiah 21:1). Slain subsequently by Nebuchadnezzar at the capture of Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:18; 2 Kings 25:21; Jeremiah 52:24-27). Zephaniah was in particular addressed, as being likely to take up against Jeremiah the prophet's prediction against his brother Zedekiah at Babylon (Jeremiah 29:21). Zephaniah was to read it to the priests, and in the presence of all the people, in the temple.
Verse 26. The Lord hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada. Zephaniah's promotion as second priest, owing to Jehoiada's being then in exile, was unexpected. Shemaiah thus accuses him of ingratitude toward God, who had so highly exalted him before his regular time.
That ye should be officers in the house of the Lord, for every man that is mad - ye should, as bearing rule in the temple (Jeremiah 20:1, note), apprehend every false prophet like Jeremiah.
Mad - inspired prophets were often so called by the ungodly (2 Kings 9:11; Acts 26:24; Acts 2:13; Acts 2:15; Acts 2:17-18). Jeremiah is in this a type of Christ, against whom the same charge was brought (John 10:20).
Put him in prison - rather, the stocks (Jeremiah 20:2, note).
Stocks , [ hatsiynoq ] - from a root [tsaanaq], to confine; hence, rather, a narrow dungeon. According to Deuteronomy 17:8-9, the priest was judge in controversies, but had no right to put into the stocks: this right he had assumed to himself in the troubled state of the times.
Verse 27. Jeremiah of Anathoth - said contemptuously, as "Jesus of Nazareth."
Maketh himself a prophet - as if God had not made him one, but himself.
Verse 28. Therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying ... build ye houses - referring to Jeremiah's first letter to Babylon (Jeremiah 29:5).
Verse 29. Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah. He seems to have been less prejudiced against Jeremiah than the others; hence, he reads the charge to the prophet, that he should not be condemned without a hearing. This accords with Shemaiah's imputation against Zephaniah for lack of zeal against Jeremiah (Jeremiah 29:25; Jeremiah 29:27). Hence, the latter was chosen by King Zedekiah as one of the deputation to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 21:1; Jeremiah 37:3).
Verse 30. Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying. This resumes the thread of the sentence which began at Jeremiah 29:25, but was left there not completed. Here, in Jeremiah 29:30, it is completed, not, however, in continuity, but by a new period. The apodosis, or consequent member of the sentence, answering to the "Because," etc., first occurring in Jeremiah 29:25, and then resumed in Jeremiah 29:31, is given at Jeremiah 29:32, "Behold I will punish Shemaiah," etc. The same construction occurs Romans 5:12-15.
Verse 32. He shall not have a man to dwell among this people - (Deuteronomy 28:18, "Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body").
Neither shall he behold the good - as he despised the lawful time, and wished to return before the time God had expressly announced, in just retribution he should not share in the restoration from Babylon at all.
Thou hast taught rebellion - going against God's revealed will as to the time (Jeremiah 29:10; Jeremiah 28:16). Remarks:
(1) Jeremiah's two letters to the Jewish captives in Babylon were a pledge to assure them that, thought chastised sorely, they were not utterly forsaken by the Lord, nor given over to death. Even in Babylon they may be comparatively happy (Jeremiah 29:5-6), if they be obedient to the Lord's will concerning them, and, instead of complaining, make the best of existing circumstances. Fretfulness in trials only makes matters worse, whereas godly contentment can give cheerfulness amidst the most adverse circumstances. If things are not as favourable to us as we might wish, still they are better than we deserve, and not nearly so bad as they might be: above all, they are as God ordains them, and the child of God will say:
`My times are in Thy hands: Corroding care or calm repose, Spring's balmy breath or wintry snows, Whate'er betide, if God provide, 'Tis for the best-I wish no lot beside.'
(2) Religion teaches us to "pray for" the powers that be, as they are ordained of God (Jeremiah 29:7). God in His own good time will deliver His people from their oppressors. But meanwhile let not believers, by sedition, take their cause out of His hand, but pray for their enemies, and especially for those of them who are in rule and authority (Romans 13:1; 1 Timothy 2:2).
(3) Diviners misled the Jews in Babylon with prophecies, which they spake "in the name of the Lord" (Jeremiah 29:9), and as if by His commission, teaching a very different doctrine from that of Jeremiah, and promising the captives a speedy deliverance and restoration. But if the people themselves had not been predisposed to error there would have arisen no such deceivers. The people lent a ready ear to illusory dreams of restoration, "which they caused to be dreamed" themselves. The wish was parent of the thought. Instead of studying to be quiet, and "seeking the peace of the city where God had caused them to be carried away captives" (Jeremiah 29:7), they gave way to a restless spirit, and so listened to every impostor whom their own credulity and discontent raised up. When once we substitute our own perverse will for the will of God, there are no bounds to the extravagances and miseries into which we may be carried.
(4) On the other hand, "unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness." The believing Jews among the captives had a gracious promise to cheer them, in their patient waiting on and for the Lord. Though the captivity was to be long, it would cease after seventy years. The unbelieving Jews, from presumptuous confidence of a speedy restoration at first, passed at last to despair of a restoration at all. Both feelings alike flowed from unbelief of the "good word" and the good-will of God (Jeremiah 29:10). Lest His people should be tempted to the same hard thoughts of God, He gives them, in order to sustain their faith and patience, a gracious promise resting on His gracious character - "I know the thoughts that I think toward you-thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end" (Jeremiah 29:11). This promise was designed to quicken their prayers. It is a sure token that God is about to visit in mercy when He puts it into our hearts to pray for that mercy (Jeremiah 29:12). When such a spirit of prayer is poured upon us, we not merely seek the Lord, but we also "search for Him with all our heart" (Jeremiah 29:13); and then we are sure to find Him, because He is waiting to be gracious to us.
(5) Not only were the captives at Babylon not to return to Jerusalem soon, as their false prophets assured them, but their brethren, then free at Jerusalem, were soon to suffer all the horrors of the sword, famine, pestilence, and captivity. The false prophets would be made a special example of; because they not only lied, which is bad enough of itself, but they also lied to "Israel," the people of the Lord, and, worst of all, they uttered their lies "in the name" of the God of truth (Jeremiah 29:21-23). They who "teach rebellion against the Lord" shall be "punished" by the Lord: they and their seed can have no dwelling place among the people of God, nor shall they be permitted to "behold the good which God will do for His people" (Jeremiah 29:32). Be our prayer, "Remember me, O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation; that I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance" (Psalms 106:5).