Jer 29:13 | KingComments | STEP | The LORD has determined the time period of exile for His people ( ; ). That period will not be exceeded. After seventy years, He will visit them. Then He will fulfill His good word and bring them back to Jerusalem. He knows His plans for His people. That are good plans, plans for welfare and not for calamity. His plans that He communicates are about the future of His people with which He wants to give them hope ( ). He knows these plans, it keeps Him busy and He carries them out. Do we also know His good plans for us? Do we entrust ourselves to them? For us there is “a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” ( ). Trusting in the goodness of the LORD will be evident in calling on and praying to Him ( ). He will listen to that. He will be found by those who seek Him and ask for Him with their whole heart ( ). The temple service is not needed as a means of drawing near to Him and the false prophets are certainly not needed for that purpose. When someone approaches Him with a sincere heart, He will listen and hear. They may feel abandoned, but He will let Himself be found if they seek Him in spirit and in truth (cf. ). The LORD here links deliverance from exile to the prayer of His people, prayed to Him far away from the temple ( ; ). How this works we see in what Daniel does ( ). The majority of the people will not live to see the deliverance; it is mostly the young among them. Nevertheless, even the older ones are called to pray for it. By doing so, they can show that they trust the LORD to fulfill His Word and will encourage the young people to also pray and trust in His promises for the future.

‏ Jeremiah 29:13

Seventy Years Exile

The LORD has determined the time period of exile for His people (Jer 29:10; Jer 25:11-12). That period will not be exceeded. After seventy years, He will visit them. Then He will fulfill His good word and bring them back to Jerusalem. He knows His plans for His people. That are good plans, plans for welfare and not for calamity.

His plans that He communicates are about the future of His people with which He wants to give them hope (Jer 29:11). He knows these plans, it keeps Him busy and He carries them out. Do we also know His good plans for us? Do we entrust ourselves to them? For us there is “a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1Pet 1:3).

Trusting in the goodness of the LORD will be evident in calling on and praying to Him (Jer 29:12). He will listen to that. He will be found by those who seek Him and ask for Him with their whole heart (Jer 29:13). The temple service is not needed as a means of drawing near to Him and the false prophets are certainly not needed for that purpose.

When someone approaches Him with a sincere heart, He will listen and hear. They may feel abandoned, but He will let Himself be found if they seek Him in spirit and in truth (cf. Jn 4:23-24). The LORD here links deliverance from exile to the prayer of His people, prayed to Him far away from the temple (Jer 29:14; 1Kgs 8:46-51). How this works we see in what Daniel does (Dan 9:2-3).

The majority of the people will not live to see the deliverance; it is mostly the young among them. Nevertheless, even the older ones are called to pray for it. By doing so, they can show that they trust the LORD to fulfill His Word and will encourage the young people to also pray and trust in His promises for the future.