"(After that Jeconiah, the king, and the queen-mother, and the eunuchs, and the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem)" Jeremiah 29:2

OLD TESTAMENT PARENTHESES (22)

"(After that Jeconiah, the king, and the queen-mother, and the
eunuchs, and the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen
and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem)" Jeremiah 29:2

THIS is one of the least interesting of the Scriptural parentheses and seems largely to be interpolated as an indication of the actual time when Jeremiah wrote his letter from Jerusalem to the captive Jewish leaders in Babylon. It might have been enough to name Jeconiah, without specifying his entourage and the skilled men who accompanied him, so this appears to have more significance than a mere fixing of a date.

PERHAPS the parenthesis gives point to the contents of Jeremiah's letter. It seems that, as in Jerusalem so in the captivity, there were still plenty of those who blithely claimed to be prophets, finding popularity for themselves and raising false hopes among the bewildered people of God.

THE Word of the Lord had already been spoken. The land was to remain desolate for seventy years (Jeremiah 25:11). In his letter Jeremiah had to re-iterate this truth to the cheap optimists who were prophesying dreams which had no divine reality. The prophet's letter advised God's people to accept His Word and to order their lives in accordance with it.

FAR from being negative, Jeremiah's message assured his readers that God's ultimate purpose for them was one of peace and hope (v.11). The immediate need, however, was that they should humble themselves under the mighty hand of God instead of being influenced by the superficial inventions of those who based their ideas on natural and sentimental emotions, instead of being governed by God's Word. They ought to be giving themselves to God-glorifying, prayerful daily living instead of being carried about by excited emotionalism.

IT seems to me that Jeremiah's letter found an echo in some of the New Testament Letters. The circumstances were, of course, very different, but the principle is the same. "That ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your hands, even as we charged you" (1 Thessalonians 4:11).

BUT why was Jeconiah singled out in this connection? What had he to do with Jeremiah's letter? Perhaps it was because he was the one king who had listened to Jeremiah and had surrendered to the Chaldeans. In himself he was no better than the other members of his family, but he did obey the prophet's call to accept the captivity as a divine judgement and not try to avoid or resist it.

IN the end he was justified, as all will be who humble themselves before the Lord and obey His Word. Interestingly enough, it was Jeremiah himself who was able to record the ultimate mercy of God by which, after thirty seven years, Jeconiah was not only released from his prison but given kindness, honour and a continual allowance for the rest of his days (Jeremiah 52:31-34).

THOSE who have only a superficial acquaintance with the Bible are always ready to attach the label 'dismal' to Jeremiah. If they would look for themselves, they could find many proofs of how wrong such a designation is. Among them would be this letter with its assurance to humble believers that God's thoughts are always to give peace and to provide a future and a hope.