The Lord warned the Israelites that sin gave their enemies opportunities to captivate them, but they took no heed to His Word. Already a divided country, Israel had been led into captivity. In Jeremiah we read how Babylon has now taken Judah captive.
However, the Lord never leaves His people without a faithful witness, and Jeremiah speaks to the people about their freedom again. He reminds them that the Lord's plans entail a future and a hope for them (Jer. 29:11-13). During captivity, the Israelites need to focus on walking with the Lord once again.
Jeremiah continually reminded the people about the Lord's plan to return them to their promised land. Just like in the days of Moses, the people experienced slavery for a time so they might truly understand freedom. Once again, they needed to recognize the importance of relying on the Lord.
The Lord instructs Jeremiah to warn the people about false prophets, because the Lord knows how prone people are to deception in difficulties. When life gets hard, people tend to look for the easiest solution out of it. However, captivity helps dross to rise to the surface in order for a necessary cleansing to be revealed. When the cleansing is complete, then freedom comes and can truly be enjoyed.
Where are we today? The Lord wants us to recognize the truth about where we are, so that we might indeed be free!
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