Jeremiah

Jeremiah 29: God keeps His plan of peace

Begin in prayer

Before we read the letter God sent to His exiled people, let us come to the LORD together. Ask Him to help us trust His plan of peace, to meet with our family now, and to show us Christ, who brings His people home.

As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants after you, God.

Psalms 42:1

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us that Your plan for Your people is peace, and help us to seek You with all our heart. Show us Christ, who brings His people home, and help us to turn from our sin and trust Him. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Jeremiah writes from Jerusalem to the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive to Babylon (verses 1 to 3). He tells them to build houses, plant gardens, raise families, and seek the peace of the city where they live (verses 4 to 7). He warns them not to listen to their prophets and diviners, because they prophesy falsely in the LORD’s name (verses 8 and 9). The LORD promises that after seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, He will visit His people and bring them back to this place (verse 10). He says His thoughts toward them are “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future” (verse 11). They will pray to Him, search for Him with all their heart, and find Him (verses 12 to 14). The chapter ends with judgment on false prophets, including Shemaiah, who wrote letters against Jeremiah (verses 15 to 32).

As you read Jeremiah 29, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

The LORD keeps His plan of peace, and He is found by all who seek Him with all their heart.

Jeremiah wrote from Jerusalem to the elders, priests, prophets and people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried off to Babylon (verses 1 to 3). The LORD told them to build homes and pray for the city, because their peace depended on its peace (verses 4 to 7). The LORD set the exile at seventy years, then promised to visit His people and bring them home (verse 10). Verse 11 was written to a whole nation in exile, and it promises their return, not a private promise of an easy life. The LORD says His people will find Him when they search for Him with all their heart (verses 12 to 14). The false prophets and the people who stayed in Jerusalem were judged, because they would not listen to God’s words (verses 16 to 19). Jesus is the peace that God planned for His people.

How does Jeremiah 29 show us that the LORD keeps His plan of peace, and that He is found by all who seek Him with all their heart?

The LORD sent His people to Babylon, and He keeps His plan.

The LORD says He sent the people to Babylon, and He speaks to them there through Jeremiah (verses 1 to 4). He tells them to live where He placed them and to seek the city’s peace (verses 5 to 7). Jesus is the peace of God’s people.

His thoughts toward His people are thoughts of peace.

He says this to exiles who must wait seventy years, and He promises to bring them home (verses 10 and 11). The promise is for the whole nation, given in a letter to people far from home. Jesus is the peace with God that the LORD planned.

The LORD is found by all who seek Him with all their heart.

The LORD calls His people to seek Him, and He promises to be found by them (verses 12 to 14). The words “with all your heart” ask for the whole heart, not a passing feeling (verse 13). Jesus is the One in whom the LORD is found.

Memorize

You shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:13

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, will I come to Jesus and seek Him with all my heart?

Jeremiah wrote to people far from home, and the LORD told them to build houses and pray for the city (verses 5 to 7). Then He said, “You shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart” (verse 13). Those words were given to exiles, and they are still true.

Our sin has carried us far from God, and we cannot bring ourselves home by our own effort. Jesus came to do what we could not do. He bore the judgment our sin deserved, and He rose again on the third day. The debt is paid in full, and it is enough for every sinner who comes to Him.

So come to Jesus, and seek Him with all your heart. Turn from your sin, and trust Him as the peace God planned for His people. The LORD still says, “You shall seek me, and find me,” and every sinner who comes to Christ will be forgiven and brought home to God.

Parent's note

Tell your children that the LORD keeps His plan of peace, and He is found by those who seek Him. Parents, you may want to explain in your own words why the people were carried away to Babylon. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God that His plan is peace, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

When you said, “Seek my face,” my heart said to you, “I will seek your face, Yahweh.”

Psalms 27:8

Lord, thank You that Your plan for us is peace, and that You are found by all who seek You. Forgive us for the times we look for comfort and forget to seek You. Thank You for Jesus, who brings sinners home to God. Help each of us to turn from sin, seek You with all our heart, and trust You this week. Amen.