应许的归期
耶利米向流亡在巴比伦的耶路撒冷人传达了这一个上帝的信息。耶路撒冷人多年来一直得罪上帝，所以上帝派巴比伦王来征服他们，把他们带走。有些人乐观地认为他们的流亡只是暂时的，但上帝说流亡将持续七十年，这对许多人来说将是一辈子。
有时，我们生活中的危机看起来就像一段流放的时光。什么时候一切才能恢复正常？或许当我们的健康恢复了，当我们的关系修复了，当我们面临的试探过去了，当我们经历的不公正得到解决了。但如果上帝让这种情况持续一生呢？
我猜想，耶利米书的收信人并没有因为信中的内容而感到兴奋。七十年意味着他们中的大多数人将无法回去享受以前的美好生活。然而，上帝号召他们在现在的地方生活要像在家一样。上帝敦促他们相信，即使是在他们目前的处境下，祂也能通过他们扩展祂的拯救工作，建立祂的国度。
当上帝的子民努力适应新的环境并为祂而活的时候，他们会越来越多地认识上帝的属性。上帝的计划是赐给我们盼望和未来——祂通过基督完成的工作做到了这一点。
天父，求你帮助我们在等待你的国度降临时，满怀希望和信心地生活。感谢你在基督里为我们安排的美好计划。阿们。
耶利米书 29:1-14
1先知耶利米从耶路撒冷寄信于被掳的祭司、先知和众民，并生存的长老，就是尼布甲尼撒从耶路撒冷掳到巴比伦去的。
2（这在耶哥尼雅王和太后、太监，并犹大、耶路撒冷的首领，以及工匠、铁匠都离了耶路撒冷以后。）
3他藉沙番的儿子以利亚萨和希勒家的儿子基玛利的手寄去，他们二人是犹大王西底家打发往巴比伦去见尼布甲尼撒王的。
4信上说：“万军之耶和华以色列的神对一切被掳去的，就是我使他们从耶路撒冷被掳到巴比伦的人，如此说：
5你们要盖造房屋住在其中，栽种田园吃其中所产的。
6娶妻生儿女，为你们的儿子娶妻，使你们的女儿嫁人，生儿养女，在那里生养众多，不致减少。
7我所使你们被掳到的那城，你们要为那城求平安，为那城祷告耶和华，因为那城得平安，你们也随着得平安。
8“万军之耶和华以色列的神如此说：不要被你们中间的先知和占卜的诱惑，也不要听信自己所做的梦。
9因为他们托我的名对你们说假预言，我并没有差遣他们。这是耶和华说的。
10“耶和华如此说：为巴比伦所定的七十年满了以后，我要眷顾你们，向你们成就我的恩言，使你们仍回此地。
11耶和华说：我知道我向你们所怀的意念是赐平安的意念，不是降灾祸的意念，要叫你们末后有指望。
12你们要呼求我，祷告我，我就应允你们。
13你们寻求我，若专心寻求我，就必寻见。
14耶和华说：我必被你们寻见，我也必使你们被掳的人归回，将你们从各国中和我所赶你们到的各处招聚了来，又将你们带回我使你们被掳掠离开的地方。这是耶和华说的。
The Promised Homecoming
"I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place." - Jeremiah 29:10
Jeremiah sent this message from God to the people of Jerusalem who were exiled in Babylon. The people had sinned against God for many years, so the Lord had sent the king of Babylon to conquer them and take them away. Some were optimistic that their exile would be temporary, but God said the exile would last for seventy years, which for many would be a lifetime.
Sometimes a crisis in our lives can seem like a time of exile. When will things go back to normal again? When our health returns, when our relationships are mended, when our temptations have passed, when our injustices are addressed. But what if God lets this go on for a lifetime?
I imagine that the recipients of Jeremiah's letter were not excited by what it said. Seventy years meant that most of them would not be able to go back to enjoy the good things they had before. Yet God called them to live as if they were at home in the place where they were now living. God urged them to trust that he could extend his saving work and build his kingdom through them even in their current situation.
As God's people adapt and seek to live for him in the new situations where they find themselves, they grow to see more of God's character. His plan is to give us hope and a future—and he does that through the finished work of Christ.
Father, help us to live with hope and confidence as we await your coming kingdom. Thank you for your good plans for us in Christ. Amen.
诵读: 骆云秀
片头: 张妙阳
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