NOTES for Jer 29:1-32
Jeremiah writes a prophetic letter to the Israelites who had been deported to Babylon. The main meaning of this prophecy is that this Exile is part of God's plan for the people, that it will serve for good, and that it will be long. And yet it will come to an end, when seventy years have passed, when two or three generations have grown up. During this time the people will be transformed from a nation into a religious community. Those who do not remain faithful to the Lord will mix with the local population and dissolve into the Aramean population of the Near East. The Lord will remain with the exiles. He will instruct them through the prophets and lead them along the path of deepening faith.
The Babylonian exile is one of the greatest catastrophes in the history of Israel. We too must understand it so that we may learn to see in trials and catastrophes not only punishment for apostasy from God, but also a path to God, a path toward receiving new faith and new relationships with the Lord.