In Jeremiah, chapter twenty-nine, verses twelve through thirteen, “Then ye shall call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” Strategic timing is often involved in the fulfillment of God’s promises. God fulfils His Word and promises both in relation to the fullness of His redemptive purpose, as in verse ten of this theme chapter, and in response to His faithful people’s earnest prayers, as in Amos five, verses four through six.
Jeremiah prophesied that at the end of the seventy-year captivity, a new fullness of time would occur; God would then move within the holy remnant so that they would seek Him in prayer with all their hearts. Thereupon God would listen, answer from heaven, and fulfill His promises of restoration, as in verses thirteen to fourteen. Note two principles: when God desires to do great things for His people, He moves His people to great praying; and the timing of God’s answers to their prayers is often linked to God’s purposes for His people as a whole.
The seventy years of captivity are not to be reckoned from the last captivity, but the first. It will be the bringing to pass of God’s good word to them. This shall form God’s purposes. We often do not know our minds, but the Lord is never at an uncertainty. We are sometimes ready to fear that God’s designs are all against us. However, as to his own people, even that which seems evil is for good. God will give them, not the expectations of their fears, but the expectations of their faith; the end He has promised, which will be the best for them.