Do you rejoice over suffering?
Suffering isn’t fun. No one really wants to go through a tough time, but sometimes we need to.
When this passage from Jeremiah was written (it was in a letter from Jeremiah), the Israelites had lost the promised land and been sent into exile.
Not fun.
Then, in verse 10, God had just told the Israelites He wasn’t getting them out of exile any time soon. They would be in exile for 70 years. This would be hard.
Why were they in exile in the first place?
They had turned away from God and were worshiping false gods. That is worse than exile! God needed to get their attention and do so in a way that would last. God was working to turn the heart of Israel back to Him.
The tough pill to swallow is that the exile was for their own good. There is another famous Bible verse that God said right after telling the Israelites they would be in exile for 70 years: