猶大的末日到了！圍困在耶路撒冷中的領袖們極其驚恐，他們想回轉──已經太遲了──他們請先知懇求上帝的援助，而上帝透過耶利米傳來如雷的答覆卻是冷峻淒寒的：這城必要陷落，大多數的百姓都要被擄到巴比倫，不過倒還有一線希望，就是七十年後，他們終要回來，當餘民回歸，公義的領導權會興起，而擄者都要滅亡！

        在高速公路上，父母孩子共乘一部車風馳電掣而去，突然，他們走進了一條隧道──這是孩子生平第一次看到隧道，猛然闖進伸手不見五指的黑暗中，顯得十分害怕，這時候他可能有兩種選擇：（一）抓住方向盤，拋下父母然後揚長而去，（二）信任父母，不久即興奮的發現，原來隧道的兩端都是開口的！
        猶大突然闖進流亡的幽暗的隧道中，在其中他看不到一點希望的火花，然而耶利米知道希望何在，他預言七十年後，猶大將回家鄉，此外，他還宣佈一位公義的君王將使猶大恢復光榮傳統──祂的名字必稱為「耶和華我們的義」（耶23：6）。
        在環境最黑暗的時候，你必須從約翰壹書一章五節汲取信心──「上帝就是光，在祂毫無黑暗。」並不是上帝把祂的百姓推進黑暗的隧道中，不給他們一點希望的光，使他們可以看清全程的！在你周圍是否黑暗籠罩，讓你驚恐得想「抓住方向盤」呢？請翻到羅馬書八章十八到二十五節，像往常一樣的讀，上帝會指引你看到隧道盡頭的亮光！

        城裡最難保守的秘密！
        耶利米對猶大被巴比倫放逐的期限預言了不只一次，而是兩次（耶25：11、12；29：10），而且但以理也再度預言（但9：1、2）──由此證明上帝確實從頭到尾全盤知道！

不信的人只見絕望的盡頭，相信的人卻為無盡的希望欣喜。

English

        The end has come for Judah. In panic the leaders of besieged Jerusalem turn—too late—to the prophet to beseech the Lord's assistance. God's thundering reply through Jeremiah is chilling: The city will fall, and its most productive citizens will be deported to Babylon. Yet Jeremiah predicts their eventual return after 70 years, when the remnant will come home to a new day of righteous leadership and their captors will be brought to ruin.

        Parent and child are riding in a car down the highway. Suddenly, they enter a tunnel — the first one the child has seen. The child is gripped with fear at the sudden eerie darkness. At this point, the child is faced with a choice: He can (1) try to grab the wheel away from the parent and turn the car around, or (2) trust the parent, shortly to make the happy discovery that tunnels have openings at both ends.
        Judah was suddenly plunged into a dark tunnel of exile from which there appeared to be no light of hope. But Jeremiah knew better. He foretold Judah's return after the passing of seven decades. In addition, he announced the coming of a righteous Ruler to restore Judah in the tradition of the great King David — One whose name would be "THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" (23:6).
        When circumstances are at their darkest, you need the confidence given by 1 John 1:5 — "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." God is not in the business of plunging His people into dark tunnels without also providing the hope-giving light they need to see their way through. Are dark circumstances crowding in on you, causing you to want to panic and "grab the wheel"? Then turn to Romans 8:18-25, and read it as many times ask takes for God to show you the light at the end of your tunnel!

        The Worst-Kept Secret in Town
        The duration of the Babylonian exile is given not once but twice by Jeremiah (25:11-12; 29:10) and again by the Prophet Daniel (9:1-2) — proof indeed that God knows the end from the beginning!

Others may see only a hopeless end, but believers rejoice in an endless hope.