With what tender compassion did God inform His captive people in regard to His plans for Israel. He knew what suffering and disaster they would experience were they led to believe that they should speedily be delivered from bondage and brought back to Jerusalem according to the prediction of the false prophets. He knew that this belief would make their position a very difficult one. Any demonstration of insurrection upon their part would have awakened the vigilance and severity of the king, and their liberty would have been restricted in consequence. He desired them to quietly submit to their fate and make their servitude as pleasant as possible. {4T 173.1}

Med hvilken medfølelse informerede Gud ikke sit tilfangetagne folk om sine planer med Israel. Han vidste hvilken lidelse og katastrofe de ville erfare, hvis de kom til at tro at de hurtigt blev udfriet fra trældomsåget og bragt tilbage til Jerusalem, ifølge de falske profeters forudsigelse. Han vidste at denne tro ville gøre deres stilling meget vanskelig. Ethvert tegn på oprør fra deres side ville have gjort kongen opmærksom og streng og deres frihed ville være indskrænket, som følge deraf. Han ønskede at de stille og roligt skulle underlægge sig deres skæbne og gøre deres trældom så behagelig så mulig.