So far in the Verses in Context miniseries, we’ve taken a look at three verses from the New Testament (Philippians 4:13, Romans 8:28, and 2 Timothy1:7). Today, we’re turning to the Old Testament to examine another verse that is frequently claimed as a “life verse,” printed on journals, or hung on walls in isolation with no regard to the context in which it was written. Probably the most well-known translation for this verse is the New International Version, which reads:
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to
prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” Jeremiah 29:11
Many people have
leaned on this verse for comfort and encouragement that God has a plan for
their lives, and not just any plan, but a plan that will bring them general prosperity
and safety. But is that what this verse is saying? Who is the “you” to whom God
is speaking?
When we
look at this verse in its context, we see that it is actually part of a letter
written by the prophet Jeremiah to a specific group of people at a specific
point in time. By Jeremiah 29, the Babylonians have invaded the kingdom of
Judah (made up of the two southern tribes of Israel), captured the people, and
taken many of them to Babylon, leaving only the poorest in the land. The first
verse of the chapter tells us who the audience of this letter is:
“These
are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to
the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all
the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar [the Babylonian king] had taken into exile from
Jerusalem to Babylon” Jeremiah 29:1 (ESV).
So
basically, everyone who had been exiled was the intended recipient of
Jeremiah’s letter. Verse 2 tells us when the letter was sent, and verse 3 tells
us by whom it was sent. The letter begins in verse 4: “‘Thus says the
LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile
from Jerusalem to Babylon:’” (ESV) Notice that God is the
one who has sent the people into exile. Even though the Babylonians were the
ones who invaded, this verse tells us that they did so at God’s allowance. God
used them to punish the southern Israelites for their disobedience, as He had
warned again and again that He would do.
In verses
5-7, God, speaking through Jeremiah, tells the people to put down roots in
Babylon—to build houses, start families, “seek the welfare of the city,” (ESV)
and pray for it. Apparently, the people had been hesitant to do this because
they had been listening to false prophets (as described in verses 8-9) who made
them think they wouldn’t be in Babylon for very long. In the preceding chapter,
Jeremiah 28, we see that one of these false prophets, Hananiah, told the people
that God would destroy Babylon within two years and the people would be free
from their exile. God made it clear, though, that Hananiah was not speaking on
His behalf, both through the words of Jeremiah and through Hananiah’s death
(see Jeremiah 28:12-17).
So after
God warns the people to stop listening to these false prophets in verses 8-9,
He tells them the true length of their exile in verse 10—they would be in
Babylon for seven decades: “‘For thus says the LORD: When seventy years
are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my
promise and bring you back to this place’” (ESV). And this is when we
get to verse 11, which you may have noticed starts with our connecting-word
friend “for”: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD,
plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you
will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek
me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,
declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the
nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I
will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile” (vv.11-14,
ESV).
God was
essentially telling the people, “These ‘prophets’ think they know what my plans
are, but they’re lying. I know what my plans are for you. You will be in exile
for much longer than they’re telling you, but you won’t be in exile forever. I
have promised to bring you home, and I keep my promises. My justice is not
without mercy. When the time of your consequences is completed, I will bring
you home, and when you truly seek me with your whole heart, you will find me,
and I will bring you back.”
So that is
the context of Jeremiah 29:11. The prosperity/welfare that God was promising
was that of delivering the people from the poverty of exile and returning them
to their homes. The absence of harm/evil was a promise that they would not be
captives forever; God had not abandoned them to their enemies. The future and
the hope that was in store for them was that of restoration of their land and
of restoration of their relationship with God. And we see in other parts of the
Bible (Ezra 1:1, etc.) that God fulfilled that promise. The Babylonian Empire
fell to the Medo-Persian one, and, as the Persians had a different policy of
dealing with captives and occupied lands than the Babylonians did, they
eventually sent the Jewish people home (70 years after they had been taken to
Babylon, just as God had said).
But does it
follow, then, that there is nothing in this verse that is applicable for us
today? Just because this verse has a specific meaning for a specific people at
a specific point in history and the promises it made were fulfilled, does that
mean we can’t claim its promises now for our lives? Does God not know the plans
He has for us in the 21st-century? Has He not given us “a future and
a hope” too?
For those of us who
have turned from our sin, trusted in Jesus and what He did on our behalf, and
thus become adopted children of God, we are His people. Just as the ancient
Israelites were chosen by God as a picture of what it meant to be God’s people
and were given promises as part of that special relationship, so too, followers
of Jesus, i.e. “the Israel of God” (see Galatians 6:16), those who are “a
people for his own possession,” who “were not a people, but now […] are God’s
people” (see 1 Peter 2:9-10), have been given promises as well.
Throughout the New
Testament there are many references to the plans God has for us, to the future
and the hope that we have in Him. In Philippians 1:6, we see that God will
finish “the good work He began” in us (think that sounds like He has a plan for
us?). In John 14, Jesus tells His disciples (including His future ones), that
He is preparing a place for us and will come back to take us to that place to
be with Him (see the echoes of Jeremiah 29:10-14? “I will bring you back to the
place”). As we saw in Romans 8:28, followers of Jesus have the promise that
even suffering and hardship are redeemed by God and used for our good (remind
of you Jeremiah 29:11? “plans for welfare and not for evil”). Colossians 1:5
speaks of the “hope laid up for [us] in heaven” (see the future and the hope
there?).
And Ephesians 1:3-14
speaks to all of these things:
“Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in
him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless
before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through
Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his
glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom
and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his
purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of
time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
“In him we have
obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the
purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,
so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise
of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of
your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it,
to the praise of his glory” (ESV,
emphasis added).
Do you see how much
that passage speaks to the plans of God, to the prosperity/welfare that is ours
both now (spiritual blessings) and in the future (an inheritance), to the lack
of harm/evil in store for us because of the gracious redemption and forgiveness
God offers, to the hope that we have in Jesus and the future that is stored up
for us, as guaranteed by the Holy Spirit?
So if we as Christians
want to claim, ponder, or cling to verses that remind us that God has a good
plan for our lives, we have a wealth of ones to choose from without needing to
use Jeremiah 29:11 outside its context. But that doesn’t mean Jeremiah 29:11 is
left with no encouragement for us. The way in which God dealt with the ancient
Israelites shows us His character—both His justice and His mercy, His
sovereignty and His love, His wisdom and His kindness. Just as the Israelites’
rebellion was not strong enough to overpower the love of God or to keep Him
from fulfilling His promises, so too His love for us overcame our rebellion,
and His promises to those in Christ stand secure. Just as He kindly and
graciously returned them to their home, He will one day kindly and graciously bring
us to our ultimate home. Just as their relationship with Him was restored, so
we can enjoy a restored relationship with Him because of Jesus.
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