“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.’”
We often approach Jeremiah 29:11 as a security blanket: God has a plan for me that is good, so clearly this suffering I’m going through will end soon and then my flourishing will begin!
Some have taken this verse and applied it to themselves and others in an unqualified way. “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life,” they say. “He has mapped out the course of your life, and you only have to be obedient to Him to step into His blessing.” Some go further and say that this verse promises earthly prosperity. Health and wealth are the lot of Christians. We are not to settle for second best, for we are children of the King. In this view, suffering and deprivation signal a lack of faith.
But that is not at all what God was promising to the surviving elders of the exiles and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon and it’s not what He’s promising us, either. The context of Jeremiah 29 is a people in exile and captivity and therefore Jer 29:11 does not mean a blanket promise of worldly blessing.
We simply cannot apply this verse directly to ourselves. It was not originally written to us. It was written to a particular group of people living in a particular place, at a particular time. Does that mean that this verse has no application at all to us as Christians? No, it does not. In fact, the application to us is wonderful but indirect.
When texts are isolated, they can be made to mean almost anything. But when they are read in context, their intended meaning becomes clear. Therefore, when reading scripture we should remember three important words – context, context, context! It is important that we interpret scripture in context.
To understand the meaning of this scripture contextually, we must look at the preceding chapters, understand the history of Israel, the nature of the exile and the promise of the future.
The judgment of bondage against Israel begins in Jeremiah 25 as a result of their abandoning God. Not only has Israel turned their face away from God, they have pursued worthless things. They have fallen into pagan idolatry. They ceased listening to God’s Word given through the prophets. The numerous calls to repentance go unheeded. Jeremiah pronounces God’s penalty of judgement. The leaders and the people in chapter 26 attempt to kill Jeremiah, the Prophet, for having declared despair but he escapes. Later, in chapter 27 Jeremiah puts a yoke on his neck as instructed by God and this was to represent God’s impending judgment concerning them being taken into captivity under Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, for 70 years.
Jeremiah’s message was severe and the people certainly did not like it. They rejected Jeremiah’s pronouncement. Subsequently, they rounded up prophets and teachers to themselves. Why? Because they wanted to hear pleasant things. Enter Hananiah, the false prophet. The resultant contest between Hananiah and Jeremiah in chapter 28 is a great case study of discernment and a contrast between true and false prophets.
“One day in late summer of that same year—the fourth year of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah—Hananiah son of Azzur, a prophet from Gibeon, addressed me publicly in the Temple while all the priests and people listened. He said, “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “I will remove the yoke of the king of Babylon from your necks. Within two years I will bring back all the Temple treasures that King Nebuchadnezzar carried off to Babylon.” Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke off Jeremiah’s neck and broke it in pieces. Jeremiah 28:1-3; 10
Hananiah’s false message directly opposed Jeremiah’s message from God. He told the exiles that God had certainly broken the yoke of bondage to Babylon and that their captivity would end within two and not the declared 70 years.
Hananiah prophesied short-term prosperity and “peace, peace” when there was to be no peace. At the time, Hananiah’s prophecy would have sounded quite reasonable. However, his prophecy was not true. Jeremiah on the other hand had a sober and true message–dismal and condemning in the short term but not without a future and hope. Jeremiah was a man who had stood in the counsel of the LORD and spoke the very Words of God. Hananiah had showmanship and popularity amongst the people.
Irrespective of the false-hope message of Hananiah’s short term victory and vindication, God’s judgment for their disobedience was–70 years of captivity. In this context, the Lord instructs the people not to be overcome by the severity of the judgment but to take heart in His future promise. They are encouraged to live and build a life even though in captivity. They were to build houses, dwell in them, plant vineyards, marry, have children and to pray for the peace and prosperity of the city where they lived and not shrink back from all hope. This was not the news they wanted to hear. They wanted liberation from Babylon and quickly. How crushing it must have been to hear that 70 years of captivity meant to them that many would never return to their homeland – they saw hopelessness.
“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.” Jeremiah 29:4-7
Release would come but not as quickly as they wanted.
“This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfil my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 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. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to 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 will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” Jeremiah 29:10-14
Jeremiah 29:11 speaks of hope in the midst of God’s plan, purpose and will that may look very different to us. God promised those that were in exile that He would not abandon or forget them and would release them from their bondage in His pre-determined time. God’s wise plan would eventually give them a new beginning with a new purpose.
It is not surprising that so many of us have taken a liking to Jeremiah 29:11 particularly when in the midst of trials, pain, trouble, etc. For we described as pilgrims (1 Peter 2:11) and in this world for seventy* years (Psalm 90:10) or more–so to speak. However, we must embrace Jer 29:11 with the right understanding. Just like the exiles we must persevere in the midst of trials, adversity, pain, hardship, etc. not believing the falsehood that God will take it away because we want him to but in true understanding of the Word that He knows His plans toward us and that He will according to His will give us hope and a future in the midst of any situation as we live according to His plans to bring us through to a glorious end. Our hope in God has no boundaries and His presence will always be us. We are under the canopy of God’s grace and peace and when we find ourselves in a difficult place, employ the weapon of prayer and push back any clouds of despair and hopelessness.
God promised those He drove into exile that, “After 70 years, I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place” (verse 10).
As Christians, The LORD has plans and purposes for each and everyone of our lives. Therefore, a question arises. Do we believe that those plans and purposes of Almighty God are better than our ideas and plans?
“Do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not…” Jeremiah 45:5
We are not called to live a self-centred life but a God-centred life that follows His plans according to His knowledge and purpose. We are commanded to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and to seek Him while may be found.
Additional Commentary
“To give – This deliverance will not depend upon your merits, but upon my own mercy, and kind thoughts and purposes I have for the seed of Abraham my servant, and I am resolved in my own thoughts what to do, I intend not the blotting out of the name of Israel from the earth, but to give such an end to their trouble as themselves expect and desire.” – Wesley’s Explanatory Notes
“I know the thoughts that I think towards you. Known unto God are all his works, for known unto him are all his thoughts (Acts. 15:18 ) and his works agree exactly with his thoughts; he does all according to the counsel of his will. We often do not know our own thoughts, nor know our own mind, but God is never at any uncertainty within himself. We are sometimes ready to fear that God’s designs concerning us are all against us; but he knows the contrary concerning his own people, that they are thoughts of good and not of evil; even that which seems evil is designed for good. His thoughts are all working towards the expected end, which he will give in due time. The end they expect will come, though perhaps not when they expect it. Let them have patience till the fruit is ripe, and then they shall have it. He will give them an end, and expectation, so it is in the original. (1.) He will give them to see the end (the comfortable termination) of their trouble; though it lasts long, it shall not last always. The time to favour Zion, yea, the set time, will come. When things are at the worst they will begin to mend, and he will give them to see the glorious perfection of their deliverance; for, as for God, his work is perfect. He that in the beginning finished the heavens and the earth, and all the hosts of both, will finish all the blessings of both to his people. When he begins in ways of mercy he will make an end. God does nothing by halves. (2.) He will give them to see the expectation, that end which they desire and hope for, and have been long waiting for. He will give them, not the expectations of their fears, nor the expectations of their fancies, but the expectations of their faith, the end which he has promised and which will turn for the best to them. 3. This shall be in answer to their prayers and supplications to God” – Matthew Henry Complete