Musing – What is Jeremiah 29:11 really trying to tell us?

Hebraic Musing – What is Jeremiah 29:11 really trying to tell us?

“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  NIV   If we read this verse in context we may have to rethink its meaning and purpose and usage.  Is it possible it doesn’t mean what we thought it meant?

Jeremiah 29:11 is generally used to comfort us as we are suffering with the expectation God will end this trial soon and then we will flourish again.  But in context, that is not at all what God was saying and promising the Israelites; so maybe it is not what he’s promising us, either!  Jeremiah is confronting false prophets and a false prophecy claiming God will set Israel free in two years.  It was not to happen, and it did not happen.  Jeremiah calls out the false prophecy as a lie and then states the promise we read in 29:11. 

Let’s put the verse in context because the heart of the verse is not that we would escape our lot, but that we would learn to live righteously and to thrive in the midst of our trial or circumstance. The Israelites had gone into Babylonian exile as punishment from God as a direct result of their persistent disobedience.  Before Jeremiah recited the oft-quoted verse 11, he had given the Israelites a directive from God in preceding verses 4 to 7:  This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.  Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.  Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." Jer. 29:4-7   In other words, apply yourselves and live righteously in your new circumstance.

When we have lost something because we are enduring the consequences of our sins or decisions, the last thing we want to hear is “…seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile.”   This is not what the Israelites wanted to hear! They were freshly exiled and desperately wanted to be told that they were going to go home; that their suffering in exile was going to end; and that the false “two year” prophesy was true.  Instead, God tells them to stay right where they are and to help prosper the nation in which they are enslaved!  And if that wasn’t enough…

Then comes the biggest blow of all.  God had tells them in verse 10 when He would fulfill the “return” promise. This is what the Lord says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.”  Jer.29:10   The “seventy years” sentence was a blow -- none in the current generation would ever return to the Jerusalem. What a crushing thing to be told!  Don’t we all want our punishment(s) and consequence(s) to be over and get on with life as we knew it?   I know that because my mother always made me “stand in the corner” longer than I thought necessary.

Conclusion: God knows the plans He has for us and ultimately He wants to give His children a hope and a glorious future. But as we live out our lives on this crazy earth in a “world” system, let’s remember that the best growth and joy comes through persevering through trials, not by escaping them.

Points to ponder

In whatever you are currently going through
can you cling to Jeremiah 29:11 for the right reason?
… not in the false hope that God will take away your suffering,
but in the faithful confidence that He will give you hope and joy in the midst of it?

 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials…”  James 1:22

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd,                                  April 19, 2016

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith”  “Biblical Marriage”
“Musings v.1 – A Victorious Life”   “Musings v.2 – The Torah and New Testament”
Weekly “Hebraic Musings”      www.InsightsByYosef.com