“For I know the plans I have for you.” How many times have we seen people share this famous verse from Jeremiah 29:11 on their Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram feeds? Some people even get it tattooed or have it posted up in their rooms or at their desks. But what does it mean that God has “plans to prosper us?” Are there limits to this promise? Who is this promise for? And what does it teach us about God’s character?
The Broader Context
In Jeremiah 27:22, God tells Jeremiah to tell the people of Israel that they will be kicked out of their homeland for their sins and unfaithfulness. The people didn’t like this message, so they sought to kill Jeremiah.
A false prophet named Hananiah came and said that the people would be taken into exile in Babylon, but it would only be for two years. He was lying, and God killed him as punishment for deceiving the people of Israel.
The Immediate Context
God gives Jeremiah more information: the Israelites will be in Babylon for seventy years, so they should prepare for a long stay. Even though they will be prisoners in this land, God tells them to work hard and to be good citizens in Babylon until they are allowed to return home to Israel.
The promise God made was to a particular group of people (the Israelites) for a particular time (six-hundred years before Jesus).
The Application
While this promise has lessons and applications for us, every bit of the promise simply can’t be applied to us. We are not ancient Israelites in Babylon, but modern-day Christians.
God punishes sin, but even in the midst of punishing Israel for their sins, he offers a promise of future blessing and mercy: they will not stay in exile forever.
This promise is to a group of people, not just to you, not just about your life and your plans and goals.
Sometimes God’s plan to bring us peace is not to make everything great and easy for us. Sometimes God puts us in the midst of hardship. He puts us where there is no peace and tells us to be peacemakers. The Apostle Paul lived a faithful life of service to Jesus Christ yet suffered tremendously (Acts 14:22; 20:23; Romans 8:17; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; Philippians 1:29; 3:8). Jesus even said of Paul, “I will show [Paul] how much he must suffer for my name” (Acts 9:16). There are countless biblical examples of godly people who have suffered and yet are still called “blessed.”
Seeking the prosperity of others is our prosperity according to Jeremiah 29. That is what God was calling Israel to be in the midst of great trial, in exile among a people who conquered them and who did not follow God.
Christians are citizens of heaven, not of this world. God has good plans to make us more like Jesus, and in this, we will be “peacemakers” bringing prosperity to those around us.
God’s ultimate plan is to deliver us out of the world and into our true home, heaven, just like he eventually delivered Israel out of Babylon. Until then, we have work to do.
[Related: Never Read a Bible Verse]
Christians today are not the original audience of Jeremiah’s prophecy, but there are still some principles to learn about who God is and how he cares for his people. While we should not read Jeremiah 29:11 as a guarantee that everything will always go how we would hope, we know that our God is a God who cares for his people and who has our ultimate good in mind. He does not rejoice in the deaths of the wicked (Ezekiel 18) and wishes all people would come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). We know that he causes all things to work together for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28).
[Related: Does God Always Keep His Promises?]
The Book of Jeremiah provides us a unique historical context in which we see some of these principles being worked out in Israel’s history. Our goal should be to understand and apply these principles while recognizing the unique historical circumstances in Israel and not missing the forest for the trees.
Article for this topic by Daniel Martin.
