Jeremiah 29:11 is probably one of the most well-known and quoted verses of the Bible: “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.”
During difficult times in my past, I would often cling to this verse for hope that life would get better…. even if my own choices and actions had led me to an undesirable place.
Do believers use Jeremiah 29:11 as an excuse to make poor decisions, assuming that God, as a Father sighing and shaking his head in Heaven, will swoop down and clean up the mess we made? Does Jeremiah 29:11 mean what we have traditionally thought it to mean?
In Jeremiah 29, the prophet Jeremiah is speaking to the Israelites who have been exiled to Babylon. They are under the Lord’s judgement for their rebellion and their worship of false idols. False prophets had previously given the Israelites deceptive hope, even when a Babylonian invasion looked imminent. To indirectly quote the false prophets: “Even if you (the Israelites) do not change your ways, God will get you out of this mess just like He has done for you in the past.”
In the earlier chapters of Jeremiah, he tried to warn the Israelites – while they were still in the comfort and security of Jerusalem – that if they did not repent and turn from their wicked ways, they would face a consequence in the form of exile. But the Israelites did not heed Jeremiah’s warnings.
God Himself exiled the Israelites, His chosen people, to Babylon, not only as a result of their defiance, but as a way to protect the Israelites from themselves.
For their sins were destroying them.
Verse 11 of Jeremiah 29 is often cherry-picked to provide encouragement to people going through trials. But we might be offering counterfeit hope to ourselves and to others if we do not place Verse 11 in its proper context.
In verse 10, we read these words from the prophet Jeremiah, “This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.”
As parents, we can probably relate to this scenario. We love our children. We want to protect them. We want them to live healthy and wholesome lives. We want to raise them to make good decisions of their own accord. But somewhere along the way, they decide to carve their own path – even though that path leads to harm and destruction. We warn them of the consequences to come. We offer them multiple opportunities to correct their mistakes. And then, we can no longer allow them to rebel without disciplining them. It is what loving parents do: “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives” (Hebrews 12:5-6).
God’s decision was settled. A Father left with no other choice than to save His people from themselves. They will be exiled for 70 years for their failure to repent and for their failure to turn from their sinful ways.
The false prophets were wrong.
Jeremiah discouraged the Israelites from fighting against their punishment or from assuming God would change His mind. Jeremiah encouraged the Israelites to accept their fate, to settle in Babylon, to build homes and raise their families there. They could not return to their homeland, but life, to some degree, would resume in their new land, until their 70 years were complete.
The number “seven” is significant in the Bible, representing a period of “completion” – whether seven days, seven months, seven years… or 70 years.
After 70 years in Babylonian exile, Persian leader Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon, and gave the Israelites permission to return to their homeland, fulfilling Jeremiah’s prophecy.
Interestingly, only a small remnant returned to their homeland. Many Israelites now considered Babylon to be their home, having acclimated to the culture and society there, even though Babylon was a polytheistic society that did not worship or recognize one True God.
For the Israelites who returned to their homeland, the prophet Ezra encouraged them to return to the Lord, to their Jewish traditions, and to study the law of Moses.
But their time in captivity had changed many things, and as we read in subsequent chapters of the Bible, life truly never resumed in quite the same way.
Misinterpreting Jeremiah 29:11 is a bit similar. God may have plans for our future, but our sins in the present will have consequences.
When we knowingly rebel against God, when we consciously act in opposition to the Truth found in His Word, our loving Father may temporarily place us in some form of captivity in order to rescue us from ourselves.
And life does not always resume as normal once we return from a place of exile.
The family member with whom we yearn to mend a relationship with may need more time and space to forgive us and trust us again.
The crowd we once hung out with may no longer be suitable to our lifestyle as we work towards healing from an addiction.
The friend we hurt with our words and actions may choose not to resume our friendship.
Our credit score may never recover after we pay off debts from years of careless spending habits.
Our body may never fully heal after we got behind the wheel after a night of drinking, which resulted in an auto accident.
But there is hope after exile. Jeremiah 29:12-14 continues with this confidence, “Then you will call on 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.”
When we earnestly seek the Lord and repent after a season of rebellion, it is then we encounter the encouragement found in Jeremiah 29:11. Our new journey may not be the path we had originally intended to take, but with God’s guidance and forgiveness, we press forward with a renewed hope and a restored future.
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:18-19.)